COURSE OVERVIEW
Students in this college-level class read and analyze a wide variety of prose, both fiction
and non-fiction, in order to better understand how technique and rhetoric serve the
author’s purpose. Through close reading and frequent writing assignments, students learn
to develop their own composing abilities through seeing how other writers work with
language. Course readings come from a wide variety of authors and contexts and feature
essays, letters, speeches, images, historical documents, and novels. Featured authors
include Abraham Lincoln, Tim O’Brien, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Frederick Douglass,
and assorted authors featured in the selected textbook and the New York Times Op-Ed
section. Because of our school’s limited weekly instructional time (only 3 hrs., 10 min.),
students do a comprehensive summer unit that introduces the students to the AP
standards and serves as a formative assessment. Students prepare for the AP Language
and Composition Exam through practice testing and may be granted advance placement or
college credit as a result of adequate performance.
TEXTS USED:
Aaron, Jane E. 40 Model Essays: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. Print.
Jollifee, David A. and Hephzibah Roskelly. Writing America: Language and Composition in
Context. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.
Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer, Fourth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print.
Shea, Renee H., Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins: 2008. Print
Students will work in peer groups for revising and have private writing conferences with
the teacher as well. They will keep a weekly blog on Wordpress where they can practice
summarizing and responding to argument. This format also allows for both student and
teacher comments and critique in an informal setting. They will learn to analyze the writing
of professionals, their peers, and themselves. Other recurring features of the course include
practice multiple choice testing, practice grading of student essays from the AP exams, and
regular vocabulary exercises.
This course is built on the guidelines given in the AP English Language and Composition
Course Description.
SUMMER UNIT (July and August)
Due to limited instructional time during the year, the course will start with a detailed
summer unit on the theme of the American Dream. (These students have already had
American Literature and are familiar with this topic.) The writings will introduce the
students to the forms of writing on the AP exam and allow the instructor to have a
formative assessment of the students’ basic composition skills. They will write the
following:
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[SC 1]Before doing any readings, the students will write a personal essay telling
what the idea of the American Dream means to them.
[SC 1, 4]Next, they will compare/contrast the arguments in two pre-20th Century
texts on the topic of democracy and the nature of being American:
o “What is an American” from Letters from an American Farmer by J. Hector St.
John Crevecoeur
o “Of Individualism in Democratic Countries” from Democracy in
America (1835) by Alexis de Tocqueville
[SC 1, 10] The students are given the following reading list for the summer and told
they will be asked to write an essay (synthesis) the first week of school in which
they will have to use the ideas from the following texts to support the opinions they
espoused in the first personal summer essay on the American Dream:
o Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (play)
o CHOICE of novels: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel) OR Of Mice
and Men by John Steinbeck (novel)
o Black Boy by Richard Wright (autobiography)
o “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman (poem)
o “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes (poem)
o “The Prison” by Bernard Malamud (short story)
[SC 1, 8] Finally, the students are asked to analyze Edward Hicks’s painting
“Peaceable Kingdom” and explain how it speaks to the American Dream.
[SC 2] These writings will receive non-recorded grades to establish a baseline for each
student. Each essay will receive detailed teacher feedback on strengths of diction, syntax,
and illustrative examples. They will then be used throughout the year in 4th quarter as
“workshop” pieces, where they will revise and polish them. The pieces will be regraded
after revision for a recorded score.
FIRST QUARTER (Sept. and Oct.) : CLOSE READING AND RHETORICAL AWARENESS
o Reading Visual Texts (Writing America Ch. 1)
o Canons of Rhetoric (Writing America Ch. 3)
o Assertion Journals
o Writing unit: Analyzing the Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln
o Vocabulary
o Practice Multiple Choice (Friday quizzes)
[SC 1, 2, 3, 7, 13, 16] Assertion Journals
In the first quarter, students follow national opinion columnists and write journals weekly
on a Wordpress blog. For each column, students must provide a clear explanation of the
writer’s assertion, then defend or challenge it, noting the complexity of the issue and
acknowledging any possible objections to the student’s point of view. These are called
SRCs, which stands for “Summary-Response-Citation.” Students write a formal rhetorical
précis (analyzing the rhetorical devices, tone, and audience), then a personal response,
which is only 300 to 400 words, just enough to practice a key concept in argumentation:
acknowledging alternative points of view. They will create an MLA citation for the column
they read. Finally, students will identify and practice using language that develops tone and
style. Both students and teacher use the comment section on the blogs for critique. Critique
can be of the accuracy of the précis, adequate support in the response, or of grammar and
syntax.
