Department Objective Focus: Fostering inquiry and helping students develop strong questioning skills and annotating skills when reading and responding to texts

Course Description

“AP English Language is a rigorous course, emphasizing expository writing and critical reading, with the majority of the curriculum drawn from American literature. Writing assignments include in-class timed writings and out-of-class essays. The analysis of many forms of literature (i.e., nonfiction essays, reflective essays, letters, etc.) focuses on how authors use language and literary devices to inform or persuade. The literature at this grade level focuses on the belief in the significance of the individual and the struggle to maintain individuality reflected in American writing and culture. Students also continue to work on grammar and vocabulary development. Since this is an Advanced Placement course, university credit may be available to students who pass the AP Language examination.” –AP Language Guide

Objectives:

"Upon completing the Language and Composition course, students should be able to:

• analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques
• apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing
• create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience
• write for a variety of purposes
• produce expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate evidence drawn from primary and/or secondary sources, cogent explanations, and clear transitions
• demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings
• demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources
• move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.
• write thoughtfully about their own process of composition
• revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience
• analyze image as text"

     --AP Language Guide

Course Topics:

Unit 1: Summer Reading

•   The Road from Coorain, Jill Ker Conway
•   Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez
•   A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind

Unit 2: Visual Arguments

•   “What is the Good Life?” David G. Myers
•   Excerpt from Born to Buy, Juliet B. Schor
•   “Why I Hate Britney,” Nisey Williams
•   “Devastating Beauty,” Teal Pfeifer
•   “The Fat Tax: A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Rauch
•   Selected advertisements and images

  Focus:

  • What is visual rhetoric and how are images used as arguments?
  • How do advertisers use logos, pathos, and ethos effectively?
  • What is “culture” and how may we “read” cultural artifacts?
  • How do you evaluate, select, cite, and utilize source materials (synthesize) as part of a research project?
  • How is satire and humor used to effectively present a claim?
  • What are claims, warrants, and data (the Toulmin approach) and how do we use this to evaluate and write arguments?
  • How can you write and present an effective proposal?
  • What are a few logical fallacies to look out for?

Unit 3: Description

•   “The Stunt Pilot” by Anne Dillard
•   “Dwellings” by Linda Hogan
•   “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston
•   “Listening” by Eudora Welty
•   “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White
•   “The Death of the Moth” by Virginia Woolf

  Focus:

  • What is meant by the term “rhetoric”?
  • How does knowing the rhetorical situation contribute to our understanding of texts?
  • How does language contribute to our sense of identity?
  • How do authors use the appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos to present an argument?

Unit 4: Narrative

•   “Graduation” by Maya Angelou
•   “Salvation” by Langston Hughes
•   “No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston
•   “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday
•   “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris

  Focus:

  • How are the literary elements of narrative used effectively to present the writer’s purpose?
  • How can you use the models of writing you encounter to improve your ability to create rich imagery, use carefully chosen diction, develop a strong sense of voice, and develop your own forceful and effective writing style?

Unit 5: Argument/Persuasion

•   “Women’s Brains” by Stephen J. Gould
•   “What’s Wrong with Animal Rights” by Vicki Hearne
•   “What are Homosexuals For?” by Andrew Sullivan
•   “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift

Unit 6: The Great Gatsby

Excerpts on the American Dream:
     n   “A Model of Christian Charity” (City on a Hill), John Winthrop
     n   Letters from an American Farmer, Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
     n   “The Declaration of Independence,” Thomas Jefferson
     n   “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus
     n   The Melting Pot, Israel Zangwill
     n   Ragged Dick or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks, Horatio Alger
     n   Commentary on his book The American Dream, Dan Rather
     n   Interview with Bill Moyers, Bharati Mukeriee
     n   “I Have a Dream,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Texts on what it means to be an American:
     n   “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, September 20, 2001,” George W. Bush
     n   “A Patriotic Left,” Michael Kazin
     n   “A Nation Worth Defending,” William J. Bennett
     n   “Quiescent Objector,” Troy Melhus
     n   “Between Football an War,” Robert Scheer
     n   Selected visuals for rhetorical analysis

Focus:
     o How does Fitzgerald use language, including the methods of description and
        narration, to present a critical commentary on American life?
     o How has rhetoric shaped our views of what it is to be an American?
     o What can we learn from analyzing different sides of an issue?
     o How can a writer effectively synthesize information from several sources,
        including an image, to support a particular argument or position?

Main Text

Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2004

Instructor’s Resource Texts:

• 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology – Samuel Cohen
• Teaching Nonfiction in AP English: A Guide to Accompany 50 Essays – Renee Shea and Lawrence Scanlon
• Discovering Arguments: An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Writing with Readings – Dean Memering and William Palmer
• Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing – Hephzibah Roskelly and David Jolliffe
• Everything’s an Argument – Andrea Lunsford, et al.
• Frames of Mind: A Rhetorical Reader with Occasions for Writing – Robert DeYanni and Pat C. Hoy
• A Reader for College Writers – Santi V. Buscemi
• Ways of Seeing – John Berger
• Nature and Its Symbols – Lucia Impelluso
• Picturing Texts – Ed. Lester Faigley, et al.
• Media Writer’s Handbook: A Guide to Common Writing and Editing Problems, 3rd ed. – George T. Arnold
• The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed – Karen Elizabeth Gordon
• The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the
Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed – Karen Elizabeth Gordon

AP Model Exams:

Throughout the year we will examine past AP exams and look at actual student responses. I will also give you in-class essay tests using past prompts. We will also practice taking the multiple-choice portion of the exam and discuss strategies that will raise your score. By May you will be extremely familiar with the AP rubric, multiple-choice questions, and will know the characteristics of a high scoring essay.

Grammar and Style:

“While the AP English Language and Composition course assumes that students already understand and use standard English grammar, it also reflects the practice of reinforcing writing conventions at every level. Therefore, occasionally the exam may contain multiple-choice questions on usage to reflect the link between grammar and style. The intense concentration on language use in the course enhances students’ ability to use grammatical conventions appropriately and to develop stylistic maturity in their prose. Stylistic development is nurtured by emphasizing the following:
• 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; and
• an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure.

When students read, they should become aware of how stylistic effects are achieved by writers’ linguistic choices. Since imaginative literature often highlights such stylistic decisions, fiction and poetry clearly can have a place in the AP English Language and Composition course. The main purpose of including such literature is to aid students in understanding rhetorical and linguistic choices, rather than to study literary conventions.” --AP Language Guide

Reteaching/Reassessing Policy:

Students will be reassessed on assignments as determined by the AP Language team. Students will be informed ahead of time when an assignment may be reassessed. Finally, students must show evidence as determined by the teacher and team that they have made an attempt to relearn the material before taking the reassessment. Examples of that evidence include, but are not limited to

• Coming to the teacher for extra help
• Attending TAP
• Completing practice assignments
• Making corrections on the original assessment/assignment.

Reassessment must be done in a timely fashion according to a schedule determined by the teacher and team. The reassessed grade will replace the original grade.

Course Grading Criteria

• Please refer to the MCPS Grading and Reporting Policy featured on the B-CC web page for more specifics. Your grade for each quarter will be determined based upon the total number of points earned for all assignments divided by the total number of available points. Homework will count as 10% of your grade. All other assignments will count as 90% of your grade.

       n   “What is the Good Life?” David G. Myers
       n   Excerpt from Born to Buy, Juliet B. Schor
       n   “Why I Hate Britney,” Nisey Williams
       n   “Devastating Beauty,” Teal Pfeifer
       n   “The Fat Tax: A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Rauch
       n   Selected advertisements and images

Absences:

Students are responsible for getting materials and making up work they missed when they return from an absence. If a student is absent the day an assignment is due and the student had knowledge of the assignment, the assignment is due the day the student returns.

Deadlines:

I allow students to make up missed assignments equal to the number of days of the legitimate absence. Failure to complete work in the allotted time will result in a failing grade for all missing assignments.

Late penalty:

One letter grade will be deducted for an essay that is passed in after the due date.

Academic Dishonesty
This applies to both written work and oral presentations. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following: the willful giving or receiving of an unauthorized text, unfair, dishonest, or unscrupulous advantage in academic work over other students using fraud, duress, deception, theft, trickery, talking, signs, gestures, copying, or any other methodology.

Plagiarism:

• Submitting or presenting another person's work as your own without proper documentation, including downloaded information from the Internet and lab data.
• Using another student's material without prior approval.

• Giving or receiving information during a test, quiz, and/or class work assignment without teacher authorization.
• Using hand signals, gestures, and the like during tests or quizzes to obtain/give information.

Using unauthorized materials during a test or quiz.