AP LANGUAGE and COMPOSITION 2011-2012

COURSE DESCRIPTION
INTRODUCTION
The Advanced Placement course in English Language and Composition develops students into skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts and into skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading make students aware of the interactions among a writers purposes, audience expectations, and subjects and make them aware also of the way genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONWHAT TO EXPECT

The focus of the course will be on the how of nonfiction. In other words, a close examination of the writers style and consideration of how language is used to create an effective piece. Reading is an important part of the course. Students will learn to read nonfiction through a rhetorical lens. Each text will be explored on several levels and in several contexts. Thus, reading will be established with a view to our personal response, the historical period in which the text was created, and the readings that are possible through application of the modes of writing and rhetorical techniques. AP Language and Composition requires a close analysis of a variety of nonfiction writing, including essays, letters, and speeches. Writing is another important aspect of the course. Students will write in a variety of forms not only to explore and evaluate the nonfiction that is read, but also to hone their skills in using rhetorical techniques and in writing in the various modes. Research is also a main course component. Students will learn to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources in order to develop a position essay. Students will also learn how to analyze and synthesize a variety of sources in order to create an informed argument. The AP English Language and Composition Course demands attention to the fine nuances of language. To meet that demand, well tackle writing from the outside in (analysis of nonfiction) and from the inside out (our writings, with multiple drafts, student-teacher conferences, peer-editing and revising). This class is a study of language in many forms. In addition to studying texts, we will also look at the contexts in which those texts were created. This will extend to current contexts, which in turn requires knowledge and understanding of current events. This type of study and analysis will assist us in seeing the world from new perspectives. Students will receive instruction and feedback on writing assignments, both before and after revision, that will help develop these skills: a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively; a variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination; logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis; a balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail; an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure. This is a college-level course, and students will have writing and/or reading homework that must be completed on time in order to reap the full benefits of in-class work. This course culminates in a three-hour examination in May administered through the College Board. Students must take the exam in May in order to receive the extra point in their high school GPA.

AP LANGUAGE and COMPOSITION 2011-2012

READING
The key component to this course is to read the assigned texts and to read thoroughly. Most evenings students will have reading homework. Students will take notes, annotate, or prepare for class by answering or posing questions about the text. Students are encouraged to reread. Subsequent reading drafts improve comprehension just as subsequent writing drafts improve composition.

WRITING
Writing in the course encompasses a variety of forms (journals, in-class writing, drafts of essays, polished essays, creative writing) in a variety of modes (narrative, analytical, persuasive) about a variety of subjects and through the stages of writing (prewriting, drafting, outlining, peer editing, conferencing, revision). There will also be an emphasis on synthesis and research skills, and students are expected to produce a piece of argumentation that indicates an understanding of correct MLA citation style.

ORAL LANGUAGE
Class activities will include presentations, seminars, and group discussions. Exploration of texts/readings through discussion is a vital way to investigate meaning. Participation in all activities is required.

ASSESSMENTS Essays
Students will write a minimum of fourteen essays, many of them timed, during the course of the year. Standards of assessment usually will be aligned with those that are used by the College Board in the assessment of AP papers. Students will be graded on a level 1-5 for timed essays (5 being the highest). This correlates to the Loudoun County grading scale as shown below: 5 paper 90% and above 4 paper 80% to 89% 3 paper 70% to 79% 2 paper 60% to 69% 1 failing paper
NOTE: At the beginning of the course, essays will be weighted to reflect the relative lack of experience with this type of assessment. With progression, the weighting will be reduced and then eliminated.

Projects
There will be a number of different projects throughout the year. These include teaching projects, advertising projects, research projects, presentations, and simulated exam and essay questions. All projects will be graded using a rubric. Rubrics will be distributed before each project.

Objective Tests
Objective testing is a major part of the AP course. Students will complete multiple-choice tests on a regular basis. (The Advanced Placement test in May includes a large number of multiple-choice questions.)

AP LANGUAGE and COMPOSITION 2011-2012

In-Class Work
In-class work will consist of a variety of assignments to sharpen our skills and will include seminars, group work, partner explorations, vocabulary building, close textual analysis, team writing assignments, and various independent assignments such as journals, reaction papers, and annotations.

Homework
As previously stated, most homework will consist of reading or rereading works in preparation for discussion or other use in class. Writing will also be assigned for homework. There may be occasions, too, for short review, exploratory, or remediation homework assignments.

Exams
The mid-term examination simulates the AP Exam except that it will be given over two days instead of one. It will consist of approximately fifty multiple-choice questions and three essays. The multiple-choice portion will be administered in class on the final day of the semester. Students will have one hour to answer the multiple-choice selections. On the actual exam day, students will have two hours to complete three essay responses. The essays will consist of one prose analysis, one open prompt, and one synthesis question. The suggested time to spend per essay is 40 minutes. The multiple choice results will count for 45% of the exam grade and the essay average will count for 55% of the exam grade. All of the texts used in the exam will be previously unseen passages similar to those in the AP exam. NOTE: There will be a final exam for seniors who do not meet the schools second-semester exam exemption (a 70% average and no more than two absences). There will also be a final exam for any juniors taking the course. The final exam format will be the same as the midterm exam.

