AP

English Language & Composition

Course Outline & Syllabus

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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Writing, like all forms of art, is individual, creative, and done with purpose. But most
importantly, it needs to be developed through consistent practice. Without practice, writers will
only have their natural talents, but through guidance and instruction, they will learn to hone
their skills into the chiseled point of an authors pen that is truly mightier than any sword. This
year-long AP English Language and Composition course is designed to challenge students to
write effectively and confidently in both formal and informal settings. Through personal journals,
collaborative writing, in-class responses, and imitating other authors, students will develop a
sense of who they are as writers so that they will be able to articulate their thoughts in mature
ways, synthesizing literature that they have read and experiences that they have had in a variety
of areas of focus.
After the introductory unit of Rhetoric, Analysis, and Synthesis, the students will be in a place to
begin using and honing these skills in the following areas of focus: Education, Work, Community,
Gender, Sports and Fitness, Language, Science and Technology, Pop Culture, Nature, and
Politics.
For each of the units (2-11), a Curriculum Imbedded Assessment (CIA) will be given upon
completion of the unit. This assessment will allow the students to interpret, analyze, and
synthesize a variety of sources into an essay answering a question posed at the outset of the unit.
The essay will be scored holistically based on the Synthesis Essay Scoring Guidelines for the AP
Exam.
Each chapter of Language of Composition is broken down into several sections: a Central Essay
directly addressing the theme of the chapter; a Classic Essay written between the 18th and 20th
Centuries; Diverse writings (including: essays, poems, speeches, and visuals); a focused area for
Conversation with a variety of readings to practice synthesizing sources; Student writing;
Interviews with authors; and Grammar. During each unit, students understanding of the
readings will be assessed in a variety of ways including: A variety of Essay prompts (Including:
Expository, Argumentative, Descriptive, Compare/Contrast); Discussion prompts; AP practice
tests; and other Teacher designed tests. Students will also be studying grammar as it relates to the
readings in each unit, as well as studying Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style.
TEXTS
Main Text
Shea, Renee H., Lawrence Scanlon, Roin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition: Reading,
Writing, Rhetoric. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007.
Additional Texts
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Sixth Ed. New York: The Modern
Language Association of America, 2003.
Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference. Third Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006.
Strunk, William Jr., E.B. White. The Elements of Style. Fourth Ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon,
2000.

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ASSIGNMENTS
Essays

Students will have one 2-4 page essay in a variety of genres per Unit (in addition to the
CIA). Each student will have a typed rough draft due half way through the three-week
period for peer review. Students will then have the remainder of the time to edit, revise,
and complete the final draft, which must also be typed. As a part of the revision process,
students will need to evaluate their word choice to ensure that a wide variety of
vocabulary is used effectively.

Teacher Reviews
Prior to final drafts, the teacher will review each essay with the student to discuss basic
editing needs, but the primary goal is to help the student develop his writing style. Areas
of focus include the following: variety in sentence structure and length, word choice,
generic versus illustrative detail, explanation versus implication, and thesis development.
Readings
It is expected of students to come to class having read the material assigned for homework
with adequate notes to aid in class discussion.
Vocabulary Development
Students will create a running vocabulary list of words that are unfamiliar to them prior
to reading selections from the main text, in addition to words highlighted by the teacher.
Lists will be checked regularly, and students will be encouraged to use new vocabulary
effectively in their written work. Lists will need to include, correct spelling, part of speech,
definition, and a sentence using the word correctly.
Journals
The purpose of journaling is to express ones personal ideas in a mature refined way.
Students will be required to journal at least three days per cycle (6-day cycle) on a variety
of prompts including free writes. Journals are subject to periodic check and assessment.
Students will also need to keep a Reading Journal where they express their original ideas
as they are influenced by the readings done for class. In their Reading Journals, students
will keep track of stylistic strategies that authors use (such as: word choice, sentence
structure variation, and examples of generic, specific and illustrative detail).
Answers to Questions
Both as a part of discussion, and on paper, students will be asked to answer questions
relating to the readings. Questions will be of the same type that will be asked on the AP
Exam.
Peer Editing
Students will be responsible for Editing, Proofreading, and Revising their peers papers.
Portfolio
At the end of this AP course, students will be required to create a writing portfolio in
which they will file several pieces that they have written during the year as well as a

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reflection on themselves as writers. As a part of putting their portfolio together, students
will need to revise all pieces regardless of rubric score.

SYLLABUS
Unit 1 (3 Weeks)
Topics
Introduction to Rhetoric
Rhetorical Concepts
1. Ethos, pathos, logos
2. Aristotelian triangle
3. Claim and counterclaim
4. Assumption
5. Five cannons of Rhetoric (Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, Delivery)
Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis
Analysis of diction and syntax
Synthesizing Sources: Entering the Conversation
Unit 2 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Education
CIA Question
To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education?
Readings
FRANCINE PROSE, I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Education
SHERMAN ALEXIE, Superman and Me
MARGARET TALBOT, Best in Class
JAMES BALDWIN, A Talk to Teachers
KYOKO MORI, School
BILLY COLLINS, The History Teacher (poetry)
SANDRA CISNEROS, Eleven (fiction)
VISUAL TEXT NEA, from Reading at Risk (tables)
HORACE MANN, from Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education
LEON BOTSTEIN, High School, an Institution Whose Time Has Passed
TODD GITLIN, from The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut
DAVID S. BRODER, A Model for High Schools
FLOYD NORRIS, U.S. Students Fare Badly in International Survey of Math Skills (includes table)
NORMAN ROCKWELL, Spirit of Education (painting)

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Unit 3 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Work
CIA Question
How does our work shape or influence our lives?
Readings
BARBARA EHRENREICH, from Serving in Florida
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, from The Atlanta Exposition Address
RICHARD SELZER, The Surgeon as Priest
THOMAS CARLYLE, Labour
CLAUDIA O'KEEFE, The Traveling Bra Salesman's Lesson
ANNIE DILLARD, The Stunt Pilot
ELLEN GOODMAN, In Praise of a Snail's Pace
TILLIE OLSEN, I Stand Here Ironing (fiction)
JEAN TOOMER, Harvest Song (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT J. HOWARD MILLER, We Can Do It! (poster)
VISUAL TEXT JEFF PARKER, The Great GAPsby Society (cartoon)
MARILYN GARDNER, More Working Parents Play Beat the Clock
CLAUDIA WALLIS, The Case for Staying Home
CHRISTOPHER MELE, Sick Parents Go to Work, Stay Home When Kids Are Ill
AMELIA WARRNE TYAGI, Why Women Have to Work
KIMBERLY PALMER, My Mother, Myself, Her Career, My Questions
BUZZ MCCLAIN, Don't Call Me Mr. Mom
Unit 4 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Community
CIA Question
What is the relationship of the individual to the community?
Readings
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., Letter from Birmingham Jail
EIGHT ALABAMA CLERGYMEN, Public Statement
HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Where I Lived, and What I Lived for
JANE HOWARD, In Search of the Good Family
AMITAI ETZIONI, The New Community
ANNA QUINDLEN, from Being Perfect: Commencement Speech at Mt. Holyoke College
LORI ARVISO ALVORD, Walking the Path between Worlds
EDWIDGE DANTICAT, New York Day Women (fiction)
AURORA LEVINS MORALES, Child of the Americas (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT LEE TETER, Reflections (painting)
VISUAL TEXT FREDERICK HART, Three Servicemen (sculpture)
BERTRAND RUSSELL, The Happy Life
PETER SINGER, The Singer Solution to World Poverty
GARRETT HARDIN, Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor
JOHN BETJEMAN, In Westminster Abbey (poetry)

