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AP English 11
Language and Composition
E. M. Hinton, Ed.S.
Montevallo High School
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This open-enrollment college-level course, as prescribed by the College Board AP
English Course Description, “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.” The course both emphasizes and develops writing in
response to and about the written works of several genres including: essays, journalism, political
writing, scientific writing, fiction, poetry, diaries, histories, and biographies. In addition to
reading and responding to the writing and rhetorical tactics of a variety of authors, students will
practice their own writing of the aforementioned genres and work collaboratively with the
teacher and one another to develop their personal writing skills.
Students will be issued the following textbooks for use throughout the academic year.
Aaron, Jane E., X.J. Kennedy, and Dorothy M. Kennedy. The Bedford Reader. 11th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.
Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. et al. The Elements of Literature. New York: Glencoe/ McGraw- Hill,
2009.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
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Brassil, John, Sandra Coker, and Carl Glover. Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis.
People’s Publishing Group, 2007.
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Carnevale, Linda. Hot Words for the SAT. Hauppauge, New York: Baron's Education
Series, Inc., 2010.
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Crusius, Timothy W. and Carolyn E. Channell. The Aims of Argument: A Text and
Reader. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009.
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Fox, Stephen. Advanced Composition Skills: 20 Lessons for AP Success. Saddle
Brook, NewJersey: People's Education, Inc., 2009.
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Hogue, Dawn. AP English Language & Composition Crash Course (Advanced
Placement (AP) Crash Course). Piscataway, New Jersey: Research and Education
Association, 2011.
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Murphy, Barbara and Estelle Rankin. 5 Steps to a 5 AP English Language, 2012-2013
Edition (5 Steps to a 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations Series). New York:
McGraw-Hill Companies, 2011.
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Shea, Renee H., Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of
Composition: Reading-Writing-Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Students are directed to bookmark Websites as sources for current editorial commentary
and rhetorical terminology. Internet access is available through the school library.
 American Rhetoric.com
 AP Central Website
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Merriam-Webster.com
Lynch, Guide to Grammar and Style
Standards
Upon completing the AP Language and Composition course, students should be able to:
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Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s use
of rhetorical strategies and techniques.
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Apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing.
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Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience.
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Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic
maturity in their own writings.
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Write for a variety of purposes.
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Produce expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex
central idea and develop it with appropriate evidence (drawn from primary and/or
secondary source material), cogent explanations, and clear transitions.
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Demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary source
material.
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Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to
inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.
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Write thoughtfully about their own process of composition.
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Revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience.
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Analyze a visual image as text.
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Evaluate and incorporate reference documents into researched papers.
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Analyze the historical and cultural development of American literature with insight and
clarity.
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Write under time constraints.
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Course Organization
This course is organized using selections from summer reading, textbook selections, and
supplementary materials. For every reading, the student will identify and analyze the following
elements of argumentation:
 speaker, occasion, audience (immediate and mediated), enthymeme, purpose, form, and
relationship among these elements
 rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos)
 diction (connotation or denotation), imagery, detail, figurative language, syntax, and tone
 argumentative structure including anticipation and refutation of counterargument
In addition to the elements of argumentation, students will acquire and implement an
increasingly sophisticated college-level vocabulary.
Assessments
Student progress will be assessed through the following methods:
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annotated readings
reading quizzes that focus on understanding the author’s meaning and his/her use of
rhetorical strategies in order to convey that meaning
informal/formal writing
essays that proceed through several drafts with revision by teacher and peers
timed writings
grammar exercises
group work / group evaluations
activities and quizzes based on challenging vocabulary drawn from reading selections
tests modeled on Advanced Placement Language and Composition Multiple Choice Test
including previously studied and also new material to evaluate student skills
teacher-made tests
Accelerated Reader Quizzes
Expectations and Plans
Students are expected to complete all assignments in class and when assigned, at home.
All major papers must be typed in the MLA format with copies of accompanying sources (where
applicable) and works cited pages. All typing is expected to be completed outside of class. All
major papers, essays, and homework responses are expected to be typed in MLA format.
Class Policies and Procedures
Classroom activities and assignments will be written on the agenda board daily and
posted on the class blog.
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Students are expected to show respect for themselves, their instructor and their
classmates. Students are also expected to follow school and classroom rules at all times.
Classroom management is aligned with the school’s disciplinary policy.
It is the responsibility of the student to make up work that he or she has missed from
excused absences. The student will be given three class days, upon his or her return to school to
make arrangements to make up the missing assignment(s).
Each grading period, students will be scheduled at least two personal writing conferences
with the instructor. Instructor will share feedback on students’ writings, revision strategies for
previous essays, writing tips for upcoming essays, along with suggestions for controlling the
writer’s sentence structure, tone, and appropriate voice.
AP Language and Composition is an elective class. Students have elected to take this
course of study. Students will be held to a rigorous code of academic achievement. Complacency
and immaturity will not be accepted. Because students are seeking college credit, some of the
books or texts contain mature themes and language and are considered a necessary part of the AP
college level coursework.
Journals
Students will be expected to keep a current events journal. By studying current events,
students will find more topics to discuss when practicing argumentative essays for the AP exam.
They will complete a current events journal assignment at the beginning of each month. Using
magazines, internet news sources, and printed newspapers, students will examine five articles
including current events, popular culture, politics, sports, and technology.
Syllabus
The following plan is only an overview and does not include all specific daily assignments, class
lectures, visuals, reading quizzes, vocabulary, in-class, and computer lab or library research days.
First Nine Weeks: Welcome to AP Style
Unit One: Summer Reading
Reading Focus:
Students begin the year by exploring the rhetorical strategies and argumentative
dimensions of one fiction and one non-fiction selection read over the summer. Students will
focus on annotation, manipulation of point of view, selection of detail, diction, and narrative
structure. In addition, this unit will focus heavily on research as students will explore the
historical context of the two works and the accuracy of the authors’ depictions of the time period
and events. The course will also interpret visual images of the era as text.
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Copper Sun (Sharon Draper)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave (Written by Himself)
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Writing Focus:
After reading, annotating, and discussing a woman’s point of view in the novel Copper
Sun, students will conduct and present a research project as noted on the Sharon Draper’s
website. This essay will proceed through several stages with special instruction on citing
sources (including visual sources), writing a works cited page, avoiding plagiarism, revision,
including appropriate visuals, and using MLA format.
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed and engaging. Finally, students will deliver their
research project orally, as this process helps students maintain an appreciation of audience and
better understand tone, voice, and emphasis on detail.
The goal of reading and annotating the memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass is to give students the opportunity to explore the point of view of a man who survived
slavery. By reading the memoir and rereading certain passages closely, combined with classroom
discussion, students will explore the various beliefs and points of view Douglass experienced as
he became increasingly aware of the unfairness of his life. Students will consider the emotional
context of words and how diction affects an author's message. Each student will compose a onepage essay exploring the author’s diction.
In addition, students will conduct research on one of the points below. Locating primary
and secondary sources, students will write a documented argument to support or refute
Douglass’s opinion.
Topic choices include
• justice for slaves (and all men of color) is different from justice for whites
• no one can be enslaved if she or he has the ability to read, write, and think
• the way to enslave someone is to keep them from all learning
• slaves were treated no better than, sometimes worse than, livestock
• by encouraging depravity men come to learn to hate freedom
• the Christianity of the slaveholders is hypocritical and used to justify their actions.
Unit Two: Critical Reading
Reading Focus:
Students will discover how to read critically, how to see beneath the surface of a work,
master its complexities, gauge its intentions and techniques, and judge its value. Before reading
students will learn to read preliminaries to locate clues to the work’s content and biases. During
reading students will use context clues when faced with unfamiliar terminology and recognize
SOAP (speaker, occasion, audience, and purpose).