(SC 3, 5, 7, 8) Learning the basics of rhetoric:
Using the activities in the Writing America textbook (Ch. 1 and 2), students will learn about
the Rhetorical Triangle, the basic types of appeals. This will also introduce them to the
concepts of tone and diction as it relates to the author’s purpose, with a focus on Jennifer
Price’s essay “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History.” The student writes brief,
informal analyses of diction and how it proves the tone. In another series of class activities,
students learn about logos, pathos, and ethos through analyzing print advertisements from
previous decades and then the Mac vs. PC series of ads by Apple. Students must identify
how these appeals are used in the ads then create their own series of ads using different
appeals. Students also analyze the tone of the print ads, focusing on how the advertisers
communicate through non-verbal images.
[SC 1, 2, 4, 5, 7] WRITING UNIT: Analyzing the Rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln
This unit is taken from the AP curriculum module on pre-20th Century literature and will
focus specifically on appeals and Lincoln’s signature techniques of antithesis and
parallelism. Students will identify the focus on logos, pathos, and ethos in Lincoln’s
writings. Students will also analyze the difference between personal (morality, common
sense, fairness) and public (religion, justice, humanity) appeals. Prior to the lessons,
students will read “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions” (1838), “The First
Inaugural Address” (1861) and “The Gettysburg Address” (1864)
As an introduction, students will learn the “4-A” approach (arrangement, appeals,
assumptions, and audience) and the “SPAM” technique of analyzing a speech (situation,
purpose, audience, method). Students will use their knowledge of enthymeme, a rhetorical
syllogism, to analyze the logic of a piece and analyze the use of juxtaposition, shifts in tone,
and rhetorical questions.
Lesson 1 focuses on “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions” (1838).
Students will see Lincoln’s use of parallelism, antithesis, and anecdotal information.
Of interest is also how Lincoln sets up contrasts. Students will compare this speech
with King’s “I Have a Dream,” which evokes similar cadence.
Correlating Blog Topic: Compare the situation Lincoln describes in this speech
to the government shutdown situation in Congress.
Lesson 2 revolves around “The First Inaugural Address” (1861). Students will
answer a series of short-answer questions, some before reading to set the tone.
(Curriculum Module questions pp. 39-42) Students will analyze the tone and switch
from first to second person. They will also examine his use of a qualifier as a
technique. They will explore how his use of antithesis and parallelism is effective.
Lesson 3 features the “The Gettysburg Address” (1864). Again, students will
analyze the use of parallelism and antithesis, as well as the “list of three”
arrangement.
[SC 1, 2, 4, 5, 7] PRACTICE ESSAY—RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Students will write a
comparison of “The Gettysburg Address” to a modern funeral oration, such as
George W. Bush’s memorial speech for the Columbia astronauts. Or they can choose
to do an analysis of the arrangement of the speech. This essay will be timed and
hand written. Students will do peer revision in groups with a teacher made rubric,
then assess the essay using the AP rubric in order familiarize themselves with it.
[SC 1, 4, 5, 7]MAJOR ESSAY—RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Prompt: Compare and/or
contrast Lincoln’s rhetoric on issues of equity and aggression through the three
speeches. Your response may also take into account his changes in public office and
/or the changes in American society. (This essay will serve as a summative assessment
for the quarter.)
Routine Skill Building: Each Friday, students will take a practice multiple choice quiz, then
review the questions missed with the teacher as a group. Students also will follow a news
columnist to keep abreast of current events. Each Friday, the student will post a rhetorical
précis of one column on his/her blog and critique another student’s précis as well.
Vocabulary: Using the unfamiliar words from the multiple choice quizzes, students will
define the words they didn’t know and then compose a creative short story using the words
in context.
