Ideas in Argument

UNIT 1: COMMUNICATING AN IDEA

Rhetorical Situation:  The Writer’s Message
    Queen Elizabeth II, History Will Remember Your Actions

Claims and Evidence:  The Writer’s Claim
    Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies

Reasoning and Organization: Narration and Description
    Gary Soto, The Jacket

Language and Style:  The Writer’s Tone
    Trevor Noah, The World Doesn’t Love You

Putting it All Together: Modeled Text
    Noah Spencer, Why I, a Heterosexual Teenage Boy Want to See More Men in Speedos (student writing)

Ideas in American Culture
    Colonization and Exploration
        William Bradford, from Of Plymouth Plantation
        N. Scott Momaday, from The Way to Rainy Mountain

    Faith and Doubt
        Jonathan Edwards, from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
        Langston Hughes, Salvation

Composition Workshop: Writing a Narrative
    Brighton Earley, Finding the Flexibility to Survive (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Creating a Message
Reasoning and Organization: Creating Unity
Claims and Evidence: Developing and Supporting a Thesis
Language and Style: Conveying an Attitude

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Rhetorical Analysis

    Writing and Supporting a Defensible Thesis
        Benjamin Franklin, from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, from The Danger of a Single Story

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

UNIT 2: APPEALING TO AN AUDIENCE

Rhetorical Situation: Considering the Audience
    Kamala Harris, I Will Not Be the Last

Claims and Evidence: Relevant and Sufficient Evidence
    Steve Rushin, Give the Kids a Break

Reasoning and Organization: Persuasion 
    Tenzin Namgyak, Why Diversity Is Necessary for Democracy (student writing)

Language and Style: Syntactical Choices for Effect
    George W. Bush, Address to Nation on September 20, 2001

Putting it All Together: Modeled Text
    Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Don’t Understand the Protests? What You Are Seeing Is People Pushed to the Edge

Ideas in American Culture

    Reason and Revolution
        Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Convention
        Harvey Milk, You’ve Got to Have Hope

    Patriotism and Democracy
        Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, Number 1
        Donald Kagan, On Patriotism

Composition Workshop: Writing a Persuasive Argument

    Kalindi Desai, Phones Create Barriers between Peers (student essay)

Claims and Evidence: Selecting Relevant Evidence

Rhetorical Situation: Appealing to an Audience

Reasoning and Organization: Developing a Line of Reasoning

Language and Style: Creating Emphasis Through Syntax

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Argument

    Establishing a Line of Reasoning

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

UNIT 3: UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT

Rhetorical Situation: The Rhetorical Context
    William McRaven, Make Your Bed

Claims and Evidence: Sources of Evidence
    Bryan Stevenson, Mockingbird Players

Reasoning and Organization: Exposition: Process Argument
    J.J. Goode, Single-Handed Cooking

Language and Style: Transitions
    Emma Chiu, Driving: Its Going Out of Style (student writing)

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Chris Daly, How the Lawyers Stole Winter

Ideas in American Culture
    The Individual and Nature  
        Ralph Waldo Emerson, from Nature
        Rachel Carson, The Obligation to Endure

The Individual and Society
        Henry David Thoreau, from Walden
        E.B. White, Walden

Composition Workshop: Writing a Process Argument

    Alex Kucich, It’s Time for America to Start Feeling the Love for Ultimate Frisbee (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Establishing Context

Claims and Evidence: Establishing a Purpose

Reasoning and Organization: Explaining Relevance

Language and Style: Using Transitions

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Synthesis

Incorporating Evidence From Sources: Work Experience for Teens

    Source A: Jessica Dickler, Why So Few Teenagers Have Jobs Anymore
    Source B: Helen Thomson, Why Adolescents Put Themselves First
    Source C: Abigail Hess, Young People Are Less Likely to Hold Summer Jobs Now—Heres What Theyre Doing Instead
    Source D: Grace Chen, Should Public Schools Provide Students With Vocational Opportunities

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Wendell Berry, from The Agrarian Standard

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

UNIT 4: ANALYZING PURPOSE

Rhetorical Situation: Multiple Purposes
    Patrick Wang, Why We Should Teach the Truth about American History (student writing)

Claims and Evidence: Function of Evidence
    Alyssa Biederman, Melina Walling, and Sarah Siock, Meet Gen Z Activists

Reasoning and Organization: Exposition: Definition Argument
    Hector St. John Crevocoeur, What Is an American?

