Mililani High School
Syllabus and Expectations
(SY 2017-2018)
Course: AP English Language and Composition
Teacher: Mrs. S. Grande-Misaki
Contact Information: 307-4327; Room N102Email:
Course Description:
“An AP English Language and Composition course requires students to become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts and skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their reading and their writing should make students aware of interactions among a writer’s purposes, reader expectations, and an author’s propositional content, as well as the genre conventions and the resources of language that contribute to effectiveness of writing.” College Board 2014
Course Philosophy and Policies:
As an AP course, this is a rigorous, college level course. The reading is challenging; the writing is frequent and requires an independent mind. We will function as a community of learners. If you are committed to the work as well as to listening and learning from each other, this class will ultimately become one in which we are all teachers and students.
Each member of the class will have a voice. We will learn from each other, read our writing aloud, work collaboratively on revisions, and share our thoughts, ideas, and observations with one another. Final pieces will be submitted for grading and constructive feedback. You will have many opportunities to revise and resubmit.
All major papers will be typed in MLA format (see How to Format Papers). All other work will be completed in dark ink – no pencil. You may be given the opportunity to rewrite essays for up to two weeks after your scored paper is returned (assuming you have turned in required drafts on time). Late work for major assignments MAY be accepted with prior approval, but will be subject to a point deduction. Please see me to negotiate an extension. Do not assume that it will be provided. Also, if your paper is submitted late, you will not be allowed to complete multiple rewrites of that paper to improve your score.
Course Objectives as stated in the AP English Language and Composition General Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course students should be able to:
●Analyze and interpret samples of purposeful writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies (what author is saying, how author Is saying it and why an author is saying it, as well as the author's use of rhetorical devices to develop meaning)
●Analyze images and other multimodal texts for rhetorical features (visual literacy)
●Use effective rhetorical strategies and techniques when composing (apply skills to own writing)
●Write for a variety of purposes (engage in inquiry into a problem or controversy, evaluate arguments and viewpoints from multiple sources, participate in the writing process)
●Respond to different writing tasks according to their unique rhetorical and composition demands, and translate that rhetorical assessment into a plan for writing (emphasize importance of prewriting and planning)
●Create and sustain original arguments based on information synthesized from readings, research, and/or personal observations and experience (recognize features of the argument and create informed arguments)
●Evaluate and incorporate sources into researched arguments (comprehend and evaluate others' positions)
●Demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources (use MLA or APA conventions depending on discipline of writing)
●Gain control over various reading and writing process, with careful attention to inquiry, rhetorical analysis and synthesis of sources, drafting, revising/rereading, editing and review
●Converse and write reflectively about personal processes of composition (describing your learning and process)
●Demonstrate understanding and control of Standard Written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writing
●Revise a work to make it suitable for a different audiences (recognizing a variety of audiences for a piece of writing)
Textbooks, Autobiographies, Novels, Short Stories and Plays:
We will be reading and working from the following texts, in part and whole.
Primary Text: This will be issued at the start of the year when you pick up your schedule. Please COVER your textbook and bring to class when directed.
Shea, Renee H. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, 2nd Edition. Boston:
Bedford / St. Martins, 2013. Print.
Additional Texts:
Assorted Independent Reading Texts: Nonfiction texts and biographies
Assorted news articles, op eds, editorials, columns
Assorted 17th century to 21st century essays
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences. New York:
Random House, 1965.
Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. Harper Collins: San Francisco, 1993.(Tentative)
Desmond, Matthew. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. New York: Penguin Random House
LLC, 2016.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010.
Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken. New York: Random House Inc., 2010. Print.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. New York:
Vintage, 1989.
Rosa, Alfred and Paul Eschholz. Models for Writers: Short Essays for Compositions. Boston: Bedford/
St. Martins, 2012.
Prejean, Sister Helen. Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty that Sparked a
National Debate. New York: Random House Inc., 1993. Print.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. (Tentative)
Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2011. Print.
Supplementary Resource Texts:
Cooley, Thomas. Back to the Lake: A Reader and Guide, 3rd edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
2015.
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone.
Gainesville, Florida: Maupin House, 2000. Print.
Ehrenhaft, George, and George Ehrenhaft. Barrons's AP English Language and Composition.
Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, 2010. Print.
Expository reading and Writing Course: Reading and Writing Rhetorically. California State University, 2014.
Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities for Student Writers. Clayton, DE: Prestwick House, Inc,
2007.
Zwiers, Jeff and Marie Crawford. Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings. Portland (ME): Stenhouse Publishers, 2011.