SECOND QUARTER (Nov. to mid Jan.): RHETORICAL ANALYSIS, PERSONAL RESPONSE
and VOICE
o Writing America Ch. 4 on rhetorical analysis, diction, and syntax
o The Language of Composition Ch. 2 on close reading
o Analysis of an Act
o Assertion Journal and Critiques
o Studies of Voice (fiction and non-fiction)
o Studies of the AP Rubric and Standards (Friday grading sessions of old AP
essays using AP rubric)
o Vocabulary
[SC 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 16] Assertion Journals and Critiques
In the first quarter, students followed national opinion columnists weekly, then analyzed
this writing through a rhetorical précis on a Wordpress blog. They then wrote personal
responses to the columns using concrete examples (text-to-self, text-to-world, text-text) to
support their claims. In the second quarter, the component of peer critique is added.
Students are assigned to critique both the précis and the response and post it on the
student’s blog. The teacher follows through up with an additional critique of the original
assertion journal and the peer’s observations. Critique can be of the accuracy of the précis,
adequate support in the response, or of grammar and syntax. This allows students to keep
abreast of current events, both in public policy and popular culture.
[SC 3, 4, 5, 8, 9] Analysis of an Act
In order to learn about the components of analysis, Students will view a series of photos of
actions done in the name of religion that are viewed to be “out of bounds” by society. They
first informally discuss what they can deduce from the non-text images. Then, they pick one
to research. They will then analyze the act as if the doer were an author and the world were
the audience. They present the analysis to the class and must include the Big Question and
the Four Related Questions from Writing America, Ch. 2. Students submit a “works
consulted” bibliography in MLA style. Students receive teacher feedback from a graded
rubric.
(SC 3, 13) Study of Syntax
After receiving direct instruction on the importance of using a variety of techniques in
order to create tone and advance purpose, students are assigned one element from the
lengthy Writing America Ch. 4 section on diction and syntax. They are tasked to create
instructional activities and games for their classmates to teach these many new techniques
and concepts. Each activity has to have a student-made assessment to test whether the
activity was effective. Students spend two class days enjoying their classmates’
presentations and fill out a feedback form at the end of the activities.
[SC 3, 7, 14] Close Reading and Analysis of Rhetoric and Style
Students will begin analyzing rhetoric and style through class activities in Writing America
Ch. 4. (featuring Students will read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and annotate
the text for particular examples of outstanding style and technique. They will learn to keep
a double-entry journal from The Language of Composition. They use the journal to take
notes on meaningful passages and what rhetorical techniques they see the author employ.
Once a week for five weeks, they will have a Socratic seminar to discuss parts of the
reading. Teacher will give oral and written feedback to all students at the conclusion of
each weekly seminar that focuses specifically on the use of specific, illustrative detail.
[SC 3] Routine Skill Building: Each Friday, students will read sample student responses to
past AP exams and assess them with the AP rubric then discuss how close they were to the
actual results. Class will analyze student essays and discuss why they were or were not
successful.
[SC 12] Vocabulary: Using the words from PowerPlus for the New SAT Book 3, students will
review definitions and take online quizzes for grades.
[SC 1, 5, 7, 14, 15, 16] Major Essay—RHETORICAL ANALYSIS (compare/contrast, analysis):
Students will write an essay in which they use self-reflection to compare a sample
rhetorical analysis from Writing America, Ch. 4 to their own rhetorical analysis of Lincoln
from first quarter, highlighting their own strengths and weaknesses. Students receive
informal teacher feedback through margin comments to their document in progress and
after it is complete. Comments will pertain to illustrative support, syntax, logical
organization and tone.
[SC 1, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13,14, 15,16] MID-TERM EXAM
Students will take the 2007 AP Language and Composition Multiple Choice Exam and Free
Response question that is based on rhetorical analysis. They will have only two hours and
must write essays by hand. Students will receive detailed teacher feedback-- both written
and verbal--on the free response essay afterward, highlighting strengths and weaknesses in
tone, diction, syntax, structure, and vocabulary use. Attention will be given particularly to
strength of text examples and illustrative support. Feedback will also be given on student’s
rhetorical structure, logical organization, and transitions.
