1 AP English Language and Composition Syllabus 2011-2012 Chak
AGBUPHS
Elective This class is a separate class from the 11th grade literature class and therefore the grade for the elective class is not contingent or congruent upon the performance in the literature class although the reading materials and the basic threads are consistent in both classes the grade and the homework will be separate. There will be a separate TWS for both classes. AP EXAM Format The AP English Language and Composition exam consists of two sections, a one-hour multiplechoice section, and a two-hour and fifteen-minute free-response section[5]. The exam is further divided as follows: # of Questions Percentage of score Section I: Multiple-Choice
Approx. 55
45
Section II: Free-Response
3
55
Time Allotted 60 Minutes 15 minutes (reading portion) 120 minutes (writing portion)
Section I: Multiple-Choice The multiple-choice section of the test is approximately 55 questions, with the exact number of questions varying with each test administration. There are typically 5 passages divided between Pre-20th Century non-fiction prose, and 20th and 21st Century nonfiction prose. The questions typically focus on identifying rhetorical devices and structures from the passage, as well as their general function, purpose in a passage, and/or the relationships between them. Beginning in 2007, questions were added that ask about citation information included in the passages. These citation questions are not designed to test knowledge about MLA, APA, Chicago Style, or any other particular citation format, but instead focus on how the citations reference and enhance information from the passage. Students have exactly 60 minutes to answer all 55 questions. Section 2: Free-Response Reading Portion
2 The Free-Response section of the test consists of three prompts, each of a different type: passage analysis, argument, and synthesis. Beginning in 2007, with the addition of the synthesis prompt, College Board decided that an additional fifteen minutes should be added to the exam time to allow students to read and annotate the three prompts as well as the passages and sources provided. Students may write notes in the prompt booklet about the material during that 15 minutes, but may not write in the essay booklets during this time. As the prompt booklets are not collected, any writing in the prompt booklet does not count when scoring the essays. The analysis prompt typically asks students to read a short (less than 1 page) passage, which may be from any point in time, as long as it was originally written in modern English. After reading the passage, students are asked to write an essay in which they analyze and discuss various techniques the author uses in the passage. The techniques differ from prompt to prompt, but may ask about strategies, argumentative techniques, motivations, or other rhetorical elements of the passage, and how such techniques effectively contribute to the overall purpose of the passage. The prompt may mention specific techniques or purposes, but some leeway of discussion is left to the student. The essay is scored on the 1-9 scale. The argument prompt typically gives a position in the form of an assertion from a documented source. Students are asked to consider the assertion, and then form an argument that defends, challenges, or qualifies the assertion using supporting evidence from their own knowledge or reading. The essay is scored on the 1-9 scale. The synthesis prompt typically requires students to consider a scenario, then formulate a response to a specific element of the scenario using at least three of the accompanying sources for support. While a total of six or seven sources accompany the prompt, using information from all of the sources is not necessary (or perhaps desirable). The source material used must be cited in the essay in order to be considered legitimate. The essay is scored on the 1-9 scale. Scoring The multiple-choice section is scored by computer. A correct answer receives 1 point, and an incorrect answer subtracts 1/4 of a point. A blank answer is not calculated into the total number of questions answered, which is the reason for the guessing penalty for incorrect answers. These
3 numbers are used to calculate the adjusted multiple-choice score. The specific formula changes with each test form. The free-response section is scored individually by hundreds of educators each June. Each essay is read by at least two readers and assigned a score from 1-9, 9 being the best score possible. Scoring is holistic, meaning that specific elements of the essay are not judged, rather each essay is scored in its entirety. The scores from the three essays are added and integrated with the adjusted multiple-choice score (using the appropriate percentages of each section) to generate a composite score. The composite is then converted into an AP score of 1-5 using a scale for that year's exam. Students generally receive their scores by mail in mid-July of the year they took the test. Alternately, they can receive their scores by phone as early as July 1 for a fee. Sub-scores are not available for students, for the English Language and Composition Exam. AP instructors receive a score sheet showing the individual score for each of their students, as well as detailed score information for the test compared to the national averages. Course Overview The AP Language and Composition course is designed to enable students to become skilled readers by studying and analyzing prose written in different periods and disciplines. This will be accomplished through a series of close readings and analysis that include a variety of discourse and rhetorical conventions. The students will also be provided the tools to become better writers by understanding and analyzing a variety of discourse and rhetorical methods and then applying these methods to their own writing. They will be made aware of speaker’s qualifications, purpose of writing, audience and the tools of persuasion. Through this close, complex analysis the students will be given the opportunity to master the skills that will enable them to include these conventions and tools of rhetoric in their own writing, thereby producing written work that is complex, elevated and full of richness that reflects a mature understanding of the rules of rhetoric and will allow them to communicate effectively in a
4 clear but elevated style with a mature audience. This course is designed to allow students to acquire and hone the skills needed to pass the AP exam in May. The core text will be based on American literature with supplemental texts aimed at refining their skills both as effective analytical readers and writers. Students will need to take a pro-active role in achieving this due to the high intensity of the class expectations. The main purpose and goal is to prepare the student for success on the AP exam. Goals ●The students will be able to recognize the power of the written word by a close study of texts as rhetorical constructions. ●The students will analyze texts and explore why we write, who we are writing for, the purpose of the writing, figurative language, and the modes of discourse. ●The students will apply the same techniques in their writing and analyze their own writing and writing process they use to express and communicate their ideals. ●The student will also examine their writing in regard to effectives of sentence structure and vocabulary. ●The students will develop a clear understanding of rhetorical devices and be able to recognize and analyze these devices in textual context and through applications that will strengthen their writing process and allow them to become effectual writers. ●The student will be given the skills to synthesize information, use support for their arguments apply ethos, pathos and logos to their writing and produce correct MLA citation format.
