AP English Language and Composition Syllabus
Mr. Malmed
2012-2013 School Year
Course Overview
The purpose of this course is to develop your ability to read, write, speak, and
think effectively at a mature college level and beyond. It will adhere to the guidelines set
by the College Board’s Advanced Placement Course Description and prepare you to
score highly on the AP Exam, receive Advanced Placement, and earn college credit
where applicable. A majority of challenging non-fiction reading material will be used but
fiction and poetry will receive significant attention as well. Among the possible
selections will be the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Autobiography of
Malcolm X, selections from Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau,
and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig as well as the assigned
summer reading: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. For
all material, the emphasis will be on understanding authors’ rhetorical and linguistic
strategies, effects, and choices as opposed to gaining an overarching comprehension of
their place in the literary canon.
The course will be separated into three major units that reflect the make-up of the
AP Language and Composition Exam: Rhetorical Analysis, Synthesis/Exposition, and
Argument as well as a final Narrative unit at the end of the year. Though each unit will
have a primary focus, elements of the others will blend in during each unit. For example,
there will be ample rhetoric analysis while studying expository techniques and plenty of
synthesizing when focusing on argument. Units will cover a variety of subjects but will
all focus on an element of American life including but not limited to religion, politics, the
media, art, literature, popular culture, and history. Each unit will inform the subsequent
unit: for example, you will develop your analytical skills during the Rhetorical Analysis
unit in order to report, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize during the Synthesis/Exposition
unit as a means to composing sophisticated arguments during the Argument Unit. By the
end of the year this work will evolve into a complex study of narrative techniques where
you analyze and evaluate rhetorical and linguistic strategies and put them into practice in
your own autobiographical writing during a Narrative unit. Throughout the entire year,
you will develop close-reading strategies that will enhance your ability to analyze and
evaluate authorial style. You will practice short, informal journal writing to develop
awareness of your own cognitive processes and apply them to long, formal essay writing
that moves beyond the limiting format of the 5-paragraph essay. You will develop
research skills that enable you to evaluate primary and secondary sources as a means to
synthesize information, and, during the Argument Unit, present an argument of your own.
You will study visual images and graphics via visual art, theatre, dance, photography,
film, video, television, and political cartoons to supplement your study of analysis,
exposition, argument, and narrative. You will receive, throughout the entire year,
intensive practice in grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, and rhetorical strategies to
improve your written and verbal skills.
Since this is an advanced placement course, the demands on you will be greater
than in other courses. The reading material will be more challenging and of a higher
quantity, and the writing will be more extensive. A minimum of five hours per week of
homework can be expected with numerous projects that will exceed that amount. A
working competence in writing mechanics will be expected since this course is designed
to take you beyond the formats you’ve developed in previous years. Completion of the
summer reading assignment is expected and will be used for the first lessons of the year
Assignment Types with Point Values
Essays (50 points):
These are the most valuable assignments. You will receive ample practice and
preparation both inside and outside of class to score well. There will be at least four
major essays assigned per unit. For each, there will be at least three drafts composed that
will be edited by both your peers and me at separate stages. You will receive specific
instruction on the writing and editing process, particularly how to develop a solid
organizational structure, controlling perspective, clear assertions followed by
development and/or textual support, precise MLA citations where applicable, an
understanding of your audience, a variety of sentence types, a wide-ranging vocabulary,
and an overall fluency using techniques like parallelism, repetition, and emphasis with
graceful transitions between ideas. The goal is to move beyond the 5-paragraph format
into a more mature, elaborate style. The topics will vary in accordance with the unit
we’re studying. There will be expository and analytical essays, persuasive essays that will
incorporate elaborate research from both primary and secondary sources synthesized into
a clear position, and autobiographical narrative essays that will address a topic or
question related to the subject we are covering.
Oral and Visual Presentations (25-50points):
Using the same rhetorical and linguistic strategies you will have been developing for your
essays, you will present at least two oral presentations that effectively use visual aids
(e.g. Powerpoint, video, overhead transparencies, or posters) to support your assertions.
At least one of the projects must be the creation of a documentary-style video in and out
of the classroom that employs the research, organizational, and rhetorical skills used in
the essays. The study of visual and graphic images will act as a guide for you in the
construction of your own project.