THIRD QUARTER (mid-Jan to mid-March): ARGUMENT and POSITION PAPER
(Synthesis)
o Writing America Ch. 5 on argument
o Study of Logical Fallacies
o Assertion Journals (reading essays from The Language of Composition)
o Studies of Structures (standard, Rogerian, Toulmin model, Motivated
Sequence, Six-Part Oration)
o Reasoning
o Types of Evidence
o Studies of the AP Rubric and Standards (Friday grading sessions of old AP
essays using AP rubric)
o Vocabulary in context
o Visual Texts
o Combining sources (Synthesis) Writing America Chapter 6
[SC 1, 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16] January WRITING WORKSHOP—BUILDING ARGUMENTS:
Students select a controversial topic from Procon.org. They research the topic, then write a
persuasive essay (with MLA citations) following a basic argumentative structure. Students
get mini-lessons, such as starting with a “hook” or using different types of evidence or
illustrative details, and they continue to make additional drafts of the essay featuring the
new techniques. Teacher provides lecture and activities on different types of claims and
reasoning (inductive, deductive, sign, etc.), as well as logical fallacies to avoid. Students are
encouraged to look at professional models then experiment with the techniques in their
own writing. Each step goes through peer revision. The second draft goes through teacher
revision with the student one-on-one. Students submit a final essay in the basic structure,
which is graded on the Common Core rubric for an argumentative essay. Next, the students
receive direct instruction about different structures (ex: Rogerian, Motivated Sequence, SixPart Oration, etc.) and adapt their arguments to fit the new structures. (timed writing
practice for first drafts) Students use model essays from Writing America to learn and
practice identifying some of the structures. Students receive teacher feedback on diction,
syntax, and structure before writing the final drafts.
[SC 1, 2, 4, 5, 6] February Major Essay—POSITION PAPER (Literature): Students will read
Brave New World and 1984, then argue which author had a more accurate vision of the
future we are now living in. Students will choose which structures and examples from text
to use without peer or teacher input. This is a summative assessment. Student will receive
teacher feedback with a rubric on structure, diction, and syntax, as well as on the
effectiveness of the chosen evidence.
[SC 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 , 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16] March WRITING UNIT-- POSITION PAPER (Synthesis)
Pt. 1 Rhetoric of Liberty Unit in Pre-20th-Century Texts:
Students will learn pre-20th-century prose by exploring the theme of liberty in historical
documents, with a focus on American history. These lessons will help students develop
skills in rhetorical analysis, the ability to recognize relationships among sources, and
argumentation about issues related to rights and liberty.
Lesson 1 will have them reading the English Declaration of Rights (1689) and the
Declaration of Independence (1776). They will compare the premises and
propositions of both documents to analyze rhetorical strategies and how the earlier
document may have informed the latter. They will also analyze the documents for
purpose, audience, and tone. (Curriculum Module questions p. 16-17)
Lesson 2 will have the students expanding the definition of liberty. American
history can be read as an attempt to fulfill the promised made in the Declaration.
Over the years, citizens who were not white men who owned property fought for
the expansion of suffrage and political liberties. Students will read two key
rhetorical artifacts in the 19th-century debate about expanding the definition of
liberty, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “The Declaration Sentiments” (1848) and Frederick
Douglass’s “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” (1852). Students will first
identify the differences between the American Declaration and Stanton’s. They will
analyze the rhetorical significance of the difference and how they change the
purpose of the document. Students will specifically compare the support of claims.
In both Stanton’s and Douglass’s documents, students will analyze the use of
pronouns and how that helps to define the audience. Students will focus on the uses
of religious language and allusion in Douglass’s speech as well as how he establishes
his credibility. (Curriculum Module questions p. 18-19)
Lesson 3 will take the idea of liberty global. Students will study the “Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and President Jimmy Carter’s “Inaugural
Address” (1977). Prior to this unit, students will have read many news articles and
current opinion pieces about human rights internationally and at home. First,
students will compare the Universal Declaration with the English and American
declarations for content and style. Students will explore whether they believe some
other rights should be included or excluded. Students will also explore the U.S. role
in defending these rights and compare it with other countries’’ philosophies.