 “Disability” (Nancy Mairs)
 From Of Plymouth Plantation (William Bradford)
 The Rhetoric of Revolution
 “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” (Patrick Henry)
 from Strive Toward Freedom (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
 “Neat People vs. Sloppy People” (Suzanne Britt)
 “On the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.” (Robert Kennedy)
 “Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote?” (Susan B. Anthony)
 The Big Picture: Thinking Critically About Images
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Writing Focus:
After reading, annotating and discussing these selections, students will craft an essay
focusing on rhetorical strategies used by a single author. Peer reviews include following the
QOEGV rubric to spotlight details, highlight/color code the thesis, topic sentences, concrete
details, and commentary. Students will be challenged to read like an AP Reader by Becoming an
AP Reader for the Day! Peer groups will use the attached guidelines to assess their classmates’
essays.
Finally, with each reading students will analyze, synthesize, and evaluate visual images
connected to each essay.
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays.
Multiple Choice:
Students complete their second selection(s) from the AP Language and Composition
Multiple Choice portion of the exam.
Second Nine Weeks: The Nature of Argument and Satire
Unit Three: The Writing Process
Reading Focus:
Students will analyze a modern American essay-in-progress (“Mental Illness on
Television”) – from the first draft thorough revision, editing of the revised draft, to final draft.
Then students will use this essay as a springboard to their own related subject. Researching their
topic, they will form a written response of their own, using evidence from their own experience,
reading, or viewing.
In addition, students will read one fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. As background
information, students will learn how Harper Lee took her former short story through several
revisions to produce a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Class foci will be on the rhetorical
strategies and argumentative dimensions, specifically manipulation of point of view, selection of
detail, figurative language, diction, language, satire, and narrative structure. Students will
evaluate the rhetorical devices and linguistic strategies Lee uses to depict the time period and the
themes traditionally associated with it. With close attention to Atticus’ closing argument in
court, students will annotate and answer AP-styled multiple choice questions based on content,
form, and style.
 “Mental Illness on Television” (Rosie Anaya)
 To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
 “Too Much Pressure” (Colleen Wenke)
 “How They Chose These Words” (Time magazine)
 “A Modest Proposal” (Jonathan Swift)
 “But Enough About You” (Brian Williams)
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Writing Foci:
Using the novel as a springboard, the class will explore strategies for writing both an
argument and a synthesis paper. Students will be divided into teams, teacher will provide a
packet of graphic organizers outlining each writing exercise, and students will write
collaboratively. In addition, students will analyze, synthesize, and evaluate visual images
provided for each essay. Team papers will be presented orally.
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed and engaging. Students deliver their essays
orally, as this process helps students maintain an appreciation of audience and better understand
tone, voice and emphasis on detail.
 What is the thesis statement?
 Writing a thesis statement
 Drafting
 Editing
 Effective transitions
 Revision
 Integrating source material: summary, paraphrase, quotation
 Including evidence and commentary
 Evaluating sources: author’s credentials and bias, evidence, purpose and audience
 Synthesizing multiple sources
 Avoiding Plagiarism and the Internet
 Source citation using MLA style
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays.
Unit Four: The Harlem Renaissance
Reading Focus:
Students explore the rhetorical strategies and argumentative dimensions of a selection of
poems, nonfiction selections, and one fiction novel. The poems and fiction novel are thematically
and culturally linked through the poets’/authors’ reflections upon atmosphere and the progress of
civility and equality for all races in 20th Century America. Students will focus on diction,
images, details, language, and syntax.
 Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
 “If We Must Die” (Claude McKay)
 “The Tropics in New York” (Claude McKay)
 Stanzas from a Black Epic (Robert Hughes – Time magazine)
 “I, Too” (Langston Hughes)
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“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (Langston Hughes)
“When the Negro Was in Vogue” (Langston Hughes)
“Your World” (Georgia Douglas Johnson)
“A black man talks of reaping” (Arna Bontemps)
“Any Human to Another” (Countee Cullen)
“The Creation” (James Weldon Johnson)
Writing Focus:
After reading, annotating and discussing these selections, students will craft an essay that
compares and contrasts the rhetorical strategies of two of the authors studied. Students will use
the AP Language/Literature Yellow Pages to reinforce AP terms. Students will focus the essay
on subject, occasion, audience (immediate and mediated), purpose and speaker. Instruction
includes elaboration of ideas, use of active verbs, control of verb tense, the incorporation of
varying sentence structure to eliminate redundancy and wordiness, and a personal revision
process that emphasizes diction and syntax in particular.
