Junior Advanced Placement English

Junior Advanced Placement English

Advanced Placement Language & Composition Overview

1. AP College Board Exam:

You have the opportunity to take two AP tests in English, the AP English Literature & Composition Test and the AP English Language and Composition Test. The literature test is the better known and older of the two. Ms. Croney’s senior AP English classes prepare primarily for the Literature test, while you and I will focus on the Language exam; however, everything we learn and do in here will help prepare you for the Literature test your senior year as well. The AP Language & Composition Exam, generally speaking, tests your ability to do the following:

  1. Recognize and write analytically about the different rhetorical strategies that writers use to write well;
  2. To read complex passages, from as far back as the 1600’s, and answer questions over them accurately;
  3. To take a controversial, contemporary issue and be able to argue intelligently both sides of it;
  4. To apply the same analysis traditionally used to study fictional texts, to the analysis of visual media (political cartoons, visual art, advertisements, etcetera);
  5. To demonstrate that you know how to cite sources properly and integrate information from a variety of sources (via the new synthesis question; your Research Paper will prepare you beautifully for this.)

It is entirely a non-fiction exam; to that end, we will be reading more non-fiction and utilizing debate, on paper and in class. The Language test has 50-60 Multiple Choice questions (over 4 passages, 1 Hour, 45% of the Exam Score) and 3 Essays (2 hours, 15 minutes, 55% of the Exam Score: you will write a Synthesis, a Rhetorical Analysis, and an Argument Essay—more on these later). The non-fiction you can expect to see will come from a variety of genres such as biography, letters, speeches, magazine articles, political cartoons, propaganda advertisements, and essays.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it will beto be disciplined in your pursuit of knowledge in this class all year; and to utilize the methods we will model in class, as well as supplement your preparation with a test prep book in the spring.

So many of you have already experienced tremendous success on the AP U.S. History Exam as sophomores. You have reached the point in your academic careers where hard work must accompany your intrinsic talents—what does Thomas Jefferson say about luck?  You absolutely must maintain the same high standards and work ethic if you expect to do well on this exam.

This AP Exam is different, in that it is not really content-based; it demands that you prove you can write with sophistication, that you care about crafting your writing, not simply answering the question, one of the most difficult, but most important, disciplined, and rewarding skills of your professional and personal lives.

The multiple-choice section of the test is wonderful preparation for the SAT and ACT exams that you will take to determine college admission and scholarship awards. Like any AP exam, the questions are highly analytical and ‘tricky’ if you’re not practiced in them.

2. Because this is an AP class, you will receive 3 points added to your average at the end of each semester.

3. I am EXCITED about having you. I will do EVERYTHING in my power to help you. You should expect to struggle; it is normal to feel frustration. Remember, you are taking a college-level class! It is comforting, then, that we are working TOGETHER to ensure every one of you success. You need to plan on taking the AP exam in May;our goals are to help you become quicker, more analytical, more insightful readers and writers (and hopefully, more thoughtful human beings as well) at the end of our journey together.

4. In many ways, the junior year can be the most exciting but perhaps the most challenging as well. I encourage you to pursue all of the unique opportunities that lay at your feet for the taking in 11th grade: the PSAT (in October); the Governors Scholars Program, Governors School for the Arts, and Commonwealth Honors Academy; and the ACT and SAT Exams, which you should plan on taking in February of your junior year.

5. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is, to achieve the above goals, for you to be a disciplined reader and writer as we progress through this class. The rewards for your success are abundant. You have every incentive, extrinsic and intrinsic, to take the time to write multiple drafts of your papers and put forth your very best efforts. It also is invaluable to the people writing your letters of recommendation, to be able to read your work, to see the level of analysis, insight, and style you have achieved; many recommenderswill require you to include a sampling of the essays you have completed for AP Language & Composition.

COMMON APPLICATION Letter of Recommendation Form: