AP Parents Letter

An Overview of AP Language and Composition

The AP Language and Composition course assumes that students already understand and

use standard English grammar. The intense concentration on language use in this course

should enhance their ability to use grammatical conventions both appropriately and with

sophistication as well as to develop stylistic maturity in their prose. Stylistic development

is nurtured by emphasizing the following:

a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;

a variety of sentence structures, including, appropriate use of subordination and coordination;

a logical organization enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis;

a balance of generalization and specific illustrative detail; and

an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure.

When students read, they should become aware of how stylistic effects are achieved by

writers' linguistic choices. Since imaginative literature often highlights such stylistic deci-

sions, fiction and poetry clearly have a place in the AP Language and Composition course.  The main purpose of including such literature is to aid students in understanding rhetorical and linguistic choices, rather than to study literary conventions.

Because the AP course depends on the development of interpretive skills as students learn to write and read with increasing complexity and sophistication, the AP Language and Composition course is intended to be a full-year course. Teachers at schools that offer only a single semester block for AP are encouraged to advise their AP Language and composition students to take an additional semester of advanced English in which they continue to practice the kind of writing and reading emphasized in the AP class.

Upon completing the Language and Composition course, then, students should be able to:

analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques;

apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing;

create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience;

demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings;

write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing

appropriate conventions;

produce expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex

central idea and develop it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explana

tions, and clear transitions; and

move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.

Class Rules for AP English Language and Composition

Mrs. Elaine Williams

E-mail:  ewilliams1@cullmancats.net

            Welcome to AP English Language and Composition, a college course taught on a high school campus.  Students enrolled in this class should be intelligent, self-motivated, mature individuals who will complete assignments promptly and be able to engage in civil discourse about those assignments.  As we begin the new school year, I want to share with you some of my expectations for the pupils in this class.

1. I expect all pupils to obey all school rules and behave as good citizens.  A courteous attitude toward everyone is essential for a successful class.  Valuable participation in class discussions and group presentations is required; however, one should refrain from talking when others are speaking.
2. Pupils will need a large 3-ring binder, dividers, lined paper, post-it notes, post-it flags, black pens, and #2 pencils. 
3. Pupils will have nightly, outside assignments for this class.  All assignments are due at the beginning of each class period.  There should be no late assignments.
4. On the rare occasion when a pupil misses a class, he/she will promptly provide the office with a valid excuse.  The pupil will have three school days to make up the work missed.  The responsibility of scheduling the work and arriving on the designated morning lies with the pupil.  Make-up work will be given on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings at 7:00 a.m. with Ms. Allred in Room 19, A Building.  Pupils who do not make up work on the scheduled morning will receive a zero for the assignment.
5. Parents may schedule parent conferences through the guidance office during my preparation period.
6. In May of 2006, students will take the AP English Language and Composition test.  The test consists of one hour with 55 multiple choice questions (which constitute 45% of the final score) and two hours to write three essays (which constitute 55% of the final score). 

The AP English Language and Composition course requires fulfillment of regulations from the Alabama Course of Study and the College Board, as well as Cullman City Schools and Cullman High School. Our textbooks will be Holt, Rinehart, and Winston’s Elements of Literature, Fifth Course; The Bedford Reader,  Ninth Edition; and Pearson Longman’s Everyday Use, AP Edition .  The student will also read novels, plays, and nonfiction books including—but not limited to—Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hamlet, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, and Death of a Salesman.  Composition assignments will include timed essays, multi-draft essays, and a literary analysis research project as well as other appropriate writings.