Language and Style: Eliminating Ambiguity
    Amy Harmon, "They" Is the Word of the Year, Merriam-Webster Says, Noting Its Singular Rise

Putting it All Together: Modeled Text
    Barack Obama, 2008 Election Victory Speech

Ideas in American Culture
    Division and Unity
        Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
        Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman, from Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

    Equality and Social Discontent
        Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
        Barbara Kingsolver, #MeToo Isn’t Enough: Now Women Need to Get Ugly

Composition Workshop: Writing a Definition Argument

    Zoie Taylore, Redefining Ladylike (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Connecting Audience and Purpose

Reasoning and Organization: Explaining Significance

Claims and Evidence: Selecting Purposeful Evidence

Language and Style: Eliminating Ambiguity

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Rhetorical Analysis

Writing Commentary
    Ta-Nehisi Coates, Testimony before House Judiciary Committee

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Colin Powell, Address at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the US Diplomacy Center

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

UNIT 5: CREATING COHERENCE

Rhetorical Situation: The Writer’s Exigence
    PINK, MTV Video Music Awards Speech

Claims and Evidence: Unity and Coherence
    Kendrick Lamar, He Was Telling a Different Kind of Truth Statement Dictated to Paper Magazine

Reasoning and Organization: Causal Arguments
    Melena Ryzik, How Sesame Street Started a Musical Revolution

Language and Style: Syntax for Emphasis
    Narain Dubey, Breaking the Blue Wall of Silence: Changing the Social Narrative about Policing in America (student writing)

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Madison Moore, Tina Theory: Notes on Fierceness

Ideas in American Culture
    Place and Values
        Mark Twain, from Life on the Mississippi
        Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, from Harlem is Nowhere

    Opportunity and Oppression
        Upton Sinclair, from The Jungle
        J.D. Vance, from Hillbilly Elegy

Composition Workshop: Writing a Causal Argument

    Keegan Lindell, Why I, a High School Football Player, Want to see Tackle Football Taken Away (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Writing an Introduction

Reasoning and Organization: Unifying an Argument

Claims and Evidence: Connecting Relevant Evidence

Language and Style: Using Subordination and Coordination

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Argument

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Corrie Ten Boom, from The Hiding Place

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

UNIT 6: ESTABLISHING AND EVALUATING CREDIBILITY

Rhetorical Situation: The Writer’s Credibility
    Tre Johnson, Black Superheroes Matter

Claims and Evidence: Strategic Evidence
    Dan Barber, What Farm-to-Table Got Wrong

Reasoning and Organization: Exposition: Classification/Division Argument
    Mindy Kaling, Women in Romantic Comedies Who Are Not Real

Language and Style: Precision of Language
    Richard Wright, A Hunger for Books

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Greta Thunberg, Speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit

Ideas in American Culture
    Endurance and Expression  
        William Faulkner, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
        Lin Manuel Miranda, What Artists Can Do

    Wealth and Poverty
        Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth
        Christian H. Cooper, Why Poverty Is Like a Disease

Composition Workshop: Writing a Classification/Division Argument

    Josh C., A Massacre of Art (student model)

Claims and Evidence: Synthesizing Evidence

Reasoning and Organization: Arranging Reasons and Evidence

Rhetorical Situation: Establishing Credibility

Language and Style: Using Precise Diction

Free-Response Question: Synthesis

Synthesizing Evidence from Sources: Citizen Journalism

    Source A: Jason Tanz, Journalism Fights for Survival in the Post-Truth Era
    Source B: Tony Rogers, Understanding Citizen Journalism
    Source C: Chris Hogg, Is There Credibility in Citizen Journalism
    Source D: Gracy Olmstead, Verifying Content on Facebook Is the User’s Responsibility
    Source E: Pew Research Center, One-Sided and Inaccurate News Seen as the Biggest Problems with News on Social Media (infographic)
    Source F: Gary Varvel, Excuse Me (cartoon)

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Franklin D. Roosevelt, The New Deal Speech

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

UNIT 7: COMPARING PERSPECTIVES

Rhetorical Situation: Nuance, Complexity, and Contradictions
    Ryan Kim, This is Us, It Has Always Been: The Myth of American Exceptionalism (student writing)

Claims and Evidence: Qualification and Concession
    Tim Sprinkle, Do Robots Deserve Legal Rights?

