AP English Language and Composition

Course Duration: Full Year

Category: Advanced Placement, Electives, High School, Reading/Language Arts

Prerequisite: English I, English II

Assessment: Pre-Test, Lesson Practice, Unit Exams, Mid-Term Exam, Final Exam

Language: English

Course Overview

AP English Language and Composition, taught by Acellus Instructor Jairus Tapp, is designed for students who have mastered the basic English curriculum and wish to be challenged by higher-level reading and analysis. Students analyze and interpret good writing and apply effective strategies in their own writing while also preparing for the AP Exam. Acellus AP English Language and Composition has been audited and approved by College Board. Acellus AP English Language and Composition is A-G Approved through the University of California.

This course was developed by the International Academy of Science. Learn More

Scope and Sequence

Unit 1In this unit, students learn about ethos, pathos, and logos, and about the rhetorical triangle. They learn about the SOAPSTone method of analysis, and about logical fallacies, and inductive versus deductive reasoning. They study important terminology and how to annotate a text, and explore how and why we read text.Unit 2In this unit students learn about narration. They focus on this concept while reading "Graduation" by Maya Angelou, "Salvation" by Langston Hughes, and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris.Unit 3In this unit students focus on description. They explore this concept while reading "The Death of the Moth" by Virginia Woolf, "Listening" by Eudora Welty, "The Stunt Pilot" by Annie Dillard, and "Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White.Unit 4In this unit students explore process analysis. They practice this concept while reading "On Keeping a Notebook" by Joan Didion, "Learning to Read and Write" by Frederick Douglass, "Learning to Read" by Malcom X, and "On Dumpster Diving" by Lars Eighner.Unit 5In this unit students learn how to evaluate examples. They practice applying this concept while reading "The Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson, "The Inheritance of Tools" by Scott Russell Sanders, "Aren't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth, and "Cars and Their Enemies" by James Q. Wilson.Unit 6In this unit students discover how to evaluate definitions. They apply this skill while reading "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua, "On Being a Cripple" by Nancy Mairs, "On Being Black and Middle Class" by Selby Steele, and "Notes of a Native Speaker" by Eric Liu.Unit 7In this unit students explore classifications. They practice this concept while reading "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson, "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, "I Just Wanna Be Average" by Mike Rose, and "There Is No Unmarked Woman" by Deborah Tannen. Following this unit students are presented with the Mid-Term Review and Exam.Unit 8In this unit students learn to compare and contrast. They practice this skill while reading "The Allegory of the Cave" by Plato, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" by Henry David Thoreau, "Lost in the Kitchen" by Dave Barry, and "Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" by Richard Rodriguez.Unit 9In this unit students learn to recognize cause and effect. They focus on this concept while reading "Why Don't We Complain?" by William F. Buckley, "The Morals of the Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli, "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space" by Brent Staples, and "Television: The Plug-In Drug" by Marie Winn.Unit 10In this unit, students explore argument and persuasion. They observe this concept while reading "Letter From Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr., "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln, and "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.Unit 11In this unit, students learn the process of rhetorical analysis. They observe examples of this process based on texts from previous AP exams including Alfred Green 2003; Coca Cola vs. Grove Press 1998; Benjamin Banneker 2010; Pink Flamingo Price 2006; and MagnaSoles 2005.Unit 12In this unit students continue to study the process of rhetorical analysis. They review examples from texts of previous AP exams including Environmentalists vs. People First 2009; Immigration 2003B; Making a Home in a Restless World 2007; Abigail Adams 2014; and Caesar Chavez 2015.Unit 13In this unit, students study different types of argumentative writing. They learn to defend, challenge, qualify, and develop a position. They go through the process of rhetorical analysis by studying texts from previous AP exams including Humorists 2010; Adversity vs. Talent 2009; Certainty vs. Doubt 2012; Corporate Sponsor 2008; Incentivizing Charity 2007; Ownership vs. Self-Identity 2013; Buy Nothing Day 2010B; Average Man 2011B; Teaching Creativity 2014; and Polite Speech 2015.Unit 14In this unit, students identify how a take a position piece differs from an identify factors piece. They learn about and experience the process of writing synthesis pieces. They practice synthesis analysis using texts from previous AP exams including Locovore Movement 2011; Advertising Synthesis 2007; Space Exploration 2009; and Monuments 2013. They also evaluate some student writing to identify what makes an excellent essay.Unit 15Students focus on skills to help them score well on a variety of multiple-choice questions. Question topics include main idea, inference, rhetorical questions, diction, grammar, form, tone or attitude, purpose, and footnote. They also identify strategies that will empower them to “play to their strengths,” and they discuss the most effective passage order for the exam.