TEXTS
The course includes an intensive study of representative authors and texts prescribed by the College Board. These include American and British writers from the sixteenth century to the present. Primary texts: Cooley, Thomas. The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print. Glaser, Joe. Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford, 2010. Print. Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. The Bedford Reader. 9th Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. Print. Supplemental texts: Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2004. Print. Gross, John. The Oxford Book of Essays. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Print.

AP LANGUAGE and COMPOSITION 2011-2012

SYLLABUS
Qtr 1 . Texts
Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard (NS) How I Wrote the Moth Essay and Why by Annie Dillard (NS) No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch by Ann Hodgman (NS) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote From Walden by H.D. Thoreau: paragraph 16 of Where I Lived, and What I Lived for "Here, Bullet" by Brian Turner All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at the Church Bake Sale from The Onion The Six Stages of Email by Nora Ephron So, You Want To Be a Writer? Heres How by Allegra Goodman Current events from topical magazines and newspapers The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and four other sources Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass Gender in the Classroom by Deborah Tannen Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Barrientos The Growing Cowardice of Online Anonymity by Richard Bernstein Current events from topical magazines and newspapers

Rhetorical analysis & skills

Modes of rhetoric: description Modes of rhetoric: narrative Modes of rhetoric: example Modes of rhetoric: classification Modes of rhetoric: process Open prompt deconstruction Rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos SOAPStone DIDLS for nonfiction text in a rhetorical context Parts of a syllogism Fallacious arguments Argument in image and video

Writing skills
The writing process Reading like writers (DIDLS and other observations) How to mark text Journal writing and the doubleentry (dialectical) journal Practice with open prompt Essay introductions and body paragraphs Naming definite actions (US, beginning with the heading on page 111) Maintaining related grammatical subjects (US, 125) Paragraph breaks Transitions and topic sentences

Assessments
Answers to summer reading questions re: In Cold Blood Descriptive essay Writing process essay Current events analysis task cards SOAPStone exercise DIDLS exercise Paragraph implementing another writers stylistic devices Rhetorical analysis comments on passage Timed rhetorical analysis essay Timed persuasive essay (a.k.a., open prompt essay) Test on rhetorical appeals, methods of argument, syllogisms, & fallacious arguments Synthesis essay Debate on current events Open prompt (persuasive essay for college application) Timed open prompt Answers to summer reading questions re: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Process analysis group project (on Frederick Douglass narrative) Essay parts in blog posts, comments Socratic seminar Timed persuasive essay (using satire or other form of irony) Student-designed multiple-choice questions

The synthesis essay Analyze student responses to past AP essay prompts Modes of rhetoric: comparison and contrast Modes of rhetoric: definition Modes of rhetoric: cause and effect th th Reading 18 and 19 century texts Modes of Rhetoric: Argument (exemplify, counter-argue, acknowledge, intensify, digress, conclude) Toulmin method of argument Rogerian method of argument Deductive, inductive, and dialectic reasoning Multiple-choice test strategies

Patterns of old and new information (US, 129) Transitional devices (US, 132) Coordinate structures (US, 135) Subordinate structures (US, 138) Emphasis and stress (US, 141, 144, 150) Rhythm (US, 161) Practice

AP LANGUAGE and COMPOSITION 2011-2012

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday From Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain by Jessica Mitford The Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf The Stunt Pilot by Anne Dillard Once More to the Lake by E. B. White Current events from topical magazines and newspapers The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln Letters by Marian Evans Lewes, Lady Mary, Lord Chesterfield, Charles Lamb Essays by John Ruskin, Susan Sontag, John Locke Speeches by Queen Elizabeth and Maria Stewart Savile Essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson In Time of The Breaking of Nations, a poem by Thomas Hardy A Matter of Chance, a short story by Vladimir Nabokov Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown by Virginia Woolf Student-selected Independent Reading Project

Schemes and tropes Research argument Irony and satiric method (litotes, satire, euphemism, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, antiphrasis, sarcasm, irony) More multiple-choice test strategies Analyze more student responses to past AP essay prompts Vocabulary: prefixes and word roots

Cumulative and periodic sentences Varying sentence lengths Other sentence styles Study of MLA format and citations Study of research skills: evaluation, use, and citation of material, including primary and secondary sources

Timed essays Research paper Multiple choice practice on a passage from Blink Socratic Seminar for Blink Schemes and tropes booklist

Letters/Essays as a reflection and criticism of cultural & social issues Rhetorical argument in fiction and poetry

Timed Writing Creative Writing

Timed essays
Essay Outlines Literary Circles Creative Nonfiction

Key to abbreviations: NS = Norton Sampler, Seventh Edition; US = Understanding Style, Second Edition