AP English Language & Composition Syllabus
rhetoric (retərɪk) – the art of finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners, and examining the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners in a situation (David Jolliffe, former AP Chief Reader)
The Overview: Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze prose written in a variety of time periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, increasing their understanding of rhetoric and its effects. Through analytical reading and frequent writing, students develop their awareness of the interactions among a writer’s purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies, while strengthening their own effectiveness in composition abilities. Throughout the year, students write in several modes – narrative/memoir, expository, analytical, and argumentative. Student read, analyze, and respond to essays, letters, speeches, images, and fiction. Students increase their understanding of images as text by completing frequent analyses of various images throughout the course. Featured authors include Frederick Douglass, Annie Dillard, Anna Quindlen, Dave Barry, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jonathan Swift, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, William Shakespeare, Sojourner Truth, and Abraham Lincoln. Summer reading with dialectal journaling is required. Throughout the year, students prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam and may be granted advanced placement, college credit, or both as a result of a qualifying score.
Course textbooks/anthologies include the following:
Course novels may include the following:
Because this is a college-level course, performance expectations are high and the requirements are challenging. Students are expected to commit to working outside of class daily. This work involves close reading and rhetorical analysis assignments, various informal and formal writing assignments, and self-guided preparation for the AP practice exams. Effective time management is vital to being successful in this course. Because this course will delve deeply into an author’s choice of rhetoric, including his or her grammatical choices, students must bring to the course sufficient command of grammatical and mechanical conventions and an ability to read, comprehend, and discuss prose.
The Exam: The AP Language and Composition Exam consists of two sections taken in a three-hour and fifteen-minute time frame. The test has a multiple-choice component (about 55 questions) and three free response essays (rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and argument). Scores from both components are compiled to give one overall score, which is reported in point values 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. Performance on the free-response section counts for 55 percent of the total score; performance on the multiple-choice, 45 percent. Information about the fees for the AP Language and Composition exam are available in the counselor’s office.
The Grade: Because this class is a model of a college course rather than a high school course, grades in this class may be minimal at times. Students will be evaluated on homework, quality of class participation, daily class work, practice AP tests and writing prompts, journals, and major papers/projects.
Grading Scale
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 59 and below
Grades for each quarter will be weighted in the following manner consistent with district policies:
Semester grades will be calculated as follows:
Final course grade for transcript will be calculated as follows:
Square Root Curve – If material is deemed to be especially challenging, The square root curve may be utilized. This will be completely at the teacher’s discretion. The square root curve works as follows:
Extra Credit – Extra work, at times, merits extra points. Extra credit opportunities may be offered throughout the year. Do not ask for individual extra credit, please.
***If students take the AP exam in May, they will receive an additional quality point for taking an AP course. The test will be given on Friday, May 9, 2014, at 8:00a.m.
The Policies:
Attendance/Absences/Makeup Work – Student presence (mind and body) in class is essential. If a class is missed due to illness or other circumstances beyond control, it is the student’s responsibility to find out which assignments were missed, to acquire the handouts, and to borrow and copy any class notes for the day(s) absent. Because students have plenty of lead time for major assignments, the due date remains the same regardless of absence. To get makeup work, students may come to the classroom during my planning period (1st period), at break, or after school. Missed tests and/or quizzes must be taken after school or during Panther Advisory (if possible). Under no circumstances will missed tests/quizzes be taken during a regular class period. Makeup work must be submitted within two days of absence.
Late Assignments – Student responsibilities in this class include keeping an up-to-date binder, maintaining pace with reading, and turning in all assignments on time. If students do not understand an assignment, they should ask for help far enough in advance to have time to finish the assignment. Generally, late work is NOT accepted. For major assignments, late work will be accepted with the following penalties:
Once an assignment is graded and returned, students cannot turn in that assignment for credit.
Classroom Rules/Expectations – Students are expected to be in their desks and ready to work when the bell rings. Students should immediately begin bellringer activity without having to be prompted. Students should have assignments ready to hand in if one is due. Finally, respect all individuals in the classroom at all times.
Reading – Keeping up with reading assignments is crucial to being successful in this class. If student have not read the assignment, they cannot thoughtfully participate in class discussions. Falling behind in the reading(s) may cause students to become overwhelmed and frustrated when it comes time to write a paper, complete a major assignment, or participate in a Socratic seminar. Bear in mind that some of the reading will be difficult, and students may not understand it all the first time. The reading should stretch your thinking. Students should do the best they can to understand; meanwhile, write down questions on sticky notes so they can be addressed in class.
Plagiarism/Cheating – I begin the year with complete trust and faith in each of you. Please do not abuse that trust by being dishonest. Learning cooperatively is great, and I encourage you to get together to brainstorm and discuss assignments. When you sit down to complete an individual assignment, however, let the work be yours alone. Penalties for plagiarism—another word for cheating—are stiff. If two papers resemble each other too closely, I will split the points. If a paper is obviously copied, whether from a classmate’s work or from the Internet, it will receive no credit.
Saturday Study Sessions – Students should make every effort to attend the three Saturday Study Sessions as these are mandatory unless arranged ahead of time. The dates are as follows:
Test grades are awarded for attendance at the study sessions. If you miss a study session, you must attend the make-up session.
Tutoring – Tutoring is available for AP Language and Composition students on Wednesdays after school or by appointment.
The Organization & the Strategies: Because close reading, rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis are the four pillars of the AP Language and Composition course, the first semester will focus on providing a foundation in each of these areas, which are often intertwined. During the second semester, the course will switch to a thematic approach in which all four pillars are practiced regularly.
First Quarter: Course Orientation, Evaluation and Extension of Summer Reading, Introduction to Close Reading and Annotation, Rhetoric and Analysis
Following an orientation to AP Language and Composition that includes a baseline mock multiple-choice AP exam and a diagnostic memoir writing assignment, the course opens with an evaluation of the summer reading assignment (dialectical journals focusing on rhetorical devices) over Frederick Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Students discuss the work and write analytical essays regarding the language and rhetorical strategies Douglass uses to convey his message to his intended audience.
Students study the first two chapters in the course’s central text, The Language of Composition, to create familiarity with the key elements of rhetoric, the rhetorical triangle, the appeals, rhetorical structures, visual rhetoric, arrangement/logical organization, and analyzing style. The quarter also includes a focus on syntax, and all facets of syntax are explored through sentence combining activities, imitation/copy change activities, syntax analysis charts, and other strategies. Following a review of phrases and clauses, the effect(s) of different sentence structures is explored. Furthermore, such syntactical study provides the basis for introducing different schemes and techniques employed by the authors in the assigned readings. The emphasis on the study of syntax is connecting the device to meaning and to the effect on the reader or listener. Both Americanrhetoric.com and virtualsalt.com are used as additional resources throughout the year. The Laying the Foundation Three Levels of Reading Foundation Lesson is utilized to help students connect syntax to meaning.
As students read and analyze various essays, they use close reading strategies such as annotation, interrupted readings, dialectical journals, and graphic organizers to meaningfully converse with a text and identify/analyze its features. Students also analyze texts using Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework, focusing on rhetorical situation (exigence, audience, purpose), appeals (logos, ethos, pathos), organization/structure/form, and surface features (diction, syntax, imagery, and figurative language). The use of Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework allows for students to study both deductive reasoning (moving from the general to the particular) in their analysis and writing and inductive reasoning (moving from the particular to the general), or as some like to say, students can analyze and write with a top-down or bottom-up approach. Students demonstrate understanding through practice AP style multiple choice questions and through composition assignments (see sample writing assignments).
In this quarter, students also engage in analysis of past AP prompts, the parts of a thesis statement, and the correct integration of quotes using MLA style in order to improve their composition skills.
Bellringers during this quarter focus on grammatical/syntactical skills and analyzing quotes and/or visual texts and images such as photos, political cartoons, video clips, or advertisements.
Students will complete several multi-draft essays that undergo teacher-led or peer revision processes throughout the year. Students also evaluate their own writing using various strategies. One such strategy is color-marking the essay. Students highlight the thesis and topic sentences in pink (Pink in Sync), the evidence in green (Grass You Stand On), the commentary in yellow (Illuminating), and devices/schemes/tropes in blue (True Blue Tools). This allows students to see a visual representation of their writing and to check for a balance between commentary/evidence and for logical organization. The writing is scored using a 9-point QOEVG (question, organization, evidence, voice, grammar) rubric. The 9-point scale is a sliding scale that encourages student growth in writing ability over time.
