Syllabus: AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to help students write effectively

and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives. (The College Board, AP English Course Description, May 2009, May 2010, p. 8) The course is organized according to the requirements and guidelines of the current AP English Course Description, and, therefore, students are expected to read critically, think analytically, and communicate clearly both in writing and speech. Grading System: Essays 30%: Some essays are first written as in-class timed essays and modeled after AP Test prompts. Other essays are self-edited and peer-edited before students word process the final copies. Final copies make up 30 percent of the students quarter grades. In-class timed essays, rough drafts, and editing assignments are part of the daily work, which is 20 percent of the quarter grade. Students must submit all drafts with final copies. An additional research essay, using MLA formatting, will be assigned that will be 20% of the third quarter grade. Tests 25%: Most tests consist of multiple-choice questions based on rhetorical devices and their function in given passages. Some passages are from texts read and studied, but some passages are from new material that students analyze for the first time. Additional objective/subjective tests will be given on longer works studied. Quizzes 25%: Quizzes are used primarily to check for reading and basic understanding of a text. Each unit has at least one quiz on vocabulary from the readings. Also, each unit has at least one quiz on grammatical and mechanical concepts reviewed in daily tasks as well as from the discussions and/or annotations of syntax from the readings. Daily 20%: Daily assignments consist of a variety of tasks. Some of these tasks involve individual steps leading to a larger product, such as plans, research, drafts, and edits for an essay. Other daily tasks consist of participation in classroom discussion, grammar reviews, vocabulary exercises, annotation of texts, and fluency writing. In preparation for daily work students are expected to record observations made during close reading in a dual entry journal, noting specific text on one side and comments and reactions on the other. These journals will act as a springboard for weekly free writing assignments that will also be recorded in the journal. Journals will be checked periodically and the grade will be part of the daily grade.

Most lessons begin with a warm-up or an anticipatory task. These focus on a grammatical or writing concept that connects to the days reading assignment. Items for these lessons come from Voice Lessons, Rhetorical Grammar, and Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Level G. Course Organization: The course is organized by themes. (See Syllabus.) Each unit requires students to acquire and use rich vocabulary, to use standard English grammar, and to understand the importance of diction and syntax in an authors style. Therefore, students are expected to develop the following through reading, discussion, and writing assignments: a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively; a variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination; logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis; a balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure. (College Board AP English Course Description, May 2009, May 2010, p. 10) For each reading assignment students must identify the following: Thesis or Claim Tone or Attitude Purpose Audience and Occasion Evidence or Data Appeals: Logos, Ethos, Pathos Assumptions or Warrants Style (how the author communicates his message: rhetorical mode, rhetorical devices, which always include diction and syntax) Organizational patterns found in the text, i.e., main idea detail, comparison/contrast Cause/effect, extended definition, problem/solution, etc. Use of detail to develop a general idea

Two primary strategies will be used to generate first dual entry journals and, secondly, classroom discussion: Subject-Occasion-Audience-Purpose-Speaker-Tone (SOAPSTone) This is a text-analysis strategy discussed at both an AP Workshop and a Summer Institute. It will give students an approach to texts. Speaker the individual or collective voice of the text Occasion the event or catalyst causing the writing of the text to occur Audience the group of readers to whom the piece is directed Purpose the reason behind the text Subject the general topic and/or main idea Tone the attitude of the author Overview-Parts-Title-Interrelationships-Conclusion (OPTIC) The following steps are used to help students approach visual texts: Overview write down a few notes on what the visual appears to be about Parts focus on the parts of the visual. Write down any elements or details that seem important Title highlight the words of the title of the visual (if one is available) Interrelationships use the title as the theory and the parts of the visual as clues to detect and specify the interrelationships in the graphic Conclusion draw a conclusion about the visual as a whole. What does the visual mean? Summarize the message of the visual in one or two sentences. SEMESTER ONE First Quarter: An Introduction to Critical Reading and Rhetoric and Topics of Government and Justice Students will first complete a follow up to the summer reading assignment, Annie Dillards An American Childhood. Prompt: Select a moment from memory, an experience that has stayed with you. In a well-written essay, re-create that experience, and then analyze it, figuring out what it means to you. Drafts will be self and peer-edited. Final copies will be word-processed and attached to drafts. Students will be introduced to a definition of rhetoric and the rhetorical triangle. Students will begin work on the research essay. This essay will take the form of the researched argument. Topics will first be discussed and working bibliographies will be submitted using MLA format. Anchor Text: Alighieri, Dante. The Inferno

Topic I: Government Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Lao Tzu. Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Origin of Civil Society Ortega Y Gasset, Jose. The Greatest Danger, the State Arendt, Hannah. Total Domination Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Test: Definitions of Rhetorical Modes and Devices Topic II: Justice Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Cicero, Marcus Tullius. The Defense of Injustice Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions King, Martin Luther Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Second Quarter: The Individual and Wealth and Poverty Work will continue on the research essay. A thesis and outline will be submitted for review. A rough draft will be peer-edited. A final draft, using MLA format, will be submitted the Monday after Thanksgiving. Topic III: The Individual Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Durkheim, Emile. Individualism and the Intellectuals

Du Bois, W.E.B. Of Our Spiritual Strivings Benedict, Ruth. The Individual and the Pattern of Culture Fromm, Erich. The Individual in the Chains of Illusion Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Test: Dantes Inferno

Topic IV: Wealth and Poverty Additional Texts: (from World of Ideas) Smith, Adam. Of the Natural Progress of Opulence Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Position of Poverty Reich, Robert B. Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations)

SEMESTER EXAM: Objective questions similar to the Multiple Choice portion of the AP Exam Essay question styled after the Argument Essay of the AP Exam SEMESTER TWO Third Quarter: Mind and Nature Anchor Texts: Sophocles. Oedipus and Antigone Topic V: Mind

Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Descartes, Rene. Fourth Meditation: Of Truth and Error Freud, Sigmund. The Oedipus Complex Jung, Carl. The Personal and the Collective Unconscious Ramachandran, V.S. Neuroscience The New Philosophy Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Test: Oedipus

Topic VI: Nature Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Bacon, Francis. The Four Idols Gould, Stephen Jay. Nonmoral Nature Kaku, Miciho. The Mystery of Dark Matter Fukuyama, Francis. Genetic Engineering Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Test: Antigone

Fourth Quarter: Ethics and Morality and Gender and Culture Anchor Text: Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest Students will spend additional class time in preparation for the AP English Language and Composition Exam in May. Multiple Choice and Essay portions will be practiced and reviewed.

Topic VII: Ethics and Morality Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Aristotle. The Aim of Man Nietzke, Friedrich. Morality as Anti-Nature Murdoch, Iris. Morality and Religion Leopold, Aldo. The Land Ethic Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations)

Topic VIII: Gender and Culture Additional Texts (from World of Ideas): Wollstonecraft, Mary. Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society Mill, John Stuart. The Subjection of Women Woolf, Virginia. Shakespeares Sister Levi-Strauss, Claude. Men, Women, and Chiefs Assessments: Dual Entry Journal: Students will record during close reading Quizzes: Students are given quizzes on select readings. These check for understanding of meaning and strategies. Quiz: Vocabulary from Sadlier-Oxford and readings. Quiz: Grammar (from warm-up exercises, syntax discussions, and/or reading annotations) Test: The Importance of Being Earnest STUDENT RESOURCES Required Texts: Jacoby, Lee A. World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010.

Kolln, Martha. Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Sadlier-Oxford. Vocabulary Workshop Level G. New York: Sadlier-Oxford, 2009. Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. New York: Harper Perennial, 1988. Alighieri, Dante. The Inferno. Translated by John Ciardi. New York: Signet Classics, 2001. Sophocles. Sophocles I. 2nd ed. Edited by David Grene & Richmond Lattimore. Translated by David Grene. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. New York: Signet Classics, 1985. TEACHER RESOURCES College Board. AP English Language Course Description, May 2009, May 2010. New York: The College Board, 2008. College Board. AP English Language. Special Focus: Using Sources. New York: College Board, 2007. Corbett, Edward P.J. and Robert J. Connors. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. New York: Oxford University P, 1999. Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House, 2000. Fox, Steven. Advanced Composition Skills: 20 Lessons for AP* Success. Saddle Brook, NJ: Peoples Education, 2009. Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Olson, Steve and Eveline Bailey. Fast Track to a 5: Preparing for the AP* English Language and Composition Examination. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2009. Roskelly,Hephzibah and David A. Jolliffe. Everyday Use. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Shea, Rene, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. Trimmer, Joseph F. The Riverside Reader: Alternate Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.