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Unit 5 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Gender
CIA Question
What is the impact of gender roles that society creates and enforces?
Readings
STEPHEN JAY GOULD, Women's Brains>
CLASSIC ESSAY VIRGINIA WOOLF, Professions for Women
JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS, Letters
GRETEL EHRLICH, About Men
JUDITH ORTIZ COFER, The Myth of the Latin Woman
PAUL THEROUX, Being a Man
STEPHEN LEWIS, Aids Has a Woman's Face
DEBORAH TANNEN, There Is No Unmarked Woman
ZORA NEALE HURSTON, Sweat (fiction)
MARGE PIERCY, Barbie Doll (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT CATHY GUISEWITE, Cathy (cartoon)
VISUAL TEXT BILL BROADWAY, New and Newer Versions of Scripture (table)
MARK BAUERLEIN AND SANDRA STOTSKY, Why Johnny Won't Read
ANN HULBERT, Boy Problems (includes table)
DAVID BROOKS, Mind over Muscle
REBECCA WALKER, Putting down the Gun
Unit 6 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Sports and Fitness
CIA Question
How do the values of sports affect the way we see ourselves?
Readings
GAY TALESE, The Silent Season of a Hero
CLASSIC ESSAY THEODORE ROOSEVELT, The Proper Place for Sports
JOHN MCMURTRY, Kill Em, Crush Em, Eat Em Raw
KRIS VERVAECKE, A Spectator's Notebook
FRANCES WILLARD, from How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle
RICK REILLY, The Real New York Giants
SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN, For Fasting and Football, A Dedicated Game Plan
JOHN UPDIKE, Ex-Basketball Player (poetry)
MAXINE KUMIN, Prothalamion (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT EDWARD KOREN, Untitled (cartoon)
DONNA BRITT, A Unique Take on Beauty
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Little Sister, Big Hit (cover)
NATALIE ANGIER, Drugs, Sports, Body Image and G.I. Joe
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTS MEDICINE, Disordered Eating and Body Image
Disturbances May Be Underreported in Male Athletes

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PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICES, Enhancing Male Body
Image
Unit 7 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Language
CIA Question
How does the language we use reveal who we are?
Readings
RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, Aria
CLASSIC ESSAY GEORGE ORWELL, Politics and the English Language
AMY TAN, Mother Tongue
NGUGI WA THIONG'O, from Decolonising the Mind
MARJORIE AGOSIN, Always Living in Spanish
PETER BERKOWITZ and MICHAEL MCFAUL, Studying Islam, Strengthening the Nation
S.I. HAYAKAWA, Bilingualism in America: English Should Be the Official Language
LAN CAO, from Monkey Bridge (fiction)
CHANG-RAE LEE, from Native Speaker (fiction)
NAOMI SHIHAB NYE, For Mohammed Zeid of Gaza, Age 15 and Why I Could Not Accept Your
Invitation (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT MIKE TWOHY, Rumors, Lies, Innuendo (cartoon)
VISUAL TEXT JAMES CRAWFORD, Census Data on Language Use in America (table)
GEOFFREY NUNBERG, How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack?
DANIEL OKRENT, The War of Words: A Dispatch from the Front Lines
Letters to the Editor in response to Okrent
COURTLAND MILLOY, Pride to One Is Prejudice to Another
RAY MAGLIOZZI, Help Us Overthrow the Tall and Short Mafia
Unit 8 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Science and Technology
CIA Question
How are advances in science and technology affecting the way we define our humanity?
Readings
LOREN EISELEY, The Bird and the Machine
CLASSIC ESSAY THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY, The Method of Scientific Investigation
JACOB BRONOWSKI, The Reach of Imagination
MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, The Future of Happiness
STEVEN PINKER, The Blank Slate
URSULA FRANKLIN, Silence and the Notion of the Commons
SVEN BIRKERTS, Into the Electronic Millennium
ELIZABETH ROYTE, Transsexual Frogs
EDGAR ALLAN POE, Sonnet to Science (poetry)
WALT WHITMAN, When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer (poetry)
BRIAN ALDISS, Supertoys Last All Summer (fiction)

