AP Language and Composition Syllabus 2015-2016 Ms. Blakeney * The O’Farrell Charter School * Room 221 Course Description : The AP English Language and Composition course is designed to help you become a
skilled reader of a variety of texts as well as becoming a skilled writer. You’ll achieve this through awareness of the interactions among a writer's purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the ways that writing rules and language use contribute to effective writing. The AP English Language and Composition course is intended to give you the experience of an introductory-level composition course in college. The composition course is one of the most varied in the college, since an introductory composition course at one college may address topics and require types of writing that might be very different from an introductory composition course at another college. In general, however, college composition courses provide students with opportunities to write about a variety of subjects and to demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose. The overarching objective in most first-year college writing courses is to enable students to write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives. Therefore, most composition courses emphasize the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that forms the basis of academic and professional communication. Most composition courses also address personal and reflective writing, which will enable you to write in any context. In addition, most composition courses teach students to write based on reading texts from various disciplines and periods as well as personal experience and observation. Composition courses, therefore, teach students to read primary and secondary sources carefully, to synthesize materials from these texts in their own compositions, and to cite sources using conventions recommended by professional organizations such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), the University of Chicago Press (The Chicago Manual of Style), and the American Psychological Association (APA). The AP English Language and Composition course will help you begin to develop all of these skills. College writing programs recognize that skill in writing proceeds from students' awareness of their own composing processes: the way they explore ideas, reconsider strategies, and revise their work. This experience of the process of composing is the essence of the first-year writing course, and the AP English Language and Composition course emphasizes this process. In the course, you will write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by your teacher and peers. Although these extended, revised essays are not part of the AP English Language and Composition Exam, the experience of writing them will help you become a more self-aware and flexible writer (which may help your performance on the AP Exam).
As well as engaging in varied writing tasks, in the AP English Language and Composition course you will read and become acquainted with a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods. Due to the increasing importance of graphics and visual images in texts published in print and electronic media, you will learn to analyze such images as they relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of texts themselves. In addition, the informed use of research materials and the ability to synthesize information from various sources are integral parts of the AP English Language and Composition course. In it you will learn to evaluate the legitimacy and purpose of sources used. One way to do this is through the researched argument paper, which will require you to sort through various interpretations of information to analyze, reflect upon, and write about a topic. When you bring the experience and opinions of others into your writing in this way, you enter into conversations with other writers and thinkers, which in turn helps your writing become more thoughtful and substantive (which is what is required in college and careers).
AP Exam Overview The exam is approximately three hours and 15 minutes long and has two parts — multiple choice and free response. The multiple choice section is worth 45% and the free response section is worth 55% of the final exam grade. ★ Section I: Multiple Choice — 52-55 questions; 1 hour ○ The multiple choice section tests your ability to read closely and analyze the rhetoric of prose passages. ○ Total scores on the multiple-choice section are based on the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers and no points are awarded for unanswered questions. ○ Strategy: _____________________________ ★ Section II: Free Response — 3 free-response questions; 2 hours, 15 minutes, which includes a 15-minute reading period. How long (on average) does that leave for each essay? _____________ ○ The free response prompts test your skill in composition and requires close reading, thoughtful rhetorical analysis, and purposeful argumentation. This section also includes a synthesis prompt that tests your ability to effectively compose an argument of your own by combining and citing several supplied sources, including at least one visual source. Q 1:
Q 2:
Q 3:
Essay scoring Semester 1 AP Score Points out of 50 Percentage
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
50
47
43.5
40
36.5
33
29.5
26
22.5
100%
94%
87%
80%
73%
66%
59%
52%
45%
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
60
55.8
50.4
45
40.8
37.2
33.6
30
26.4
100%
93%
84%
75%
68%
62%
56%
50%
44%
Semester 2 AP Score Points out of 60 Percentage
EXAM FEE This exam costs $63. A scholarship may be available to drop the cost to under $30, but please begin to save for the full amount. You may consider putting $7-$8 away each month to make the costs more manageable. Please speak to myself or counseling if the cost is an issue; all students are expected to take the exam and we will help you find the means to do so if you speak up early in the year. Note: If you pass the exam, you earn college credit. That means you go into college with units, saving you thousands of dollars in tuition for an English 101 class. Thus, the class is a worthy financial investment.
READINGS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Great Gatsby The Things They Carried Black Like Me Speak 1984 An assortment of scenes and monologues from various plays Nonfiction essays, articles, speeches A variety of poetry A variety of short stories
Note: The expectation is that all novels are read independently. When assigned a novel, students will be given quiz and an exam dates. It is up to the student to create his or her own reading schedule and budget time effectively to manage the reading segments. Students are encouraged to set up study groups/discussion groups to handle complex texts and themes. Online resources are also available. Think like a college student: How will you problem solve if you don’t understand something?
Grading The grading scale is as follows: 90-100% = A * counts as a 5.0 because this is a college level course 80-89% = B * counts as a 4.0 because this is a college level course 65-79% = C *not weighted 0-64% =F (this course IS necessary for graduation) *Note: O’Farrell’s grading policy prohibits D marks. The UC system does not accept D marks, so all students receiving less than 65% in each semester will need to retake the failed semester. Students must pass ALL 8 semesters of high school English in order to graduate from OCS. Grades for this class will be determined by your performance in the following areas: 5% Tests, quizzes, essays, and other formal writing assessments 8 15% Classwork (not included timed essays) and homework assignments Students may resubmit a D or F assignment for higher points on a case by case basis.
