AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

A Grade11 English Language and Composition course typically focuses on students’ abilities to
analyze and produce complex texts, both in writing and through various media. Key area of
focus include:

Rhetorical analysis

Argumentation

Synthesis

Research

Learning objective: Students’ will learn to

identify rhetorical strategies

use rhetorical strategies

develop strong claims with supporting evidence

synthesize information from multiple sources

Refine writing processes, focusing on style, convention, close readings and the effective use of
language.

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.

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.
AP Language and Composition Outline of Topics and Skills

Rhetorical Situation: Understanding the context, purpose, audience and speaker in any
communication.

Rhetorical Appeals: Analyzing using ethos, pathos, and logos.

Rhetorical Devices: Identifying and using literary devices like figurative language, tone, and
sentence structure.

Close Reading: Analyzing texts for meaning, purpose, and stylistic choices.

Writing Processes: Developing strong drafting, revision, and editing skills.

MLA Formatting: Understanding and using MLA citation style

Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings

The big ideas serve as the foundation of the AP English Language and Composition course and
enable students to create meaningful connections among course concepts. They are threads
that run throughout the course, and revisiting them and applying them in a variety of contexts
helps students to develop deeper conceptual understanding. Below are the big ideas of the
course, along with the enduring understanding associated with each one:

The course framework includes the following components:

1. BIG IDEAS AND ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS The big ideas are cross-cutting concepts that
build conceptual understanding and spiral throughout the units of the course. The enduring
understandings are the long-term takeaways related to the big ideas.

2. COURSE SKILLS: The course skills, and their related essential knowledge statements, are
the content of this course. They describe what students should know and be able to do by the
end of the course

A. RHETORICAL SITUATION (RHS) Enduring Understanding RHS-1: Individuals write within a

particular situation and make strategic writing choices based on that situation.

B) CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE (CLE) Enduring Understanding CLE-1: Writers make claims about
subjects, rely on evidence that supports the reasoning that justifies the claim, and often
acknowledge or respond to other, possibly opposing, arguments.

C) REASONING AND ORGANIZATION (REO) Enduring Understanding REO-1: Writers guide

understanding of a text’s lines of reasoning and claims through that text’s organization and
integration of evidence.
 D) STYLE (STL) Enduring Understanding STL-1: The rhetorical situation informs the strategic
stylistic choices that writers make.

Research Analysis: This is the process of examining a text to understand how the author uses
language and other elements to persuade, inform, or otherwise influence an audience.

This is not about whether you agree with the message or not, but rather how effectively the
author’s choices achieve their intended purpose. The “how” communication is analyzed, not
just the “what”

Breakdown of what Rhetorical Analysis involves:

1 Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation: Understanding the context, purpose, audience, and the
author’s stance or position is crucial.

2. Identifying Rhetorical Devices: Examining the use of language, imagery, tone, appeals (ethos,
logic, and pathos), and other techniques.

3. Evaluating Effectiveness: Determining how well the author’s choices achieve their intended
goals and impact the audience.

The course framework includes the following components:

2. BIG IDEAS AND ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS The big ideas are cross-cutting concepts that
build conceptual understanding and spiral throughout the units of the course. The enduring
understandings are the long-term takeaways related to the big ideas.

2 COURSE SKILLS: The course skills, and their related essential knowledge statements, are the
content of this course. They describe what students should know and be able to do by the end
of the course

RHETORICAL SITUATION (RHS) Enduring Understanding RHS-1: Individuals write within a

particular situation and make strategic writing choices based on that situation.
 CLAIMS AND EVIDENCE (CLE) Enduring Understanding CLE-1: Writers make claims about
subjects, rely on evidence that supports the reasoning that justifies the claim, and often
acknowledge or respond to other, possibly opposing, arguments.

REASONING AND ORGANIZATION (REO) Enduring Understanding REO-1: Writers guide

understanding of a text’s lines of reasoning and claims through that text’s organization and
integration of evidence.

STYLE (STL) Enduring Understanding STL-1: The rhetorical situation informs the strategic
stylistic choices that writers make.

