AP English Language & Composition Syllabus 2015-16

AP English Language & Composition Syllabus 2015-16

Elgin High School, Elgin, TX

Richard F. Restaino, instructor

Room: 115Email: hone: 512-281-3438xt.1131

To receive Remind text messages: Enter # 81010 and text this message: @mrrest

Tutoring:Before school (except Wednesdays) and Tuesdays & Thursdays after school

Course Description

One of two AP English courses, AP English Language & Composition focuses on rhetorical analysis of text, with an emphasis on nonfiction. Students will sharpen their logical reasoning and develop an evidence-centered approach to analytic and argumentative writing[1]. Although there will be some focus on American writers, the course will not follow the standard “American Literature” format used by many junior-level high school English classes, as students will read and write about literature from various periods and traditions. Skills-building is of primary concern, and students should expect to develop close-reading strategies to engage with complex texts with increasing depth and critical understanding. The AP English Language and Composition Exam can earn students up to six college-hour credits, but it is a challenging exam with very specific writing tasks, the free-response essays that are explained later in this document. Our work throughout the year endeavors to prepare students for these tasks, but in doing so students will build skills that will prove invaluable not only in academics but in fostering informed citizenship.

Course Objectives[2]

Become skilled readers of prose written from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts.
Become skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes
Analyze prose for structure, use of rhetorical strategies, tone, diction, syntax, and through recognition “interactions among a writer’s purposes, reader expectations”[3].
Write organized, coherent, stylistic prose on a variety of topics for a variety of audiences and purposes.
Analyze graphics and visual images both in relation to written texts and as alternate forms of text themselves.
Conduct in-depth discussions using academic language.
Become adept researchers by developing ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources using Modern Language Association (MLA) style.
Develop critical-thinking skills, intellectual curiosity, and meta-cognition.
Revise work to develop a wide-ranging vocabulary, a variety of sentence structures, logical organization, a balance of generalization and specific detail, and effective use of rhetoric.
Prepare for the AP exam through close-readings of text, multiple choice exams, and timed free-response essays.

Instructional Approach & Strategies

In addition to using more traditional, teacher-led instruction to guide students into complex concepts and texts, this course will use a number of other learning strategies designed to push you to engage deeply with and think critically about issues and ideas raised in the texts that are the foundation of this course. These include: Socratic seminar, debates, jigsaw activities, shared-inquiry, discussion groups, and writers workshops. In addition, you will learn and hone various strategies that will help them to better develop as readers and writers. Some of these include:

The Big Five Questions for Reading

No matter the genre, tradition, or era from which a piece comes, the questions that will guide our reading will be:

What is the passage about? (What is the topic?)
What does the passage say? (Paraphrasing skill!)
How does the author develop meaning through the text? (How is it organized? What techniques are used?)
What is the narrative stance? (The speaker’s/author’s perspective)
What does the writer want the reader to feel, think, or do? (What is the rhetorical purpose?)

SOAPS-Tone

This is an acronym with which most students in our school should be familiar. It reminds us as readers to ask questions of the text in order to make judgements about the speaker, the occasion, the audience, the purpose, the subject, and the tone of text (nonfiction in particular).

Reading Response Journals (RRJs)

You will write in notebooks for every piece you read. These notebooks facilitate deep processing of learning by encouraging reflection on reading and class discussion. At times, you may respond directly to an author, reflect on a subject/theme/idea, evaluate an author’s assertion, or construct a personal assertion. These notebooks will be collected and graded at random.

Vocabulary Notebooks

You won’t need a separate notebook for this—you can use the same one you will use for the RRJs. You will encounter many words you do not know in the readings we do for class. Chances are good that you will also encounter words you don’t know in readings for other classes. You will complete vocabulary entries for at least 10 new words each week. Vocabulary will be checked along with RRJs when notebooks are collected at random.

Rhetorical Triangle and Methods of Argument

Most students have learned about a different rhetorical triangle, which reminds us to appeal to logic, emotion, and build trust with our audience. There is a different Rhetorical Triangle, which comes from James Kinneavy’sA Theory of Discourse. His rhetorical triangle is more about the relationship between the author, his or her message, and the audience.We will examine this as a way of understanding the purpose of discourse. As well, this course will examine elements of the Classical, Rogerian, and Toulmin methods of argument.

Model texts/sentences & Image Grammar Brush strokes

Rather than approach grammar, syntax, and style through isolated lessons, the approach will be to have you learn through modeling the moves of good writing, with an emphasis on academic writing.

Grading Policy and Late Work

All six-week averages will be calculated according to the following breakdown:

Major grades (exams/tests, projects, major essays, benchmarks, and other similar assignments) will count for 60% of your six-week average.
Daily grades (class work, notebooks, quizzes, group work, and other similar assignments) will count for 40% of your six-week average.

I will not accept any assignment later than 3 days late except in the case of excused absence(s), and all late work will be subject to a 10-points-per-day penalty from the grade.

Required Texts

These will be issued to you and/or will be available as a class set:

Miller, Robert K. The Informed Argument, Seventh Edition. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth, 2007.
Trimmer, Joseph F. and Heather Milliet. The Riverside Reader, Alternate Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2009.

