AP Language and
Composition Ms.
Bobbi Faulkner 2015-2016
Course
Description: An AP course in Language and Composition engages students in
becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts
and becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their
reading and their writing should make students aware of the interactions among
a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way
genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in
writing.
Teacher Expectations: It is important for
both students and parents to understand that this class is taught as a college
class. Students should anticipate challenging material involving both short-
and long-range writing and reading assignments which will demand effective and
consistent time management. The goal of this class is to prepare students for
the independence they will be facing as students in college and to try to earn
college credit by passing the AP exam in May – no excuses will be accepted for
poor planning or shoddy work. Due to the demanding curriculum and pacing of this
course, students must arrive with a sufficient command of grammatical
conventions, an ability to read and discuss prose, and a strong desire to
improve their skills in writing and analysis.
Along with classroom reading assignments, students will also
independently read and prepare in-class timed writing pieces based on writing
prompts taken from previous AP exams. The various prompts ask students to
analyze such elements as but not limited to rhetoric, characterization, and
textual details dealing with structure, style, and themes.
*Students will need to keep a reading journal for reactions
and responses to in-class readings and independent reading. There will also be
an independent project that will require students to read and annotate a book.
Summer reading and writing are required for this course.
Students in AP English Language and Composition will work
towards an appreciation of the rhetorical and aesthetic dimensions that
contribute to rich and effective writing. Students will take the AP examination
in May and continue to develop as appreciative life-long readers and effective
writers who think deeply and analyze critically. According to guidelines
promoted by The College Board, students should be able to do the following upon
completion of this course:
·
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 writing
·
create and sustain arguments based on
readings, research, and/or personal experience
·
write for a variety of purposes
·
produce expository, analytical, and
argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it
with appropriate evidence drawn from primary and/or secondary sources, cogent
explanations, and clear transitions
·
demonstrate understanding and mastery
of standard written English, as well as stylistic maturity in writing
·
demonstrate understanding of the
conventions of citing primary and secondary sources
·
effectively research, draft, revise,
and reflect upon personal writing
·
analyze image as text
·
evaluate and incorporate references
into researched essays using an established format
Evaluation Criteria:
A: 90-100 = 4.0
|
A: 90-100 = 4.0
|
B: 80-89 = 3.0
|
B: 80-89 = 3.0
|
C: 70-79 = 2.0
|
C: 70-79 = 2.0
|
D: 60-69 = 1.0
|
D: 60-69 = 1.0
|
F: 59-0 = 0.0
|
F: 59-0= 0.0
|
Instructional Texts:
Shea, Renée Hausmann., Lawrence
Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition: Reading,
Writing and Rhetoric. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin’s,
2008. (Note: This book will be our primary text and is associated with the page
numbers listed in the course outline.)
Assorted pdfs and texts linked to the
course on Haiku
Various other
reading, visual, and audio material will be utilized throughout the semester.
Overview of Assignments for the Course:
·Weekly
Vocabulary. In preparation for the SAT, AP Exam, and
college, students will be expected to study words that are commonly used in
these arenas. There will be a weekly vocabulary quiz and a test every two weeks
during the course of the semester.
·Weekly
News Article. Students need to
analyze a news source each week. News articles are due each Wednesday and
should include a correct MLA citation of your source along with a brief summary
of the article and rhetorical analysis (analysis should focus most strongly on
ethos –have you chosen a trusted source –how do you know?)
·Preparatory
essays and Multiple Choice packets.
These will prepare students for the AP exam and will take up a large amount of
class and independent time. The teacher will review essays and multiple choice
strategies will be discussed in class. Evaluation meetings for essays will be
held in class with both the teacher and peers. Essentially, the process of
study will be that a practice essay will be assigned. The teacher will review
those essays and meet with students individually, giving them feedback to
rewrite. Once revisions are finished, students will meet once more with a peer
to evaluate each other’s work and a final draft will be turned in. Throughout
this process, students will utilize many techniques to increase coherence,
including use of traditional rhetorical structures, graphic organizers,
repetition, transitions, emphasis, and other elements of style.
