Advanced Placement Department

Prerequisite(s): Teacher Recommendation

Fee(s): AP exam 
*Completion of this course satisfies an English requirement for graduation 
*Class of 2027 students may take this course as well 

AP English Language and Composition focuses on the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and argumentative writing, emphasizing the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts and the intentional decisions writers make as they compose and revise. Prepares students to take the AP English Language and Composition exam. 

• Develop skill in constructing clear, defensible claims supported by relevant and sufficient evidence. Students evaluate, synthesize, and properly cite research from multiple sources to craft coherent, well-reasoned arguments. 
• Analyze rhetorical elements and their effects in nonfiction texts—including essays, speeches, journalism, political documents, scientific writing, and images as forms of text—from a range of disciplines and historical periods. Instruction centers on rhetorical situation, audience, purpose, exigence, line of reasoning, and stylistic choices. 
• Engage in frequent writing, revision workshops, structured discussions, and timed compositions aligned to the AP exam’s rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and argument tasks. Emphasis is placed on writing as a recursive process that includes drafting, feedback, and deliberate revision. 
• Designed for, but not limited to, the serious college-bound student. 
• Reading volume, writing frequency, and expectations for independent analysis and revision are commensurate with those of first-year college composition courses.