Correa's Hacienda - AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE & COMP.

Welcome to AP English Language and Composition!

AP English Language and Composition Exam - Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Please browse through the contents of this site regularly and familiarize yourself with all the material. I hope to use the site as the main source of information and materials for the course.

You can visit the course home page HERE and review the AP English Course Description (pdf). You should pay particular attention to pages 7-13, as they cover a couple of changes to the exam (a rephrasing of the synthesis free response question and to the multiple choice scoring). You can also review the sample multiple choice and free response questions that follow.


February, 2012

I will attempt to encapsulate the method to the madness in somewhat large helpings here. Please keep track of reading and writing assignments as they are posted here. It is your responsibility to question and/or get clarification about assignments from me, not from your friends or the every-popular "everyone." This nebulous being does not evaluate your performance (he/she does not give grades). Therefore, you should not count on this fictional creature to dictate how you conduct your scholarly business.

*The reading list below will be cumulative. In other words, you should have read everything that is on it. 


READ - This activity should involve care and delight. It should also involve notes and annotation. Always. (Current entries in bold)

• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• "The New Negro" by Alaine Locke (from the Univ. of Wisconsin site)
  
• A REVIEW by Saul Bellow of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
• A biographical ARTICLE about Ellison's correspondence
• A poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar
• An image of the opening scene in the novel
  
• ALL handouts for The Great Gatsby ("Downloads" page)
  
• Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
  
• Marks, Genet, "If I Were a Poor Black Kid" (link HERE)
• Peitzman, Louis, "If I Were a Middle Aged White Man" (link HERE)
  
• Emerson, "The American Scholar" Quiz - download HERE
  
• Plunkitt of Tammany Hall - download HERE
  
• Research materials and assignment guidelines for Frederick Douglass project (on the "Downloads" page)
  
• Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. You can find an online version HERE.
  
• Emerson, "The American Scholar" - download the text HERE.
  
• Sources for synthesis question assignment
  
• Weekly article for analysis - download the assignment HERE.
• Publius, Federalist 10 and 51 (on the "Downloads" page)
• Cincinnatus, Anti-Federalist 12 (on the "Downloads" page)
  
• Sedaris, "Me Talk Pretty One Day"
• John Locke, from the Second Treatise of Government (Chapters 4, 13, 18 - posted on "Downloads" page)
• Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death
• Plato, "Allegory of the Cave," from The Republic (posted on "Downloads" page)
• All handouts on "Downloads" page
• Handouts on "Standards" page

THINK - These thoughts will be often translated (by you) into writing which should clearly and effectively express them.

• How does your ability to evaluate information, different texts and evidence function as a tool for writing?
• Describe effective writing.
  
• How does the author's intent factor into your evaluation of text? Is that intent considered argument? If so, what are the elements used to make these arguments? How are they used?
  
• Does greed play a role in our political and personal lives? How does this effect social and political systems?
• What is the "American Dream"? Has that dream changed? How?
  
• How does an awareness of political power (and its abuses) help shape analytical thinking?
  
• Context and connections are important factors in the analysis and creation of effective argument. How does consistent, focused thinking affect the understanding of context and how thematic connections are made?
  
• How does the review and analysis of evidence contribute to the creation of effective argument?
  
• What is argument? How is it most effectively created? How is it sustained?
  
• What is visual rhetoric? How can it be created and used effectively?
  
• How can fiction/narrative be rhetorical and effectively persuasive?
  
• Is an intellectual existence necessary to maintain a "civil" society?
  
• What impact does the rhetoric have on contemporary issues?
• What is the future of political discourse in the United States?
• What is the "American Dream"?
• How has the Dream changed over the years?
• What is the state of the American Dream today?

You should also THINK about these questions throughout the year:

• How is effective argument constructed?
• Why is rhetoric important to all writers in all fields?
• How does the selection of "appropriate evidence" impact the development of argument and your ability to sustain that argument?
• What is an effective "concession"?

WRITE - The standards for writing are tough but fair. They will be applied to all form of writing. Your work should reflect your desire to do well.

• News or OP/ED article for analysis - due Monday, February 13
  
• Gatsby Newspaper Project (due Wednesday, February 8)
  
• Gatsby Essay (due Wednesday, February 1)
  
• Analysis Essay - download HERE
  
• AP Writing - evidence evaluation, 2007 exam (hw)
  
• AP Writing - Synthesis practice (in class)
  
• AP Synthesis question - source evaluation (hw)
  
• Emerson, "The American Scholar" Quiz
  
• Writer's Notebook - Thanksgiving by Jon Stewart
  
• Douglass AP prompts annotation (due ASAP)
  
• Artist statement, script, visual for Frederick Douglass project (due Tuesday, November 15)
  
• Synthesis question assignment and essay (due Tuesday, November 1)
  
• TAKS Benchmark, or "Interim Assessment"
  
• Almost-daily reflections/musings/analysis in response to prompts
• Weekly news/op-ed analysis (due each Monday)
• AP timed writing
  

PLEASE NOTE: Although I am not unaware of the demands placed on our students by all classes at TAG, I am fully aware of the time necessary to complete a writing assignment for this course. Students who do not treat writing as a process and who do not perform due diligence will be spending more sleepless nights working frantically to complete writing assignments. However, these nights will most likely be for naught since an assignment that is hastily written will not do nearly as well as one that is prepared properly. All assignments and due dates will be posted here. Please call or email if you have any questions.

ALSO NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, ALL out-of-class assignments are due before 9:00 am on the due date. There will be very few, if any, exceptions.