Ongoing Class Activities:
Throughout the year, students will participate in the following workshops and activities. The starred (**) items will be kept in their Composition Book:
❖Rhetorical Strategies Workshop**
Students will study rhetorical strategies, provide the definition, find an example which should be aquotation, and write the context, how the device functions in the example, and the significance ofthe example in the work. Students will also demonstrate understanding of rhetorical strategies though analysis of text (nonfiction, articles, essays, peer essays and personal essays).
❖Voice Lessons Workshop**
Students will complete Diction, Details, Imagery, Syntax and Tone exercises from Dean’s Voice Lessons weekly. Each quarter will include practice with each of the elements of voice.
❖Grammar Lessons **
Students will complete a variety of “Grammar as Rhetoric and Style Exercises” (as found throughout textbook, The Language of Composition) and practice with a variety of sentence structures focusing on subordination and coordination. Grammar lessons will also be embedded in the writing process, peer feedback and revision.
❖Vocabulary **
Students will record unfamiliar vocabulary from class readings and discussions in composition book addingdefinitions and usage information throughout the school year. Students will also engage in word study, which includes roots, prefixes and suffixes.
❖Columnist Assignment
Each student will follow a national columnist in a newspaper and annotate multiple current, consecutive columns for speaker's tone and appeals to logic or emotion. After annotating weekly columns, the student will write a one to two page response that includes the author's general focus in columns (e.g. political, family, arts), a brief summary of the author's main points, and the articles’ effect/s on the student on a regular basis.
❖Independent Reading
Students will be independently reading texts from the AP suggested book list to foster critical thinking and build a background of literary knowledge which will enhance their understanding of a variety of topics and issues.
❖AP Exam Preparation
Throughout the year, we will prepare for the exam with the following activities:
▪Multiple choice practice: Students will complete two to four passages of multiplechoice from either past exams or supplementary materials each quarter. After completing the questions, students meet in small groups to confer and discuss possibleanswers, giving them the opportunity to explain their thinking and process. Students are then given the correct answer and discuss how the correct answers are better choices. Note: Multiple choice is not graded first quarter.
▪Timed-Essay practice: Students will complete at least four “Timed Writing Practice” essays each semester. Students will have multiple opportunities to peer score timed writes after scoring AP anchor papers for the same prompt. Teacher and peer feedback on essays will be given. Note: Timed Essays will not be graded first quarter.
▪The Exam: One complete exam will be given over a 4 class periods during second semester.
❖Formal Essays
Students will write a minimum of three formal essays each quarter. These will include narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays based on class readings and personal experience.
Students will revise using peer and/or teachercomments for all formal essays. Time is given after teacher/student conference or teacher comments to revise formal essays.
Students will receive explicit instruction in the “Six Traits of Quality Writing”: Ideas, Organization(including transitions, emphasis and repetition), Word Choice, Sentence Fluency (includingsubordination/coordination of sentence structures and syntactic variety), Voice, and Conventions. These areas ofwriting will continue to be addressed as needed in mini-lessons throughout the year.
All formal essays require students to go through the writing process (responding to text/issue, prewriting, drafting, revising, editing reflecting). As part of the writing process, peer and/orteacher writing conferences will take place. Rough drafts must be submitted prior to Final Revisions to documentprocess. Final Revisions are completed and assessed and expected to demonstrate improvement in rhetorical effectiveness.
Students will use M.L.A. format for all essays.
Summer Reading and Assignments:
Summer assignments are meant to help students build a foundation of skills and develop a language in which to analyze.
●Summer Novel: Read, annotate and identify rhetorical devices in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot), Dead Man Walking (Helen Prejean), Evicted (Matthew Desmond), In Cold Blood (Capote) or Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand)
●Summer Watching: View three episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations or Parts Unknown and analyze his use of language
●Flashcards of rhetorical devices
SUPPLIES
- Composition Book 2. 3-ring binder… 1 ½” to 2” 3. Printer & ink to word process drafts
GRADING AND ASSESSMENTS
Each assignment will be worth varying amounts of points depending on the type of assignment. Each point value will reflect the degree to which you meet or do not meet the standard. Your total points will be converted into a percentage grade based on a standard grading scale:
A 90-100B 80-89C 70-79D 60-69F 59 and below
Teacher discretion will be used for students who may need modifications.
Note: Since this is an AP course, course grades are weighted on a 5-point scale on student report card. If students do not pay for the AP Exam by the end of the first semester, they will be placed in their corresponding English course (Expository 1/American Literature or Expository Writing 2/British Literature). If they pay for the test, but do not take the AP Exam, their weighted score will be changed.
Final Quarter grades will be calculated and weighted as follows:
Final Essays or Projects, Timed Essays- 60% of the Final Grade
Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening Skills- 40% of the Final Grade
Grades will be updated as assignments are submitted and received. I make every effort to be timely. Please review your Infinite Campus account.
