AP English Language & Composition Course Syllabus
Grades 11 & 12
Mrs. Adriane Drum
Room 201- Period 5
Course Overview: Students in this introductory college-level course will read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose and visual selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric, argumentation, and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students will develop their ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. Course readings include expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. Students will examine and work with essays, letters, speeches, images, articles, creative nonfiction, blog posts, and autobiographies that are organized around central unit themes and essential questions. Throughout the course, students will prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam and may be granted advanced placement, college credit, or both as a result of satisfactory performance.
Course reading and writing activities will help students gain textual power, making them more alert to an author’s purpose, the needs of an audience, the demands of the subject, and the resources of language: syntax, diction, and tone. The critical skills that students learn to appreciate through close and continued analysis of a wide variety of nonfiction texts can serve them in their own writing as they grow increasingly aware of these skills and their pertinent uses. During the course, a wide variety of texts (prose and image based) and writing tasks will provide the focus for an energetic study of language, rhetoric, and argument.
As this is a college-level course, performance expectations are appropriately high, and the workload is challenging. Students are expected to commit to a minimum of five hours of course work per week outside of class. Often, this work involves long-term writing and reading assignments, so effective time management is important. Because of the demanding curriculum, students must bring to the course sufficient command of mechanical conventions and an ability to read and discuss prose. The course is constructed in accordance with the guidelines described in the College Board’s AP English Course Description.
Central course textbooks include: Rhetorical Style: The Uses of Language in Persuasion; Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings; The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric; and They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.
Grading Procedures-- **Note- This course fulfills the requirements of a weighted course according to the district policy regarding weighted grades. Student grades in this course are weighted as follows:
40%- Writing: Throughout the year, students will be asked to complete a variety of formal and informal narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments. This may include out-of-class formal essays, research papers, imitation exercises, and time-writing activities. Any formal essay that receives a grade that is lower than an 86% may be corrected and resubmitted within one week, provided that the original essay was submitted on time. Essays may only be corrected during the first and second quarters. The highest grade that may be earned on a resubmitted essay is an 86%.
35%- Tests & Quizzes: Tests will consist of both multiple-choice questions that analyze rhetorical devices and their function in a given passage and essay responses to nonfiction selections. Some of these tested passages may be from texts read and studied in class, but many may be new material that the students will be asked to analyze for the first time. On essay tests that are meant as practice for the timed-writing portion of the AP exam, no extra time will be permitted. This means that whatever the student writes during the given test time will be what is graded. Frequent quizzes will also be utilized to check for reading and basic understanding of assigned and/or studied passages. Each unit will also contain several quizzes based on the rhetorical strategies/devices, argumentation styles, textual organization, etc., studied in that unit and/or previous units. All tests will be announced, but quizzes may be announced or unannounced.
25%- Homework, Classwork, & Discussion: Homework assignments such as responses, worksheets, guided note sheets, text annotation activities, and multiple-choice practice will be given frequently and will be collected or checked daily. Graded classwork and discussion will include class analysis of reading selections, partner or small group work, Socratic Seminars, group practice of multiple-choice questions, peer or class editing, informal writing responses, research for formal papers, class participation, etc. Students are expected to be active, focused participants on a daily basis
Midterm Exam: As per school policy, the midterm exam will count for 10% of a student’s overall grade in this course. The exam will be administered during the school’s midterm exam schedule. During this time, students will be asked to complete two timed essays from a previous AP English Language and Composition exam. These questions may be a synthesis question, rhetorical analysis question, or argument question.
Final Exam: As per school policy, the final exam will count for 10% of a student’s overall grade in this course. After taking the AP examination in May, students will work on their final argumentative research projects. The final project is called an assertion research project. Individually, students will choose a topic about which they feel very strongly. They will gather various types of evidence (of a variety of medias and texts) to create a presentation that both proclaims and supports the student’s personal assertion. The presentation will be given in class during the final week of school and must include interactive components. In addition to the verbal presentation, there will be a written and visual requirement as well.
Citation Style: All formal writing assignments are to be formatted according to the most current version of the Modern Language Association (MLA) style guide (8th edition).
Plagiarism Policy: Please see department plagiarism policy handout
Controversial Textual Content: Issues that might, from particular social, historical, or cultural viewpoints, be considered controversial, including references to ethnicities, nationalities, religions, races, dialects, gender, or class, may be addressed in texts that are appropriate for the AP English Language and Composition course. Fair representation of issues and peoples may occasionally include controversial material. Since AP students have chosen a program that directly involves them in college-level work, participation in this course depends on a level of maturity consistent with the age of high school students who have engaged in thoughtful analyses of a variety of texts. The best response to controversial language or ideas in a text might well be a question about the larger meaning, purpose, or overall effect of the language or idea in context. AP students should have the maturity, skill, and will to seek the larger meaning of a text or issue through thoughtful research. The structure of the course always allows for both sides of a controversial issue to be studied and in no way attempts to persuade or encourage students to believe one particular viewpoint. Please be sure to look closely at the units and essential questions listed below in order to decide if this course is the right course for you.
