AP® English Language & Composition
Course Overview, revised
Students in this college-level writing course will learn to carefully analyze a challenging
range of prose selections for the purpose of developing their abilities to work with text.
Specific attention will be paid to rhetoric and language usage to strengthen the students’
awareness of purpose and tone. The basic formula Diction + Tone = Meaning is the
underpinning philosophy studied in this course. Course readings feature expository,
analytical, personal, and argumentative selections taken from various historical contexts,
including current events and modern political speeches. Students will examine essays,
letters, speeches, images, and imaginative literature. As noted from the College Board,
this course will emphasize “the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that
forms the basis of academic and professional communication.”
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Teaching Strategies
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Students will be instructed in the analysis strategy SOAPSTone, developed by
College Board instructor Tommy Boley. The acronym as taught represents:
o Speaker, or the collective narrative voice of the text
o Occasion, or the event or prompt that affected the piece being considered
o Audience, including the reader, who else is privy to this bit of text and
how does that affect the author’s purpose i.e. is the speaker unaware of an
eavesdropper?
o Purpose, or the reason behind the text. Here, when composing
SOAPSTone homework, students are to develop their thoughts into a solid
paragraph of analysis.
o Subject, the main idea or theme of the piece
o Tone, or the author’s attitude toward the subject. Here, when composing
SOAPStone homework, students are to develop their thoughts into a solid
paragraph considering the author’s purpose as conveyed through tone, i.e.
Pap’s racial tirade in the shack when he kicks the bucket and hurts his
foot: show how Twain uses a racist character to denounce racism…
Discussion and Analysis
o The Socratic Method of Discourse is taught, and then students have daily
opportunities to expound upon their thoughts and the thoughts of others.
Students are introduced to this web site to assist them with Socrates:
http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/teachvirtue/socrates.html
o Style: students will learn to examine an author’s use of specific diction
and tone. More than one piece by each particular author will be explored
so students can learn to recognize an author’s style. Several rhetorical
devices will aid in the study of style: parallelism, antithesis, zeugma,
ellipsis, chiasmus, alliteration, and anaphora, among others. The study of
tropes include: figurative language, imagery, metaphor, simile, conceit,
synecdoche, metonymy, prosopopoeia, and paradox. Students are
encouraged to bookmark the following website to assist them with their
study of Rhetorical and Tropic forms:
http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm
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Essay Form as studied in conjunction with Advanced Composition: a Book of
Models for Writing and miscellaneous provided documents
o Description
John Updike “A&P” and “Three Boys”
o Exposition
“Two Dictionary Entries,”
Joseph Durso’s “Aaron Hits 715th, Passes Babe Ruth,”
James Baldwin’s “The Creative Process”
C. Brooks and R.P. Warren’s “Araby: and Interpretation.”
o Argument and Persuasion
“The New Yorker, Two Stories.”
Pink Floyd’s “On the Turning Away”
Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”
o Narration
James Joyce’s “Araby”
George Orwell’s “On Shooting an Elephant.”
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Influence of Historical Perspective
After studying style and form, students need to understand the historical influence
of a piece. Exploration of genre and style as it changed between the Renaissance
(and its roots in Greek and Roman literature), 17th, 18th,19th, and 20th centuries will
produce, hopefully, a sense of understanding of how the time period affected the
argument, and how the writer’s knowledge of historical rhetoric affected his or
her style and genre choice. Students will learn and employ the conventions of
research writing, with a focus on MLA style.
Course Texts
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Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. New York: Dover Publications, 1996.
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York:
Bantam Books, 1963.
Warriner, John. Advanced Composition: A Book of Models for Writing. New
York: Harcort, Brace, Jovanovich, 1977.
Warriner, John. English Grammar and Composition. Chicago: Harcort, Brace,
Jovanovich, 1986.
o Miscellaneous Texts and Pieces used and inter-dispersed:
Adventures in American Literature. Pegasus Edition. Eds. Francis
Hodgins, Kenneth Silverman, Milton Sterm, Rolando R. HinojosaSmith. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace, Jovanonich, 1989
• John Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
• Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”
• Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address” (adapted
from the 2002 EL & C exam)
• Henry David Thoreau, “From… Civil Disobedience”
• Ralph Waldo Emerson “From… the American Scholar”
America Reads. "England in Literature." Hamlet Edition. Eds.
Helen McConnell, John Pfordresher, and Gladys V. Veidemanis.
7th ed. Oakland, NJ: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1985.
• Elizabeth 1 “When I was Young and Fair.”
• John Dryden “Mac Flecknoe.”
• Jonathan Swift “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late
Famous General.”
• Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal.”
• Samuel Johnson “from…The Life of Milton.”
• James Boswell “The Life of Samuel Johnson.”
• Alexander Pope “The Rape of the Lock.”
