about the ap english language and composition course
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About the AP English Language and Composition Course
The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and argumentative writing, the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, and the decisions writers make as they compose and revise. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Additionally, they read and analyze rhetorical elements and their effects in nonfiction texts—including images as forms of text—from a range of disciplines and historical periods.
College Course EquivalentThe AP English Language and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum.
PrerequisitesThere are no prerequisite courses for AP English Language and Composition. Students should be able to read and comprehend college-level texts and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.
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V.1 | 7AP English Language and Composition Course and Exam Description
Introduction
An AP English Language and Composition course cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing students do in the course should deepen and expand their understanding of how written language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers’ intentions and elicit readers’ responses in particular situations.
To support these objectives, this AP English Language and Composition Course and Exam Description delineates the knowledge and skills colleges and universities typically expect students to demonstrate in order to receive credit for an introductory college composition course.
This publication is not a curriculum. Teachers create their own curricula by selecting and sequencing the texts and tasks that will enable students to develop the knowledge and skills outlined in this document. In some cases, teachers also need to meet certain state or local requirements within the AP curriculum they develop for their school. The objective of this publication is to provide teachers with clarity regarding the content and skills students should learn in order to qualify for college credit and placement. The AP Program recognizes that the real craft is in the skill with which teachers develop and deliver instruction.
Students develop the skills of rhetorical analysis and composition as they repeatedly practice analyzing others’ arguments, then compose their own arguments. As a model for teachers, the course content and skills are presented in nine units. The objective of this unit structure is to respect new AP teachers’ time by suggesting one possible sequence they can adapt rather than having to build from scratch.
An additional benefit is that these units enable the AP Program to provide interested teachers with free formative assessments—the Personal Progress Checks—that they can assign their students at the end of each unit to gauge progress toward success on the AP Exam. However, experienced AP teachers who are satisfied with their current course organization and results should feel no pressure to adopt these units, which comprise an optional, not mandatory, sequence for this course.
Because these nine units only delineate the skills students should be developing across the AP English Language and Composition course but do not specify the content or themes students will study, teachers can assign a theme or title to each of the nine units (e.g., Humanity and Nature, Industry and Technology, Family and Community) or can dedicate multiple units to the same theme (e.g., Family and Community I, II, and III). This enables teachers to avail themselves of the scaffolded skill progressions detailed in each unit to help focus their students’ learning and practice and then assign students the relevant Personal Progress Checks.
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Course Framework V.1 | 11AP English Language and Composition Course and Exam Description
AP
En
gli
sh L
ang
uag
e an
d C
omp
osit
ion
Sk
ills
RH
S R
heto
rical
Situ
atio
n
Indi
vidu
als w
rite
with
in a
par
ticul
ar si
tuat
ion
and
mak
e st
rate
gic
writ
ing
choi
ces b
ased
on
that
si
tuat
ion.
Ski
ll C
ateg
ory
1S
kill
Cat
egor
y 2
Rhe
tori
cal
Sit
uat
ion
–
Rea
din
gEx
plai
n ho
w w
riter
s’ ch
oice
s refl
ect t
he
com
pone
nts o
f the
rh
etor
ical
situ
atio
n.
Rhe
tori
cal
Sit
uat
ion
–
Wri
tin
gM
ake
stra
tegi
c ch
oice
s in
a te
xt to
add
ress
a
rhet
oric
al si
tuat
ion.
1.A
Ide
ntify
an
d de
scrib
e co
mpo
nent
s of
the
rhet
oric
al s
ituat
ion:
th
e ex
igen
ce,
audi
ence
, writ
er,
purp
ose,
con
text
, an
d m
essa
ge.
Uni
ts 1
, 4, 7
2.A
Writ
e in
trodu
ctio
ns
and
conc
lusi
ons
appr
opria
te to
the
purp
ose
and
cont
ext
of th
e rh
etor
ical
si
tuat
ion.
Uni
ts 4
, 7
1.B
Exp
lain
how
an
arg
umen
t de
mon
stra
tes
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
an
audi
ence
’s b
elie
fs,
valu
es, o
r nee
ds.
Uni
ts 2
, 8
2.B
Dem
onst
rate
an
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
an
audi
ence
’s b
elie
fs,
valu
es, o
r nee
ds.
Uni
ts 2
, 8
SK
ILLS
EN
DU
RIN
G U
ND
ER
STA
ND
ING
S
BIG
IDE
AS
CLE
Cl
aim
s an
d Ev
iden
ce
Writ
ers m
ake
clai
ms a
bout
subj
ects
, rel
y on
evi
denc
e th
at su
ppor
ts th
e re
ason
ing
that
just
ifies
the
clai
m,
and
ofte
n ac
know
ledg
e or
resp
ond
to o
ther
, pos
sibl
y op
posi
ng, a
rgum
ents
.
Ski
ll C
ateg
ory
3S
kill
Cat
egor
y 4
Cla
ims
and
Evi
den
ce –
R
eadi
ng
Iden
tify
and
desc
ribe
the
clai
ms a
nd e
vide
nce
of
an a
rgum
ent.
Cla
ims
and
Evi
den
ce –
W
riti
ng
Anal
yze
and
sele
ct
evid
ence
to d
evel
op a
nd
refin
e a
clai
m.