Absences: Students who are absent are responsible to review the unit calendar and use it to complete all assignments given on the date of absence. If the assignment includes a worksheet or handout distributed in class, please email me to request your copy. I will send it to you as an attachment. This class will progress at a rapid pace. Because of this, failing to make up missed assignments/work/readings in a very timely manner may result in your falling behind and struggling with in-class activities. Please contact me (either by phone or email) or a reliable classmate during your absence in order to retrieve and complete missed work. This is especially important in the case of an extended absence.
Due Dates: All tests and quizzes must be taken on the scheduled day. If you are absent on the day of a quiz or test, you must take it on the day of your return. You will be expected to stay after school or come during a study hall to do this. You will not take the quiz or test during class time. All formal papers are due at the beginning of the class period on the due date. If you are absent on the day that a paper is due, it must be sent in with a classmate or emailed to me by the beginning of your class period. Failure to submit the paper on the due date, even during an absence, will result in point deductions or failure of the paper. Any paper submitted within 24 hrs. after the due date will result in a deduction of 25 pts. Papers submitted between 25 and 48 hrs. past the due date will result in a deduction of 50 pts. Papers submitted after 48 hrs. past the due date will not be accepted and will result in a zero. This policy applies to both the first and final drafts of all formal papers.
Electronic Submissions: All work must be submitted on paper at the time that it is due. I will not print your assignments for you, nor will I spend time in class printing from your flash drive or Google account. It is your responsibility to find a way to print out your work.
Course Organization
Unit 1: Introduction to Rhetoric- Word Creation, SOAPS, Diction, Language & Appeals
Unit 2: Rhetorical Devices
Unit 3: Syntax, Sentences, & Style
Unit 4: Argument Types, Organizational Patterns, & Evidence
Unit 5: Visual Rhetoric- Cartoons, Advertisements, Packaging, Art, Music Videos, & Photographs
Unit 6: Building Effective Arguments & Argumentation Strategies
Unit 7: Divergent Texts & Viewpoints/Synthesis
Writing: While the course will provide numerous opportunities for informal and timed writing, there are several formal essays that will be completed throughout the course. They are as follows:
• Extended-definition essay- Choice of Word
• Rhetorical analysis essay #1- Choice of Speech (diction & rhetorical devices)
• Rhetorical analysis essay #2- Choice of Essay (argument, strategies, claims, & evidence)
• Rhetorical analysis essay #3- Book Analysis (syntax, structure, and organizational patterns)
• Argumentative Essay- Choice of Quote from List
• Compare/Contrast Essay #1- Choice of Visual Items (visual images & the written word)
• Compare/Contrast Essay #2- Choice of Current Issue (divergent texts and conflicting viewpoints)
• Synthesis Essay- Choice of Book and Essays
• Argumentative Research Project **Final Exam
The AP English Language & Composition Exam: The AP English Language & Composition Exam will be administered on Wednesday, May 16th, 2018. It is strongly suggested that you opt to take this exam. More specific information regarding registration and payment due dates will be distributed as the year progresses.
Exam Fees: The fee for each AP Exam is $92.
Fee Reductions: If you have significant financial need, you may be eligible for a College Board fee reduction per AP Exam, depending on the state in which you attend school. Most states provide federal or state funds or both to supplement the College Board fee reduction, and reduce your cost even further. Check with Mr. Dickman, our AP Coordinator, to learn more about eligibility requirements for College Board fee reductions, state and district subsidies, and other support that may be available.
Further information about this course, including the official course description, can be found on the College Board website: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-english-language-and-composition
Course Materials Needed:
• Large binder (dedicated to this class only)- 3 inches or larger
• 1 pack of binder tabs/organizers
• Paper
• Index cards (3x5-two packs, 5x7-one pack)
• A copy of each of the following books:
**NEEDED BY OCTOBER 1st, 2017: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (this book is available free of charge online. However, if you prefer not to read the book online, you may purchase your own copy)
**NEEDED BY OCTOBER 1st, 2017: John Hersey’s Hiroshima (this book is available free of charge online. However, if you prefer not to read the book online, you may purchase your own copy)
**NEEDED BY JANUARY 2nd, 2018: Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (this book is available free of charge online. However, if you prefer not to read the book online, you may purchase your own copy)
• ONE of the following books (your choice based on interest)
**NEEDED BY FEBRUARY 1st, 2018
Dave Cullen’s Columbine (Argument: The Media)
Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Argument: Ethics, Race, & Medical Science)
Susan Freinkel’s Plastic: A Toxic Love Story (Argument: Plastic & The Environment)
Susan Southard’s Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War (Argument: Nuclear Weapons) (this book is available free of charge online. However, if you prefer not to read the book online, you may purchase your own copy)
Binder Organization: **Please have binder ready for Tuesday, 9/5
In the front: Syllabus, Course Agreement, Unit Schedules
Label your binder tabs with the following descriptions:
Section 1: Notes
Section 2: Texts
Section 3: Discussion Questions
Section 4: Multiple Choice
Section 5: Timed Essays