Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course Syllabus
Ms. Lisa O’Rear, Ed. M., English Department Chair
Cell Phone #: (706) 482-8201 Email: lorear@lumpkin.k12.ga.us
Office Hours: Monday through Friday 7:20-7:50
Course Description and Objectives
AP English Language and Composition can be one of the most empowering courses students ever encounter.
In the course, they learn how to read critically and perform rhetorical and stylistic analysis. They learn that
language is a tool people use to create meaning, and that they can use it for their very own purposes, whether
that be to argue, persuade, describe, define, refute, insist, bemoan, or celebrate. In short, whatever it is they
have to say, AP English Language gives the students the skills to write with voice and a sense of emerging
personal style.
Similar to typical college composition courses, the main goal of AP English Language is to create strong
writers who will have the skills to write effectively in their college courses and in their personal and
professional lives. For this reason, it is important that students read and write a variety of texts: narrative,
descriptive, expository, argumentative analytical, personal. Reading widely and experimenting with a various
writing forms helps students understand how a writer’s audience and purpose shape his or her material.
Students will learn how to make complex text connections such as text to self, text to world, text to text, and
text to itself.
AP courses are different from regular high school courses in that they are taught with college curricula and
college-level materials. Other rigorous characteristics of AP courses include content immersion, a fast pace,
and performance assessed at the analysis and synthesis levels. (Information derived from College Board
literature and website)
**Bookmark <collegeboard.com> and <doe.k12.ga.us> for course updates and more information.**
Course Texts
In additional to a number of grammar, non-fiction, and rhetorical sources, the following texts will be studied
in great detail:
50 Essays, The Tipping Point, The Things They Carried, Cracking the AP English Lang/Comp Exam, This Simian
World, “Politics and the English Language”
Course Assessments
In addition to the reading schedule, there will be extensive opportunities to build vocabulary and to develop a
command of grammar, writing, and research skills. Grades in this course will be calculated as follows:
Formative Assessments (50%)
Informal Writings/200-word Blog —Informal forum where students may analyze texts of their choice
without the stress of a formal writing. Analytical, expository, and reflective SC3, SC4
AP Practice Essays—To become familiar and proficient with the College Board grading rubric
AP Practice Multiple Choice Questions—to become familiar and proficient with the skills tested by the College
Board
Summative Assessments (50%)
Formal 500-word Essays and Essay Revisions (weekly throughout the semester)—To gain practice and
proficiency in the varied writing modes of the course, develop elevated working vocabulary, style and voice.
Students will receive feedback on all essays in a unit and will revise many to resubmit for a summative grade.
Research Projects and Portfolio of AP Work-Based Projects—To explore a topic and a rhetorical mode in
extended depth, and to document a breadth of rhetorical skill and revision of work
AP Exams—After practicing answering brief excerpts from released AP exams, students will take 2 complete
released AP Exams for a grade, one at midterm and one near the end of the semester.
Overall Course Grading Formula
1st 9 Weeks Average = 40%
2nd 9 Weeks Average =40%
Final Exam Average = 20%
Total
= grade in the class
AP English Language and Composition Exam: Wednesday, May 13, 8:00A.M.
Yearly, the AP English Language Development Committee prepares a three-hour exam that gives the students
the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the skills and abilities previously described. The AP English
Language and Composition Exam employs multiple-choice questions to test the students’ skills in both
analyzing the rhetoric of prose passages and using documentations and citation skills. Students are also asked
to write several essays that demonstrate the skills they have learned in the course. Although the skills tested
in the exam remain essentially the same, there may be some variation in format of the essay questions from
year to year, including a question about the use of documentation and citations skills. College and AP English
teachers score students essays using standardized procedures.
