AP Language and Composition
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Mrs. Oualline
2012-13
Introduction
Welcome to AP Language and Composition. This is a college-level course with college-level
expectations. At the end of the next school year, you will take the AP Language exam to earn
college credits. The AP Program is rigorous and demands your dedication and determination.
You will be challenged to move beyond the basics of English Language Arts and embrace a
higher level of reading, writing, and critical thinking. You will be required to refine your study
practices, manage your time effectively, and work responsibly.
What is AP Language and Composition?
The Advanced Placement (AP) Program provides an opportunity for high school students to
pursue and receive credit for college-level course work completed at the secondary school level.
The AP Program, sponsored by the College Board, is based on the premise that college-level
material can be taught successfully to able and well-prepared high school students. Like other
College Board programs, the AP Program is worldwide in scope; its policies are determined by
representatives of College Board member institutions and agencies throughout the
country…and are implemented by the College Board. The examinations are open to any
candidate who wishes to participate. The AP exams are required of any student who
participates in an AP class as of 2006-2007.
An AP course in English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled
readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and in
becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their
reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience
expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language
contribute to effectiveness in writing. The AP Language and Composition course …enables
students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and
complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers. (The College Board, 2008)
Students entering AP English are already skilled in basic composition, and are proficient in
their use of standard English grammar and mechanics. Expected here is refinement of these
skills to develop sophistication and stylistic maturity in writing. The course will emphasize
critical reading of various prose styles and require numerous essays demonstrating students’
skill in analyzing the standard rhetorical modes. Thoughtful reading will be reflected in AP test
practices-both objective and open-ended questions, journals, daily assignments, class
discussions and an individual oral presentation based on independent reading. Additionally, in
accordance with Texas standards, the course will follow a skeletal chronological core of the
canon of American literature.
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Summer Assignment
In order to keep minds active and prepare for more intense reading, AP Language students will be
required to read TWO fiction/drama pieces and ONE nonfiction piece before the first day of school. The
books you will read are:
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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Choose ONE of the Following Nonfiction Pieces:
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
The Color of Water by James McBride
In addition to reading these books, you will also complete book-specific assignments that are designed to
prepare you for AP Language and Composition.
Nonfiction Selection:
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This reading selection should be read COVER-TO-COVER. Cliff’s Notes, Internet notes,
and/or movies will not suffice.
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You must set up an account with turnitin.com. Click “new user” on the home page and
follow the instructions. If you already have an account, you may log in and select “add a
course,” then fill in our class information.
-Class ID:
5135281
-Enrollment Password: APLang12
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After reading this book, you will enter the discussion board (on turnitin.com) for your
nonfiction selection and post a 500-word response in which you:
- Discuss your reaction to and your feelings about this story
- Discuss your favorite and least favorite character in the story
- Answer the following question: “What is the author’s reason(s) for writing this book?”
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You must also read the response of (at least) one of your classmates on the discussion board
and post a comment (e.g., agree or disagree with his/her analysis; discuss how the response
helps you see something you missed in the novel, etc.)
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This assignment is due by July 15.
Fiction/Drama Selections:
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Both of these literary pieces should be read COVER-TO-COVER. Cliff’s Notes, Internet
notes, and/or movies will not suffice.
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You will also be required to produce “intelligent” dialectical journals for each selection.
These journals will be an integral part of our first six weeks.
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See instructions for Dialectical Journals for more information.
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The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are both set in Puritan New England. However, the authors
are both writing at different time periods and both have very different interpretations of this
culture and different purposes for writing these pieces.
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Dialectical Journals Must Include The Following:
In addition to passages that appeal to you as a reader, you should include the following novelspecific journal entries.
The Scarlet Letter
The Crucible
Include quotations that:
 Reveal the narrator/point of view
Include quotations that:
 Describe the characters
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Describe the time period
-Protagonist and Antagonist
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Describe the setting
-What they say about themselves
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Include key points about the plot
-What others say about them
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Show an understanding of the
connection between the historical event
on which the play is based (The Salem
Witch Trials) and the modern allegory
that Miller is creating (McCarthyism).
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Reveal a theme or life lesson (find
quotations that prove your point)
Describe the characters:
-What the author says about them
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Include important minor characters
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Reveal and describe the setting
-Images that are particularly
beautiful
-Images that show the author’s
writing style
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Include key points about the plot
At the end of this dialectical journal, answer
the following question: “What is the author’s
reason(s) for writing this book?”
-Beginning incident
-Main conflict(s)
-Key points
-Climax
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Reveal symbols, motifs, allusions, and
other literary devices. (Be sure to
explain the function of these devices in
your commentary!)
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Theme (life lesson/main idea); what was
the author’s point in writing this novel.
All Reading Selections:
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ANALYSIS. Lots and lots of analysis. I
cannot reiterate this point enough. You
should be reading beyond surface level
and exploring the literature with depth
and insight. Surface-level observations,
while important, are not enough to
warrant a passing grade on this
assignment. Surface-level observations
must exist only in combination with lots
and lots of your analysis.
DIALECTICAL JOURNALS ARE DUE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL – NO EXCUSES!
-andBE READY FOR AN EXAM OVER ALL BOOKS ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
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Guidelines for Dialectical Journals
By now, you should be very familiar with dialectical journals. A dialectical journal is a
conversation between you and what you are reading. I am looking for depth of thought in your
selections and in your notations. This process is an important way to understand both the
surface-level and deeper meanings of a piece of literature. By writing about literature, you
create your own meaning of the work and, in effect, truly come to understand it. (…And you
should find YOUR OWN meaning in the literature. Regurgitating someone else’s ideas from a
study guide is not finding your own meaning.) But just in case you are not sure what I expect in
your dialectical journals, here are a few pointers:
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Journals are evaluated on the QUALITY of your responses. Summarizing the plot is not
adequate. Your responses should go far beyond simple summary.
