ADVANCED PLACEMENT – LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION Mrs. Holbrook
Code: E563 Full Year (11) (1 credit)
(rank weight 1.06)
Prerequisite: Must have successfully completed English 10, ideally with high marks and excellent writing skills. Other students are accepted only by departmental approval.
Objectives:
By the end of the course, you 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 your own writing;
· create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience;
· demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in your own writing;
· write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing appropriate conventions;
· produce expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explanations, and clear transitions; and
· move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.
-adapted from Professional Development for AP English Language and Composition, 2005
AP Language and Composition focuses on the skills of analyzing rhetoric and understanding the art of effective argument. Students learn to improve their own writing through careful analysis of a wide variety of nonfiction: essays, speeches, memoirs, sermons, visual rhetoric, political discourse….all kinds of persuasive language.
Additionally, we read some full-length works which may include, but are not limited to,
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Beloved
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Macbeth
The Catcher in the Rye The Writing Life
The Great Gatsby
Texts (may include, but not limited to):
Advanced Placement Writing I (The Center for Learning)
Everything’s an Argument with Readings (Bedford)
The Language of Composition (Bedford/St. Martin’s)
The Art of Styling Sentences (Barrons)
Assessments (may include, but not limited to):
Rhetorical Analysis (fiction, non-fiction)
Argument Analysis
Synthesis Essay
Columnist Project
Regents Exam Writing
Research Paper/Project
In-class Timed Essays
Reading Comprehension Tests and Quizzes
Sentence Patterns/Grammar
NYS Common Core Regents Examination – January
College Board AP English Language and Composition Examination – May
First Semester Outline:
Regents Preparation (January Administration)
PSAT/SAT Preparation
AP Language and Composition Preparation
· Rhetorical and Style Analysis (fiction, non-fiction)
· Multiple Choice Question Strategies
· Strong Introductory Paragraphs
· Writing Techniques - Sentence Structure and Style
· Literature (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby)
· Précis writing
Creative non-fiction writing
Grammar and Usage
Vocabulary
Piece of the Week Project - your choice of selections (first quarter)
POW - Newspaper Columnist Project (second quarter)
Second Semester Outline
AP Language and Composition Preparation
· Variations on the Argument Essay
· Synthesis Essay
· Rhetorical analysis review
· Multiple Choice Question Strategies
· Exam Practice with Time Restrictions
Literature (Beloved, Macbeth)
Grammar and Usage
Vocabulary
Research Paper/Project (third/fourth quarters)
AP Examination:
· required if student wants AP designation on the transcript
· date is mid-May
· cost to student will be announced
· results are sent to students in July
· exam is 3-1/4 hours
· multiple-choice = 45% of score, 60 minutes for this part
· performance on three essays = 55% of score, 135 minutes for this part
Course Expectations:
· First and foremost, and more important than any exam or paper or grade, we will create an environment of respect for all human beings in our classroom.
· Plagiarism is a very serious offense. Papers will receive zeros. Your integrity and reputation, your status in class, your membership in the National Honor Society, and your acceptance at favored colleges/universities will be jeopardized. I will not write a college recommendation for you.
· Contribute to class discussion on a regular basis - offer an interpretation, answer a question, ask a clarifying question, state an opinion that relates to the topic at hand. Each of your voices is very important!
· You will have frequent homework, but adequate notice. Refer to the class calendar and check my website often: http://www.wappingersschools.org/johnjay/site
· Take notes, always, on paper of your choice. Be organized! Use loose-leaf for classwork that is collected. Work done at home should be typed (double-spaced). Assignments that run two or more pages should be STAPLED BEFORE coming to class. Feel free to print on both sides of your paper.
· Manage your time wisely. All assignments are to be handed in during class or by 2 p.m. on the date due if you are in the building for any part of that day. No late work, generally. Procrastination is not an excuse. See me if any problems arise. We can work out most problems if we address them early enough. I will speak about this matter further in class.
· Quarter grades are based on the average of the total number of accumulated points per quarter. The New York State English Regents is your final exam grade. You will take this exam in January.
As practice makes a better musician, a better runner, a better driver, or a better actor, so too does practice make a better writer. Welcome!
NOTE:
This course, equivalent to a first year college course, is designed for the exceptional student writer who wishes to accept the challenge of a college-level writing course. Students enrolling in this course are expected to take the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Exam.