Course:Advanced Placement English Language and Composition

LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL

S.T.E.A.M Middle College

4777 Imperial Ave.

San Diego CA, 92113

Course:Advanced Placement English Language and Composition

Instructor:Christopher Dier

Contact Info:(619) 266-6500 x2369, ,

Office Hours/Availability:Monday – Friday, 2:30pm – 4:00pm, or by appointment

CourseDescription:An AP English Language and Composition course cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts, and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing students do in the course should deepen and expand their understanding of how written language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers’ intentions and elicit readers’ responses in particular situations. The course cultivates the rhetorical understanding and use of written language by directing students’ attention to writer/reader interactions in their reading and writing of various formal and informal genres (e.g., memos, letters, advertisements, political satires, personal narratives, scientific arguments, cultural critiques, research reports).Reading and writing activities in the course also deepen students’ knowledge and control of formal conventions of written language (e.g., vocabulary, diction, syntax, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, genre). – The College Board, 2014

Reading activities will include identifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategy and technique in non-fiction text, analyzing written text as well as graphics and visual images, and evaluating and arguing citing the text primary source material. Writing activities will require students to write in several forms about a variety of subjects, edit, revise, and rewrite through several stages or drafts, practice informal writing to become aware of themselves as writers as well as the techniques used by other writers, as well as completing formal expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assessments. Listening and speaking activities will ask students to actively listen, be aware of the audience, practice rhetorical strategies and techniques in small group and whole class discussions

The goal, ultimately, is that students will communicate withan appropriate control of vocabulary, a variety of sentence structures, logical organization, a balance of general and specific detail, and an effective use of rhetoric: controlled tone, maintained voice, established emphasis through diction and syntax.

Learning Objectives:Upon completing the AP English Language and Composition course, students must:

Analyze and interpret samples of purposeful writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies. This process includes students’ understanding of what an author is saying, how an author is saying it, and why an author is saying it. Additionally, this process looks at how an author’s rhetorical choices develop meaning or achieve a particular purpose or effect with a given audience.
Analyze images and other multimodal texts for rhetorical features. This goal acknowledges the multiple modes of learning that help students acquire literacy, with attention to the power of visual literacy in understanding an author’s purpose.
Use effective rhetorical strategies and techniques when composing. Students apply their analytical skills to their own writing so that they are reading like writers and writing like readers.
Write for a variety of purposes. Students’ writing experiences in the course must exceed the timed writings that are assessed on the AP English Language and Composition Exam. For instance, students might undertake a lengthy and intensive inquiry into a problem or controversy, consulting and evaluating arguments and viewpoints presented in a variety of sources, and using those sources to provoke, complicate, and/or support their own responses to the problem or controversy. Students’ writing in the course should also go through a process that includes feedback from other readers, revision, and proofreading. Finally, forms other than the essays featured in the exam have a place in the course, such as personal narrative, letters, advertisements, reviews, etc.
Respond to different writing tasks according to their unique rhetorical and composition demands, and translate that rhetorical assessment into a plan for writing. Different contexts require different choices in creating and delivering texts. This goal addresses the importance of prewriting and planning in the writing process.
Create and sustain original arguments based on information synthesized from readings, research, and/or personal observation and experience. Students learn to see argument as addressing a wide range of purposes in a variety of formats. They should be able to recognize general features of arguments, such as claims, evidence, qualifiers, warrants, and conclusions. Students’ ability to create informed arguments depends largely upon their reading of primary and secondary sources. The more that students discern argument as entering into a conversation with others, the more credible and cogent their own arguments become.
Evaluate and incorporate sources into researched arguments. When entering into a conversation with others, students must comprehend and evaluate (not just summarize or quote) others’ positions. Such a process involves purposeful reading, a wide range of reading, and the ability to credibly support an evaluation of a writer’s position.
Demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources. Students must learn to use the conventions recommended by professional organizations such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), the University of Chicago Press (The Chicago Manual of Style), or the American Psychological Association (APA). Students need to understand that for academic writing, the selection of documentation style depends upon the discipline the writing is intended for; students therefore need to learn how to find and follow style guides in various disciplines.
Gain control over various reading and writing processes, with careful attention to inquiry (research), rhetorical analysis and synthesis of sources, drafting, revising/rereading, editing, and review. This goal emphasizes the importance of the entire process of writing, including teacher intervention in providing useful feedback, along with peer review and publication.
Converse and write reflectively about personal processes of composition. Metacognition, or reflection, is a key component of this course; the practice of describing their own processes helps students internalize standards articulated by local, state, or national rubrics — of effective composition.
Demonstrate understanding and control of Standard Written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writing. This process clearly relates to the goals of reading rhetorically — the better that students understand how other writers create a particular effect or produce meaning, the more fully their own prose accomplishes such goals.
Revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience. In addition to revision, this goal acknowledges the importance of recognizing a variety of audiences for a piece of writing.