3.A
Ide
ntify
and
ex
plai
n cl
aim
s an
d ev
iden
ce w
ithin
an
argu
men
t.U
nits
1, 2
, 3, 6
4.A
Dev
elop
a
para
grap
h th
at
incl
udes
a c
laim
and
ev
iden
ce s
uppo
rtin
g th
e cl
aim
.U
nits
1, 2
, 3, 6
3.B
Ide
ntify
an
d de
scrib
e th
e ov
erar
chin
g th
esis
of
an a
rgum
ent,
and
any
indi
catio
n it
prov
ides
of
the
argu
men
t’s
stru
ctur
e.U
nits
2, 4
, 6
4.B
Writ
e a
thes
is
stat
emen
t tha
t re
quire
s pr
oof o
r de
fens
e an
d th
at m
ay
prev
iew
the
stru
ctur
e of
the
argu
men
t.U
nit
2, 4
, 6
3.C
Exp
lain
way
s cl
aim
s ar
e qu
alifi
ed
thro
ugh
mod
ifier
s,
coun
tera
rgum
ents
, an
d al
tern
ativ
e pe
rspe
ctiv
es.
Uni
ts 7
, 9
4.C
Qua
lify
a cl
aim
us
ing
mod
ifier
s,
coun
tera
rgum
ents
, or
alte
rnat
ive
pers
pect
ives
.U
nits
7, 9
REO
Re
ason
ing
and
Org
aniz
atio
n
Writ
ers g
uide
und
erst
andi
ng o
f a te
xt’s
lines
of
reas
onin
g an
d cl
aim
s thr
ough
that
text
’s or
gani
zatio
n an
d in
tegr
atio
n of
evi
denc
e.
Ski
ll C
ateg
ory
5S
kill
Cat
egor
y 6
Rea
son
ing
and
Org
aniz
atio
n –
R
eadi
ng
Desc
ribe
the
reas
onin
g,
orga
niza
tion,
and
de
velo
pmen
t of a
n ar
gum
ent.
Rea
son
ing
and
Org
aniz
atio
n –
W
riti
ng
Use
orga
niza
tion
and
com
men
tary
to ill
umin
ate
the
line
of re
ason
ing
in a
n ar
gum
ent.
5.A
Des
crib
e th
e lin
e of
reas
onin
g an
d ex
plai
n w
heth
er it
sup
port
s an
arg
umen
t’s
over
arch
ing
thes
is.
Uni
t 3,
5
6.A
Dev
elop
a lin
e of
reas
onin
g an
d co
mm
enta
ry th
at
expl
ains
it th
roug
hout
an
arg
umen
t.U
nits
3, 5
5.B
Exp
lain
how
th
e or
gani
zatio
n of
a
text
cre
ates
uni
ty
and
cohe
renc
e an
d re
flect
s a
line
of
reas
onin
g.U
nit
5
6.B
Use
tran
sitio
nal
elem
ents
to g
uide
th
e re
ader
thro
ugh
the
line
of re
ason
ing
of a
n ar
gum
ent.
Uni
t 5
5.C
Rec
ogni
ze
and
expl
ain
the
use
of m
etho
ds
of d
evel
opm
ent
to a
ccom
plis
h a
purp
ose.
Uni
ts 3
, 4
6.C
Use
app
ropr
iate
m
etho
ds o
f de
velo
pmen
t to
adv
ance
an
argu
men
t.U
nits
3, 4
STL
St
yle
The
rhet
oric
al si
tuat
ion
info
rms t
he st
rate
gic
styl
istic
ch
oice
s tha
t writ
ers m
ake.
Ski
ll C
ateg
ory
7S
kill
Cat
egor
y 8
Sty
le –
R
eadi
ng
Expl
ain
how
writ
ers’
styl
istic
cho
ices
co
ntrib
ute
to th
e pu
rpos
e of
an
argu
men
t.
Sty
le –
W
riti
ng
Sele
ct w
ords
and
use
el
emen
ts o
f com
posi
tion
to a
dvan
ce a
n ar
gum
ent.
7.A
Exp
lain
how
w
ord
choi
ce,
com
paris
ons,
and
sy
ntax
con
tribu
te to
th
e sp
ecifi
c to
ne o
r st
yle
of a
text
.U
nits
5, 6
, 8
8.A
Stra
tegi
cally
us
e w
ords
, co
mpa
rison
s, a
nd
synt
ax to
con
vey
a sp
ecifi
c to
ne o
r sty
le
in a
n ar
gum
ent.
Uni
ts 5
, 6, 8
7.B
Exp
lain
how
wr
iters
cre
ate,
co
mbi
ne, a
nd p
lace
in
depe
nden
t and
de
pend
ent c
laus
es
to sh
ow re
latio
nshi
ps
betw
een
and
amon
g id
eas.
Uni
ts 7
, 8
8.B
Writ
e se
nten
ces
that
cle
arly
con
vey
idea
s an
d ar
gum
ents
.U
nits
7, 8
7.C
Exp
lain
ho
w g
ram
mar
an
d m
echa
nics
co
ntrib
ute
to
the
clar
ity a
nd
effec
tiven
ess
of a
n ar
gum
ent.
Uni
t 7
8.C
Use
est
ablis
hed
conv
entio
ns o
f gr
amm
ar a
nd
mec
hani
cs to
co
mm
unic
ate
clea
rly
and
effec
tivel
y.U
nit
7
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Course Framework V.1 | 19AP English Language and Composition Course and Exam Description