You are on page 1of 9

Mr.

Gunnar
AP English Language and Composition/ENG 121

Syllabus: AP English Language and Composition/ENG 121


Instructor: Mr. Rolf M. Gunnar
Classroom: A236
Red Rocks Community College Course: ENG 121
Phone: (303) 982-5263
Email: rgunnar@jeffco.k12.co.us
Website: http://www.mrgunnar.net
One on One Conference Availability: Seminar, STAR and by appointment
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, p. 6) 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 in both writing and speech.
Primary Learning Goals:
AP English Language and Composition is a college-level course examining rhetoric as the art of
finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make
in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners, and
examining the specific features of texts, written or spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and
effective for readers or listeners in a situation (David Jolliffe, former AP exam creator). Therefore, students
will become mature and sophisticated consumers and creators of a variety of texts. By the end of the course,
students will understand:
what they read: the main point or thesis, the occasion or context, the authors motivation for writing,
the tone and style;
how a text is created to develop meaning and purpose including genre, organization, paragraphing,
syntax;
the relationship of the texts creation to its accomplishment, the purpose of academic intellectual
prose, its meaning and effect;
how to articulate their analysis of what they read; how the organizational structure, diction, syntax,
imagery, figurative language flesh out the meaning of a text;
how to create, develop and support an argument, acknowledging the complexities and nuances of
important issues that adults argue about in contemporary intellectual circles;
how to become good citizens through awareness of public discourse issues
how to enter into a conversation with sources and develop a thesis and argument or exposition by
synthesizing these conversations into their own writing;
how to analyze and incorporate their analysis of visual texts into their writing;
effective research skills and proper MLA citation;
how to read a question, so they know exactly what and how to approach it;
how to enhance their vocabulary as a means to effective writing; how to grapple with archaic prose
strategies necessary for success on the AP English Language and Composition exam
Students should become aware of how writers' linguistic choices create effective writing and achieve
stylistic effects as well as how to effectively incorporate many of these techniques into their own writing.
Required Texts:
Hartzell, Richard The Princeton Review: Cracking the AP English Language and Composition Exam
2013 (or later) edition, ISBN: 9780307945112
Heinrichs, Jay Thank You for Arguing, ISBN: 9780307341440
Peterson and Brereton, eds. The Norton Reader 12th Edition, ISBN: 0393929485.
PLEASE DO NOT INADVERTANTLY PURCHASE THE SHORTER EDITION!
HO: Supplementary handouts supplied by the instructor

Classroom Policies
While students are not required to take the AP exam: however, it is strongly encouraged because it is
the culminating activity of the course.
All students must take the practice exam when administered. It emulates the actual testing
experience. It will be held during TCAP week in the spring or on another date to be announced. This
exam will weigh heavily in the determination of your final grade. You will earn no credit on it if you
miss it due to anything other than illness (requiring a doctors note) or a family emergency
Homework is due at the beginning of the period. According to school policy, students who were
absent on the day the work was assigned must hand it in within two class days of their return for full
credit. If I assigned the work prior to the absence, it is due within 24 hours of the student's return. A
student whose absence was not excused or due to suspension must hand in the work on the day of
his/her return for any credit. Each major assignment will have two due dates: the first represents full
credit; the second represents a maximum grade of C. After the second date has passed, the work
receives a maximum grade of F. Because homework and process assignments (i.e. rough drafts, etc.)
pertain to the lesson of the day, students earn no credit if they do not submit those assignments on
the due date. Students who miss an in-class assignment or quiz have 48 hours to make it up upon
their return; otherwise, they will receive a zero on the assignment. The grade book closes at the end of
each six-week period; consequently, late work from the previous six weeks will no longer be accepted,
resulting in no credit for the assignment. Athletics, extracurricular activities (field trips), and planned
absences require submission of assignments prior to the scheduled absence for full credit. Therefore,
students must make a conference appointment prior to a planned absence. Students will not pass this
course if their work is consistently late, or if they submit the bulk of their work toward the end
of the semester. Computer issues are not valid excuses for late work. Furthermore, students
who have three or more missing assignments will be issued an office referral.
Successful students will attend class regularly and on time. Students with three or more unexcused
absences or tardies will be issued an office referral.
Consistent attendance is essential for success in this course. If a student is absent 10 or more times
during a semester (excused or not), we will have an administrative meeting to discuss the students
future in the course.
Successful students will demonstrate skills indicative of quality workers by bringing required
materials, completing homework assignments, participating in class discussions, and respecting the
opinions of others.
Successful students will demonstrate accountability by listening closely in class.
All final drafts of major written assignments are to be typed or word-processed and must adhere
to the essay format (MLA) unless otherwise specified.
Students are not allowed to bring food, drinks (except water) into the classroom.
Cell phones must be turned off during class time. Any cell phone use during class time may result in
disciplinary action.
I reserve 20% of a student's grade for attitude, behavior, achievement, attendance and
participation.
I use the standard grading scale: 90-100 A, 80-89 B, 70-79 C, 60-69 D, 59 and below F. Individual
papers are graded on a 0-9 AP scale, the scale used in AP Lit.
Students are allowed three passes per semester for personal reasons. Students may not leave the class
for more than 10 minutes.
The CHS and JCPS conduct code will be strictly enforced including the Zero Tolerance Policy
concerning cruelty, harassment, excessive teasing, discrimination, violence, and intimidation. Foul
language, derogatory remarks, and disrespect toward classmates, teachers and school staff will not be
tolerated.
Cheating and plagiarism on schoolwork will result in a zero on the assignment and could result
in suspension. Some assignments must be submitted through Turnitin.

