AP English Language and Composition

What the course covers

9 units

1. Unit 1

   The Rhetorical Situation and Defensible Claims

   Free
   The ground floor of rhetoric: what prompts a text, what its writer wants, who it addresses and in what context, and how writers stake out claims that need defending and back them with evidence. Writing stays at the paragraph level: one claim that requires proof, the evidence that proves it, and sources woven into your own sentences.
   7 topics

   1. 1.1The Rhetorical Situation
   2. 1.2Exigence and Purpose
   3. 1.3Audience and Context
   4. 1.4Claims That Require Defense
   5. 1.5Evidence and Its Kinds
   6. 1.6Embedding Source Material
   7. 1.7Writing Claim-and-Evidence Paragraphs

2. Unit 2

   Audience, Appeals, and the Thesis
   How writers reach an audience: reading what an audience values, relating to its emotions and values, and persuading through appeals. Evidence becomes strategic (chosen for a purpose) and sufficient (enough, and good enough), and a collection of claims grows into a thesis, whether a text states it outright or leaves it to be inferred.
   7 topics

   1. 2.1Reading an Audience
   2. 2.2Relating to Emotions and Values
   3. 2.3Appeals: The Modes of Persuasion
   4. 2.4Strategic Evidence
   5. 2.5Sufficient Evidence
   6. 2.6Finding the Thesis
   7. 2.7Writing a Defensible Thesis

3. Unit 3

   Commentary, Reasoning, and Synthesis
   Connecting evidence to claims: commentary that explains why evidence matters, lines of reasoning that lead to or away from a thesis, the flaws that make reasoning specious, and the first steps of synthesis, which brings other writers' arguments, properly attributed, into your own. Narration and cause-effect enter as methods of development.
   7 topics

   1. 3.1Commentary: Explaining the Evidence
   2. 3.2Tracing a Line of Reasoning
   3. 3.3Flawed Reasoning
   4. 3.4Introducing and Integrating Sources
   5. 3.5Synthesis: Joining the Conversation
   6. 3.6Methods of Development: Narration
   7. 3.7Methods of Development: Cause and Effect

4. Unit 4

   Openings, Closings, and Methods of Development
   Raising the quality and power of a whole argument: introductions that orient and engage an audience, conclusions that bring an argument to a unified end, theses that may preview a line of reasoning without becoming a list, and comparison-contrast, definition, and description as ways to develop an argument.
   6 topics

   1. 4.1Introductions
   2. 4.2Conclusions
   3. 4.3Theses That Preview Reasoning
   4. 4.4Comparison and Contrast
   5. 4.5Definition and Description
   6. 4.6Choosing a Method for a Purpose

5. Unit 5

   Coherence, Transitions, and Precise Diction
   Making an argument hold together: body paragraphs that each advance the reasoning, coherence at the level of the sentence, the paragraph, and the whole text, the linking devices and transitions that signal relationships, and the connotations and modifiers that make word choice precise and reveal a perspective.
   6 topics

   1. 5.1Body Paragraphs That Advance Reasoning
   2. 5.2Coherence at Every Level
   3. 5.3Repetition, Synonyms, Pronouns, and Parallelism
   4. 5.4Transitional Elements
   5. 5.5Connotation and Denotation
   6. 5.6Modifiers and Precise Word Choice

6. Unit 6

   Sources, Perspective, Bias, and Tone
   Reading and using sources critically: drawing the most relevant material from several sources, judging reliability, telling a position from a perspective, accounting for bias and the limits of evidence, and revising a thesis when new evidence demands it. Tone becomes a target: attitude conveyed through connotation, and shifts that signal a writer refining or reconsidering a view.
   7 topics

   1. 6.1Synthesizing Multiple Sources
   2. 6.2Reliability and Credibility
   3. 6.3Position and Perspective
   4. 6.4Bias and the Limits of Evidence
   5. 6.5Revising in Light of New Evidence
   6. 6.6Tone and Connotation
   7. 6.7Shifts in Tone

7. Unit 7

   Qualification, Sentence Craft, and Conventions
   Arguing with nuance: avoiding oversimplification and absolute claims, and qualifying claims with modifiers so they fit the evidence. Sentence craft becomes rhetoric: how clauses are built, combined, and placed; coordination and subordination; and punctuation and design choices that clarify, organize, and emphasize. Openings and closings are revisited for more complex arguments.
   7 topics

   1. 7.1Framing Complex Arguments: Openings and Closings
   2. 7.2Avoiding Oversimplification
   3. 7.3Qualifying Claims With Modifiers
   4. 7.4Clauses and Sentence Arrangement
   5. 7.5Coordination and Subordination
   6. 7.6Punctuation as a Rhetorical Choice
   7. 7.7Conventions and Design for Clarity and Emphasis