Grade Conversion
1st 9wks 2nd 9wks 3rd 9wks 4th 9 wks
9 99 99 99 99
8 95 95 95 95
7 93 92 91 90
6 90 88 86 85
5 85 83 82 80
4 80 78 75 73
3 75 72 69 67
2 69 66 63 60
1 65 63 61 58
Sample Writing Assignments:
Composition: Memoir/Baseline Writing Assessment
Prompt: For this piece you will write a memoir of your own. Like Murray’s piece, yours will relate to a particular photograph or sequence of photographs in which you appear. The images you choose need to lead you (and ultimately your reader) somewhere. Reflect on the photo and write; fashion your text. Use details, memories, perceptions, and ideas that can be gathered up and purposefully arranged. Where do your photos take you? Reach beyond their edges into other rediscovered memories, details, sensations, situations, and moments that have left traces in your head and your heart. (Based on Donald Murray’s “The Stranger in the Photo is Me”)
Composition: Expository/Rhetorical Analysis
Prompt: Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland and, after escaping from slavery at age 20, became a leader in the movement to abolish slavery. Read carefully the following passage from Douglass’ autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Then write one or two well-organized paragraphs in which you analyze how Douglass uses repetition to convey his attitude toward slavery. Be sure you use quotation marks correctly for words or phrases from the text that you incorporate into your analysis. (Because this is the first rhetorical analysis essay, the prompt is more focused than most AP style prompts. This will aid students as they transition from Pre-AP style prompts to AP prompts.)
Composition: Expository/Rhetorical Analysis
Prompt: Using the preceding thesis or creating your own, write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies John F. Kennedy uses in his inaugural address to achieve his purpose. (Because this is one of the first rhetorical analysis essays, the thesis is provided to students who may be struggling with getting started, narrowing their focus, or determining purpose.)
Composition: Expository/Compare-Contrast
Prompt: Compare and contrast the rhetorical strategies and appeals utilized in Marie Winn’s “Television: The Plug-In Drug” with Reynolds Price’s “The Great Imagination Heist.” For your prewriting, use the SOAPSTone (speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, tone) strategy to analyze both texts.
Second Quarter: Understanding and Developing Argument, Synthesizing Sources
Throughout the second quarter, on an almost daily basis, students continue working with nonfiction: argumentative essays, letters, speeches, and visual texts. In preparation for January’s mock exam, students spend this quarter focusing on the remaining two AP Language and Composition pillars: argument and synthesis. Students study the third chapter in the central course text to grasp a firm understanding of synthesis. Drawing on texts from different cultural and historical milieus, students increase their familiarity with the various rhetorical modes. This includes rhetoric and background of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Queen Elizabeth’s “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury,” and Chief Seattle’s “Speech on the Signing of the Treaty of Port Elliot.” Students complete the free-response question from the 2001 AP Released Exam based on Lincoln’s second inaugural address.
Previous discussions about the power of images lead to a unit that focuses on “War and Authenticity of Photography: What’s True?” Students consider several prominent photographic images associated with the involvement of the United States in Vietnam, viewing a selection of photographs such as Nick Ut’s “South Vietnamese Children Burned by Napalm” and Eddie Adam’s “Execution of a Viet Cong Suspect,” as well as photographs taken by North Vietnamese war photographers (in Monk’s Photographs That Changed the World). Students employ the OPTIC (overview, parts, title, interrelationships, conclusion) strategy to analyze visual texts such as the war photographs. Next, they read segments of Tim O’ Brien’s The Things They Carried along with selected letters from Vietnam veterans published in Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Students complete dialectical journals as they read these excerpts.
Writing Assignments:
Composition:
Composition: Argumentative/Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Prompt: In light of their inquiry into texts associated with the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, students consider a passage from Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others in which the author asserts that the authenticity of war photographs remains removed from war’s grim reality. Her assertion provides students with a point of departure for an essay of their own in which they must draw on the texts encountered to form a response in which they qualify, defend, or challenge the following passage: We—this “we” is everyone who has never experienced anything like what [these war dead] went through—don’t understand. We don’t get it. We truly can’t imagine what it was like. We can’t imagine how dreadful, how terrifying war is; and how normal it becomes. Can’t understand, can’t imagine. That’s what every soldier, and every journalist and aid worker and independent observer who has put in time under fire, and had the luck to elude the death that struck down others nearby, stubbornly feels. And they are right. (126)
or
Prompt: Carefully read the following passage (On Photography, 1977) by Susan Sontag. Then write an essay in which you support, refute or qualify Sontag’s claim that photography limits our understanding of the world. Use appropriate evidence to develop your argument.
Composition: Synthesis/War, Atrocity & Remembrance Synthesis Essay Project
Prompt: Using at least three of the sources given, respond to one (or a combination) of the prompts below. You must generate and defend a thesis in response to your selected prompt:
1. What strategies do humans use to cope with atrocity, trauma and violence? What are the effects or consequences of these coping mechanisms? How can we deal with guilt and pain?
2. What’s the difference between fact and fiction? How do you define each? When is the distinction between the two clear, and when is it blurry? What responsibility do we have to tell the truth? What liberties can we take with the truth?
3. In what ways can stories—and storytelling—save our lives?
4. How does war transform people?
5. How do you tell a true war story?
6. How does memory function in relationship to trauma? How does memory work? What are the benefits and pitfalls of remembering? What responsibility do we have to remember?
7. These authors/filmmakers use many similar motifs (animals, women, children, settings in the natural world, etc.) in their attempts to communicate the effects of war. Compare/contrast the use of one or several of these motifs. How is it used? And what’s the meaning or effect?
Students also complete a timed synthesis writing assignment from a previously released AP exam.
Third & Fourth Quarters: Thematic Approaches to Close Reading, Rhetorical Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis; Focused Preparation for the AP English Language and Composition Exam
During the second semester, students explore nonfiction through thematic units that allow them to practice all four pillars that were introduced throughout the first half of the course. Most units include some fictional or poetry selections as well to broaden student’s perspective. Students continue to practice AP style multiple choice questions to prepare for the mock exam in January and the AP exam in May. Shorter or timed writing assignments and quick writes help students to focus their thinking; longer assignments build students’ confidence with ideas and give them time and opportunity to try out new rhetorical appeals and figurative language. Students will tackle the argumentative research paper in the fourth quarter during the gender unit.
Thematic Units (These are brief overviews of each unit with authors and sample writing tasks.):
Education: To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education? (3 weeks)
Community: What is the relationship of the individual to the community? (6 weeks)
The author begins this chapter by noting, “How can an individual maintain integrity and pursue personal dreams while contributing to the overall society?” (Shea, 259) In search for an answer, students read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as the central essay of this unit, along with essays by Henry David Thoreau, Jane Howard, Amitai Etzioni, Jonathan Swift, and Anna Quindlen. Students also read George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.
The American Dream: What is the “American Dream”? Has it changed over time? What does it mean to be successful in America? What is the effect of materialism on relationships? (3 weeks)
Gender: What is the impact of the gender roles that society creates and enforces? (6 weeks)
rhetoric (retərɪk) – the art of finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners, and examining the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners in a situation (David Jolliffe, former AP Chief Reader)
The Overview: Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze prose written in a variety of time periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, increasing their understanding of rhetoric and its effects. Through analytical reading and frequent writing, students develop their awareness of the interactions among a writer’s purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies, while strengthening their own effectiveness in composition abilities. Throughout the year, students write in several modes – narrative/memoir, expository, analytical, and argumentative. Student read, analyze, and respond to essays, letters, speeches, images, and fiction. Students increase their understanding of images as text by completing frequent analyses of various images throughout the course. Featured authors include Frederick Douglass, Annie Dillard, Anna Quindlen, Dave Barry, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jonathan Swift, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, William Shakespeare, Sojourner Truth, and Abraham Lincoln. Summer reading with dialectal journaling is required. Throughout the year, students prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam and may be granted advanced placement, college credit, or both as a result of a qualifying score.
Course textbooks/anthologies include the following:
- Cohen, Samuel, ed. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
- Diyanni, Robert, ed. One Hundred Great Essays. New York: Longman.
- Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkeiwicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Argument. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
- Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. (central text)
Course novels may include the following:
- The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Douglass
- Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
- The Crucible by Miller
- Hamlet by Shakespeare
- 1984 by Orwell
- The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Because this is a college-level course, performance expectations are high and the requirements are challenging. Students are expected to commit to working outside of class daily. This work involves close reading and rhetorical analysis assignments, various informal and formal writing assignments, and self-guided preparation for the AP practice exams. Effective time management is vital to being successful in this course. Because this course will delve deeply into an author’s choice of rhetoric, including his or her grammatical choices, students must bring to the course sufficient command of grammatical and mechanical conventions and an ability to read, comprehend, and discuss prose.
