Course Title: Advanced Placement Language and Composition

Teacher: Rod Chassot

Room: B1.23

E-Mail: rod_chassot@eu.odedodea.edu

Course Description: [main text – The Riverside Reader, 7^th Edition]

COURSE TITLE: AP English Language GRADE LEVEL: 12

CODE: LAC614 COURSE LENGTH: 36 weeks

PREPARATION: Language Arts 11

An AP course in English Language and Composition engages students in

becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods,

disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who

compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading

should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes,

audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions

and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.

The college composition course for which the AP Language and Composition

course substitutes is one of the most varied in the curriculum. The course

often allows students to write in a variety of forms — narrative,

exploratory, expository, argumentative—and on a variety of subjects from

personal experiences to public policies, from imaginative literature to

popular culture. But the overarching purpose in most first-year writing

courses is to enable students to write effectively and confidently in their

college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and

personal lives. Therefore, most composition courses emphasize the

expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that forms the basis of

academic and professional communication as well as the personal and

reflective writing that fosters the development of writing facility in any

context. The AP Language and Composition course follows this emphasis. As

in the college course, its purpose is to enable students to read complex

texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and

complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers.

College writing programs recognize that skill in writing proceeds from

students’ awareness of their own composing processes: the way they explore

ideas, reconsider strategies, and revise their work. This experience of the

process of composing is the essence of the first-year writing course, and

AP Language and Composition emphasizes this process, asking students

to write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with

revision aided by teacher and peers. Although these extended, revised

essays cannot be part of the AP Examination, the experience of writing them

will help make students more self-aware and flexible writers and thus may

help their performance on the exam itself.

Students will write in informal as well as formal contexts to gain authority and learn to take risks in writing. Imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses are all good ways of helping students become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and of the techniques employed by the writers they read. As well as engaging in varied writing tasks, students should read a wide variety of prose styles from many disciplines and historical periods

to gain understanding of the connections between interpretive skill in

reading and writing

The AP Language and Composition course assumes that students already

understand and use standard English grammar. The intense concentration on

language use in this course should enhance their ability to use grammatical

conventions both appropriately and with sophistication as well as to

develop stylistic maturity in their prose. Stylistic development is

nurtured by emphasizing the following:

§ A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;

§ A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of

subordination and coordination;

§ A logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to

increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis;

§ A balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and

§ An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone,

establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis

through diction and sentence structure.

When students read, they should become aware of how stylistic effects are

achieved by writers’ linguistic choices. Since imaginative literature often

highlights such stylistic decisions, fiction and poetry clearly have a

place in the AP Language and Composition course. The main purpose of

including such literature is to aid students in understanding rhetorical

and linguistic choices, rather than to study literary conventions.

Because the AP course depends on the development of interpretive skills as

students learn to write and read with increasing complexity and

sophistication, the AP Language and Composition course is intended to be a

full-year course.

Upon completing the Language and Composition course, then, students should

be able to:

§ Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and

explaining an author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques;

§ Apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing;

§ Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or

personal experience;

§ Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English

as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings;

§ Write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and

informal, employing appropriate conventions; and

§ Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with

careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and

review.

Scope and Sequence:

Narration and Description

Process Analysis

Comparison and Contrast

Division and Classification

Definition

Cause and Effect

Persuasion and Argument

Furthermore, each student will complete two independent critical analysis papers on two novels per quarter [1-3] and one novel in the forth quarter. Novels are student selected, but must be approved by the instruction, and should be appropriate for college preparation reading. Students will take practice AP English exam samples in advance of the actual testing.

Students are expected to take the AP Language and Composition exam.

CSP Goal:

AFNORTH International Middle/High School’s CSP (Continuous School Progress) goal is All students will improve their written communication skills across the curriculum. The 6+1 Trait is the model selected to improve school-wide writing in all subject areas. The 6+1 Trait writing framework is a powerful way to learn and use a common language to refer to characteristics of writing as well as establish a common vision of what “strong” writing looks like. Teachers and students will use the 6+1 Trait model to identify areas of strength and weakness as they continue to strive towards continued writing improvement. Success of all students requires that the 6+1 Trait become a consistent and integral component of each course taught at AFNORTH Intl. MS/HS.

Therefore, we will incorporate the concepts and terminology of 6+1 Trait

Methodology as we strive to improve our writing skills in this class.

Course Grading/Assessment:

The course will be graded on points. Exams and major papers are worth 100-200 points. Homework assignments will range from 20-50 points, depending on length and difficulty of the assignment. Other forms of assessment will include quizzes and shorter writings, with the point value announced when the assignment/quiz is given. At the end of each semester, the quarters will count 45% of the grade and the semester “exam” will count 10% of the grade.

Classroom Expectations/Consequences: [see Parent / Student Handbook]

Respect yourself by doing your work, listening and participating.

Respect the instructor by being cooperative and attentive.

Respect your school by taking acre of materials and using them properly.

Respect your peers by being quiet when others are talking and doing your share in discussions.

Supplies:

Pens with black or dark blue ink, loose-leaf paper and/or a clean tear notebook.

Recommended: highlighter, pencil, and a good dictionary.

Make up work policy:

If you are absent [excused], you have as many days as you were absent to make up assignments. It is your responsibility to get your work when you have been absent. If you miss class on A day and are in school on the following B day, then you should be prepared for the next class meeting. Make up work should be handled as soon as possible during seminar, unless other arrangements are made. For unexcused late work, you will be assessed –25% for each day [not class!] that it is late. You must keep up with assignments to be successful.