AP English Language and Composition
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Advanced Placement English Language and
Composition Syllabus
Course Overview
The AP Language and Composition course is a college-level program that introduces students to a wide
range of expository prose in order to broaden their scope of rhetorical ideas and deepen their awareness of
the power of language. The course is designed to meet the rigorous requirements of a college level writing
class and includes expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and
historical contexts. These works provide examples of prose writings that students can emulate in their own
writing experiences as they discover and create their own style and voice.
This course provides students with the information necessary to read analytically, formulate theories and
arguments based on the readings, and respond by composing articulate essays that utilize advanced
elements of sentence structure, syntax, style, purpose, and tone. The purpose of the AP English Language
course is to help students “write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum
and in their Professional and personal lives.” (The College Board, AP English Course Description, May
2007, p. 6). Using rhetorical principles, students will learn how to become critical thinkers, and apply that
knowledge to their writing by revising and improving their essays, as well as critiquing and editing peer
essays. In addition, students will be required to thoroughly research relevant topics, synthesize information
from a variety of sources, and document their knowledge in a cogent well written report using proper cite
notations such as MLA or APA.
The AP Language and Composition Course will be presented in thematic format and the grading will
include the following:
Formal Research Papers: Students will research topics of interest based on prior readings or current
events and develop and support a thesis. Students will be required to submit a rough draft for peer editing,
and a subsequent draft for individual assessment with the teacher before turning in the final research paper.
Responses to literature: Students will be required to analyze required weekly readings and write
expository responses that identify the author’s purpose, audience, and tone citing specific examples from
the text to substantiate the students’ claims.
Tests: As a consistent element of practice, students will take multiple-choice tests based on rhetorical
strategies and their functions in given passages. Students will take practice AP Exams at least two times
each month, as well as, quarterly benchmark tests.
Quizzes: Quizzes will be administered intermittently, often with no prior warning, to assess reading
comprehension, rhetorical vocabulary, oral discussions, and basic grammar requirements.
Daily Observation/Work-In-Progress Journals: Journal entries may include pensive and thoughtful
observations that reflect the theme of the current unit, or ideas about revising or modifying a research
paper. Students will note details of change in their journals and transfer the information to their research
papers.
Sundays News/Mondays Views: Each Monday students will select an editorial or article from the Sunday
newspaper, synthesize the message, identify key rhetorical elements, and discuss the tone and audience.
Class Participation: Participation in class encompasses grammar reviews, vocabulary exercises, and
dialectic text analysis. During class discussions, students are encouraged to offer comments and critiques
to support or refute claims by giving concrete details for support. Students are to model correct interaction
and argumentation techniques during class discussions. To be successful a student needs to be in class each
day because information builds upon prior information.
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The units are designed to consistently build a knowledge base for the students as they write and revise their
work using precept upon precept. At the completion of the course, students will write essays and research
papers that:
 Demonstrate a strong vocabulary used effectively and appropriately
 Offer varied sentence structure and syntax
 Utilize specific rhetorical techniques such as repetition, parallel structure, logical organization, and
appropriate transitions
 Establish a controlling tone, maintaining voice, and appropriate emphasis
 State a coherent thesis and support their ideas with concrete details
 Use the correct MLA or APA format
 List an accurate and complete bibliography
Statement of Learning Outcomes and School Expectations:
All students will achieve the following PRIDE skills in 11th grade AP English:
Powerfully Prepared for College and Career (by)
Demonstrating proficiency in English by passing the PSAT
Taking and passing practice SAT exams
Researching, developing and writing a report on a current controversial health topic
Writing a personal mission statement for college applications
Preparing, writing, and presenting a lesson plan about a health topic
Responsible Citizen (by):
Teaching underclassmen and community members about a nutritional topic
Maintaining organization of English papers and assignments
Coming prepared to class to positively participate in class discussions
Offering support and help in completing IUP’s
Attending class every day it is in session
Independent Critical Thinker (by)
Creating and defining a word that signifies them
Writing persuasive, narrative, and expository essays that maintain a controlling thesis and include supporting facts
Evaluating and revising their own writing assignments
Reading a variety of texts and synthesizing the main points and making connections across content area
Understanding and explaining specific rhetorical devices and how they are used to influence a reader
Understanding and explaining specific argumentative terms and how they are used to influence a reader
Determined Lifelong Learner (by)
Reading and analyzing college texts including The Scarlet Letter and Grapes of Wrath
Being intrinsically motivated to improve their vocabulary
Taking an active role in supporting the voting process
Excellent Communicator (by)
Creating a written report to argue for or against a controversial health topic
Acting and speaking professionally during a nutrition health fair
Demonstrating knowledge of correct English conventions when writing
Writing to inform, persuade, or explain using advanced sentence structures and rhetorical devices
Using various media and computer programs to enhance presentations and discussions
Grading: This is a college level course, so grading is as follows: 95% - 100% = A, 83% - 94.9% = B,
73% - 82.9% = C, 65% - 72.9% =D. NOTE: “Extra credit” or “extra time” is not allowed in the AP
class. The due dates for assignments will be posted with advanced notice, and students are expected to turn
assignments in promptly.
