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AP English Language and Composition Fall 2015
This is the syllabus for Semester One of a two-semester course.
Dr. Margaret Smith
Faculty House, 2nd floor
(765) 285-7419 (no voice mail as of August)
msmith4@ bsu.edu
Office hours: Monday 4-7 Wednesday 1:10-2:10
and by appointment
Texts:
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Thursday 10:00 – 1:50
Lunsford and Ruskiewicz, Everything’s an Argument (5th ed.)
writing composed by you and your classmates
handouts, paper and digital
COURSE POLICIES
Materials: a folder for handouts from this class only, laptop for homework and class work,
storage device for keeping copies of all work handed in. Every day, bring your laptop or some
other device for accessing the internet. Keep all work through the end of the semester on a
storage device separate from your computer. Keep all graded work through the end of the
semester.
Late work:
 Formal essays
o Turned in late on assigned day: minus 2 points
o Turned in after the assigned day: minus 5 points per school day.
 Drafts for formal essays: When a draft is due in class for peer review or due in a
conference with me, it will not be accepted late. A missing draft will earn a zero that will
remain on your record.
 Journals and exercises (including any written assignment composed outside class
other than the formal essays and drafts.):
o These are due at the beginning of class, on paper, unless otherwise specified.
o Have an excused absence on the due date? Turn in the exercise on your first day
back and I will accept it. Think you have a good reason for an extension? Discuss
it with me.
o Don’t have an excused absence on the due date? Accept a zero for that exercise.
You are allowed one missed exercise without penalty. Failure to bring an essay
draft on the due date will not be excused, however.
 Printer problem? Email the work to me on time as a Word attachment and turn in the
paper copy by the next class day. Work turned in after that loses 1 point per class day.
 Turning in work to my mailbox: Have an Academy adult sign the paper and write on it
the time and date.
Blackboard:
 You can find the syllabus and most assignments on Blackboard.
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Please post each of the formal written essays on Blackboard, as well as handing
them in on paper. I may require that you post other assignments on Blackboard, as
well.
I may refuse to read your work until you have handed it in both digitally and on
paper.
Absences and Tardies: Academy policy applies. You may be reported absent or tardy if you
sleep in class, are found in violation of the dress code and are sent back to Wagoner to change, or
are found using your laptop for something that I consider unrelated to our class work. Absence
on the day an assignment is given is not an excuse for failure to hand in the assignment on
time. It’s your responsibility to find out what you’ve missed and catch up. Blackboard is very
helpful in such cases, and I recommend that you also consult with fellow students to find out
what you missed. Need more info to catch up? Ask me.
Laptop use: Sometimes you will be instructed or allowed to use your laptop in class. If you use
your laptop in class at any other time, or for any purpose that I deem unrelated to our work, you
may earn an unexcused absence.
Academic Integrity: It is extremely important that you hand in our own work and give credit
for any borrowed ideas, words, or information. Use MLA rules for documenting published
sources, and I will show you how to acknowledge unpublished sources (e.g., your roommate).
Do not use the work of someone else without documenting your use, and do not let anyone else
use your work without documentation. I take plagiarism seriously and will follow Academy
policies on Academic Integrity, which are laid out in the Handbook.
Help: If you ever have any questions about anything to do with this class, please get in touch
with me. I would be very happy to talk with you. Come by or call during my office hours, or
catch me before or after class to make an appointment, or e-mail me. I’m here to help!
Work will include:
 In-class essays (practice for AP Exam: synthesis (text-based arguments)), rhetorical
analysis, independent argument; 50 points each)
 Journals (including informal reading responses, reading notes, drafts and other steps in
composing process for formal writing; usually 20 points each)
 Evaluation of classmates’ writing (15-30 points each)
 Essays composed outside class (a rhetorical analysis of about 3-4 pages- 100 points; a
researched argument of 5-8 pages - 150 points; a visual analysis of about 3 pages - 100
points)
 In-class multiple-choice AP tests (52-55 points each)
 Style exercises
 Reading assignments for discussion, analysis, and response
 Participation in class discussions
 Participation in group and partner work
 Meeting individually with instructor
 Reading and responding with constructive criticism to the work of your classmates
 Allowing classmates to read and respond constructively to your work
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Grading: Each assignment will have a specified point value, and your grade will be
based on your accumulated points. PowerSchool will translate your points into
percentages and letter grades, using this scale: 97-100 =A+ 93-96=A 90-92= A- 8789= B+ 83-86= B 80-82=B- 77-79=C+ 73-76=C 70-72=C- 69 and below=D*
SCHEDULE
Here is a list of the first assignments and then the three essays you will compose outside class, in
the order in which they will be assigned. Page numbers refer to Lunsford and Ruskiewicz,
Everything’s an Argument (5th edition). More specific information, including due dates, will be
given in class and posted on Blackboard.
In-class exercises and exam prep will alternate with the assignments below:
1.
Rhetoric and the things arguments do
Leonard Pitts, “You Also Have the Right to Tell a Bigot What You Think”
(handout)
Chapter 1 in Lunsford & Ruskiewicz: “Everything Is an Argument,” 3-35
2.
Essay 1: a rhetorical analysis
Mark Edmundson on liberal education (handout)
Chapter 5 in L & R: “Rhetorical Analysis,” 95-123
Identifying rhetorical context; analyzing and evaluating arguments
Essay 1: analysis & evaluation of Edmundson. Draft due in class for peer review.
Hand in Essay 1 for a grade.
3. Essay 2: a research-based argument
Chapter 6: “Academic Arguments,” 133-146
Chapter 7: “Structuring Arguments,” 170-206
Select topic for Essay 2 (subject to instructor approval)
Research, inquiry
MLA review
Draft argument to convince
Draft due in class for peer review
Hand in essay for grade
4. Essay 3: a visual analysis, comparison, and evaluation
Multi-modal project on two visual arguments. Presented both as your written text
and through some other medium (power point or video or pictures, for example).
Chapters 2-3 (38-67). Pathos and ethos; Chapter 14: “Visual Arguments,”
(441-463)
Exercises
Draft of Essay 2 for peer review
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COURSE GOALS
To help students continue to develop as attentive, critical, insightful, and rhetorically alert
readers of texts from a variety of time periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts.
To help students continue to develop as effective, thoughtful, rhetorically alert writers of
prose for a variety of purposes and audiences.
To prepare students for the AP English Language and Composition exam.
COURSE CONTENT
(Quoted from The College Board, 2014)
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“Composing in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and
argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects
Writing that proceeds through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by
teacher and peers
Writing informally (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative
writing), which helps students become aware of themselves as writers and the
techniques employed by other writers
Writing expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions based on readings
representing a variety of prose styles and genres
Reading nonfiction (e.g., essays, journalism, science writing, autobiographies,
criticism) selected to give students opportunities to identify and explain an
author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques
Analyzing graphics and visual images both in relation to written texts and as
alternative forms of text themselves
Developing research skills and the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and
secondary sources
Conducting research and writing argument papers in which students present an
argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas from an
array of sources
Citing sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language
Association…)
Revising their work to develop
o A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;
o A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of
subordination and coordination;
o Logical organization, enhanced by techniques such as repetition,
transitions, and emphasis;
o A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail; and
o An effective use of rhetoric including tone, voice, diction, and sentence
structure.”
The College Board, AP English Language and Composition:
Workshop Handbook 2014-2015. 2014. 79.
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