Advanced Placement English Language and Composition 2014-2015
Instructor: Michael Thornton
· email:
· voicemail: 720.424.1794
· room: B202 office: B204 Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday – 2:50-3:20 pm
· website: http://dsapresents.org/staff/michael-thornton/advanced-placement-english-language/
Because learning to write is best fostered by reading, reflecting, and writing about serious issues, this course is designed to extend your existing abilities to interpret and analyze a wide range of texts, to write and revise sustained arguments, to carry out independent research, and to integrate multiple sources into your essays. In addition to helping you become a skilled writer who can compose for a variety of purposes and audiences, the course is also designed to enhance your critical thinking skills. Writing skills proceed from an awareness of the composing process, the way writers explore ideas, reconsider strategies, and revise; therefore, you will be asked to write essays and revisions that progress through several stages.
MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, AND EXPECTATIONS
Materials
Notebook (three-ring binder or divided notebook, brought to class daily):
· handouts from class
· literary terms, rhetorical terms, and vocabulary
· writing tips section
· class writing assignments
· writing goals
Class Reading and Writing: discussions and writing exercises
· follow handouts and read during class
· participate in discussions and writing forums
Required texts:
· Turchi, Peter. Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2007, ISBN-13: 9781595340412 …for summer reading (listed is the paperback copy – feel free to get the hardback)
· Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything's an Argument: with Readings. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010, Fifth Edition, ISBN-10: 0312538618 (make sure that you get the Fifth Edition with Readings)
· Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011, Third Edition, ISBN-10: 0312609655 (you must get the Third Edition)
Students must show the instructor that they have the above three books by the second week of class.
· Required Novels: First semester, either Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, or Sophie’s Choice by William Styron; and, second semester, Native Son by Richard Wright, or Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
· A writing handbook or style guide is recommended.
Products
Independent Reading and Writing:
· Literacy Autobiography
· College Essay
· Expository Essay
· Critical Research Paper
· Synthesis Argument Paper
Typical products for specific assignments include the following:
· Brainstorming and prewriting notes, diagrams, quotes, research
· Rough draft version with class critique, student and teacher edits
· Typed final draft with bibliography, MLA format
Expectations
In this class we will read nonfiction and novels. Nonfiction pieces will comprise the majority of what we read. These pieces will provide the basis for our discussions in class and models for writing. Much of the work will be done in class, but the independent reading and writing will also demand out-of-class work. The Turchi book, Maps of the Imagination, should be read over the summer. In addition, there is a textbook, a book of essays, and two novels that you will have to buy. Bring these textbooks and novels to class on the days scheduled for their discussion. More detailed assignments on the independent reading and writing will be distributed throughout the semester. All assignments will be posted on the class website, with links to downloads.
In order to receive an A in this class, you must take the AP test, and all assignments must be completed. If you miss a class, you are responsible for making up missed material. In-class essay questions and quizzes on required reading should be made up before the next class period after returning to school. If you miss a class presentation by a group you are a member of, upon returning to class you must make an appointment with the instructor to decide on a makeup assignment. Late work will be penalized 10% of the grade on the assignment – if the work is turned in after the end of the first quarter each semester, only 50% of the credit will be available. If you miss a class presentation by a group you are a member of, you will not receive the participation points that the group receives. Plagiarism found in any assignment will result in a grade of 0% for the assignment, parental contact, and a conference tab entry. Any exceptions to these rules require the instructor’s permission in advance. Process and product tasks are weighted 35 and 55% respectively, and account for 90% of the semester grade. The semester final counts for 10%. If a student fails the first semester of this class, they cannot continue in the class for the second semester.
The district defines the grading scale for this class:
A = 93-100%
A- = 90-92%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 83-86%
B- = 80-82%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 73-76%
C- = 70-72%
D = 60-69%
F = 0-59%
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition 1
Fall Semester, 2014-2015 Tentative Schedule for Course
CLASS WEEK / LANGUAGE / COMPOSITIONWeek 1:
August 25-29, 2014 / Introduction, and the Map as Metaphor
AP website research / Rhetorical Strategies vs. Rhetorical Devices
Literacy Autobiography and Map Analysis
Week 2:
September 2-5 / Essay Development Techniques
Close Reading Documentation
50 Essays: focus on Identity / Terminology, and Grammar
Writing Prioritization Survey; Books in Class
Maps of the Imagination Assignment Due
Week 3:
September 8-12 / Exam Tips Brainstorming
AP Pre-test
Alternative Essay Formats / College Essay on Identity; Anzaldua essay
ACT College Readiness Standards