The Exam: The AP Language and Composition Exam consists of two sections taken in a three-hour and fifteen-minute time frame. The test has a multiple-choice component (about 55 questions) and three free response essays (rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and argument). Scores from both components are compiled to give one overall score, which is reported in point values 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. Performance on the free-response section counts for 55 percent of the total score; performance on the multiple-choice, 45 percent. Information about the fees for the AP Language and Composition exam are available in the counselor’s office.
The Grade: Because this class is a model of a college course rather than a high school course, grades in this class may be minimal at times. Students will be evaluated on homework, quality of class participation, daily class work, practice AP tests and writing prompts, journals, and major papers/projects.
Grading Scale
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 59 and below
Grades for each quarter will be weighted in the following manner consistent with district policies:
- Process Grades – 15% (class work, homework, discussions, rough drafts, practice assignments)
- Quiz Grades – 25% (practice AP exams, reading checks, vocabulary, revised rough drafts, timed writings)
- Product Grades – 60% (major papers and major tests/projects)
Semester grades will be calculated as follows:
- First Nine Weeks – 40%
- Second Nine Weeks – 40%
- Final Exam – 20%
Final course grade for transcript will be calculated as follows:
- First Semester – 50%
- Second Semester – 50%
Square Root Curve – If material is deemed to be especially challenging, The square root curve may be utilized. This will be completely at the teacher’s discretion. The square root curve works as follows:
- Take the square root of the grade (Example: the square root of 60 is 7.746)
- Multiple by 10 (7.746 times ten is 77.46)
- The new grade is 77.
Extra Credit – Extra work, at times, merits extra points. Extra credit opportunities may be offered throughout the year. Do not ask for individual extra credit, please.
***If students take the AP exam in May, they will receive an additional quality point for taking an AP course. The test will be given on Friday, May 9, 2014, at 8:00a.m.
The Policies:
Attendance/Absences/Makeup Work – Student presence (mind and body) in class is essential. If a class is missed due to illness or other circumstances beyond control, it is the student’s responsibility to find out which assignments were missed, to acquire the handouts, and to borrow and copy any class notes for the day(s) absent. Because students have plenty of lead time for major assignments, the due date remains the same regardless of absence. To get makeup work, students may come to the classroom during my planning period (1st period), at break, or after school. Missed tests and/or quizzes must be taken after school or during Panther Advisory (if possible). Under no circumstances will missed tests/quizzes be taken during a regular class period. Makeup work must be submitted within two days of absence.
Late Assignments – Student responsibilities in this class include keeping an up-to-date binder, maintaining pace with reading, and turning in all assignments on time. If students do not understand an assignment, they should ask for help far enough in advance to have time to finish the assignment. Generally, late work is NOT accepted. For major assignments, late work will be accepted with the following penalties:
- One day late: subtract 20 points
- Each day later after the first: subtract 10 points
Once an assignment is graded and returned, students cannot turn in that assignment for credit.
Classroom Rules/Expectations – Students are expected to be in their desks and ready to work when the bell rings. Students should immediately begin bellringer activity without having to be prompted. Students should have assignments ready to hand in if one is due. Finally, respect all individuals in the classroom at all times.
Reading – Keeping up with reading assignments is crucial to being successful in this class. If student have not read the assignment, they cannot thoughtfully participate in class discussions. Falling behind in the reading(s) may cause students to become overwhelmed and frustrated when it comes time to write a paper, complete a major assignment, or participate in a Socratic seminar. Bear in mind that some of the reading will be difficult, and students may not understand it all the first time. The reading should stretch your thinking. Students should do the best they can to understand; meanwhile, write down questions on sticky notes so they can be addressed in class.
Plagiarism/Cheating – I begin the year with complete trust and faith in each of you. Please do not abuse that trust by being dishonest. Learning cooperatively is great, and I encourage you to get together to brainstorm and discuss assignments. When you sit down to complete an individual assignment, however, let the work be yours alone. Penalties for plagiarism—another word for cheating—are stiff. If two papers resemble each other too closely, I will split the points. If a paper is obviously copied, whether from a classmate’s work or from the Internet, it will receive no credit.
