AP English Language and Composition Syllabus
Instructor: Mr. Tripp A. Ennis
Classroom: 224
Email: tennis@staunton.k12.va.us
Phone: (540) 332-3926
Website: http://staunton.k12.va.us//Domain/207
Conference Times: (7:15am, 9:21am, 2:50pm) – Mon., Tue., Wed., Thur.
Course Overview
According to The College Board, this course is designed to empower students to…
o Read from a variety of historical periods and discipline
o Identify audience, purpose, and strategies in texts
o Analyze the types of arguments that writers use
o Write formally and informally for a variety of audiences
o Write expository, narrative, analytical, and argumentative essays
o Understand their own writing process and the importance of revision
o Recognize techniques in visual as well as verbal arguments
o Synthesize ideas and information from various sources
o Know how to interpret information presented in notes and citations
o Use the conventions of standard written English
This course will use a chronological approach to selecting nonfictional and fictional texts. These
texts will cover a variety of thematic subjects including issues raised in public policy, personal
experience, and popular culture. Assignments will emphasize critical reading of various prose
styles with a specific focus on analyzing how authors use rhetorical tropes and schemes to
convey a message. Additionally, students will engage in rigorous self-evaluation by composing,
editing, and rewriting a variety of expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative, and
analytical essays.
Course Schedule
Our class combines a chronological and thematic approach to American literature and rhetoric.
For the summer assignment, students will select an autobiographical novel from a list of works
representative of the vast and diverse American experience. Each student will maintain a
dialectical and critical reading journal that focuses on reader response, style analysis, and
thematic explication. In addition to the dialectical journal, students will prepare two
autobiographical pieces imitating the style and form of their chosen work. Their autobiographical
pieces should focus on personal experiences and cultural critiques exploring their own American
experience.
Quarter One (1500s – 1700s)
Exploration, Religious Freedom, and The Revolution
Critical Reading: The first days of class introduce students to the purpose and method of
rhetorical analysis. After this introduction, students will critically read and respond to a number
of early American writings including the following:
Columbus, Christopher. “Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage”
De Las Casas, Bartolome. “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies”
“Mayflower Compact”
“The Virginia Company Ordinance and Constitution”
Winthrop, John. “A Model of Christian Charity”
Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear Children”
Sewall, Samuel. selections from The Diary of Samuel Sewall
Edwards, Jonathan. “A Divine and Supernatural Light”
Wigglesworth, Michael. “The Day of Doom”
Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence
Franklin, Benjamin. selections from Poor Richards Almanac
Henry, Patrick. “Speech in the Virginia Convention”
Hamilton, Alexander. selections from The Federalist Papers
Madison, James. selections from The Federalist Papers
Washington, George. “Farewell Address”
Adams, Abigail and John. selected Letters of Abigail and John Adams
Pane, Thomas. Common Sense
Analytical Writing: Students will respond to the works they read by writing an analysis of how
each author employs specific rhetorical schemes and tropes to achieve his or her intended effect.
Students will dissect these mostly nonfiction prose works to analyze how each author effectively
uses logos, pathos, and ethos in his or her writing. After receiving teacher feedback on their
essays, students will choose their most effective piece to rewrite for their portfolio.
Research and Synthesis: Students will choose a thematic topic for research during the first
quarter. These topics will be selected on the basis of their relevance to political, scientific, and
philosophical issue raised between 1500s – 1700s. The teacher will instruct students on how to
plan for this long ranged research project by helping them with time management, research tools,
and citation models. Students will use APA citation for the first research paper. A collection of
visual images as well as written texts will serve as appropriate artifacts for research.
Persuasive and Expository Writing: Each week students will focus on improving specific
aspects of their persuasive or expository writing (e.g. developing a thesis, organizing paragraphs,
using supporting evidence, employing rhetorical schemes, or improving word choice)
Grammar & Style: Because style and rhetorical schemes are such an important part of writing,
we will be focusing on sentence variety and sentence construction starting with identifying and
using simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences, and passive and active voice.