(Curriculum Module questions pp. 20-22)
RESEARCHED POSITION PAPER-- #3 p. 22 from College Board Curriculum
Module. Students will write and outline and three drafts. Outline will be
evaluated by teacher for structure and appropriate support with illustrative
detail. First draft will receive peer revision, and the second draft will receive
teacher feedback on rhetoric, diction, syntax, and structure, as well as
problems with MLA style or documentation:
PROMPT-- In his 1977 Inauguration Address, President Jimmy Carter
stated, “Our commitment to human rights must be absolute” and “To be
true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will not behave in
foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home.”
Those who criticized Carter argued that an absolute commitment to the
rights described in the Universal Declaration weakened American
power and compromised U.S. sovereignty. Write an essay in which you
defend, challenge, or qualify the statement that a concern for the human
rights identified in the U.N. Declaration should form the basis for U.S.
foreign policy.
[SC 8] Knowledge Building (Activities and Projects) Students will create advertisements
using different logical fallacies in order to learn the different kinds. They will be presented
to classmates, who will be tasked to identify the techniques used.
[SC 3] Routine Skill Building: Each Friday, students will read sample student responses to
past AP exams and assess them with the AP rubric then discuss how close they were to the
actual results.
 Students will work in groups to brainstorm strategies and revise the “Morgan
Horse” essay from a previous AP exam
[SC 12]Vocabulary: Using the words from PowerPlus for the New SAT Book 3, students will
write creative stories to help them cement the use in context.
FOURTH QUARTER (Late March to mid May)
Note: There is very little time after third quarter before the AP Exam because of our
school’s extensive observance of Jewish holidays. Most time in the fourth quarter will be used
for practice testing or will fall after the test date.
[SC 1, 2, 9, 11, 13] SYNTHESIS WRITING UNIT PT. 2—Researched Position Paper REVISION
AND CITATIONS (annotated bibliography) Students will compete the major synthesis
essay. First draft will be peer reviewed, and second draft with documentation will be
teacher reviewed. Student writing will receive feedback on tone and syntactical variety.
Student will create a third and final draft. Students must create an annotated bibliography
and use MLA format with in-text citations. Students will receive instruction on how to do
so.
(SC 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) WRITING WORKSHOP—Revise summer unit essays
With a new awareness of rhetoric, syntax, tone, structure, and diction, Students will work
in peer groups to analyze each other’s writing and revise their summer unit essays to
demonstrate their new skills. These will be graded on the class rubric.
PRACTICE TESTING
Students will take previous AP exams as practice to prepare for the real exam.
STUDENT EVALUATION
Students are evaluated on a mix of major papers, class activities, projects, and outside
vocabulary work. All grades are significant. Students have one main rubric for essays: a 100
point class rubric that has a key at the bottom that corresponds to the correlating 1-9 score
he/she would have received if it had been a prompt on the AP exam. Students get to know
the official AP rubric during ungraded practice sessions of actual student essays from
released AP exams. The class is set up on a point system, with approximately 200-250
points per quarter available.
On average, the grade breakdown for each quarter is as follows:
o Major papers
35 percent
o In-class activities/blogs
40 percent
o Vocabulary
15 percent
o Multiple choice
10 percent
The Mid-Term Exam counts 15 percent of the entire semster
The focus of this course is on reading, writing, listening and speaking, with the center of
this being the class activities. The teacher regularly observes and assesses student
knowledge and ability by collecting their products, such as written pieces, on-demand
writing, quizzes, Socratic seminars, response journals and projects. The higher weight of
class activities makes clear to the students that these parts of the course are just as
important as the formal writing. Students must be committed to daily preparation in order
to keep a high grade. The students are continually assessed by the teacher and their peers.
The class is in a continual cycle of assessment and revision. Unsatisfactory writing is never
allowed to “slide.” When writing that doesn’t meet the objectives is submitted, students
must meet with the teacher to discuss the problem and then rework and resubmit.
All major papers are submitted to Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism.