AP English Language and Composition Course Description:

AP English Language and Composition is designed for students willing to accept an intellectual challenge and is intended to engage higher order analytic and synthetic thinking and writing skills. Students will experience, interpret, and evaluate primarily nonfiction readings of recognized importance and styles from different time periods covering multiple disciplines. In addition, the critical examination of the contextual relationship among graphics and visual images to text and as stand-alone messages will be mastered. Readings will be challenging, complex, and rich; collegial discussions amongst the students will deepen their understanding of the use, structure, and impact of language embodied in a work. Wide reading will provide students the opportunity to explore and appreciate trends in linguistic styles across time. In addition to reading primarily nonfiction materials, students may read poetry and fiction to determine the impact of a writer’s “linguistic and rhetorical choices.” Students will write in informal and formal contexts to become competent in their personal writing and proficient in expository, analytical, and argumentative assignments. Evaluation and use of primary and secondary sources in addition to learning multiple methods to cite sources will be covered in this course. Timed responses mirroring the demands of the AP exam will be a frequent form of evaluation. Though the system has an open enrollment policy, students should understand this is a college class taught in a high school classroom and is designed to culminate in the AP Language and Composition Exam. Those who are enrolled in AP Language and Composition may expect a more intense workload; the breadth, pace, and depth of material covered. This course is intended to be the equivalent of an introductory college level composition class with college level requirements.

AP English Language and Composition Philosophy:

The foremost goal of APLAC is that students become critical thinkers, readers, and writers. This course is designed to enhance students’ ability to write with style and sophistication through extensive instructional practice in advanced writing skills. The program involves a close study of selected works of fiction and nonfiction, both as literary achievements and as models for the students’ own writing. Regular writing assignments are designed to develop students’ command of various styles, modes, and methods of writing. In addition, students complete multiple imitation exercises for the refinement of the many skills involved in effective writing. Students should expect most class assignments to center on rhetorical skills, but issues raised in reading assignments may be used as sources for discussion and writing. The course emphasizes the following key concepts in writing:  writing processes, prewriting strategies, audience awareness, idea development, use of concrete details, organizational strategies, revising strategies, voice and tone, diction, syntax, and language conventions. Students practice these concepts in a variety of assignments that include personal narratives, description, journal entries, imitation exercises, and expository essays that help them gain experience in distinguishing showing from telling.

Our class is an interactive learning community in which both student and instructor become deeply engaged in the reading, discussion, production, and analysis of prose from a variety of sources and time periods. Because this is an introductory college level course, students will read broadly from primarily nonfiction material. They will also exchange ideas and understandings with their peers, learn the critical skill of synthesizing information from their readings to produce a fresh perspective, and incorporate this skill in their writing. Both their writing and reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way “generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.” Risk taking and questioning are encouraged.

Students are reminded that a rich academic learning environment requires proper preparation for the daily class and the major assessments. Assignments are specifically designed to prepare students for class discussions, in-class and out-of-class essays, midterms and semester exams. To respect the learning of peers, come prepared. The activities of this class are sequenced to build the skills for success in the college environment, not just strictly for the AP exam. They reflect prior student input in terms of the readings selected and the academic rigor of the assessments.

Students are reminded that writing is a progressive skill, so writing will be a daily and essential component of this class. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to rewrite essays that receive a low grade after conferencing to discuss how to improve the rewrite. Learning the skill of revision will also be encouraged through peer response activities to develop a dialogue about strengths and weaknesses in writing to evaluate how their writing meets the expectations of the AP reader and a college composition professor. This will also include analysis of sample essays from prior AP prompts and peer essays.

Materials:

Books: The Language of Composition, The Well-Crafted Sentence, AP Language and Composition Examination, Brave New World, Dystopian Choice: Handmaid's Tale, Never Let Me Go, Pesthouse, The Road, Outliers, Non Fiction Choice: Blink, The World Without Us, Slow Death by Rubber Ducky, Stiff, Freakanomics, Antigone, Taming of the Shrew, Catcher in the Rye,  Coming of Age/Memoir Choice: Librarians' selections

Student Daily Supplies: pen/ pencil, highlighers, composition notebook, folder/binder, post-it notes, planner

Homework, Late Work, and Extra Credit

• Graded homework in this class principally consists of reading assignments, writing assignments, and daily work. Reading assignments are assessed via unannounced quizzes, shorter, in-class writing assignments, the final exam, and by unannounced AP-type multiple-choice quizzes.
• Daily work is comprised of five- to ten-point, smaller assignments designed to practice isolated skills. Late daily work will not be accepted for a grade. I will be happy to look at a student’s homework for the purpose of giving feedback; however, I will award no points for late daily work as it typically connects to the next day’s in-class activity.
• All in-class work to be turned-in for a grade will be completed in on ruled, 8 ½ × 11-inch, loose-leaf paper with students' first and last names, period, and date in the upper right-hand corner.
• All outside assignments are to be typed according to MLA guidelines. Again, homework and other outside assignments must be completed and ready to turn-in by the designated turn in date.
• Students excused from class for athletic, club, or other activities are still required to turn-in any assignment due such days by submitting it before or the morning of those days. Email is a viable submission tool in these situations as students will want to return to class ready to continue with in-class activities.
• It is a student’s responsibility to back up assignments by saving work to a hard drive, Google documents, disk, jump drive, via email, or other means. Save all work for this course. It's highly recommended that students keep all of their work and materials organized systematically in their binders as they may need to refer to it throughout the year.
• Most assignments will be assessed by rubrics designed to measure critical thinking about texts through writing. We will review rubric criteria and point values as work is assigned.

Absences & Make-up Work

Out-of-class work is typically intended for use in class the next day, so students will want to return to class prepared. Unless serious incident or illness prevents a student from doing so, work due on the day that was missed must be turned in the day a student returns to class. Please label late work with the date due and the date turned in and hand it to me directly. If you are absent on the day of a test or quiz, you should be ready to take it in class on the day you return. If sufficient class time is not available, students will make arrangements in the Skills Center to make it up. Coursework from an absence may only receive credit for two days after the absence. In other words, if a student is absent on May 5 and turns in her coursework on May 12, she will NOT receive credit for her work. The student would need to submit her coursework by May 7 to receive credit. Coursework may only be made up for excused absences.

Assignment Due Dates & Absences

Due dates for long-term assignments are given well in advance. If there is a legitimate reason why you will not be in class on the day an assignment is due or you will be unable to complete an assignment by the due date, please see me in advance (more than 24 hours before the due date) to explain the reasons and work out alternative arrangements. Unexcused absences on the day a presentation is due will result in no credit for group work presentations, or at most, a grade of C for individual presentations. . (I reserve the right to amend these policies, if necessary, during the course of the year.)

Weighted Grades

A student’s final grade is the percentage of points earned against points possible. Different assignments are weighted differently depending on the stage in the learning process at which we’re working. Grades are weighted as follows:

Timed Essays and Writing Conferences:

During the course of the year, students are regularly required to respond to writing prompts under time constraints. These writing assignments are formative assessments and may not be rewritten and resubmitted for a higher grade. A student may, however, revise an essay and schedule an individual writing conference. Even though the grade earned on the paper is final, students are highly encouraged to schedule and take advantage of writing conferences.

Check-plus, Check, Check-minus

Foundation:

The ultimate goal of AP Language and Composition is the improvement of each student’s ability as a reader and writer of the English language. Reading and writing are both complex tasks requiring the mastery of a number of explicit skills. Our class is devoted to developing those skills necessary to read with understanding and purpose and to write with clarity and power. In developing explicit skills, we will frequently complete low-point assignments designed to isolate and practice explicit skills that when combined allow us to perform even more complex tasks in our writing. In order for students to accomplish these goals, students need to feel comfortable taking risks in their writing, and a very important function of the five-point assignment is to allow students to feel more comfortable taking risks in their writing.

Interpretation:

These five- or ten-point assignments designed to isolate and apply explicit skills are rated on a  ü+,  ü,  ü- continuum: high, middle, and low respectively. In terms of evaluating a skill, the mastery of essential components is superior (or advanced), transitional (or intermediate), or standard (or beginning).

Motivation:

Most importantly, when a student earns a ü- on an assignment, he or she has the opportunity to revisit the exercise, seek additional help, attempt new strategies, improve his or her skills, and improve his or her grade.

Grades:

Grade-conscious students appreciate the opportunity to practice new and sometimes difficult skills with little risk to their grades.

Conclusion:

As the year progresses, our assignments will focus more intensely on the application of skills, and students will develop a sophisticated understanding of the intricacies of writing and will seek to marshal their skills as writers. This continuum provides students a solid foundation on which to prepare.