5 ●The student will be able to communicate effectively and clearly with a mature and elevated audience on a variety of subjects. ● The student will build their own confidence and knowledge for the AP exam through continuous practice and serious study of rhetoric and composition. ● The student will be able to engage with diverse texts, authors and ideas through close study and analysis of American literature and supplemental texts.
Course Organization Our school offers AP course as a daily class meeting five days a week. Writing: In addition to a close analysis and study of rhetorical devices and complex texts the student will be able to formulate their own voice as a writer. This will be done through a variety of writing with the focus primarily on timed, in-class writing once a week followed by peer editing and self-analysis of their own writing with an emphasis on rewriting to allow the student to be able to restructure and strengthen the tools of rhetoric. The peer editing will emphasis specific comments on use of diction, grammatical structure, organization, appropriate support, clarity, rhetorical devices, modes of discourse allowing for constructive criticism that will enable the student to hone their skills and build their confidence as writers. The peer editing will also allow for a conversation to occur where students can collectively and individually resolve writing dilemmas and incorporate different writing strategies that will help them overcome writing dilemmas and find their voice as a writer. The inclass prompts will be based on rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis essays drawn from AP exams. The revised papers will be based on peer editing, teacher comments, teacher student conferences centering on writing. The students will also be made aware of the AP guidelines for scoring and score sample student writing from past AP exams to heighten their analysis skills and
6 expose them to a variety of responses. The student through the writing concentration will hone their writing abilities, find their voice and be proficient writers producing a variety of prose.
The following types of essays are required throughout the semester and will correlate with the reading from the literature book, essays, and other primary sources. ●The Synthesis Essay ●Expository Essay ●Biographical Essay ●Autobiographical Essay ●Narrative Essay ●Argumentative Essay ●Persuasive Essay ●Analysis Essay writing Formal Revision: Formal revisions of essays will be required twice a semester on a quarterly basis. The revisions will be guided by teacher’s notations and one on one tutorial sessions. As the students confidence as a writer grows the students will also participate in controlled peer editing sessions that will challenge them to recognize rhetorical strategies and to solve writing dilemmas that they may encounter in their own writing. The pieces for revision will consist of a synthesis essay stemming from the students own construction of a synthesis question. The second piece for revision will center on an analysis of rhetorical strategies by a particular writer, these will be chosen from previous AP questions. This process will help the writer hone their own individual voice and supply them with a variety of strategies to approach the prompt and to analyze various texts. Timed Writings: Students will practice writing timed in-class essays rotating two a quarter. This will prepare them for sitting for the AP exam. The essay prompts will be taken from previous AP exams or will be designed to resemble the AP prompts. Take Home Essays:
7 Rotating twice a quarter the students will be responsible for writing two formal take home essays. These essays will be designed to follow the MLA format and the prompt will concentrate on a specific piece of literature or pieces of literature they the students will have done previous work with. The literature will either be from their Anthology, novel, or essays that they have discussed in class and have done prior work with. Topics of Interest: The students will be required on a weekly basis to bring in a magazine article or internet article, a piece of writing that is appropriate for the classroom but not assigned to the class. The Topic of Interests will serve as a variety of information that the students may wish to use for a synthesis essay. The topics will be presented to the classroom, copied, read aloud, discussed in terms of content, style and importance to modern culture and times.
Reading and Comprehension: Part of the AP Exam concentrates on reading and comprehension that consists of fifty questions. The students will practice this skill throughout the year with shorter timed tests to enhance their reading and comprehension skills.
Primary Texts: The students will be asked to do specific tasks when tackling the following texts. These tasks include reader response notebooks and assignments based on conceptual settings the students will take a short answer quiz based on content, write an essay in response to rhetorical strategies, theme, content, description, narration, argument and exposition including analysis of figurative language and a discussion of the importance of the writing to American literature. ● The Last of the Mohicans-Cooper
8 ●My Antonia-Cather In addition to reader response notebooks and assignments based on conceptual settings the students will take a short answer quiz based on content, write an essay in response to ●The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien; Broadway ISBN 0767902890
● The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Little, Brown ISBN 0316769487 ●Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; Bantam Classics ISBN 0553210793
●The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Scribner ISBN 0684801523 ●Death of a Salesman-Miller ●Practical English Handbook (11th Edition) by Floyd C. Watkins, William B. Dullingham, and John T. Hiers; Houghton Mifflin College Division ISBN 0618422749 ●The Language of Composition; Reading, Writing, Rhetoric by Renee H. Shea, Lawrence Scanlon and Robin Dissin Aufses; ISBN 312450946 ●AP English Workbook (sixth Edition) by Richard Vogel and Charles F. Winans; D&S Marketing Systems, Inc. Grading scale: Quizzes-20% Tests-30% Homework-15% Projects-20% Participation-15%