Ordinarily, the exam consists of 60 minutes for multiple-choice questions followed by 135 minutes for essay
questions. Performance on the essay section of the exam counts for 55% of the total grade while performance
on the multiple-choice section counts for 45%. (Information derived from College Board literature and
website)
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Reading Calendar and Important Dates
1st Semester, 2014-2015
*Indicates recurring activity
Unit # and
Description
Unit 1:
Narration and
Description
Days of
Semester
#1-8
Texts
Activity
*All Unit 1 selections are
nonfiction texts.
*SOAPSTone Analysis on
each literary text
8/6 How to Read Essays:
You Must Analyze-Rice AP
Notebook, pp. 2-4 (Handout)
Homework: Prose Reader
(PR)“Description” pp. 36-50.
*Annotation notes for
support readings—Note at
least 3 major points, page
number, and be prepared to
discuss.
8/7 “My Name Is Margaret
by Maya Angelou, 3pgs./
“You Got Messed Up Color”
by Robin Lentz, 4 pgs.
(Handouts)
Homework: PR “Narration”
pp. 102-115
8/6 Writing Diagnostic—
Convince me to watch your
favorite TV show.
8/11 “No Name Woman” by
Maxine Hong Kingston (50
8/8 FULL CREDIT Summer
Reading Assignments—
SOAPSTones on the Orwell
essay and the three parts of
Food, Inc. (4 SOAPSTones in
all)
AP Scoring
Component
SC1
SC7
SC1
Essays pp. 221-233)
8/12 “Our Son Mark” by
Samuel Ichiye. I. Hayakawa,
4pgs./ “My Grandmother,
The Bag Lady” by Patsy Neal,
2 pgs. (Handouts)
8/13 “Shooting an Elephant”
by George Orwell (50 Essays
pp. 284-291)
8/14 “Time to Look and
Listen” (ST pp. 51)
8/8 Compose Essay #1:
Descriptive Narration inclass (handwritten)
8/8 Assign Literary Terms
Set 1 to present
SC2
SC12, SC13,
SC14
8/11 Literary Terms Set 1
Presentation due!
8/11 Peer Edit Essay #1 and
Teacher Conferences
8/15 Essay #1: Descriptive
Narration Due—Feedback
focus vivid diction, sentence
structure variation, and
organization
8/15 Assign Literary Terms
Set 2
After reading “Time to Look
and Listen” analyze “The
Flag” and consider how the
texts relate in Short Takes
(ST pp. 56)
SC8
SC3
SC3,
SC4,SC7
8/16 Blog #1—Evaluate and
explain a passage from a
Unit 1 Selection. Cite an
example from the text and
explain why it is effective or
not.
Unit 2:
Persuasion and
Argumentation
#8-19
*All Unit 2 texts are
nonfiction except “A Modest
Proposal”
8/18 Close Read AP
Language Holistic Rubric
(Handout)
Homework: “How To Say
Nothing in 500 Words”
(Handout)
8/19 Homework: PR
“Argument and Persuasion”
pp. 496-511
8/21“In Praise of the ‘F’
Word” (Handout)/ “Drilling
Down Deep” (ST pp. 236239)
8/18 Present Literary Terms
Set 2
8/18-19 Prepare AP Rubric
Metaphor-groups of 3
8/20 Present AP Rubric
Metaphors
SC1
8/21 After reading “Drilling
Down Deep” analyze the
cartoon “Would Madame
care for water?” and
consider how the texts relate
ST p. 240-241
SC8
8/22 Unit 1 Essay:
Descriptive Narration
Revised Essay
SC12, SC13,
SC14
8/22 “A Modest Proposal”
(50 Essays 387-395)
Homework: Tipping Point
(TP)—Introduction and
Chapter 1 pp. 3-29
9/11-15 Homework: TP
Chapter 2 pp. 30-88
(Summative)—Feedback
focus: wide-ranging
vocabulary, sentence
structure variation, logical
organization
8/22 Assign Literary Terms
Set 3
8/22 Socratic Seminar
SC1, SC6,
8/25 Compose Essay #2:
Persuasive Argument
8/25 Present Literary Terms
Set 3
SC7
8/26 AP M/C Paired Practice
8/27 Peer Edit Essay #2,
Teacher Conferences
8/28 Post-Metacog on AP
M/C
SC2
SC7
SC16
8/29 Essay #2 Persuasive
Argument Revision—
Feedback focus: effective
rhetoric, including
controlling tone, and
appropriate voice for
audience
8/29 Assign Literary Terms
Set 4
9/2 Compose Essay #3
Persuasive Argument
SC1, SC6
9/2 Present Literary Terms
Set 4
9/3 Peer Edit Essay #3
Persuasive Argument and
Teacher Conferences
9/4 Analyze AP Exam
Question 3—Outline
Response and Score Student
Examples
SC2
SC7
SC6
9/5 Essay #3 Persuasive
Argument Due!