Supplemental Texts

The following will serve as additional resources for readings throughout the school year. There will also be readings “torn from the headlines” for their immediacy.You will be provided with handouts of readings that do not appear in required texts.

Austin, Michael. Reading the World: Ideas that Matter, Second Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Cooley, Thomas. The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, Eighth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.
McCuen, Jo Ray and Anthony C. Winkler. Readings for Writers, Ninth Edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.

Required Materials

Current text and any assignment(s) due
Paper
#2 pencil, blue or black pen, and red pen
Folder/binder to store handouts
Notebook (you will be issued a “reader/writer” notebook)
An active and interested mind

The AP English Language & Composition Exam[4]

The AP English Language & Composition Exam is a three-hour test that includes multiple-choice and essay prompts covering reading comprehension of rhetorically and topically diverse texts, rhetorical analysis of individual texts in isolation, synthetic reading of multiple texts, and written argumentation.

Multiple-Choice Section: Over four passages, each about a different topic and from different disciplines and time periods. The questions typically assess students’ literal understanding of the text, ability to infer writer’s intended meaning, and the ability to use academic terminology to discuss the features and functions of written English. It is one-hour of the total 195-minute exam. It counts for 45 percent of the total score and is based on the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers and no points are awarded or deducted for unanswered questions.
The Free-Response Section: These are the three writing tasks, which all must be done in two hours and 15 minutes. The 15 minutes is allocated for students to read the sources accompanying the synthesis essay prompt and to plan a response. The remaining two hours are for students to write their essay responses. The three prompts are:
Synthesis Prompt: requires students to address an issue by synthesizing information from multiple texts into a coherent, individual, reasoned response.
Rhetorical Analysis Prompt: requires students to analyze the rhetoric of a single text.
Argument Prompt: requires students to compose an argument supported by evidence and reasoning drawn from their own observations, experience, reading, etc.

The essays are scored “holistically”, meaning that scorers look at each essay as a whole performance instead of separately assessing individual features of the writing (style, logic, mechanics, etc.) Essays are scored on a 9-point scale that analyzes the quality of the response under four categories:

Unsuccessful (1-2 points)

Little Success (3-4 points)

Inadequate/Adequate (5)

Adequate (6-7)

Effective (8-9)

Scores from the multiple-choice and free-response portions are combined and the cumulative score is converted to a 1-5 scale.

Expectations

As this is a college-level course, you will be treated and will be expected to behave as a college student. As I define it, this means you should:

Assume responsibility for your own work, behavior, and choices (which includes taking it upon yourself to make an appointment with me with any concerns you have about the class.)
Ask relevant and provocative questions
Participate in discussions and activities by contributing your thoughts
Listen attentively and actively to lecture, videos, and your peers
Disagree, when you must, with respect and reason, but be open to having your mind changed
Be prepared with materials and be prepared mentally
Complete assignments on time

Class Policies

Absences: Get assignments and any notes from one of your classmates if possible, but always double-check with the instructor at an appropriate time. You have as many days as you were absent to complete an assignment given during an absence. Missing class because of excused absences (like sports, doctor’s appointments, or any other reason) are no excuse for missing work. The work is still due on the next day you return to class.

Plagiarism / Unauthorized Collaboration

Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional copying of another’s work. It is not only unethical, in the real world it is actionable (meaning, you can be sued). In short: do your own work. Cite any information you get from another source. Unauthorized collaboration is similar: you and another student work together and submit the same assignment. This is unacceptable for both major and minor assignments. The first offense of either will earn all students involved a zero and a conference. The second offense will be referred to the administration and will also involve contact of parent or guardian.

Extra Credit/Re-do Policy

I do not offer extra credit. You are to do the work that is assigned to the best of your abilities. I do offer frequent re-writes on written work, so this is your best opportunity for extra points. Keep in mind: changing one thing or fixing some grammar/mechanical errors will not be enough to change an entire grade. Revision and editing will be needed. When in doubt about how to improve something, schedule to come in to conference with me.

Late Work

Work turned in after a due date is subject to a 10-point penalty per day. At my discretion, I can decide to stop taking a particular assignment late after three days and the missed grade will remain a zero. Deadlines matter.

Typed Assignments

Some assignments will be required to be typed. If for some reason (printer/computer issue, etc.) you cannot get a typed copy of an assignment by the due date, you may neatly handwrite the assignment and turn it in to get credit for being on time. However, I will not grade that copy. I will not give you a grade until you get me a typed copy of the assignment. The handwritten one will only be a way of ensuring that you will not lose late points.

Course Overview:

Semester One:

Unit 1: The Impact of Language / Introduction to Argument

Unit Overview: In the first unit, you will be exposed to the course content and are introduced to elements of rhetoric. You will examine the role of the writer/speaker and how language is important. You will learn about Aristotle’s Five Cannons, strategies for analysis of rhetorical models, and how all are used to analyze texts and visuals. In your own writing, you will express ideas that are thoughtful, worthwhile, and communicate things that are important to you.

Essential Question: How do the ways in which we use language reveal who we are?

Central Work: Students’ self-selected summer reading novel will be used as a case study for examining how writers reveal themselves through the language they use.