Course Syllabus

AP English Language and Composition Syllabus_2016-1.docx 

AP Language and Composition_CWU English 101_General Course Description_Sequence.docx

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Course Objectives:

The purpose of this course is to develop in students an increased ability to “write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives” (The College Board, AP English Course Description, p. 6).The course is organized according to the requirements and guidelines of the current AP English Course Description, and, therefore, students are expected to read critically, think analytically, and communicate clearly both orally and in writing. The AP Language and Composition is a college level course offered primarily to 11th grade students. The main focus of the class is the study of language through American non-fiction literature. During the course students will learn to be close readers, and persuasive, process-oriented writers.

The College Board, which develops the AP Language and Composition test given in May, assumes students have already practice standard American grammar. If students are not masters of the American language and its grammar, in order to perform successfully on the AP Language and Composition test they must study and practice far beyond the requirements of the course. Students must assume the responsibility for study and practice every night of the school year to be prepared. Some study and test preparation sessions will be offered during Pasco High School’s schedule of Saturday School.

Primary Learning Goals:

AP English Language and Composition is a college-level course examining rhetoric as “the art of finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners, and examining specific features of texts, written and spoken, that cause them to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners in a situation” (David Jolliffe, former AP exam creator). Therefore, students will become mature and sophisticated consumers and creators of a variety of texts. By the end of the course students will better understand:

• what they read: the main point or thesis, the occasion or context, the author's motivation for writing, the tone and style;
• how a text is created to develop meaning and purpose including genre, organization, paragraphing, syntax;
• the relationship of the text's creation to its accomplishment, the purpose of academic intellectual prose, its meaning and effect;
• how to articulate their analysis of what they read; how the organizational structure, diction, syntax, imagery, figurative language expose the meaning of a text;
• how to create, develop, and support an argument, acknowledging the complexities and nuances of important issues debated about in contemporary intellectual circles;
• how to become good citizens through awareness of public discourse issues;
• how to enter into a conversation with sources and develop a thesis and argument or exposition by synthesizing these conversations into their own writing;
• how to analyze and incorporate their analysis of visual texts into their writing;
• effective research skills and proper MLA citation;
• how to read a question, so they know exactly what is asked and how to approach answering it;
• how to enhance their vocabulary as a means to effective writing; how to grapple with archaic prose;
• strategies necessary for success on the AP Language and Composition exam

[Students should become aware of how writers' linguistic choices create effective writing and achieve stylistic effects as well as how to effectively incorporate many of these techniques into their own writing.]

Required Texts:

Buscemi, Santi V. and Charlotte Smith, 75 Readings: An Anthology, 9th Edition, McGraw-Hill, NY. 2004.

Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, 1st Edition, Harper-Collins, NY. 2003.

Shea, Renee H., The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, 2nd Edition, Bedford-St. Martin’s Press. 2007

Other Texts:

Cooley, Thomas. The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, 5th Edition, The Ohio State University, W. W. Norton & Company, NY. 1997.

DiYanni, Robert. One Hundred Great Essays, 2nd Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Penguin Academics, NY. 2005.

Ellis, Dave. Becoming A Master Student, 11th Edition, Houghton-Mifflin Company, NY. 2006.

Fineman, Howard. The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates that Define and Inspire our Country, Random House, NY. 2008.

Flachmann, Kim and Michael Flachmann. The Prose Reader: Essays for Thinking, Reading, and Writing, 7th Edition, California State University Bakersfield, Prentice Hall, NJ. 2005.

Grossman, Sari and Joan Brodsky Schur. In A New Land: An Anthology of Immigrant Literature, National Textbook Company, NTC Contemporary, IL. 1994.

Hodges, John C., Mary E. Whitten, and Suzanne S. Webb. Harbrace College Handbook, 10th Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, NY. 1986.

Kelly, Joseph. The Seagull Reader: Essays, College of Charleston, W. W. Norton & Company, NY. 2002.

Kennedy, X. J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. The Bedford Reader, 6th Edition, Bedford Books, Saint Martin’s Press, MA. 1997.

Lunsford, Andrea A., Everything’s an Argument, Bedford-St. Martin’s Press. 2009.

Miller, George. The Prentice Hall Reader, 6th Edition, University of Delaware, Prentice Hall, NJ. 2001.

Miller, James E., Jr., Kerry M. Wood, and Carlota Cardenas de Dwyer. The United States in Literature, America Reads Classic Edition, Scott-Foresman, IL. 1991.

Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer, and Dave Kemper. Writer’s Inc: Write for College: A Student Handbook, Great Source Education Group, Houghton-Mifflin Company, MA. 1997.

Starr, Isadore, Lewis Paul Todd, and Merle Curti. Living American Documents, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NY, 1961.

Trimmer, Joseph, F., and Heather Milliet. The Riverside Reader, Alternate Edition, Houghton-Mifflin Company, MA, 2009.

MacMillan English: Thinking and Writing Processes 12, Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, Inc., NY. 1988.

Classroom Policies:

Students are enrolled in a college level class that requires a higher degree of mature behavior than may be the high school norm. Extra attention to self-discipline and respect for others is extremely important in an AP class. All possible effort will be provided to create a positive and productive classroom environment. Student responsibilities include but are not limited to: arriving to class on time with materials. Students must read materials for class in advance and be prepared for the discussion of the works. Any student leaving class is expected to act responsibly with proper conduct at all times. Homework is due at the beginning of the class period. According to school policy, students who were absent from class on the day work was assigned must turn it in within two class days of their return for full credit. The grade book will be closed to make-up assignments at the end of every nine week session. All class assignments must be recorded by the end of the nine weeks sessions and no make-up work beyond these cut-off periods will be accepted for any more than 50 percent credit. Late work within the nine week session will receive a deduction of up to 25 percent. Successful students attend class regularly and on time. Students who accumulate more than three tardies or unexcused absences will be issued detention after school, which will be documented in the student's record in Powerschool informing future interventions; Successful students demonstrate skills indicative of quality workers by bringing required and necessary materials, completing assignments promptly, participating in class discussions, and respecting the opinions of others. Of course, it is reasonable to admit that there are exceptions to general policies based on circumstances, which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Socratic Seminar:

Socratic Seminar is all about the art of questioning and answering and what truth can be discovered through it. Students will be immersed in regular Socratic Seminars following each fiction or nonfiction reading. Intense study of the text is required, and this means that each student must be prepared with annotated notes and dialectical journals as “proof” of preparation. These can have many points of focus, but students must be prepared to ask good questions and to explore and develop each other’s answers. Therefore, think of Socratic Seminar as a collaborative exercise, not a debate or competition.

Unit One: Speeches and Politics

Students will focus on the elements of rhetoric and transition from the summer reading to American classic and political oratory.

Writing Assignments:

• Analysis Essay – Analyze the rhetorical strategies used and their effect on the audience in “Inaugural Address” by John F. Kennedy. Length: 750 to 1000 words
• In-class Analysis Essay – Analyze the rhetorical strategies used and their effect on the audience in one of the speeches from our readings. Length: 750 to 1000 words
• Visual Analysis – “Analyze a political cartoon in terms of the rhetorical triangle and its appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos. As part of your analysis of audience, note if possible where the cartoon first appeared, and describe the source’s political leanings. Finally, examine the interaction of written text and visual images” (The Language of Composition p. 12). Length: 600 to 750 words
• Dialectical Journal Responses – Various topics will be provided based on the unit’s assigned readings and written and visual pieces presented for the first time in class. Response lengths range from 300 to 400 words.
Selected Reading Assignments:
No Man Is an Island –John Donne
Learning to Read and Write –Frederick Douglass
Arriving at Perfection –Benjamin Franklin
Of Our Spiritual Striving –W. E. B. Du Bois
Of the Meaning of Progress –W. E. B. Du Bois
On Self Respect –Joan Didion
The Closing Circle –Barry Commoner
The Tragedy of the Commons –Garrett Hardin
What is Poverty –Jo Goodwin Parker
The Interpretation of Dreams –Sigmund Freud
Natural Selection –Charles Darwin
The Geography of the Imagination –Guy Davenport
More than Just a Shrine –Ellis Island –Mary Gordon
On the Pleasure of Hating –William Hazlitt
Of Studies –Francis Bacon
How to Tame a Wild Tongue –Gloria Anzaldua
The Way to Rainy Mountain –N. Scott Momaday [Narration]
Once More to the Lake –E. B. White [Narration]
My Daily Dives in the Dumpster –Lars Eioghner [Process Analysis]
In the Toils of the Law –Edward Hoagland [Process Analysis]
A Cheerful Anachronism –George F. Will
On Shooting an Elephant -George Orwell
The Raven –Barry Lopez [Comparison and Contrast]
Rapport-Talk and Report-Talk -Deborah Tannen [Comparison and Contrast]
The Morals of the Prince –Niccolo Machiavelli [Argument]

Unit Two: Education and Opportunity

Students will focus on their purpose for writing while experimenting with different arrangements. In addition, students will focus on the principles of argument and synthesis. The thematic exploration of education and opportunity will begin with the students’ own experiences and conclude with a more developed understanding of education and its importance.

Writing Assignments:

• In-class Narrative Essay – Education is a journey of learning opportunities. Describe your journey as a learner, and conclude it by explaining how your journey has influenced the way you learn today. Length: 600 to 750 words.
• Argumentative Essay – After reading and analyzing George Orwell’s On Shooting an Elephant in class, write an argumentative essay that challenges, defends, or qualifies his claim. Length: 750 to 1000 words.
• Expository Essay – After reading and analyzing On Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass in terms of his learning, specifically educating oneself, within the constraints of societal institutions write an expository essay discussing the challenges he faced and overcame. Length: 750 to 1000 words.
• Synthesis Essay – What is an individual’s role in creating educational opportunities for oneself and for others? Use three of the assigned texts to respond to the question (approved readings and visuals are marked with an asterisk). Follow MLA guidelines for citing sources. Length: 750-1000 words.
• Dialectical Journal Responses – Various topics will be provided based on the unit’s assigned readings and written and visual pieces presented for the first time in class. Response lengths range from 300 to 400 words.
Selected Reading Assignments:
A Word’s Meaning Can Often Depend on Who Says It –Gloria Naylor [Definition]
My Wood –E. M. Forster [Cause and Effect]
The Movie That Changed My Life –Terry McMillan [Cause and Effect]
The Star –Arthur C. Clarke [Cause and Effect]
Rules of the Game –Amy Tan [New Beginnings]
Advice to Youth –Mark Twain [Argument]
Brothers: We Have Heard the Talk –Speckled Snake [Argument-Plea]
from American Indian Stories –Zitkala-Sa [Argument-Lament]
Why Don’t We Complain –William F. Buckley [Personal Narrative]
The Anthropology of Manners –Edward T. Hall
Rules for the Direction of the Mind -Rene Descartes
Thinking as a Hobby -William Golding
The Serpents of Paradise –Edward Abbey
The Abstraction of Beasts ¬–Carl Sagan
Sight into Insight –Annie Dillard

The Man Who Read God’s Mind –Sharon Begley
The Value of Science –Richard Feynman [Argument]
The Nature of Scientific Reasoning –Jacob Bronowski
Can Science Explain Everything? Anything? –Steven Weinberg
Of Youth and Age –Sir Francis Bacon
Are You Somebody? –Nuala O’Faolin [Personal Narrative]
The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society –Jonathan Kozol [Argument]
Politics and the English Language –George Orwell
Crito –Plato
The Allegory of the Cave –Plato
from The American Scholar: Man Thinking –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Unit Three: The American Dream

Students will continue their application of argumentation and synthesis while exploring the idea of the American Dream.
Writing Assignments:
• Analysis Essay – Write a rhetorical analysis of the strategies Ralph Waldo Emerson uses in from Self-Reliance. Length: 750 to 1000 words.
• Argumentative Essay – After reading and analyzing President Ronald Reagan’s A Time for Choosing, write an argumentative essay that challenges, defends, or qualifies his claim.
• Synthesis Essay – What is the role of the American Dream in American society? Use three of the assigned texts to respond to the question (approved readings and visuals are marked with an asterisk). Follow MLA guidelines for citing sources. Length: 750-1000 words.
• Dialectical Journal Responses – Various topics will be provided based on the unit’s assigned readings and written and visual pieces presented for the first time in class. Response lengths range from 300 to 400 words. Synthesis Essay – What is the role of the American Dream in American society? Use three of the assigned texts to respond to the question (approved readings and visuals are marked with an asterisk). Follow MLA guidelines for citing sources. Length: 750-1000 words.