Literary Terms Assignment
Week 4:
September 15-19 / 50 Essays: focus on Classification
and Ethics / Using Classification, and Process Analysis: Woolf and Petrunkevich; Dillard “Moth” essay – editing writing
Timed Essays on Rhetorical Strategies
Week 5:
September 22-26 / Representative Authors: Autobiographers, and Diarists
Biographers, and History Writers
50 Essays: focus on Comparison / College Essay Revision
Interrupted Reading: Rodriguez
Using Comparison and Contrast:
Rodriguez and Mukherjee
Week 6:
September 29- October 3 / Representative Authors: Critics
50 Essays: focus on Definition / Using Analogy, and Using Definition: Sontag on AIDS and photography; Dillard on “Seeing”; Melville on Process
Week 7:
October 6-10 / Representative Authors:
Essayists, and Fiction Writers / Using Description, Narration, and Reflection: Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain; White’s “Once More to the Lake”
Week 8:
October 13-17 / Representative Authors: Journalists
Multiple Choice and Essay Test / Interrupted Reading: Staples
Using Cause and Effect: Staples and Machiavelli
Week 9:
October 22-24 / Representative Authors:
Political Writers
Everything’s an Argument, 1-37 / Using Induction and Deduction: Jefferson and Lincoln
Novel Assignment
Week 10:
October 27-31 / Representative Authors:
Science, and Nature Writers
Angle of Repose, Parts I-II;
Sophie’s Choice, Chaps. 1-5; East of Eden, Part 1 / Robbe-Grillet’s visual mapping; graphic novels and storyboards
Interpret Novel Quotes for Argument Proposals: research Ideas for Novel paper
Traits of Representative Authors
Week 11:
November 3-7 / Angle of Repose, Parts III-IV; Sophie’s Choice, Chaps. 6-9; East of Eden, Part 2
Multiple Choice and Essay Test
Everything’s an Argument, 415-440 (Style section) / Directed Group Discussions on Novels based on scheduled reading
Research Articles
Planning the Paper: Strategies and Devices
Timed Essays for Open-ended Arguments
Week 12:
November 12-14 / Angle of Repose, Parts V-VII; Sophie’s Choice, Chaps. 10-12; Eden, Part 3
Everything’s an Argument, 536-598 (Documentation section) / Novel Discussion Groups
Paper Outline and Organization
Essays on ownership: prompts for Synthesis Argument Essay on Intellectual Property
Weeks 13-14:
November 17-December 5 / Angle of Repose, Parts VIII-IX; Sophie’s Choice, Chaps. 13-16; East of Eden, Part 4. / Research Paper Draft due
Research Paper Workshop
Week 15:
December 8-12 / Multiple Choice and Essay Test
AP Essays: Grading Models / Research Paper Final due
Week 16:
December 15-19 / Lapham on Essay Writing; Everything’s an Argument, 38-94, 131-207 / Final Exam
The scope and sequence of some of the included topics may be expanded, reduced or shifted to accommodate class needs.
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition 2
Spring Semester, 2014-2015 Tentative Schedule for Course
CLASS WEEK / LANGUAGE / COMPOSITIONWeek 1:
January 6-9, 2015 / Review of Fall Semester Final
Analysis of Rhetoric in Editorials / Dubrava’s Essay; Manifestoes
This I Believe essay: mimic Thoreau for clarity in communicating a belief system
Week 2:
January 12-16 / Everything’s an Argument, 208-248
50 Essays: focus on Education / Essay on Education
Syntax Exercise
Week 3:
January 20-23 / Everything’s an Argument, 901-969
Multiple Choice and Essay Test / Education Narrative; Rose and Sedaris essays
SAT Vocabulary groups
Week 4:
January 26-30 / Rhetoric: Aristotle, Rogers, Toulmin
Everything’s an Argument, 373-414 / Planning Essays: Strategies and Devices
Claims and Prompts; Swift’s “Proposal”
Educational Reform Proposal
Week 5:
February 2-6 / 50 Essays: focus on History and Politics
Everything’s an Argument, 970-1039 / Narrative essay on American song lyrics
Essay using Logical Fallacies
Week 6:
February 9-13 / Rhetoric: Logical Fallacies
Everything’s an Argument, 515-548
Multiple Choice and Essay Test / Intellectual Property draft and revision
Mimic Ericsson’s “The Ways We Lie”
Week 7:
February 18-20 / Review of Essay Development Techniques / Movie Review using narrative and definition; Paul Ford essay
Week 8:
February 23-27 / Everything’s an Argument, 441-465, 599-650
Rhetoric: Visual Arguments / Essay on American Citizen Responsibilities – essays by Vowell, Eighner, Ehrenreich, Sanders, Mairs
Week 9:
March 2-6 / Everything’s an Argument, 719-848
Rhetoric: Word Choice and Tone / American Citizen Responsibilities Style Revision
Week 10:
March 9-13 / Native Son by Richard Wright, Book One “Fear”; or Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner, chapters 1-4
American Identity in History / Peer Review of American Citizen Responsibilities Essay
Creative narrative on Immigration
Week 11:
March 16-20 / Everything’s an Argument, 849-900
Multiple Choice and Essay Test / Essay Planning on Race and Class
Hurston and King essays
Week 12:
March 23-27 / Native Son, Book Two “Flight”; or
Intruder, chapters 5-8 / Research ideas and prompts on Language, Racism, and Existentialism in novels
Week 13:
April 6-10 / 50 Essays: focus on Work and Class
AP Post-test / Rough thesis for research paper
Three articles of research due
Week 14:
April 14-17 / Native Son, Book Three “Fate”; or Intruder, chapters 9-11 / Research Paper Draft due
Literary Terms Review
Week 15:
April 20-24 / Rhetoric: Author’s Voice
50 Essays: focus on Argument / Workshop Research Paper
Postscript to Literacy Autobiography
Weeks 16-17: April 27-May 7 / Rhetoric: Words Used to Describe Language / AP Exam
Research Paper Final due
Weeks 18-20: May 11-29 / Everything’s an Argument, 777-848
Wilson’s Biophilia; Steinbeck’s Sea of Cortez, Jackson, McKibben, Gould / Essay on Environment
Community and Climate Change: 350.org
Final
Week 21:
June 1-4 / Science and Art Integration / Class Debriefing
The scope and sequence of some of the included topics may be expanded, reduced or shifted to accommodate class needs.