AP English Language and Composition



AP English Language and Composition

Welcome to Advanced Placement Language and Composition. This course will help you develop your ability to analyze good writing and to identify and explain an author's meaning and his/her use of various writing strategies and other rhetorical techniques, as well as elements of his/her style. You will also develop your ability to read and write critically, and to create and sustain arguments based on readings, study, observations, and personal experiences.

Look over the three (3) parts of the summer assignment. This assignment is not designed to destroy your plans for vacation, but enable you to succeed in next year’s academic arena. If you have questions, please e-mail me at wrstravi@.

Part I: Destination/Road Map

While there are many similarities to previous Literature classes you have taken, Language and Composition focuses on rhetoric and will initially appear completely foreign to any previous experience in English. It is important that you develop an understanding of the objectives of the course and a rationale for why the class is structured as it is. Your first assignment is to do online research to gain an understanding of rhetoric and the actual Advanced Placement test.

Go to to see previous prompts and navigate through the site to find information relating to the test.

There will be an assessment on the first day of class to gauge your understanding of the AP Language test based on the following questions:

1. How many multiple choice questions are in the test?

2. What are the types of multiple choice questions?

3. How many passages are typical for the multiple choice section?

4. How much time is allotted for the multiple choice section of the test?

5. What are the three types of essays in the free-response section?

6. Describe the synthesis essay.

7. What is the proper method of citation for the synthesis essay?

8. How many sources are needed in the synthesis essay?

9. How does the argumentative (DRQ) essay differ from the synthesis?

10. Where does the writer find evidence to support their position in the free-response argument essay?

11. What is required for the rhetorical analysis essay?

12. What is rhetorical analysis?

13. How much time is allotted to the free-response section?

14. How much preparation (in minutes) is allowed prior to the start of the free-response section?

15. What can you do to ensure that the clock will be your friend on game day? (Answering this, hopefully, will begin the process of establishing habits and setting goals for this course.)

Part II: Jargon

Directions: Know these terms by creating flashcards using 3x5 index cards. Place the term on one side and the definition on the other side of the card. If you do not understand the definition given, do research. Be proactive. You need to take ownership not only for these terms, but for your success in this course. You are expected to “own” these terms by the start of the school year.

| |Exemplification—a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized |

|Diction—the word choices made by a writer (diction can be described as: |by using one or more particular cases, or examples, to illustrate or |

|formal, semi-formal, ornate, informal, technical, etc.) |explain a general point or an abstract concept. |

|Figurative language—language employing one or more figures of speech |Hyperbole—intentional exaggeration to create an effect |

|(simile, metaphor, imagery, etc. |Idiom—an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from |

|Rhetoric—the art of presenting ideas in a clear, effective, and |the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional |

|persuasive manner |speech or dialect (“fly on the wall”, “cut to the chase”, etc.) |

|Rhetorical devices—literary techniques used to heighten the |Imagery—the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal |

|effectiveness of expression |to one of the senses |

|Structure—the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or |Imperative sentence—a sentence that gives a command |

|entire work |Inductive reasoning—deriving general principles from particular facts or|

|Style—the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive |instances (“Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are |

|features of a literary work (when analyzing style, one may consider |four-legged animals.) |

|diction, figurative language, sentence structure, etc.) |Inference—a conclusion on draws (infers) based on premises or evidence |

|Syntax—the manner in which words are arranged into sentences |Interrogative sentence—a sentence that asks a question |

|Theme—a central idea of a work |Invective—an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack |

|Thesis—the primary position taken by a writer or speaker |Inverted syntax—a sentence constructed so that the predicate comes |

|Tone—the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or |before the subject (ex: In the woods I am walking.) |

|audience |Irony—the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; |

|Absolute—a word free from limitations or qualifications (“best,” “all”, |or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs |

|“unique,” “perfect”) |(situational, verbal, dramatic) |

|Ad hominem argument—an argument attacking an individual’s character |Jargon—the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or |

|rather than his or her position on an issue |profession |

|Allegory—a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions |Juxtaposition—placing two elements side by side to present a comparison |

|represent abstractions |or contrast |

|Allusion—a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical |Litotes—a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by |

|that the author assumes the reader will recognize |negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by |

|Analogy—a comparison of two different things that are similar in some |saying, “It was not a pretty picture.”) |

|way |Logos—appeal to reason or logic |

|Anaphora—repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning |Malapropism—the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that |

|of successive clauses (Richard D. Bury: “In books I find the dead as if |sounds similar (“The doctor wrote a subscription.”) |