Selected Reading Assignments:

The Declaration of Independence –President Thomas Jefferson
Letter from Birmingham Jail –Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream –Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Ben Franklin’s Virtues –D. H. Lawrence
from The Autobiography: Moral Perfection –Benjamin Franklin
American Independence –Samuel Adams
The Gettysburg Address –President Abraham Lincoln
The First Inaugural Address –President Abraham Lincoln
The Second Inaugural Address –President Abraham Lincoln
The Man with the Muckrake Speech –President Theodore Roosevelt
A Time for Choosing –President Ronald Reagan
from Self Reliance –Ralph Waldo Emerson
In Defense of Native Religion –Red Jacket, Chief of the Seneca
Why I Went to the Woods –Henry David Thoreau
Choosing a Dream –Mario Puzo [American Dream]
The New Colossus –Emma Lazarus [The American Dream]
Ellis Island –Joseph Bruchac [The American Dream]
The Thirteen American Arguments –Howard Fineman
Is America Falling Apart? –Anthony Burgess [Argument]
Speech to the Virginia Convention –Patrick Henry [Argument]
The Monroe Doctrine –President James Monroe
A Seat at the Table –Hannelore Sudermann

Unit Four: Controversies in Society

Students will prepare for the AP Language and Composition exam and learn about the research process while exploring the controversies that affect our lives. Students will conclude the unit by submitting an argumentative research paper and preparing for the final exam.

Writing Assignments:

• Proposal – Students will write a one page proposal for their argumentative research paper. Proposals must include a call for action or response to a problem, must center on an audience, and must focus on the future. Topics will be approved by the teacher, but time shouldn’t be wasted in considering these topics: legalization of drugs, fire arms issues, abortion, smoking, religious issues, teen pregnancy, and stem cell research.
• Argumentative Research Paper – In an eight to ten page paper, students will explore both sides of a controversial topic, present a position, defend it, and consider opposition. Standard MLA format will be followed. Students are expected to include and analyze a multitude of primary and secondary sources.
• Dialectical Journal Responses – Various topics will be provided based on the unit’s assigned readings and written and visual pieces presented for the first time in class. Response lengths range from 300 to 400 words.
• Research Paper: Students experience the research process from discovering a topic and developing a research question to submitting the final product. Students will understand all levels of the research process including discerning relevant sources, gathering information from diverse sources, synthesizing information, and properly formatting a research paper, incorporating MLA citation techniques. This paper may be expository or argumentative.

Selected Reading Assignments:

The Color of Success –Eric A. Watts
The Spider and the Wasp –Alexander Petrunkevitch [Process Analysis]
How to Write a Letter –Garrison Keillor [Process Analysis]
The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans are doing Wrong to Get Ahead –David Callahan
You Are What You Say –Robin Tolmach Lakoff
A Modest Proposal –Jonathan Swift [Satire]
Four Kinds of Chance –James H. Austin [Division and Classification]
In Defense of Prejudice –Jonathan Rauch

The Technology of Medicine –Lewis Thomas [Division and Classification]
How Flowers Changed the World –Loren Eiseley [Cause and Effect]
Women and the Future of Fatherhood –Barbara Dafoe Whitehead [Argument]
The Obligation to Endure –Rachel Carlson [Argument]
The Penalty of Death –H. L. Mencken [Argument]
Resistance to Civil Government –Henry David Thoreau [Argument]
9.11.01: The Skyscraper and the Airplane –Adam Goodheart [Analysis]
That One Man’s Profit Is Another’s Loss –Michel de Montaigne
Thank God for the Atom Bomb –Paul Fussell [Argument]
The Atomic Landscape –Tim Steury
The Truth About Lying –Judith Viorst
Billions Served –Eric Sorensen
The Case for Torture –Michael Levin [Argument]

Additional Note:

1. Each essay composed outside of class must include a self-evaluation addressing the following questions:
2. Did you stick with your original topic or did you change it along the way? Why?
3. What problems did you encounter during the process of creating the essay?
4. List two of the most important changes you made. Why did you make them?
5. What part of your essay are you most proud of? Why?

Accountability:

Students will write and read as a process of improvement and preparation for the AP exam. Therefore, rough drafts of essays composed outside of class are subject to in-class peer review and therefore must be present. As major assessments, the mid-term and open topic essays require students to annotate their own texts and highlight the intentional strategies they incorporated. Students are encouraged to conference with the teacher prior to submitting final drafts of major assessments. Save all work in a portfolio binder and organize by unit. Each unit will have practice AP test questions and essays. These must be saved for review as well. Grades are based on total points without weighted categories. All essay work can be rewritten for an improved grade until the two weeks prior to the end of the grading period. Students will be assigned outside reading in a longer format than is possible within the classroom. Accountability for the outside reading will be based on oral presentations each semester to be completed the three weeks prior to final grading.

Central Washington University [College in the Classroom English 101 and English 102]
Students who choose to participate in the College in the Classroom program through Central Washington University