Teaching and Learning

Prerequisite: English department approval based on placement criteria.  A student whose semester grade falls below a B- will meet with the teacher and parent to discuss the best placement for the student second semester.

 

The AP English Language and Composition course is designed to teach students to become critical readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and to become skilled writers who can compose for a variety of purposes, most notably persuasion. The course focuses on rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis, the key components of the AP Language and Composition exam, using primarily nonfiction works as the texts for developing these skills. Through their reading in this course, students develop a sophisticated awareness as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effective writing. Consequently, students develop sophistication in their own writing as they respond to complex issues and ideas.  Students are required to write, conference, and revise a minimum of five compositions each semester and to complete at least two independent reading assignments, in addition to group study of both book-length and shorter texts.  Students will conduct a research study of a topic of their own choosing and formally present their findings. The course work begins with a written project synthesizing multiple texts to be completed in the summer before AP Language begins.