Course Descriptions

Students will engage in a variety of academic and creative writing tasks which connect both literature and nonfiction to their life experiences. Students will use writing process activities in a variety of genres; persuasive, expository, narrative, reflective and literary analysis of texts. Students also receive instruction in the conventions of written language and effective oral communication. Students explore themes found in American literature and the American experience through a balanced, integrated program of literature and language study. Students read and respond to historically and/or culturally significant works of American and non-fiction texts tracing the development of American writing from the colonial period forward. In addition, students write a research paper with an annotated bibliography taken through the writing process.

English 11AP Language & Composition Description

The AP English Language and Composition course trains students to become skilled readers and writers in diverse genres and modes of composition. As stated in the Advanced Placement Course Description, the purpose of the Language and Composition course is "to enable students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers." These skills will allow students to read critically and write effectively in different modes in the college classroom and beyond. Previous high school English courses have focused heavily on literature, on reading important works of fiction, drama, and poetry from around the world. The English Language and Composition course takes a different focus, opening up the world of non-fiction in all its varied forms - essays, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, letters, diaries, speeches, journalism, literary criticism, etc. Non-fiction is a literature of fact, but it is also a literature of great variety and creativity. In this course, students will look closely at a wide range of short and long non-fiction writing, studying what the writers say and, just as importantly, how they say it.

Guaranteed Curriculum

Reading Expectations 1st Semester

Summer Reading unit
2 core texts
Assigned textbook units for 11P: (2 & 3)
Assigned textbook units for 11AP: chapters 1-3 and various readings of Language of Composition
Outside Reading as assigned

Writing Expectations 1st Semester

2 process piece essays, covering Argument/Persuasion, Literary Analysis, and/or Personal Narrative
Outside Reading culminating project
AP Timed Writing: Rhetorical Analysis and Argument

Reading Expectations 2nd Semester

2 core texts (including Crucible or Great Gatsby)
Assigned textbook unit for 11P:(5)
Assigned textbook units for 11AP: Chapters 3-4 and various readings of Language of Composition
Outside Reading as assigned
Get Focused/Stay Focused unit (starting Spring 2019)

Writing Expectations 2nd Semester

1-2 process piece essays covering Literary Analysis, Argument, Narrative
Research Term paper, including annotated bibliography
Outside Reading culminating project
AP Timed Writing: Rhetorical Analysis, Argument, Synthesis
Get Focused/Stay Focused unit