Gunnar 2

Lack of respect toward the property of others (including writing on or defacing desks), and disruptive
behavior (including talking out of turn) could result in removal from the classroom and a referral.

Writing Assignments
Major Writing Assignments: The following assignments are processed papers composed primarily
outside of class:
Analytical Essay: Students compose a rhetorical analysis from a prompt focusing on one of
the summer readings.
Personal Narrative: Students compose an effective essay focusing on the significance of a
single event in their lives.
Compare/Contrast Essay: Students compose an essay from a prompt derived from Julius
Caesar. Students will contrast the rhetorical strategies used by Antony and Brutus when
addressing the citizens of Rome.
Mid-term Election/Current Issue Project: Students compose six persuasive texts on behalf of
an assigned candidate or a specific ballot initiative (students will not choose the candidate or
position on the issue) three meant to be spoken; three meant to be read each to specific
audiences: supporters, fence-sitters, and opponents. Students must submit self-annotated copies of
each text highlighting the rhetorical strategies they incorporated. NOTE: During off years,
students focus on a public discourse topic of their choice.
Columnist Project: Students gather six columns from a columnist of their choice. For each
column, they submit a prcis summarizing the column as well as a single paragraph reaction to it.
Finally, they compose an argumentative essay by developing an argument inspired through
conversations with the columnist.
Synthesis Essay: Students synthesize materials from a number of sources (including visual),
develop an argument and compose an argumentative essay.
Open Topic/Genre Essay: Using the five canons of rhetoric invention, arrangement, style,
memory, delivery students compose a meaningful essay on the topic of their choice. Students
must submit a self-annotated copy of the essay highlighting the rhetorical strategies they
incorporated. They will share their papers by presenting them to the class.
Research Paper: Students experience the research process from discovering a topic and
developing a research question to submitting the final product. Students will understand all levels
of the process including discerning relevant sources, gathering information from diverse sources,
synthesizing that information, and properly formatting the paper, incorporating MLA citation
techniques. This paper may be expository or argumentative.
Note:
Each essay composed outside of class must include a self evaluation addressing the following
questions:
1. Did you stick with your original topic or did you change it along the way? Why?
2. What problems did you encounter during the process of creating the essay?
3. List two of the most important changes you made. Why did you make them?
4. What part of your essay are you most proud of? Why?
Rough drafts of essays composed outside of class are subject to in-class peer review.
As major assessments, the mid-term and open topic essays require students to annotate their own
texts highlighting the intentional strategies they incorporated
Students are encouraged to conference with me or my TAs prior to submitting final drafts
In-class Timed Essays Responding to AP or AP-like Prompts: During the course of the year,
students are regularly required to respond to a prompt under time constraints. During the first semester,
students will share their responses in their groups prior to revising and resubmitting the paper for
assessment. If dissatisfied with the grade earned on a paper, a student may revise and resubmit it for
reassessment only after attending an individual writing conference. During the second semester,
students have fewer opportunities for reassessment. However, even though the grade earned on the

