AP Language and Composition for AP Teachers – New
Course Description and Outline
Valerie Stevenson, College Board Consultant
OVERVIEW
The AP English Language and Composition summer institute is designed in keeping with College
Board’s dedication “to developing excellent college-level courses for high school students.” Our
goal is to present a rich variety of useful materials, share our expertise, and provide valuable
professional development. Participants will survey the common approaches to the course and
also consider how best to adapt those approaches to their particular students, existing
curriculum, and school setting. The goal is always to have a healthy blend of the big picture of
the course and practical strategies that answer that ever important question: But what do I do
on Monday?
During the week, we will cover the essentials of the course and the exam—critical reading and
writing, rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis. Beginning with the end in mind, we will
identify those skills necessary for students’ success and the strategies we can use to help them
along the way.
We will address how best to teach writing in the class. In order to add dimension to the label
“effective writing,” we will thoroughly discuss how much and what kinds of writing students
need to do. We will explore what is meant by “mature academic perspective” and a variety of
rhetorical modes as well as strategies to help students develop their own personal style and
voice. We will differentiate between the processes and practices of teaching the on-demand
writing required on the AP exam and the multi-draft writing necessary in any college freshman
composition course. Participants will be given writing feedback methods, teaching strategies,
and assignments suitable to each process. And there will be tips for the ever-present concern
about how to handle the paper load.
We will deal extensively with the test itself and its relative importance in developing and
teaching the course. We will look closely at the various types of questions on both the
multiple-choice and free-response essay sections of the exam. Participants will be trained to
use the nine-point AP scoring guide to read and score student papers “like an AP reader.”
COURSE REQUIREMENTS – WHAT TO EXPECT
 Attendance and Participation– Participants are expected to attend all sessions and fully
participate in all workshop activities including individual, small and large group work.
 Technology – Online work and exploration will be done largely out of class. Laptops are
not required. Participants will be encouraged to “stay in the room” during all sessions.
 Homework – Participants will be expected to complete an additional four hours of
homework outside the daily sessions including assigned readings, writings, and oral
reports. Those seeking college credit or professional development units will have
additional written assignments.
BROAD TOPICS OUTLINE
Day 1
 Introduction to Teaching AP Language and Composition: the course and exam basics;
key concepts of rhetoric and habits of mind for successful students; materials for
important strands in the class including summer reading assignments, independent
reading, vocabulary, and rhetorical grammar; ways to organize an AP Language course
and sample pacing guides; submitting a course syllabus for approval.
 College Board: resources and materials to support students and teachers; the equity
and access policy; an introduction to AP Central.
 Teaching Writing and Writing Management in AP English: methods for instruction,
feedback, and management of timed writing; the AP scoring guide and grading;
successful strategies for single-draft and multi-draft writing; a writing project for
teaching the rhetorical modes.
Day 2
 Rhetorical Analysis: the “arch method,” a fundamental methodology for prose passage
analysis; successful strategies, activities, and projects for strengthening students’ critical
reading and analytic skills.
 The AP Exam, Rhetorical Analysis Question: writing and evaluating effective rhetorical
analysis essays on the AP exam; read, score, and discuss student samples.
Day 3
 Argument as Exploration: “Everything’s an Argument”—what argument is and is not in
the AP Language curriculum; logic fallacies; successful strategies and classroom activities
to move argument “beyond debate.”
 The AP Exam, Argument Question: writing and evaluating effective argument essays on
the AP exam; read, score, and discuss student samples.
Day 4
 Researched Argument and the Synthesis Essay: dealing with the synthesis question
prompt—reading and pre-writing approaches; methods and strategies for teaching
synthesis skills; classroom projects to support synthesis skills in student work, synthesisrelated documentation and citation in the multiple choice section of the AP exam.
 Multiple-Choice: deconstructing the AP multiple-choice test; organizing and
implementing the multiple-choice strand in the class; test preparation and test-taking
strategies for students.