AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2007/8



AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2007/8

George Bebensee/Room 237/phone 389-7390 x522

gbebensee@

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is a college-level course in reading, writing, and rhetoric for motivated students, constructed in accordance with the current College Board AP guidelines. The major objective of this course is to help students “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, May 2007, May 2008, p. 6)

* We’ll read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of texts--expository, analytical, personal, and argumentative essays; letters; speeches; images; imaginative literature--deepening our awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, we’ll develop our ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening our own composing abilities. (See details below.)

* We’ll write in a variety of modes for a variety of audiences, developing a sense of personal style and an ability to analyze and articulate how the resources of language operate in any given text. Because we live in a highly visual world, we’ll also study the rhetoric of visual media such as photographs, films, advertisements, comic strips, and music videos. (See specific writing assignments below.)

* This course views writing as a process, so major writing assignments will include required drafts and revisions. We’ll review and discuss our works-in-progress during frequent class and group workshops. You’ll conference with me often as you write—at least once for each major writing project.

* In concert with the College Board’s AP English Course Description, we’ll learn to read primary and secondary sources carefully, to synthesize material from these texts in our own compositions, and to cite sources using conventions recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA).

* Most classes will begin with a five or ten minute freewriting, in which you write anything in your mind without stopping. I’ll occasionally ask you to focus your freewriting on a question, idea, or text. You’ll keep a freewriting file on your laptop and compile your freewritings over the course of the year.

* We’ll have weekly vocabulary quizzes. Words will be drawn from texts we read in class and from SAT word lists, and will include important rhetorical terms.

OVERVIEW

This course has three major components:

1. First Semester: Developing skills in rhetoric, analysis, and synthesis through the study of mostly nonfiction texts

2. Second Semester: Further development by applying these skills to the study of American fiction and poetry

3. The Junior AP English Demonstration in American Literature: The Junior Demonstration, or Demo, is a year-long project that allows you to both follow a personal interest and to demonstrate to your class and school community your mastery of written, analytic, and research skills. Over the course of the school year, you’ll explore a topic or a set of books within the field of American Literature--chosen from a list of options or self-selected. To meet the requirements of the Demo, you’ll write two analytic papers, the second of which is a researched argument that requires the use of secondary sources, and keep a reading journal. The project culminates in Junior Demo Colloquy in the Upper School Atrium. (See complete description and Demo calendar following the syllabus.)

GRADING

For each term, your grade will be determined as follows:

Writing Projects 70% (Major projects must include drafts and revisions along with a final grading version.)

Class Work 20% (Includes individual tasks leading to a larger product, grammar reviews, annotation of texts, quizzes, group work, participation in Workshop activities and class discussions)

Vocabulary 10%

Semester final exams will constitute 20% of each semester grade. (See complete grade descriptions following the syllabus.)

TEXTS

Conarroe, Joel, ed. Six American Poets. New York: Vintage, 1993

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Mosses From an Old Manse. New York: Modern Library, 2003.

O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories, New York: Harvest/Harcourt, 1977.

Shea, Renee H., et al. The Language of Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle, New York: Dial, 1998.

FIRST QUARTER: Rhetoric, Analysis, and Synthesis (eight weeks)

Week One: Course Overview

Preview of the AP exam

Discussion of summer reading: The Grapes of Wrath

Writing: Grapes of Wrath: In-class essay, expository (one hour)

Week Two: Trip to Washington, D.C.

Task: Select a monument or other building that particularly strikes you and record your observations and reactions to the structure in writing, in drawing, and, if possible, in photos. You’ll be using your observations later to write a visual analysis of your structure.