Scoring guides will be used by self, peers, and teacher before final assignment is due. A scoring guide is an assessment tool used to judge the quality of student performance or proficiency in relation to content standards. Scoring guides provide specific criteria to describe a range of possible student responses and a consistent set of guidelines to rate student work.
Additional HOMEWORK & CLASSWORK POLICIES
●All work must be legibly written in blue or black ink or typed (unless otherwise specified). This is important because the AP exam requires students to write essays in PEN.
●Work must be completed and submitted to appropriate in-basket and or turnitin.com or google classroom by the deadline; NO LATE WORK accepted, unless student has negotiated for an extended deadline at least 24 hours prior to due date or at teacher’s discretion
●IF late work is accepted the highest score received will be 80% of grade earned within one day. If work is accepted within three days, the highest score received will be no more than 60% of the grade earned.
●Work must be properly formatted and labeled. Students may be asked to resubmit work in the proper format or points will be deducted. Include page numbers, if needed. See handout: “How to Format Your Papers Properly (MLA)”
oName (first and last name)
oMrs. Grande-Misaki
oAP Lang (pd ___)
oDate
oWord Count:
●Follow all directions given and complete work neatly
●All assignments should be kept and organized in a binder/portfolio or in your composition book as specified.
●If absent, it is the student’s responsibility to request missed/make-up assignments and only excused absences may receive full credit for late work
●Handouts, references and assignments will be posted on MHS Google Classroom. Please make sure you have access to your MHS Google Drive.
●MHS Google Classroom and Turnitin.com WILL BE USED for AP English Language and Composition
TURNITIN.COM
All students must create a turnitin.com account and submit work to the appropriate class period. Students are also expected to complete peer feedback as well as self-reflections using turnitn.com.
The Class IDs are listed below:
1- AP Language and Comp: 15490806
3- AP Language and Comp: 15677918
7- AP Language and Comp: 15677920
All Classes have the same password: english
ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE
Students are encouraged to ask for assistance, if needed. I am available for assistance at study hall, recess and after school with prior arrangements. Students may also email me for assistance.
CLASSROOM Management Plan
In order to ensure that each and every studentin our class has a safe and effective environment conducive for learning, students will follow Chapter 19, school rules and classroom agreements:
Agreements:
1.Mutual Respect
2.Attentive Listening
3.Appreciation/No Put Downs
4.Right to Participate/Right to Pass
Classroom Expectations:
1.Be Prompt: Students should be in their assigned seat, ready for activities when the bell rings.
- Be Prepared: Students should have all of their required supplies daily and any additional supplies requested by the teacher. Students are to have read and be prepared for activities prior to coming to class.
- Be Positive: Students should have a positive attitude and give their best effort in all activities
- Be Polite: Students should show respect for themselves, their peers and their instructor. This respect extends to the property of the school, peers and instructor. Students should maintain good manners as well.
- Be Productive: Students are expected to complete all work to the best of their abilities. Work should be neat and handed in on time.
NOTE 1: Bring bottled water to class, but no food, candy, gum, or soda/juices. Food litter must be disposed of in outdoor rubbish cans BEFORE THE TARDY BELL RINGS OR THE STUDENT IS TARDY. This is important to avoid BUGS and mice!
NOTE 2: ALL electronics are prohibited in class. Please keep electronics in a secure place that will not distract you. These items are NOT allowed during the AP exam and so students should get used to not having it readily available.
It is important to respect and follow agreements. If you fail to do so, consequences (may include):
●Reminder(s)
●Detention
●Conference with student
●Phone call/email to or conference with parents
●Referral to counselor or administration
Severe incidents may result in an immediate referral or removal by security.
A FINAL NOTE: My goal is to provide a rigorous standards-based curriculum that is engaging, relevant and meaningful for each student as we prepare them for college, the work place and happy, successful lives. Family support is important and appreciated. I am looking forward to a productive year.
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Students: Please share the syllabus with your parents and have them complete the following ONLINE survey:
Parents: Please have your child complete the ONLINE survey and sign below by August 11.
We, the undersigned, have read, understand and agree to the contents syllabus and expectations AND have completed the ONLINE survey.
Student Last Name: ______Student First Name: ______
Student Signature: ______Date: ______
Parent Signature: ______Date: ______
1 (rvd July 12, 2017)
Pd: _____Last Name: ______
Personal Data and Contact Sheet
In order to keep lines of communication open please provide me the following information. Sign the back of this sheet, and have your child return this form to me no later than ______.
Last Name ______First name______
Previous English Teacher at MHS /School (if not from MHS):______