Course Description

The AP English Language course provides students with the opportunity to read rigorous texts from various eras and in different genres. Students will focus on the following four big ideas as identified in the College Board AP course description:

1. Rhetorical situation
   1. Individuals write within a particular situation and make strategic writing choices based on that situation.
2. Claims and evidence
   1. Writers make claims about subjects, rely on evidence that supports the reasoning that justifies the claim, and often acknowledge or respond to other, possibly opposing, arguments.
3. Reasoning and organization
   1. Writers guide understanding of a text’s lines of reasoning and claims through that text’s organization and integration of evidence.
4. Style
   1. The rhetorical situation informs the strategic stylistic choices that writers make.

Students use given texts to reach the goal of effective writing and analysis: they will read and annotate texts from a critical perspective in order to craft well-reasoned essays and personal reflections in response to the texts. The course is organized according to the requirements and guidelines of the current AP English Course Description, and therefore, students are expected to read critically, think analytically, and communicate clearly in both writing and speaking.

The textbook for the course, and the source of structure for the course is Muller and Whiting’s Language and Composition: The Art of Voice, 1st edition. This text will supply the nonfiction readings for the course. Any additional readings will come from varied sources that seem likely to provide for rigor, depth, and high interest.