Second Quarter (1700s – 1800s)
Transcendentalist, Abolitionists, and Romantics
Critical Reading: The second quarter of the class will focus more on evaluating the
effectiveness of arguments. Students will critique an author’s use of literary tropes and
rhetorical schemes and explore the limits of each author’s argument by identifying unanswered
questions and presuppositions. While continuing to practice the skills that were emphasized
during the secondt quarter, students will apply new technical vocabulary and methods to their
analysis. Here is a selection of the works they will be reading:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Self Reliance”
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Thoreau, Henry David. “Resistance to Civil Government”
Douglass, Frederick. “My Bondage and My Freedom”
Lincoln, Abraham. “A House Divided”
Bennett, Lerone Jr. selections from Forced into Glory
Whitman, Walt. selections from Leaves of Grass
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown”
Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Philosophy of Composition”
Analytical Writing: Students will respond to the works they read by writing an analysis and
evaluation of how each author employs specific rhetorical schemes and tropes to achieve his or
her intended effect. Students will dissect these mostly nonfiction prose works to analyze how
each author effectively uses logos, pathos, and ethos in his or her writing. After receiving
teacher feedback on their essays, students will choose their most effective piece to rewrite for
their portfolio.
Research and Synthesis: Students will choose a thematic topic for research during the second
quarter. These topics will be selected on the basis of their relevance to political, scientific, and
philosophical issue raised during the 1800s. The teacher will instruct students on how to plan for
this long ranged research project by helping them with time management, research tools, and
citation models. Students will use APA citation for the second research paper. A collection of
visual images as well as written texts will serve as appropriate artifacts for research.
Persuasive and Expository Writing: Each week students will focus on improving specific
aspects of their persuasive or expository writing (e.g. developing a thesis, organizing paragraphs,
using supporting evidence, employing rhetorical schemes, or improving word choice).
Narrative Writing: Students will develop one piece of narrative writing mimicking the style
and subject of the Dark Romantics.
Grammar & Style: As we continue our study of syntax, students will begin identify types of
phrases. This quarter they will focus on prepositional, appositive, and absolute phrases.
Third Quarter (1800s – 1900s)
Modernism, World War, and Civil Rights
Critical Reading: During the third quarter, the class will focus on the development of 20th
century culture including modern scientific writing, advertisements, and the new media. In
addition to political cartoons and magazine advertisements, students will continue to analyze and
evaluate essays, journalistic articles, political writings, science writings, nature writings,
autobiographies, diaries, histories, and criticisms. They will focus on how authors intentionally
or unintentionally reveal bias. Students will also be dissecting arguments, identifying logical
fallacies, and critiquing the quality of an author’s argument. Here are a few of the works they
will be reading:
Ardent, Hannah. selections from The Human Condition
Twain, Mark. “A Humane Word from Satan”
Twain, Mark. “Eve’s Diary” and “Adam’s Diary”
Du Bois, W.E.B. The Soul’s of Black Folk
Arlen, Michael. “Ode to Thanksgiving”
Agee, James. selections from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Flanner, Jane. “Letter From Paris”
Fussell, Paul. selections from The Great War and Modern Memory
Hurston, Zora Neale. “How it Feels to be Colored Me”
Keller, Helen. “I Must Speak”
King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Baldwin, James. “Stranger in the Village”
X, Malcolm. selection from Autobiography of Malcolm X
Analytical Writing: Students will respond to the works they read by writing an analysis and
evaluation of how each author employs specific rhetorical schemes and tropes to achieve his or
her intended effect. Students will dissect these mostly nonfiction prose works to analyze how
each author effectively uses logos, pathos, and ethos in his or her writing.
Research and Synthesis: Students will choose a thematic topic for research during the third
quarter. These topics will be selected on the basis of their relevance to political, scientific, and
philosophical issue raised during the early 1900s. The teacher will instruct students on how to
plan for this long ranged research project by helping them with time management, research tools,
and citation models. Students will use MLA citation for the third research paper. A collection of
visual images as well as written texts will serve as appropriate artifacts for research.
Persuasive and Expository Writing: Each week students will focus on improving specific
aspects of their persuasive or expository writing (e.g. developing a thesis, organizing paragraphs,
using supporting evidence, employing rhetorical schemes, or improving word choice).
Grammar & Style: This quarter students will focus on gerundive phrases, participial phrases,
and infinitive phrases. Students will not only discuss an author’s use of parallel syntax but also
his or her use of phrases to convey meaning.
Fourth Quarter (1900s – 2000s)
Contemporary America – Postmodernism
Critical Reading: This fourth quarter will focus exclusively on analyzing, critiquing, and
responding to contemporary authors. Students will be encouraged to not only dissect the
rhetorical schemes each author uses, but they will need to formulate their own opinions in
response to each article. The articles read during this quarter will represent a wide variety of
opinions on contemporary political, scientific, cultural, and philosophical themes. Students will
combine the strategies they have learned over the past three quarters to synthesize multiple
sources, critique arguments, and develop nuanced positions in response to a variety of topics.
