AP English

This course is a college level course, which encompasses the analysis of rhetorical strategies in American prose writing and a broad composition program. Students examine the composing process, write in a variety of styles and purposes, and evaluate and synthesize sources for their own compositions.

AP English Language and Composition course 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. The course cultivates the rhetorical understanding and use of written language by directing students’ attention to writer/reader interactions in their reading and writing of various formal and informal genres (e.g., memos, letters, advertisements, political satires, personal narratives, scientific arguments, cultural critiques, research reports).

Reading and writing activities in the course also deepen students’ knowledge and control of formal conventions of written language (e.g., vocabulary, diction, syntax, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, genre). The course helps students understand that formal conventions of the English language in its many written and spoken dialects are historically, culturally, and socially produced; that the use of these conventions may intentionally or unintentionally contribute to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a piece of writing in a particular rhetorical context; and that a particular set of language conventions defines Standard Written English, the preferred dialect for academic discourse.

Required summer- and nine-weeks-breaks reading, writing, and research assignments must be expected. The AP English III student is expected to read advanced literature selections of great depth and to manage a variety of independent readings outside of the regular class time. Students can expect to purchase some of the paperback reading selections themselves during the year beginning with the summer reading requirement. Summer reading is a prerequisite to the course. Students who do not complete the summer reading assignment will be dismissed from the course and assigned to a standard level English III class.

Students who anticipate a transfer to a PCSS school from another school are responsible for checking with the school officials on duty during the summer break to make arrangements for picking up information pertaining to the required summer reading for a course. All honors level teachers leave instruction packets and materials with the main office staff and/or the guidance office, and the summer assignments are also posted on the individual teacher web sites.Questions about summer reading should be directed to individual teachers of the class in question through the teacher web site or via email.

All AP English III/Language and Composition students will take comprehensive nine-weeks exams and a comprehensive semester exam each term.

Exam Fee: $95.00 (approximately)

Prerequisite: AP English Literature and Composition is an open enrollment course; however, students must complete the summer reading requirements to retain a seat in the class.

ll students enrolled in AP English Literature and Composition must take the AP exam for this course at the end of the year in May. Cost for the exam is approximately $95.00, payable when school begins for the fall term. Students who qualify for free/reduced lunch may apply for scholarships to cover the AP exam fees. Student must have FRL approval yearly by Aug. 1 to qualify for this scholarship.

Fees: Students and parents bear the cost of the AP examination fees (approximately $95.00 per exam). Additionally, students will purchase some paperback editions of the specified AP English Language and Composition course guide and some of the paperback novels/plays essential to complete the course requirements.

This course is a college level course, which encompasses the critical analysis of imaginative English literature and an intensive composition program. Student writing will reinforce the reading and foster mastery of style, form, research techniques, and the use of Standard American English.

The AP English Literature and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works.

The AP English Language and Literature student is expected to read advanced literature selections of great depth and to manage a variety of independent readings outside of the regular class time. Students can expect to purchase some of the paperback reading selections themselves during the year beginning with the summer reading requirement. Summer reading is a pre-requisite to the course. Students who do not complete the summer reading assignment will be dismissed from the course and assigned to a standard level English IV class.

Students who anticipate a transfer to a PCSS school from another school are responsible for checking with the school officials on duty during the summer break to make arrangements for picking up information pertaining to the required summer reading for a course. All honors level teachers leave instruction packets and materials with the main office staff and/or the guidance office, and the summer assignments are also posted on the individual teacher web sites.Questions about summer reading should be directed to individual teachers of the class in question through the teacher web site or via email.

AP English IV/Literature and Composition is designed for the serious student who is able to manage time well and to commit to working through a vigorous course of study. Therefore, careful consideration is necessary before reserving a seat in this class. All students will take a nine-week comprehensive exam and an eighteen-week comprehensive exam at the end of each term.