English 11 AP Language and Composition – Course Syllabus T.N.Towslee – Rm. 213
Glen Allen High School 2013-2014
The following is a general overview of things you need to know to have a successful and productive year. This document and any updates will be available on SchoolSpace and on the class web page:
http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/aplanguage
I also regularly post supplementary readings and reminders on Twitter: @tntowsleeAPLang
Philosophy:
It is Glen Allen High School’s mission to provide a rigorous curriculum focusing on twenty-first century skills geared toward creativity, innovation, and literacy. While we will prepare students for standardized tests, that is not the end goal of instruction. All too often, we look at the products of great innovation, but we seldom get to see the rough drafts, flawed prototypes, and complete failures that sent the greatest thinkers and designers back to their drawing boards and workshops. Standardized tests follow this model: they ask for the right answer, but completely disregard the handful of obstacles and wrong answers that students have to overcome in order to get to those right answers. This class is specifically designed to prepare students to think beyond the bubble sheet in order to solve more real-world, open-ended problems, providing students with opportunities to take risks with their thinking and learn from their mistakes. Creativity, innovation, and literacy are not instinctual; they have to be honed through practice, trial, and error. It is through this practice, trial, and error that we will find and feed our natural talents. That said, please do not be afraid to be wrong; it is an important part of the learning process.
Course Description:
The AP Language and Composition course at Glen Allen High School follows requirements established by the College Board in order to ensure that the course meets the expectations and standards of colleges and universities throughout the world. Students in AP Language and Composition read and carefully analyze a broad range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works with the same level of skill and sophistication of thought as they would in a first-year composition course in college. Through close reading of a variety of prose styles and genres and frequent expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments, students develop their ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing skills. Students will examine and work with essays, letters, speeches, cartoons, paintings, advertisements, and other primarily nonfiction texts. Students will also prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam. This course prepares students for success in college coursework across many fields of study and, with a qualified score of 3 or better on the AP Exam, replaces the introductory composition course at many colleges and universities worldwide. Students choosing to take AP English Language and Composition must understand that the course is designed to give students the opportunity to take a college-level course while still in high school.
AP Language and Composition Exam – May 9, 2014
Texts:
The following texts will be supplemented with readings from various newspapers, magazines, websites, and other sources. Several units will be supplemented with viewings of documentary films and television footage.
Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2004.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner, 2004.
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for College. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. 1951. New York: Little, Brown, 1991.
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s,
2008.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1885. New York: Signet Classics, 2008.
Course Plan (Readings and Dates subject to change):
Marking Period 1
Overview of AP course/Introduction to rhetoric (Week 1-2)
· Readings
o Ch. 1-3 Language of Composition
o “We Choose to Go to the Moon” by JFK (handout)
o “The Value of Science” by Richard Feynman (handout)
o “The Bird and the Machine” (p. 601 LOC)
o “The Method of Scientific Investigation” by T.H. Huxley (p.609 LOC)
· Tools
o SOAPSTone
o DIDLS
o Rhetorical Seismograph
o Say What?/So What?
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Rhetorical Analysis
· Major Paper #1
o The Right Stuff rhetorical analysis (extension of Summer Reading)
Identity and Voice – What is the relationship between language and identity? (Week 3-5)
· Readings
o “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell (p.979 LOC)
o “Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharti Mukherjee (p. 272 50E)
o “There is No Unmarked Woman” by Deborah Tannen (p. 409 50E)
o “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples (p.362 50E)
o “The ‘F Word’” by Firoozeh Dumas (handout)
o “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs (p. 231 50E)
o “Notes of a Native Speaker” by Eric Liu (p. 205 50E)
o “What are Homosexuals For? by Andrew Sullivan (p. 380 50E)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Rhetorical Analysis
· Major Paper #2
o Language and Identity – argument essay
Education – To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true education? (Week 6-9)
· Readings
o “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” by Francine Prose (p. 89 LOC)
o from Education by Ralph Waldo Emerson (p. 102 LOC)
o from Experience and Education by John Dewey (handout)
o “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass (p. 100 50E)
o “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X (p. 245 50E)
o “The Value of a College Degree” by Katherine Porter (handout)
o “The Case Against College” by Linda Lee (handout)
o “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin
o “Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot (p. 113 LOC)
o “School” by Kyoko Mori (p. 130 LOC)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Rhetorical Analysis
· Documentary Film Study (bridging rhetorical analysis and argument, and MP1 and MP2)
o Waiting for Superman
o New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Huffington Post reviews and criticism
· Major Paper #3
o Argument essay on value of public education
Marking Period 2
Language – How does the language we use reveal who we are? (Week 10-13)
· Readings
o “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift (p.914 LOC)
o “This Amazing and Troubling Book” by Toni Morrison (handout)
o The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
o “Light Out, Huck, They Still Want to Sivilize You” by Michiko Kakutani (handout)
o “Send Huck Finn to College” by Lorrie Moore (handout)
o Political Cartoon on Huckleberry Finn by Mike Luckovich (handout)
o Illustrations from original publication of Huckleberry Finn
o 60 Minutes - “Huckleberry Finn and the N-Word” (video)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Synthesis
· Major Paper #4
o Synthesis essay on Huck Finn (synthesis/researched argument)
The World Around Us – What is the relationship of the individual to the world? (Week 14-18)
· Readings
o “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau (p. 939 LOC)
o “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. (p.260 LOC)
o “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell (p.529 LOC)
o “The Destruction of Culture” by Chris Hedges (handout)
o “On Seeing England for the First Time” (p.904 LOC)
