2024-2025 Syllabus
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Instructor: Mrs. Taylor
Course Location: Dover High School Room 200
Email: stephanie.taylor@doverschools.net
Course Description:
An AP course in English Language and Composition cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing students do in the course should deepen and expand their understanding of how written language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers' intentions and elicit readers' responses in particular situations.
*This course is designed to meet the curricular demands set forth in the AP English Course Description, available at collegeboard.com
Course Goals:
• Build critical reading and analytical skills
• Develop a college-level vocabulary
• Produce writing that is clear, insightful, organized, and mechanically correct
• Develop a thorough understanding of the use of rhetoric and be able to apply it to own writing
• Thoroughly prepare students to pass the A.P. Language Exam
Classroom Policies and Procedures
Cell Phones - Cell phone use is not permitted on Dover High School's campus. See handbook for disciplinary action.
Classroom Procedures -
Please remain seated in your assigned seat through the duration of the class period. If you need any assistance or have a specific need that would require you to leave your assigned seat please ask before you do so.
You will be required to fill sign out before leaving the room for any reason.
You are not allowed to keep any supplies/textbooks/binders in the classroom.
Due to the majority of our assignments being online, you will need to have your computer charged and ready for use everyday.
Classwork Policy - Late work will be accepted for half credit one week after the due date that is listed in eSchool by the teacher. After the one week grace period, the student will receive a zero. Extenuating circumstances will need to be brought to the attention of the teacher.
KINDNESS Policy - Rude or disrespectful comments towards the teacher or other students will not be tolerated. If a student makes a rude or disrespectful comment, they will be required to say two genuinely nice things about the person the comment was directed towards. Our new philosophy will be “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” All students are expected to be kind and respectful towards others in the class.
All students are expected to follow all rules and procedures listed in the student handbook.
Course Units:
These units serve as guidelines to help students prepare for class discussions and assignments. The learning goals listed are introduced in detail in each unit but will continually be addressed throughout all units. Any changes to the tasks will be outlined before the beginning of the unit.
Unit One: Foundations of Rhetorical Analysis
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
1.A Identify and describe components of the rhetorical situation: the exigence, audience, writer, purpose, context, and message.
3.A Identify and explain claims and evidence within an argument.
4.A Develop a paragraph that includes a claim and evidence supporting the claim.
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Unit Two: Argument
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
1.B Explain how an argument demonstrates understanding of an audience's beliefs, values, or needs.
2.B Demonstrate an understanding of an audience's beliefs, values, or needs.
3.B Identify and describe the overarching thesis of an argument, and any indication it provides of the argument's structure.
4.B Write a thesis statement that requires proof or defense and that may preview the structure of the argument.
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Unit Three: Establishing A Line of Reasoning / Synthesis
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
5.A Describe the line of reasoning and explain whether it supports an argument's overarching thesis.
6.A Develop a line of reasoning and commentary that explains it thoughout an argument.
5.C Recognize and explain the use of methods of development to accomplish a purpose.
6.C Use appropriate methods of development to advance an argument.
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Unit Four: Essay Components
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
2.A Write introductions and conclusions appropriate to the purpose and context of the rhetorical situation.
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Unit Five: Organization
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
5.B Explain how the organization of a text creates unity and coherence and reflects a line of reasoning.
6.B Use transitional elements to guide the reader through the line of reasoning of an argument.
7.A Explain how word choice, comparisons, and syntax contribute to the specific tone or style of a text.
8.A Strategically use words, comparison, and syntax to convey a specific tone or style in an argument.
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Unit Six: Elements of Argumentation
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
3.C Explain ways claims are qualified through modifiers, counterarguments, or alternative perspectives.
4.C Qualify a claim using modifiers, counterarguments, or alternative perspectives.
7.B Explain how writers create, combine, and place independent and dependent clauses to show relationships between and among ideas.
8.B Write sentences that clearly convey ideas and arguments.
7.C Explain how grammar and mechanics contribute to clarity and effectiveness of an argument.
8.C Use established conventions of grammar and mechanics to communicate clearly and effectively.