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 The AP Language and Composition course explores a variety of American texts through which students learn close-reading and analysis skills.  The purpose of the course, as stated by College Board’s AP English Course Description, “is to enable students to write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives.”  The students read both nonfiction and fiction works by American authors in order to achieve a higher level of learning and analysis.  Students are instructed in the different forms and functions of rhetoric in order to analyze written works, as well as to write on various topics through argumentation, narration, exposition, and analytical writings. 

Through the completion of the AP Language and Composition course and the achievement of a passing score on the AP exam in May, students have the opportunity to earn a college English credit while still in high school.  Furthermore, students receive an additional quality point above the honors quality point on his/her high school transcript. Although AP courses are more rigorous and demanding – requiring more reading and writing at a higher level of thinking – they can also be the most rewarding. 

During one semester, this course combines the requirements for English 11 Honors (brief overview of American Literature Movements/Units, outside readings, and the Junior Research paper) with the study and preparation for the AP Language and Composition Exam in May (multiple choice questions concerning analysis of nonfiction texts and three essays demonstrating composition skills).  This requires students to manage study time for projects, readings, and assignments. 

A typical AP Language Week would most likely include the following:

Ø      Two Quizzes (25 terms per quiz) covering literary or rhetorical terms used on the AP Exam (Ex. simile, personification, understatement, parallelism, diction, syntax, etc.)

Ø      Two or three reading selections (15-20 pages each) from the Bedford Reader or English textbook which will be discussed and analyzed in class (reading is completed independently outside of class)

Ø      Analysis/discussion of an outside reading assignment (100 pages per week)

Ø      Daily in-class preparation for the AP multiple choice and written analysis using Nancy Dean’s Voice Lessons 

In addition, throughout the semester students will be assigned the following items with advance notification:

Ø      Four essays/writing assignments (expository, narrative, analytical, creative)

Ø      English Research Paper

File AP Language First day.ppt (PPT 28 KB)
AP Language Parent Open House (PPT 30 KB)
AP Debate Day Explanation (DOC 39 KB)
AP Debate Worksheet (DOCX 14 KB)
AP Language Syllabus- Spring 2011 (DOC 50 KB)

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