Gunnar 3

paper is final, students are highly encouraged to take advantage of writing conferences.
Assessments: The papers composed in and out of class are the primary assessments. They reveal
students understanding of the concepts taught; therefore, many of them are summative assessments.
These papers are assessed on the 0-9 AP scale, with a score of 5 equivalent to 75 points and 9 to 100
points. Additional assessments include vocabulary quizzes, multiple-choice tests and exercises, and the
major exam for the course: a complete AP English Language test during TCAP week duplicating the
testing conditions of the actual exam. Students are required to take this practice exam.
INSTRUCTIONAL READINGS:
Please read, and annotate
The Norton ReaderReading With a Writers Eye and Strategies for Writing: pp. xx-lv.
Cracking the AP English Language and Composition ExamPart 1 Welcome to the Exam pp. 1-9
Thank You for Arguing in its entirety
SUMMER READING SELECTIONS:
Eighner, Lars: On Dumpster Diving The Norton Reader pp. 20-29
Mairs, Nancy: On Being a Cripple The Norton Reader pp. 59-68
McMurtry, John: Kill Em! Crush Em! Eat Em Raw The Norton Reader pp. 354-359
Rauch, Jonathan: In Defense of Prejudice The Norton Reader pp. 680-688
Roach, Mary: How To Know If Youre Dead The Norton Reader pp. 282-295
Woolf, Virginia: In Search of a Room of Ones Own The Norton Reader pp. 1074-1084
Note: Due to the fact that we will also analyze texts focusing on public discourse issues, this syllabus is
tentative. Current event issues as well as school-related activities affecting attendance can easily sidetrack
us. Therefore, flexibility becomes paramount. Units one through five are approximately six to seven weeks
long. Furthermore, consistent writing to prompts and multiple-choice exercises supplement the major
writing projects. Each unit in AP English Language and Composition builds on the previous unit, so
learning goals are cumulative and will be addressed consistently throughout the course.
Unit 1
Understanding Rhetoric
Learning Goals:
Students will understand:
the significance of rhetorical analysis by: defining rhetoric and the rhetorical situation according to
Bitzer: exigence audience and constraints;
the analysis of persona and tone;
the rhetorical matrix: the elements of an effective text
close reading and annotation
how to discern the differences in approaches in certain texts targeted to specific audiences
the significance of audience in the development of a text;
formal academic writing;
how to transcend the 5-paragraph theme
Readings:
Baldwin: Notes of a Native Son: HO
Bitzer: The Rhetorical Situation: HO
Clinton: Lewinsky Speeches: HO
Eighner, Lars: On Dumpster Diving NR pp. 20-29
Heinrichs, Jay Thank You for Arguing
Hughes: Salvation: NR pp. 1139-1141.
Lehrer, Jonah: The Truth About Grit: HO
Lopate: Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character: HO
Mairs, Nancy: On Being a Cripple NR pp. 58-68

Gunnar 4

McMurtry: Kill Em! Crush Em! Eat Em Raw NR pp. 354-359


Rauch: In Defense of Prejudice NR pp. 666-674
Roach, Mary: How To Know If Youre Dead NR pp. 282-295
Woolf, Virginia: In Search of a Room of Ones Own NR pp. 1074-1084
Supplementary Handouts and Lessons:
Close Reading and Annotation
Tone and Tone Vocabulary (2)
The Rhetorical Matrix
Review of word phrases and parts of speech
Coordination and subordination
Passive and active voice
Effective verb choices
In-class activities:
Syllabus and course expectations/Red Rocks Community College Registration
Close reading and annotation
Elaborate analysis of readings
Discern and explain the rhetorical strategies apparent in the summer readings
Discover the rhetorical strategies used in the R.J.Reynolds ad.
Analyze the keys: persona, appeals, subject matter and treatment, context, intention, and genre
Writers workshops: selected exercises and discussions from Rhetorical Grammar
Multiple-choice exercises
Group editing and assessment sessions
Vocabulary
Writing Projects:
Analytical Essay: A rhetorical analysis focusing on one of the summer readings: How does the author
generate exigence, the imperfections marked by urgency? What is her/his primary audience? What
constraints did he/she have to consider?
Essay addressing one of the readings;
In-class Timed Essays addressing AP prompts and archaic prose.
The Personal Narrative (explained above) and College Application Essay (seniors only)
Unit 2

