Course Syllabus

AP Language and Composition 2026-2027 Course Syllabus

room 230 

red block

Teacher:  Ms. Dubé

Office Hours:  Mondays:  2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.or by appointment

Course Description: 

Advanced Placement Language and Composition, designed for motivated students who enjoy studying the complexities of language, mirrors the instruction of an introductory college composition course.  Successful AP Language and Composition students will work independently and consistently inside and outside of class, learning to recognize, appreciate, and use the tools of rhetoric.  Students will read and write essays, examining and demonstrating the skills needed for rhetorical analysis, argumentation, and synthesis.  Students will regularly engage in timed, in-class writing. Readings for the course will be selected from a variety of nonfiction essays and articles and may include titles such as Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write,” and George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant.”   This course will prepare students for the AP Language and Composition exam in the spring.  

Texts:

The Language of Composition. Shea, Aufses, Scanlon, Harowitz, Cordes, and Escobar.

40 Model Essays, Jane E. Aaron

50 Model Essays, Samuel Cohen

Plainsong, Kent Haruf

A Separate Peace, John Knowles

Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka

Selected Poems

Managing Assignments: 

Homework: 

As we read a text, there will be nightly reading homework.  The nightly reading will be quizzed in the next class without exception.  Students may ask to postpone a quiz, but all quizzes for a text must be complete by the time that we start the final assessment for that text or by 2:30 p.m. on the last day of the quarter, whichever comes first. 

Presentations: 

Presentations must be delivered when the student's turn comes up.  (For example, if presenter one is absent, then it is presenter two's turn.). Presentations that are not ready to be delivered when the student's turn comes up will lose ten points.  If the student has an unexcused absence when their presentation turn comes up, the presentation will lose ten points. 

Writing:

Writing will be taught, practiced, and assessed in class.

Canvas

• All assignments will be posted in Canvas.  
• Essays and reading quizzes will be turned in and graded in Canvas.  Grades for these assignments will be posted on PowerSchool weekly. 
• AP Classroom work will be turned in on AP Classroom and graded in PowerSchool.  Grades for these assignments will be posted on PowerSchool weekly.  Note that your Canvas average does not reflect anything that is solely graded in PowerSchool.  The accurate average is the PowerSchool average.
• Presentations will be given in class and graded on PowerSchool within two weeks of the presentation.
• Membean study will be graded on the Membean website and posted in PowerSchool weekly. 
• Membean tests will be graded on the Membean website and posted in PowerSchool within a week.  
• Participation will be graded in class daily, according to the presentation rubric, (See Announcements) with the grade posted in PowerSchool at the end of the quarter. (Students who are unsure of how they are doing in participation may meet with the teacher for feedback during office hours.) 

Wellesley High School Gmail

• I will also use Wellesley High School Gmail to communicate with you by email.

Teacher Absences:

When I am absent, I will post the day's assignment on Canvas, and it must be completed by the due date. 

Grading:  

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 (Worth 25% of Y1 Grade):  

Major Grades:  60%

Homework:  20%

Participation:  20%

District accommodations (DCAP) are available to all students, and in the 26-27 school year, WHS is committed to moving this forward with fidelity.  

While some accommodations can be offered at the moment, others require advanced notice. 

For example: Extended time on an in-class assessment is a collaborative decision made by the teacher, student, and family to meet individual student needs.  The WHS guideline is up to 25% extra time.  This accommodation relies on proactive student communication prior to the date of the assessment.  The student and teacher must establish how the accommodation will be provided.”