AP Language and Composition

This year long course explores some of the traditions, innovations, and complexities of writing in the Americas, and will culminate in taking the AP Language and Composition Exam. The course will explore the nuances of writing throughout the different eras in American History, focusing on the attitudes which shaped the writing of the time. In accordance with the College Board’s AP English Course Description, an emphasis is placed on enabling “students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers” (6). Students will learn to analyze graphics and visual texts as well as literary criticism, then apply them to their own analysis of written texts. The course will require expository, analytical, argumentative, and personal writing through which students will learn to express themselves in a variety of contexts and will culminate in a documented analysis essay of a major text or texts.

English 4

Students in grade 12 integrate reading and critical thinking and extensive writing through examination of fiction and non-fiction from major British writers.  The focus of first semester is the writing process as well as conventions of grammar and style appropriate to college level writing.  During second semester, students apply these skills within the framework of literature.