Weeks Three and Four: An Introduction to Rhetoric (LOC 1-34)

An Introduction to Rhetoric

Key Elements of Rhetoric

The Rhetorical Triangle

Appeals to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

Writing: Rhetorical analysis: Group in-class task: one hour

Consider the letter Albert Einstein wrote to sixth-grade student Phyllis Wright in 1936 (LOC 9) in response to her question as to whether scientists pray, and if so, what do they pray for. How rhetorically effective do you find Einstein’s response? Explain your answer in terms of subject, speaker, audience; context and purpose; and appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.

Visual Rhetoric

Writing: Visual analysis. 500 words.

Write an essay analyzing the visual rhetoric of a monument or other building in Washington D.C.

Rhetoric in Literature

Organization: The Classical Model

Patterns of Development/Methods of Organization

When Rhetoric Misses the Mark

Weeks Five and Six: Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis (LOC 35-60)

Analyzing Style

Talking with the Text

Annotation

Dialectical Journal

Graphic Organizer

Close Reading a Visual Text

From Analysis to Essay: Writing about a Close Reading

Glossary of Selected Tropes and Schemes

Writing: Analytical essay. 1000 words.

Write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies John F. Kennedy uses in his inaugural address to achieve his purpose. Peer review workshop of draft/teacher conference.

Weeks Seven and Eight: Synthesizing Sources: Entering the Conversation (61-85)

Types of Support

Writers at Work

The Relationship of Sources to Audience

The Synthesis Essay

Conversation: Focus on the Community

Service

Identifying the Issues: Recognize Complexity

Formulating Your Position

Incorporating Sources: Inform Rather than Overwhelm

Writing: Synthesis essay. 1000 words.

Using the documents on community service requirements in high schools in section 3.14 of LOC, write an essay explaining whether you believe that high schools in general--or Sayre Upper School in particular--should make community service mandatory. Incorporate references or quotations from a minimum of three of these sources in your essay. You will need to turn in one draft and one revision with your final grading copy.

SECOND QUARTER: Questions and Answers (eight weeks)

Weeks One -- Three: To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education?

Francine Prose, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” 89

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Education” 102

Writing: In-class essay, analytical (one hour)

James Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers” 123

Kyoko Mori, “School” 130

Interview: Kyoko Mori on Writing 141

Poem: Billy Collins, “The History Teacher” 143

Story: Sandra Cisneros, “Eleven” 144

Visual Text: NEA, from “Reading at Risk” 147

Tyler Wilcheck, “A Talk to High School Teachers” (Student Essay: Argument: Using Personal Experience as Evidence) 164

Additional Resources: “Conversation: Focus on the American High School” (LOC 150-163))

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: The Appositive 167

Exercise 5 (173): Identify the appositives in the sample sentences, determine their effect, and then write sentences of your own using the samples as models.

Writing: Personal Essay/Revision to Argument: 1250 words

Many see standardized testing as the answer to improving education in the United States. President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Program,” for example, emphasizes testing as a means of pursuing and measuring progress. Students, particularly in public schools, face all sorts of mandated tests, and the SAT, ACT, and AP exams often dictate school curriculums. What do you think? Write a personal essay draft discussing whether standardized testing is an effective way to bring about improved instruction and performance. Then, revise your draft, broadening its scope beyond your own experience by synthesizing your ideas with those of some of the writers we’ve discussed in the last few weeks. Group peer review workshops/teacher conference.

Weeks Four -- Six: What is our responsibility to nature?

Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” 798

Writing: In-class essay, argumentative (one hour)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature” 807

Terry Tempest, “The Clan of the One-Breasted Women” 816

Chief Seattle, “Message to President Franklin Pierce” 823

Wendell Berry, “An Entrance to the Woods” 825

Wangari Muta Maathai, “2004 Nobel Peace Prize Speech” 834

Joyce Carol Oates, “Against Nature” 840

Writing: Descriptive Narrative/Comparison: 500 words

Using the memories Oates recounts as a model, write a brief description of a nature memory of your own. Pay careful attention to Oates’s use of generalization and concrete detail. Group peer review workshop.

