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AP Language and Composition

syllabus 2018-19

Ms. Ryan, Room 516

How does Rhetoric Function?

How can close reading develop the art and craft of analysis?

How will synthesizing textual sources help us engage in “the conversation?”

← An AP English Language and Composition course cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts, and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing students do in the course should deepen and expand their understanding of how written language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers’ intentions and elicit readers’ responses in particular situations. The course cultivates the rhetorical understanding and use of written language by directing students’ attention to writer/reader interactions in their reading and writing of various formal and informal genres (e.g., memos, letters, advertisements, political satires, personal narratives, scientific arguments, cultural critiques, research reports).

← Reading and writing activities in the course also deepen students’ knowledge and control of formal conventions of written language (e.g., vocabulary, diction, syntax, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, genre). The course helps students understand that formal conventions of the English language in its many written and spoken dialects are historically, culturally, and socially produced; that the use of these conventions may intentionally or unintentionally contribute to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a piece of writing in a particular rhetorical context; and that a particular set of language conventions defines Standard Written English, the preferred dialect for academic discourse. 1

1 College Board: AP English Language and Composition Course Description, 2014. 11. ()

← In this introductory college-level course students read and analyze carefully a wide and challenging selection of both nonfiction prose and fiction with the purpose of deepening their understanding of rhetoric and the power of language. By reading closely and writing often, students will develop the ability to use language and create text with an increased awareness of purpose and strategy, while improving their own composing abilities. Composition is approached as a multi-tasked process requiring several stages or drafts, with revision aided by peer editing and teacher review.   Students practice different revision techniques, including layering, visualization, switching genres, using concrete and memory-soaked words, and trying different leads and conclusions.

← As students write in a variety of modes for a variety of audiences, they develop a personal style and the ability to analyze and explicate how the elements of language work in any particular text.  Also, given that students exist in an extremely visual world, we analyze how graphics and visual images such as films, advertisements, photographs, comic strips, posters, tables, paintings, and sculpture relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves. This course teaches students to read both primary and secondary sources carefully, in order to synthesize information from those sources in their own compositions, and to cite them using the conventions of a professional organization such as the Modern Language Association (MLA). 

MAJOR TEXTS

• The Language of Composition by Renee H. Shea, Lawrence Scanlon and Robin Dissin Aufses

• Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing: AP Edition by Hephzibah Roskelly  and  David Jolliffe 

• Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition: What Aristotle, Lincoln, And Homer Simpson Can Teach Us by Jay Heinrich

• All Things Censored, by Mumia Abu Jamal

• The Classic Slave Narratives edited by Henry Louis Gates

• Walden by Thoreau

• The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, Robert Fagles, translator

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

• On Writing: a Memoir of a Craft by Stephen King

• The Element of Style 4th edition William J. Strunk and E.B. White

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS

• Everything's an Argument. 6th Edition by Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz and Keith Walters

• They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing Third Edition by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein 

• The Norton Field Guide to Writing Third Edition by Richard Bullock

• The Craft of Revision, 5th Edition by Donald M. Murray 

C O U R S E E X P E C T A T I O N S A N D R E Q U I R E M E N T S

Materials and supplies you will need every day:

1. A binder or folders for old hand-outs (Keep this at home, and bring current hand-outs on a daily basis.)

2. A binder with the current unit’s hand-outs

3. Pens and pencils, loose-leaf for in-class assignments

4. The current text we are studying: it is essential to bring this unless you are otherwise instructed.

Extra copies may not be available in class, and you will be penalized if you arrive unprepared.

Grading:

Major assignments (essays, tests, projects): 70%

Daily assignments (written homework, reading check quizzes, journals): 15%

Class participation (warm-ups, reflections, reading referenced discussion, group work/leadership): 15%

*This grading policy is subject to change

Classroom Policies:

1. Excessive and unexcused lateness will negatively affect your participation grade. This applies not only to

the beginning of the school day, but every class period. Every unexcused lateness will lower your participation grade by a percentage.

