Course Outline
SEMESTER ONE
Unit 1: Getting Started
Students learn what to expect on the AP® Exam in English Language and Composition, explore how the English language has evolved over time and how written and oral language relate to one another. They compare written works from different historical periods and identify various trends in written English.
-
Course Introduction
-
Language Basics
Unit 2: Reading Techniques
Students explore different reading techniques, including critical reading. They learn tips and techniques to use when reading and how critical reading can help when analyzing a work. They learn about rhetorical devices used by writers and how rhetorical patterns and figurative language are used to create irony and satire.
-
Critical Reading
-
Recognizing Rhetoric
-
Rhetoric, Part 2
Unit 3: Writing Techniques
Students focus on college-level writing and focus on writing mechanics, including common grammatical issues. Students look at the building blocks of any essay—thesis statements and paragraphs and the writing process as a whole—from prewriting to writing to revising.
-
College Writing
-
Writing Mechanics, Documentation, and Citation
-
Writing Fundamentals
-
The Writing Process
Unit 4: Forms of Prose
Students examine the characteristics of various types of writing, including personal and reflective writing, expository writing, analytical writing, and persuasive writing. They learn about different modes of expository writing, using close reading to analyze a piece of literature, and detecting persuasive elements.
-
Personal and Reflective Writing
-
Expository Writing
-
Analytical Writing
-
Persuasive Writing
Unit 5: Review and Exam
Students review what they have learned and learn how to prepare for multiple-choice and free-response test questions, then take the semester exam.
SEMESTER TWO
Unit 1: History and Narrative
Students learn about historical and narrative writings, including biographies and autobiographies. They learn the conventions of these genres and why they're important to the study of history. They also learn to write historical essays and about historical events.
-
Autobiographies and Biographies
-
History
Unit 2: The Reading Public
Students take a look at essays—how they've developed and changed through time, and how to analyze and compare those from different time periods and writers. Then they focus on the study and analysis of mass media, including the role and influence media has on our culture, ethical issues related to the media, the role of advertising and editorials, and how to read and write about film. They learn about political and governmental writing and explore culture and cultural criticism.
-
Essays Through Time
-
Media Analysis
-
Politics and Government
-
Cultural Criticism
Unit 3: The World Around Us
Students learn about scientific, philosophical, and religious writings, including the objective nature of scientific writing, the abstract nature of philosophical texts, and the different characteristics of religious writings.
-
Science and Nature
-
Philosophy and Religion
Unit 4: Literature
Students learn about the structure and elements of poetry and short fiction, and how to read, analyze, and write about both genres.
Unit 5: Review and Exam
Students review what they have learned and solidify skills for answering multiple-choice and free-response test questions, then take the final exam.
back to top