·Timed
Compositions in class. These are intended to prepare students for
the types of timed free response questions on the AP exam. They will typically
be 2-4 pages long and demonstrate one of the following approaches: analysis of
an argument, construction of an argument, or synthesis of sources to support an
argument. The time allowed for these compositions will decrease as the semester
progresses. These essays will be peer and teacher reviewed to allow for
improvement.
Other Projects and Assessments:
·
Homework will usually consist of reading and informal writing
assignments, including
SOAPStone analyses,
journal entries, and reaction papers, among others.
·
Reading
homework will be assigned on a regular basis. It is expected that the student
will read the homework selection, annotate and take notes on the work, and be
prepared to discuss it in the following class.
·Quizzes/tests will be similar in format
to the AP English Language examination and will
include multiple
choice passage analysis items and in-class essay response.
·Students will occasionally prepare
projects and presentations to enhance class experience and foster greater
appreciation of reading selections and their historical, social, and cultural
significance. Students are encouraged to incorporate technology (Prezi
presentations, photography, video) and art (illustration, music, dramatic
performance) into projects when appropriate.
Course Outline:
Each week, students
will focus on three major elements of study—literature, rhetoric, and style.
Readings are grouped
thematically around two or three broad issues and will primarily include
essays, speeches, and letters. Often these will be supplemented by the viewing
of various non-print media resources. Poetry, short stories, and a novel and/or
play will also be included to help demonstrate how various effects are achieved
through rhetorical and linguistic choices made by writers. A number of
workshops aimed at helping students understand and apply rhetorical theory,
grow as readers, and enhance writing skills will be provided. Rhetorical
strategies, vocabulary, and composition skills explored in workshops will be
applied and practiced in a variety of formal and informal writing assignments,
both in and out of class. Listed below is a breakdown of some of the focal
works students will read, workshops that will be facilitated, and representative
writing assignments that will be completed:
Throughout the
semester, in both workshops and composition prompts, we will be closely and
regularly examining how to incorporate sources (p. 84), properly cite sources,
MLA formatting and style, how to write AP rhetorical paragraphs, and how to
respond to the AP persuasive, argumentative, and synthesis essays.
Unit 1:An
Introduction to Rhetoric. Students
will receive instruction in the following areas as we begin to lay the class
foundation:
·
The
College Board and the AP Examination –Information about the program, format of
the AP Exam, and use of the scoring rubric; students will take a diagnostic AP
exam from released materials.
·Rhetorical Foundations –An examination
of Aristotle, the rhetorical triangle, rhetorical appeals, rhetorical
strategies, and rhetorical modes; students will recognize ethos, pathos, and logos
in formal writing and popular media; students will be able to analyze and
evaluate rhetorical strategies in essays, speeches, advertisements,
documentaries, and beyond.
Required Reading:
Chapter 1 of The Language of Composition
“The Essential Guide to Rhetoric” (linked on Haiku)
Unit 2: Close Reading--The Art and Craft of Analysis.
Using what was
learned in Chapter 1, students will be able to identify a passage’s context and
purpose through the rhetorical methods that writer is utilizing. Students will
begin to develop close reading skills, where they understand a text first based
on the words themselves and then on the larger ideas those words suggest.
Unit Objectives:
·Analyzing Style p.37
o syntax and diction
·Annotation Methods p.40
o dialectical journal and the graphic
organizer p.42
·From Analysis to Essay: Writing About
Close Reading p.51
o discussion of peer editing review
process
Required Reading:
John F. Kennedy’s January 21, 1961 Inaugural Address p. 51; other select
writings
Workshops:
·Students will begin to construct their
own annotated notes/graphic organizers/dialectical
journals; analyze
diction and syntax; and construct an essay analyzing Kennedy’s rhetorical strategies
he uses to achieve his purpose.
Theme 1: War, Peace, and Politics
Required Reading: A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift p.
914; Shooting an Elephant by George
Orwell p. 979; Letter from Birmingham
Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.; Guernica
(painting) by Pablo Picasso p. 975; On
the Rainy River (excerpt from The
Things They Carried) p. 961 and a handout of an additional excerpt from the
text; excerpt from The Veil by
Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel); Every
Dictator’s Nightmare by Wole Soyinka p. 957
Theme 2: Language
Required Reading: Politics of the English Language by
George Orwell p. 529; Mother Tongue
by Amy Tan p. 542; Rumors, Lies, Innuendo (cartoon) by Mike Twohy p. 575;
Census Data on Language Use in the United
States (table) by James
Crawford p. 576; If Black Isn’t a Language, Then Tell me, What Is by James Baldwin; Talking Black by Henry Louis Gates Jr.; AT&T Don’t Text While Driving
documentary
Workshops:
·Composition Workshop I: Responding to
the Prompt –A look at the process of turning a
statement prompt into
a question that can be answered in a clear and specific thesis statement;
students will practice responding to prompts in short writing assignments, then
apply skills to essay assignments.
o We will often be referring to the UNC
Writing Center website for tips and strategies, for both the college writing
process and AP exam.
·Composition Workshop II: Getting
Organized –Suggestions for going beyond the five- paragraph theme and writing
strong introductions, transitions, and conclusions; students will apply
strategies to both in-class and out-of-class essays.
·Composition Workshop III: A Balancing
Act: General Ideas/Specific Details-An in-depth consideration of the importance
of going beyond plot summary by support abstraction and general ideas with
textual reference and concrete details; students will examine an essay and use
four colored highlighters to mark generalizations, abstractions, and textual
references made through paraphrase and direct quotation; students will then
revise the essay, demonstrating the ability to balance generalization and
details, correctly incorporating direct quotes.
Composition Prompts:
·Informal Writing/Visual Image Response:
Find three magazine or newspaper advertisements, each of which illustrates at
least one of the three basic appeals (logic, ethics, emotion).Clip the ads and
write an analysis of how the advertiser appeals to the public.
·Informal Writing: How are most
politicians perceived today? Why are they perceived in these ways? Discuss your
thoughts in a seven minute free-write. (Connect to Orwell’s Politics and the
English Language.)
·Out-of-class Essay: In paragraph seven
of Shooting an Elephant, Orwell
observes that “when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he
destroys,” and that “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” Consider
the implications of these statements about human nature and write an essay in
which you support, refute, or qualify Orwell’s paradox and metaphor. Use your
own reading, knowledge, and/or experience to support your argument.
·Creative Writing: Write an essay that
is imitative of the excerpts we read from
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and detail the
things you carry as a student, son, daughter, or young adult.
·Timed In-Class Essay: Compare and
contrast paragraph 14 in Orwell’s Politics
and the English Language with the paragraph from Toni Morrison’s 1993 Nobel
Prize acceptance speech (see p.541of our primary text, question six).
·Revision: Revise your timed in-class
essay to correct mechanical problems noted in peer and instructor feedback.
Using strategies discussed in our composition workshop, strive in your revision
to improve organization and provide more detailed textual support of
generalizations.
Unit 3: A Look Ahead
Required Writing:
·Composition Workshop IV: The College
Application Essay –Discussion of the college application process and
particulars of the application essay; students will bring in sample college
application essay prompts; brainstorm ideas, and begin essays for at-home completion.
Unit Objectives:
·Build a résumé based on school, work,
and other relevant activities.
·Enhance writing style to personalize
the college application essay.
·Critically research colleges in order
to understand expectations and requirements.
Required Reading:
Tips for Completing
the College Application handout
Various handouts
INDEPENDENT PROJECT: Students will read The Pine Barrens by John McPhee. Students will be required to
annotate the book, keep a journal, and take 2-3 photographs. Further details
will be announced.
Unit 4: A Look at Contemporary Topics
Theme III: Education
Required Reading: Superman
and Me by Sherman Alexie p. 110; A
Talk to Teachers by James Baldwin p. 123; Eleven by Sandra Cisneros p. 144; from Reading at Risk (tables) via the National Endowment for the Arts p.
147
Theme IV: Food and the Environment
Required Reading: excerpt from The Omnivore’s
Dilemma by Michael Pollan; clip from Food
Inc. documentary; Ron Finley: A
guerilla gardener in South Central LA from his TED Talk; excerpt from Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why
We Bought It
by Elizabeth Royte;
bottled water graphic from the New York
Times; review of Bottlemania by
Mark Coleman from the Los Angeles Times; Is
Junk Food Really Cheaper? by Mark
Bittman; excerpt from Silent Spring
by Rachel Carson p. 798; Message to
President Franklin Pierce by Chief Seattle p. 823; Cloud the Issue or Clear the Air? Advertisement p. 857; Cooling the Lava by John McPhee
Theme V: Reflections of Youth
Required Reading: Of
Youth and Age by Francis Bacon; Advice to Youth by Mark Twain; Fiesta, 1980 by
Junot Diaz; A&P by John Updike; Like Mexicans by Gary Soto; Us and Themby
David Sedaris; Can a Playground Be Too Safe? article by John Tierney; assorted
advertising imagery
Workshops:
·Composition Workshop V: Words, Words,
Words –Consideration of the importance of rich and varied vocabulary that
conveys meaning and establishes clear voice and appropriate tone; students will
analyze their class writing up to this point, focusing on word choice and
recognition of pet words and vague diction, then rewrite passages/essays to
improve clarity and voice
·Composition Workshop VI: The Sentence
–Examination of syntax, sentence combination, and sentence emphasis, paying
particular attention to coordinating equal ideas and subordinating less
important ones; students will practice strategies in a current essay assignment.
·Composition Workshop VII: How to Write
a 9 Essay –Exploration of AP essay prompts, including a look at strategies for
each question; students will write timed AP essays and practice scoring using the
general AP rubric
·Composition Workshop VIII: Formal and
the Critical Essay –A review of research and synthesis strategies that involves
work with MLA format and consider other format styles; students will consider
potential topics through exploratory free-writing, and begin work on their
formal persuasive synthesis essays
·Images and Graphics as Text: An
exploration of various visual arts and graphic illustration as alternative
texts; students will view, analyze, and respond in writing and art to a wide
variety of image and graphics
·Composition Workshop VIIII: Individual
Conferences –One-on-one reviews of student work up to this point; students will
meet instructor to discuss individual work. Out-of-Class Essay: In preparation
for our final individual conferences, write a two-page reflection on the
writing you have done in this class. Have you grown as a writer? If so, how?
What are some problem areas that may still require conscious effort on your
part as you write? How do you feel about your literary analysis skills at this point?
·Exam Preparation Review: Recap of
multiple choice and essay strategies related to each type of essay question
(defense/refutation/qualification, analysis of rhetorical strategies, and
synthesis); students will take a released exam that might be used as a final
exam for the class.
o Workshops will include reviews in
preparation for the AP exam and advanced work in areas of concern or difficulty
for students.
Composition Prompts:
·Timed In-Class Essay: From talk radio
to television shows, from popular magazines to Web blogs, ordinary citizens,
political figures, and entertainers express their opinions on a wide range of
topics. Are these opinions worthwhile? Does the expression of such opinions
foster democratic values? Write an essay in which you take a position on the
value of such public statements of opinion, supporting your view with
appropriate evidence. (2006 Language and Composition exam)
·Revision: Revise one timed in-class
essay to correct mechanical problems noted in peer and instructor feedback. Use
strategies discussed in our composition workshops to improve diction and
eliminate vague or less than effective word choice.
Theme VI:North
Carolina Writer’s Workshop –Focus on David Sedaris
Required Reading: Laugh,
Kookaburra; Go Carolina; Me Talk Pretty One Day all by David Sedaris; Blood Done Sign My Name
Workshops:
·Composition Workshop X: Examination of
significance of titles; humor and satire; how diction and syntax connect to
theme; metaphor and hyperbole; understanding context in which work is written;
and how context can alter rhetorical choices in form and content. In an essay,
students will answer, “How does the language Sedaris use reveal who he is?”
Composition Prompts:
·Extended Formal Essay: Identify a
local, regional, national, or global question at issue to analyze in a 7-9page
essay formatted according to MLA guidelines. Evaluate, use, and cite
appropriate sources that support an opinion you are persuading your audience to
accept as a “solution” to this issue. References to a minimum of five outside
sources should be correctly incorporated and cited.
Academic Integrity:
Please refer to the student
handbook for the complete statement on academic integrity. In this classroom,
as in college, there is no acceptance for cheating or plagiarizing. Any student
caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a zero (0) for that assignment,
and depending on how severe the case, the student may fail the course. That
work will not be able to be made up and no extra credit assignment will be
given in order to replace the zero.
Absent Assignments:
When you are absent
it is your responsibility to come and talk to me about what has been missed. If
you know you are going to be gone from school in advance, then the assignment
may be due before you leave. If you are ill, the assignment is due within two
days. Class time will not be used to
make up tests or quizzes missed by the student. These must be made up before or
after school, or on your lunch.
Late Assignments: All assignments must be turned in on
time. Any assignment not turned in on time will automatically receive 10 points
deducted for each late day. After
Two (2) days, the
assignment will be considered incomplete and will receive a zero (0).
For example, if an
essay is due Thursday and you did not submit it, the work would be emailed to
me by Saturday the latest. Do not take the weekend as a “free ride.”
Also note I will not
accept broken/dead computers or empty printer cartridges as excuses when work is
due. It is your job to hand the assignment in on time. Failure to do so will
result in the aforementioned penalty. Those excuses are not accepted in college
and since this is a class where you can receive college credit, those excuses
are unacceptable here.
Journals:
A journal is an
invaluable tool that will help you develop your ideas for future reading and
writing. You will need to have a notebook that can be kept in the classroom as
a journal. It is to be used as a medium for you to respond to questions that I
pose about given reading assignments as well as your own thoughts on reading
and writing assignments.
Required Materials and Expectations:
You must bring pens (blue
and black ink only), pencils, highlighters, appropriate course books, a
notebook, laptop, and a journal to remain in the classroom, as well as any
other required readings to class each time we meet. You must always be prepared
when you enter this classroom. Assignments must be completed. I will not excuse
you to retrieve materials you forgot to bring along to class. Likewise, I
expect students to follow the dress code recognized by South Granville High
School.
Also, I expect all
students to be seated when the tardy bell rings. Any student not in his or her seat when the
bell rings for class to begin will be counted tardy and will need to get a late
pass.
Web Resources:
AP Central:
Information for students and parents about AP courses and testing college
information
University of North
Carolina Writing Center website we will often be referencing
An online writing lab
Stunk and White’s
Elements of Style
Type in a paper and
the software will analyze it paper for overused words
The Role of the AP
Teacher:
Simply put, the role
of the Advanced Placement teacher is to help foster academic growth within each
student in the classroom. My most important function is to provide instruction
and feedback on your writing assignments both before and after you revise your
work to help in the following areas:
·Vocabulary enhancement
·Variation of sentence structures
·Logical organization with specific
emphasis on coherence
·Incorporation of generalized, specific,
and illustrated detail
·Use of rhetoric such as tone and voice
appropriate to your audience
I will make myself as
available as possible to you. Please feel free to come in and speak with me
before or after school, during my lunch, and/or planning period. If you ever
have any questions, comments, or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me at faulknerb@gcs.k12.nc.us .
I am a resource for
you in your journey to AP success!
Yours in education,
Bobbi Faulkner, NBCT, MA, EdS