SC7
9/8-11 Read/Analyze AP
Exam Question 1—Unpack
synthesis question, compose
outline for essay
Homework: Revise Essay
#2 or #3 for summative
grade.
9/12 Revised Persuasive
Argument Due!
SC2
9/12 Who Gets the Heart?
Persuasive Rhetoric Role
Playing Activity
9/12 Assign Literary Terms
Set 5
9/13 Blog #2 Evaluate a
Passage from a Unit 2
Selection
Unit 3:
Comparison and
Contrast
#20-33
SC3, SC7
*All Unit 3 texts are
nonfiction.
9/15 Present Literary Terms
Set 5
9/15 “Two Views of the
River” (Handout)
Homework: PR
“Comparison/Contrast” pp.
322-337
9/17 Essay #4 Comparison
and Contrast—Choose topic
SC1, SC4
SC2
9/17 “Eleven” (Handout)
9/19 Peer Edit Essay #4
Comparison and Contrast
and
Essay Conferences
9/17-18 Homework: TP
Chapter 3 pp. 89-132
9/19 SOAPSTone on 1 of 3
Unit 3 Selections
SC3, SC7
9/18 “Report-Talk and
Rapport-Talk”/ “Writing
Style” (Handout)
9/24 Read/Analyze AP Exam
Question 2, Outline essay,
Score Student Examples
SC7
9/19 Homework: TP
Chapter 4 pp. 133-168
9/25 Blog #3 Evaluate a
Passage in a Unit 3 Selection
SC3, SC7
9/22-23 Homework: TP
Chapter 5 pp. 169-192
9/26 Essay #4 Comparison
and Contrast Due!—
Feedback focus: logical
organization and balance of
general and specific
illustrative detail
SC14, SC15
9/26 Assign Literary Terms
Set 6
9/26 AP Exam 1—M/C
SC7
9/26 Analyze cartoon
“Dustin” and relate it to
SC8
another text of your choice
(ST pp. 130)
9/29 Present Literary Terms
Set 6
SC6, SC9
9/29 AP Exam 1—Essay
Question 1
SC5
9/30 AP Exam 1—Essay
Question 2
SC6
10/1 AP Exam 1—Essay
Question 3
SC7
10/1 Student groups of 2-3
score essays using AP Rubric
Unit 4:
Cause and Effect
#34-45
*All Unit 4 texts are
nonfiction.
10/6 Compose Essay #5
Cause and Effect
SC5
10/2 “Television: The Plugin Drug” (50 Essays pp.438447)
Homework: PR “Cause and
Effect” pp. 440-454
10/3 After reading “Retreat
into the iWorld analyze
“Candorville” consider how
the texts relate (ST pp. 198)
SC8
10/7 Peer Edit Essay #5
Cause and Effect and
Teacher Conferences
SC2
10/3 “Just Walk On By” (50
Essays pp. 383-386)/
“Retreat into the iWorld” by
Andrew Sullivan (ST pp.193196)
Homework: TP Chapter 6
and 7 pp.193-252
10/9-10 Fall Holiday!