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed and engaging. Finally, students deliver their
essays orally, as this process helps students maintain an appreciation of audience and better
understand tone, voice and emphasis on detail.
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays.
Multiple Choice:
Students complete their fourth selection(s) from the AP Language and Composition
Multiple Choice portion of the exam.
Third Nine Weeks: Narration
Unit Five: Telling a Story
Reading Focus:
Students explore not only the rhetorical strategies and argumentative dimensions of the
following selections, but they also research and read criticisms while learning to synthesize
materials from upwards of six sources (both verbal and visual) to create enriched responses from
their readings.
 The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
 “We Real Cool” (Gwendolyn Brooks)
 “Shooting an Elephant” (George Orwell)
 “I Have a Dream” (Dr. Martin Luther King)
 “The Lottery” (Shirley Jackson)
 “Fish Cheeks” (Amy Tan)
 “Champion of the World” (Maya Angelou)
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Writing Focus:
After reading, annotating and discussing these selections, students will craft a business
letter explaining an event they encountered using chronological order, clarifying transitions, and
effective narration. Writing should also include enriched vocabulary, sentence variety, and a
mastered voice.
 What is a thesis statement?
 Narration in an advertisement – analyzing visual narratives
 Point of view
 Selection of Events
 Organization
 Transitions
 Dialogue
 Vivid Verbs
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed and engaging.
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays. This will be a synthesis
prompt.
Multiple Choice:
Students complete their fifth selection(s) from the AP Language and Composition
Multiple Choice portion of the exam.
Unit Six: U.S. and the World
Reading Focus:
Students explore not only the rhetorical strategies and argumentative dimensions of the
following selections but they also learn to synthesize materials from upwards of six sources (both
verbal and visual) to create enriched responses from their readings. These selections focus on
cultural upheavals and a changing world.
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The Greatest Generation (Tom Brokaw)
“Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” (Jessica Mitford)
“Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem” (Fatema Mernissi)
“Orange Crush” (Yiyun Li)
current event news articles
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Writing Focus:
After reading, annotating and discussing these selections, students will craft a synthesis
essay in which multiple sources are used in conjunction with textual support to create a clear,
fluid essay that demonstrates sentence variety, enriched vocabulary and a mastered voice.
Students will use a variety of sources (minimum: three) while still allowing their voice and
words to clearly dominate the analysis. Students will minimize quotes to support thesis as well as
master direct and indirection quotations. Instruction includes elaboration of ideas, use of active
verbs, control of verb tense, incorporation of varying sentence structure to eliminate redundancy
and wordiness, and a personal revision process that emphasizes diction and syntax in particular.
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed and engaging. Finally, students deliver their
essays orally, as this process helps students maintain an appreciation of audience and better
understand tone, voice and emphasis on detail.
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays. This will be a synthesis
prompt.
Multiple Choice:
Students complete their sixth selection(s) from the AP Language and Composition
Multiple Choice portion of the exam.
Fourth Nine Weeks: Preparing for the AP Exam
Unit Seven: Ten Thousand Talkers Whose Tongues Were All Broken
Reading Focus:
Students explore not only the rhetorical strategies and argumentative dimensions of the
following selections but they also learn to synthesize materials from upwards of six sources (both
verbal and visual) to create enriched responses from their readings. These selections represent a
collection of contemporary works that illustrate change within the American social conscience
and the costs with which change arrives.
