AP English Language & Composition
Ms. Peck - epeck@wcpss.net, mspeckkhs@gmail.com (use this address after 3:00)
Course Description
Advanced Placement English Language & Composition is a college-level reading and writing class that is intended to
prepare students for beginning college composition courses. Therefore, this course is designed to encourage students to
become skilled readers of prose and skilled writers who write for a variety of purposes. Both of these should serve to
make students more aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects.
Reading Goals
Reading is an essential part of this course. Success in the course and on the AP Exam in May is dependent on completing
reading assignments. If you are not willing to complete the amount of outside reading necessary for this class, not only
will you not be prepared for this course, but you will not be prepared for college courses, either. We will be reading a
variety of nonfiction prose texts as well as selections from American literature. While reading in this course, our main
focus will be HOW stylistic effects are achieved by writers’ linguistic choices.
Writing Goals
As set forth by the College Board, the writing portion of this course focuses on the expository, analytical, and
argumentative essays based on reading and personal experience and observation. Also, emphasis will be placed on
stylistic maturity, meaning, advanced writing skills are expected for this course and we will mostly be focusing on
refining and polishing your writing rather than basic writing skills. The writing assignments in this class will help you
achieve the following:
 a wide-ranging 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;
 a balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and
 an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving
appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure.
As a result of successfully completing this course, you should be able to:
 analyze and interpret samples of good writing, indentifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies
and techniques;
 apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing;
 create and sustain arguments based on readings, research and/or personal experience;
 write for a variety of purposes;
 produce expository, analytical and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop
it with appropriate evidence drawn from a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate evidence drawn
from primary and/or secondary sources, cogent explanations and clear transitions;
 demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own
writings;
 demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources;
 move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting,
revising, editing and review;
 write thoughtfully about their own process of composition;
 revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience;
 analyze image as text; and
 evaluate and incorporate reference documents into researched papers.
AP Exam: Friday, May 10, 2013, 8:00 am
http://mspeckkhs.pbworks.com
Class Website:
Edmodo Instructions: Go to http://www.edmodo.com. Click “I’m a Student.” Enter the following code to join this
class:w2xryw. Then you will be asked to create a username and enter your first and last name. Please enter your FULL
first and last names so that you can get credit for any assignments that you submit through Edmodo. If you already have
an Edmodo account, sign in to your account, click the “Join” button on the left panel, and enter the code above.
Parent Edmodo Accounts
Having a parent account can allow you to view all current assignments and posts for this class online. To register, you
follow the same instructions for a student account, but you click on “I’m a Parent” instead. You will need a special code
that will connect your account to your child’s account so that you can see all of your child’s assignments and grades. If
you would like to sign up for a parent account, please contact me by email: epeck@wcpss.net. I will send you the code
you need to complete your registration. Each child has their own “parent code” which can be found on the bottom left of
the home page once they join my Edmodo group.
Course Outline
Each quarter you will be responsible for a variety of writing assignments. You will also be completing at least two major
writing assignments each quarter. Each major writing assignment will go through three drafts. This writing process will
include two separate peer review workshops in class before turning in the third and final draft. In addition to peer
feedback, you will receive feedback from the teacher after the second and third drafts. You will also be responsible for
completing multiple in-class timed writing exercises that will help prepare you for the type of writing you will face on the
AP Exam.
Readings
Throughout the year, we will be reading a variety of primarily nonfiction prose texts. We will also be reading selected
pieces from American literature to satisfy the English 3 requirement for Wake County. When reading these texts, our
primary purpose is to identify and analyze the various rhetorical strategies employed by the authors. You will also be
required to periodically find, view, and analyze graphics and visual images (such as political cartoons). All readings will
be from the textbook Readings for Writers unless otherwise indicated. All readings will be due on the date assigned in
class, whether you are present or not. You are responsible for all missed assignments during an absence.