Poem: William Wordsworth, “The Tables Turned” 856

Story: Sarah Orne Jewette, “A White Heron” 848

Advertisement: Royal Dutch Shell, “Cloud the Issue or Clear the Air?” 857

Visual Text: Asher B. Durand, “Kindred Spirits” (painting)

Additional Resources: “Conversation: Focus on Climate Change” 862-887

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Cumulative, Periodic, and Inverted Sentences Exercise 5 (899): Read the examples of sentences using unusual sentence patterns. Choose three and write your own sentences, using the examples as models.

Writing: Personal Essay/Argument/Synthesis: 1250 words

Write an essay that answers this section’s essential question: What is our responsibility to nature? Develop your thesis, exposition, and evidence by synthesizing your own ideas and the readings we’ve examined. Group peer review workshops/teacher conference.

Weeks Seven -- Eight: What is the relationship of the individual to the community?

Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter From Birmingham Jail” 260

Henry David Thoreau, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived for” 276

Peter Singer, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” 319

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Parallel Structures 339

Exercise 4 (344): In-class group work: Read (and listen on the web: languageofcomp) the paragraph from Toni Morrison’s Nobel Lecture, delivered in 1993 when she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Find examples of parallel structure; identify whether the construction is a word, clause, or phrase; and explain its effect.

Writing: Analytical Essay: 1000 words.

Select one of the three main essays in this section and write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies the writer uses to achieve his purpose.

Semester Exam

THIRD QUARTER: Developing as a Writer (ten weeks)

Weeks One and Two: Free Writing Time: 5 pages

The period January 3-11 is Writing Time. You will have no other assignments for this class but to write. You are free to write in whatever form and genre you choose—poetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction, personal, philosophical, humorous, etc. I will email you two prompts per class period. You may choose to work on one or both of the prompts, or an idea of your own. I encourage you to do new writing each day for the first four or five classes. (See me if you’re working on something you want to stay with.) For the last two class periods, I ask that you do not start any new writing, but rather work on revising pieces you’ve written that you particularly like. You must turn in five pages of polished, revised Good Writing--writing that reflects your consideration of some of the rhetorical and stylistic study we’ve been doing--by 3:30 on January 11 for grading. This work will constitute 10% of your 3rd term grade.

Weeks Three -- Six: Writing About Short Stories

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses From an Old Manse

Writing: In-class essay, analytical--organization. (one hour)

Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Writing: In-class group essay, analytical--tone. (two hours)

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Coordination in the Compound Sentence 698

Exercise 4 (704): Select one of the passages, identify the examples of coordination, and explain their rhetorical effects. Pay attention to the way the writers use coordination to signal relationships, to emphasize a point, or to vary the rhythm of a paragraph.

Week Seven: Mid-Winter Break

Weeks Eight -- Ten: Writing About the Novel

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

Writing: Select one of the following:

1. Analytical Essay/Argument

Select one or two concepts you see Cat’s Cradle criticizing—science, religion, truth, capitalism, love, purpose, America, granfalloons, for example—and write a clear, concise, interesting 1250-word essay that analyzes the text’s criticism and evaluates its reasonableness. Be sure to consider the tone/method of the criticism (satire, irony, parody, humor, exaggeration) and the substance of it (characters, actions, Calypsos, desires). Support your evaluation of the criticism with both evidence from the text and from your own experience and perceptions of the world.

2. Personal Narrative

Consider this epigraph from Cat’s Cradle:

“Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.”

Vonnegut creates a character who constructs a religion of lies, presumably to help people live better lives. Do you think that’s a good idea? Do you think we already live under a system of foma? Write a personal narrative of 1250 words in which you identify one or more beliefs or truths you live by that you suspect are or may be foma. How do we feel about that situation? Be sure to consider purpose of your narrative and the rhetorical situation in which you’re writing.

3. Construct

Develop a project of your own that demonstrates your considerable understanding of or investigation into some central aspect of Cat’s Cradle. Your project must include a significant written component. Discuss your project with me before beginning serious work.