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The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
“Inaugural Address” (John F. Kennedy)
“The Torchbearer” (Rita Dove – Time magazine)
“Ambush” (Tim O’Brien)
“Proposal for the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial” (Maya Lin)
Hiroshima (John Hersey)
After reading, annotating, and discussing Hiroshima, students will conduct research
through the Truman Library and Hersey’s novel to find primary and secondary sources to craft
an argumentative essay to defend, challenge, or qualify the United States’ decision to use the
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atomic bomb against Japan. Students must include evidence from the novel as one of their
sources. Complete MLA citations are required for each source. Instruction includes assessment
of sources to determine primary/secondary, how to use online libraries such as The Truman
Library, and how to select effective quotes from the novel. This essay will proceed through
several stages.
Peer reviews include highlighting, comments, and offering suggestions to help one
another fashion writing that is personal, detailed, engaging, and persuasive. Finally, students
deliver their essays orally, as this process helps students maintain an appreciation of audience
and better understand tone, voice, and emphasis on persuasive techniques used to fashion an
effective argument.
Timed Writing:
Students also complete a timed writing in response to a prompt from an AP Language
and Composition free-response question. There are two important components to this task:
critical reading (passage analysis) and writing in response to the prompt. Peer reviews and
scoring of responses will help to debrief issues within student essays. This will be a synthesis
prompt.
Multiple Choice:
Students complete their seventh selection(s) from the AP Language and Composition
Multiple Choice portion of the exam.
AP Language and Composition Exam Preparation – Multiple Choice:
Throughout the course of the year, students practice the skills that are necessary for successfully
answering the challenging multiple choice questions in the following ways:
 using a recent College Board-released exam and a teacher-made exercise, students study
the format of the test including approximate number of passages and questions, typical
questions stems, rhetorical terminology, and time allotment for the multiple choice
section.
 working both inside and outside the class, in small groups and independently, students
read, annotate (according to teacher guidelines) and discuss passages from College
Board-released exams in preparation for time (60 minutes) “practice” tests.
 the teacher provides students with a list of challenging vocabulary selected from the
upcoming “practice” test. Students add unfamiliar words to their Personal Vocabulary
Lists.
AP Language and Composition Exam Preparation – Free Response:
In addition to the timed writing activities spread out over the course of the year, students
participate in final series of timed writings that allow students to:
 write under a pressured timeline
 peer evaluate, score, debrief and revise samples
 practice reading, annotating and composing
 provide self-evaluation
 receive teacher evaluation
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TOPIC
QUESTION
SAMPLE GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
PURPOSE
_ To Compare
_ To Contrast
_ To Show Cause
_ To Define
LEAD ( _ Unusual Fact
ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN
_ Order of Importance
_ Chronological Order
_ Anecdote
INTRODUCTION
_ Question _ Quotation)
BACKGROUND
THESIS (topic, claim, direction/support, universal idea/abstract noun, qualifier )
BODY PARAGRAPH I: (Paragraph Purpose: _ Compare _ Contrast _ Cause to _ Define)
Transition (Subordinator)
Topic Sentence (Direction 1, Claim, Detail, Word Glue to Universal Idea)
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
Significance
BODY PARAGRAPH II: (Paragraph Purpose: _ Compare _ Contrast _ Cause to _ Define)
Transition (Subordinator)
Topic Sentence (Direction 2, Claim, Detail, Word Glue to Universal Idea)
Detail
Detail
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Detail
Detail
Significance
BODY PARAGRAPH III: (Paragraph Purpose: _ Compare _ Contrast _ Cause to _ Define)
Transition (Subordinator)
Topic Sentence (Direction 3, Claim, Detail, Word Glue to Universal Idea)
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
Significance
BODY PARAGRAPH IV: (Paragraph Purpose: _ Compare _ Contrast _ Cause to _ Define)
Transition (Subordinator)
Topic Sentence (Direction 4, Claim, Detail, Word Glue to Universal Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
Significance
CONCLUSION
_ Significance
_ Relate to Modern World
_ Bookend from Introduction
_ Challenge