Course Syllabus
AP English Language and Composition
Ms. Schmitter
nadya1.schmitter@cms.k12.nc.us
http://schmitter.cmswiki.wikispaces.net
Office hours: After school on Tuesdays or by appointment.
Introduction
“An AP course in English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose
written in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of
purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a
writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the
resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing” (The College Board, Course Description 2010-2011).
Course Description
AP English Language and Composition provides a college level study of American literature primarily
through the exploration of fiction and nonfiction works in the American literary canon. Special emphasis is
placed on critically reading and writing expository, argumentative, and analytical prose in order to prepare
students for the English Language and Composition Exam administered in May.
Course Objectives
Reading:
-to furnish the student ideas for discussion and writing through analytical reading
-to increase the student’s reading ability for comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation
-to make the student a better reader of his native language though the analysis of how that language is used in
a variety of forms
-to enable students to read complex texts with understanding
-to analyze image as text
-to provide students with a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods to gain
understanding of the connections between interpretive skills in reading and writing
-to develop a comprehensive overview of the major movements of American Literature
from Puritan time through the 21st Century
Writing:
-to introduce students to a writing process that includes invention, drafting, revising, editing, publishing
-to emphasize writing that is aims and modes based
-to produce expository, analytical, argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and
develop it with appropriate evidence drawn from primary/and or secondary source material, cogent
explanations, and clear transitions
-to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity in order to communicate effectively with mature readers
and a variety of audiences
-to use a variety of sentence patterns for a more mature writing style, including appropriate use of
subordination and coordination
-to use logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition,
transitions, and emphasis
-to develop a balance on generalization and specific illustrative detail
-to use rhetoric effectively, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving
appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure
-to introduce the student to informal writing, including imitation exercises, journal keeping, and in-class
responses
-to introduce the student to formal writing, including the techniques of research
Language:
-to develop a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively
-to introduce the student to the techniques of the rhetorical analysis of non-fiction prose style
-to enhance the student’s ability to use grammatical conventions appropriately and with sophistication
-to develop an understanding of a writer’s style with emphasis on diction, syntax, tone, voice, and details
-to use rhetorical techniques effectively, including, but not limited to, parallelism, antithesis, juxtaposition, and
repetition
-to learn the major rhetorical terms and their appropriate use
The AP Examination:
-to prepare for the AP Examination by familiarizing the students with the test’s format
-to improve the student’s test-taking skills through timed drills of multiple choice and essay questions
Students Will:
-present, analyze, and evaluate persuasive oral presentations with a focus on rhetorical
techniques
-read and analyze major American literary and cultural types, genres, characters, and
traditions as well as printed informational texts
-understand the variety and range of written communication forms and strategies while
developing their own persuasive and expository writing skills
-access, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and organize information from a variety of sources
into a documented paper dealing with a questions, problem or issue
-do extensive work with AP sample response passages and multiple choice questions and
discuss strategies for decoding and encoding AP Prompts
Course Components
Major Writing Assignments:
Students will write several major papers (including the graduation project paper mentioned below) that
require utilization of the entire writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing. Many of these
papers may start as in-class writing assignments that require further investigation and analysis. Students will
go through several peer edits and revisions for each paper. Each writing piece will receive an extensive review
from the teacher after it has been revised and edited at least twice by peers. All papers must be computer
generated, following MLA format.
In-Class Timed Writings:
In-class timed writings will be given on a regular basis. These will consist of writing prompts from past AP
exams, as well as responses to assigned readings and current events in the local, national, and global news. All
in-class essays are hand written in black ink and simulate the AP exam experience. When essays are revised
and rewritten beyond the initial in-class “rough draft” and are reviewed, edited, and reflected upon by the
teacher and/or peers, they must be typed and in accordance with MLA format.
Current Issues:
Students will frequently be asked to bring in current events articles that interest them. In accordance with
reading about and writing on a topic, classroom discussions/debates on these topics will take place in order to
give students a chance to validate or refute other students’ arguments. They will discuss their own strategies
and appeals as well as those used by their peers in order to achieve the objective of understanding arguments.
Nonfiction Presentation Project:
Students will choose an American nonfiction author in order to research his/her major work(s), rhetorical
devices, mode of discourse, and style. Students will develop a PowerPoint presentation and speech that will
be delivered during class. Students will be given specific guidelines and an approved list of authors.
Independent Reading:
Students will choose two independent reading selections over the course of the year; one autobiography or
biography, and one non-fiction novel. Various writing assignments will be given to assess students on their
reading.
Graduation Project Paper:
All juniors will be expected to meet the CMS requirements of the research paper as part of their graduation
project. We will work on the research process in class, and students will complete multiple drafts and
revisions of their papers. Final due date TBA. Please note that deadlines for the graduation project are not
flexible; late drafts and final research papers will not be accepted.
Course Materials
The following texts and CD-ROM will be provided for the students:
The Bedford Reader, Eighth Edition
Patterns for College Writing, Ninth Edition
Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing
5 Steps to a 5-AP English Language
Visual Exercises IX
Novels:
James McBride, The Color of Water
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Arthur Miller, The Crucible
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
*Other novels TBA.