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VISUAL TEXT CARL SAGAN, The Cosmic Calendar (tables)
VISUAL TEXT GAHAN WILSON, Food Fight (cartoon)
LEWIS THOMAS, On Cloning a Human Being
PHILIP M. BOFFEY, Fearing the Worst Should Anyone Produce a Cloned Baby
DAVID EWING DUNCAN, DNA as Destiny
RICK WEISS, Pet Clones Spur Call for Limits
MARILYNN MARCHIONE AND LINDSEY TANNER, More Couples Screening Embryos
for Gender
Unit 9 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Popular Culture
CIA Question
To what extent does pop culture reflect our societys values?
Readings
DAVID DENBY, High School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies
CLASSIC ESSAY MARK TWAIN, Corn-pone Opinions
BRENT STAPLES, Godzilla vs. the Giant Scissors: Cutting the Antiwar Heart Out of a Classic
VINE DELORIA JR., We Talk, You Listen
DANYEL SMITH, Dreaming America
SCOTT MCCLOUD, Show and Tell (graphic essay)
TERESA WILTZ, Popular Culture in the Aftermath of September 11 is a Chorus without a Hook, A
Movie without an Ending
HANS OSTROM, Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven (poetry)
NIKKI GIOVANNI, Sanctuary: For Harry Potter the Movie (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT MARK TANSEY, The Innocent Eye Test (painting)
STEVEN JOHNSON, Watching TV Makes You Smarter
CORBETT TRUBEY, The Argument against TV
JULIA SCOTT, He Doesn't Like to Watch
ANTHONY DIVIVO, TV Turnoff Week (detail from poster)
GEORGE GERBNER and TODD GITLIN, Is Media Violence Free Speech? (debate)
Unit 10 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Nature
CIA Question
What is our responsibility to nature?
Readings
RACHEL CARSON, from Silent Spring
CLASSIC ESSAY RALPH WALDO EMERSON, from Nature
TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS, The Clan of One-Breasted Women
CHIEF SEATTLE, Message to President Franklin Pierce
WENDELL BERRY, An Entrance to the Woods
WANGARI MUTA MAATHAI, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Speech
JOYCE CAROL OATES, Against Nature

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WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, The Tables Turned (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT ASHER B. DURAND, Kindred Spirits (painting)
VISUAL TEXT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL, Cloud the Issue or Clear the Air (advertisement)
BILL MCKIBBEN, It's Easy Being Green
RICHARD CONNIFF, from Counting Carbons (includes visual)
E.O. WILSON, from The Future of Life
DANIEL GLICK, GeoSigns: The Big Thaw
Unit 11 (3 Weeks)
Area of Focus: Politics
CIA Question
What is the relationship between the citizen and the state?
Readings
JAMAICA KINCAID, On Seeing England for the First Time
CLASSIC ESSAY JONATHAN SWIFT, A Modest Proposal
CHRIS HEDGES, from The Destruction of Culture
OLIVER GOLDSMITH, National Prejudices
VIRGINIA WOOLF, Thoughts on Peace during an Air Raid
HENRY DAVID THOREAU, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
WOLE SOYINKA, Every Dictator's Nightmare
TIM O'BRIEN, On the Rainy River (fiction)
YEVGENY YEVTUSHENKO, Conversation with an American Writer (poetry)
VISUAL TEXT PABLO PICASSO, Guernica (painting)
VISUAL TEXT THE NEW YORKER, March 17, 2003 (cover)
VISUAL TEXT HARPER'S, April, 2003 (cover)
GEORGE ORWELL, Shooting an Elephant
CHINUA ACHEBE, The Empire Fights Back
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Christiansted: Official Map and Guide (travel brochure)
EAVAN BOLAND, In Which the Ancient History I Learn Is Not My Own (poetry)
BOMBAY FURNITURE CO., What Part of You Lives in Bombay? (advertisement)
Unit 12 (After the AP Exam)
Portfolio
Students will spend the remainder of the class working on developing their writing portfolio.
Requirements
Essays must be:
MLA formatted, Typed, 12 pt. Times New Roman (equivalent), 1 margins, with
a cover page
Handed in with two rough drafts (one peer edited, one previously graded with
teacher comments)
Entries (all entries [except for the reflection paper] will be from earlier in the year, and only need
final revision and editing)
Two CIAs
One researched argument paper (2-4 pages)

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One response to a quote from literature (novel, short story, song, movie, etc.) (2-4 pages)
One response to a piece of visual art (painting, sculpture, etc.) (2-4 pages)
One reflection essay on how the student views him/herself as a writer (2-4 pages)