AP English Language and Composition - Syllabus
2012/2013 School Year
Instructor: Mrs. Laurel Moore
Email: laurel.moore@wushd.k12.ca.us
Website: www.wuhsd.k12.ca.us/lmoore
Telephone: (562) 698-8121
Focus of the Class
This class will consist of four quarters, two in each semester. The purpose of this
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). Students are expected to ready critically,
think analytically, and communicate clearly both in writing and speech.
Suggested Materials
 3-ring binder (1 inch or bigger with dividers)
 White college ruled loose paper
 Pencils and blue or black ink pens
 Composition book or spiral bound notebook (to be used in class daily)
 Highlighter
 USB Flash Drive
 A computer with internet access and working printer
Course Organization: The course is organized by themes. Each unit requires
students to acquire and rich vocabulary, to use standard English grammar, and to
understand the importance of diction and syntax in an author’s style. Therefore,
students are expected to develop the following through reading, discussion, and
writing assignments:
 A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;
 A variety of sentence structures;
 Logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase
coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis; and
 An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and
maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and
sentence structure.
Reading and Writing Strategies:
In our assignments, you must be able to identify, analyze, and use the following:
 Thesis or claim
 Tone or attitude
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Purpose
Audience and occasion
Evidence or data
Argumentation (defend, challenge, clarify)
Persuasion
Socratic seminar
Appeals: logos, ethos, pathos, deduction, induction, fallacies
Assumptions and warrants
Style (how the author communicates his message)
Organizational patterns found in the text
Cause and effect
Use of detail to develop a general idea
Assessment System:
 Essays (_____%)
 Tests (_____%)
 Quizzes (______%)
 Daily Assignments (_____%)
 Literature-based Assignments (____%)
 Research Papers (_____%)
Quarterly Classroom Activities, Major Assignments, and Assessments
Summer Assignment:
Literature: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Novel)
On Writing by Stephen King
Assessment: Comprehensive Test on Huckleberry Finn
Analysis of On Writing
Quarter 1:
Unit 1: Saved by Reading
“The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie
(Process Analysis)
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass (Process Analysis)
“Learning to Read” by Malcolm X (Process Analysis)
Unit 2: Coming to America
“Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford (Narration)
“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by
Judith Ortiz Cofer (Classification)
“To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “On the Burning of My House”
by Anne Bradstreet (Poetry)
Unit 3: Moral Choices
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards
(Argument/Persuasion)
“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Short Story)
“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving (Short Story)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller (Dramatic Play)
“On Morality” by Joan Didion (Definition)
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell (Narration)
Quarter 2:
Unit 4: Defining Independence
“Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry
(Argument/Persuasion)
“The Crisis” by Thomas Paine (Argument/Persuasion)
The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson (Argument/Persuasion)
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(Argument/Persuasion)
Unit 5: Confronting Racism
“The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln (Argument/Persuasion)
“I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Argument/Persuasion)
Poetry by Phillis Wheatley
“The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde (Narration)
Unit 6: Concepts of Self
Excerpts from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Definition)
Excerpts from Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
(Description)
“The Men We Carry in Our Minds” by Scott Russell Sanders (Example)
Excerpts from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Assorted poems by Emily Dickinson
Quarter 3:
Unit 7: Saving Ourselves and the Earth
“The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson (Argument/Persuasion)
“The Ends of the World as We Know Them” by Jared Diamond (Example)
“Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” by Stephen Jay
Gould (Argument/Persuasion)
“What’s Eating America” by Michael Pollan (Comparison/Contrast)
“Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White (Description)
Unit 8: Us vs. Them
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“On Compassion” by Barbara Lazear Ascher (Example)
“Serving in Florida” by Barbara Ehrenreich (Example)
“On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner (Process Analysis)
“Regarding the Pain of Others” by Susan Sontag (Argument/Persuasion)
Quarter 4:
Unit 9: Terrific Liars
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
“The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson (Classification)
“Salvation” by Langston Hughes (Narration)
Unit 10: Focus on College
Excerpt from The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Personal Statements
SAT/ACT preparation
Unit 11: America in Moving Pictures
Scenes from:
The Artist
Scarface (the original)
It Happened One Night
Casablanca
On the Waterfront
West Side Story
The Godfather
Jaws
Rocky
Top Gun
Forrest Gump
Homework/Classwork: Homework will be assigned almost every day and should
be complete at the beginning of class on the day it is due. This category includes
weekly SAT vocabulary homework, outside reading, reading analysis, and work
due on outside reading. Classwork will include daily writing, literary term
assignments, etc…
Written Assignments/ Benchmark Project/Projects: As a college-level course, AP
English Language III, will, of necessity, require more writing with emphasis on
the following:
 Writing as a process, including invention, arrangement, drafting and
revision
 The four aims of writing-reflective, informative, persuasive, and literary;
 The Rhetorical modes of narration, description, expositions and
argumentation
 The research process
 A wide-range vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;
 A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination
and coordination
 Logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase
coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis
 Effective use of rhetoric including controlling tone, establishing and
maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and
sentence structure.
Writing is a major component of this course. You will be writing everyday in
some capacity. However, throughout each nine weeks, you will also be given
formal essay writing assignments that you will work on both in and out of class.
You will create a finished product using the writing process, including pre-writing,
organization, drafting, revising, editing, and, sometimes, publishing.
Additionally, you will be practicing timed writings as practice for the AP test.
All formal papers and essays should be typed using MLA style guidelines (an
MLA Handbook will be provided, please reference).
Quizzes/ Tests: The test grade will include vocabulary tests, literature
comprehensive tests, quizzes based on literary concepts and projects related to the
class. We will also be taking numerous practice AP exams in order to better
prepare you for the May test!!!
Benchmark Project: This project is not included in the grading scale. It is an indepth assignment that will use a combination of English skills and will count for a
large percentage during the second semester. I will be giving you a packet that
explains it in detail at a later date.
Make-Up Work Policy:
If you are absent it is your responsibility to make up any missed assignments.
Assignments will be posted on Synergy (our online grading portal) and should be
downloaded and completed by the student within the allotted time.
Late Work Policy:
You will be allowed 3 days from the due date of the assignment to turn it in for
late credit. Keep in mind that the late credit can only equal up to 50% of the
original points available. You need to keep in mind that this is a college level
course and late work is not a given.
Daily Practice:
You will be given weekly “Voice Lessons” that focus on themes within the
curriculum that you need to analyze. You will also be given “Articles of the
Week” in which we breakdown informational text utilizing the “S.P.A.M.M.”
method.
English 3 – Syllabus Contract/ Contact Information
Please read and sign below, indicating you have read, understand, and agree to the
syllabus.
Student Signature:
_____________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature:
_____________________________________________________________________
Please provide the most effective form of communication for your parents to use
(cell phone # or email): _____________________________________________
Thank you for your time and I look forward to a great year!
Sincerely,
Laurel Moore
English 1/ English 3 Teacher
Course Lead