AP Language & Composition

Mrs. Katie Auman
Fort Collins High School

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Course Description & Goals 

(NOTE: This curriculum has been approved by the College Board via the AP Course Audit process, May 2007)

Description: An Intense Intellectual Experience

Critical, open-minded, skeptical, “out of the box” reading and writing that opens a dialogue with the author, with yourself, and with your reader;
Examine and interact with multiple perspectives on a variety of topics;
Writing and reading will include all of the recognized rhetorical modes: description, example, compare/contrast, division/classification, definition, process analysis, causal analysis, argument, and persuasion;
Critical reading of nonfiction writing, primarily essays from the 16th century to today;
Critical reading and analysis of U.S. literature, both fiction and nonfiction;
Preparation for the Advanced Placement Language & Composition test.

Goals of AP Language & Composition

• Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining the author’s use of rhetorical strategies and techniques;
• Apply effective strategies and techniques in your own writing;
• Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research and/or personal experience
• Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in your writing;
•Write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing appropriate conventions;
• Produce expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explanations, and clear transitions;
• Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revision, editing, and review.

Upon completing this course, students should be able to:

• Analyze and interpret good writing; identify and explain author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques in an historical context.
• Apply effective strategies and techniques to their own writing.
• Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and experiences
• Demonstrate mastery of standard written English and stylistic maturity in their own writings.
• Write in a variety of genres and contexts


Prerequisites: There is no formal prerequisite for this course. However, students may not enroll in the second semester U.S. Literature segment without the first semester elective credit.

Pre-AP World Literature and Composition is strongly recommended. At the teacher discretion, summer assignments may be made to judge the motivation of the student. We feel it is important that any student be able to select this course based on their own analysis of ability and need. Those skills should include close reading skills, organization skills for formal and timed writings, terms of rhetorical analysis, multiple choice reasoning skills, perspectives on historical and cultural events, and composition strategies.

 


 

Link to Blackboard for SafeAssignment

READER'S NOTEBOOK

Your reader's notebook is a critical component of this class. Please review the requirements and suggestions for keeping the RN.

Reader's Notebook

 

 



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