Writings
Throughout the year, you will be responsible for many different kinds of writing, from informal paragraphs written in
class to major researched papers written over several weeks and several drafts. All writing done outside of class should be
typed and formatted using MLA guidelines. All writing is due on the day it indicates in the assignment whether you
are present in class on the due date or not. All writing done outside of class is due AT THE BEGINNING of the
period that it is due. Ten points will be deducted for every day that it is late, even if it is turned in later in the day
on the due date. If you are not going to be present in class on a due date, you need to send your writing assignment
with a peer or email it to me directly.
Unit 1: From Reading to Writing – An Introduction to Critical Reading and Rhetoric
 Section 1: Critical Reading
o Readings
 “Guidelines for Critical Reading” p. 3-9
 “Education of a Wandering Man” by Louis L’Amour p. 10-14
 Section 2: What is Rhetoric?
o Readings
 “What is Rhetoric?” p. 15-36
 “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. p. 39-42
 Section 3: How Do I Write?
o Readings
 “What is a Writer’s Voice?” p. 55-61
 “How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words” by Paul Roberts p. 61-71
 “The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi p. 76-80
 “What is a Thesis?” p. 93-103
 “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor p. 113-125
 “How do I Organize?” p. 131-141
 “Rules for Aging” by Roger Rosenblatt p. 149-150
 “Sonnet 73 – That Time of Year” by William Shakespeare p. 160
 “Developing Paragraphs” p. 163-176
 Examples of Paragraphs p. 180-188
 Literature
o The Crucible by Arthur Miller
 In-class Timed Writings:
o Griffith vs. Paret
o Jamaica Kincaid
o Hemingway excerpt
 Minor Writing Assignments: For this unit, we will focus mostly on smaller, informal writings while we build the writing
skills necessary to succeed in this class.
 Major Writing Assignment #1: Many college admissions programs require some sort of personal essay as part of the
application process. Most programs don’t give a specific topic but do want to know about the applicant’s goals, motivation,
special interests, etc. Some applications leave the personal essay topic a great deal more vague, leaving it up to the applicant
to decide on a suitable topic. For example, NC State University’s undergraduate admissions application has the following
prompt for a personal statement:
o The application for undergraduate admission does not have a required essay or essay topic. However, it does have a
section for an optional personal statement, which is your opportunity to tell us anything you want us to know about
you as we review your application for an admission decision. Typically, the personal statement lets you make your
application stand out in ways that might not have been evident otherwise. Additionally, you can use this opportunity
to explain anything in your academic record that may need clarification (for example, a poor academic semester in
high school due to a family problem or injury). There is no required format or length for the personal statement.
One of the indicators of an accomplished writer is being able to effectively choose a topic for writing that will successfully
accomplish his or her writing goal. For this writing assignment, you may use the prompt above to write a “personal
statement,” or you may research your top choices of colleges to which you will apply next year and respond to one their
topics. For this one paper ONLY, please provide a reproduction of the prompt at the beginning of your essay so that I will
know to which prompt you are responding. Most college admissions essays have a suggested length of approximately 500
words. Please use the same guidelines for this essay.
Unit 2: Expressive Writing
 Section 1: Narration
o Readings:
 “Narration” p. 195-199
 “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell p. 199-205
 “Shame” by Dick Gregory p. 212-215
 “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden p. 220-221
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Terrorism p. 222-231
Section 2: Description
o Readings:
 “Description” p. 237-241
 “The Libido for the Ugly” by H.L. Mencken p. 242-245
 “Hell” by James Joyce p. 246-249
 “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty p. 251-257
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Spanking Children p. 261-267
 Literature
o I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
o The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
 In-class Timed Writings:
o Encounter with a rattlesnake
o “Guilt”
o Dust Tracks on a Road
 Major Writing Assignment #2: You will select a passage from either I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or The Narrative of
the Life of Frederick Douglass and analyze that passage’s use of expressive writing. In general, you will be focusing on these
3 questions:
o What does the author do? (In other words, what specifically does the author write in order to make this a piece of
expressive writing?)
o How does the author do it? (In other words, what techniques does the author use to make his or her writing
expressive?)
o And most importantly: WHY does the author do it? (In other words, why does the author write expressively using
the techniques you identified earlier?)
