AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
Goal of the Course
Advanced Placement courses offer a student the opportunity to work at an accelerated pace with peers who
have similar interests and academic goals. This class will explore different modes of discourse with an intense study
on tone, diction, imagery, details, language, and style. The students will read modern essays as well as selections
from an American literature anthology. The course focuses on the study of rhetoric and composition. Students will
read various genres, including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, essays, etc. Students will be able to discuss their
ideas openly and without prejudice. Writing is a mandated part of this curriculum, with the focus on prose analysis
and synthesizing. Also, students are given ample opportunities for revision and improvement. We validate sources
and explore the concept of argument through an exploration of articles and sources necessary to synthesize a topic.
We examine the canons of argument and rhetoric. We read primary and secondary sources carefully and learn to
synthesize the knowledge we gain from those 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). With a thorough study of the characteristics
of the different modes of discourse, students will learn terminology necessary to allow them to express their ideas
with the language of rhetoric. Through the exposure of different writers and views, students will become global
learners.
Objectives
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
identify the stylistic devices that affect a piece of literature;
understand the structure of different literary genres and modes of discourse;
analyze how a writers rhetorical strategies influence the meaning of a work;
employ your own rhetorical strategies as you develop your voice as a writer;
evaluate an argument cogently;
write effective analytical, persuasive, reflective, and descriptive essays;
create and sustain arguments based on readings and observations;
formulate a thesis statement and support it with specific, relevant evidence;
demonstrate competence with research paper techniques;
follow the writing process, with special emphasis on constructive revision; and
use appropriate grammatical conventions.
Course Overview
Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range
of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close
reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness
of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. Course readings feature expository,
analytical, personal and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. Because this course
must meet Common Core Standards for American Literature, students will examine and work with both nonfiction
(essays, letters, speeches, and images) and imaginative literature to prepare for the American Literature End-ofCourse Test, the GHSWT, and the GHSGT. Featured authors include: Henry David Thoreau, W.E.B. DuBois, Arthur
Miller, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison. Because students live in a highly visual world,
we also study the rhetoric of visual media. Students will prepare for the AP English Language and Composition
Exam and may be granted advanced placement, college credit, or both as a result of satisfactory performance.
Additional Comments:
In addition, we are mandated by the standards set forth by the State. The AP curriculum far exceeds those
standards. All AP students must do outside reading, and the homework load is heavier than an honors or college
preparatory class. Students must be dedicated to reading and writing. Reading materials used for this class are often
for a mature audience. A thorough study of readings and the use of rhetoric are major components of this class.

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
Because writing is a critical component of this course, feedback (Notes on Writing) is provided in a timely manner.
Furthermore, students are given ample opportunities to rewrite essays and to improve writing. These opportunities
are given over at least 90% of the writing assignments. Peer editing and one-on-one writing conferences with me are
also major components of the class.
Textbooks
Applebee, A., et al. The Language of Literature. Evanston: McDougall Littell, 2000.
Cohen, S. Fifty Essays: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedord/St.Martins, 2004.
Lunsford, A. A. Easy Writer. 3rd edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006.
Lunsford, A. A. & Ruszkiewicz, J. J. Everythings an Argument. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,
2007.
Shea, R.H., Scanlon, L., & Aufses, R.D. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007.
Supplemental Material
AP workshop training materials
The Atlanta Journal
Strategies
SOAPSTone
Blooms Taxonomy

Newsweek
The New York Times
Socratic Seminar
The Rhetorical Triangle

The Onion
The Washington Post
The Arch Method
Four Corners

Essay Writing
All essays are accompanied by an information page and a rubric. Rubrics may have a self-assessment
component to help students learn how to be better assessors of their own writing development. To this end, all
students must participate in processed writing experiences which allow them to develop their research skills and
revision techniques (approximately 3 per semester). Moreover, each student must also participate in peer editing
and writing conferences with the instructor. These peer editing and writing conferences will be scheduled in
advance, at my own discretion. Failure to participate in either of these activities will result in a lower grade on the
overall writing assessment.
Students will also complete timed writings (approximately 4 per semester). Students will be encouraged to
place their writing emphasis on content, purpose, and audience and to allow this focus to guide the organization of
their writing, instead of a formulaic 5-paragraph essay. All essays, whether timed or process (out of class), will be
graded using the College Boards standard essay scale of 0-9. Detailed explanations of essay scoring will be
provided prior to the first writing assessment.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is using another persons thoughts and accomplishments without proper acknowledgement or
documentation. It is an unconscionable offense and a serious breach of honor. Students will receive a one for the
plagiarized work. This includes unauthorized collaboration with another student in which you both submit the same
or similar document. It should be assumed that all assignments are independent unless specifically stated by the
instructor. For more information or further explanation of my academic honesty policy, please visit this link to
Georgia State Universitys website: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/sec409.html.

