AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Overview
This full-year course is a study of language. Students will focus on the differences
between oral and written discourse, formal and informal language, and historical changes
in speech and writing. The purpose of this course is to engage students in becoming
skilled readers of prose from a variety of time periods, disciplines, styles, and rhetorical
contexts. They will read complex primary and secondary sources carefully to perform
close readings and synthesize material for their own writing. They will become skilled
writers who compose for a variety of purposes focusing on an awareness of audience,
content, and purpose. The ability to write across the curriculum in both professional and
personal situations, both formally and informally will be developed through the use of
expository, analytical, and argumentative writing. Personal and reflective writing that
uses prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature
readers. The ability to explore ideas, reconsider strategies, and revise writing is of
importance in this course. Students will develop wide-ranging vocabulary, variety in
sentence structure, logical organization techniques, balance of detail, and an effective use
of rhetoric, tone, and voice in conjunction with diction and syntax. This is the
information age and an era where visuals and graphics play increasing importance.
Students will learn to evaluate graphics and visual images, and develop research skills
necessary to synthesize information through evaluation, use, and citation, for the purpose
of incorporation into their writing.
Course Planner
Over the summer, students will read Joan Didion’s “On Keeping a Notebook.” They will
be expected to complete nine one-page entries in their own notebooks on various topics.
When school resumes, they will complete three one-page entries. Over the course of the
first month, students will work on revisions and finalization of one entry and will select
an appropriate photographic representation for publication in a class notebook. An
additional entry will be selected and revised in order to be appropriate for a different
audience.
Week 1-2
Students will begin the course with a brief overview of course expectations. They will
take a practice English Language and Composition multiple-choice examination for
baseline data development. They will also take an ACT English practice test in order to
develop baseline data regarding grammatical and rhetorical knowledge in order to help
most effectively guide the grammar instruction for the course. The structure of the class
will include vocabulary development, grammar instruction, and close reading strategies.
Discussion and assertion journals, wherein students will respond to quotes associated
with themes of study, will have students provide a clear explanation of the writer’s
assertion, then defend or challenge it, noting the complexity of the issue and
acknowledging any possible objections to the student’s point of view. These assertion
journal entries will be representative of a body of work that will be revised for clarity,
style, and syntactical techniques (such as subordination, coordination, parallelism, and
varied sentences) as these techniques are learned in class. Students will also evaluate
themselves as developing writers through the use of reflective pieces assigned during
each unit of study.
In addition, students will read a number of essays relating to grammar and will be
expected to draft an expository essay to explain a concept selected by both the teacher
and student.
Readings:
“Language at Play,” Diane Ackerman
“Notes on Punctuation,” Lewis Thomas
“Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan
“Subjunctive Mood,” Michael Morano
On Writing, Stephen King
Reader’s notebooks will be kept and will include informal reflection on each reading
assignment as well as specific close reading focuses or additional entries assigned by the
instructor. Reader’s notebooks will also indicate the content, purpose, and audience of
each selection read for class.
Weeks 3-6
Students will begin the course by looking at analysis as a skill set. We will demonstrate
analysis by looking at various selections and discussing diction, syntax, tone, and style.
Students will write an analysis essay for a provided piece. We will also have a unit on
rhetorical modes and students will demonstrate the ability to write an essay in each of the
following rhetorical modes:
Description
Definition
Example or Illustration
Narration
Classification
Cause/Effect
Compare and Contrast
Process
Analogy
Student essays will undergo the revision process and a portfolio will be developed of
these essays. Students will also include the analysis essay and the rollercoaster essay.
Week 7-8
This portion of the course will focus on understanding and “reading” visual media.
Readings:
“The Tyranny of the Visual,” Michael J. Arlen
“And Now Let’s Hear it for the Ed Sullivan Show!” Donald Barthelme
“The Geography of the Imagination,” Guy Davenport
Everything’s an Argument, chapters 15-16
Students will concentrate their study of visuals by focusing on evaluating overview, parts,
title, interrelationships, and conclusion. Students will analyze a number of photographs,
political cartoons, and “youtube” entries. They will develop a portfolio to demonstrate
their findings.
Weeks 9-11
This portion of the course will focus on the history of rhetoric, as well as logic and
rhetorical fallacies, including ad hominem, argument from (false) authority, appeal to
ignorance, begging the question, hasty generalization, non sequitur, false dichotomy,
slippery slope, faulty causality, straw man argument, sentimental appeals, red herring,
scare tactics, bandwagon appeals, dogmatism, equivocation, and faulty analogy. Students
will read various chapters of Everything’s an Argument to help students understand the
intricacies of argument. We will work with a number of examples of these fallacies and
techniques in order to become comfortable with identifying them in the words and
writing of others.
Readings:
Everything’s an Argument
Emily Dickinson “Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant”
Students will analyze visual media in the form of commercials and print advertisements
looking for examples of these rhetorical fallacies. Students will work with partners to
analyze advertisement and create a display that classifies the advertisements according to
rhetorical fallacy. Other examples will be added to the display as they become evident
throughout the course of the year.
In order to begin developing the skills necessary for synthesis papers, students will select
a current event political topic and develop a portfolio that includes a political cartoon, a
newspaper article, a weekly magazine article, an editorial, and a videotape of a news
program (such as Meet the Press). Students will evaluate each element of the portfolio
and identify the elements of rhetoric speaker, subject, audience, context and aim. They
will identify appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos, as well as other techniques discussed in
this unit. Students, in a formal essay, will compare and contrast the elements of the
portfolio and analyze the effectiveness of each piece. They will also identify any
examples of rhetorical fallacies.
Students will also write an argument essay using any school-appropriate topic of their
choice.
Putting it all together
Students will now have the basic skills necessary to write the main types of essays that
form the basis of this course and most college writing. We will move into the various
thematic units of study.
Over the summer, students will read the novels associated with our first unit of study.
They will keep reader’s notebooks that demonstrate close reading strategies and will be
the basis for discussion.
Weeks 12-13
Unit 1
Identity and the role of family
Readings:
The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner
“Shunned,” Meredith Hall
“Being Brians,” Brian Doyle
“Leaving Babylon: A Walk Through the Jewish Divorce Ceremony,”
Judyth Har-Even
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
“Going Home Again,” Richard Rodriquez
“My Father,” Doris Lessing
“The Vanishing Act,” Dan Jacobson
“Quintana,” John Gregory Dunne
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
The Pecking Order, Which Siblings Succeed and Why, Dalton Conley
Family in America, Greenhaven Press
For this unit students will write two analytical essays. One will focus on a nonfiction
piece and the other on a fiction piece of the students’ choosing.
Weeks 14-17
The development and role of government
Readings:
The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli
The Iroquois Constitution, Dekanawida
The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson
“Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry
“The Crisis, Number 1,” Thomas Paine
John Locke, “Second Treatise on Government”
“The Mayflower Compact”
“Trotsky, Orwell, and Socialism,” Dwight MacDonald
“The Flag,” Russel Baker
“The Ninth Presidential Paper—Totalitarianism,” Norman Mailer
This unit will be the basis for our study on argumentative essays. Students will learn that
arguments can take many different forms including argument to inform, argument to
convince, argument to explore, and argument to make decisions. Utilizing the text,
Everything’s an Argument, students will develop the ability to analyze and write in a
variety of argument techniques and styles. Students will evaluate the pieces of writing in
this unit, and through discussion and close reading strategies, will write expository,
analytical, and argumentative essays. They will also evaluate speeches and discuss the
difference in rhetorical strategy between speeches and written essays. In addition,
students will learn more about the benefits of revision by viewing the revisions to
Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence made by Benjamin
Franklin.
The following papers will be written as part of this unit:
Compare The Iroquois Constitution and The U.S. Constitution or The
Prince and The Declaration of Independence focusing on specific aspects.
Each student will be given a topic of focus and during the peer revision
process; students will develop a more complete understanding of these
pieces.
Problem-Solution – students will focus on a problem that exists in the
United States today
Analytical – students will be given one of the pieces from this unit to
focus on for analysis
Argumentative – students will draft an essay using the techniques
discussed for a topic of their choice relating to the United States.
As always, peer and teacher editing and revision is an important part of this course and
will be utilized during this unit.
Now that the writing formats tested on the AP English Language and Composition exam
have been learned, students will continue their thematic work with both fiction and
nonfiction. For each of the following units, students are expected to read and discuss the
selections provided. They will also have three major papers, a reflective piece, and a
synthesis project in addition to one impromptu paper. The three major papers and the
synthesis project will be assigned through the development of paper proposals in which
the student indicates a particular focus and through meetings with the teacher and peers,
is able to hone the assignment to one that is appropriate and workable. In addition, the
synthesis project will be a documented research project and will include both primary and
secondary sources. Students will turn in an evaluation of the texts provided as part of the
synthesis. They will write their synthesis project using MLA style.
Though the format and specifics will be individually developed, each unit will have the
following papers:
Expository
Analytical
Argumentative
Synthesis project
Reflective
The units of study are outlined below. In addition to the readings selected, students will
be encouraged to add additional pieces and will be expected to add visuals to the
synthesis project.
Weeks 18-20
Justice in America
Readings:
The Arc of Justice, Kevin Boyle
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
“Finder’s Keepers: The Story of Joey Coyle,” Mark Bowden
“Notes from a Difficult Case,” Ruthann Robson
“Jury Duty,” William Zinsser
“Afterthoughts on the Rosenbergs,” Leslie A. Fielder
“How Much Due Process is Due a President,” Charles Rembar
The Crucible, Arthur Miller
Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most
Hated Senator, Arthur Herman
Weeks 21-23
Racial identity and tension in America
Readings:
Weeks 24-27
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass
March on Washington Address, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The Ballot or the Bullet,” Malcolm X
“Immigration Act of 1924”
“Statement on the Causes of Wounded Knee,” Red Cloud
The Fourteenth and Fifteen Amendments
“The Emancipation Proclamation,” Abraham Lincoln
“Declaration of Indian Purpose”
“Looking at Emmett Till,” John Edgar Wideman
“The Brown Study,” Richard Rodriguez
A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Native Son, Richard Wright
“How It Feels to be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston
Henry Ford and the Jews, Albert Lee
Ethnic Conflict, Greenhaver Press
Racial Healing Confronting the Fear Between Blacks and Whites, Harlon
L. Dalton
Race and Place: Race Relations in an American City, Susan Welch, Lee
Sigelman, Timothy Bledsoe, Michael Combs
Class in America
Readings:
“Going Native,” Francine Prose
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sister Carrie, Theodore Drieser
Positively American, Chuck Shumer
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
“Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem,” James Baldwin
“On Being Black and Middle Class,” Shelby Steele
The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner
Weeks 28-31
Women
Readings:
The Awakening, Kate Chopin
“Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Convention”
“Speech at the United Nations Conference on Women,” Hillary Rodham
Clinton
“I’d Rather Be Black Than Female,” Shirley Chisholm
“Letter to John Adams,” Abigail Adams
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin
Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher
Where Women Stand, Naomi Neft and Ann Levine
We are our Mother’s Daughters, Cokie Roberts
Sex and Social Justice, Martha C. Nussbaum
Associated readings on women’s history
Weeks 32-35
A Study of War and America’s Role in the World
Readings:
“How to Write a True War Story,” Tim O’Brien
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
“Farewell Address,” George Washington
“The Gettysburg Address,” Abraham Lincoln
“I Will Fight No More Forever,” Chief Joseph
“War Message to Congress,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“Speech at the Berlin Wall,” John F. Kennedy
“Inaugural Address,” John F. Kennedy
“My War,” Paul Fussell
The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane
Weapons of Mass Distraction, Matthew Fraser
How to Overthrow the Government, Arianna Huffington
United We Stand: A Message for All Americans, President George Bush
Weeks 36-40
As students are expected to have taken the AP English Language and Composition exam
and are expected to take the AP English Composition and Literature course as seniors,
the remaining four weeks of class will allow for student selection of novels off the AP
Literature reading list.
Assessments*
Essays 40%: All formal essays will be included in this 40%. The grade will be based on
the final essay only. All rough drafts and revisions will count in the daily assignment
grade.
Synthesis Research Project & Tests 25%: This project will be utilizing MLA style and
will include an evaluative piece (essay) referencing the sources that you used.
Daily Assignments 20%: Daily assignments include rough drafts, revisions, class
participation, grammar, and everyday classwork.
Impromptu Essays & Quizzes 15%: There will be an impromptu essay (including ACT
essays) for each unit beginning in Week 16 as well as several impromptu essays on the 3
major types of essays that you will be writing on the AP English Language Test. These
essays include an Argumentative Essay, a Synthesis Essay, and a Rhetorical Analysis
Essay. As such, the first 10 weeks of the course will have daily assignments account for
20% of the grade.
*Please note that copying, “working together” cut and pasting, or paraphrasing any
answers for any of the assignments above whether it’s from the internet or from a fellow
human being is ABSOLUTELY prohibited unless you are told otherwise! You will
receive a “zero” for any assignments that are plagiarized, or suspiciously paraphrased
without any opportunity to make up the work!
**Optional