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Subordination in the Complex Sentence 999

Exercise 3 (1004): Select two of the passages and analyze the use of subordinate clauses. Pay particular attention to how the writer varies sentence patterns.

FOURTH QUARTER: Further Development and the Junior Demo (ten weeks)

Weeks One -- Three: Writing About the Novel

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Writing: Your task is to design and write a clear, concise, detailed, focused, and interesting 1250-word essay that:

1. has a reason to exist as an object in the world;

2. expresses (explicitly or implicitly) a thesis concerning The Great Gatsby (you may, of course, refer to other texts);

3. supports its thesis with solid, relevant, and sufficient evidence;

references the primary text(s) through quotation, paraphrase, and summary, using proper MLA format;

4. uses a non-textual element as a cover page.

You may choose and combine any form of essay (narrative, expository, analytic, argumentative) and any modes of development (description, exemplification, comparison/contrast, etc.) Your audience for this essay is not a specific publication but rather people like us (fairly educated and interested in what you have to say). You’re in control of things like voice, tone, style, format. Be sure to experiment with some of the “Grammar for Style and Rhetoric” work we’ve been doing. Assume your audience is familiar with The Great Gatsby but might not have read it as recently as you have. If you’d like to depart significantly from this task, please see me to discuss.

Grading Criteria: We will develop grading criteria as a class on 3/17.

3/14 Workshop: developing a thesis

3/17 Workshop: planning and preliminary writing in class

3/19 Workshop: working draft/peer discussion/conferencing

3/21 Draft Due: Workshop: Group Feedback

3/28 Essay Due by 3:30 p.m.

Gatsby Party: The 11th grade class should determine a name and theme for the recreation of a Gatsby party, which will be held March 26 at 7:30-9 p.m., with clean-up after. You will divide yourselves into these group categories (suggest others if you choose):

* Art

* Music

* Dance

* Fashion

* Décor

* Food

* Invitations

* Party Planners

* Etiquette

Each group will be responsible for the interpretation of their subject for the party. This task will involve some research. For example, the Art group will determine what kind of art should hang on the walls, figure out how to produce it, and hang it. The music group should determine what kind of music should be playing at the party, what sorts of live music might be possible, and the logistics of getting it there and getting it played. The dance group might try to find a way to teach all of us some basic dances of the period. Each group will be graded on its efforts and on the (more or less) tangible products it produces.

The Grading Criteria will be:

1. Effort 45%: Has the group put forth good effort to produce a tangible product for the party?

1. Product 45%: Is the representation (product) of the group well researched and fairly accurate?

1. Reflection 10%: One page writing on your impressions of the party after the event. Was it fun? Successful? What sorts of things did you learn? Was research helpful? How was it working with a group?

Faculty members attending the party will be asked for their evaluations.

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Concise Diction 592

Exercise 1 (593): Identify awkward or pretentious diction in the sentences, and revise each sentence as you see fit to improve clarity.

Week Four: Spring Break

Weeks Five -- Seven: Writing About Poetry

Selections from Whitman, Dickinson, Stevens, Williams, Frost, Hughes

Writing: In-class essay, close reading/analytical. (one hour)

Writing: Multimedia Essay: Design a Webpage: Group Project

Your group will select one poem from a list of options and design a webpage that is a multimedia, 21st Century close reading of the poem. Your webpage should have sound, images, links, and, of course, text. Your webpages will be published on the Sayre website.

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Precise, Direct, and Active Verbs

Exercise 2 (501): Identify the verbs and verbals in the two passages. Explain how these verbs affect the tone of the passages.