This essay will be submitted in 3 stages. The first 2 stages will consist of in-class peer-review sessions. You will receive
separate instructions for the peer review process.
Unit 3: Expository Writing
 Section 1: Process Analysis
o Readings:
 “Process Analysis” p. 279-282
 “How to Buy a New Car” by Clark Howard p. 283-286
 “Hitler’s Workday” by William Shirer p. 292-293
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Ageism p. 297-308
 Section 2: Illustration/Exemplification
o Readings:
 “Illustration/Exemplification” p. 317-322
 “What is Style?” by F.L. Lucas p. 322-330
 “Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall…” by John Leo p. 336-338
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Drug Abuse p. 342-352
 Section 3: Definition
o Readings:
 “Definition” p. 359-364
 “Who the Devil is the Devil?” by Robert Wernick p. 364-372
 “In Praise of the Humble Comma” by Pico Iyer p. 378-380
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Global Warming p. 393-399
 Section 4: Comparison/Contrast
o Readings:
 “Comparison/Contrast” p. 411-418
 “That Lean and Hungry Look” by Suzanne Jordan p. 418-420
 “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts” by Bruce Catton p. 428-431
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: The Existence of God p. 438-455
 Section 5: Division/Classification
o Readings:
 “Division/Classification” p. 465-469
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“Thinking as a Hobby” by William Golding p. 481-487
“Kinds of Discipline” by John Holt p. 489-491
Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Racism p. 498-509
Literature
o The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
o Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
 In-class Timed Writings:
o Okeefenokee Swamp
o Sputnik
o Momaday-Brown
o Marriage proposals
o Baldwin’s commentary on speech
o Douglass (in a free state)
o Fault Lines
 Major Writing Assignment #3: The Research Paper. For this assignment, you will select one of the modes we discussed
in this unit to use in your research paper. The topic you pick will depend upon the mode of writing. Your topic will need to
be something that requires research; therefore you cannot pick a topic such as: classifying the clothes in my wardrobe. This
would most likely make for an interesting essay, but you would not have to do any substantial research for this topic.
Classifying the different styles the wardrobe of the American teenager might require some research, but still not enough for
this assignment. However, classifying the wardrobe of the American teenager in the 1950s would require substantial research
on your part; therefore, it would make a suitable topic for this assignment. This essay will also be submitted in 3 stages. The
first 2 stages will consist of in-class peer-review sessions.
Unit 4: Persuasive and Argumentative Writing
 Section 1: Causal Analysis
o Readings:
 “Causal Analysis” p. 517-522
 “A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun” by Linda M. Hasselstrom p. 522-525
 “Why Tigers Become Man-Eaters” by Jim Corbett p. 535-539
 “Why I Went to the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau p. 541-545
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: The Status of Women p. 555-563
 Section 2: Argumentation
o Readings:
 “Argumentation and Persuasion” p. 571-576
 “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson – Handout
 “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift p. 581-587
 “I Want a Wife” by Judy Syfers Brady p. 588-590
 Issue for Critical Thinking and Debate: Homelessness
 Literature
o The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
 In-class Timed Writings:
o The Company Man
o My Wood
o I Am a Cripple
o The Synthesis Essay: We will practice writing the synthesis essay that will appear on the AP exam. For this essay,
you will be given a prompt and about 7 sources. You are to construct an argument by synthesizing the information
given to you in the sources.
 Major Writing Assignment #4: Choose a causal analysis topic from the list on p. 570 in your textbook or create your own.
If you create your own topic, please have it approved before you begin writing. This essay will also be submitted in 3 stages.
The first 2 stages will consist of in-class peer-review sessions.
 Major Writing Assignment #5: You will compose an argument paper. You will choose the topic yourself. The topic you
choose must be a debatable issue. You will need to conduct research on this topic and use information in your argument that
comes from a variety of sources. Procon.org is a good website to get topic ideas.
Unit 5: Introduction to Literary Analysis
Unit 5 will be a basic introduction to literary analysis in preparation for taking AP Literature & Composition next year.
During this unit we will read the novel The Scarlet Letter and write a brief literary analysis based on this novel.