AP English Language and Composition 20162017 Course Syllabus Course Objective This course is designed to assist students in developing college level writing, reading comprehension, and analytical thinking skills. This course was developed according to the requirements and guidelines of the 20162017 AP English Language and Composition course description. Learning Outcomes: ● Students will focus on developing evaluation and synthesis skills. ● Students will read, analyze, and evaluate a wide range of texts including narrative, informational, criticism, and historical. ● Students will demonstrate an ability to analyze and synthesize texts by using the writing process to develop their thoughts. This includes drafting, revising, and editing writing before submitting a final essay. ● Students will facilitate discussions on relevant grade level texts. ● Students will conduct presentations on the rhetorical and figurative elements of texts. ● Students will be able to access their own learning by referring to rubrics set for each task. ● Students will use revision strategies when revising drafts and as well as incorporating feedback from teachers and peers in final essays. ● Students will prepare for the AP English Language and Composition exam given in May. Students will participate in the following assignments and assessments: ○ Reading Journals: Students will be required to respond to most readings in a journal form. In these journals students will interact with texts by discussing themes, character development, text analysis, and summarizing events of a text. Students will also be able to demonstrate their comprehension of the texts in these journals. ○ Quizzes: Students will be quizzed weekly on their knowledge of rhetorical devices and reading comprehension. These will also serve as checks for understanding. ○ Multiple Choice Exams: Students will take practice AP multiple choice exams.
○ Timed Writings: Students will write several in class timed essays that fall under three categories: synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argumentative. ○ Independent Reading: Students will be required to read a minimum of two texts independently, outside of class. Students will create a presentation and write a creative piece in response to their readings. ○ Literary Circles: This activity will allow students to deepen their understanding of a text by collaborating with peers and engaging in conversation about how an author’s choices affect the reading of a text.. Grading System: ○ A (90% 100%) ○ B (80%89%) ○ C (70%79%) ○ F (0%69%) Texts: Brozo, William G., Diane Fettrow, Kelly Gallagher, Elfrieda Hiebert, Donald J. Leu, Ernest Morrell, Karen Wixson, and Grant Wiggins. Pearson Common Core Literature: The American Experience. New Jersey: Pearson, 2015. Print. Flachman, Kim, and Michael Flachman. The Prose Reader. New York: Longman Hacker, Diana, Nancy I. Sommers, and Marcy Carbajal Van Horn. A Pocket Style Manual. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. Print. Zinsser, William K. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. New York: Harper Perennial. Additional Readings: 1984 by George Orwell A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley Beloved by Toni Morrison Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Under a Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Unit 1: Fear, Tragedy, and Leadership Texts: The Crucible by Arthur Miller Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Miller Articles: McCarthyism: A Decade of Fear by Sam Roberts The Lesson of Salem by Laura Shapiro Activities: The unit will begin with the reading of McCarthyism: A Decade of Fear by Sam Roberts. Students will develop ideas about the articles and other texts through literary circles, reading journals, and writing responses. Students will take quizzes on readings in order to demonstrate knowledge of the text; students will write reflective low stakes writing journals in order to discuss themes and ideas that are developing throughout the text. Students will complete an argumentative essay in response to the prompt described below. Students will be required to submit two drafts prior to submitting the final product. Second drafts and final drafts must demonstrate revision and editing for tone and voice using tips from On Writing Well. During this unit students will also give oral presentations on rhetorical, stylistic, and grammatical terminology with clear, cited examples. Composition: Argumentative Essay Prompt: There are many characters in The Crucible that have personal flaws that lead to tragedy. Argue whether John Proctor OR Reverend Hale is the tragic hero of the play. Discuss how the character’s strength, noble qualities, and tragic flaws lead to his downfall and/or death. Also, identify the larger message that Miller conveys through this character. Consider discussing how the character transforms over the course of the play. Lastly, consider how forces beyond his control combine with his own inner flaw(s) to cause his downfall. Paper must be in MLA format. Include a complete list of citations on your work cited page. Unit 2: The American Dream Myth or Reality? Texts: Devastation of the Indies by Bartolome de las Casas I hear America Singing by Walt Whitman I too by Langston Hughes The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald “Letters from Christopher Columbus” Yo Soy Joaquin by Rodolfo Gonzalez Article: Kristof, Nicholas. They Are Us. New York Times Nov 19, 2015 Viewing: 2013 Great Gatsby
Activities: The purpose of this unit is to assist students in practicing interpretation of various forms of texts. After reading about the history of America in Devastation of the Indies and in the letters from Christopher Columbus, students will compare and contrast the poems by Langston Hughes, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Walt Whitman. Students will identify the differences that are found through the timeline between Christopher Columbus’s ventures and the writing of I Too by Langston Hughes. Students will then determine what the American dream is after reading The Great Gatsby. Students will also compare the novel of The Great Gatsby to the 2013 film adaptation of the novel. Composition: Synthesis Essay Prompt: F. Scott Fitzgerald presents several views of what the American dream means to different groups of people in the United States. In your essay define the American dream based on how the dream applies to ONE of the characters of The Great Gatsby. Remember that the character you choose is representative of a particular group of people identify this group in your essay. Synthesize the other readings from this unit to provide evidence