Welcome to AP Language and Composition!

• Below you will find links to the syllabus and lesson plans for students in my AP English III course.
• Our focus will be on learning and on developing skills as critical thinkers, readers, writers, and listeners. 

AP English III Syllabus Links to an external site.

AP English III Lesson Plans

Some of the big questions we will answer this year include:

• How do we know what we know?
• How does the media shape our view of the world and ourselves?
• How can you use language to empower yourself?
• How can we distinguish between argument and rhetoric?
• How can we strengthen our writing skills?
• How can we become better at analyzing and why does it matter?
• How do we think critically about the types of written and visual arguments that continually surround us?

Throughout the year we will focus on learning and on developing skills as critical thinkers, readers, writers, and listeners.  

The development and mastery of these important literary skills is not only important to achieving success in the Language Arts classroom, it is a critical component of achieving success in other school subjects, building strong relationships with others, and attaining a flourishing career as an adult. Basically, the quality of life you experience now thorough adulthood will depend a lot on how well you read, write, and communicate with others.

We will use literature as the vehicle for building the above skills by studying rhetoric, argument, and analysis. We will read non-fiction literature of many varieties and levels, working always to increase our understanding, not just of the meaning of the text, but also for how the text is written. Secondly, we will analyze this literature, concentrating on how the text creates meaning. We will also analyze literary techniques, the various ways in which authors use images, words and sentences, and the ways authors create mood and tone.

I hope you will find this class interesting, and that you learn something new every day.

Classroom Norms

Some of the things we will do regularly:

• Independent reading
• Quick Writes
• Notes
• Class readings
• Class writings
• Class discussions
• Analyzing speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, message, and tone

Reading makes you a better writer...

Writing makes you a better reader...

Reading and writing make you a better thinker!