AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2010-2011
Ms. Liu
E-mail: aliu@tenafly.k12.nj.us
Website: www.tenafly.k12.nj.us/~aliu
Office Hours: Room 214, after school or upon request
AP Language & Composition, like other junior year English courses, focuses upon
American literature. Course readings -- poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction – are all drawn
from the fabric of our nation’s history, from the colonial period to the present. The main focus of
our study, however, will be devoted to understanding and appreciating writing style. As you
develop a vocabulary with which to discuss writing style, you will be expected to articulate your
understanding of rhetoric and analysis. You will also continue developing your identity as a
writer, with the goal of both refining your writing skills and finding your own writing voice. This
is the year to truly strengthen your abilities as a critical thinker.
Overall, the curriculum will prepare you for the Advanced Placement
Examination in English Language & Composition, which is offered in May. This test will
challenge your ability to discuss how writers write, and the meanings behind their craft.
Be ready to participate in class discussions and collaborative work, and continuously
consider the way words have built the American Dream. I will expect you to arrive to class
on time with course materials for that day: a binder/notebook, writing utensils, and the
novel/text currently in use. I will also expect your integrity in producing original work.
UNITS OF STUDY
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The American Dream
The American Hero
Colonialism and Transcendentalism
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Oppression & American Minorities
The Jazz Age
Rhetoric and Modes of Discourse
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Leaves of Grass, Whitman
Adventures of Huck Finn, Twain
Benito Cereno, Melville
A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams
Into the Wild, Krakauer
Assorted short fiction
Assorted nonfiction
Literature from journals
Critical articles (for research papers)
TENTATIVE COURSE TEXTS
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The Harper’s American Literature
The Writer’s Presence (a collection
of essays)
The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
Their Eyes Were Watching God,
Hurston
The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne
The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
Selections by Edgar Allan Poe
Selections by Emerson and Thoreau
GRADE CALCULATION
Major Writing Assignments
Minor Writing
Tests/Quizzes
Performed Projects
Participation
Homework
20%
30%
20%
10%
10%
10%
~ Range: 3-5 pages. Use MLA format and cite all sources.
~ Range: 1-2 pages. These are done more frequently.
~ Must be made up instantly upon return from absence
~ Based on textual readings
~ Includes discussion, attendance, and punctuality
~ Posted daily on website. No late homework accepted.
POSSIBLE ASSIGNMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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A personal essay on your experience of reading The Grapes of Wrath and Their Eyes
Were Watching God. This essay should employ narrative and description. It should be
detailed. Use compelling diction and varied sentence structure. Revision and
resubmission required.
An analytical or personal essay on your reading of Russell Baker’s essay “Gumption,”
from Growing Up. Subjects may include work, parents, and self-realization. Use a word
you’ve never used before.
An in-class, close-reading analysis of Steinbeck’s use of rhetoric in a single passage from
The Grapes of Wrath. Study of sentence fragments, parallel structure, rhythm.
An in-class, close-reading analysis of Hurston’s use of syntax in a single passage from
Their Eyes Were Watching God. Study of sentence variety, climax, metaphor.
An analytical or personal essay on your reading of Raymond Carver’s essay “My
Father’s Life.” Subjects may include parents, death, coming of age. Practice using
anadiplosis, anaphora, antistrophe or chiasmus.
A poem on your parents in their youth. Practice using specific details through aural,
visual, gustatory, olfactory and tactile imagery.
An analytical or personal essay on your reading of Bernard Cooper’s essay “A Clack of
Tiny Sparks: Remembrances of a Gay Boyhood.” Subjects may include alienation,
sexuality, coming of age, role models. Study of sentences that use subordination.
A researched argument paper on The Scarlet Letter. Secondary sources and citations
required. Revision and resubmission required. Original argument which includes a
synthesis of source materials.
An analytical or personal essay on your reading of Nora Ephron’s essay “A Few Words
about Breasts.” Subjects may include body image, childhood, and self-realization.
Practice using effective verbs and avoiding the verb “to be.”
An in-class, close-reading analysis essay on a single passage from The Scarlet Letter.
Study of extended metaphor.
The Hawthornian sentence: write a single sentence of at least 140 words, grammatically
correct, in the style of Hawthorne. Revision and resubmission required. Only one
semicolon allowed. Study of coordination and subordination.
In-class, close-reading analysis essay on a single passage from Melville’s “Benito
Cereno.” Explain how the figurative and rhetorical devices contribute to establishing
mood and theme.
An abstract of literary criticism on Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw.
Write a collaborative psychological report on the narrator of “A Tell-Tale Heart.” Study
of impersonal voice.
Write your own “Philosophy of Composition.” Your essay should be modeled after Poe’s
essay, and be in the voice of either Wallace Stevens, discussing “Thirteen Ways of
Looking at a Blackbird,” or Susan Mitchell, discussing “Blackbirds.”
Keep a nature journal for a weekend, a la Thoreau.
A personal/argument/synthesis essay in which you explore the enigma of Chris
McCandless (Into the Wild and/or Timothy Treadwell (Grizzly Man) while reflecting
upon the Transcendentalist writings of Emerson and Thoreau and your own thoughts and
feelings regarding nature, self-reliance, fulfillment and the prescriptive path of
postmodern American life. Revision and resubmission required. Original argument which
includes synthesis of visual and textual sources. Practice balancing the general and
specific, the abstract and the concrete.
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Write a poem that imitates either Whitman or Dickinson. You must “fool the experts” by
successfully employing elements exemplified by each poet. Study of parallel structure,
catalog, use of em dash.
Close-reading analysis of a single passage from Twain’s Huck Finn. Explain how the
figurative and rhetorical devices contribute to establishing mood and characterization.
A persuasive letter on the controversy of censorship of Huck Finn.
An expository essay on one of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” Practice using narrative,
description, classification, analogy.
Minor Writings Based on Readings in The Writer’s Presence
At the end of every other week or so, I will assign an essay to read from The Writer’s
Presence textbook. On Monday (or Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday), you will be responsible to
come to class with a two-page, double-spaced personal essay modeled after the Writer’s Presence
essay. This personal essay should not borrow too liberally from the model; that is, you should not
copy actual sentence wording. Rather, you should write in a similar style or on a similar topic; for
example, you might emulate Raymond Carver’s use of understatement or Russell Baker’s use of
euphemism or Bernard Cooper’s use of metaphor.
REVISION
Writing is a process, and revision is a key step in arriving at a finished piece. You will be
expected to practice revision based upon suggestions/corrections offered by me and by your
peers. You’ll also be expected to revise on your own. Revision (“seeing again”) should involve
more than just spellchecking. You should give thoughtful consideration to:
 The structure of overall piece (organization, transitions, circularity, repetition, etc.)
 The structure of paragraphs (effective topic sentences, use of examples and specific
details, coherence and unity)
 The structure of sentences (varied sentence types and lengths, use of subordination and
coordination, rhetorical constructions)
 The choice of words (diction)
 The tone (author’s attitude toward subject and/or audience)
READING
In addition to the American literature survey our school requires, we will read a variety of
nonfiction texts in order to prepare you for the AP examination in May. In our reading, you will
be asked to identify and explain the authors’ use of language and rhetorical strategies.
 James D. Brasch, “The Grapes of Wrath and Old Testament Skepticism”
 Old Testament, “Ecclesiastes”
 Mimi Reisel Gladstein, “The Indestructible Women: Ma Joad and Rose of Sharon”
 Nina Baym, “The Character of Pearl”
 John Caldwell Stubbs, The Scarlet Letter: A Tale of Human Frailty and Sorrow”
 Michael L. Lasser, “Mirror Imagery in The Scarlet Letter”
 Regis Michaud, “Freud and the Triangle”
 Barack Obama, “Against Going to War with Iraq”
 Sir Francis Bacon, “Of Friendship”
 Walt Whitman, excerpt from Specimen Days: Civil War Diary
 Thomas Jefferson, “Manners,” from Notes on the State of America
 Thomas Paine, “The Crisis,” December 23rd, 1776
 Winston Churchill, broadcast on invasion of Russia, June 22, 1941
 Nat Hentoff, “Huck Finn Better Get out of Town by Sundown”
 Lionel Trilling, “The Greatness of Huckleberry Finn”
 David Guterson, “Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: The Mall of America”
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TEST PREPARATION READINGS
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865
Nancy Mairs, “On Being a Cripple”
Annie Dillard, excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek
John James Audubon, excerpt from Ornithological Biographies
Alfred M. Green, speech delivered in Philadelphia in 1861
Lord Chesterfield, letter to his son, October 4, 1746
Queen Elizabeth, speech to Parliament in 1601
Jennifer Price, “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” 1999
George F. Kennan, excerpt from “Training for Statesmanship,” 1953
VIEWING AND MEDIA LITERACY
In addition to reading, writing and speaking, you will be asked to study visual images and
graphics and to think about the ways they relate to written texts. This may include:
 Photographs of Migrant Workers, by Dorothea Lange, paired with actual sound
recordings from government camps, PowerPoint
 Dustbowl paintings of Alexandre Hogue, paired with excerpts from Grapes of Wrath
 Graph, “Effects of 1934 Drought: Palmer Drought Severity Index”
http://drought.unl.edu/kids/impacts/1934.htm
 Art of Harlem Renaissance, paired with Their Eyes Were Watching God,
http://www.iniva.org/harlem/index2.html
 Diagrams of masted ships, paired with “Benito Cereno”
 Excerpts from Amistad, paired with “Benito Cereno”
 New Yorker cartoons based on Poe’s “The Raven”
 Map of Southern slave and free states, paired with Huck Finn
 Photograph of Hatfield clan, paired with Grangerford/Shepherson chapters, Huck
 Video: Voices and Visions: Walt Whitman (use of prose rhythm, Anglo-Saxon diction)
 Video: Voices and Visions: Emily Dickinson (use of dash, capitalization, hymn meter)
 Edward Hopper, Gas, paired with description from The Great Gatsby
 Edward Hopper, Morning in a City, prompt for writing in Fitzgerald’s style
 Chart of Coalition Hostile Fatalities in Iraq, paired with Obama speech
http://zfacts.com/metaPage/lib/Iraq-war-hostile-fatalities-L.gif
CLASS POLICIES:
 Visit the restroom prior to class. If you have an emergency, wait for a convenient
time to ask. If I notice a habit of leaving class, expect to lose points on participation.
The same rule applies to locker requests.
 Cell phones and iPods must be turned off and invisible before entering the
classroom; don’t ruin the mood by adding your own soundtrack. Please also keep
bags and backpacks on the floor below your desk.
 Handle all in-class novels with care, and return them on time! Consider buying your
own copy, so that you mark them up and save your written epiphanies forever.
 No food, drinks (except bottled water), or gum in class. Chewing can be infinitely
distracting. I also ask that you check your area for debris before leaving.
 Packing up well before the bell rings will not be tolerated.
 Be familiar with the updated school policies in the Tiger Q handbook.
“It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it;
there lies the secret of the ages.” ~ William Carlos Williams