Analyzing Rhetoric Its All Argument


Learning Goals
Students will understand
the 5 traditional canons of rhetoric: Invention: journalists questions, Burkes pentad, syllogism
and enthymeme, the topics; Arrangement: genres, functional parts; Style: diction, connotation and
denotation, Latinate and Anglo Saxon diction, sentence structure and syntax, loose vs. periodic
sentences, cohesion, schemes and tropes, parallelism; Memory and Delivery; constraints due to
specific audiences;
the rhetorical transaction;
Aristotelian appeals: logos, pathos and ethos;
effective argument
enthymemes/warrants and their relationship to specific audiences assumptions based on target
audience;
style: schemes and tropes; cohesion and rhythm
how form can relate to function
means of communication: verbal and written contrasting texts meant to be read with texts meant
to be heard;
how to annotate their own texts

Gunnar 5

speech genre: forensic, epideictic, deliberative;


effective pronoun usage;
The authorial voice: effective vs. ineffective writing the rant.
Readings:
The Norton Reader: Selections in Prose Forms: Spoken Words pp. 906-934
Barton: The Art and Power of Oratory in Julius Caesar: HO
Churchill: "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens HO
Doyle: Joyas Voladoras
Highet: The Gettysburg Address: HO
Lincoln: Second Inauguration Speech: NR pp. 881-883
Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address: NR p. 605
Obama: Inaugural Address: HO
Orwell: A Hanging: HO
Orwell: Politics and the English Language: NR pp. 581-591
Postman: Graduation Speech: HO
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar
Traversi: A Clash of Aims: The Use and Abuse of Oratory by Brutus and Antony: HO
Supplementary Handouts and Lessons:
Adjusting syntax for cohesion HO
Loose and periodic sentences HO
Continue with parallel structure
Role of pronouns, pronoun ambiguity, antecedents
Developing tone and establishing credible voice in conveying arguments
Toulmin and Rogerian Argument
Prcis and Response
In-class activities:
Analyzing appeals to logos, pathos and ethos and how these appeals interact in the development of
meaningful texts the credibility of the rhetor;
Writers workshops: selected exercises and discussions from Rhetorical Grammar
Becoming critical readers;
Exploring differences in rhetorical strategies used in pieces meant to be heard from those meant to
be read;
Julius Caesar presentations; group analyses of effectiveness of speeches/essays;
Multiple-choice exercises
Group editing and assessment sessions
Vocabulary
Mid-term project presentations
Film clips (for sports synthesis): The Heart of the Game and Go Tigers!
Writing Projects:
Essay: analysis of speech or soliloquy from Julius Caesar;
Synthesis: Sports Synthesis Essay
Columnist Project (explained above) continues into Unit 3
In-class essays; responding to AP prompts;
Mid-term Current Issue or Election Project (explained above)
Unit 3
Rhetoric and Effective Writing
Learning Goals
Students will understand:
the writing process;
writing as a rhetorical process;
how to incorporate external sources;

Gunnar 6

the distinction between argument and persuasion


the concept of the conversation, conversing with an author
how to synthesize diverse sources;
how to develop their own argument inspired by sources
logical fallacies
how to analyze visual sources, seeing beyond the apparent
revision processes and strategies;
how to determine their own learning style as a means to improving vocabulary
Suggested Readings:
The Norton Reader: All selections in Prose Forms: Op-Eds pp. 403-427
August: Real Men Dont; Anti-Male Bias in English: HO
Cross: Propaganda: How Not to be Bamboozled: HO
Didion: At the Dam: HO
Fadiman: The Hiser Problem: NR pp. 549-553
Fussel: Thank God for the Atomic Bomb: NR pp. 724-736
Gould: Womens Brains: HO
Holsendolph: Grappling with the Gender Disparity Issue: HO
Levin: The Case for Torture: NR pp. 689-691
Roberts: How to Say Nothing in 500 Words: HO
Shulman: Love is a Fallacy: HO
Sommers: The Gender Wardens: HO
Theroux: Being a Man: NR pp.223-225
Supplementary Handouts and Lessons:
Vocabulary
Synthesis: Steps to Success
Various cartoons, graphs and photographs
In-class activities:
Continue analyzing different rhetorical approaches to common themes
Peer editing and revision
Grappling with archaic prose
Rhetorical analysis of visual texts
Writers workshops: selected exercises and discussions from Rhetorical Grammar
Writing Projects:
AP Sample Synthesis Prompt
Argumentative Essay (topic and argument inspired by columnist)
Feminism synthesis essay
First Semester Final Project

Unit 4
The 3 Rs: Reading, Research and Rhetoric
Learning Goals
Students will understand:
grammar: functionality of sentence structures and syntax;
satire authorial appeals through humor;
context clues as a means to interpret archaic prose;
reader response;
more about constraints surrounding audience;
multiple-choice strategies;
research and citation strategies;
how to discover credible sources;
how to conduct conversations with diverse sources, how to transcend read and regurgitate

Gunnar 7

Suggested Readings:
Barry: Art is in more than the Eye of the Beholder: HO
Postman: Future Schlock: HO
Swift: A Modest Proposal: The Norton Reader pp. 857-863
Twain: Jim on Lizbeth from Huckleberry Finn, Chapter XXIII
Supplementary Handouts:
Research Paper Steps and Organization
Vocabulary Lists
In-class activities:
Library: gathering information and ideas from diverse sources
Group discussions of topics and theses; determining viability of research topic
Group peer reviews of preliminary drafts of research paper
Writers workshops: selected exercises and discussions from Rhetorical Grammar
Multiple-choice practice: retake the test with your group, justifying your answers
Group multiple-choice sessions: discovering and correcting your own mistakes
Writing Projects:
AP Prompts
Research Paper: preliminary drafts of researched argumentative or expository paper
synthesizing diverse sources
Unit 5
Making Connections Readers and Writers; Writers and Readers
Learning Goals
Students will understand:
the concept of semiotics and effective communication;
the power of punctuation
how to achieve success on the English and Reading sections of the ACT
the concept of memory using shared experience as a tool;
reasoning;
meanings behind images, the power of the photograph and photographer
rhetorical strategies applying to grammar and syntaxparallel structures;
multiple-choice stems and the creation of multiple-choice questions
test expectations
more about archaic prose
Suggested Readings:
The Norton Reader: Selections from An Album of Styles pp. 592-609
Dillard: Sight into Insight: NR pp. 1190-1201
Ephron: The Boston Photographs: NR pp. 727-733
Franklin: From Realism to Virtual Reality: Images of Americas Wars: NR pp. 810-826
Langer: Language and Thought: HO
Murray: The Stranger in the Photograph Is Me: HO
Plato: The Allegory of the Cave: HO
Sanders: Signs: HO
Sontag: In Platos Cave: HO
The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams Appalachia (film)
Various: Current Issues Packet Images
Supplementary Handouts:
Multiple-choice strategies
Multiple-choice: Common Stems

Gunnar 8

In-class activities:
Final peer editing sessions prior to research paper final draft submission
Group discussions analyzing comparing language usage in readings/deconstructing prompts from
past exams
Vocabulary
Writers workshops: selected exercises and discussions from Rhetorical Grammar
AP test preparation: complete sample test
Group multiple-choice sessions: discovering your own mistakes
ACT English/Reading test preparation including practice English and Reading exams
Group student choice essay teaching presentations including the creation of multiple-choice
questions: Students choose an essay from The Norton Reader and teach it to the class and create a
short multiple-choice exam.
Writing Projects:
Research Paper Final Draft
Photography Synthesis Essay
Obesity Synthesis Essay (spring break)
Complete Practice Exam
AP Prompts: archaic prose
Student-choice essay analysis/presentation
Unit 6 (Post exam)
Rhetoric and Narrative
Learning Goals: Students will understand:
rhetorical strategies in film;
effectiveness of narrative styles;
how to discover universal truth in film the power of themes;
the expectations of AP English Literature and Composition.
Suggested Reading:
A variety of films ranging from documentary to satire specific titles TBA
In-class activities:
How to read a film / film as literature
Assessment and debriefing of films
Bridge to AP English Literature and Composition.
2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 by Rolf M. Gunnar

Gunnar 9

You might also like