Homework: TP Chapter 8
and Afterword pp. 253-280
10/7 SOAPTone on 1 of 3
Cause and Effect selections
10/8 Essay #5 Cause and
Effect Due! Feedback focus:
logical organization and
balance of general to specific
illustrative detail
SC14, SC15
10/8 Assign Literary Term
Set 7
10/8 Socratic Seminar
10/11 Blog #4 Evaluate a
Unit 4 Selection
Unit 5:
Research
#46-56
10/13 PR “Documented
Essays” pp. 575-592
10/13 Present Literary
Terms Set 7
SC3, SC4
10/ 13-21 Compose a
Researched Argument on
Topic of Your Choice/MLA
style/ 6 source
minimum/Conferencing as
needed
SC9, SC10,
SC11, SC14,
SC15, SC16
10/22-24 Formal
Presentation of Research 3
minutes MAXIMUM
Unit 6: Process
#53-63
*All Unit 6 texts are
nonfiction except The Things
They Carried.
10/27 Homework: “How to
Tell a True War Story” from
The Things They Carried pp.
67-85
10/28 Homework: ST
“Independence Day” pp.
165-168 and “Becoming a
Sanvicenteñia pp. 169-172
10/29 Homework:
“Dumpster Diving” (50
Essays pp. 146-158)
10/27-29 Compose AP M/C
Items Project
10/30 SOAPSTONE on 1 of 3
Unit 6 Selections
SC3
10/30-31 Socratic Seminar
Homework: Essay #6
Process
10/30-31 Present M/C
Project
10/31 Socratic Seminar
11/1 Blog #5 Evaluate a
Passage from a Unit 6
Selection
SC3, SC4
11/3 Peer Edit Essay #6
Process and Teacher
Conferences
SC1, SC4
SC7
11/4 AP M/C Practice
Unit 7: Analysis
#64-74
*All Unit 7 texts are
nonfiction except The Simian
World (fictional humorous
satire)
11/7 Homework:
“Declaration of Sentiments”
(50 Essays pp. 379-382)
11/10 Homework: This
11/5-6 AP Question 1
Practice—Annotate sources
and outline essay
SC9
11/7 Essay #6 Process
Due!—Feedback focus
logical organization
SC14
11/7-13 Compose Synthesis
Question Research Project
SC9
11/14 Essay #7 Analysis (a
response to an AP Question
#2) 40 minutes
SC5
11/17 Peers Score, Peer Edit
Essay #7 Analysis and
Teacher Conferences
SC2
Simian World (TSW) pp. 116
11/11 Homework: TSW pp.
17-38
11/12 Homework: TWS pp.
39-55
11/19 “Guest Workers and
the U.S. Heritage” and “We
Don’t Need Guest Workers”
ST pp. 217-224
11/18 SOAPSTone on 1 of 3
Unit 1 selections
SC3
11/19 After reading “Guest
Workers and the U.S.
Heritage and “We Don’t
Need Guest Workers”
Analyze the comic “All These
Illegals in groups of 2-3 and
consider how the texts relate
ST p. 225
SC8
11/20-21 Choose your
favorite mode of writing that
we have studied and Find
text for Final Project.
11/21 Essay #7 Analysis
Due! Feedback focus: logical
organization, balance of
general and specific
illustrative detail
SC5, SC14,
SC15
SC3, SC4
11/22 Blog #6 Evaluate a
Unit 7 Selection
Unit 8:
Classification and
Division
Unit 9:
Final Projects
#75-78
#79-90
*All Unit 8 texts are
nonfiction.
12/2 Analyze “That’s Life”
cartoon from (ST)
12/1 “The Ways We Lie” (50
Essays pp.159-168)/ “The
Extendable Fork” (Handout)
12/2 Essay #8 Classification
and Division
SC1
12/3 Essay #8 Classification
and Division Peer Edit and
Teacher Conference
SC2
Final Projects
12/ 4-9 Written Product for
Final Project. Part A
Compose an analysis on the
text you found in the mode
of writing you chose. Part B
Compose an original product
in your chosen mode of
writing.
