Grade 11 AP English Language and Composition: ENG 3UI
2011-2012
Note:
This is an abbreviated syllabus based on the one I submitted for the audit. The audit version contained more specific detail about the units, assignments and instructional activities.
Overview
This enriched course, designed to help sharpen close reading skills and to develop the student’s capability to compose university-level prose, both meets the Ministry of Education requirements at this grade level, and prepares students to write the English Language and Composition Advanced Placement exam in May. Students will read some imaginative literature, but in greater depth and with a focus on rhetoric, argumentation, and synthesis, and will encounter a significant number of non-fiction texts written in a variety of modes, genres, and contexts. Students will become increasingly comfortable working with purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies and increasingly skillful in their own use of the English language.
As an equivalent to a first-year university course, AP Language and Composition requires a commitment to independent learning and strong study skills. The focus in this course is on becoming a critical thinker and a “citizen rhetor” – an individual aware of the world around her and capable of communicating her ideas about it strongly and purposefully.
All students are expected to write the AP English Language and Composition exam. A Mock AP exam in early May counts as the course’s final exam and serves as preparation for the real exam later in May. There is no June final exam for this course.
Bibliography
Summer reading
Students read the following over the summer:
Maus I & Maus II by Art Spiegelman
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Four editorials/commentaries/essays from newspapers or issues-based magazines such as:
The Globe and Mail (newspaper)
The National Post (newspaper)
The New York Times (newspaper)
The Washington Post (newspaper)
The New Yorker (magazine)
Atlantic Monthly (magazine)
Harper’s (magazine)
The Economist (magazine)
Newsweek (magazine)
Salon.com (online magazine)
Course Materials
All students purchase and use copies of the following texts:
Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. (any edition)
Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.
Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 4th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
Mamet, David. Oleanna. (any edition)
Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. (any edition)
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Students choose one full-length non-fiction book for independent study. Suggested books may include:
Freakonomics (Levitt/Dubner)
Everything Bad Is Good For You (Johnson)
Nickel and Dimed (Ehrenreich)
Banker to the Poor (Yunus)
The World is Flat (Friedman)
The Trouble with Islam (Manji)
The World Without Us (Weisman)
The Shock Doctrine (Klein)
Slow Death by Rubber Duck (Smith/Lourie)
In Defense of Food (Pollan)
Students may also be assigned one or more additional full-length texts (fiction and/or non-fiction) for independent or class study to coincide with author visits, independent reading projects, etc., as time allows.
Students are provided with selections from sources such as the following:
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons. Gainesville: Maupin House, 2000.
DiYanni, Robert and Pat C. Hoy II. Frames of Mind. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Lunsford, Andrea A. and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s An Argument. 3e. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
Roskelly, Hephzibah and David Jolliffe. Everyday Use. United States: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Representative online resources:
NPR: This I Believe (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138)
The Onion (http://www.theonion.com)
Companion site to Pocket Style Manual (http://dianahacker.com/pocket)
Silva Rhetoricae – The Forest of Rhetoric (http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm)
Additional teacher resources include:
Norman, Ron. English Language and Literature – An Integrated Approach. Cheltenham, UK:
Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd., 1998.
Shea, Renee H. and Lawrence Scanlon. Teaching Nonfiction in AP English: A Guide to Accompany 50 Essays. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005.
Online materials, including available essays, websites, newspapers and periodicals as supplemental reading and instructional material.
Released AP Language and Composition exams and other exam material available on AP Central (open questions, student exemplars, etc.).
The College Board outlines the following curricular requirements for a course to be designated as “AP English Language and Composition”:
The course teaches and requires students to write in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects (e.g., public policies, popular culture, personal experiences).
The course requires students to write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by teacher and peers.
The course requires students to write in informal contexts (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses) designed to help them become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and of the techniques employed by the writers they read.
The course requires expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments that are based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres.
The course requires nonfiction readings (e.g., essays, journalism, political writing, science writing, nature writing, autobiographies/biographies, diaries, history, criticism) that are selected to give students opportunities to identify and explain an author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. If fiction and poetry are also assigned, their main purpose should be to help students understand how various effects are achieved by writers' linguistic and rhetorical choices. (Note: The College Board does not mandate any particular authors or reading list, but representative authors are cited in the AP English Course Description.)
The course teaches students to analyze how graphics and visual images both relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves.
The course teaches research skills, and in particular, the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources. The course assigns projects such as the researched argument paper, which goes beyond the parameters of a traditional research paper by asking students to present an argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas from an array of sources.
The course teaches students how to cite sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language Association, The Chicago Manual of Style, etc.)
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing assignments, both before and after the students revise their work, that help the students develop these skills:
A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively
A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination
Logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis
A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail
An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure
In the Unit Outlines that follow, College Board course expectations and activities have been labeled (in parentheses) according to these numbered expectations. These course expectations have been designed with the AP English Course Description in mind.
UNIT 1 – Finding Your Voice (September-mid-October)
Unit Focus: Essays and Modes of Writing; Close Reading and Analysis of Detail
This unit focuses on the essay as a form of expression and a process of reasoning, with an emphasis on the intricate connection between language and meaning, and on the different forms that essays may take. Students learn to identify, analyze, and emulate rhetorical devices within the various texts studied. Writing instruction aims to help students hone their own skills in expository, narrative, and persuasive writing.