RequiredMaterials:Students will use the following materials daily.

1” Notebook
2 Pens (black ink only) and 2 pencils
Assigned Text
Personal Blog

Texts:Students will be assigned a class textbook/reader. In addition, students will be assigned various AP recommended prose passages including novels, articles, essays, and poetry throughout the year. Students are responsible for the full cost of a replacement if either assigned text is lost or damaged.

McCuen, Jo Ray, Readings for Writers, 11thEdition
Peterson, Linda, The Norton Reader, 11th Edition

Instructional Strategies:

Student Facilitated Discussion

Socratic Seminar – Students will ask questions of one another in a discussion focused on a topic, essential question, or selected text. Questions initiate a conversation, series of responses, or other questions.

Fishbowl – Students form inner circle discussion group modeling appropriate discussion technique Students in outer circle listen, respond, and evaluate.

Teacher Facilitated Discussion

Shared Inquiry – Students read a provocative text and are asked interpretive questions. Students offer different response and debate one another supporting their positions with evidence from the text.

Debriefing – Student participate in teacher-facilitated discussion leading to consensus understanding or identifying key conclusions.

Informal Writing

Reader Response Blog – Student will informally respond to selected quotations or short excerpts in public blog. Students read, analyze, and respond to one another about technique and style.
Reader Response Journals – Student practice stylistic analysis through activities like SOAPSTone, OPTIC, Color Marking, RAFT and the use of Kinneavy’s Rhetorical Triangle.

Formal Writing

Multi-Draft Essays – Students will participate in writer’s workshop to edit, revise, and re-write multiple essays (Synthesis, Informative, Analytical, Narrative, Argumentative)
Timed Writings – Students will practice writing organized and coherent responses to assigned readings with time constraints.

Research and Analysis

Research – Students will complete a multi-source research paper presenting and maintaining a unique argument on selected topics. Students will also research and cite primary/secondary source material in informal written responses or Socratic Seminars.
Critical Reading – Student will annotate, question, and interpret non-fiction text beyond a superficial level.

Listening and Speaking

Oral Presentations – Students present informal and formal arguments or analysis orally. Students demonstrate awareness of audience, occasion, and technique.
Debate – Student present informal or formal arguments that defends a claim or challenges a claim about a specific topic or issue without attacking.

Grading Policy:Grades will be determined by the accumulation of points on weighted tasks builtaround the AP English Language and Composition curriculum. The grading scale for student assignments is as follows:

50% Standards Mastery (tests, publishable drafts, projects)
40% Standards Practice (class work, group work, independent practice, quizzes)
10% Participation (homework, note-taking, discussion, deadline timeliness)

Students can regularlycheck grade updates online via Student Connect. Progress reports will reflect the following academic grading scale as well as the citizenship-grading rubric. (See Student Handbook for Lincoln High School Citizenship Grading Rubric)

A (90-100%) B (80-89%)C (70-79%)D (60-69%)F (0-59%)

Homework Policy:Students will be required to read daily outside of class in order to participate in class. All other homework will be assigned on an as needed basis based on student performance in class and will consist of things like test review, independent practice of content skills, or revision. Failure to complete homework will result in the lowering of points in the participation category of the grading scale.

Revision/Make-Up:Assignments, projects, and tests deadlines are strict. Any workturned in after the established deadline will be penalized 20%.It is the responsibility of the student to complete revision and conference with the teacher to improve scores.

Discipline Policy:In accordance with the philosophy of “The Definite Dozen” students will be taught to, and will be expected to,“discipline yourself so that no one else has to.” These expectations for attitude, behavior, focus, and communication will be discussed regularly and posted in class. In the event these expectations are not being met the following intervention will be used to redirect: verbal warnings, student/teacher conference, phone calls, removal of privileges, retention, referral, and assignment of Friday Night School.

Attendance/Tardy Policy:Students are expected to attend school regularly and to be on time. Truancy and tardiness to school and/or class will result in a loss of educational opportunity, a decreased level of learning, and a disruption of thelearning process for others. Any student who has received a total of 10 absences (excused or not) during the 18-weeksemester may earn the grade of “F.”

Student Fees:The Constitution of the State of California requires that we provide a public education to you free of charge. Your right to a free education is for all school/educational activities, whether curricular or extracurricular, and whether you get a grade for the activity or class. Subject to certain exceptions, your right to a free public education means that we cannot require you or your family to purchase materials, supplies, equipment or uniforms for any school activity, nor can we require you or your family to pay security deposits for access, participation, materials, or equipment. You may be required to attend a fundraising event; however, if you are unable to raise funds for the event, you will not be prevented from participating in an educational activity.