Rhetorical Situation

The rhetorical situation is the circumstances surrounding a piece of communication,

encompassing the context, purpose, audience, context, and other elements that influence how
a message is crafted and received.

Description of rhetorical situation

Speaker/Writer: The individual or group creating the message.

Purpose: This is the goal the speaker or writer wants to achieve with the communication.

Audience: The intended receivers/recipients of the message

Context: This is the broader/wider situation the communication, including the time, place and,
cultural environment, and any significant/relevant events that might affect the message.

Exigence: The reason or urgency that prompts the communication. It is the problem or issue
that the communication aims to address.

Rhetorical strategies are techniques used in writing or speech to effectively communicate,

persuade, or evoke a specific response from an audience. They involve the conscious use of
language and stylistic devices to achieve a specific purpose, such as an argument more
compelling, or creating a desired emotional impact.

TASK 1
1. Identify the elements of rhetorical situation in Steve Job’s Commencement Speech in
Stanford.

Response

The rhetorical situation of Steve Jobs' Stanford University commencement speech includes the
following elements:

1. Speaker: Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., a successful entrepreneur and
innovator known for his contributions to technology and animation.
2. Audience: Graduating students of Stanford University in 2005, along with faculty,
families, and others present at the ceremony.
3. Purpose: To inspire and motivate the graduates by sharing personal stories and life
lessons about connecting the dots, love and loss, and the inevitability of death. Jobs
aims to encourage them to follow their passions, embrace challenges, and live
authentically.
4. Context: The speech is delivered at a prestigious university's commencement ceremony,
a moment of transition for students entering the next phase of their lives. Jobs uses this
setting to reflect on his own experiences and offer advice.
5. Message: Jobs emphasizes the importance of trusting one's intuition, finding what you
love, and living with the awareness of life's brevity. He shares three personal stories to
illustrate these points.
6. Tone: Reflective, conversational, and motivational. Jobs uses a mix of humility, humor,
and sincerity to connect with the audience.
7. Appeals:
o Ethos: Jobs establishes credibility by sharing his personal experiences, including
his successes and failures, and his battle with cancer.

Pathos: He evokes emotions by discussing his adoption, being fired from Apple, and facing
mortality, making his message relatable and impactful

TASK 2

What literary devices are used in the commencement speech of Steve Jobs?

Response

Steve Jobs employs several literary devices in his Stanford University commencement speech to
make his message impactful and memorable. Here are the key devices used:

1. Anecdotes: Jobs shares three personal stories—about connecting the dots, love and
loss, and death—to illustrate his life lessons and make his speech relatable.
 2. Repetition: Phrases like "Don't settle" and "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish" are repeated to
emphasize key points and leave a lasting impression on the audience.
3. Parallelism: Jobs uses parallel structure in sentences like "Your time is limited, so don't
waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma... Don't let the noise of
others' opinions drown out your own inner voice," to create rhythm and reinforce his
message.
4. Imagery: He uses vivid descriptions, such as the flying toy from his childhood and the
early morning country road on the back cover of The Whole Earth Catalog, to help the
audience visualize his experiences and ideas.
5. Metaphor: Jobs compares death to "Life's change agent" and describes it as clearing out
the old to make way for the new, providing a deeper understanding of its inevitability
and purpose.
6. Contrast: He contrasts the heaviness of success with the lightness of being a beginner
again after being fired from Apple, highlighting the transformative power of adversity.
7. Allusion: Jobs references The Whole Earth Catalog and its farewell message, "Stay
Hungry. Stay Foolish," to connect with the audience and provide a broader cultural
context.
8. Humor: He uses light humor, such as mentioning that this is the closest he's ever gotten
to a college graduation, to establish a friendly and approachable tone.
9. Personification: Jobs personifies life and death, describing death as "Life's change
agent" and life as something that "clears out the old to make way for the new."
10. Antithesis: He contrasts living authentically with being trapped by dogma or the
opinions of others, encouraging the audience to follow their own path.

These literary devices enhance the speech's emotional appeal, clarity, and memorability,
making it a powerful and inspiring message for the graduates.