Here are just a few of the pieces we will study:
Berry, Wendal. “The Failure of War”
Barry, Dave. “On College”
Brooks, David. “The Gender Gap at School”
Angie, Natalie. “Mystery of the Missing Women in Science”
Gould, Stephen Jay. “Evolution as Fact and Theory”
Gish, Duane T. “Creation, Evolution, and Public Education”
Singer, Peter. “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
Gawande, Atul. “Failure and Rescue”
Kael, Pauline. “On The Future of Movies”
Hitchens, Christopher. “The Importance of Being Orwell”
hooks, bell. “Love as a Practice of Freedom”
Croce, Arlene. “Discussing the Undiscussable”
Dillard, Annie. selections from An American Childhood
Fassler, Joe. “’You’re a Parasite’: The Stark Morals of James Agee’s Great Depression
Essay”
Analytical Writing: Students will respond to the works they read by writing an analysis and
evaluation of how each author employs specific rhetorical schemes and tropes to achieve his or
her intended effect. Students will dissect these mostly nonfiction prose works to analyze how
each author effectively uses logos, pathos, and ethos in his or her writing. After receiving
teacher feedback on their essays, students will choose their most effective piece to rewrite for
their portfolio.
Synthesis: In preparation for the AP exam, students will practice in class synthesis essays that
use multiple sources and require a quick analysis and response. All of the in-class essays will
receive peer and teacher feedback.
Persuasive Writing: Each week students will focus on improving specific aspects of their
persuasive writing (e.g. developing a thesis, organizing paragraphs, using supporting evidence,
employing rhetorical schemes, or improving word choice).
Grammar & Style: In the fourth quarter students will apply all of the grammar skills they have
acquired and learn how to use and identify periodic, loose, and inverted syntax.
Teaching Strategies
Throughout the class students will use the SOAPSTone method to analyze nonfiction texts. This
is a text analysis strategy as well as a method for initially teaching students how
to craft a more thoughtful thesis.
Subject-Occasion-Audience-Purpose-Speaker-Tone: (SOAPSTone)
The SOAPSTone strategy was developed by Tommy Boley and is taught in the College Board
workshop “Strategies in English Writing—Tactics Using SOAPSTone”:
Speaker: the individual or collective voice of the text
Occasion: the event or catalyst causing the writing of the text to occur
Audience: the group of readers to whom the piece is directed
Purpose: the reason behind the text
Subject: the general topic and/or main idea
Tone: the attitude of the author
By using writer’s workshops in which students discuss and evaluate peer writing, students will
develop more confidence in sharing their work and in reflecting on their own progress as a
writer. All in-class, timed essays will receive teacher feedback, and students will be allowed to
choose in-class essays that they would like to rewrite for their portfolio.
A writing portfolio will be collected for each student. The writing portfolio must have a
minimum of eight polished essays: four analytical essays, three synthesis essays, two persuasive
essays, one narrative essay, and one expository essay. Students are encouraged, however, to
refine and finalize more than the required eight.
Grading Guidelines
35% Multiple Choice Tests – Mimic AP English Language and Composition Tests
35% In class Essays – Includes persuasive, analytical, and synthesis essays
20% Essay Portfolio – Research essays on one specific topic
10% Journals/Classwork - Includes narrative and informal writing as well as dialectical
and critical reading responses.
Grading Scale
A+ = 100 – 98
B+ = 92 – 90
C+ = 84 – 82
D+ = 76 – 75
F = 69 or below
A = 97 – 95
B = 89 – 87
C = 81 – 79
D = 74 – 72
A- = 94 – 93
B- = 86 – 85
C- = 78 – 77
D- = 71 – 70
Texts for Teachers
Baym, Nina, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A.
New York: Norton, 2012. Print.
Berry, Wendell. Citizenship Papers. Berkley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2003.
Burr, John R. and Milton Goldinger. Philosophy and Contemporary Issues. 4th ed. New York:
Macmillan Publishing Company, 1972.
Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1990.
Lundsford, Andrea, John Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Argument. 5th ed.
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.
Peterson, Linda, John Bereton, Joseph Bizup, and Ann Fernald. The Norton Reader: An
Anthology of Nonfiction. 13th ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 2011.