Paragraphs: (10-25 points):
These are formal responses to the reading material. They will be of an analytical,
argumentative, or expository nature depending on the unit we’re currently covering. In all
units, the paragraphs will require you to present the context, reveal the author’s assertion,
explain the writer/speaker’s mode of support, and articulate the relationship between
author and audience by identifying the author’s tone.
Journal Writing (25 points cumulatively collected once a month):
On a daily basis, you will be required to keep a journal of immediate responses to reading
and classroom discussion in either free or visual (charts and graphics) form. The idea is to
allow for free-flowing cognition and to get you used to writing regularly. Grading will
not be based on “right” or “wrong” answers but on the thoughtful commitment to the
writing activity. Journal entries will be used as launching points for the larger research
projects and essays.
Research (10-25 points):
Before composing research papers that use primary and secondary sources and cite
according to MLA guidelines, you will be required to present your research either in
journal/note form or else computer printouts with important information highlighted. The
lower end of the point scale will be for the presentation of research and on the higher, the
research will be organized into outline form for an essay.
Vocabulary Quizzes (10 points):
Periodically (usually every week) you will be given vocabulary lists with 10 words from
an SAT collection. They will not always come from the material you will be working on,
though you will also be responsible for all unknown vocabulary and get used to using a
dictionary on a regular basis. Since you have SATs to prepare for, it will serve them well
to learn some of those words which, unfortunately won’t always coincide with our
reading material. Quizzes will usually be on Fridays and will require you to define the
word and use it correctly in a sentence.
Grammar and Syntax Quizzes (5-10 points):
Mixed in with the vocabulary quizzes, there will be periodic quizzes on principles of
grammar and syntax.
Grading:
A+ = 97-100%
A = 93-96%
A- = 90-92%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 83-86%
B- = 80-82%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 73-76%
C- = 70-72%
D+ = 67-69%
D = 63-66%
D- = 60-62%
F = 59% and below
Late Work:
For most writing assignments and homework, late submissions will be accepted
but only for partial credit. Deductions will be made per day late depending on the point
value of the assignment. For example, 50 point assignments will be deducted 5 points per
day late.
Extra Credit:
There are no extra credit assignments offered, but additional credit can be earned
by revising any writing assignment based on comments and instruction I have provided.
The “extra credit” will come in the form of an averaged score between the original score
and the revision. For example a revision on an original 40/50 score that earns a perfect
50/50 will receive a final, averaged score of 45/50.
Supplies
Students must have the following materials with them every day:
1. A three ring binder with extra paper
2. Blue or black pens and #2 pencils
3. A planner/agenda (this must have enough space for each calendar day
to record all of you homework assignments for every class
4. Any and all relevant reading material
Classroom Rules
 When someone has permission to speak, everyone respectfully listens
 Absolutely NO food, drinks (except water), head-phones, or applying of make-up
 NO hate language that insults a person’s gender, religion, sexual orientation,
physical appearance, or race will be tolerated
 NO writing on desks, chairs or other parts of the classroom
 NO packing up before the bell rings (even if there is just a minute left)
 Arrive on time
Course Schedule
Rhetorical Analysis Unit (September through November):
Unit Overview:
Here the groundwork is laid for the entire year since the skills in this unit will be
applicable to the subsequent Synthesis/Exposition, Argument, and Narrative Units.
Rhetorical strategies are identified in selected essays, analyzed as to how they are used,
and evaluated according to their effectiveness. For each reading assignment, students
maintain a journal that records author’s purpose, style, and audience. They identify
rhetorical strategies such as logos, pathos, ethos, stylistic schemes, tropes and
grammatical rules then incorporate these tools in their own essays and paragraphs.
Different techniques are introduced as they are encountered in multiple essays, in The
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, various political speeches, debates, and The
Autobiography of Malcolm X. Visual images such as photographs, print advertisements,
paintings, and film are all evaluated for their meanings.
Unit Texts:
 Novels:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
 Speeches:
Transcripts of the 2008 Presidential and Vice Presidential Convention Speeches
2008 Presidential Debates
 Essays:
(from Prose Models 11th Edition by Gerald Levin)
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
A Well in India by Peggy and Pierre Streit
Kinds of Discipline by John Holt
Discipline-To What End? by Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux
The Santa Ana by Joan Didion
Hopper by Mark Strand
On Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, 1942 by Joyce Carol Oates
 Photography:
Iwo Jima photograph by Joe Rosenthal
9/11 Flag Raising photograph by Thomas E. Franklin
Joel Sternfeld
 Painting
Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
 Film:
Seven Chances by Buster Keaton
Assessments:
Quizzes:
 Vocabulary from reading assignments and an SAT collection
 Reading: daily knowledge-based designed to reward consistent daily close
reading
 Grammar: clauses (subordinate, adverb, noun, adjective), phrases (gerund,
participial, infinitive, appositive, prepositional), sentence types (simple,
complex, compound, compound-complex), Syntax, Diction
Journals: Collected every five weeks. Graded according to thoughtful, creative effort
and adherence to prompts.