8. Unit 8

   Style, Audience, and Irony
   Style as a relationship with an audience: comparisons that only work when the audience shares them, diction and syntax that shape how a writer is perceived and whether an argument is accepted, word choice that reveals bias, and the need to adapt to unique and changing audiences. Style is defined as the mix of diction, syntax, and conventions, including irony, modifier placement, and parenthetical elements.
   6 topics

   1. 8.1Comparisons That Reach an Audience
   2. 8.2Diction, Syntax, and Credibility
   3. 8.3Adapting to a Unique Audience
   4. 8.4Style
   5. 8.5Irony and Complex Perspective
   6. 8.6Modifier Placement and Parenthetical Elements

9. Unit 9

   Entering the Conversation: Concession, Rebuttal, and Refutation
   The mature argument: engaging the positions already in a conversation, sorting evidence that supports, complements, or contradicts a thesis, and building credibility by conceding, rebutting, and refuting. The unit ends by bringing every skill to bear on the three exam essays.
   6 topics

   1. 9.1Entering an Ongoing Conversation
   2. 9.2Concession
   3. 9.3Rebuttal
   4. 9.4Refutation
   5. 9.5Signaling Counterarguments
   6. 9.6The Complex Argument on the Exam

The exam, part by part

2 parts, 3 h 15 min in all.

• Section I: Multiple Choice

  Questions

  45

  Time

  1 h

  Weight

  45%

  Format details

  Five sets, each built on one stimulus, with four answer choices per question. Two reading sets of 11 to 14 questions analyze nonfiction passages (23 to 25 reading questions in all). Three writing sets of 7 to 9, 7 to 9, and 4 to 6 questions ask students to "read like a writer" and choose revisions to a draft with numbered sentences (20 to 22 writing questions in all). Weighting by skill category: Rhetorical Situation reading 11-14% and writing 11-14%, Claims and Evidence reading 13-16% and writing 11-14%, Reasoning and Organization reading 13-16% and writing 11-14%, Style reading 11-14% and writing 11-14%.

• Section II: Free Response

  Questions

  3

  Time

  2 h 15 min

  Weight

  55%

  Format details

  Task types: Synthesis, Rhetorical Analysis, Argument

  Three essays, always in this order: Question 1 Synthesis, Question 2 Rhetorical Analysis, Question 3 Argument. The 2 hours 15 minutes include a 15-minute reading period for the Synthesis sources; after that about 40 minutes per essay is recommended, but the time is shared and students may move between questions. Each essay is scored 0-6 on the analytic rubric.

Skills the exam scores

• 1.AComponents of the rhetorical situation

  Reading: identify and describe the exigence, audience, writer, purpose, context, and message of a text.

• 1.BReading for audience

  Reading: explain how an argument shows the writer understands an audience's beliefs, values, or needs.

• 2.AIntroductions and conclusions

  Writing: write openings and closings suited to the purpose and context of the rhetorical situation.

• 2.BWriting for audience

  Writing: make choices that show an understanding of an audience's beliefs, values, or needs.

• 3.AClaims and evidence

  Reading: identify and explain the claims and the evidence within an argument.

• 3.BFinding the thesis

  Reading: identify and describe an argument's overarching thesis and anything it signals about the argument's structure.

• 3.CRecognizing qualification

  Reading: explain how claims are qualified through modifiers, counterarguments, and alternative perspectives.

• 4.AClaim-and-evidence paragraphs

  Writing: develop a paragraph built on a claim and the evidence that supports it.

• 4.BWriting a thesis

  Writing: write a thesis statement that requires proof or defense and may preview the argument's structure.

• 4.CQualifying a claim

  Writing: qualify a claim using modifiers, counterarguments, or alternative perspectives.

• 5.ALine of reasoning

  Reading: describe an argument's line of reasoning and explain whether it supports the overarching thesis.

• 5.BUnity and coherence

  Reading: explain how a text's organization creates unity and coherence and reflects a line of reasoning.

• 5.CMethods of development

  Reading: recognize and explain how writers use methods of development to accomplish a purpose.

• 6.ADeveloping reasoning and commentary

  Writing: develop a line of reasoning and the commentary that explains it throughout an argument.

• 6.BTransitions

  Writing: use transitional elements to guide a reader through the line of reasoning.

• 6.CUsing methods of development

  Writing: choose methods of development that advance an argument.

• 7.AWord choice, comparisons, syntax

  Reading: explain how diction, comparisons, and syntax create a text's specific tone or style.

• 7.BClauses and relationships

  Reading: explain how writers create, combine, and place independent and dependent clauses to show relationships among ideas.

• 7.CGrammar, mechanics, and effect

  Reading: explain how grammar and mechanics contribute to an argument's clarity and effectiveness.

• 8.ACrafting tone and style

  Writing: use words, comparisons, and syntax strategically to convey a specific tone or style.

• 8.BClear sentences

  Writing: write sentences that convey ideas and arguments clearly.

• 8.CConventions

  Writing: use established conventions of grammar and mechanics to communicate clearly and effectively.