Weeks Eight -- Ten: Work on Junior Demo/AP Exam Practice

The Junior AP English Demonstration in American Literature

The Junior Demonstration, or Demo, is a year-long project that allows you to both follow a personal interest and to demonstrate to your class and school community your mastery of written, analytic, and research skills. During the First Term, you’ll explore sets of books and topics of interest to you in the field of American Literature--from the list of options that follows or from your own affinities. At the beginning of the Second Term, you’ll select your topic, design your course of study, and begin serious reading and research. To meet the requirements of the Demo, you’ll write two analytic papers, the second of which is a researched argument that requires the use of secondary sources, and keep a reading journal. The project culminates in Junior Demo Colloquy in the Upper School Atrium.

Essay and Journal Assignments for the Junior Demonstration

There are three major components of the Junior Demonstration—two essays, each worth 40% of the overall grade, and a reading journal, worth 20% of the overall grade.

Essay 1: Personal Narrative

In this essay, you’ll write about your personal response to some aspect of your reading. In completing this assignment, you may not consult sources other than your primary sources and Sayre English teachers. Length: 1500 words (about six pages)

Essay 2: Researched Argument

In this essay, you will expand your personal understanding of the works you have studied by consulting a minimum of three outside sources. The sources may come from print or internet sources. You should make sure, however, that each source is credible. You should also be sure to address all of your primary sources and secondary sources. Use MLA format for citation and documentation. Length: 1500 words (about six pages).

The Demo Journal

The journal is designed to help you reflect on your reading in a way that will be useful when you begin drafting the essays for the Demonstration. Outstanding journals will ask thoughtful questions of the text and show genuine interest in and engagement with the material. In other words, it should be clear that you are wrestling with the texts in a personal way. Journal entries should not be mere notes for your papers; it is important to include your reactions to the texts.

Keep in mind the following guidelines when working on your journal:

1. You must complete a minimum of twelve 200-word entries.

2. All entries must be dated.

3. Three entries must be completed by November 15, six total by February 1st, and all twelve must be completed by April 28th.

4. A grossly incomplete journal (i.e., three entries hastily written the day before it is due) may result in a failing grade for the journal.

5. Journals will be graded after each of the due dates above.

Model Journal Entry

Entry One:

Brighton Beach Memoirs

Act One:

Here’s what sticks with me at the end of act one regarding characters:

* The father is the ideal father.

* The mother is a beautiful person, harsh, but beautiful.

* Eugene is annoying.

* I hate Norah

* Laurie’s in the play for really no reason

* Stan tries too hard.

* Blanche has no grasp on her life.

Norah and Laurie are the only characters that don’t do anything for me, and while Eugene is annoying I’m glad he’s there. He is my only friend inviting me into this brave new world of Brighton…

However, at the end of act one, I already know that this play is not about the characters but about the relationships between characters. The dynamics in this house are interesting, not for any reason, they just are. Even though it’s a play, you believe that they are a real family and you wonder about things that happened before and after the play started. What’s Christmas like at their house (ignore the whole Jewish thing)? Vacations? Birthday parties? We’re lucky enough to be the friend sleeping over for a night watching this family…laughing and crying with them.

One thing I’m confused about: Is Eugene a narrator? What’s the point of view of this play? Are these Eugene’s memoirs? We see things that Eugene doesn’t see…don’t we? Does he see everything? How does his age effect the narration? Is this an accurate picture of the family?….all will be revealed. Maybe. [245 words]

Demo Timeline

Now: Begin looking over the list of topic options and thinking about additional ideas you might have. Get some of the books that look interesting in your hands and read around in them. Find your interests and follow them.

October 15: Turn in your signed topic sheets. If you’re developing a topic of your own, you’ll need my approval.

October 19: Public posting of final list of topics in the Atrium display area.

November 15: Three journal entries due

February 1: Three journal entries due

February 20: Essay 1 thesis and first paragraph draft due

March 17: Essay 1 due

April 9: Essay 2 thesis and first paragraph draft due

April 28: Final six journal entries due

May 9: Essay 2 due

May 14: Junior Demo Colloquy

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download