Texts:
Maus I & II with supplementary excerpts from Understanding Comics (McCloud)
Henrietta Lacks (Skloot)
essays from 50 Essays (Cohen) and Frames of Mind (DiYanni/Hoy)
material from Voice Lessons (Dean)
handouts and online material
Pocket Style Manual (Hacker)
Assessments / Evaluations:
Terminology and annotation test (formative)
Expository writing pieces (self-definition)
AP English Language and Composition Expectations covered:
Introduction to non-fiction norms and genres (5)
Introduction to visual analysis (6)
Learn the terminology of rhetoric, analysis, and writing convention (9)
Analyze features of published expository essays, including increasingly complex texts (4, 5)
Identify a variety of essay structures beyond the 5-paragraph model (3, 4, 9)
Analyze their own choices and strategies in expository writing (3)
Receive peer feedback during the writing process (2)
Revise written work (2)
Receive teacher feedback during the writing process (2, 9)
Write informally (imitation, journaling, in-class responses) (3, 9)
UNIT 2 – Voices of Dissent: Problems and Solutions (October – February)
Unit Focus: Rhetorical Analysis and Argument
Discourse analysis is used to explore characterization, rhetoric and logic, and methods of persuasion used by characters in Antigone, Oleanna, and Pygmalion, as well as the power dynamics created by characters’ rebellion in different spheres: political, institutional, and personal. Complementary speeches (historical, contemporary) and other non-fiction texts introduce students to the principles of logic and rhetoric and provide them material with which to take a more critical approach to the dramatic texts. Discussions and rhetorical analyses of the dramatic works require close reading of focused scenes and use of textual evidence. Shaw’s critique of class and language provides a contrasting tone and leads to a study of persuasive speeches and satires, such as Zola’s “J’accuse” and Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, in which different rhetorical occasions demand different rhetorical approaches. Students write persuasive speeches and satirical social criticism, deliver their work orally, and are encouraged to read additional satirical texts outside class.
Texts:
Antigone (Sophocles)
Oleanna (Mamet)
Pygmalion (Shaw)
50 Essays (Cohen)
material from Language of Composition (Shea/Scanlon/Aufses), Everyday Use (Roskelly/Jolliffe)
and Everything’s An Argument (Lunsford)
handouts and online material
Pocket Style Manual
Assessments / Evaluations:
Scene performance and discourse analysis essay
Rhetorical analysis prompts
Argumentative/persuasive and satirical writing
Speech delivery
AP English Language and Composition Expectations covered:
Learn to identify and explain rhetorical strategies and techniques (9)
Read and analyze texts from a variety of periods and disciplines (5)
Read and analyze dramatic texts with a focus on the rhetorical effects of dialogue/discourse (5)
Read and analyze persuasive texts (5)
Read and analyze satirical texts (5, 6)
Analyze visual images as texts and in comparison with texts (6)
Write analytical essays (1, 3, 9)
Write argumentative and persuasive essays (1, 3, 4, 9)
Write comparative essays (1, 3, 9)
Research and cite literary, primary, and secondary sources according to MLA format (7, 8)
Synthesize multiple sources in the formation of arguments (3, 7, 9)
Analyze their own choices and strategies in expository writing (3)
Receive peer feedback during the writing process (2)
Revise written work (2)
Receive teacher feedback during the writing process (2, 9)
Write informally (imitation, journaling, in-class responses) (3, 9)
UNIT 3 – The “Citizen Rhetor” (March – June)
Unit Focus: The Novel and Media
Students read Oryx and Crake, examining the novels’ themes and discussing the significance of their messages in the context of contemporary times. Depending on time and the opportunities offered during a given year, students may also either read another dystopian novel for independent study OR prepare for a visiting author workshop by reading and completing work inspired by the reading of selected works by that author. Students will select and read independently a full-length non-fiction book about a contemporary issue that they may have encountered from previous reading of Henrietta Lacks or Oryx and Crake, or from other interests and courses. They will write a researched argument that evaluates and synthesizes information drawn from the book and from a variety of newspapers and periodicals, including visual material such as charts, graphs, and political cartoons. An additional documentary film requirement will connect to their selected issue and lead to a final assignment in May/June, following their practice AP exam in April.
Texts:
Oryx and Crake (Atwood)
independent reading (full-length non-fiction)
additional reading (dystopian novel or work by visiting author)
newspapers and periodicals
handouts and online materials
documentary films
Assessments / Evaluations:
“issues” synthesis argument with annotated bibliography
practice AP exam (equivalent to course final exam)
documentary film analysis (summative assignment)
tentative: independent reading dystopia work OR visiting author work
AP English Language and Composition Expectations covered:
Read fiction texts with an emphasis on making connections to societal and political concerns (5)
Read non-fiction texts about current events, politics, society and history (5, 6)
Read, analyze and create visual materials as informational and persuasive texts (6)
Write informally (journaling) (3)
Evaluate sources for perspective, relevance, and reliability (6, 7, 8)
Synthesize multiple sources in the formation of arguments / write researched argument essays (6, 7, 8)
Adapt writing using different voices / revise work (1, 2, 4)
Exam preparation (3, 9)