Advanced Placement Language and Composition 2010-2011
Kathie Steele
steele_kathie@asdk12.org
Welcome to AP Language and Composition. This college level class is the equivalent of an
introductory college composition class. We have a mission in this class—to prepare for the College
Board Advanced Placement Language and Composition test which you will take in May. I can’t
guarantee that you’ll earn college credit—that’s up to you—but I will promise that you will be wellprepared for further AP classes and college classes. I promise to help you become a skilled reader, writer
and thinker. You will be intellectually challenged and stimulated. I assume that you willingly accept the
rigor the mission requires and that you will give nothing but your best effort.
AP Language is a rhetoric class. Rhetoric is the “art of crafting effective texts for specific
audiences” (Jolliffe). In this class you learn to:



Read texts critically (usually prose, from several disciplines and time periods) to see how an
author produces an effect on a particular audience.
Write texts in which you accomplish your purposes for a specific audience.
Develop research skills that allow you to evaluate sources, both primary and secondary, and
synthesize key information from them in order to support your researched argument, complete
with citations in MLA (Modern Language Format) format.
Every assignment and activity will help you practice these highly complex skills. There will be no
“busy” work. Each piece is a building block to get you to reach your goal. It is important that you are
present every day so that you do not miss a critical component.
We’ll study five canons of rhetoric—invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery—and apply
them to short, non-fiction selections and current issues. You will need to know your current events in
this class. We will read some fiction to analyze the author’s linguistic and rhetorical choices, but our
main focus is non-fiction. There are no entrance requirements for this class; you simply need a desire to
challenge yourself and satisfy your intellectual curiosity.
The texts we will read this year may include:
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Writing Well by Donald Hall and Sven Birkerts
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
“On Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
On Writing by Stephen King
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Language of Composition by Scanlon, Shea, and Aufses
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream. . . “ by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato from The Republic
“JKF Inaugural Address” by John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Released items from previous AP Language test
Supplemental newspaper columns, political cartoons, advertisements, film clips, artworks, websites,
poems, articles, graphs and charts
The class work we’ll do this year includes but it not limited to:















Discussing what we’ve read in large (Socratic Seminars) and small groups
Using protocols for text-based analysis
Practicing rhetorical analysis in timed writes
Taking and writing multiple choice tests
Analyzing previous AP exams
Acquiring new vocabulary
Learning to identify and apply rhetorical devices
Expressing ideas in writing and speech
Remediating problems with the conventions of grammar and spelling
Taking practice exams
Responding in writing to non-verbal texts paired with written texts, or as texts themselves
Responding in non-verbal ways to written texts
Close-reading of texts
Documenting your own research and analyzing the documentation of the research of published
authors
Crafting argument and analyzing the rhetoric of written argument









Writing essays of several kinds: narrative, expository, analytical, synthesis, compare/contrast,
argumentative
Practicing the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing publishing
Learning strategies of both peer and self-analysis of your own writing
Writing to think and writing to learn: journals, reader-response, free-writes, imitation of style,
collaborative writing, quick writes
Learning advanced research skills, using both primary and secondary sources
Evaluating sources, and artfully synthesizing information from sources
Using MLA format for research
Reviewing grammar (through subordination and coordination) as necessary to analyze syntax
and write a variety of sophisticated sentences
Practicing effective use of rhetorical modes, genre, and time periods by both canonical and
minority authors
You will be expected to:









Thoughtfully complete reading and writing assignments
Word-process work, submit work on time, and to be prepared to present information in an
exact manner
Be courteous and attentive while listening to discussions so that everyone’s opinion can be
heard and valued
Be organized and study skillfully
Put forth your best effort
Maintain a good attitude and an open mind
Adhere to classroom rules
Be generous with your intellectual contributions to all group work
Maintain honesty and integrity in all class transactions
I will promise to:










Come to class well-prepared
Treat you fairly and in your best educational interest
Stay organized and keep accurate records
Strive to make every lesson interesting and understandable
Provide a rigorous course in which all students can succeed
Post grades regularly to keep both you and your parents informed of your progress
Return constructive feedback on your writing in a timely manner
Stay current in the profession of teaching AP Language
Enforce both school and classroom policies fairly
Offer multiple opportunities for master of content
Month-by-Month Classroom activities, major assignments and assessments:
Summer 2010



Reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and Tuesdays With Morrie
Summer Journal on Omnivore’s Dilemma and Tuesdays With Morrie
Writing skills: teacher diagnosis based on several writing samples in a variety of modes
September:









Analyzing style: The Language of Composition
Reading inventory
Introduction to rhetorical vocabulary
Introduction to writing to a prompt (released AP Language questions and created questions
similar to AP prompts)
Close-reading strategies
Writing strong sentences: avoiding passive voice, vague reference, shifts in point-of-view,
pronoun antecedent agreement
Voice in writing
Tone
”Allegory of the Cave” by Plato revisited from 9th grade
October:







Understanding Diction and Point of View: Tuesdays With Morrie and hand-outs
Writing skills: sentence, paragraph structure (Language of Composition)
Peer revision/self-analysis of writing
Understanding Tone (Tuesdays With Morrie and various selected short pieces)
“Voice Lessons” (Voice Lessons by Nancy Dead)
Socratic discussion (Into the Wild and “To Build a Fire”)
Narrative Writing
November:






Writing analysis of non-fiction and fiction texts (tone, diction)
Understanding imagery: Frankenstein
Write an essay employing imagery
Practice timed writes (released or created free-response questions)
Continue work on writing skills: embedding quotations
The Five Canons of Rhetoric
December:

Writing a persuasive research report (synthesis of information) Frankenstein, Dead Man Walking






Research of primary and secondary documents
Note-taking strategies
Organization of a research paper (MLA)
Learning proper forms of citation (MLA)
Plagiarism
Examining synthesis writing: death penalty, evolution vs Creationism, local issue researched
January:







Preparing a debate on the local issue/examining both sides
Writing compare and contrast essays
Writing skills: effective transitions
Introduction to multiple choice items
Understanding and creating satire (“A Modest Proposal”; write a satirical essay on a current
local or national issue
Rhetorical analysis: “Letter to Birmingham Jail”
Understanding syntax: “JFK Inaugural Address”
February:







Visual literacy
Study of classical rhetoric
Writing persuasion/argument
Developing speech using specific forms of persuasion/argumentation
Analyzing persuasion: “I Have a Dream . . . “
Writing persuasively
Writing skills: coherence, fluency, and exactness
March:






AP Test deconstruction: The Things They Carried
Multiple choice practice/analysis
Effective support in writing
Continue rhetorical analysis (“On Civil Disobedience”)
Writing skills: convincing evidence and support
Rhetorical appeals
April:




AP practice exam
Continues synthesis, argument, analysis study
Rhetorical Terms practice
Test strategies


Take practice exam
Author’s craft (putting it all together)
May:






Score and review practice exam
AP exam
Analyzing literature: Book of choice
Oral presentation
Writing college essays: personal statement, college essay, biographical, and creative piece
College application, letters of recommendation, college website research
The following are integrated throughout the year: vocabulary, public speaking, spelling, grammar,
reading quizzes, discussions, free-writing, close-reading, and analysis of author’s craft. This time-line is
subject to change.
Assessments and Grading:
The work that you do in this course will enhance your abilities as writers, readers, and thinkers.
As a result, many of your assignments are formative assessments—to assess your skill level and adjust
our instruction to suit your needs. I encourage you to take risks with your writing, reading, and thinking.
I will evaluate your skills when we believe you have enough practice with a skill or concept. You have
opportunities to rewrite sections of papers once we have discussed your writing to improve your
summative score. We will continue to work on mastery throughout the year. These summative
assessments include:








Timed writes
Process writing: research argument, compare/contrast, satire, style analysis, exposition,
narrative, and persuasion.
Reading, grammar, and vocabulary quizzes
Weekly vocabulary checks
Independent book analyses
Participation in discussion
Student projects
Non-verbal responses to reading.