Saturday Study Sessions – Students should make every effort to attend the three Saturday Study Sessions as these are mandatory unless arranged ahead of time. The dates are as follows:
- October 5, 8a.m. – 2p.m.
- January 11, 8a.m. – 12p.m. (Mock Exam)
- April 5, 8a.m. – 2p.m. (Test Deconstruction)
Test grades are awarded for attendance at the study sessions. If you miss a study session, you must attend the make-up session.
Tutoring – Tutoring is available for AP Language and Composition students on Wednesdays after school or by appointment.
The Organization & the Strategies: Because close reading, rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis are the four pillars of the AP Language and Composition course, the first semester will focus on providing a foundation in each of these areas, which are often intertwined. During the second semester, the course will switch to a thematic approach in which all four pillars are practiced regularly.
First Quarter: Course Orientation, Evaluation and Extension of Summer Reading, Introduction to Close Reading and Annotation, Rhetoric and Analysis
Following an orientation to AP Language and Composition that includes a baseline mock multiple-choice AP exam and a diagnostic memoir writing assignment, the course opens with an evaluation of the summer reading assignment (dialectical journals focusing on rhetorical devices) over Frederick Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Students discuss the work and write analytical essays regarding the language and rhetorical strategies Douglass uses to convey his message to his intended audience.
Students study the first two chapters in the course’s central text, The Language of Composition, to create familiarity with the key elements of rhetoric, the rhetorical triangle, the appeals, rhetorical structures, visual rhetoric, arrangement/logical organization, and analyzing style. The quarter also includes a focus on syntax, and all facets of syntax are explored through sentence combining activities, imitation/copy change activities, syntax analysis charts, and other strategies. Following a review of phrases and clauses, the effect(s) of different sentence structures is explored. Furthermore, such syntactical study provides the basis for introducing different schemes and techniques employed by the authors in the assigned readings. The emphasis on the study of syntax is connecting the device to meaning and to the effect on the reader or listener. Both Americanrhetoric.com and virtualsalt.com are used as additional resources throughout the year. The Laying the Foundation Three Levels of Reading Foundation Lesson is utilized to help students connect syntax to meaning.
As students read and analyze various essays, they use close reading strategies such as annotation, interrupted readings, dialectical journals, and graphic organizers to meaningfully converse with a text and identify/analyze its features. Students also analyze texts using Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework, focusing on rhetorical situation (exigence, audience, purpose), appeals (logos, ethos, pathos), organization/structure/form, and surface features (diction, syntax, imagery, and figurative language). The use of Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework allows for students to study both deductive reasoning (moving from the general to the particular) in their analysis and writing and inductive reasoning (moving from the particular to the general), or as some like to say, students can analyze and write with a top-down or bottom-up approach. Students demonstrate understanding through practice AP style multiple choice questions and through composition assignments (see sample writing assignments).
In this quarter, students also engage in analysis of past AP prompts, the parts of a thesis statement, and the correct integration of quotes using MLA style in order to improve their composition skills.
Bellringers during this quarter focus on grammatical/syntactical skills and analyzing quotes and/or visual texts and images such as photos, political cartoons, video clips, or advertisements.
Students will complete several multi-draft essays that undergo teacher-led or peer revision processes throughout the year. Students also evaluate their own writing using various strategies. One such strategy is color-marking the essay. Students highlight the thesis and topic sentences in pink (Pink in Sync), the evidence in green (Grass You Stand On), the commentary in yellow (Illuminating), and devices/schemes/tropes in blue (True Blue Tools). This allows students to see a visual representation of their writing and to check for a balance between commentary/evidence and for logical organization. The writing is scored using a 9-point QOEVG (question, organization, evidence, voice, grammar) rubric. The 9-point scale is a sliding scale that encourages student growth in writing ability over time.