Select important passages related to character development, plot, setting, theme, tone, figures of
speech, etc.
For The Scarlet Letter, you should select 3-5 passages per chapter.
For The Crucible, you should select 7-10 passages per act.
Note when things do not make sense, but be specific about what confuses you. Simply saying “I
don’t get it,” is not appropriate.
Note ways in which the story teaches you about life or makes a connection to another work of art
or even another academic discipline.
Note your initial reaction to the reading.
Offer your interpretation of the text as well as evidence to support your interpretation.
You must use a composition notebook for your dialectical journal. Any other type of notebook
will not be accepted.
You may use ONE NOTEBOOK for both reading selections; however, please create a COVER
PAGE for each selection.
Each page of your journal should have three (3) columns. The first column is for the passage
that you are discussing; the smaller middle column is for the page number; and the third
column is for your all-important comments about the passage.
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Exactly what does a Dialectical Journal look like?
SAMPLE:
(from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque)
Passage:
Page #: Analysis:
His features have become uncertain and faint, like a
photographic plate from which two pictures have
been taken. Even his voice sounds like ashes.
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Kantorek would say that we stood on the threshold
of life. And so it would seem. We had as yet taken
no root. The war swept us away. For the others,
the older men, it is but an interruption. They are
able to think beyond it. We, however, have been
gripped by it and do not know what the end may be.
We know only that in some strange and melancholy
way we have become a waste land. All the same, we
are not often sad.
Earth! – Earth! – Earth! Earth with thy folds, and
hollows, and holes, into which a man may fling
himself and crouch down. In the spasm of terror,
under the hailing of annihilation, in the bellowing
death of the explosions, O Earth, thou grantest us
the great resisting surge of new-won life. Our
being almost utterly carried away by the fury of the
storm streams back through our hands from thee,
and we, thy redeemed ones, bury ourselves in thee,
and through the long minutes in a mute agony of
hope bite into thee with our lips!
20
55-56
Then we change our posy and lie down again to
play cards. We know how to do that: to play cards,
to swear, and to fight. Not much for twenty years; and yet too much for twenty years.
89
I love this analogy where Paul is speaking
about Kemmerich as he lay dying. In
photography, long before film or digital, silver
plates were used to capture pictures. Of
course, the exposure time was much longer.
The description here refers to a plate that is
double exposed and, therefore, blurred. Such a
beautifully vivid description.
Paul’s beautifully poetic discussion of life and
circumstance are intoxicating. His insight and
depth are impressive for a young man of 20.
Even though the war has aged him far beyond
his few years, his mature perspective is still
extraordinary.
There is so much to say about this passage.
First of all, it is an apostrophe – the Earth is
personified and addressed as if it were a living,
breathing being capable of understanding and
responding. There is also both polysyndeton
and asyndeton effectively used in this passage
to add weight and urgency to this moment.
The passage breaks from the style of the rest of
the novel. Paul’s language seems almost like a
traditional prayer spoken King James
language. In a way, Paul is praying to the
Earth to protect him as if the Earth were a deity
(perhaps Demeter from Greek mythology).
Yet another of Paul’s beautiful insights into the
soul of a young soldier. I wonder how many
millions of young men have felt the same
things that Remarque craftily describes in this
book. So many young men pawn their lives to
the government at eighteen only to never have
those lives returned to them. Their lives stop at
eighteen and, even if they survive, they have
not had enough life experience for the sum of
their years. And yet, they have experienced far
more than a person of any age ever should.
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Grading Rubric for Dialectical Journals
90-100
Complete – Covers the book thoroughly.
Passage Selection – Chosen with careful thought and specific purpose
Comments – Insightful comments; demonstrates understanding beyond the literal
or the expected; makes a connection with the writing or characters; provides
a unique perspective.
80-89
Complete – Covers the book well
Passage Selection – Chosen with obvious thought and purpose
Comments – Reflects some depth of thought; understands and appreciates the
meaning of the passages; makes some connection with the writing or
characters; provides an authentic or original perspective.
70-79
Complete – Covers the book adequately
Passage Selection – Chosen with some thought and purpose
Comments – Superficial, with little evidence of depth of thought; questions
meaning without searching for an answer; demonstrates little connection
with writing or characters; provides only generic or literal understanding.
60-69
Incomplete – Covers the book inadequately (not enough entries)
Passage Selection – Chosen at random
Comments – Superficial, showing little evidence of thought; makes little or no
connection with writing or characters; demonstrates literal understanding at
best; comments contain only summary and no analysis.
Below 60
Student turned something in, but the assignment meets few, if any, requirements.
NOTHING TURNED IN – Dismissal from the AP Program and moved to English III.
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*Return this letter by May 21, 2012*
May 21, 2012
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Next year, your child will be transitioning from Pre-AP English to AP Language and
Composition. AP Language and Composition is an intensive, college-level reading and writing
course. The goal of this course is to produce mastery of expository, analytical, narrative, and
argumentative writing styles. This accelerated track is rigorous, demanding, and requires the
dedication of the student. While I appreciate the many demands of high school (including
extracurricular activities), I expect the students in my AP classes to be fully committed to the
curriculum. Please take the time to review the information I have provided in this packet. This
will help avoid any confusion about the purpose of the class and the expectations of your child.
Please sign below to verify that you have read through the information in this packet and letter
with your child and that you understand the expectations of the AP English Program.
Best Regards,
V. Beth Oualline
boualline@franklinisd.net
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