AP English Language and Composition Syllabus Batcheller
Course Overview: This course is designed to develop all of its students to become conscious and skilled readers and writers with a focus on awareness of rhetorical strategies, development of an argument, recognition of logical fallacies, and correct application of literary terms and devices. The year begins with an objective exam and an in-class essay covering the four choices from the following summer reading list: Ambrose Angelou Ellison Salinger Steinbeck Wharton
To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Invisible Man The Catcher in the Rye The Grapes of Wrath Ethan Frome
Each unit includes the submission of an out-of-class essay composed following MLA format, and three in-class timed essays based on AP prompts of the past. The first two essays are only peer reviewed (following an detailed explanation of AP rubrics and sample essays and scores) Outside Reading is required to be 500 pages per quarter and students are instructed to choose non-fiction works that apply to the theme of the research paper – exploring and analyzing how identity is affected by external, societal forces. Their reading will be accompanied by a dialectic reading journal, which is word, processed in MLA format with a works cited page and submitted every quarter. Unit One (August – October): The Argument and Rhetoric This unit begins with a PowerPoint slide show describing the AP Exam, its format and expectations, and literary terms and rhetorical devices to be used throughout every unit. The introduction of SOAPS analysis is introduced and instruction on annotations and note taking are employed. Literature and Texts used: Frederick Douglas Harper’s Magazine Francine Prose
Narrative of the Life of a Frederick Douglas – Style Analysis “Great Books for Dummies” – SOAPS and Passage Analysis “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read – How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature” – Argument, Purpose, Effects
Jennifer Price
“The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History” – Rhetorical Analysis Abraham Lincoln Second Inaugural Address – Rhetorical Analysis Arthur Miller The Crucible Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT, Book 3 Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition, Complete Course Unit 1 Major Paper: Analyze the rhetorical strategies and arguments put forth by either Arthur Miller in The Crucible, or Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire Grammar and Vocabulary Focus: Vocabulary units 1-5, Sentence Construction (Pronoun Reference, Sentence Conciseness) Unit Two (November – January) Persuasion, Appeal, and Audience This unit begins with a PowerPoint slide show illustrating the importance of audience and rhetorical appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos. A Socratic Seminar is conducted in which students are assigned to finding a current events article, completing a SOAPS analysis, which then becomes the subject of a round-table, timed debate based on lessons learned during the seminar. Slide shows on the Elizabethan Era and Shakespeare’s world introduce an intensive unit centered on Othello, including discussions on racial themes and identity. Literature and Texts used: Queen Elizabeth I “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” – Rhetorical Analysis William Shakespeare Excerpts from Julius Caesar, speeches of Mark Antony and Cassius – Rhetorical Analysis, Audience William Shakespeare “Sonnet 116” – Rhetorical Analysis Neil Postman Foreword from Amusing Ourselves to Death - Argument Abraham Lincoln “Gettysburg Address” – rhetorical analysis William Shakespeare Othello Stephen Greenblatt Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT, Book 3 Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition, Complete Course Unit 2 Major Paper:
Analysis of Culpability in Othello: An argumentative essay assigning blame to characters in Othello.
Grammar and Vocabulary Focus: Vocabulary units 6-10, Sentence Combining and Parallelism
Unit Three (February – March) Synthesizing an Argument This unit continues the Socratic Seminars with an emphasis on garnering information from many sources to help support a thesis. AP Synthesis prompts, student essays are discussed and test taking strategies are also discussed and timed practice tests are conducted throughout this unit. Initial work on thesis papers are assigned (thesis statements, bibliography cards, note cards). Thematically, this unit focuses on American middle class identity before and after World War II. Analysis of political cartoons and graphics are also discussed and practiced. Literature and Texts used: Ellen Meloy Raven’s Exile: A Season on the Green River – Voice, Tone F. Scott Fitzgerald “Winter Dreams” – Style Analysis, Theme David Foster Wallace “Consider the Lobster” – Audience, Tone John Rubadeau “Five Paragraphs & Out” – Purpose and Audience Lucille Vaughn The Lively Art of Writing – Paragraph Construction F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby H.L. Mencken “The Declaration of Independence in American” Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT, Book 3 Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition, Complete Course Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman Unit 3 Major Paper: Compare the characters of Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby, specifically comparing their dreams in light of their deaths. Grammar and Vocabulary Focus: Vocabulary units 11-15, Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement Unit Four (April – June) Research and Practice This unit focuses on applying the rhetorical strategies and literary devices learned during the year in the form of both in-class writing and a research paper. Students are instructed on organizing and implementing information garnered from the outside reading assignments of the year into usable citations. Formatting of both the word-processed research paper and in-class AP free-response essays are discussed. Two full-length practice AP exams are conducted and answers are discussed. Literature and Tests used: Mark Twain Mark Twain Lewis Lapham Charles Bukowski Rabindranath Tagore Christopher Hitchens
“The War Poem” -Argument The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Money and Class in America – Rhetorical Analysis “Roll the Dice” – Audience, Diction “Where the Mind is Without Fear” - Diction Thomas Jefferson: Author of America - Argument
Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT, Book 3 Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition, Complete Course Unit Four Major Paper: Research Paper. How does class, gender, and/or ethnicity affect one’s identity. Two characters from the curriculum must be addressed within the paper. Grammar and Vocabulary Focus: Vocabulary units 16-21, Diction (Usage)