Grade Conversion
1st 9wks 2nd 9wks 3rd 9wks 4th 9 wks
9 99 99 99 99
8 95 95 95 95
7 93 92 91 90
6 90 88 86 85
5 85 83 82 80
4 80 78 75 73
3 75 72 69 67
2 69 66 63 60
1 65 63 61 58
Sample Writing Assignments:
Composition: Memoir/Baseline Writing Assessment
Prompt: For this piece you will write a memoir of your own. Like Murray’s piece, yours will relate to a particular photograph or sequence of photographs in which you appear. The images you choose need to lead you (and ultimately your reader) somewhere. Reflect on the photo and write; fashion your text. Use details, memories, perceptions, and ideas that can be gathered up and purposefully arranged. Where do your photos take you? Reach beyond their edges into other rediscovered memories, details, sensations, situations, and moments that have left traces in your head and your heart. (Based on Donald Murray’s “The Stranger in the Photo is Me”)
Composition: Expository/Rhetorical Analysis
Prompt: Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland and, after escaping from slavery at age 20, became a leader in the movement to abolish slavery. Read carefully the following passage from Douglass’ autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Then write one or two well-organized paragraphs in which you analyze how Douglass uses repetition to convey his attitude toward slavery. Be sure you use quotation marks correctly for words or phrases from the text that you incorporate into your analysis. (Because this is the first rhetorical analysis essay, the prompt is more focused than most AP style prompts. This will aid students as they transition from Pre-AP style prompts to AP prompts.)
Composition: Expository/Rhetorical Analysis
Prompt: Using the preceding thesis or creating your own, write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies John F. Kennedy uses in his inaugural address to achieve his purpose. (Because this is one of the first rhetorical analysis essays, the thesis is provided to students who may be struggling with getting started, narrowing their focus, or determining purpose.)
Composition: Expository/Compare-Contrast
Prompt: Compare and contrast the rhetorical strategies and appeals utilized in Marie Winn’s “Television: The Plug-In Drug” with Reynolds Price’s “The Great Imagination Heist.” For your prewriting, use the SOAPSTone (speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, tone) strategy to analyze both texts.
Second Quarter: Understanding and Developing Argument, Synthesizing Sources
Throughout the second quarter, on an almost daily basis, students continue working with nonfiction: argumentative essays, letters, speeches, and visual texts. In preparation for January’s mock exam, students spend this quarter focusing on the remaining two AP Language and Composition pillars: argument and synthesis. Students study the third chapter in the central course text to grasp a firm understanding of synthesis. Drawing on texts from different cultural and historical milieus, students increase their familiarity with the various rhetorical modes. This includes rhetoric and background of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Queen Elizabeth’s “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury,” and Chief Seattle’s “Speech on the Signing of the Treaty of Port Elliot.” Students complete the free-response question from the 2001 AP Released Exam based on Lincoln’s second inaugural address.
Previous discussions about the power of images lead to a unit that focuses on “War and Authenticity of Photography: What’s True?” Students consider several prominent photographic images associated with the involvement of the United States in Vietnam, viewing a selection of photographs such as Nick Ut’s “South Vietnamese Children Burned by Napalm” and Eddie Adam’s “Execution of a Viet Cong Suspect,” as well as photographs taken by North Vietnamese war photographers (in Monk’s Photographs That Changed the World). Students employ the OPTIC (overview, parts, title, interrelationships, conclusion) strategy to analyze visual texts such as the war photographs. Next, they read segments of Tim O’ Brien’s The Things They Carried along with selected letters from Vietnam veterans published in Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Students complete dialectical journals as they read these excerpts.
Writing Assignments:
Composition:
Composition: Argumentative/Defend, Challenge, or Qualify
Prompt: In light of their inquiry into texts associated with the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, students consider a passage from Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others in which the author asserts that the authenticity of war photographs remains removed from war’s grim reality. Her assertion provides students with a point of departure for an essay of their own in which they must draw on the texts encountered to form a response in which they qualify, defend, or challenge the following passage: We—this “we” is everyone who has never experienced anything like what [these war dead] went through—don’t understand. We don’t get it. We truly can’t imagine what it was like. We can’t imagine how dreadful, how terrifying war is; and how normal it becomes. Can’t understand, can’t imagine. That’s what every soldier, and every journalist and aid worker and independent observer who has put in time under fire, and had the luck to elude the death that struck down others nearby, stubbornly feels. And they are right. (126)
or
Prompt: Carefully read the following passage (On Photography, 1977) by Susan Sontag. Then write an essay in which you support, refute or qualify Sontag’s claim that photography limits our understanding of the world. Use appropriate evidence to develop your argument.
Composition: Synthesis/War, Atrocity & Remembrance Synthesis Essay Project
Prompt: Using at least three of the sources given, respond to one (or a combination) of the prompts below. You must generate and defend a thesis in response to your selected prompt:
1. What strategies do humans use to cope with atrocity, trauma and violence? What are the effects or consequences of these coping mechanisms? How can we deal with guilt and pain?