Short Compositions:
 Prompt: In at least one paragraph using and commenting on textual references,
identify rhetorical strategies that Joan Didion uses in The Santa Ana and how they
express her thesis.
 Prompt: In at least one paragraph using and commenting on textual references,
identify rhetorical strategies that Frederick Douglass uses in his autobiography
and how they reveal his tone.
 Prompt: In at least one paragraph using and commenting on textual references,
identify rhetorical strategies that Malcolm X uses in his autobiography and how
they reveal his tone.

Prompt: Using references from chapters 14-16 of the Autobiography of Malcolm
X, in a minimum of one paragraph, explain who Malcolm X’ audience is.
(Others can be added based on the direction that student interest and classroom
discussion lead.)
Essays: (two drafts minimum, edited by peers and teacher)
 Visual Analysis
Prompt: Analyze the techniques Edward Hopper uses to express meaning in his
painting Nighthawks. Compare and contrast you interpretation to Mark Strand’s in
Hopper and Joyce Carol Oates’ in On Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, 1942.
 Rhetorical Analysis
Prompt: Compare George Orwell’s Shooting and Elephant to Pierre and Peggy
Streit’s A Well in India. Using specific textual references, explain how each
author uses rhetorical strategies to express their meaning.
Synthesis/Exposition Unit (November through January)
Unit Overview:
Expository techniques are analyzed as students revisit their summer reading: Malcolm
Gladwell’s Outliers and Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. Both Krakauer and Gladwell’s
ability to synthesize researched information to develop a thesis will be studied. Similar
research methods will be practiced as students research a chosen, teacher-approved issue
in contemporary American life (e.g. energy policy, abortion, drug legalization,
immigration, war, etc.)
Unit Texts:
 Novels
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Assessments:
Quizzes:
 Vocabulary from reading assignments and an SAT collection
 Reading: daily knowledge-based designed to reward consistent daily close
reading
Journals: Collected every five weeks. Graded according to thoughtful, creative effort
and adherence to prompts.
Research: Five primary and secondary sources are required for the culminating research
project including a minimum of two books and three web sites, magazine articles, or
newspaper columns using citations in standard MLA format. Before a rough draft is
presented, students must present their sources for teacher approval.
Essays: (two drafts minimum, edited by peers and teacher)

Exposition
Prompt: Research an issue in discussed in the current news media. Give the
background, history, and inherent problems with the issue. Weigh the pros and
cons and synthesize a conclusion about the selected issue. Use at least five
primary and secondary sources including two books and three web sites,
magazine articles, or newspaper columns citing sources with footnotes and a
bibliography using standard MLA format. Include three images embedded in your
paper that adeptly communicate the ideas in your thesis.
Argument Unit (February through April)
Unit Overview:
Using what they’ve learned in Exposition and Analysis, students develop their ability to
recognize and use persuasive techniques. Having begun The Autobiography of Malcolm X
from a purely rhetorical perspective, the focuses shifts to analyzing his persuasive
techniques. As an introduction to argument, students take a position on whether they
agree or disagree with Malcolm X’s statements about achieving goals and the history of
“white” America. Several essays on a variety of topics in American life are then read that
use different persuasive techniques to support their claim. Multiple varieties of argument
are introduced such as emotional, value-based, character-based, humor-based, and
logical. In their journal, students maintain a working analytical record of the ones utilized
and evaluate their effectiveness. Different persuasive mediums beyond written and digital
words are studied such as television, film, cartoons, websites, and political campaign
advertisements. To complete the unit, students must take a position on a controversial
issue in contemporary American life or debated episode from American history. They
must research their issue in the same manner as their previous Exposition paper with the
new task of arguing a position on the issue. Upon completion of the essay, students
develop their position into a persuasive speech using visual aids (videos, Powerpoint
presentations, posters, etc.) that contribute to their message.
Unit Texts:
 Novels
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
 Essays
from Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
from Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
What Is a Homosexual? by Andrew Sullivan
Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public by Myriam Marquez
A Patriotic Left by Michael Kazin
Suite for Ebony and Phonics by John Rickford
Why Shouldn’t the Epidermally Challenged Get Help? by Angella Neustatter
Men Should Have Better Things To Do by Louisa Young
One Picture is Worth a Thousand Diets by W. Charisse Goodman
 Speeches
I Have A Dream Martin Luther King, Jr.
Address to a Joint Congress and the American People, September 20, 2001 George
W. Bush
 Film
Sicko by Michael Moore
Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
Wag the Dog by David Mamet
 Television
clips from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
clips from The O’Reilly Factor
clips from Hannity and Colmes
clips from Real Time with Bill Maher
 Advertisements
various print and television media
Assessments:
Quizzes:
 Vocabulary from reading assignments and an SAT collection
 Reading: daily knowledge-based designed to reward consistent daily close
reading
Journals: Collected every five weeks. Graded according to thoughtful, creative effort
and adherence to prompts.
Research: Five primary and secondary sources are required for the culminating research
project including a minimum of two books and three web sites, magazine articles, or
newspaper columns using citations in standard MLA format. Before a rough draft is
presented, students must present their sources for teacher approval.
Short Compositions:
 Prompt: Write at least one paragraph stating whether you agree or disagree with
Malcolm X’s views on the use of violence. Give examples that support your
position.
 Prompt: In at least one paragraph, explain whose argument is more effective on
the topic of male plastic surgery: Angella Neustatter’s or Louisa Young’s. Use
specific examples to support your position
 Prompt: Choose any of the essays you’ve read so far and write at least three
paragraphs using textual evidence analyzing the author’s rhetoric. Evaluate
whether the author’s argument is credible.
(Others can be added based on the direction that student interest and classroom
discussion lead.)
Essays:
 Prompt: Choose a controversial issue in contemporary American life or a debated
episode in American history and write an essay in which you research the topic
thoroughly and argue for a position on the issue. As with your previous paper, at
least five primary and secondary sources are required including two books and
three web sites, magazine articles, or newspaper columns. All sources must be
cited with footnotes and a bibliography using standard M.L.A format. Use at least
three graphics that contribute to your position.
Speeches:
 Prompt: Develop your persuasive research paper into a speech using a visual aid
to contribute to your claim.
Narrative Unit (April through June):
The final unit of the course will be the Narrative Unit in which all the synthesis,
persuasion, and rhetorical analysis studies will be applied to narrative reading, writing,
and speaking in both verbal and visual modes. Several aspects of narrative are introduced
such as memoir, description, and dialogue, along with different varieties of structural
organization. Students record in their journals the effect of different techniques and
imitate selected narrative styles as encountered in readings. Several non-fiction narrative
essays, selections from Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, and the novel Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig are read. Non-fiction, narrative films
are analyzed for the methods by which they communicate meaning. Students eventually
compose their own personal narrative using the techniques they’ve encountered and turn
it into an oral presentation either live or on video using visual aids.
Unit Texts:
 Novels:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
 Essays:
My Grandmother by John Updike
One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty
Flying by James Salter

Film:
When We Were Kings by Leon Gast
Born on the Fourth of July by Oliver Stone
Assessments:
Quizzes:
 Vocabulary from reading assignments and an SAT collection
 Reading: daily knowledge-based designed to reward consistent daily close
reading
Journals: Collected every five weeks. Graded according to thoughtful, creative effort
and adherence to prompts (graphic organizers, free-writing, and imitation exercises)
Compositions:
 Prompt: Describe the worst day you had last week in the style of Maxine Hong
Kingston by using a fantasy to parallel your everyday experience as a way to
express meaning.
 Prompt: Write a memoir in which you descriptively narrate your experience with
an important person, object, or place.
 Prompt: Compose a personal narrative in which you describe a major event in
your life that helped formulate your moral code.
 Prompt: Compose a personal narrative in which you use aspects of memoir and
parable to reveal a truth about life.
 Prompt: How does Oliver Stone use visual imagery to contribute to a theme in
Born on The Fourth of July
Oral Presentation:
 Prompt: Using any one of the narratives you’ve composed during this unit into a
verbal narrative. You must use some extra form of media such as visual aids
slides, Powerpoint, video, art, or music to assist you.