that suggests that your definition of the American dream is true for a particular group of people. Your Paper must be in MLA format. Include a complete list of citations on your work cited page. Writing Conferences After submitting the synthesis essay students will schedule a conference with the teacher in order to discuss the progression of their writing. During these conferences we will discuss the content of the student’s writing folder. At this point in the course students will have an argumentative essay, a synthesis essay, several quick writes, and pages from their reading journals. Discussions during the conferences will focus on writing style, specifically, tone, diction, structure, and syntax used to portray the student’s voice. We will also focus on how students can develop a more effective voice in their writing. Unit 3: Resistance and Protests Texts: Animal Farm by George Orwell Examining Transformational Resistance Through a Critical Race and LatCrit Theory Framework by Daniel Solorzano and Dolores Delgado Bernal Activities: Students will identify use of ethos, pathos, and logos and other rhetorical devices used to persuade readers and characters in Animal Farm. Students will keep a reading journal while reading the novel. Students will discuss the four different types of resistance that are discussed in the article by Solorzano and Bernal. They will determine what kind of resistance is portrayed in Animal Farm and identify how this resistance may have been portrayed in the Russian Revolution. Also, students will complete an in class timed write in response to one of
the following prompts: 1. The pigs became the leaders, and the other animals accept them because the pigs are the cleverest. Should intelligence be the primary qualification for leadership? What other qualities are important for a leader to have? 2. One of the themes of the novel is that people’s ignorance can contribute to their political and social oppression. How does the animal’s behavior in the novel support this theme? 3. Another theme of Animal Farm is that power corrupts those who possess it. How does Orwell bring out this idea through the character of Napoleon? 4. The animals rebel against Jones because he made them work long, hard hours and generally neglected or abused them. How is all this IRONIC in light of the end result? Composition: Rhetorical Analysis Essay Prompt: In Animal Farm George Orwell uses several rhetorical devices to portray the devastation that comes with a tyrant ruler. Identify a minimum of two rhetorical devices used, and, in a thoroughly developed essay, describe how these devices are used to demonstrate why or why not tyrant leaders should continue to rule. Unit 4: Resistance: Violence vs. Nonviolence (Justice and Intolerance) Texts: Choose by Carl Sandburg The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Alabama Clergymen’s Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Other America by Martin Luther King, Jr. The Ballot and the Bullet by Malcolm X The Black Revolution by Malcolm X The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan by Robert D. Crews Viewing: Documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) Image Rage the Flower Thrower by Banksy Themerelated photos, video clips, and/or cartoons from current periodicals will also be analyzed as they become available. Students may contribute selections for viewing with teacher’s approval. Activities: This unit will begin with a viewing of the image Rage the Flower Thrower by Banksy. They will discuss to what extent the image can be considered text and how the image contributes to the conversation on violence or nonviolence to progress against injustice. Students will write an analysis of Choose by Carl Sandburg and in a two page essay they will discuss the
rhetorical elements of the poem as well as the impact that the small poem can have on the reader. Students will then compare and contrast the philosophies of Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X after reading the assigned texts by the each of the authors. Students will write a two page expository essay identifying which activist they can relate to most, Dr. King or Brother X. After writing a rough draft students will schedule a conference with their instructor and discuss the student’s syntax, organization, tone, diction, and voice. During conferences we will focus on how the student can improve in areas that they are lacking and work to develop a wideranging use of vocabulary and logical organization of thought in their writing. After the conference students will have three days to revise their papers and submit a final draft. During the unit students will read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini independently and prepare for literary circles once a week with the entire class. Students will also read excerpts from The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan and watch short clips from Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Students will write an expository piece on which they describe their position on violence versus nonviolence and how either can severely impact the course of history. Project: After thoroughly discussing the differences between violent resistance and nonviolent resistance students will complete a research paper to respond to the following question: What impact has resistance (violent or nonviolent) had on a particular group of people? Students will be required to cite one text from a prominent activist in their paper as well as demonstrate skills in evaluating informational texts, websites and articles for legitimacy, and students must cite their primary sources in the works cited page of their paper. Students are required to submit two drafts prior to the final. Each draft must be revised using A Pocket Style Manual. All papers must be in MLA format. Include a complete list of citations on your work cited page. Composition: Expository Essay Prompt: Students will choose a text that was explored during the unit. In this essay students will explain the choices that the author made in their writing: the rhetorical choices, purpose, and context of the speaker in the text. After writing a first draft students will revise using techniques from On Writing Well. After submitting a second draft students will use peer editing to revise and produce a final draft. Final Exam At the end of the second mester, students will take a 40minute exam featuring an AP freeresponse question from a released exam that focuses on prose analysis and rhetoric. The exam will also include a released multiple choice section of the AP exam that focuses on analysis of text and knowledge of rhetorical devices.