Homework: Photo Essay to
Accompany Written Final
Project
SC1, SC3
12/6 Blog #7 Evaluate a Unit
8 Selection
SC3, SC4
12/5 Essay #8 Classification
and Division Due! Feedback
focus: organization and
SC12, SC14
SC8
wide-ranging vocabulary
12/9 Final Project Due on
flash drive or my computer!
Partner copies to flash drive
to analyze for ½ of his/her
final project grade.
12/10-12 AP Exam 2
*12/15-16 ENG EOC (and
SS)
*12/11-12 MATH/SCIENCE
EOC
*MAKE-UP EOC 12/17
12/17-19 Photo Essay that
depicts thesis in final written
product accompanied by
rehearsed oral presentation
explanation of product. 2-3
minutes MAXIMUM. I WILL
STOP YOU AT 3 MINUTES.
Essay Topics for Each Unit:
Diagnostic Day 1
In 400 words convince me to watch your favorite movie or TV show. Consider multiple paragraphs, audience
awareness, voice, thesis, transition, unity, persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), language artistry
(syntax/diction=structure/word choice.
NOTE: You may respond to the following essay topics or create your own, but I must know before you
begin about what you plan to write.
Unit 1 Narration and Description: Choose one.
 “You’ve Got Messed Up Color” argues that we tend to self-segregate based on a distrust or perceived
difference between ourselves and other racial groups/colors. Think of a time you learned a lesson
regarding the nearsightedness of self-segregation, and write a narrative describing the time the
lesson and its effect on you.
 Recall the details of an “accident” or a “disaster” in which you were a witness or a victim. Think about
how to recount the events as Angelou does in her description of the “disaster” in Mrs. Cullinan’s
kitchen. Consider the importance of pacing in order to convey the desired effect of the event on all
involved. Write a narrative describing the “accident” or “disaster.”
Unit 2: Persuasion and Argumentation
 The book you just finished is absolutely fantastic. Explain to your teacher why it should be required
reading for all students.
 Convince your parents to buy you something.
 You have a point of view on marriage and/or family. Convince your readers why it is correct.
 State lotteries should/should not be banned.
Unit 3: Comparison and Contrast
Compare and contrast…
 Christopher Columbus to early astronauts
 School bullies to dictators
 Church sermons to campaign speeches
 Acting to lying
Unit 4: Cause and Effect
 What does the change in the price of television sets from their invention to today have to do with
Winn’s essay?
 Read Stanton’s argument through her title: Why does she declare sentiments and resolutions? (Start
by defining both terms.) How does she get from the former to the latter?
Unit 5: Research Argument
 Compose a researched argument on the topic of your choice.
 Parenthetical notation and Works Cited page must be formatted MLA style. (Conferencing as needed)
 Include a MINIMUM of 6 sources with a combination of primary and secondary sources.
Unit 6: Process
 Thinks of a process you know better than most people in your class—like canning strawberries,
using a spreadsheet, or taking inventory, or building an architectural model, or resolving conflicts, or
kayaking through white water. Or think of a zany process—like how to become famous by being
really incompetent (ala Paris Hilton), or how to travel around the world without paying for it, or how
to get someone else to wash your car. Make a list of steps, and then describe each step. To make an
essay of a process paper, you have to interpret the process—make it interesting to people who have
no intention of doing it themselves.
Unit 7: Analysis
 Compose an essay analyzing the analogy Stanton sets up between Revolution-era Americans and
women of her time.
 How does O’Neill use voices and nameless characters in the play? How do these “voices” comment on
the text?
Unit 8: Classification and Division
 How many kinds of lies does Ericsson describe? How does the number of kinds of lies help her make
her larger point about lying?
 Choose one of the following topics. Start by determining the purpose of your essay: do you want to
inform, persuade, or maybe entertain? Be sure that the types or categories you create are as
complete and mutually exclusive as possible.
People in a waiting room
Students or teachers
Holidays
Trash
Shoes
Vacations
Dates
Relatives