AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 1 Achievement First Unit 4: Gender Roles in Society: Their Source, Their Power AP English Language & Composition Dates of Instruction (NY): December 2-January 10 (approximately 4 weeks, or 20 days, of instruction, with IA 2 scheduled for January 14-16) Dates of Instruction (CT): December 2-January 16 (approximately 4 weeks, or 23 days, of instruction, with IA 2 scheduled for January 22-24) The Big Picture In the second half of the second quarter, scholars transition into a four-week unit focused on gender, a broad and multi-faceted topic which has invited and provoked intense debate and writing since time began. Frame your classroom discussions and focus your reading efforts with these Essential Questions: Reading and Text Analysis Skills: Over the course of Unit 4, scholars should pay particular attention to examining a writer’s use of literary and rhetorical devices. Within the context of the key text, push them to specifically analyze tone, hyperbole, synecdoche, allusion, personification, understatement, and metaphor. Scholars should also be led to examine a writer’s use of sentences, and can analyze the relationship between sentence length and structure and an author’s tone and message. What is the difference between sex and gender? Where do our ideas around gender roles and sexual stereotypes come from? To what extent are gender roles innate (natural) or superimposed (created)? What ideas do we receive about gender throughout our lives? How can social stereotypes around gender limit our potential and curtail our attainment of happiness? How can author’s apply literary devices to enhance their arguments? Writing Skills: Scholars will carefully analyze Virginia Woolf’s oration, “Professions for Women,” which will be the focus for a FRQ#2 that they will spend multiple days work shopping towards the end of the unit. The unit also includes at least two on-demand drills which require scholars to write analytical paragraphs in a timed setting and, as a final summative assessment, an on-demand essay in the style of the FRQ #2. At this point, push scholars to select a judicious amount of clearly related evidence, and to present that evidence in a way that supports the logic of their thesis statement and reads in a way that is both fluid and compelling. Scholars should also focus on the organization of their ideas, and on varying sentence length and structure to create an effective style and tone for their own writing. Recognize that these questions are iterative (meaning, you’ll come back to them again and again over the course of the unit) and framing (meaning that the core texts in the unit should be read through the lens they provide). By the end of the unit, scholars should have a solid grasp of the following Enduring Understandings: People continually grapple with identifying the source of gender characteristics, considering how much of what it means to be masculine or feminine can be accredited to biology and how much is socially constructed. When a chasm exists between who we really are as men and women and who society expects us to be, we suffer—on an individual, familial, and social level. The heart of rhetorical analysis is not recognizing literary devices in context, but rather, in understanding why they are there, and how the author has used them to enhance his or her argument. Short sentences can draw attention to a crystallized, distilled idea, rendering it power, while long sentences create a rhythm or tone that may achieve an intentional effect on the reader. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Unit Themes and Reading Selections: Week 1: What is difference between sex and gender, what stereotypes do we have around gender? Where do these come from? Readings include an excerpt form “Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies,” by Margaret Mead, “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid; and a political cartoons by Liza Donnelly. Week 2: Continue identifying the ideas we receive about gender throughout our lives, and begin addressing the question, “How can social stereotypes and expectations around gender limit our potential and curtail our attainment of happiness? “Readings include excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” by D.H. Lawrence; rhetorical devices glossary project; begin identifying and analyzing literary devices in context. Page 2 Achievement First Week 3: Continue considering how gender stereotypes and expectations impact our lives while emphasizing the analysis of literary devices in context. Readings include “Being a Man” and “Professions for Women.” Week 4: FRQ#2 Workshop and MCQ Practice; time on-demand FRQ#2 assessment AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 3 Achievement First Driving Forces Achievement Goals: On-Demand Writing: The MOY 12th Grade Thresholds for on-demand writing are as follows: Argument- 5; Evidence-4; Language-4. It may however be more appropriate to strive towards having all scholars earning at least a 5 on the AP Lang 9-Point Scoring Guide at this point in the year, or towards having all scholars score 1-2 points higher on their FRQ#2 response for IA2 than they did on FRQ#1. Multiple Choice Questions: By the end of IA Cycle 2, you should aim to have 60% of scholars answering 40% of the MCQ items on IA#2 correctly. (On a 55 question IA, this equates to answering 22 items correctly.) Alternatively, strive towards having scholars achieve a 10% boost in their MCQ scores from IA1 to IA2. For example, a scholar who answered 10 questions correctly on IA1 (18%) might aim to answer 15 questions correctly on IA2 (28%). Individual growth and improvement is as important, if not more, than increases in your group averages. Focus on Summative Assessment: Over the course of the unit, each scholar should complete… One process-based rhetorical analysis essay (FRQ #2) written in a workshop setting across multiple class sessions. One timed on-demand rhetorical analysis essay (FRQ #2) written in a single setting. At least one timed end-of-unit assessment consisting of a fresh passage and 10-15 MCQs. At least one seminar reflecting on an author’s literary and rhetorical devices. One illustrated glossary that provides definitions, examples, and simple illustrations for 25 key rhetorical and/or literary devices. (See the resource “Rhetorical_Devices_Glossary Project” for examples.) Multiple analytical paragraphs, written independently or in collaboration. Focus Common Core State Standards: The following CCSS are emphasized within Unit 4: RI11-12.3: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10). RI11-12.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text SL11-12.1: Initiate and participate in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. SL11-12.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks. W11-12.1a: Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. W11-12.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 4 Achievement First Key Skills Reading: Rhetorical Strategies and Appeals Reading: Literary Devices New for Unit 4: Analyze how an author’s sentence length and sentence type impacts the tone, power, and clarity of his or her argument. New for Unit 4: The act of defining, identifying, and analyzing literary devices as rhetorical tools is a key part of this unit. Identify, describe, and analyze the rhetorical effect of an author’s use of synecdoche, hyperbole, allusion, tone, understatement, paradox, and personification found within the context of core texts. Define, illustrate, and provide examples for all key rhetorical and literary terminology, to include at minimum 50 terms from the following list: Allegory, To continue, with increasing independence: SWBAT... Analyze how the rhetorical situation influences the writer’s argument. Analyze an author’s argument, claims, evidence and appeals to logos, pathos, ethos. Identify words, phrases, and sentences which contribute to the tone of a piece, and/or which reveal an author’s point of view or purpose. Perform technical close reading (pronoun/antecedent, synonyms, navigating complex syntax, following idea references). To continue, with increasing independence: SWBAT... Identify examples of juxtaposition and repetition within the context of the core texts. Alliteration, Allusion, Anaphora, Analogy, Anecdote, Anachronism, Antithesis, Aphorism, Apostrophe, Argumentation, Assonance, Asyndeton, Attitude, Begging the question, Canon, Chiasmus, Claim, Colloquial, Concrete Language, Consonance, Description, Diction, Euphemism, Ethos, Example, Exposition, Generalization, Humor, Imagery, Juxtaposition, Litote, Logos, Loose Sentence, Metaphor, Narration, Oversimplification, Oxymoron, Paradox, Parallelism, Pathos, Periodic Sentence, Personification, Prose, Realism, Rebuttal/refutation, Repetition, Rhetoric, Rhetorical question, Sarcasm, Satire, Simile, Style, Symbolism, Synecdoche, Syntax, Theme, Tone, Understatement, Vernacular, Voice, Zeugma Additional “challenge terms” for Glossary Project could include: Syllogism, Isocolon, Anadiplosis, Invective, Euphony, Cacophony, Induction, Deduction, Inversion, Polysyndeton, Asyndeton, Ad hominem. Hasty Generalization, Slippery Slope Writing Test-Taking Skills New for Unit 4: Select relevant, compelling evidence to support assertions. Contextualize and present relevant and sufficient evidence in a way that is fluent, clear, and compelling. Frame analysis within the introductory paragraph by providing appropriate background information regarding the text’s author, context, and purpose. Apply to their own writing an awareness of the impact sentence length, variety, and structure can have on the tone and clarity of an argument. New for Unit 4 Identify and practice attacking MCQs categorized as “Rhetoric” within the contexts of the core texts Read, annotate, and apply the main ideas found in the article “How to Approach Multiple Choice Questions on the AP English Language & Composition Exam” (see Week 4 Text Resources). Calculate current average response time per MCQ and compare this against target response time of 5060 seconds per question. Calculate reading speed for the passages on the AP Lang exam, aiming to read at a rate of 1 ½ minutes per page. To continue, with increasing independence: SWBAT... Compose thesis statement responding to FRQ#2 prompts. Draft clear, concise, and compelling assertions that support the thesis statement. Articulate clearly how identified rhetorical devices, appeals, and strategies serve an author’s purpose. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters To continue, with increasing independence: SWBAT... Independently apply the MCQ approach and Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the FRQ Approach. Continue tackling MCQs categorized as “Main Idea,” “Organization and Structure,” and “Author’s Meaning and Purpose,” within the context of the core texts. Page 5 Achievement First Unit 4 Text Selection The following reading selections will be addressed and analyzed over the course of the unit. Week 1 Core Texts Excerpt from “Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies,” by Margaret Mead The full-text PDF is available here: From the introduction to the text: “The work of anthropologist Margaret Mead laid the foundation for much of our contemporary sociological research and debate on gender. Are “masculine”” and “feminine” traits innate or learned? Do men and women differ because of nature (heredity) or nurture (socialization)? Based on her studies of three “primitive peoples” in New Guinea, Margaret Mead argues that cultural conditioning is more important than biology in shaping women’s and men’s behavior. “ http://homepage.smc.edu/de lpiccolo_guido/Soc1/soc1rea dings/sex%20and%20temper ment_final.pdf “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, a good girl or a slut,” by Liza Donnelly (Political Cartoon) Liza Donnelly is a cartoonist frequently published in The New Yorker who often uses humor to comment on issues around gender. Use to foreshadow and reinforce the main ideas presented in “Girl,” also to return to the idea of argument in visual texts. Available online here: http://www.englishalanglitinthinking.co.uk/gender-andsexuality/cartoons-forchange.htm Teachers can either simply show, enjoy, and briefly discuss this visual, OR, if time allows, they can engage in a deeper analysis of the text by responding to the following questions (which can be repurposed to analyze any political cartoons in the future): “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid Available online here: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.c om/virtualit/fiction/Girl/story .asp 1. People: What kinds of people are in the image? What are they doing, literally? 2. Objects: What physical items are included in the image? What do these stand for or symbolize? 3. Debatable issue: What is the contentious or controversial issue that the cartoon comments on? 4. Artist’s technique: To what degree is the artist’s style abstract, iconic, or realistic? Is there use of caricatures, exaggerated features, symbols? 5. Humor technique: irony, parody, satire, understatement, pun, black humor, juxtaposition, analogy, allusion? 6. Agree/Disagree: What side of the debate are you or other people on? This very short story, published in At the Bottom of the River in 1983, is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, in the voice of a mother lecturing a daughter (who can barely get a word in edgewise). In short, she is giving her daughter a litany of instructions on how to become a lady, not a slut. Through the story, Kincaid “analyzes the domain of the title female, both the roles she is This short story complements many of the themes and ideas of the unit well, especially those presented by “Professions for Women.” It also pairs perfectly with Liza Donnelly’s political cartoons on gender. Both can be analyzed deeply or skimmed as a way to reiterate the main themes introduced in Woolf’s speech. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 6 Achievement First It also introduced the idea that our ideas about proper gender manifestations come also from our parents. Have scholars analyze the style and organization of the piece. What effect does the stream-of-conscious delivery of instructions have on the tone? Why does the daughter not get a chance to interrupt until the very end? What categories of information are presented? Why does the mother organize the instruction into these categories? Because this is a short, accessible piece, you might have students comprehend and interpret this piece in collaborative reading/discussion groups. Potential discussion questions: What kind of life does the mother depict for her daughter? Why did Kincaid write her story as one long sentence? What does this achieve? What effect would the spitting line have if it were the last line of the story? What categories of female obligations do you see? How do they help organize the story? Think about genre. Based on the text, what theme or main idea is Kincaid attempting to convey? Why did she chose to communicate her ideas in a short, fictional story rather than in a nonfiction essay? This sample analysis may be useful as you prepare to teach “Girl”: http://voices.yahoo.com/jamaica-kincaids-girl-structure-language-convey2318519.html Week 1 Supplemental Text Options “Not All Men are Sly Foxes,” by Armin Brott Included in unit materials. Armin Brott is called a “parenting expert” who left his career in marketing when his first child was born because he “wanted to be an active, involved parent.” He has written 6 books on parenting and has contributed to such magazines as New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, and Readers’ Digest. From The Bedford Reader, which includes the essay as a model: “In this essay from a 1992 Newsweek magazine, Brott offers a different view of men from that taken by Judy Brady in the previous essay [“I Want a Wife”]. While acknowledging that women and men are not yet equal in child care, Brott holds that children’s books are hardly helping. He uses analysis to show that the Sly Fox remains much more common than the Caring Dad. Use this readily accessible essay as an anchor text, introducing the following themes and skills for the unit: Themes: Gender, as different from sex, is to a debatable degree something we learn from the world around us. Media (such as children’s literature) can reinforce negative stereotypes which get in the way of establishing equality between the sexes. The text also introduces the idea that stereotypes can be harmful, in that they can shape our identities in a way that restricts our options and hurts the way we relate to one another. Consider having scholars write a definition of “masculine” and “feminine” as Brott suggests the roles are presented in children’s literature. How are each of these stereotypes hurtful, both to the gender they depict, and to the opposing gender? Skills and Content Knowledge: Focus on Brott’s use of analysis. Review the term, identify what he analyzes, and discuss why he conducts this analysis. In discussing the overall organization of the essay, ask scholars to identify the placement of Brott’s thesis statement. Why does he wait until the end of the essay to state it so clearly? Look at the last line of the essay. Why does it end like this? Also on organization: Ask scholars to identify the purpose of paragraph 7, with its reference to books for parents. Why did Brott include it in an essay about children’s books? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 7 Achievement First Highlight the descriptive language in paragraph 4, when Brott provides vivid description of Mother Goose an the Sly Fox. What concrete details help explain these differences? Organization: Where in the essay does Brott air and refute a counterargument? As a follow on short research assignment, have scholars analyze examples of children’s literature in class. (Consider having small groups that each look at a different form of contemporary media: children’s lit, commercials, sitcoms, etc.) Have images of fathers in children’s books changed since then, or have they remained essentially the same? If time allows, have scholars write an essay reporting their findings, being sure to analyze several specific books. Week 2 Core Texts Excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” by D.H. Lawrence Excerpt available in Unit Materials Full text available here: http://bebekim.wordpress.co m/2010/10/25/give-her-apattern-by-d-h-lawrence1885-1930/ Week 2 Supplemental Text Options “About Men,” by Gretel Ehrlich Available in Unit Materials, and here: http://www.360sxm.com/nimifi nnigan/wpcontent/uploads/2010/06/Ab out-Men_Gretel-Ehrlich.pdf Originally published in Time magazine; also published in her collection of essays, The Solace of Open Spaces. This four-page essay discusses the differences between how cowboys are depicted by the media and how cowboys are in real life. Since it is called “About Men” and not “About Cowboys,” we can extend what she says to general social stereotypes around men and masculinity. Theme: This text reinforces some key themes of the unit: 1) That the media invents and reinforces gender stereotypes 2) That the media doesn’t usually get it right 3) That there is a cost to this disconnect Week 3 Core Texts “Being a Man,” by Paul Theroux Available in Unit Materials, and here: http://dana.ucc.nau.edu/v rs26/english_105/PDF%20do cuments/Theroux__Being_a_man_PDF.pdf See Unit Materials for a completed Teacher Text Prep Sheet on this selection. This essay was published in 1983 in the New York Time Magazine. Theroux is a wellknown, well-regarded essayist known for his fiction, literary criticism, and travel writing. Scholars who enjoy his style might also want to read The Great Railway Bazaar or The Mosquito Coast. From Wikipedia: “As a traveler he is noted for his rich descriptions of people and places, laced with a heavy streak of irony, or even misanthropy.” A funny tidbit also from Wikipedia: “By including versions of himself, his family, and acquaintances in some of his fiction, Theroux has occasionally disconcerted his readers. "A. Burgess, Slightly Foxed: Fact and Fiction", a story originally published in The New Yorker[10], describes a dinner at the narrator's home with author Anthony Burgess and a book-hoarding philistine lawyer who nags the narrator for an introduction to the great writer. Burgess arrives drunk and cruelly mocks the lawyer, who introduces himself as a fan. The narrator’s wife is named Anne and she shrewishly refuses to help with the dinner. The magazine later published a letter from Anne Theroux denying that Burgess was ever a guest in her home and expressing admiration for him, having once interviewed the real Burgess for the BBC: “I was dismayed to read in your August 7th edition a story … by Paul Theroux, in which a very unpleasant character with my name said and did things that I have never said or done.”[11] When the story was incorporated into Theroux’s novel, My Other Life (1996), the character of the wife was renamed Alison and reference to her work at the BBC is excised.” Consider how Theroux’s experiences as a traveler and travel writer impact his point of view. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 8 Achievement First Have scholars find sentences and paragraphs in which Theroux organizes ideas using comparison and contrast. Which transitions allow him to move from one topic to the other, within a sentence and/or across sentences/paragraphs? Examine how the figurative language in paragraph 2 helps Theroux convey the contrasting images of masculinity and femininity. How does this literary device enhance his message? Theroux discusses a paradox in his essay, that it is easier for a woman to write and for a man to be published. Use this to review the term paradox, and ask scholars, Would Woolf agree? Explore the repetition found in the sentence constructions in the second to last paragraph. Discussion Questions: 1. Why does Theroux think that “the whole idea of manhood in America is pitiful”? 2. Describe Theroux’s tone, and compare/contrast it with other writers we’ve read this unit. Who does he most resemble in tone and style, and why? 3. In par.2, Theroux uses a simile to compare and contrast masculinity and femininity. Paraphrase and react to it. What do you think? “The version of masculinity is a little like having to wear an ill-fitting coat for one’s entire life by contrast, I imagine femininity to be an oppressive sense of nakedness.”) 4. In par 1, what does Theroux suggest that the phrase “Be a man” means? What is the problem, as he sees it, by what this phrase implies? (After reading this, consider how he might react to Tannen’s views.) 5. The author compares and contrasts how boys and girls are raised. What ideas does he suggest are inculcated at an early age? Who is to blame? 6. What is the purpose and meaning of par 4? 7. In paragraph 5, why does the author “regard hs sports as a drug far worse than marijuana?” Summarize his opinion, and then react to it. What do you think? 8. Vocab study: List all of the adjectives Theroux assigns to the contemporary version of masculinity. How would you describe these words as a group? How do these words contribute to the overall tone of the essay? 9. In par 6, why does he suggest that being a writer is incompatible with being a man? From this sentiment, what conclusions can you make about how, according to Theroux, gender stereotypes can stunt our development and expression? 10. In paragraph 8, what paradox does the author present? How does this agree or disagree with the ideas presented in Woolf’s “Professions for Women”? 11. Towards the end of the article, Theroux lists a number of authors. Why does he do so? What generalizations do these examples support? 12. Sentence study: What kinds of sentences are most common in Theroux’s style? Look again at the shortest sentences in the essay. What effect does this brevity achieve? 13. In the second to last paragraph, Theroux calls “being manly” the “subversion of good students” and “the most primitive insecurity.” Why does he say this? Is he justified? Do you agree? 14. What generalization does Theroux make in the last sentence, why does he make it, and what does it reveal about his point of view? Do you agree with it? “Professions for Women,” Virginia Woolf Looking across texts: In his essay, Theroux discusses what it means to be a writer who is a man, much in the same way that Virginia Woolf discussed what it means to be a writer who is a women. How is the “Angel in the Corner” the same as “The Hemingway personality”? It what way is each author’s experience with the phantom similar? How, and possibly why, is it different? From the website noted to the left: “The essay is an abbreviated version of a speech Woolf delivered to a branch of the National Society for Women’s Service on January 21, 1931. It became the seed Available in the Unit for much of the work Woolf completed after A Room of One’s Own, eventually AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 9 Achievement First Materials, and here: http://s.spachman.tripod.c om/Woolf/professions.htm See Unit Materials for a completed Teacher Text Prep Sheet on this selection. evolving into “The Years,” published in 1937, and Three Guineas, published in 1938. The excerpt concentrates on that Victorian phantom known as the Angel in the House (borrowed from Coventry Patmore’s poem celebrating domestic bliss)—that selfless, sacrificial woman in the nineteenth century whose sole purpose in life was to soothe, to flatter, and to comfort the male half of the world’s population. “Killing the Angel in the House,” wrote Virginia Woolf, “was part of the occupation of a woman writer.” That ahs proved to be a prophetic statement, for today, not only in the domain of letters, but in the entire professional world, women are still engaged in that deadly contest in their struggle for social and economic equality.” Consider having scholars also read excerpts from “The Angel in the House,” which is the poem by Coventry Patmore that Virginia Woolf references. This poem is very long (multiple books/Cantos, etc), but if you want scholars to access the primary source and get the general gist of things, you could use an excerpt from “Prelude, “The Fount of Honor,” Canto III, Part II, lines 6-24; OR Prelude: “The Rose of the World,” Canto IV, Part 1, lines 1-16.) Both excerpts can be found at http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/patmore/eron2.html Consider Woolf’s purpose and audience. How does her task, the interest and background of her listeners, and her point of view shape her message? Identify Woolf’s tone: at which points in the essay is she especially sarcastic? Why does she use sarcasm at these points? In the first paragraph, “the cheapness of writing paper” and “Pianos and models, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin” may be read as synecdoche. What larger ideas are represented by these details? The Persian cat in paragraphs 2 and 3 also represents a larger whole. Why does she use this concrete detail instead of the larger idea it represents? (funny, it engages the audience and gives them something clear to imagine; it also makes her seem more trivial and unthreatening, which contrasts better with the confrontational writer she grew into being.) In paragraph 2: “You have only got to figure to yourselves a girl in a bedroom with a pen in her hand,” is a kind of irony that depends for its effect on understatement. Why does Woolf simplify herself as she was at the beginning? (It makes a jarring contrast with her later self, which set out to “kill the angel of the house.) Note the impact of the personification in the middle of paragraph 2. Why does Woolf personify the notion of womanhood that she battled as a young writer? What allusions, imagery, sensory language, and concrete details enhance this personification, and thereby increase the strength, power, and appeal of the speech? Here’s a doozey of an idea: “In other words, now that she had rid herself of falsehood, that young woman had only to be herself. Ah, but what is "herself"? I mean, what is a woman? I assure you, I do not know. I do not believe that you know. I do not believe that anybody can know until she has expressed herself in all the arts and professions open to human skill.” In short, she’s asking, “What is a woman after you strip away the role that society has pinned on her? What is fundamentally female?” It’s powerful to think that she didn’t know, and we probably don’t know yet, either. It is this tension she feels—and that we all feel on some level—that search for essential identify, that was probably the source of her lifelong emotional struggles. In any light, I like picturing Sojourner Truth, standing up to answer her and saying, “Ain’t I a Woman?” Might be an awesome supplemental resource. Also, consider asking if “What is a woman” is a rhetorical question or not; if you bring in Sojourner Truth, extend that scrutiny to her question, “Ain’t I a woman?” Week 3 Supplemental Text Options “Ain’t I a Woman,” by Sojourner Truth Virginia Woolf asks “What is a woman?” just as Truth asks, “Ain’t I a Woman?” Is either, both, or neither question a rhetorical question? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 10 Achievement First Available here: Could also compare/contrast use of repetition and listing with Jamaica Kincaid’s http://www.fordham.edu/hal “Girl.” sall/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Week 4 Core Texts “How to Approach Multiple Choice Questions on the AP English Language & Composition Exam” Available here: http://www.education.com/st udy-help/article/ap-englishlanguage-multiple-choicequestions/ Susan B. Anthony’s 1973 Speech Demanding the Right to Vote for Women This great article provides practical information about the AP English Language and Composition exam, test-taking skills, and coping methods for dealing with testanxiety Some of the guidelines it suggests: 1. Try to answer questions at a rate of 1 per minute. (However, if scholars are to answer 55 items in an hour in addition to reading the passages, it would be smarter to aim for an average response time of 50 seconds per item.) 2. When reading the passages, aim for a reading rate of 1 ½ minutes per page. 3. Strategies and Techniques for approaching MCQs 4. Focus on the survival plan. One point from it: If time is running short, answer self-contained questions (i.e., ones that don’t require going back to the passage). Educated guesses are smarter than leaving items blank. For Final Summative Assessment: FRQ#2 Included in Appendix C at the end of this Unit Plan Unit 4 Additional Texts The following articles are NOT included in the unit in its present form, but may be incorporated (a) in later years; or (b) at the teacher’s discretion. This contemporary, high-profile article garnered a great deal of attention when it “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” by Anne-Marie was published in The Atlantic in the summer of 2012. Slaughter Available here: http://www.theatlantic.co m/magazine/archive/2012/ 07/why-women-still-canthave-it-all/309020/ “But What Do You Mean?” by Deborah Tannen In Unit Materials. The subheading to the article: It’s time to stop fooling ourselves, says a woman who left a position of power: the women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman, rich, or self-employed. If we truly believe in equal opportunity for all women, here’s what has to change. According to the introduction provided in The Bedford Reader, much of Tannen’s research and writing has been motivated by the question, “Why do men and women so often communicate badly?”” In this essay, she classifies the conversational areas where men and women have the most difficulty.” “In an essay, define each sex as portrayed by Barry and Tannen, and then agree or disagree with the definitions.” Gets at the cost of our not understanding our gender differences. The organizational structure: classification, but it gives a good chance to point out example, definition, and compare/contrast as modes. As always, this is a good time to consider the author’s purpose. What does Tannen hope to accomplish with her writing? Also, identify her primary audience. Questions for main idea: 1. What does Tannen mean when she writes, “Conversation is a ritual” (par 1)? 