HS206 AP Language Fall Sunday Class- 1st Session

Teacher: Amy Harris

SEMESTER 1 (Fall 2025): With focus on Analysis (Q2)

Week 1

Introductions
An overview of the College Board course objectives
Difference between Language & Literature courses
A deep dive into the exam, the College Board’s expectations of students, the timing of the exam, and understanding how the exam is scored
What score(s) will earn college credit?
An overview of the three essays required and an understanding of the rubricAssigned Reading, must be read in its entirety by Week 7 class.
HW: Read and annotate passage: Sherman Alexie’s “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” Complete discussion questions in Homework Assignment folder.

Week 2

Warm-up: Question
What is “language” (i.e. “rhetoric”) and the study of it?
Rhetorical Triangle; Appeals to Logos, Pathos, Ethos
The importance of grammar, in the course/composition, and how it’s scored in the rubric
Establish Quill accounts for grammar practice; establish Pattern Sentences for advanced composition practice, cover Pattern 1 and its variations.
HW: Read and annotate passage: Linda Hall’s “Coolspeak” and complete a TP-CASTT. Complete diagnostic writing on Quill.

Week 3

Warm-up: Question
Discuss HW passage together and break it down, challenges?
Understanding the multiple-choice portion of the AP exam
How to approach reading passages under time constraints, yet still for depth and understanding.
Provide MC questions. Go through together. How to decode the question stems, and how to approach the answer choices.
Understanding the timing and the scoring, then practice together as a class with Barbara Lazear Ascher’s “On Compassion”
HW: Read and annotate passages (Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” and Brent Staples’ “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”) and complete APMC questions. Discuss next session. Complete assigned Quill lessons.

Week 4

Warm-up: Question
Discuss HW & APMC, plus Quill results
Review tone. How do we identify tone? In speaking? In writing?
Denotation/Connotation activity
Compare/Contrast activity with variations of the same song. Identify tone, what makes them different and why.
Discuss the importance of diction and syntax in identifying tone, in language in general. Why are they so impactful? Why is it imperative these elements are precise in our communication?
HW: Read and annotate passage (Eric Liu’s “Notes of a Native Speaker”) for rhetorical strategies, assign MC questions. Discuss next session. Complete assigned Quill lessons.

Week 5

Warm-up: Question & Pattern Sentence 2 practice
Discuss HW & APMC
Deep dive into rhetorical strategies. How do these shape language? What do they tell the reader? Affect the reader? How do they influence the audience?
Examine examples of the same strategy in various genres. Discuss the effect.
What it means to write a rhetorical analysis vs. a literary analysis
- Examine a speech (2003A)
- Examine a non-fiction literary excerpt (2004A)
- Examine a letter (2003A)
HW: Write analysis essay over previous passages we’ve read. Practice Pattern Sentences 1 (and variations) and 2.

Week 6

Warm-up: Question
Discuss HW
Understanding the analysis prompt and how to approach it
Understanding CB’s expectations in a response and an examination of the rubric
Close analysis of a past prompt (2021) and the released student responses
HW: Complete full APMC for 2015 exam. Assign 2015 analysis prompt and write the essay (time yourself). Complete 2nd Quill diagnostic. Ensure Assigned Reading text is completely read.
Remember: No class 4/20 and 5/4

Week 7

Warm-up: Quill & Pattern Sentence practice
Discuss homework prompt and examine student exemplars
Analyze your own response, share out
Discover additional past prompts and attempt rapid/round-robin brainstorm
Introduce Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts. Do the elements of language analysis correlate the same to an image?
Examine visual representations associated with Assigned Reading texts, analyze.
Discuss assigned readings, review, analyze
HW: Read and annotate passage, assign MC questions. Discuss next session.
Remember: No class 5/4

Week 8

Week 9

Finish-up Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts leading to an introduction of Satire
Examine the more absurd, abstract, or peculiar visual pieces. Are these to be taken seriously? Discuss caricature.
Discuss various forms of irony. Do logos, pathos, ethos appeals change with the presence of irony? Discuss sarcasm.
HW: Read and annotate passage (Dave Berry’s “Lost in the Kitchen”), assign MC questions. Discuss next session.

Week 10

Warm-up: Question
Discuss HW
Discuss satirical elements. How is satire different from humor?
Identify satire in pop culture, history, literature, etc, discuss its effect, its message, and its lasting impact.
Read together David Sedaris’ “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and discuss. Complete MC questions.
HW: Read “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift and complete the MC questions.

Week 11

Warm-up: Question
Discuss “A Modest Proposal”
Dissect the language. Locate the appeals. Where is the irony? Where is the absurdity? Where does it turn serious? Why did people of that time believe Swift’s recommendation?
- Discuss the answers to the MC questions associated with Swift’s passage.
Examine a passage from The Onion. How is this satire different from Swift’s?
Complete the MC questions associated with The Onion’s passage.
HW: Assign (2005A/2009) prompt, complete an outline, write the essay.

Week 12

Warm-up: Question & Pattern Sentence 3
Discuss homework prompt and examine student exemplars
Analyze your own response, share out
Examine historical analysis prompts: 2002 Lincoln, 2011A Banneker, 2012 JFK
Homework for fall session:
- Assign full MC exam portion for practice
- Provide previous Analysis essay prompts for practice

Read Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s play Inherit the Wind