Assessment
A
90
D
70
B
80
F
69 or below
C
74
Grading System
Grades are assigned on a point system. Reading logs and tests are 50-60 points, daily analytical work and test
preparation work are 10 points, timed writing essays are 40 points; group projects will range between 75-150 points.
All other assignments not falling into a specific category will be weighted at the discretion of the instructor.

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
Students receive 5 extra quality points at the end of each semester added to the final class grade for participation in
the AP program.
+++Note: Any assignment not turned in at the beginning of a class is late and will be marked down one letter grade.
Late work is accepted only up until one week past the due date at teacher discretion. Extra credit is not an option in
AP Language. Plagiarized assignments will receive no credit.
Writing Review/Instruction
The goal of this course is to move students past a basic understanding of standard English grammar and
usage into a more mature, developed style. A series of daily activities (Journal writing/ Word of the Day/ Daily
Language Builder) helps to start our class each day and encourages students to think critically about the lesson to
come. Through daily journal writing, students engage current socio-political topics and establish connections
between world events and their own lives, while the Word of the Day introduces new words that relate to the days
lesson. Through Daily Language Builders students will review grammar, focusing on topics such as passive and
active voice, parallel structure, complex sentences, and punctuation. Students will discuss syntax and the impact of
sentence structure and imitate different structures that they might use in their own writing.
Following the College Boards guidelines for developing stylistic maturity, this class will focus on the following
tasks during writing instruction:*
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

developing a wide-ranging vocabulary with appropriate and effective use;

developing a wide variety of sentence structures;
developing logical organization (i.e., coherence) within writing;
developing a balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and
developing an effective understanding of the use of rhetoric (including tone, voice, diction, and sentence
structure).

*adapted from the AP English Language and Composition Summer Institute Workshop Handbook 2009-2010.
Course Outline:

Fall
Semester Reading Titlesnot at all an inclusive list!
Aeropagitica, Milton

A Modest Proposal, Swift

Appeal in Four Articles, D. Walker

from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano, Equiano
The Crucible, Miller
De Doctrina Christiana, St. Augustine
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs

Lecture to a Missionary, Red Jacket

The Republic, Plato
Sartor Resartus, Thomas Carlyle
The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, J.

Edwards
Utopia, Sir Thomas Moore
Civil Disobedience, Thoreau
Walden, Thoreau
Thanatopsis, Bryant
The Declaration of Independence,
Jefferson
Letter to Rev. Samson Occum, Wheatley
Letter to John Adams, Abigail Adams
Speech in a Virginia Convention, Henry
Various sermons and speeches: G.
Whitefield, J. Lee, F. Harper, E. Cady
Stanton, S. Anthony, and F. Douglass

To begin with what students already know, they will start with some literary analysis, based on a reading
selection that most students will be expected to complete by the first day of school. Students will review literary
terms (connotation, denotation, analogy, simile, metaphor, allusion, personification, imagery, hyperbole,

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
understatement, symbol, motif, archetype, oxymoron) and use these terms in analysis of their summer reading
assignment and other selections. Special focus will be placed on style, tone, and diction.
Outside Reading Project & Socratic Seminar Facilitation
L.E.A.P. (Literary Exploration Accountability Project) classic literature.
Students will be assigned a book to read from the district-approved list of recommended novels. Students are given 6
weeks to read the book, to which they annotate and write reflective questions in preparation for facilitating a
Socratic seminar with a group of fellow AP students whom have read the same text.
o While reading, student facilitators:
Annotate their book using prcis
Anticipate and write questions they still have about the book
Write questions students could give thoughtful response to
While all AP students are asked to write four reflective journals in which they will briefly summarize what they have
read to that point, give analysis of the authors writing style, character analysis, etc., using direct quotations from the
novel as support, and a personal reaction on the novel, the AP student facilitator is asked to assess the critical
thinking and writing skills in his/her fellow AP students journals, and give specific feedback and direction to
improving these skills.
During week 8, as a LEAP (Literary Exploration Accountability Project) facilitator, AP students will engage in a
one-on-one experience with 3 to 4 classmates; however, students are acting as the advisor to these learners and an
advocate to increase student-learning experiences.