• Alexander Pope “from… An Essay on Man”
• John Donne “Meditation XVI”
• John Donne “Meditation X”
• John Donne (one other meditation of student choice)
Aristotle. Exerpts from “A Definition of Justice.” (Students will
peruse this work in Class using the Smartboard and my
Googlebooks account.)
Breitzer, Patricia. "'Young Goodman Brown': The Evil Within
Us." Literary Analysis by AP English Teachers… a collection of
10 essays (1994): 10-15.
Faulkner, William. “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech.” (students
will access the speech as this site:
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/faulkner/faulkner.html )
Machiavelli, Niccolo. “from The Prince.” (students will access
this material las this site:
http://www.princeton.edu/~ferguson/adw/prince.shtml )
Joyce, James. “Araby.” Dubliners. New York: The New American
Library, 1967
Pink Floyd. “On the Turning Away.” Momentary Lapse of
Reason. Los Angeles: Columbia Records, 1987
Spencer, Jamieson . "The Greatness of Gatsby." Literary Analysis
by AP English Teachers… a collection of 10 essays (1994): 38-43.
Orwell, George “Shooting an Elephant.” 1936.
Waters, David. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Alive." Literary
Analysis by AP English Teachers… a collection of 10 essays
(1994): 48-51.
Course Planner
First Quarter
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This time will be spent on orientation, introduction to close reading, SOAPSTone,
and Rhetoric. The students will also spend time analyzing the summer reading
book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. SOAPSTone activities will be
completed, and students will learn to apply Diction + Tone + Meaning. Students
will begin annotating text with an eye for audience and purpose. Denisovich will
be followed by The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. William Faulkner’s Nobel
Prize acceptance speech will be read and annotated. Lessons will also ensue from
Warriner’s grammar text regarding grammar usage.
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Along with reading quizzes (modeled after the AP multiple-choice questions
found at the College Board site), and literature exams, there will be 5 shorter,
timed writing pieces taken from past AP Language exams throughout the 10
weeks. These will be written in conjunction with journal reflections of the
writing task in their notes. As a class, I will edit annotate their writings on the
Smartboard, and they will peer edit these shorter pieces for some group
discussion on writing at this new level.
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Throughout the course, students will hone their editing and revision skills.
Smaller papers will be self-edited and revised, and they will be revised via group
work. The major papers will be revised as necessary, and the work will count in
their homework grades in the following quarters, but once quarterly grades are
submitted, the initial grades cannot be changed.
Major Paper #1
The unit will culminate with a paper (5 typed pages), in which students use William
Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech as a focus lens for analyzing the rhetorical
and language strategies of Kafka and Solzhenitsyn, specifically to see if they meet the
criterion set down by Faulkner.
Second Quarter
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Students will familiarize themselves with Socrates and his On Discourse as noted
above in Teaching Strategies… discussion and analysis. Then, students will work
in class on Aristotle’s A Definition of Justice on the Smartboard. Pieces of Henry
Davidson Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience will be annotated and SOAPSToned.
Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s American Scholar will also be
SOAPSToned and annotated. Appropriate lessons from Warriner’s grammar book
will be assigned and instructed.
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Selections from England in Literature will be studied as well this quarter.
Appropriate quizzes (modeled after the AP multiple-choice questions found at the
College Board site), and reading comprehension tests will be executed. Choices
for this quarter include the writings of: Elizabeth, Dryden, Johnson, Boswell, and
Pope.
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An additional five timed writing pieces taken from past AP Language exams will
be completed in class, and group work, editing and annotation on the Smartboard,
and revision will be the same as it was in the first quarter.
Of the five timed AP practice essays, students will write 2 that model the new
question, the synthesis essay, as set forth for this exam. One will be the model
that is provided in the AP Language Course Description. The second will be the
question given in 2007, if it is released for use.
Warriner’s Advanced Composition will be employed in the study of the units on
Argumentation, Persuasion.
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Major Paper #2
The unit will culminate with a paper (5 typed pages), that focuses on the art of
constructing an argument. Students will have the choice of three pieces of writing from
the England and Literature text studied this quarter. Students will have to explore the
effectiveness of the rhetorical and language strategies of their chosen pieces as compared
to the teachings of Aristotle and Socrates.
• In writing this paper, students will be instructed in the techniques of research
using a variety of print, electronic, and audiovisual mediums. MLA style will be
the focus for source notation, both contextual and parenthetical. An MLA works
cited page will be required.
Third Quarter
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Students will study Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Lessons, quizzes, and
tests will be threaded through this course of study. Francis Ford Coppola’s
Apocalypse Now film will be offered as an enrichment activity. The themes,
strategies, and rhetorical devices of this unit will then be explored further using
the Swift and Donne titles in the England and Literature text.
