Malibu High School
310-457-6801, ext. 208 bthoreson@smmusd.org
Bonnie Thoreson, Instructor
11AP Language and Composition: 2012-2013
Assignments: link on MHS Website
Submit papers to: www.turnitin.com
Class ID: 5106125
Password: English
GOALS: Students will be exposed to many genres of writing, with a focus on American literature, and will be able to analyze the purpose and rhetorical strategies of a wide range of non-fiction and fictional texts. Students will learn to read, write, analyze, and synthesize information at a college level. Students will be prepared to take the Advanced Placement Exam in Language and Composition in May.
FOCUS: A primary focus of this course is on the use of language; extensive work is planned in learning how to analyze an author’s rhetorical choices. Persuasive writing and the synthesis of information from a variety of sources will also be emphasized .
OBJECTIVES: Students will demonstrate achievement of the California Language Arts Standards,
Grade 11, and will acquire the necessary skills to be prepared for the College Board’s AP Language and
Composition examination.
ACADEMIC HONESTY: School policy on the serious matter of academic honesty will be followed.
Plagiarism from a published source, copying from a student, or allowing someone to copy your work are all considered cheating. If academic dishonesty occurs, students will receive no credit for the assignment.
Students should also be aware that teachers are asked to comment on academic and personal integrity in writing letters of recommendation to college.
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES: Students must turn in work on the assigned due date at the start of the class period. If students are absent on the day of a major assignment, assignments must be emailed or faxed to the school on the required date or the paper will be considered late. The grade will be lowered one letter grade for each day a major assignment is late.
BOOK LIST:
Main Text: (Provided by the school.)
Baym, Nina, et. al, eds., The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Sixth Edition,
2003
Additional Class Texts: (Available at school, but recommended that students purchase their own copy to annotate.)
Hawthorne , The Scarlet Letter
Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Miller, The Crucible
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Hughes, A Raisin in the Sun

FIRST SEMESTER
Note: all page numbers refer to The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Edition 6
VISIONS AND VOICES OF THE NEW WORLD
Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” (handout)
Aug./Sept.
Donne, “Elegy 19: To His Mistress Going to Bed” (handout)
Marvell, “Bermuda” (handout)
Smith, General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles , pp. 42-53
Lispector, “The Smallest Woman in the World” (handout)
Exodus, chap. 3, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 32-33; Numbers, chap. 13-15 (www.biblegateway.com)
Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, pp. 75-83
Lesson Focus: Close reading/diction; AP terminology; author’s purpose; rhetorical modes; points of view; writing style elements; grammar-sentence structure; allegory and religious allusions; works cited page.
Writing Focus: Style analysis paper; Synthesis paper: development of theme using class readings and outside sources, 5-7 pages
Sept./Oct.
CREATING A NEW AMERICAN IDENTITY
Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” pp. 212-219
Franklin, “The Way to Wealth,” pp. 221-226
Irving, “Rip Van Winkle,” pp. 448-460
Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” pp. 714-727
Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Lesson Focus: Jeremiad; aphorisms; diction; style analysis; tone/attitude
Writing Focus: The Scarlet Letter essay; AP style analysis essay
POLITICAL RHETORIC IN THE AGE OF REASON
Paine, “The Crisis,” pp. 328-334
Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence,” pp. 336-342
Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” pp. 759-760
Lesson Focus: Persuasive techniques; parallel structure.
Writing Focus: Analysis of political rhetoric; AP style analysis essay
Oct.
SOCIAL CRITICS: TRANSCENDENTALISTS, ABOLITIONISTS,
FEMINISTS, AND OTHERS
Melville, “Bartleby, The Scrivener,” pp. 1086-1111
Oct./Nov.
Emerson, “Nature” pp. 486-493
Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods, pp.895-905
Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (excerpt, handout)
Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, pp. 939-973
Stowe,
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
, pp. 774-783
Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” pp. 1658-1671
Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Lesson Focus: Dialect; archetypes; continued focus on style analysis

Writing Focus: Personal connection to Transcendentalism; Synthesis: Statement of Personal
Beliefs; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn essay
DEVELOPING AN AMERICAN LITERARY VOICE:
REALISM/REGIONALISM
Henry James, “Daisy Miller,” pp. 1501-1539
Chopin, “The Storm,” pp. 1603-1607
Dec.
Review for final
Lesson Focus: Development of a uniquely American literary style and voice; AP Multiple
Choice Testing.
Writing Focus: Daisy Miller essay; final examination: AP style analysis essay
SECOND SEMESTER
NATURALISM, SPITITUALITY, POLITICAL CRITIQUE
Crane, “The Open Boat,” pp. 1721-1738
London, “To Build a Fire,” pp. 1762-1773
Black Elk and Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks (excerpt), pp. 1824-1836
Miller, The Crucible
Lesson Focus: Naturalism; Characterization; McCarthyism
Jan.
Writing Focus: The Crucible essay
ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION
Swift, “A Modest Proposal” (handout)
King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (handout)
Readings on advertising (handouts); analysis of visual texts
Readings on issues in education (handouts)
Feb.
Lesson Focus: analysis of persuasive techniques; logical fallacies; deduction versus induction
Writing Focus: analysis of advertising; essay on controversial issue in education.
FITZGERALD AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
Fitzgerald, “Winter Dreams,” pp. 2174-2143
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Lesson Focus: Style analysis; re-examining the American Dream.
Writing Focus: The Great Gatsby essay
March
LANGSTON HUGHES; REVIEW FOR AP EXAM
Hughes, A Raisin in the Sun
Synthesis Essay—various readings from College Board
April/May
Lesson Focus: Timed writing practice; how to approach the synthesis essay, multiple choice testing; review AP terminology.
Writing Focus: Synthesis essay.
THE COLLEGE ESSAY May/June
Writing the personal essay for college will constitute the final examination.