EL
SEGUNDO HIGH SCHOOL
COURSE OF STUDY
Course
Title: AP English Language
and Composition
Department: English
Grade
Level: 12
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to give to the student the necessary skills in analyzing and interpreting the elements of each genre of literature, writing well-organized, competent essays, including each of the domains required by the Advanced Placement exam, and emphasizing critical thinking. This course will engage students in becoming skilled readers of prose in a variety of periods, disciplines and rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and reading will make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. A major focus of this course will be to prepare the students for the English Language and Composition Advanced Placement Examination. This course will prepare the students to be successful when entering college and will address California State Standards.
Length: One year
Prerequisite
for Enrollment: An A in English 11 or a B
in English 11 Honors, a score of 76% or better on the STAR exam, a rubric score
of 5 or 6 on the English Diagnostic exam, and teacher recommendation (effort
grade). The student must meet all 4 criteria.
Type
of Course:
College preparatory and meets graduation requirements.
A. Literature:
1. The students will describe
and analyze the structural elements of all genre—drama, poetry, the short
story, the novel, and the essay. Equal emphasis will be placed on fiction and
nonfiction. Students will read a wide range of nonfiction, including biography,
autobiography, diary, critics, and essays on such subjects as politics, science
and nature.
2. The students will trace and
interpret similar themes through the works of several authors.
3. The students will read,
discuss and interpret a wide variety of major literary works. The main purpose
of reading such literature will be to aid students in understanding rhetorical
and linguistic choices.
4. The students will recognize
and evaluate ethical, aesthetic, and cultural values and identify and assess
political and social issues in a given work.
5. The students will become
aware of how stylistic effects are achieved by writer’s linguistic choices.
B. Language:
1. The students will describe
and analyze the elements of style and rhetoric, including diction, syntax,
figures of speech, tone, and mood in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction.
2. The students will extend and
refine their use of vocabulary through reading, writing, and discussion.
3. The students will utilize a variety
of strategies, such as group presentations, individual presentations, choral
reading, dialogues, and dramatic reenactments to enhance their vocabulary.
C. Writing:
1. The students will write a
minimum of six essays, one in each of the domains required by the Advanced
Placement exam: abstract concept, personal/classification, comparison/contrast,
cause and effect, argument, and persuasion.
2. The students will move
effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention
to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.
3. The students will
demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as
stylistic maturity in their own writing.
4. The students will write in a
variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing appropriate
conventions. These will include imitation exercises, journal keeping,
collaborative writing, and in-class responses.
5. The students will practice
timed writing in preparation for the Advanced Placement examination.
6. The students will practice
and refine the conventions of grammar and usage in their writing.
7. The students will analyze
and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author’s
use of rhetorical strategies and techniques.
8. The students will apply
effective strategies and techniques in their own writing.
9. The students will create and
sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience.
A. Students will read at least seven novels and plays, as well as a variety of nonfiction passages and essays. The students will write a minimum of ten papers in various rhetorical modes and of various lengths. They will use a number of different strategies, such as individual and small groups, to teach concepts and works to the class. The instructor will utilize lecture, Socratic discussion, and technology, among other strategies. Students will critique and correct their classmates’ papers, according to given rubrics.
A.
Students will be evaluated on both formal and informal basis. Writing will be
evaluated by the instructor, as well as by peers and by the student
himself/herself. Students will be required to apply the techniques of writing
taught through the writing process.
B.
Students will be given quizzes and tests to check for understanding of the
literature and to determine the students’ ability to interpret what they have
read and to make higher level connections.
C.
Students will be responsible for reading the literature assigned and for the
writing assignments determined by the instructor. Students will be responsible
for group projects and reports.
D. Students are expected to attend class regularly and to participate constructively in classroom activities.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
A. The main textbook is Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide.
B. An appropriate selection of titles from world literature will be read and analyzed.