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Warriner’s Advanced Composition will be employed in the study of Narration
and Description. James Joyce’s “Araby,” John Updike’s “A&P and “Three
Boys” will enhance the lessons on these two language strategies. The shorter
timed writing pieces will be completed using these texts. The student will edit,
annotate, and do group work and Smartboard work with them as well.
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During the second semester, the multiple-choice section of the AP Language
exam shall be explored. Students will take timed tests on samples of AP exam
questions.
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To further the students understanding of writing about graphics or visual cues,
students will write about political cartoons and caricatures they find in
researching Swift and Conrad. They will be expected to cite their sources
correctly, and they will have to incorporate the cartoons or other graphics into
their analysis of the literature.
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Students will continue with their study of appropriate chapters in our Warrriner’s
grammar book. Chapters will be selected based upon observed flaws in student
writing.
Major Paper #3
Employing the lessons from the second quarter study of Warriner’s Advanced
Composition, students will write an essay (5 pages typed), exploring argumentation and
persuasion techniques in Swift’s Modest Proposal, Pink Floyd’s On the Turning Away,
and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Narration and Description of course will be included,
particularly for Conrad.
Fourth Quarter
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Warriner’s Advanced Composition Narration (continued) and Exposition will be
used for the short, timed pieces written in class. “On Shooting an Elephant,” will
complete the Narration technique. Durso, Baldwin, Brooks, and Warren will
complete the lessons for the year, before the May exams.
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Spencer’s “Greatness of Gatsby” from the AP book will be studied for form and
structure. Water’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Alive” will be studied to
review argument. Breitzer’s “Young Goodman Brown…” will be examined for
Discussion and Analysis, and Argument and Exhibition. Edwards’ “Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God,” and Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” will complete the
rhetoric and form studies for the year. SOAPSTone activities and short writing
assignments will be composed from these pieces.
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The College Board internet site will be employed frequently on the Smartboard
until students master the last of the multiple-choice questions posted there for AP
Exam review.
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After the AP Exam, students will focus on their final paper for the year.
Major Paper #4
Students will choose titles anywhere in literary history, apart from the ones studied in this
course, and they write a culminating paper of 10 typed pages. After a year of studying
genre, form, style, rhetorical strategy, language techniques, students will select two
writers and explore their writing for all of the devices and strategies learned in Advanced
Placement English Language. The impression of history, the historical perspective is to
be included in the discussion and analysis. This paper is not a traditional research paper.
Students are asked to formulate their own thesis questions, and they have to reveal
through research of both primary and secondary sources an answer to such questions.
The central argument is “Does the person make the times or do the times make the
person?” To which, they answer using a literary figure, a political or religious figure,
and an artistic figure all from a chosen period of history. In examining the writings,
teachings, art, and ideas of the people, the students are to expound upon their reflections
of how their chosen people shaped not just their times but all of the history that follwed
them.
• After studying how to summarize, analyze, and synthesize researched materials,
students will hopefully be proficient in proper documentation and notation
techniques. This is the culminating paper of the year, and students will be marked
not only for their writing skills but for their accuracy with using and citing
researched material.
Student Evaluation
Students are evaluated on the basis of major papers, homework, quality and character of
class participation and involvement, and AP-style writing prompts. Major papers count a
great deal toward each quarter’s grade, but other elements are also significant. Students
earn both numbered scores and grades on AP prompts they take during the year. The
grade associated with particular AP essay scores varies according to the time of year that
is, a very good essay written in November earns a higher grade than a similar essay
written in April. That’s because students are at work building the skills needed to succeed
as the year proceeds.
Student Grade Allocation:
Major Papers:
Multiple choice quizzes and reading tests
In-class writing and group work
Class participation and preparation
To translate scores:
100 – 97%
96 – 94%
93 – 90%
89 – 87%
86 – 83%
80 – 82%
79-77%
76 – 73%
70-72%
69 – 67%
66-69%
65%
Below 65
55%
15%
20%
10%
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
In this course, student thinking, writing, reading, participation/speaking, are the central
activities. Though participation is only worth 10%, students who do not invest
themselves into the daily operations of the course can expect their group performance
grades to be negatively affected as well. In preparing students for college, the aim of
assessment is to make students more independent in their efforts to pursue excellence in
this course. Students will be expected to take what was discovered in class and apply it
to the more independent pursuits of the major papers each quarter, particularly the final
paper.
For the smaller papers, the timed papers, revisions will not only be accepted, they are
expected. The bigger papers, however, will not be able to be revised because of time
constraints. The larger papers will be revised in the following quarters for homework
credit, but little can be done to change quarterly grades after the fact. Extra help, either
on-line or after school will be regarded in class participation calculations. It is expected
that once deficiencies, particularly in style, grammar, and syntax, will be eradicated once
identified. For example, once the parallelism lesson is taught and practiced in Warriner’s
grammar text, such errors will be unacceptable as the year progresses.