o “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell (handout)
o “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” by Sarah Vowell (handout)
o from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (p. 798 LOC)
o “Against Nature” by Joyce Carol Oates (p.840 LOC)
o Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
o Various Political Cartoons (handout & online)
o Guernica(painting) by Pablo Picasso (p.974 LOC)
o “Harper’s Index” (handout)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o A Conversation on Colonialism
· Major “Paper” #5 (carries over to MP3)
o Follow the Columnist
Marking Period 3
Work – How does our work shape or influence our lives? (Week 19-22)
· Readings
o from Serving in Florida by Barbara Ehrenreich (p.179 LOC)
o from In the Strawberry Fields by Eric Schlosser (handout)
o “The Atlanta Exposition Address” by Booker T. Washington (p.191 LOC)
o “Guest Workers and the U.S. Heritage” by Jay Bookman (handout)
o “We Don’t Need ‘Guest Workers’” by Robert J. Samuelson
o “The Traveling Bra Salesman’s Lesson” by Claudia O’Keefe (p.205 LOC)
o “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner (handout)
o “The Surgeon as Priest” by Richard Selzer (p.197 LOC)
o “The Case for Working with Your Hands” by Matthew B. Crawford (handout)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Rhetorical Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis
Play – To what extent do our leisure activities reflect our society’s values? (Week 23-26)
· Readings
o “High School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” by David Denby (p. 709 LOC)
o “I was a Member of the Kung Fu Crew” by Henry Han Xi Lau (handout)
o “We Talk, You Listen” by Vine Deloria, Jr. (p. 727 LOC)
o Reel Injun (film)
o “Godzilla vs. the Giant Scissors” by Brent Staples (p. 723 LOC)
o “Television: The Plug-In Drug” by Marie Winn (p. 465 50E)
o “Lights and Wires in a Box” by Edward R. Murrow (handout)
o “Hip Hop Planet” by James McBride (handout)
o “Dreaming America” by Danyel Smith (p.734 LOC)
o “Retreat in the iWorld” by Andrew Sullivan (handout)
o “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead” by Chuck Klosterman (handout)
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
o Synthesis prompt on Popular Culture
· Major Paper #6
o Conversation on Work or Popular Culture (Play)
Marking Period 4
AP Language Exam Prep – How can we put it all together to show the AP exam who’s boss? (Week 27-30)
· Readings
o Released AP Language exam passages (handouts)
· In-class writing assignments
o Released AP exam rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis essays
· Major Paper #7
o American Rhetoric Presentation
Crash Course in American Literature: How does Literature model society? (Week 31-36)
· Readings
o The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
o The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
· In-class writing assignments
o Responses to readings
· Major Paper #8
o Literary Analysis of The Great Gatsby and/or The Catcher in the Rye
Writing/Research:
As this is a composition course, we will spend a great deal of time with the structure and craft of writing this year. We will be writing several expository, analytical, and argumentative papers, many of which will rely on research as evidence in supporting said argument. We will work to hone research methods and documentation (MLA, APA, and Chicago styles) throughout the year. The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an invaluable reference in these areas. Students can expect to write no fewer than eight major papers over the course of the year. These major papers will result from work across several stages of the writing process from planning to drafting to revision. Students will work independently, with peers, and with their instructors through each of these steps to produce polished, college-level work.
In addition to more structured writing assignments, there will be many informal and timed writing assignments intended to help students develop personal writing styles through modeling, react to texts in a thought-provoking manner, and reflect on individual development as an informed citizen. All in all, students can expect to write in class nearly every day on some level.
Reading (this includes a quarterly assignment, so don’t skip this section):
It has been proven time and again that one of the best ways to become a great writer is by being a great reader. Furthermore, research shows that well-honed reading and writing skills provide students with advantages not only in high school (in classes and on standardized tests), but in college and career worlds as well. Throughout the year we will read a wide variety of nonfiction essays, articles, biographies, editorials, letters, etc., both in and outside of class. In addition to works assigned in class, students will choose one book to read outside of class each marking period. In order to better prepare students for success in subsequent AP and college English courses, I will provide a list of texts that have appeared on previous AP Literature exams. Students may check out titles from the school or county libraries, purchase them at area book stores (I recommend Chop Suey in Carytown for inexpensive used books), or borrow them from our classroom library. Glen Allen High School Open Book Society selections are acceptable titles for this assignment, but texts read for other classes –past or present— will not be accepted for credit. Works not appearing on the provided list, other than Open Book Society selections, must be submitted for teacher approval by the interim of each marking period. While there will not be assignments associated with these texts, students will be required to submit a Major Work Data Sheet (see SchoolSpace) as an accountability measure for each book for a minor grade. Students should archive completed Major Work Data Sheets for future use in preparation for the AP Literature and Composition exam.
Discussion:
We will have discussions on all class readings in forms ranging from the less formal open discussion to the more formal Socratic seminar. Students are responsible for preparing notes for all readings prior to class in order to participate in these discussions. These notes will be checked periodically for daily grades.
Student Organization:
Students are required to keep their notes and class materials organized. Since this is a college-level course, students are expected to take personal responsibility for this organization, so there will not be a grade assigned to the notebook, nor specific requirements for its organization. Many documents will be delivered digitally, but some will come to you in hardcopy. Due to the course’s rigor and time constraints, all distributed documents should be deemed important to the course.
Google Drive:
Students will submit most assignments digitally via the Google Drive. Students will create folders and share them with their teacher as soon as laptops are available. Assignments are not considered submitted until they are in the appropriately shared folder. All assignments must be submitted to the student folder by the beginning of class on the due dates; any assignments turned in after the beginning of class (even if the student is absent) are considered late and subject to the late work policy. Any assignments may be turned in on paper, on time, without penalty.