Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is essentially a course in critical reading and effective writing.  Students will grow more proficient in reading, understanding, and discussing literary texts written in a variety of periods and styles, with particular attention to nonfiction.  Students will also become increasingly skillful in writing three types of papers: an essay of close textual analysis, which will determine a given selection's purpose and use of rhetorical devices; an open-ended argument, which will support, challenge, or qualify a given assertion; and a documented essay, which will synthesize and identify outside sources used to strengthen one's own case. 

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Richard Lederer begins his book The Miracle of Language with this claim:  "It is only through the gift of language that the child acquires reason, the complexity of thought that sets him or her apart from the other creatures who share this planet.  The birth of language is the dawn of humanity; in our beginning was the word."  This gift of language in its many forms is the heart and soul of this course.

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Welcome to your POST-AP-TEST Edgate page.  It contains most of what you need to know for the remainder of the school year.

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1.  The play.  Bring with you to class everyday Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People.  We will enact the text and discuss the play in class and compare it to some films.  You will receive class participation grades (homework value) for a variety of activities announced in class.

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2.  Vocabulary.  Let's reach 100 words.  Find and write sentences with words 61-80 and then 81-100 (as assigned).  Each set will be followed by an announced quiz.

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3.  Subject & Strategy.  Read the following four essays:  Annie Dillard's from An American Childhood (90), Robert Ramirez's "The Barrio" (150), Mitch Albom's "If You Had One Day with Someone Who's Gone" (186), and Suzanne Britt's "Neat People Vs. Sloppy People" (318).  Of the four, identify your favorite or the one to which you can most relate; write a paragraph (homework value) explaining why.  We will discuss these responses.  Perhaps they will indirectly inform a topic for the college essay.

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4.  The college essay.  This autobiographical essay, due the last day of class, has the value of a test.  It may be submitted sooner, even in installments, for suggestions and early revision.  We will look at samples from current seniors.  We will also look at the range of topics listed on the common application:   significant experiences, achievements, risks, and ethical dilemmas; important personal, local, national, or international issues; influential people, even a fictional or historical figure; art, music, or literature that has influenced you; perhaps some unique personal narrative.

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5.  The end.  And so your junior year does come to an end.  Thanks for making it (and keeping it until the last day) a happy and productive one.  Have a great summer!