**Students are highly encouraged to purchase their own copies of the novels because they will be learning how
to annotate, which is much easier when they can mark in the books.
Required Materials:
Binder (only to be used for this class)
Notebook (spiral or composition)
Pencils and black ink pens
Flash drive
Loose-leaf paper
Notecards
Post-it notes
Highlighters
*Highly recommended-A paperback or hardcover dictionary.
Course Requirements
Attendance and Tardies: We will follow the CMS guidelines regarding attendance and tardies. You will be
sitting in your assigned seat, beginning the warm-up when the bell rings. If you come to class late, and without
a proper note, you will be sent to lockout. You will stay in your assigned seat, unless otherwise directed, until
the final bell rings to end the period. Do not line up at the door! The 15/15 rule will be applied strictly. No
one will leave the classroom within the first or last 15 minutes of the period.
Attendance is crucial and directly tied to your success. Please note that CMS policy indicates that more than
ten absences of a class results in automatic failure.
Make-Up Work: It is your responsibility to check with me what you missed when you have been absent and
to schedule any makeup tests or quizzes. Please email me or see me before or after class; do not ask me in
the middle of my lesson. Tests must be made up within five days of an absence. Quizzes must be made up
immediately upon return to school. Any homework or assignments must be turned-in immediately upon your
return to school. Major papers and projects are an exception to these policies. These are still due on the day
assigned and should be emailed to me or brought in by another student or parent.
Late Work: Little tolerance will be shown with late work, as deadlines are a necessary part of all academic and
professional endeavors. You are required to make a back-up copy of all essays. If an essay cannot be printed,
it must be emailed to me by the beginning of class. Technical difficulties will not be accepted as an excuse for
turning in late work. Late work will be penalized TEN points per calendar day, even if it is only one period
late. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Participation: The quality of class is directly related to the quality of discussions; therefore, you are required to
actively participate in all class activities. Your grades will reflect your participation in class.
Materials: Come to class prepared. All work should be completed in a notebook kept specifically for this class
as I may collect and grade these overnight. All class materials should be brought to class everyday unless
otherwise indicated.
Housekeeping: Under no circumstances may students eat or drink (anything other than water) in the
classroom, throw trash on the floor, or harm the property of the school or other students. Bathroom breaks
during class should be rare and will only be taken during independent or group work time. No cell phones,
iPods, or similar will be used or visible in the classroom.
Honor Code: All of your work (homework, writing, quizzes, tests, class work, etc.) will be original and
references to other texts will be cited! Plagiarism/Cheating will result in a zero, a phone call home, and a
referral.
Course Grading
CMS Grade Scale:
A
100-93
B
92-85
C
84-77
D
76-70
F
69-0
Final grades will be determined as follows:
Major Papers and Projects 50%
Quizzes, Short papers, Timed AP drills 25%
Class Participation and Preparation 25%
Course Schedule
At the start of the school year each student will take a diagnostic AP exam. Later on in the academic year,
students will retake this same exam in order to measure their progress. We will begin the year by discussing
the summer reading novels, The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar and the excerpt from the book Modern
English Readings,“How to Mark a Book,” by Mortimer J. Adler.
Part One: The Reading and Writing Process
Reading Critically
1. Reading to Write
Reading: Patterns pg. 1-4
Analysis: Henry Louis Gates JR., “What’s in a Name?” Patterns pg. 5-12
Writing
1. Invention
Reading: Patterns pg. 15-35
2. Arrangement
Reading: Patterns pg. 37-49
3. Drafting and Revision
Reading: Patterns pg. 51-67
4. Documenting Sources
Reading: Bedford Reader pg. 49-70
Terms: Diction
Grammar: Common Usage Errors
Part Two: Personal Writing
1. Narration
Reading: Patterns pg. 71-83
Analysis: Sandra Cisneros, “Only Daughter” pg. 84-88
Maya Angelou, “Finishing School” pg. 89-95
Martin Gansberg, “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” pg. 101-105
George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant” pg. 117-125
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Point of View, Dialogue, Transitions, Narrative Order, Mood
Grammar: Sentence Fragments, Run-on Sentences
Narrative Essay TBA
2. Description
Reading: Patterns pg. 135-150
a. Place
Analysis: N. Scott Momaday, “The Way to Rainy Mountain” pg. 169-174
E. B. White, “Once More to the Lake” pg. 175-182
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
b. Character
Analysis: Selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Tone, Imagery, Repetition, Allusion, Figurative Language, Connotations, Denotations,
Detail
Grammar: Subject/Verb Agreement
Descriptive Essay TBA
Part Three: Informative Writing
Modes of Exposition
1. Exemplification
Reading: Patterns pg. 191-204
Analysis: Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, “The Peter Principle” pg. 207-213