2. What does Tannen see as the fundamental differences between men’s and women’s conversational strategies? 3. What problem is posed by these fundamental differences? 4. Are the differences, in your opinion, always “unfortunate?” AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 11 Achievement First 5. 6. Why does Tannen think it is important to examine ritualistic speech? Re: Section 2, Criticism. Since many high school teachers are female, and many college professors are male, what might you anticipate about the kind of feedback you might get on your writing at college? Questions for style, organization, and structure: 1. Although Tannen well-educated university professor and researcher, her tone in this essay is quite conversational and relaxed, as opposed to being more formal and academic. Why did she chose to present her ideas like this? 2. Look at her use of the pronoun “you” in par 9 and par 19. Who is Tannen addressing here? Why? 3. Identify sections of the text in which Tannen uses example, definition, description, and comparison and contrast. How does each of these modes contribute to the strength of her argument? 4. In what way is Tannen’s article a strong example of “classification” as a writing mode? In par. 1, “at least avoid appearing one-down” is possibly a litote, along with the sentence, “Because women are not trying to avoid the one-down position, that is unfortunately where they end up.” Litote? ? In par. 4, she includes an anecdote about a newspaper columnist. Have scholars identify and evaluate Tannen’s generalizations, considering how relevant they are in the context of their own lives. You might point out her use of figurative verbs (“barking,” par 11, and “erupted,” par 20) In section 2, have scholars analyze Tannen’s sentences and use of the semicolon. What is the effect of her varied sentence lengths? Have students identify the three shortest sentences in the section. What is the purpose of each one? How does the sentence length effect the delivery of her ideas? The last paragraph includes the sentence “just as English won’t do you much good if you try to speak to someone who knows only French” is an example of hyperbole. Ask scholars what Tannen emphasizes or conveys through this exaggeration. To boost comprehension, have scholars create a brochure titled How to communicate effectively in the workplace. Each “rule” listed should be a onesentence summary of a section from Tannen’s essay. Vocabulary: synonymous, self-deprecating, lucid, intrinsic, reciprocate, contentious, rebuttal adage, commiserate, malcontent Across Texts: Have scholars compare Tannen’s essay with Ehrlich, Theroux, or Brott, then write an essay in which they define each sex as portrayed by the two authors, then agree or disagree with the definitions. --Help students connect Dillard’s ideas with seeing to Tannen’s idea with speaking. Why is it important to notice and comment on what is normally unseen, just as it is important to notice and analyze ritualistic, automatic speech? “Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?” by Jan Hoffman “Male, Female, Neither? Gender Identity Debated at Same-Sex Colleges,” by Stephanie Chen “Research Shows Lack of Support for Transgender These three contemporary newspaper articles present the some of the ways in which debates around gender show up in high schools and colleges. These newspaper articles are short and fairly easy to read, so you should allow students to do most or all of the heavy lifting when it comes to comprehending and interpreting them. Before or after reading them, you may want to consider the relationship between genre, purpose, and author’s craft. Since these are newspaper articles, they are put AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 12 Achievement First and GenderNonconforming Youth in U.S. School System,” by Tonei Glavinic In Unit Materials. together differently from memoirs or essays. Quickly review the characteristics and elements of journalistic writing (i.e., headlines, bi-lines, photographs, quotations, short paragraphs, length, reading level, bias, etc.) and discuss how each of these elements contributes to the article’s function. Once scholars have understood the articles, help them in making text-supported generalizations around gender and sexuality. Take this opportunity to discuss the function of statistics, quotations, and photographs in journalistic text. Reflect also, on headline writing. What are the goals of the headline editor? Focus on how information is organized in the articles. This is also a good time to screen for bias. Do the journalists here reveal their points of view, or do they try to remain unbiased? Compare this with Brevard. Why is bias acceptable in one genre but denied in another? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 13 Achievement First Unit 4 Aims Calendar Week 1: Laying the Foundation Introduce the unit themes and focus specifically on the questions, “What is the difference between sex and gender?” “Where do our ideas around gender and sexual stereotypes come from?” and “What ideas do we receive, as children, about gender?” Within the context of these provocative conversations and readings, practice summarizing the central ideas of an argument and grasping an author’s purpose. Consider this week a “warm up” in which scholars develop comprehension skills and engage themselves in the conversation. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Content Acquisition Comprehension SWBAT differentiate between sex and gender by completing internet-based research. SWBAT describe unit goals and essential questions. Text: Internet Resources Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: Anticipation Guide (See Appendix) 2) Present question for brief internet-based research: What is the difference between sex and gender? 3) Internet-based research 4) Come Together and Share Out: What is the difference between sex and gender? 5) Present overview of unit goals and essential questions. 6) Exit Slip: Freewrite: What expectations, questions, or opinions do you have at this point, going into the unit? HW: Present a rough-draft argument, written in the firstperson, that answers the following question: In your opinion, are gender roles innate (something biological that we are born with) or socially constructed? Is gender something we have from birth, or something we learn? Provide evidence from your life to support your response. Analysis Comprehension Analysis Given a seminal text focused on the origin of gender roles, SWBAT comprehend and summarize the author’s main ideas and purpose for writing. SWBAT analyze and explain an author’s use of evidence by writing an in-class timed analytical paragraph. SWBAT comprehend and summarize the argument made by two different types of text: a political cartoon and a work of short fiction. SWBAT analyze and explain an author’s structural decisions by writing an in-class timed analysis. Text: Excerpt from “Sex and Temperaments in Three Primitive Societies” by Margaret Mead Text: Excerpt from “Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies” by Margaret Mead Text: “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up...” by Liza Donnelley (Political Cartoon); “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid Text: “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: Describe what people mean when they tell someone to “Act like a man!” In contrast, when they describe someone as “ladylike,” what are they saying? 2) Discuss, then ask, where did these ideas around gender come from? 3) Briefly summarize Mead’s research. 4) First reading, followed by focused annotation: Highlight Mead’s main assertions and consider her purpose for writing. 5) Think/Pair/Share: What conclusions does Mead reach about the origins of assigned gender roles? Do we agree or disagree? 6) Share Out Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Review/Model components of an analytical paragraph. Discuss the importance of developing the ability to analyze an author’s method quickly. 3) Give scholars 10 minutes to draft a response to the following prompt: In the article, Mead asserts that gender behaviors and roles are a product of socialization. What strategies or devices does she employ in making the case for this idea? 4) Share student writing on the dot cam. Discuss. Note: This rigorous text may provide a good opportunity for close reading practice. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 14 Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: Show Donnelly’s political cartoon. Have scholars respond to prompt: Donnelly is using humor to make a very serious point. What is she trying to say about the choices available to women in American society? What tools or devices does she use to make her point? 2) Discuss 3) Read “Girl” aloud—perhaps selecting a student to read ital text for a more dramatic effect. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: What is Kincaid’s purpose for writing the short story, “Girl”? In what way is it an argument? 2) Discuss 3) Ask: What do we notice about Kincaid’s craft here? 4) Have scholars write 1-2 paragraphs in response to the following prompt: How does Kincaid’s structural decision to present her story as a list of instructions serve to convey tone and theme? 5) At end of class, present the glossary assignment and give due date. HW: Work on Glossary Projects. Optional Scaffolding: 1) Consider allowing scholars to draft their analysis in a group of three, OR provide scholars with a paragraph frame like this: In the story, Kincaid uses X, which allows her do do Y. For example, [insert examples of strategy from the passage]. [Insert link/connection back to topic sentence]. Achievement First Week 2: Literary Devices in Action Take two days to support scholars’ essential acquisition of key terminology, knowing that learning the language is key to their ability to fluently discuss and analyze texts. During the last three days of the unit, begin pushing scholars to identify and analyze those literary devices within the context of the core texts, starting with a reading of “About Men,” by Gretel Ehrlich. This text also initiates a shift in topic: whereas Week 1 centered around defining gender roles and determining their origin, Week 2 begins to explore how social ideas and expectations around gender influence our lives and development. Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Content Acquisition Content Acquisition SWBAT review, illustrate, and SWBAT apply effective exemplify terms on a comprehensive list of literary and rhetorical devices. public speaking skills and active listening skills when delivering and listening to “one-minute teach” presentations. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: 2-3 Rhetorical Devices MCQs 2) Provide time in class for scholars to work on their glossary projects. Remind them of the challenge to find examples in context of previous class readings for each term on the list. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: 2-3 Rhetorical Devices MCQs 2) Conduct “one-minute teach” presentations. 3) Exit Slip: Which are your favorite literary or rhetorical devices, and why? HW: Finish Glossary Projects and prepare for one-minute teach presentations. Prompt: Once you’ve completed your project, prepare to present one of the terms to the class. (Your teacher may assign specific terms to individual scholar.) You will have one minute to present the term’s definition, an example of the definition in context, and a way of remembering the term (mnemonic device). You may use pre-made visual aids or the whiteboard/chalkboard to support your presentation. Comprehension SWBAT identify literary devices within the context of a core text. SWBAT comprehend the central ideas of a text written in the early twentieth century. Text: excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” by D.H. Lawrence Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: Freewrite: Are there different types of men? Different types of women? Is there something all men, or all women, have in common? 2.) Discuss, then introduce D.H. Lawrence text. Discuss context. 3) Read the text together. 4) Think-Pair-Share: What essentially is the text about? What does Lawrence want us to believe? 5) Discuss literary devices: What devices do you notice in the text? (Focus on identification, with analysis being the focus of the following class.) 6) Challenge question: What assumptions about gender is Lawrence implying? From the article, what can you infer about the what ideas about gender must have been implicit during Lawrence’s time? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 15 Analysis Analysis SWBAT analyze the rhetorical purpose and effectiveness of literary devices in context. SWBAT analyze the impact of sentence length on the tone, power, and clarity of an author’s argument. SWBAT make generalizations about the impact sentence length can have on the one, power, and clarity of a message. Text: excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” by D.H. Lawrence Text: excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” by D.H. Lawrence, “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid, and “Consider the Lobster” or “In the Strawberry Fields,” from Unit 3. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Model with one literary device from the passage. (For example, do a close reading of paragraph 1. Label the repetition of “When a woman is..” as anaphora and the repeated syntactical pattern in the last sentence “what to be, which pattern to following, which man’s picture...” as asyndenton. Share the pen or collaborate to write a Says/Does Statement for one of these devices. 3) Small Group Work: Assign each group a paragraph, and task each with analyzing the purpose and effectiveness of any literary devices they might find within that paragraph. (Note that paragraphs 2, 5, 6, and 12 are especially rich.) 4) Share and discuss as time allows. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Model/We Do: Look at and discuss sentence length in the Lawrence essay. Identify the content and function of the 3 or 4 shortest sentences in the essay. 3) Small Group Research. Give one group the story “Girl,” another group the excerpts from “Give Her a Pattern,” and another group one of the texts from Unit 3 (either “Consider the Lobster” or “In the Strawberry Fields.” Ask them to answer the following questions: --Identify and list the three longest sentences in the article. --What impact do these sentences have on the tone, power, or clarity of the argument? Why are they so long? --Identify and list the three shortest sentences in the article. --What impact do these sentences have on the tone, power, or clarity of the argument? Why are they so short? --What generalizations can you take with you from this class, to either apply to your own writing or to future analysis of text? 4) Discuss as time allows. HW: Read “Being a Man,” by Paul Theroux and “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf. Achievement First AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 16 Achievement First Week 3: The Angel in the Corner vs. The Hemingway Personality To continue the conversation about the power of gender roles and expectations in our lives, engage scholars in a deep analysis and comparison of two rich and powerful texts: “About Men” and “Professions for Women.” The purpose of this comparison is not just to find similarities but to sharpen scholars’ understanding and awareness of how such elements as tone and figurative language serve to develop a writer’s style and argument. While it may appear that focus hops around quite a bit this week from one rhetorical device to the next, remember that the key is not to MASTER one rhetorical or literary device, but rather, to recognize and understand more deeply how these techniques can enhance and develop an argument. Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Comprehension Analysis Comprehension Analysis Synthesis/Seminar SWBAT apply comprehension strategies and close reading strategies to comprehend and interpret text. SWBAT analyze and describe an author’s use of tone, paradox, and simile. SWBAT apply comprehension strategies and close reading strategies to comprehend and interpret text. Text: “Being a Man,” by Paul Theroux Text: “Being a Man,” by Paul Theroux Text: “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: Freewriting: Briefly summarize Theroux’s essay, “Being a Man.” What was it essentially about? Did you agree or disagree with his main points? 2) Reread essay as a class, pausing throughout reading to ask such TDQs as these: In par 1, what does Theroux suggest that the phrase “Be a man” means? What is the problem, as he sees it, by what this phrase implies? The author compares and contrasts how boys and girls are raised. What ideas does he suggest are inculcated at an early age? Who is to blame? In par 6, why does he suggest that being a writer is incompatible with being a man? From this sentiment, what conclusions can you make about how, according to Theroux, gender stereotypes can stunt our development and expression? Exit Slip: Identify at least one literary device Theroux uses in making his argument, and explain why he uses the device. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Have scholars work in small groups, with each group writing an analytical paragraph (or Says/Does Analysis) in response to one of the following questions: Possible Agenda: (1) Do Now (2) DI: Background Information on Virginia Woolf (engage scholars’ prior knowledge and experience where possible) Ask: Based on what you know about who she was and why she was speaking, what ideas about gender do you predict Virginia Woolf might suggest in this oration? How does understanding the rhetorical situation allow us to make predictions about the author’s argument? (3) Scholars scan text, noting striking passages and recording two questions they have about Woolf’s meaning or craft. (4) Class Discussion: Discuss as many observations and questions as time allows. (5) Close reading to develop scholar’s understanding of Woolf’s main ideas 6) Ask TDQs to ensure scholar comprehension. (6) Discuss HW expectations; share model responses Describe the author’s use of paradox in paragraph 8. Describe the author’s use of simile in paragraph 2. Describe the author’s tone. Does this tone contribute to or detract from the author’s argument? What is the purpose and meaning of par 4? 3) Have each group share their paragraphs under the dot com; make revision suggestions and clarifications as needed. Invite other scholars to do the same. HW: Answer the following questions. 1. Identify passages where Woolf’s sentences are mainly long. What impact does this have on tone? 2. What are the three shortest sentences in the essay? 3 What impact does this brevity have on the delivered message or tone? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 17 SWBAT analyze and describe an author’s rhetorical use of tone, personification, hyperbole, understatement, or synecdoche. Text: “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now (2) Review Homework (3) Have scholars work in small groups, with each group writing an analytical paragraph (or Says/Does Analysis) addressing Woolf’s use of tone, personification, hyperbole, understatement, or synecdoche. Remind them to be mindful of Woolf’s purpose and audience. Ask: How has her use of this device allowed her to more successfully make her argument to her specific audience? 3) Have each group share their paragraphs under the dot com; make revision suggestions and clarifications as needed. Invite other scholars to do the same. HW: Provide the seminar prompt for tomorrow’s discussion. Have scholars prepare by freewriting their initial response to the question. SWBAT compare and contrast two authors’ rhetorical use of allusion by participating in a seminar discussion. Text: “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf; “Being a Man,” by Paul Theroux Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Conduct seminar discussion addressing the following prompt: In his essay, Theroux discusses what it means to be a writer who is a man, much in the same way that Virginia Woolf discussed what it means to be a writer who is a women. How is the “Angel in the Corner” the same as “The Hemingway personality”? It what way is each author’s application of allusion similar? How, and possibly why, is it different? HW: Have scholars write rough drafts of an FRQ#2 style rhetorical analysis: In her seminal speech, “Professions for Women,” master rhetorician Virginia Woolf uses a variety of literary devices to vividly explain how social expectations around gender have impacted her as a writer. Using your notes from this week, write an analysis that highlights at least two of the devices Woolf uses in making her argument. Achievement First Week 4: Summative Assessment During this week, a few different types of assessment happen. You can evaluate scholars’ writers’ workshop (i.e., the FRQ#2s on “Professions for Women,” as well as their MCQ test results from Day 18 and their on-demand writing efforts from Day 20. Remember that the focus as scholars tackle MCQs on on-demand writing prompts is pacing and time management, and that the focus for processed FRQ#2s should be on the treatment of evidence. Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Writers’ Workshop Writers’ Workshop Analysis Test Literacy Analysis SWBAT present, contextualize, and interpret relevant evidence in a way that is clear and compelling. SWBAT make and respond to constructive suggestions for revision and editing suggestions during a writers’ workshop session. SWBAT apply pacing suggestions and a strategy for approaching multiple choice questions. SWBAT analyze and evaluate the multiple choice questions from the previous class. Text: “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf Text: “Professions for Women,” by Virginia Woolf Text: MCQ Assessment (see Appendix) Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Mini-lesson: (DI) Briefly review the qualities of an exemplary analytical paragraph, pointing out the clear assertion/topic sentence, the fluid contextualization, organization, and interpretation of evidence, and the final sentence which links the evidence back to the writer’s topic and.or thesis sentences. 3) Give scholars time to draft their body paragraphs, or to work with a partner for revision suggestions. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now 2) Review what elements to look for when reading the paper of a peer (revision=logic, ideas, evidence, organization; editing=spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization). 3) Have scholars circulate papers with members of a small group. 4) Give scholars time to review the suggestions they’ve received. 5) Exit Slip: How will you revise, edit, and generally improve your essays based on the feedback you’ve gotten today? Possible Agenda: 1) Review MCQ pacing suggestions and approach 2) Give scholars 8 minutes to read and annotate a fresh passage. 3) Give scholars 15 minutes to answer approximately 12-15 multiple choice questions that predominately address the author’s use of literary devices (i.e., those MCQs which fit into the “Rhetoric” category). 4) Exchange and correct papers as time allows. 5) Exit Slip: How did you do? What is difficult about reading and answering questions in a timed setting? Text: “How to Approach Multiple Choice Questions on the AP English Language & Composition Exam” ; “MCQ Assessment” (see Appendix) HW: Complete drafts of rhetorical analysis essays. HW: Complete your essays. HW: If scholars haven’t already, have them read the article “How to Approach Multiple Choice Questions on the AP English Language & Composition Exam” AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 18 SWBAT apply pacing suggestions and time response time to multiple choice questions. Possible Agenda: 1) Do Now: How long do you think it takes you to answer one multiple choice question? How long should it take on the AP Lang exam? 2) Review take-aways from the article scholars read for homework. 3) After discussing pacing suggestions (one question a minute, approximately) give scholars the chance to time themselves answering a new MCQ. Have them record and reflect on their times. (Remind them to apply this awareness of pace to the upcoming IA.) 4) Ask: What happens when you can’t answer a question in a minute? Discuss options (skip it, come back to it, logical guess, etc.) 5) Work through the items from yesterday’s assessment, discussing until scholars understand the correct answers. SWBAT demonstrate comprehension, analytical skills, pacing strategy, and growth in writing ability while writing rhetorical analysis essays in response to a fresh text in a timed setting. Text: excerpt from Susan B. Anthony’s 1973 speech. Possible Agenda: 1) Review pacing plan and approach strategy. 2) Give scholars 8-10 minutes to read and annotate the passage. 3) Give scholars 30-32 minutes to write their rhetorical analysis essays. Note: Remind scholars that if time runs out, they should spend the last five minutes outlining their remaining points. An outline is better than an unfinished essay. Achievement First Appendix A: Anticipation Guide Unit 4: Gender Roles in Society: Their Source, Their Power Anticipation Guide Before we begin our next unit, take a minute to consider how you feel about the following statements. Mark each as True or False, and then write one sentence that justifies or explains your response. 1. T F Guys need to man up, just as girls should be ladylike. 2. T F It is easier to be a girl than a boy in this world. 3. T F Women are better at nurturing and child raising than men. 4. T F Men are biologically more aggressive and violent than women. 5, T F Movies, television shows, commercials, and magazine gender advertisements represent gender accurately. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 19 Achievement First Appendix B: Multiple Choice Assessment Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions Passage 1 Questions 1-6 refer to the first paragraph from Virginia Woolf’s essay, “Professions for Women,” reprinted here. 5 10 15 When your secretary invited me to come here, she told me that your Society is concerned with the employment of women and she suggested that I might tell you something about my own professional experiences. It is true I am a woman; it is true I am employed; but what professional experiences have I had? It is difficult to say. My profession is literature; and in that profession there are fewer experiences for women than in any other, with the exception of the stage--fewer, I mean, that are peculiar to women. For the road was cut many years ago--by Fanny Burney, by Aphra Behn, by Harriet Martineau, by Jane Austen, by George Eliot--many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps. Thus, when I came to write, there were very few material obstacles in my way. Writing was a reputable and harmless occupation. The family peace was not broken by the scratching of a pen. No demand was made upon the family purse. For ten and sixpence one can buy paper enough to write all the plays of Shakespeare--if one has a mind that way. Pianos and models, Paris, Vienna and Berlin, masters and mistresses, are not needed by a writer. The cheapness of writing paper is, of course, the reason why women have succeeded as writers before they have succeeded in the other professions. 1. When Woolf refers to the smooth path, she making a reference to a. the “professional experiences” she has had b. the occupation of writer in general c. her experiences traveling through “Paris, Vienna and Berlin” d. “the road” that “was cut many years ago” e. “the reason why women have succeeded as writers” 2. Which of the following details from the paragraph is an example of understatement? a. “It is true I am a woman...” b. “...but what professional experiences have I had? It is difficult to say.” c. “many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me...” d. “...there were very few material obstacles in my way”. e. “The family peach was not broken by the scratching of a pen.” 3. Each of the following examples from paragraph 1 is an example of synecdoche EXCEPT a. “the road” b. “the family purse” c. “pianos and models” d. “the scratching of the pen” e. “The cheapness of writing paper” 4. Woolf uses the repetitive syntax of the phrases “the family peace” and “the family purse” to represent AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 20 Achievement First a. those household elements which most benefit from women engaging in writing. b the sense of peace and prosperity characteristic of happy families. c. elements frequently in jeopardy when women take on careers d. the material obstacles standing in the way of would be writers. e. the necessary sacrifices made by working women. 5. The sentence below is an example of what rhetorical device? Pianos and models, Paris, Vienna and Berlin, masters and mistresses, are not needed by a writer. a. Anaphora b. Loose Sentence c. Antithesis d. Periodic Sentence e. Balanced sentence 6. The speaker’s tone can best be described as a. arrogant b. haughty c. sardonic d. sanguine e. humble Passage 2 Questions 7-15 refer to the passage below, which was written in the 20th century. ** 5 10 15 20 25 What are the practical results of the modern cult of beauty? The exercises and the massages, the health motors and the skin foods—to what have they led? Are women more beautiful than they were? Do they get something for the enormous expenditure of energy, time, and money demanded of them by the beauty cult? These are questions which it is difficult to answer. For the facts seem to contradict themselves. The campaign for more physical beauty seems to be both a tremendous success and a lamentable failure. It depends how you look at the results. It is a success insofar as more women retain their youthful appearance to a a greater age than in the past. “Old ladies” are already becoming rare. In a few years, we may well believe, they will be extinct. White hair and wrinkles, a bent back and hollow cheeks will come to be regarded as medievally old-fashioned. The crone of the future will be golden, curly, and cherrylipped, neat-ankled and slender. The Portrait of the Artist’s Mother will come to be almost indistinguishable, at future picture shows, from the Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter. This desirable consummation will be due in part to skin foods and injections of paraffin wax, facial surgery, mud baths, and paint, in part to improved health, due in its turn to a more rational mode of life. Ugliness is one of the symptoms of disease; beauty, of health. Insofar as the campaign for more beauty is also a campaign for more health, it is admirable and, up to a point, genuinely successful. Beauty that is merely the artificial shadow of these symptoms of health is intrinsically of poorer quality than the genuine article. Still, it is a sufficiently good imitation to be sometimes mistakable for the real thing. The apparatus for mimicking the symptoms of health is now within the reach of every modAP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 21 Achievement First 30 35 40 erately prosperous person; the knowledge of the way in which real health can be achieved is growing, and will in time, no doubt, be universally acted upon. When that happy moment comes, will every woman be beautiful— as beautiful, at any rate, as the natural shape of her features, with or without surgical and chemical aid, permits? The answer is emphatically: No. For real beauty is as much an affair of the inner as of the outer self. The beauty of a porcelain jar is a matter of shape, of color, of surface texture. The jar may be empty or tenanted by spiders, full of honey or stinking slime—it makes no difference to its beauty or ugliness. But a woman is alive, and her beauty is therefore not skin deep. The surface of the human vessel is affected by the nature of its spiritual contents. I have seen women who, by the standards of a connoisseur of porcelain, were ravishingly lovely. There shape, their color, their surface texture were perfect. And yet they were not beautiful. For the lovely vase was either empty or filled with some corruption. Spiritual emptiness or ugliness shows through. And conversely, there is an interior light that can transfigure forms that the pure aesthetician would regard as imperfect or downright ugly. 7. The word “cult” (line 1) as used in the passage means primarily a. A group with a particular obsession. b. a subculture dedicated to a pagan rite. c. A movement sponsored by patrons of beauty salons. d. the devotees of a unique ideology. e. the followers of a charismatic leader. 8. Which of the following is an example of hyperbole? a. “tremendous success and lamentable failure” (line 7) b. “It is a success” (line 9) c. “they will be extinct” (line 11) d. “a bent back and hollow cheeks” (line 12) e. “old-fashioned” (line 13) 9. The primary rhetorical strategy used to develop the idea that old ladies are becoming rare is best described as a. a series of metaphors. b. rhetorical questions and answers. c. examples with repetitive sentence structure. d. parallel and periodic sentences. e. allusions and analogies. 10. Which of the following best characterizes the tone of the phrase “crone of the future” (line 13)? a. anger b. bitterness c. sympathy d. ridicule e. irony 11. In the development of the last paragraph (lines 31-42), the rhetorical device most in evidence is a. extended analogy b. compound subject. c. appeal to authority. d. emotional exclamation. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 22 Achievement First e. antithesis. 12. “The surface of the human vessel is affected by the nature of its spiritual contents” (lines 36-37) is a statement best described as a. an epigram b. a simile c. a platitude d. a witticism e. a symbol. 13. Which of the following represents the author’s main purpose? a. To highlight the successful aspects of the beauty cult. b. To comment on a phase of female psychology. c. To describe a change of values in contemporary society. d. To expose the shortcomings and omissions of the beauty cult. e. To extol the virtues of aging. 14. The principal contrast employed by the author of the passage is between a. crones and fair ladies. b. inner beauty versus outer beauty. c. healthy and good looks. d. staying young an dying longer. e. youth and age. **Passage 2 was taken from Practice Test B from the study guide, Barron’s AP English Language and Composition. Answer explanations are available on pp. 294-295 of the print copy. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 23 Achievement First Appendix C: On-Demand FRQ#2 Assessment Part 2: Free-Response Question# 2 (Suggested time-40 minutes) Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for casting an illegal ballot in the 1872 presidential election. Seething at the injustice, she embarked on a speaking tour in 1873 in support of female voting rights, during which she gave this speech. Read the speech carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the strategies used in the speech to strengthen and enhance Anthony’s argument. Friends and Fellow Citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any State to deny. The preamble of the Federal Constitution says: "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people--women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government--the ballot. For any State to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people is to pass a bill of attainder, or an ex post facto law, and is therefore a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it the blessings of liberty are for ever withheld from women and their female posterity. To them this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed. To them this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex; the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe; an oligarchy of wealth, where the right govern the poor. An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African, might be endured; but this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons, the oligarchs over the mother and sisters, the wife and daughters of every household--which ordains all men sovereigns, all women subjects, carries dissension, discord and rebellion into every home of the nation. Webster, Worcester and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then, women are citizens; and no State has a right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several States is today null and void, precisely as in every one against Negroes. AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 24 Achievement First Focusing on Multiple Choice Questions In Unit 4, teachers should explicitly target Organization and Structure multiple choice questions. Use this type of item to review a MCQ approach (ACUTE?), requiring scholars to independently apply that approach. When reading the core texts, zero in on specific lines and sections of text that reveal the author’s purpose and meaning. You should also routinely incorporate MCQs addressing Main Idea, Rhetoric, and Author’s Meaning and Purpose into your daily and weekly CFUs. Organization and Structure These questions test students’ ability to perceive how the passage is organized. For example, they need to know if the passage follows a compare/contrast structure or if it gives a definition followed by examples. Other passages may be organized around descriptive statements that then lead to a generalization. These methods are just a few of the ones an author may use to organize ideas. You also need to understand how the structure of the passage works. For example, you must know how one paragraph relates to another paragraph or how a single sentence works within a paragraph. Item Stems Passage-Based Item Bank Here are some of the ways this question type may be worded: “Not All Men Are Sly Foxes” 1. In paragraph 8, the word “nevertheless” signals a shift from a. a description of the problem to a summary of the solution. b. a list of examples to a generalization. The quotation "_____" c. a concession to a refutation of a counterargument. signals a shift from . . . d. one category of information to another The speaker's mention e. an anecdote to the main idea it illustrates. of "_____" is appropriate to the “Professions for Women” development of her argument by . . . 1. In paragraph 6, the phrases “a rock to be dashed against” refers back to which line from the speech? The type of argument employed by the author is most similar to which of the following? a. “For the road was cut many years ago--by Fanny Burney, by Aphra Behn, by Harriet Martineau, by Jane Austen, by George Eliot--many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps” (par. 1) b. “Thus, when I came to write, there were very few material obstacles in my way.” (par. 1) C. “I discovered that if I were going to review books I should need to do battle with a certain phantom.” (par. 3) d. “My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in selfdefence.” (par. 3) e. “The imagination had dashed itself against something hard.” (par. 5) The relationship between _____ and _____ is explained primarily by the use of which of the following? 2. Woolf’s thesis statement is most clearly presented in a. the first paragraph of the speech. b. the second paragraph of the speech. c. the center of the speech. d. the last paragraph of the speech. e. the last sentence in the speech. “Being a Man”: 1. The relationship between masculinity and femininity in paragraph 2 is explained primarily by the use of which of the following? a. Simile and metaphor b. Personification and metaphor c. Anaphora and synecdoche d. Hyperbole and synecdoche e. Metaphor and alluson 2. The sentence “I take this as a personal insult because for many years I found it impossible to admit to myself that I wanted to be a writer” signals a shift from a. his explanation of the “whole idea of manhood in America” to his description of the effects this idea has on the development of young men. b. his condemnation of sports to his revelation of his “guilty secret.” c. his complaints about the socialization of young boys to his assertion that male writers must demonstrate a narrow image of masculinity to be respected. d. His description of masculinity in general to his description of specifically masculine writers. e. His attack on the “quest for manliness” to an enumeration of the various factors which make it easier to be a writer. “But What Do You Mean?” AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 25 Achievement First 1. In the first two paragraphs of Section 7 (“Jokes”) what method does Tannen use to present her ideas? a. She presents examples that lead to a generalization. b. She presents a generalization and that provides examples that support it. c. She presents a number of causes that lead to a specific effect. d. She presents descriptive statements that illustrate a concept, then defines the concept. e. She presents ways that two things are similar, then suggests how they are different. 2. Within each of the seven sections, Tannen makes use of a. cause and effect b. problem and solution c. comparison and contrast d. description e. classification Author’s Purpose and Item Stems Meaning Description of Category: Multiple-choice questions often ask about meaning and purpose. What is the purpose of the passage? How does it fit a meaning? Why was it written? Because so many of the passages on this exam are taken from nonfiction speeches, letters, autobiographies, and essays, the author typically had a very strong reason for writing the passage. Usually you can discover the meaning by looking at the connotation of the author’s words. You will have to determine how or why the specific word choice demonstrates the author’s thematic intention(s). The purpose of lines___ can best be interpreted as… The writer clarifies “___” by… The writer emphasizes “---” in order to… By saying “---”, the author intends for us to understand that…. By “___.” the author most likely means…. The purpose of the sentence/ paragraph. Passage can best be summarized as…. The passage can be interpreted as meaning all of the following EXCEPT… Which of the following best identifies the meaning of "_____"? Which of the following best describes the author's purpose in the last sentence? The author emphasizes "_____" in order to . . . The sympathy referred to in line ___ is called "___" because it... What is the function of _____ ? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Passage-Based Item Bank “Not All Men Are Sly Foxes” 1. In paragraph 3, Brott most likely uses the nouns “caregivers” and “nurturers” in order to a. reinforce that mothering is a key component of what women do. b. contrast the roles attributed to mothers with the tasks performed by fathers. c. subvert the role of women to the role of men. d. suggest that even working women are expected to be active parents. e. name the types of behaviors most attributed to fathers rather than mothers. “Professions for Women” 1. In paragraph3, Woolf use of personification serves all of the following functions EXCEPT a. to create a concrete image out of an abstract concept. b. to enhance the contrast between the innocent girl who sat down to write and the woman who eventually “killed” the angel. c. to increase the ability of her readers and listeners to picture the feminine ideal that she is attempting to . d. to make the feminine ideal more appealing to her readers and listeners. e. to develop her explanation of “the angel in the house” for the younger members of the audience. “Being a Man”: 1. a. b. c. d. e. Why does Theroux make reference to Hemingway, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouc, and Norman Mailer? To list role models which helps him reject traditional views of masculinity. To suggest exceptions to the rule he explained in previous paragraphs. To present examples of male writers whose self-destructive behaviors proved their masculinity. To support his assertion that drunkenness reduces the quality of a writer’s work. To increase his credibility by placing himself in the company of highly-esteemed writers. Page 26 Achievement First “But What Do You Mean”: 1. Using the phrase “conversation is a ritual” allows the author to emphasize that I. II. III. As a social construct, conversation brings people together. People in discussions often assume specific roles and behaviors. Human beings feel compelled by tradition and habit to talk with one another. We often say things automatically, without thinking of their implications. IV. a. b. c. d. e. Main Idea Description of Category: Questions about the passage’s main idea are very common on the exam. Often the first or last questions of a series have to do with the main idea. What is the author saying? Can you restate it? That’s what you need to do, at least in your mind. You might have to make a few marginal notes, or you may find the main idea stated in one or two lines (sometimes at the end) that you can underline. Please note that there are often two types of “main idea” questions: Questions about the main idea at a paragraph / essay level Questions that require technical close reading Item Stems The author would most likely agree with which of the following? The narrator’s/ writer’s/ author’s/ speaker’s attitude can best be described as… The author would most/ least likely agree that… The writer has presented all of the following ideas EXCEPT… We can infer that the author values the quality of…. The attitude of the narrator helps the writer create a mood of… In context, lines___ most likely refer to…. The theme of the second paragraph is ... The speaker's attitude is best described as one of ... In context, the sentence "_____" is best interpreted as which of the following? AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters I only II only III and IV I and IV II and IV Passage-Based Item Bank “Not All Men Are Sly Foxes”: 1. In context, the ending line “Let’s finish the job,” most likely refer to a. selecting reading material that is appropriate for young readers. b. convincing men to take a more active role as parents. c. preventing censorship in children’s literature. d. eliminating harmful stereotypes from children’s literature. e. reducing the number of single-parent families. 2. In paragraph 4, the phrases “a successful entrepreneur” is parallel to which of the following? a. “a neglectful and presumably unemployed single father” b. “a thriving lace business” c. “lives with filthy, hungry pups in a grimy hovel” d. “a single mother (Mother Goose) of seven tiny gosling” “women take better care of their kids” “Professions for Women”: 1. In context, the phrase “formidable obstacles” in the last paragraph is most likely a reference to which of the following? a. Financial impediments b. Perceptions of propriety c. Fears of disrupting familial harmony d. Educational access e. Material resources “Being a Man”: 1. The speaker’s tone is best described as a. b. c. d. e. flippant. concillatory. accusatory. antagonizing. resigned. Page 27 Achievement First The atmosphere is 2. one of . . . Which of the following would the author be LEAST likely to encourage? 3. We can infer that the author most objects to a. b. c. d. e. The ways young boys are taught to be men. The good reputation of writers like Hemingway. The high frequency of alcoholism among writers. The pressure to engage in natural friendships with women. The lack of masculinity among male writers. In paragraph two, the pronoun “it” in the sentence “It is a hideous and crippling lie” refers to a. b. c. d. e. The literal meaning behind the expression, “Be a man!” The connotative meaning implied by the expression, “Be a man!” The oppressive sense of nakedness associated with femininity. The assertion that “fetishists are nearly always men.” The comparison between masculinity and the sensation of wearing an ill-fitting coat. “But What Do You Mean”: 1. Rhetoric Description of Category: Questions about rhetoric dominate the AP English exam. How does the language work in a passage? What is the point of view or the syntax and diction? How does the author express his or her tone? What is the narrator’s attitude? These are not words just to be thrown around recklessly. You need to understand how all of the elements synthesize together to make the entire passage. How does each “rhetorical device” affect the whole? Below, please find an incomplete list of rhetorical terms within the AP Lang exam. For more information, please reference the word lists and Deborah Tannen has presented all of the ideas EXCEPT a. Adapting a more feminine communication style at the workplace may increase the productivity of collaborative work sessions b. When it comes to how to talk in the workplace, there is no “right way” or “wrong way.” c. If you want to communicate successfully in the workplace, you must focus on what you say AND how you say it. d. Women may be disadvantaged in the workplace by their communication style. e. When automatic apologies and expressions of gratitude are not shared practice, they may subvert women to men. Item Stems Passage-Based Item Bank “Professions for Women” A shift in point of view is demonstrated by…. The repetitive syntax of lines___ serves to… “___” can best be said to represent…. The second sentence is unified by the writer’s use of which rhetorical device? The word”___” is the antecedent for… The style of the passage can best be characterized as… The author employs ___ sentence structure to establish… The tone of the passage changes when the writer…. The shift in point of view has the effect of . .. The syntax of lines _____ to _____ serves to . . . AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters 1, Which of the following details from paragraph 1 is not an example of synecdoche? a. “the road” b. “the family purse” c. “pianos and models” d. “Paris, Vienna, and Berlin” e. “The cheapness of writing paper” 2. In paragraph 1, Woolf uses the repetitive syntax of the phrases “the family peace” and “the family purse” to represent a. those household elements which most benefit from women engaging in writing. b the sense of peace and prosperity characteristic of happy families. c. elements frequently in jeopardy when women take on careers d. the material obstacles standing in the way of would be writers. e. the necessary sacrifices made by working women. “But What Do You Mean” 1. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, which rhetorical device does Tannen use to emphasize her main idea? a. Simile b. Hyperbole c. Anaphora d. Litote Page 28 Achievement First definitions. Allegory, Alliteration, Allusion, Anaphora, Antithesis, Aphorism, Apostrophe, Assonance, Asyndeton, Attitude, Begging the question, Canon, Chiasmus, Claim, Colloquial, Prose, Realism, Rebuttal/refutation, Rhetoric, Rhetorical question, Sarcasm, Satire, Simile, Style, Symbolism, Synecdoche, Syntax, Theme, Tone, Voice, Zeugma The second sentence is unified by metaphorical references to . . . As lines _____ and _____ are constructed, "_____" is parallel to which of the following? The antecedent for "_____" is . . . AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters e. Synecdoche 2. The sentence “Women are often told they apologize too much,” is an example of a. active voice b. passive voice c. irony d. sarcasm e. begging the question Page 29 Achievement First AP Language and Composition, Unit 4, Waters Page 30 Achievement First