Facilitate a 45-50 minute Socratic seminar where facilitators:

o Talk about the novel
o Ask questions about the novel
Develop critical thinking skills
Enhancing reading between the lines and reading beyond the lines as part of the
Socratic seminar experience
o Answer questions about the novel
Not just answering questions per se, but facilitating learners in their own development of
finding the answer
o Talk about the students thesis statements for their literary analysis
This discussion should follow these primary objectives:
Develop an arguable thesis
Increase student awareness of writing levels
Enhance students understanding of GPS (Georgia Professional Standards)
expectations

In compliance with the SIP (School Improvement Plan) for writing and reading, which augments the Georgia
Common Core objectives set forth by the state, LEAP allows students to learn in a diverse environment that is
separate and beyond the scope of the classroom, yet still allows for development of critical thinking and analytical
writing skills.
Exposition
Students will read and analyze a series of narrative essays and poems and discuss use of literary devices,
style, and tone in pieces such as:

Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold

Finishing School by Maya Angelou

Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
Shame by Dick Gregory

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
They will learn to annotate the selections as they read and be prepared to discuss in groups, Socratic
seminars, and whole class discussions. Students will follow the writing process and begin to work in peer editing
groups. Another early assignment will be a narrative essay that students may adapt for their college entrance essays.
Organizational Strategies
Students will read and analyze essays that use other structures: description, illustration, cause and effect,
comparison and contrast, definition, and order of importance. The following essays may be used:

The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society by Jonathan Kozolcause/effect

The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolfdescription
Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglasprocess analysis

Students will chose one of the organizational strategies and model the organizational pattern in their own essay.
Students will add a visual component to their presentation.
Visual Rhetoric/Advertisements & Propaganda Art
Discussion of rhetoric will include claims that are made in advertising and strategies employed by
advertisements to persuade consumers to purchase goods or to support particular causes. Students will carefully read
and analyze advertisements and propaganda from sources such as:

Consumer Reports

The New Yorker

Newsweek
Parenting
People
The Boston Review

Students will create their own advertisement for an article of clothing using www.glogster.com. In addition
to creating the visual image, students will complete an assignment, which reflects their understanding of the target
audience for their advertisement, distribution plan for their product to best reach their target audience, and design
components of their advertisement.
Students will create their own propaganda poster that supports a particular cause. In addition to creating the
visual image, students will complete an explication assignment that reflects their understanding of the cause,
understanding of the target audience for the poster, distribution plan for the poster to best reach their target audience,
and design components of the poster.
Written Rhetoric
Discussion of rhetoric will include claims that are made in oral and written discourse. Students will study
terms such as stylistic schemes and tropes, and identify claims, data and warrants (Toulmin Model of
Argumentation) made by these writers.

Aint I A Woman by Sojourner Truth

Where I Lived and What I Lived For by Henry David Thoreau

Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee, Giving an Account of her Call to Preach the
Gospel by Jarena Lee
Eulogy of Henry Clay by Abraham Lincoln
A Letter from George Whitefield to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley by George Whitefield

Timed Writing

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
To prepare for the AP exam and the GHSWT, students will begin to respond to writing prompts in class to
demonstrate their understanding of how language is employed. The following writing prompts from former AP
exams will be assigned:
1997 Fault Lines excerpt by Meena Alexander (narrative)
1999 Okefenokee Swamp (compare/contrast)
2003 Flock of Birds by John James Audubon and Annie Dillard (compare/contrast)
Students will read and discuss sample responses from former AP test takers. Upon completion, students
will self-assess their essays using the same AP Scoring Guide.
American Literature EOCT Preparation
This course will also prepare the students for the Georgia American Literature End of Course Test.
Therefore, we will be utilizing the USA TestPrep online learning tool extensively. Students will complete
benchmark quizzes and tests to familiarize them with the types of questions they are likely to see on the EOCT.
Here is our schools log-in information:

Spring
Semester Reading Titlesnot at all an inclusive list!
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X

For Colored Girls...,Ntozake Shange
The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Recitatif, Toni Morrison
Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fathers Day Speech, Barack Obama

During second semester students will be exposed to a variety of public speaking experiences, ranging from
their peers to politicians, present and past. The following may serve as models of argumentation:

Ask Not by John F. Kennedy

Give em Hell, Harry speech by Harry Truman
Harlem Speech by Malcolm X
I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr.
Impromptu Eulogy by Robert F. Kennedy (upon hearing of the death of Martin Luther King Jr.)
Old Soldiers Never Die . . . by General Douglas MacArthur
State of the Union by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(given after the bombing of Pearl Harbor)