2. What’s the difference between fact and fiction? How do you define each? When is the distinction between the two clear, and when is it blurry? What responsibility do we have to tell the truth? What liberties can we take with the truth?
3. In what ways can stories—and storytelling—save our lives?
4. How does war transform people?
5. How do you tell a true war story?
6. How does memory function in relationship to trauma? How does memory work? What are the benefits and pitfalls of remembering? What responsibility do we have to remember?
7. These authors/filmmakers use many similar motifs (animals, women, children, settings in the natural world, etc.) in their attempts to communicate the effects of war. Compare/contrast the use of one or several of these motifs. How is it used? And what’s the meaning or effect?
Students also complete a timed synthesis writing assignment from a previously released AP exam.
Third & Fourth Quarters: Thematic Approaches to Close Reading, Rhetorical Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis; Focused Preparation for the AP English Language and Composition Exam
During the second semester, students explore nonfiction through thematic units that allow them to practice all four pillars that were introduced throughout the first half of the course. Most units include some fictional or poetry selections as well to broaden student’s perspective. Students continue to practice AP style multiple choice questions to prepare for the mock exam in January and the AP exam in May. Shorter or timed writing assignments and quick writes help students to focus their thinking; longer assignments build students’ confidence with ideas and give them time and opportunity to try out new rhetorical appeals and figurative language. Students will tackle the argumentative research paper in the fourth quarter during the gender unit.
Thematic Units (These are brief overviews of each unit with authors and sample writing tasks.):
Education: To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education? (3 weeks)
- Students read both classic and contemporary essays in addition to the central essay, Francine Prose’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read.” Students also read essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sherman Alexie, Margaret Talbot, Maya Angelou, and James Baldwin.
- Carefully read paragraphs 1-5 and paragraphs 6-10, which comprise the opening of Maya Angelou’s essay “Graduation.” Note differences in style and rhetoric. Then write and essay in which you compare how Angelou uses those differences to achieve her purpose.
Community: What is the relationship of the individual to the community? (6 weeks)
The author begins this chapter by noting, “How can an individual maintain integrity and pursue personal dreams while contributing to the overall society?” (Shea, 259) In search for an answer, students read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as the central essay of this unit, along with essays by Henry David Thoreau, Jane Howard, Amitai Etzioni, Jonathan Swift, and Anna Quindlen. Students also read George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.
- Consider Thoreau’s rather long account of his night in jail. What is the effect of this lengthy personal account, and why doesn’t King include something similar?
- Martin Luther King Jr. made the following observation in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” Write an essay explaining why you agree or disagree with King’s statement. Use specific evidence from your own experience, observation, or reading to develop your position.
- Read paragraphs 20-26 of Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” and then write an essay in which you explain how Swift uses diction, voice, pacing, organization, and other features of style and rhetoric that you deem significant to develop his positions.
- In response to a contemporary issue, write your own modest proposal, after Swift, for publication in the school literary magazine or newspaper. (Focus on Satire Prior to Assigning)
The American Dream: What is the “American Dream”? Has it changed over time? What does it mean to be successful in America? What is the effect of materialism on relationships? (3 weeks)
- The central text for this unit is The Great Gatsby. Accompanying non-fiction pieces are contributed by cooperative groups of students. Students analyze their chosen selection (with teacher approval) and present their text and analysis to the class.
- Rhetorical analysis essay on cooperative group’s nonfiction selection.
Gender: What is the impact of the gender roles that society creates and enforces? (6 weeks)
- The unit’s study on gender roles begins with the central essay by Stephen Jay Gould titled “Women’s Brains,” and includes essays by Judy Brady, Dave Barry, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Virginia Woolf, Paul Theroux, and Scott Russell Sanders. Students also study William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (particularly the character of Ophelia) during this unit. Students also analyze gender specific ads and create parodies, such as those found on adbusters.org. If time allows following the AP exam in May, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and primary documents regarding the literature of prescription may be included in this unit as well.
- Write your own definition essay entitled “I Want a/an X.” Use Brady’s essay as a model, and in the process, imitate some of her stylistic techniques.
- Research/Synthesis Essay: Students will develop their own thesis related to gender and write an argumentative research paper of 5-8 pages with 8-10 sources. At least two sources must be images and one source must be fictional.