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Syllabus: English 11AP Language and Composition
Fall Semester
Units of Study
September
Theme: Where Do I Fit In?
Teacher Instruction:
 Expectations for excellence in writing
 Discussion of AP requirements
 Overview of Ethos, Pathos, Logos
 Discussion of Speaker/Purpose/Audience/Tone
 Rhetorical Devices: Diction, Connotation-Denotation, syntax, sentence structure, details, ideas, language,
brainstorming.
 Narrative Writing/Point of View
Readings:
Ascher Lazear, Barbara “The Box Man”
Dubus, Andre “Digging”
Mairs, Nancy “I Am a Cripple”
Naylor, Gloria “A Word’s Meaning”
Didion, Joan “Self Respect”
Assessments:
Monday editorials/Daily Journals – On-going responses
Quizzes:
Rhetorical terms
Connotation/Denotation
Vocabulary of rhetorical devices
Composition: Expository Essay
After reading “Digging” and “BoxMan” discuss the authors’ purpose, audience, tone and voice. This essay allows you
to identify and explain the authors’ use of rhetorical strategies.
Composition: Narrative Essay
Definition of My Word prompt: Select a word that defines you or encapsulates your beliefs. In a well-written narrative
essay, define the word using concrete details, and analyze what it means to you.
October – November
Theme: A Welcoming Society?
Teacher Instruction:
 Syntax/sentence structure/style/voice/tone
 Persuasive techniques
Readings:
Outside Homework Readings: Scarlet Letter
In Class Readings:
Jefferson, Thomas “Declaration of Independence”
Lincoln, Abraham “Gettysburg Address”
King, Martin Luther “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Gandhi, Mohandas “On Nonviolent Resistance”
Thoreau, Henry “Resistance to Civil Government”
Whitman, Walt “Song of Myself”
Rodriguez, Richard “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”
Tan, Amy “The Mother Tongue”
Current political cartoon
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Video Clips: 4 Little Girls – A Film by Spike Lee
The Crucible
Excerpts of political speeches
Assessments:
Monday editorials/Daily Journals – On-going responses
Quizzes:
 Grammar
 Sentence diagramming
 Rhetorical language vocabulary
Two Timed Writes: Previous released AP test prompts that explore the concepts of immigration and racial tensions.
SAT Practice Tests
Composition: Persuasive Essay
Write a review of the movie 4 Little Girls using persuasive writing techniques to either encourage or discourage an
audience to see the movie. Use specific rhetorical devices to enhance your writings. Identify the background and
historical basis for the movie.
Composition: Persuasive/Expository Essay
Using a newspaper, magazine, or internet, students are to locate and reproduce a political cartoon that covers a current
issue of importance in the United States and analyze its elements of persuasion including the audience appeal and
appropriateness of the subject matter.
Composition: Research Paper/Peer edit/Teacher Evaluation Review/Cultural Approach
Write a persuasive paper in support of a current candidate running for office. You are required to use quotes from the
reading sources as well as provide additional reference material in your paper. Using peer editors’ suggestions, you
will rewrite your original paper using the upgraded ideas to improve the quality of your persuasive essay. You are
required to schedule a one-on-one meeting with a teacher to discuss the elements of your essay. The paper will contain
the proper MLA citations. This paper serves as the model for your oral presentations to the class.
Listening and speaking: You will be required to present your candidate to the class and using persuasive techniques,
convince your peers of the worthiness of your selection.
Composition: Synthesis Letter
Synthesize the information you gather for your research paper and write a brief letter to your congressman expressing
your views about about a current political topic. Cite specific examples and reasons for your position. The letter is to
be properly addressed to send to your government representative.