David Sedaris, “Make that a Double” pg. 218-222
Jonathan Kozol, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” pg. 229-238
Grace Paley, “Samuel” pg. 239-243
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Tone, Slang, Jargon, Structure, Figures of Speech, Rhetoric
Grammar: Commas and Semicolons
2. Process
Reading: Patterns pg. 245-257
Analysis: Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht, and Jennifer Worick, “How to Escape from a Bad Date” pg. 272-279
Larry Brown, “On Fire” pg. 280-284
Jessica Mitford, “The Embalming of Mr. Jones” pg. 285-291
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Tone, Structure, Mood, Purpose, Style, Apostrophes, Parallelism
Grammar: Sentence Patterns (Simple, Compound, Complex, Compound-Complex)
3. Cause and Effect
Reading: Patterns pg. 303-318
Analysis: Normal Cousins, “Who Killed Benny Paret?” pg. 321-324
Marie Winn, “Television: The Plug-In Drug” pg. 325-334
Lawrence Otis Graham, “The ‘Black Table’ Is Still There” pg. 340-343
Janice Mirikitani, “Suicide Note” pg. 357-359
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Tone, Structure, Analogy, Rhetorical Questions
Grammar: Sentence Patterns (Subordination and Coordination)
4. Comparison and Contrast
Reading: Patterns pg. 363-383
Analysis: Bruce Catton, “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts” pg. 386-390
Deborah Tannen, “Sex, Lies, and Conversation” pg. 407-413
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Syntax, Tone, Organization, Juxtaposition, Figures of Speech
Grammar: Parallelism Errors
5. Classification
Reading: Patterns pg. 431-443
Analysis: William Zinsser, “College Pressures” pg. 447-455
Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue” pg. 462-469
Stephanie Ericsson, “The Ways We Lie” pg. 470-479
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Tone, Rhetorical Questions, Arrangement of Details, Transitions
Grammar: Dangling Modifiers
6. Definition
Reading: Patterns pg. 491-502
Analysis: Judy Brady, “I Want a Wife” pg. 505-508
Jose Antonio Burciaga, “Tortillas” pg. 513-516
Ellen Goodman, “The Company Man” pg. 517-520
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Diction, Tone, Repetition, Syntax, Analogies, Synonyms
Grammar: Apostrophe Errors, Sentence Patterns (Loose, Periodic)
Informative Essay TBA
Part Four: Persuasive Writing
1. Argumentation
Reading: Patterns pg. 529-554
Analysis: Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence” pg. 557-562
Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” pg. 570-584
Oliver Stone, “Memo to John Grisham: What’s Next—‘A Movie Made Me Do It’?” pg. 607-611
*All of the above pieces can be found in Patterns.
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, Fallacies in Logic, Tone, Diction, Syntax, Audience, Irony
Grammar: Abbreviations, Brackets, Ellipsis, Manuscript Form, Documentation, Paraphrase, Plagiarism,
Quotations, Style
Persuasive Speech TBA
2. The Research Paper
Reading: Selected materials TBA.
Terms: Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, Fallacies in Logic, Tone, Diction, Syntax, Audience, Irony
Grammar: Abbreviations, Brackets, Ellipsis, Manuscript Form, Documentation, Paraphrase, Plagiarism,
Quotations, Style, Italics, Underlining
Graduation Project Research Paper TBA
Part Five: Literary Writing
1. Fiction-Short Stories
Reading and Analysis: Selected Pieces by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving and
others
Terms: Setting, Point of View, Allusion, Allegory, Irony, Mood, Romanticism, Flashback, Suspense, Plot,
Conflict
Grammar: Review
2. Drama
Reading and Analysis: Arthur Miller, The Crucible
Terms: Irony, Conflict, Allegory, Character, Setting, Theme, Symbol
Grammar: Review
3. Fiction-The Novel
Reading and Analysis: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Terms: Style, Tone, Diction, Theme, Character, Irony, Point of view
Grammar: Review
3. Poetry
Reading and Analysis: Selected pieces from Dickinson and Whitman
Terms: Rhyme, Symbol, Assonance, Consonance, Free verse, Cadence, Imagery, Figurative Language,
Allusion, Irony
Grammar: Review
4. Non-fiction
Reading and Analysis: Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
**Other selected pieces TBA.
Terms: Character, Point of View, Conflict, Rhetoric, Parallelism, Rhetorical Questions, Antithesis, Anaphora,
Tone, Syntax
Grammar: Review
Literary Analysis Essay TBA
*Ongoing throughout the year will be selected vocabulary exercises and quizzes as well as timed AP
multiple choice and essay practice tests. Please note that I reserve the right to alter this schedule and the
selected reading pieces to accommodate the needs of my students. Any changes will be communicated to
the students in advance.
Contact Information:
Parents and students, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you have. The best way to
reach me both during school hours and after school is via e-mail, as I can respond very quickly. Email:
nadya1.schmitter@cms.k12.nc.us. You can also visit my wiki for class announcements and resources:
http://schmitter.cmswiki.wikispaces.net.
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Composition class. I understand that this course provides college level studies for high school students
who are ready to do college level work. If I have any questions or concerns, I know that I can contact Ms.
Schmitter through one of the aforementioned methods.
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