AP English Language and Composition Course Description This 18-week course is designed to be a college level course, thus the "AP" designation on your transcript. The goal of this course is to assist you in becoming skilled readers and writers. As you become aware of authors' style, you will become a more aware and accomplished writer with your own style. Of course, in reaching this goal, you must continue your study of the components that create style and how they work together. Reading Expectations 1. To carefully read and critically analyze fiction and nonfiction works of literature as well as visual accompaniments and their influence on meaning to the written word. 2. To consider a work's style through various elements of language such as theme, syntax, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone through close reading. 3. To study representative works from various genres and periods of American history. 4. To understand a work's complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form. Required Reading The following words will be studied closely: The Crucible, Miller To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee Excerpts "From Walden" & "Resistance to Civil Disobedience", Thoreau Excerpts from Nature & Self Reliance, Emerson The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald Their Eyes were Watching God, Hurston The Gettysburg Address Of Mice and Men "Letters from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King Selected short stories, essays, speeches, letters, and poems You will choose one work from the following list for independent study as well as research and synthesis of secondary sources: A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway Beloved, Morrison I Know why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou Life on the Mississippi, Twain Song of Solomon, Morrison Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain The Bell Jar, Plath The Color Purple, Walker The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck The House of Seven Gables, Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald Primary Texts The Language of Composition The Riverside Reader, Alternate Edition English Language and Composition Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis Writing Expectations You will write both formal and informal essays, some timed and others outside of class. Composition assignments will take various approaches, including personal, expository, and argumentative. We will study various composition structures, standard written English, guidelines of the Modern Language Association, sentence variety, and word choice. 1. All assignments for formal papers will include a specific grading rubric. An additional grade will be earned for completing all steps of the writing process, including both peer and teacher editing feedback and/or conferences. 2. Timed writings, both those for daily grades and essay tests, will be graded and returned, accompanied by a scoring guide as feedback. These scoring guides will either be those created for specific questions on actual AP English Language exams or those written according to the same guidelines. 3. You will write about literature focusing on critical analysis including expository, analytical, and argumentative essays, as well as creative writing to sharpen your understanding of writers' accomplishments and his or her use of stylistic and rhetorical devices. 4. You will write argumentative essays that synthesize various secondary sources as support, including visual pieces such as political cartoons and advertisements. 5. As a junior in AP Language and Composition, you should have a good command of standard written English. Upon return of graded essays, group instruction of various mechanical and grammar usage issues will be addressed, as well as individual conferences addressing specific needs. Writing Tasks Timed essays based on past AP prompts and/or current literature assignments Essay tests as required in college level English courses Responding to and analyzing novels, drama, fiction, nonfiction (essays, speeches, letters), and poetry (including the research project) Imaginative writing including, but not limited to, narratives and imitative structures Literary analysis including expository pieces
Argumentative essays Personal essays Unit 1: Introduction to Rhetoric Focus: Rhetorical appeals, arrangement, the classical model, patterns of development, figurative language terms: Reading: Introduction to Rhetoric, The Language of Composition "I Have a Dream," Martin Luther King "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King "Shadow Catcher," N. Scott Momaday Sample AP College Board sample essays, rubrics Selected poems, essays, speeches, short stories, editorials, and current event articles Writing: Position essay over N. Scott Momaday's "Shadow Catcher" Analysis of rhetorical appeals, arrangement, and figurative language in King's speech Subject-Occasion-Audience-Purpose-Speaker-Tone (SOAPSTone) Strategy Students will incorporate the use of this strategy in their literary and rhetorical analyses and use as a resource in the writing process. Unit 2: Colonial America Focus: tone, voice, theme, metaphor, the argument Viewing: Salem witchcraft trials Testimony of McCarthy trial Reading: The Crucible Excerpt from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards The Gettysburg Address Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Declaration of Independence Transcendentalist essays Research on the Puritans Research of McCarthyism AP College Board sample student essays AP College Board released multiple choice questions Selected poems, essays, speeches, short stories, editorials, and current event articles
Writing: Essay test - analysis of theme in The Crucible Timed writing Unit 3: 19th Century America Focus: tone, imagery, symbolism, theme, diction, syntax, irony, annotation, Transcendentalism, the Toulmin model, tropes, schemes, citing sources using MLA, framing a Rhetorical Analysis response Reading: John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, "Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis" from The Language of Composition, "A Modest Proposal," Swift, Jonathan "From Silent Spring," Carson, Rachel, "From Nature," Emerson, Ralph Waldo "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau, Henry David "Resistance to Civil Disobedience", Thoreau Current event articles on Climate Change, Scientific articles on climate change, AP College Board synthesis essay sample answers for evaluation Selected poems, essays, speeches, short stories, editorials, and current event articles Writing: Essay test: Analyzing the rhetorical strategies in John F. Kennedy's inaugural address Analysis of "A Modest Proposal" identifying irony and stylistic devices Position essay: Support, challenge, or qualify Emerson's main idea in Part 1 of "From Nature" Timed writing and peer editing Unit 4: Early 20th Century Focus: characterization, symbolism, running metaphor, theme, voice Viewing: A&E video over "The Roaring Twenties" Reading: Biographical sketch of Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby "Winter Dreams," Fitzgerald Their Eyes Were Watching God Selected poems, essays, short stories, and current event articles Writing: literary essay over symbolism in the houses in The Great Gatsby (additional grade from participating in the writing process including peer and teacher editing conferences). (Essay to be completed outside of class)
Essay test - discussion of symbolism and characterization in The Great Gatsby Argumentative Essay - timed writing - Lapham passage over Americans' faith in money Synthesis essay connecting The Great Gatsby and "Winter Dreams" to Fitzgerald's life (allow rewrite because this is the first synthesis essay) Reading journal over Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary essay (outside of class) over voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God Timed test over multiple choice AP College Board questions Unit 5: The Great Depression Focus: characterization, theme, symbolism, tone, diction, imagery, rhetorical appeals Viewing: History Channel video over The Great Depression Campaign propaganda from FDR and Eisenhower Reading: Of Mice and Men "Everyday Use," Walker (Riverside Reader) "My Name is Margaret," Angelou, Maya Selected poems, short stories, essays, speeches, editorials, and current event articles Writing: Personal essay over responsibility, Timed writing: style analysis of "My Name is Margaret" Timed writing: Synthesis essay over FDR speech AP College Board Multiple choice practice exam Unit 6: Modern America Focus: symbolism, theme, imagery Viewing: Vietnam War protests, video of Martin Luther King speeches political cartoons for Vietnam War era Reading: "Mother Tongue," Tan, Amy "Beauty" "Crippled," Mairs Selected short stories, poems, essays
Writing: Timed Synthesis Essay over the Vietnam War Timed Writing over MLK speech Personal essay AP timed and multiple choice tests in final preparation for AP College Board exam in early May Unit 7: Formal Literary Research Project Focus: theme, symbolism, diction, tone, synthesis of primary and secondary sources Reading: Student selection for research project, Secondary sources of literary criticism for synthesis into paper, MLA Handbook for reference Writing: Formal literary research paper