December – January
Theme – Say What?
Teacher Instruction:
 Propaganda
 Power of language
 Compare and contrast concepts
 Test taking strategies
Readings:
Outside reading – Novel selected from the current AP List of American authors
Douglass, Frederick “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Crane, Stephen “A Mystery of Heroism”
Lakoff, Robin Tolmach “You Are What You Say”
Birkerts, Sven “Into the Electronic Millennium”
Postman, Neil “The Medium is the Metaphor”
Fadiman, Anne “Never Do That to a Book”
Visual:
Sunday Newspaper Inserts
Andy Warhol – Pop Art
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Assessments:
Monday editorials/Daily Journals – On-going responses
Specific Journal Entry: Write your feelings about slang, email, and text messaging. Do you think it is important to
maintain correct grammar conventions when communicating with friends, or is it unnecessary? Support your beliefs.
Quizzes:
Propaganda vocabulary
Test taking strategies
Composition: Compare and Contrast Essay
After reading the articles by Postman and Fadiman, compare and contrast their beliefs about books and television.
Based on the authors’ viewpoints, analyze the effects books and televisions have had on popular culture.
Composition: Persuasive Copy Script
You will create a product to sell. You will design a poster or artifact that identifies the product. Using your verbal
prowess and crafted propaganda techniques, you will write a persuasive copy to use as a 30 second commercial spot to
convince your audience to buy your product.
Final Semester Test: Complete a timed writing assignment using an AP prompt.
Syllabus: English 11AP Language and Composition
Spring Semester
Units of Study
February – March
Theme: Is There a Doctor in the House?
Teacher Instruction:
 Argumentative techniques
 Contemporary issues in health care
Readings:
Outside/homework reading – Novel selected from the current AP List of American authors
Selected chapters- The Informed Argument
Part I: Understanding Arguments
Part II: Composing Arguments
Chapter 9 Body Image
Sontag, Susan “A Woman’s Beauty”
Student selected articles relating to health care issues
Movie: Whose Life Is It Anyways?
Assessments:
Monday editorials/Daily Journals – On-going responses
Specific Journal Entry: Write specifically about your own body image. Are you influenced by the media? What
would you change about your body and why?
Quizzes:
Argument techniques
Citing sources
SAT Practice Tests
Timed write: Introduction: Changes in medical technology have resulted in longer life spans and have altered how we
think about death and dying. But are these changes good? Have they resulted in a better understanding of life and its
processes or have they merely prolonged life without giving it additional meaning? Assignment: Read all the sources
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carefully. In an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends, challenges,
or qualifies the claim that medical technology has made our lives not only longer but better.
Timed write: Read excerpted passages by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). Then write a
carefully reasoned essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies one of Schopenhauer’s claims. Support your argument
with appropriate evidence.
Composition: Synthesis/Research Paper/Peer edit/Teacher Evaluation Review
You will select and research a current controversial health care topic. You will take a position about that topic and
argue your beliefs by citing examples from your research. You will be required to research the information and
collect data in a portfolio and synthesize the information to write a logical and progressive argument that substantiates
your position. You will use numerous quotes to augment your thoughts, and you will carefully document references.
Remember to attribute both direct and indirect citations and refer to the sources by authors’ last names or by titles.
Avoid mere paraphrase or summary. As part of the assignment, you are to produce a rough draft and submit it your
English teacher for an evaluative review during which time, the teacher must indicate corrections and upgrades to your
paper. You will retype your paper and turn in the final copy with all of the previous rough draft work in a completed
portfolio.
Composition: Personal Exploratory Narrative
Select one of the essays from Chapter 9 on Body Image. In a well-written essay that draws upon your reading,
experience, or observations for support, take a position on the issue of body image. Prepare to present your findings to
your peers in an oral presentation.
April - May
Theme: Is Compassion Out of Fashion?
Teacher Instruction:
 Review of story elements: Character analysis/Plot/Setting/Conflicts
 Intercalary chapters
 Symbolism in literature
Hemingway, Ernest “Soldier’s Home”
Fitzgerald, F. Scott “Winter Dreams”
Faulkner, William “A Rose for Emily”
Goodman, Ellen “We are losing our ability to be kind”
Wilson, August : Gem of the Ocean
Hughes, Langston “Salvation”
Outside Reading: Steinbeck, John Grapes of Wrath
Video: Clips from the movie Grapes of Wrath
Assessments:
Monday editorials/Daily Journals – On-going responses
Specific Journal Entry: Using Ellen Goodman’s article as a springboard, consider your situation in life. Do you
volunteer for any philanthropic organization? Do you support any worthwhile causes? Are you motivated from
personal desires to help others, or are you involved because of school or outside requirements?
Quizzes:
Elements of a plotline
Various chapters of Grapes of Wrath
Tests: Two practice AP multiple-choice tests from released AP materials.
Composition: Expository Analysis of Rhetorical Devices
In a well-developed essay, analyze key symbolic elements, figurative language, imagery, and tone that Steinbeck uses
to enhance the theme of Grapes of Wrath. Analyze his choice of certain symbols and figurative language used during
the novel as they relate to the effects of the Joad family and their trek to California.
Composition: Compare and Contrast Essay
After reading Chapter 17 in Grapes of Wrath, compare Steinbeck’s views on religion with that of Hughes in his essay,
“Salvation.” How are the two views similar, and how do they differ? Write a well-crafted essay that discusses both
works citing examples from each to support your beliefs.
Composition: Synthesis Historical Expository Essay
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View various images and photographs of people taken during the depression era. Does Steinbeck capture the moods
and tones of the pictures? Is Steinbeck accurate in his representation of the common man during that era, or does he
embellish and create the Joad family in an unrealistic way in order to exaggerate the plight of the Oklahoma farmers?
May - June
Theme: War! What Is It Good For?
Teacher Instruction:
 Identifying historical context
 Making inferences
Outside/homework Reading - Novel selected from the current AP List of American authors
Readings: Current articles and editorials about the war in Afghanistan
O’Brien, Tim “Speaking of Courage”
Video Clips: Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Fahrenheit 911, O
Music: Various War Protest songs of the 60’s
Composition: Synthesis Narrative Essay
Select a war protest song and thoughtfully consider your emotions and feelings as you listen to the words and the
music. Compose an open letter to the songwriter/singer that analysis and identifies your approval or disagreement of
the protest.
Composition:
Create a resume and a personal mission statement in preparation for college application requirements.
Reading Comprehension - Various chapters of Contemporary Literature
Tests: Official AP English Language and Composition Test – TBA
Outside Semester Final:
Composition: Research/Synthesis/Argument Report
After reading the effects of war in various texts, looking at various images of war, and reading articles about the war in
Afghanistan, synthesize all of the information and formulate your own opinion about war. Substantiate your beliefs
with quotes from at least three outside sources, using proper MLA references. Remember to attribute both direct and
indirect citations. Refer to the sources by authors’ last names or by titles. Avoid mere paraphrase or summary.
Teacher Resources
Course Supplements
Sacramento Bee Newspaper - Forum Section
4 Little Girls. Lee, Spike, dir. HBO Documentary Film. 1998.
Fahrenheit 911. Moore, Michael, dir. Independent Film Studios. 2004.
Platoon. Stone, Oliver, dir. MGM Studios. 1986
Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg, Steven, dir. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 1998.
The Grapes of Wrath. Ford, John, dir. Fox Studio Classics. Renewed 1967.
Whose Life Is It Anyway? Badham, John, dir. Warner Brothers Studios. 1981.
Warhol, Andy. Images on Yahoo. http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-501s&va=andy+warhol&sz=all. Accessed August 10, 2007.
Please Note: If there is an objection regarding the content of any text/.novel/movie we are using, a
statement regarding the problem will need to be given to your teacher. This statement should be in the
form of a letter signed by your parent(s) or legal guardian(s). At that time, another equivalent (level of
difficulty) selection will be issued.
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Student’s Last Name: ________________________________
Teacher/Student/Parent Contract
By signing below I acknowledge that this is a demanding class that
requires regular attendance, participation in class work, regular
outside reading, and homework. Grading for AP English : 95100%……A, 85-94%…..B, 75-84%….C, 65-74% … D,
64% or below …. F. I understand that my student must pay to take
the AP Exam in May 2013. I agree to these terms.
Parent/guardian’s name (please print):
______________________________________________________
Parent/guardian’s signature:
______________________________________________________
Phone: _________________Best time to call:________________
Parent E-Mail address: _________________________________
Student’s name (please print):
______________________________________________________
Student’s signature:
______________________________________________________
Student’s E-Mail address:
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