Note: THIS IS A COLLEGE LEVEL CLASS. All students must sign up for this Fall and take the College Board AP English Language exam in May of 2010 to fulfill the requirements of the class. It is essential that every student establish and maintain Internet contact with the teacher and the class web site either at home or on campus; assistance in obtaining and setting up home Internet access is available through the teacher. Access is available in room 35, 8:00 - 8:10 a.m., during 4th period, at lunch time.and within 15 minutes immediately after school most days of the week, and is available at the Oakland Public Library during its normal hours.
Objectives:
The objectives of AP English Language are 1) to prepare students to
write college level essays by a) practicing the writing of argumentative and
analytical (both process and structural) rhetorical modes, b) developing thought
processes and composition habits conducive to clear writing, c) reading and
discussing college level essay models in each rhetorical mode, and d) practicing
the craft of writing paying attention to purpose, diction, style, tone, audience,
form, structure, syntax and grammar; 2) to acquaint the students with
and inform them of the chronological history of American thought and letters
from the Romantic period through 1970 with special emphasis on African American
contributions to thought and literature all as a means of showing the relationship
of contemporary thought with earlier traditions; 3) to increase student
academic vocabulary both in breadth through the learning of new words and
in depth through the study of affixes and roots, etymology, historical influences,
word relationships, grammatical variants, and gradation of meaning and connotation;
4) to allow each student to experience intellectual interaction with
his/her peers in argumentation, discussion, discovery and evaluation modes
of academic thinking and speaking through Socratic seminars and argumentative
forums and debates; and, finally, and perhaps most importantly, 5)
to train students to use literary and academic research and argumentation
published by others to inform and illuminate their own positions on social
and academic topics and issues and to maturely present those positions using
argumentative supports from the academic and literate community.
Activities:
Reading: Texts: Our texts are The Norton Reader, a compendium
of historical and contemporary (through 1996) thought and argument from noted
American (and some non-American writers in English) essayists-organized according
to the rhetorical modes we study; the New York Times on-line edition;and
The Collected Writings of James Baldwin, a sampling of the best and
most provocative thought of a premier African American intellectual who we
will study in depth during the second semester. Use will also be made of Mr.
Samuel Cohen's 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology; and, finally, everything's
an argument by Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz and Walters. Students are expected
to read constantly from the first day - even before the first day - and to
as required respond orally and in writing to the material during Socratic
seminars, formal and informal debates, argumentative exercises and through
reading responses for each reading assigned. .
Outside reading: Extensive outside reading is required. During the
summer, or during the month of September for new students and those who were
unable to complete the summer reading and response, the students complete
one synthesis essay based on original research and prepare for an initial
team-debate with three other students on an assigned topic. During the academic
year students read for the junior project eight works of fiction or drama
representing the early 19th century to the present time in American letters.
Students will certifiy completion in several forms assigned for each period.
In addition, the students read at least three critical evaluations of each
work to augment their own ideas and position on the meaning and style of each
work. Finally, as time allows, several works of fiction or drama are read
by the entire class from the following list: Moby Dick, The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn, Street Car Named Desire, Maggie Girl of the Streets,
The Sound and the Fury, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Our Town, The Children's
Hour, The Hairy Ape, The Great Gatsby, Zoo Story, True West, Fences, and/or
The Crucible. These works represent, as best as any works will, the
development of American literary thought and practice. Other works may be
summarily read as time allows: The Bear, Native Son, and The Ballad
of the Sad Café.
Writing: Students will practice writing in at least five different
ways: a) timed in-class essays in several rhetorical modes prompted by College
Board AP Literature questions
from AP exams between 1981 and 2005 in addition to teacher-created synthesis
essays using sources provided. The frequency of the timed writings increase
as the test date in May approaches; b) "out of class" essays of
two types: Critical Papers and Creative Papers. Each marking period the students
will author (brainstorm, organize, rough out, edit or peer edit, revise and
publish) a paper of critical inquiry on one of six rhetorical modes detailed
in Norton Reader AND will author (as above) a creative paper emulating
the style of one of the professional models in one of the six rhetorical modes.
c) a short form and long research/analysis paper (the junior project), and
d) detailed responses to daily assigned readings, outside reading (junior
porject), self-evaluations of the responses and revisions of the same as requested.
Vocabulary: Students
will practice word analysis, parsing, study of word history, quiz preparation
and the learning a variety of language-oriented words such as rhetorical and
literary terms in and out of class (mainly on Wednesdays) all of which will
support student learning of words, and, consequently, objective 3. Students
are challenged to acquire academic vocabulary from class lecture/discussion
and from the reading. Each student will compile, weekly, a list of words new
to them gleaned from oral and written sources in this and other classes.
Oral Presentations: Students will present in small groups and before
the entire class their findings from assignments and outside reading. Each
student will be expected to participate in Socratic
seminars or "Taking
Sides" activities in class as assigned.These activities, the formal
and informal debates and Socratic Seminars, are primarily student generated
with only initial direction and boundaries set by the teacher.
Projects:
In addition to the junior project,
short and long forms, and outside
reading reports to groups or to the entire class, each student will be
engaged in the creation of an evaluation and review portfolio containing each
in-class writing prompt and response, class notes, handouts on writing, the
junior project reading notes and writing and the junior project paper(s).
This portfolio will be compiled during the year and submitted twice, once
a day after the May exam and finally ten days prior to the final class meeting,
around June 1st.
Sample Daily Schedule:
Vocabulary - presented by teacher or students
Journaling - related to reading or writing assignments
Oral review of reading - overviews, special focus items, style, tone, devices,
meaning
Discussion of reading - pair, group or large group discussion of questions
posed by the text with special application to writing critically about essays
and ideas.
Assignments and home work -
a discussion of the outlines, expectations and timliness of current assignments
Wrap up - review of the coverage of the day's class
Question - clarification and examples illustrating troublesome ideas or concepts.