|they were alive; in books I foresee things to come; in books warlike |Maxim—a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage |

|affairs are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace.”) |Metaphor—a direct comparison of two different things |

|Anecdote—a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or |Metonymy—substituting the name of one object for another object closely |

|event |associated with it (“The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword |

|Antithesis—a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |[war/fighting].) |

|Aphorism—a concise, statement that expresses succinctly a general truth |Mood—the emotional atmosphere of a work |

|or idea, often using rhyme or balance |Motif—a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in |

|Argumentation—a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by|various works |

|reason and logic, and asserts a position, belief or conclusion |Narration—is a dominant pattern of writing or speaking which strives to |

|Assonance-- Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by|tell a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence. |

|different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words. Ex: |Conventionally utilizes the first or third person perspective. |

|The sergeant asked him to bomb the lawn with hotpots. | |

| | |

| |Non sequitur—an inference that does not follow logically from the |

|Asyndeton—a construction in which elements are presented in a series |premises (literally, “does not follow”) |

|without conjunctions (“They spent the day wondering, searching, |Paradox—an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains |

|thinking, understanding.”) |some truth (“Whoever loses his life, shall find it.”) |

|Balanced sentence—a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set|Parallel Structure--using the same pattern of words to show that two or |

|off against each other to emphasize a contrast (George Orwell: “If |more ideas have the same level of importance |

|thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”) |Parody—a humorous imitation of a serious work (Weird Al Yankovich’s |

|Catalog-list of items |songs, and the Scary Movie series are examples) |

|Cause/Effect—a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by |Parenthetical Comment—a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, |

|its analysis of why something happens, in contrast to Process, which |often to quality or explain |

|describes how something happens. Often links situations and events in |Pathos—the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity |

|time, with causes preceding events. Ex: the cause of a war and its |Pedantic—often used to describe a writing style, characterized by an |

|effects on a national economy |excessive display of learning or scholarship, characterized by being |

|Chiasmus—a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the |narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned |

|second part is structurally reversed (“Susan walked in, and out rushed |Personification—endowing non-human objects or creatures with human |

|Mary.”) |qualities or characteristics |

|Classification/Division—a pattern of writing or speaking which is |Polysyndeton—the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than |

|characterized by division, which is the process of breaking a whole into|is necessary or natural (John Henry Newman: “And to set forth the right |

|parts, and classification, which is the often subsequent process of |standard, and to train according to it, and to help forward all students|

|sorting individual items into categories. |towards it according to their various capacities, this I conceive to be |

|Climax—generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an |the business of a University.”) |

|order of increasing importance, often in parallel structure (“The |Rhetorical question—a question asked merely for rhetorical effect and |

|concerto was applauded at the house of Baron von Schnooty, it was |not requiring an answer |

|praised highly at court, it was voted best concerto of the year by the |Sarcasm—harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule |

|Academy, it was considered by Mozart the highlight of his career, and it|Satire—the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections |

|has become known today as the best concerto in the world.”) |in social institutions (Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, The |

|Colloquialism—informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in |Simpsons, etc.) |

|formal writing |Scheme—an artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words |

|Comparison/Contrast—a pattern of writing or speaking which is |(anaphora, anastrophe, antithesis are some examples of schemes) |

|characterized by, in its narrowest sense, how two or more things are |Simile—a comparison of two things using “like,” “as,” or other |

|similar (compare) and/or how two or more things are different |specifically comparative words |

|(contrast). |Simple sentence—a sentence consisting of one independent clause and no |

|Complex sentence—a sentence with one independent clause and at least one|dependent clause |

|dependent clause |Stream of Consciousness—a technique characterized by the continuous |

|Compound sentence—a sentence with two or more coordinate independent |unedited flow of conscious experience through the mind recorded on |

|clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions |paper. Often used in “interior monologue,” when the reader is privy to a|

|Compound-complex sentence—a sentence with two or more principal clauses |character or narrator’s thoughts. |

|and one or more subordinate clauses |Syllepsis—a construction in which one word is used in two different |

|Concrete details—details that relate to or describe actual, specific |senses (“After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.”) |

|things or events |Syllogism—a three-part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based|

|Connotation—the implied or associative meaning of a word (slender vs. |on a major premise and a minor premise (“All men are mortal; Socrates is|

|skinny; cheap vs. thrifty) |a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.”) |

|Cumulative sentence (loose sentence)—a sentence in which the main |Synecdoche—using one part of an object to represent the entire object |

|independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying|(for example, referring to a car simply as “wheels”) |

|clauses or phrases (Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal: “I have been |Synesthesia (or synaesthesia)—describing one kind of sensation in terms |

|assured by a very knowing American friend of my acquaintance in London, |of another (“a loud color,” “a sweet sound”) |

|that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most |Tautology—needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding |

|delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, |(“Widow woman”, “free gift”) |

|baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a | |

|fricassee or a ragout.”) |Trope—an artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification |

|Declarative sentence—a sentence that makes a statement or declaration |of a word (hyberbole, metaphor, and personification are some examples of|

| |tropes) |

|Deductive reasoning—reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by |Understatement—the deliberate representation of something as lesser in |

|stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a |magnitude than it |

|specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise|Vernacular—the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often |

|on Tuesday morning.) |involving nonstandard usage. |

|Definition—a pattern of writing or speaking which strives to inform the |Antimetabloe - the words in one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly|

|audience on what a term means and how it is different from other terms |or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause. |

|in its class. |"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; |

|Denotation—the literal meaning of a word |ask what you can do for your country." -- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural |

|Description—a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by |Address "I, too, was born in the slum. But just because you're born |

|physical descriptions of a person, place or thing. It is a pattern that |in the slum does not mean the slum is born in you, and you can rise |

|relies on the five senses to inform it. |above it if your mind is made up." -- Jesse Jackson, 1984 Democratic |

|Dialect—a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar |National Convention Address |

|or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region|Alliteration- the repetition of initial consonant letters (or sounds) in|

|(“Y’all” = Southern dialect) |two or more different words across successive sentences, clauses, or |

|Didactic statement—having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing|phrases "I think a need a bigger box." -- Taco Bell Commercial |

|Dissonance—harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds |Oxymoron- TWO words that are ordinarily contradictory; a TWO WORD |

|Ellipsis—the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically |paradox; two words with contrary or apparently contradictory meanings |

|necessary but can be deduced from the context (“Some people prefer cats;|occurring next to each other, and, which, nonetheless, evoke some |

|others, dogs.”) |measure of truth open secret, larger half, clearly confused, act |

|Epigram—a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying |naturally, alone together, Hell's Angels, found missing, deafening |

|Epigraph—a saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a|silence, seriously funny, pretty ugly, almost exactly, unbiased opinion |

|heading of a chapter or other section of a work |Onomatopoeia- Using words to imitate sounds |

|Ethos—the persuasive appeal of one’s character, or credibility |“Snap, Crackle, Pop” –Rice Krispies |

|Euphemism—an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is | |

|considered unpleasant (opposite of dysphemism) | |

|Exclamatory sentence—a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually | |

|punctuated with an exclamation mark | |

| | |

| |As you discover/learn new terms, add them to your list! These terms are |

| |merely a base for getting us into the game. |

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Part III: Book Dialogue

Choose at least two of the following novels to read. You are welcome to read as many as you like, but you are responsible for reading two of the four, without the assistance of Sparknotes or Google(. The novels are available online (hyperlinked). I encourage you to obtain a “hard” copy for annotating. Please see me if you need financial assistance in purchasing of these texts.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain

The Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger

An important component to success in this class is to develop our critical thinking/reading/analysis. This assignment is not about comprehending the plot or the thematic elements, but looking closely at the writing style of the author. There are a myriad of ways to “sell” a message. Learn to look at the manner and style with which an author crafts this message (rhetoric). The development of your independent rhetorical analysis is essential for success in this course!

As you read the novel, cite 6-8 areas of significance in the novel that stand out. Look over the section titled, “What to look for in your novel” to identify what is deemed “significant.” You will be required to write the entire portion of the passage of “significance” and include the following for each of the passages. I am looking to see what you deem as a significant passage.

1. Page number

2. Context of the passage

3. Reader (you) response to the passage (hence, the dialogue).

My suggestion for this and everything you read is to read it three times. The first time is for understanding and enjoyment. The second reading is for analysis of the author’s style/rhetoric. The third time is for reader commentary. In our fast paced society, this advice is often overlooked and dismissed. If you are serious about “learning” rhetoric, the sooner you heed this advice, the sooner you will stop being frustrated and then begin to “learn.”

You will be presenting this dialogue to your peers during the first week of class, so your preparation and investment in the novel will become apparent. Unfortunately, Spark and Cliff Notes will not assist you in this assignment or course.

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