By focusing on the various modes of writing, students will learn the components of constructing arguments:

understanding composing as inquiry

defining a topic
identifying an audience
Concession-Rebuttal

understanding audience expectation

In addition, they will learn how to structure an argument:

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus

Classical arrangement
Rogerian argument
Logical arrangements

Upon learning to identify arrangements, students will employ these strategies in their own argumentative
essays/speeches. Students may choose topics about popular culture or community concerns. They must formulate a
point and carry it out in their formal presentation, written and oral.
Modes Writing Project
In this unit students will read and write across seven modes of development. Students will 1) read many
essays, following their own interests, 2) understand the purpose, effect, and strategies particular to the modes, 3) see
how these modes manifest in AP prompts, 4) learn to write rhetorical prcis to synthesize and verify their reading,
and 5) apply the conventions of the modes to their own writing. (46 weeks minimum)
THREE MAIN STEPS IN THE PROCESS
1. Students read seven modes on one topic to see professional models of the papers they will write as a unit
project. Verify this reading with a reading test.
2. Students choose and read two additional essays of each mode in their readers and write prces for each.
While students do this work at home, we are studying the various modes in class.
Before writing each mode, review the individual chapters for tips on purpose, audience, strategies, and pitfalls,
especially focusing on the Key Points to Remember charts.
The following AP prompts work well for in-class work on the mode to show students how this mode might appear
on the AP test.
1
Paret was a Cuban (Description/Narration)
2
Mary Olivers Owls (Description/Narration)
3
Audabon & Dillards Birds (Description/Narration)
4
Didions Santa Ana Winds (Description/Narration)
5
Woolfs Memoir (Description/Narration)
6
Gallapagos Islands (Compare/contrast & Division/Classification)
7
Momaday/Brown (Compare/contrast & Division/Classification)
8
Satellites (Compare/contrast & Division/Classification)
9
Okefenokee Swamp (Compare/contrast & Division/Classification)
10
Cripple (Definition)
11
Persuasion/Argument. There are too many to list. Take your pick from years of argument prompts
3. Students write seven brief (2 pages maximum) papers on a topic of their choice, each demonstrating the
key characteristics of a different mode.
4. We will then form seven expert groups, one for each mode. Students turn in a first draft separated into modes.
Expert groups peer review every paper in their modes. Papers are returned to writers. Writers revise and submit final
papers.
Rhetoric
Students will continue their study of rhetoric in second semester. They will continue to study terms,
carefully read and analyze selections such as:

The Combahee River Collective Statement by The Combahee River Collective

Shooting an Elephant by G. Orwell
Me Talk Pretty One Day by D. Sedaris
What Can I Say by P. Cleage
Natural Selection by C. Darwin

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus
They will annotate the selections as they read and be prepared to discuss in groups, in Socratic seminars,
and whole class discussions.
Timed Writing
Students will continue to complete writing prompts in class to demonstrate their understanding of how
language is employed. The following writing prompts from former AP exams will be assigned:
2004 Days of Obligation excerpt by Richard Rodriguez
2004 Lord Chesterfields Letter
Students will read and discuss sample responses from former AP test takers. Upon completion, students
will self-assess their essays using the same AP Scoring Guide.
Multiple Choice
Students will engage in analysis of multiple choice questions from former AP and SAT exams. They will
craft their own text to write multiple choice questions on.
Synthesis Question Practice
Students will read and analyze material that conveys multiple perspectives about the same topic. They will
seek out their own visual and written materials from which they will craft multiple choice questions. They will then
write a synthesis prompt and essay. Students will also complete the 2006 Practice Synthesis Exam Question from AP
Central.
Useful Websites
http://owl.english.purdue.edu (Purdues Online Writing Lab)
http://www.americanrhetoric.com (rhetorical devices in sound, speeches, and assorted fun stuff)
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/pocket4e/ (Diana Hackers Pocket Style Menu with quizzes)
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ (excellent resources for grammar/usage)
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/resources.html (The Writing Center at Harvard)

Communication
Get a classmates phone number so you can keep up with any work you miss due to absences. Check the
course website (Edmodo code 6prv9p) frequently for updated weekly syllabi and important information.
You are responsible for arranging any quiz or test make-ups as well as any information you misswithin 3
school days of your return to my class. You can usually find me in my room, 113. Check my website for
monthly course schedules and important links. The schools main number is (678) 817-3000; my email
address is [email protected].
Course Outline
Because this course is usually taken concurrently with AP US History, I have designed the course to flow
chronologically. Therefore, we will make the most of both primary and secondary sources in our exploration of
American literature and rhetoric. Here are the units as we will study them, but as with anything here at MMHS,
please be advised that this schedule is subject to change at any time.
Unit 1:

Intro to AP Language and Composition w/American Literature Focus (4 weeks)

history of rhetoric
AP Language and Composition test overview
rhetorical analysis, close reading
o The 5 Cannons
o Rosenblatts Transaction Theory (text connections)

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus

o Rhetorical Triangle
o Rhetorical Analysis Arch Method
GHSWT preparation (on-demand writing)
Selected nonfiction
Native American and Pre-Colonial literature
o archetypes
o primary and secondary sources
Of Plymouth Plantation vs. Women and Children First...
o memoir, creative nonfiction

Unit 2: Religious Rhetoric (6 weeks)

SermonsJ. Edwards, C. Mather
o rhetorical strategies
PoetryA. Bradstreet
ProseO. Equiano
o Slave narrative, rhetoric of self-definition
DramaMillers The Crucible
o Four Corners Activities
o primary sources The Examination of Sarah Good
NovelHawthornes The Scarlet Letter
Rhetorical Analysis Essay Practice
L.E.A.P. project due
Unit 3: Colonialism & Revolutionary Rhetoric (3 weeks)
DefinitionWhat is an American, J. de Crevecouer
Parallelism and RepetitionDeclarations (... of Rights of Woman, ...of Rights of Man, and ...of
Independence)
AllusionSpeech in a Virginia Convention, P. Henry
LettersP. Wheatley and A. Adams
Appeals (Logos, Ethos, Pathos)
Argument Essay Practice
SatireA Modest Proposal, J. Swift
Selected nonfiction
Unit 4: Romanticism & Transcendentalism (4 weeks)
Anti-slavery rhetoricWalkers Appeal in Four Articles..., D. Walker
Nature Writing and Civil Disobedienceselected readings from Bryant, Emerson, Thoreau, & Whitman
The Great Awakeningselected sermons and speeches from G. Whitefield, J. Lee, S. Truth, and F. Harper
American GothicE. Poe
PoetryE. Dickinson
NarrativeW. Irving
Creative NonfictionOur Nig, H. Wilson
Selected nonfiction
Synthesis Essay Practice
Unit 5:

Realism/Naturalism/Regionalism (4 weeks)
Intro to Methods of Development (Modes of Writing Project)
AutobiographyF. Douglass
SpeechesA. Lincoln, M. Terrell, B. T. Washington, I.B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, E. C. Stanton, and S. B.
Anthony
Short StoriesC.W. Chestnutt, M. Twain, A. Bierce, B. Hart, E. Wharton, and S. Crane
JournalismJ. London

AP English Language & Composition w/ an American Literature Focus

Syllabus

Selected nonfiction

Unit 6: American Modernism20th Century Dreams and Disillusionment (8 weeks)

The Roaring 20s
o Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Debate
o Prohibitionrum runners and bootleggers
o Migration
o The Great Gatsby, F. Fitzgerald
o Selected nonfiction
The Harlem Renaissance
o Selected poemsL. Hughes, C. Cullen, and C. McKay
o EssaysA. Locke, W. Thurman, C. G. Woodson, and J. Fauset
o Federal Writers ProjectUnchained Memories (LOC slave narratives project)
o Visual RhetoricW. Johnson, C. Van Vechten, J. Van Der Zee, A. Schomberg, and J. Lawrence
o SpeechesA. Garvey, M. Garvey, A. Powell, and W.E.B. DuBois
o Selected nonfiction
Unit 7: American Movements & Marginalization (3 weeks)
Feminism
Civil Rights (African American, Gay/Lesbian Rights, Disability Rights, Native American, Latino, Asian
American)
Vietnam War, Iraq War
Religious freedom post-9/11
Selected nonfiction
AP Language Multiple Choice Intensive
Modes of Writing project due
Unit 8:

AP Language and American Lit EOCT Review (2 Weeks)

Review of American Literary periods
Timed Writing
Visual Rhetoric Intensive
Review of Essay Writing (Argument, Rhetorical Analysis, & Synthesis)

Unit 9: America in Poetry, Short Story, and Film (After the AP exam2 weeks)
Selected readings from Hemingway, OConner, Williams, A. Walker, T. Morrison
Selected films by K. Burns

10