Month: August 2021

Aaaannnddd….we’re off and running! Over the last two weeks, we’ve kicked off our year-long exploration of classic, Aristotelian argumentation; we’ve begun to upgrade our writing (so far with appositive phrases, asyndeton and polysyndeton); you’ve bookmarked our slides for this grading period; and we’ve set ourselves up for success this by joining Remind and AP Classroom, venturing out onto this blog, and analyzing breakfast cereal.

This week in class, we’ll work in groups to invent our own cereals and create a perfect, Aristotelian argument to sell that cereal to a specific target audience; we’ll examine yet another Super Bowl commercial — this time a blockbuster 2013 advertisement for Dodge Ram Trucks, with its accompanying speech text from Paul Harvey —  cement our understanding of the rhetorical situation. Using SPACE CAT as our year-long analytical framework, we’ll also start examining the role authorial choices, rhetorical appeals, and tone play in shaping the “art” of an argument. Outside of class, you’ll start work in AP Classroom and begin reading An Ugly Truth by Frenkel and Kang, reading well and carefully to ensure that you’re prepared forour first quiz on the book. Without further ado, here are…

This Week’s Assignments: 

1. Catch up on any missing assignments — including joining Remind, joining AP Classroom, and everything else you see already graded in Powerschool. These platforms — and the information housed there — will be critical to your success this year.
2. Bring your copy of An Ugly Truth to class on Monday, 8.30 (A)/Tuesday (8.31) for your book check, then read and come ready for a quiz on Chapters 1-3 on your first class after Labor Day.
3. Watch AP Daily Videos 1-2 in AP Classroom, complete the Claims and Evidence assignment and complete Unit 1 MCQ and FRQ progress checks by midnight Sunday, 9.5.

The rest we’ll complete in class. I look forward to working with you this year to get your writing ready for college, and to make sure you’re ready for the AP Language exam next May. More important, I look forward to enjoying our work in class!

See you in class!

Welcome to AP Language, the class where we grow up our writing and get ourselves ready to write for college. This blog is where you’ll receive all course assignments.

Your first official assignments will go up by 10 p.m. this Sunday, August 22, and will be due by midnight the next Sunday August 29 — and that’s the way assignments will always work in this class. That means you’ll always have one week to complete all work in this class, including extended-time accommodations for students who have a 504 or IEP. Beyond this, you’ll receive a link to this grading period’s class slides for lecture and group work. Between this blog and our shared class slides, you’ll never have to ask what happened in class.

This Week’s Assignments:

Given that this first week will be a blur of meetings, first class meetings and assignments, your tasks here today are clear:

1) Read this year’s course syllabus, hyperlinked here and posted in the blog menu to your left.

2) Raise your hands and ask me any questions you have about the syllabus, the course, and my rules.

3) Comment below using your Last Name, First Name and your class period (AS YOU WILL FOR ALL COMMENTS THIS YEAR) : “I, ____ (state your name), have read, understand and acknowledge the policies in the course syllabus.”

That’s it until for now; you’ll want to revisit Sunday evening or first thing Monday to see next week’s assignments.

I’m thrilled to have you in class! Let’s make this an amazing year, Pegasi!