Literary Terms: AP English Language and Composition

Rhetorical Techniques:

Alliteration
Allusion
Amplification
Analogy
Anaphora
Anastrophe
Antistrophe(Epistrophe)
Antithesis
Assonance
Asyndeton
Chiasmus
Climax
Connotation
Correctio (Metanoia)
Denotation
Diacope
Diction
Distinctio
Eponym
Euphemism
Expletive
Hyperbole
Hypophora
Imagery
Irony
Litotes
Meoisis
Mesodiplosis
Metabasis
Metaphor
Metonymy
Paradox
Parallelism
Polysyndeton
Praeteritio
Satire
ScesisOnomaton
Sentenia
Simile
Syntax
Tricolon
Tone

Rhetorical Appeals:

Pathos
Ethos
Logos

Rhetorical Fallacies

Appeal to Consequences
Strawman
Appeal to Irrelevant Authority
Equivocation
False Dilemma
Questionable Cause
Appeal to Fear
Hasty Generalization
Appeal to Ignorance
No True Scotsman
Genetic Fallacy
Ad Hominem
Affirming the Consquence
Appeal to Hypocrisy
Slippery Slope
Appeal to Bandwagon
Begging the Question
Composition and Division
Red Herring
Non Sequitur

Recommended Authors: AP English Language and Composition

Author’s listed below have been selected for their literary merit, their importance to the evolution of the American canon, and their thematic or stylistic relationship to the course study. While many of these authors are known for their more popular fictional writing, we will focus generally on their non-fiction essays, letters, critiques, and speeches.

Alexie, Sherman

Anaya, Rudolfo

Angelou, Maya

Baldwin, James

Bly, Robert

Bono

Boyle, TC

Capote, Truman

Cather, Willa

Chief Joseph

Cooper, James Fenimore

Crane, Stephen

Dillard, Annie

Douglass, Frederick

Dreiser, Theodore

Du Bois, W.E.B.

Ellison, Ralph

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Equiano, Olaudah

Faulkner, William

Frazier, Charles

Franklin, Benjamin

Gaines, Ernest

Grimes, William

Guterson, David

Haley, Alex

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Heller, Joseph

Hemingway, Ernest

Hurston, Zora Neal

Irving, Washington

James, Henry

Keillor, Garrison

Knowles, John

Kogawa, Joy

KraKauer, John

Lewis, Sinclair

Melville, Herman

Miller, Arthur

Morrison, Toni

O’Brien, Tim

Plath, Sylvia

Poe, Edgar Allen

Quindlen, Anna

Rodriguez, Richard

Salinger, J.D.

Sinclair, Upton

Smith, Betty

Stegner, Wallace

Steinbeck, John

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

Tan, Amy

Thoreau, Henry David

Twain, Mark

Vidal, Gore

Villasenor, Victor

Walker, Alice

Welch, James

West, Cornell

Wharton, Edith

Wolff, Tom

Wright, Richard

Units of Study: AP English Language and Composition

Unit #1: Defining America Through The Written Word

Unit Focus:

Annotating text: subject, purpose, argument

Interpreting visual media (graphics, photographs, political cartoons)

Synthesis: source based, conceptual, synthesis of voice

Critical thinking: synthesizing rhetoric

Constructing an argument, organizing structures

Making an outline

Documenting sources

MLA style

The process of writing: outlining, thesis development, drafting, editing and revision, publishing

Grammatical organization: varying syntax

Vocabulary: content vocabulary and from reading selections

Readings:

“I Hear America Singing,” Walt Whitman
“Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes
“Letters From a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Report From America,” Sparrow
“The Catastrophe of Success,” Tennessee Williams
“A Modest Proposal: For Preventing Mexican Illegal Immigrants Entering the U.S. From the South,” Robert L.
“New Kids in the Neighborhood,” Norman Rockwell
“From Peops: Stories and Portraits of People,” Fly
“Is America Falling Apart?” Anthony Burgess
“Kill Em! Crush Em! Eat Em Raw!” John McMurty
“Democracy,” E.B. White
“Enclosed, Encyclopedic, Endured: The Mall of America,” David Guterson
“From Speech to Georgetown University on Social Activism and America’s Role,” Bono

Writings:

Annotated reading journal for selections by Whitman, Hughes, King, Sparrow, and Williams
SOAPSTone for selections by King, Sparrow, Williams, and Robert L
OPTIC for selections by Rockwell, and Fly
Author assertion analysis short answer for selections by Burgess and White
Timed writing on selections by McMurty, Guterson
Essay outline
Synthesis essay based on arguments of select unit texts
Analysis of student writing process by revising Synthesis essay

Assessment:

Students will compose one essay that takes a position defending, challenging, or qualifying the argument that “The American Dream is alive and well today,” synthesizing at least three sources from the texts read in this unit for support. In addition, students will participate in a writer’s workshop to evaluate essays for style, logic, varying sentence structure, and use of rhetoric elements.

Unit #2: Origins of the American Literary Traditions