Course Description & Overview

This is a college level course that focuses on critical thinking, reading, and writing through the study and discussion of narrative, expository, analytical, argumentative, and creative writing. Emphasis will be placed on the student's organization, personal and creative writing, research skills, discourse, vocabulary, reading, and control of language. Students will write effectively and confidently and will become skilled readers of pieces written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts. One focus will be on American Literature and another will be on nonfiction works from a variety of sources. Students will also develop an understanding of how to read footnotes and how to read non-print materials such as pictures, comics, and graphs. The AP Language and Composition course assumes that students already understand and use Standard English grammar. This intense concentration on language use in the course will enhance students’ abilities to use grammatical conventions appropriately and with sophistication. 

AP English Language and Composition is both demanding and intellectually stimulating. It requires your best effort consistently and emphasizes your development of thought and mature habits of critical thinking. Classroom discussion and participation are vital. Written assignments, both short and long term, will be an important and frequent feature of the course. You are expected to work with considerable independence at home and to contribute frequently to small groups and class discussions.

Attached, you will find a tentative list of major works for the year, classroom procedures and rules, class and school policies regarding attendance, as well as an outline of consequences and grades. Feel free to contact me using the information below if you have any questions. Please review this letter with your student, sign, and return the last page. 

Course of Events 

We will focus on building students’ skills in Argument, Rhetorical Analysis, and Synthesis while studying primarily nonfiction texts. The year will be broken down into nine units:

• Unit 1: Rhetorical Analysis, Introduction to Course
• Unit 2: Argument
• Unit 3: Synthesis
• Unit 4: Rhetorical Analysis 2
• Unit 5: Argument 2
• Unit 6: Synthesis 2
• Unit 7: Rhetorical Analysis 3 
• Unit 8: Argument & Synthesis
• Unit 9: AP BOOTCAMP!