2. Academic dishonesty (plagiarism) will not be tolerated in this class.

3. In addition to school policies, please note that although this course is based on discussion and group

work, you will be expected to TAKE NOTES ON A DAILY BASIS, including during discussions and

group work assignments

H o m e w o r k P o l i c y

I ASSIGN HOMEWORK EVERY NIGHT, AND IT WILL ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE A WRITTEN COMPONENT. IF I ASSIGN READING FROM A TEXT WITHOUT A SPECIFIC WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT, YOU ARE STILL EXPECTED TO TAKE NOTES AS YOU READ; YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A READING LOG TO TURN IN ONCE WE HAVE FINISHED A UNIT. FURTHERMORE, YOU SHOULD EXPECT OCCASIONAL “POP” QUIZZES TO MONITOR THAT YOU ARE KEEPING UP WITH ASSIGNED READINGS.

I will either collect assignments or check homework in class. Late homework will not be accepted, and lack of preparation will result in a no credit (“0”) homework grade, in addition to affecting your ability to participate in the day’s classwork, which will often require you to use your homework.

If you are struggling with an assignment, please feel free to approach me at any point before the assignment is due. I am available often after school and during lunch to discuss any work, provided you make an appointment. Not understanding what is asked of you is never an excuse to be unprepared.

Homework copying is a serious offense, and the personal, response-based nature of assignments in this class means that I will probably know if you have copied another’s work. If you are caught copying, you and the person from whom you are copying will receive “0” grades for the day and you should expect a call home. A second copying offense in any of your classes will lead to disciplinary action through the principal’s office.

Homework Grades

Homework will be graded as follows:

I incomplete or unacceptable

(−− 65% partially incomplete; lacks depth

(− 75% passing but below standard

( 85% meets expectations of assignment

(+ 90% strong effort and/or quality

(++ 95% exceptional effort and/or quality

As the class becomes more expert in homework during the year, you will find the standards will rise.

Note-taking Policy

As indicated in the syllabus, you are expected to take notes EVERY DAY in this class. It is essential to your success in this class and as a student in general that you accustom yourself to taking notes even when you are not explicitly told to do so, or when something is not written on the board.

Everyday when you come to class, you will be presented with an AIM and a DO NOW. Get in the habit of sitting down immediately, taking out your notebook and beginning the Do Now.

As for other notes, there will be two main types:

• Notes that we will have you copy from the board as an introduction to the day’s activity.

• Notes that you will take as you listen to your peers or to us during class discussions and small group work.

If you are uncertain about when to take notes, follow these general ideas:

1. Anything that is written on the board is to be considered important and therefore should be recorded in your notes.

2. During discussions, you should write down questions you have, important points that other students make, and any insights or new ideas that occur to you while the discussion is going. This is a crucial aspect of being a successful student, as it will help you remember what you were thinking when you are required to write an essay or to study for an exam later in the unit.

3. If I say “Listen carefully” or “This is important” while I’m speaking to the class or in response to a student comment, you should write it down, even if I don’t write it on the board!

4. During small group work, notes are particularly important, as you will be responsible for synthesizing and articulating your group’s conclusions.

Though this may seem like a lot of information to keep track of, if you follow these guidelines, you will soon form habits that will make these practices feel natural!

CRITICAL COMMON CORE LEARNING STANDARDS for AP LANGUAGE

Text Types and Purposes: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.1

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence

Craft and Structure: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

Knowledge of Language: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.3

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.8

Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation

Contact Information:

I check email regularly and may be reached at: lryan@. By phone: (212) 772-1220

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“Easy reading is (darn) hard writing.” -- Nathanial Hawthorne

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. …Who are you?"  -- Oscar Wilde

“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.” –Barbara Kingsolver

[pic]*“Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.” -- Author Unknown

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