Reasoning and Organization: Evaluation Comparison/Contrast Argument
    Suzanne Britt, Neat People vs. Sloppy People

Language and Style: Syntax for Purpose
    Colson Whitehead, The "Loser Edit" That Awaits Us All

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Tommy Orange, How Native American Is Native American Enough?

Ideas in American Culture
    Identity and Identities
        Ralph Ellison, from Hidden Name and Complex Fate
        Durga Chew-Bose, Tan Lines

    Justice and Civil Disobedience
        Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail
        Edward Snowden, Why I Became a Whistleblower

Composition Workshop: Writing an Evaluation Argument Using Comparison and Contrast

    Riley Stevenson, Climate Activists Must Fight for System Change and Individual Change (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Introducing and Concluding an Argument

Reasoning and Organization: Connecting Reasons and Evidence

Claims and Evidence: Qualifying an Argument

Language and Style: Crafting Purposeful Syntax

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Rhetorical Analysis

Explaining Significance
    Rosa Parks, Quiet Strength

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Natalie Goldberg, from Writing Down the Bones

UNIT 8: EXPLAINING COMPLEXITIES

Rhetorical Situation: The Dynamic Rhetorical Situation

Preminda Jacob, Banksy and the Art of Destroying Art

Claims and Evidence: Counterarguments: Refutation and Rebuttal
    Molly Ivins, Guns: Ban the Things. Ban Them All.

Reasoning and Organization: Evaluation: Problem/Solution Argument
    Paul Jankowski, Are We So Connected That We’re Disconnected? Three Ways to Break through the Clutter

Language and Style: Identifying Contrast and Incongruity
    Lydia Wei, Trendy Restaurant Menu (student writing)

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Kevin Roose, Dont Scoff at Influencers. Theyre Taking Over the World

Ideas in American Culture
    Mind and Matter
        Stephen Hawking, Questioning the Universe
        Mary Roach, from Stiff

    Criticism and Critique
        Horace Miner, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
        The Onion, Wealthy Teen Nearly Experiences Consequence

Composition Workshop: Writing an Evaluation Argument that Proposes a Solution

    Walter Li, Self-Care Alone Will Not Fix The System (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Addressing Complexity

Reasoning and Organization: Justifying a claim

Claims and Evidence: Developing a Counterargument

Language and Style: Connecting with an Audience Through Stylistic Choices

Free-Response Question: Argument

Acknowledging and Responding to Opposing Arguments

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    Ronald Reagan, Tear Down This Wall

UNIT 9: JOINING THE CONVERSATION

Rhetorical Situation: Understanding the Rhetorical Situation
    Dan Crensaw, Five Lessons That Veterans Can Teach Us

Claims and Evidence: Biases and Limitations of Evidence
    Matthew S. Williams, Are Space Habitats the Wave of the Future

Organization and Development: Multimodal Arguments
    John Barry, It’s All a Part of the Game

Language and Style: Voice and Complexity
    Ingrid Marie Geerken, Once Upon a Falling October (student writing)

Putting It All Together: Modeled Text
    Toni Morrison, Be Your Own Story

Ideas in American Culture
    Truth and Consequences
        Barbara Ehrenreich, In America, Only the Rich Can Afford to Write about Poverty
        Scientific American, Truth in Journalism    

    Technology and Globalization
        Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat
        Fareed Zakaria, Everyone Seems to Agree, Globalization Is a Sin. Theyre Wrong

Composition Workshop: Writing a Multimodal Argument

    Nati Duron, Quiet Confidence: Introverts and the Power of Silence (student model)

Rhetorical Situation: Acknowledging Multiple Perspectives

Reasoning and Organization: Unifying an Argument Across Multiple Methods of Development

Claims and Evidence: Synthesizing Evidence

Language and Style: Establishing a Voice

Preparing for the AP® Exam

Free-Response Question: Synthesis

    Demonstrating Complexity: The Value of Liberal Arts
    Source A: Lynn Pasquerella, Yes, Employers Do Value Liberal Arts Education
    Source B: Robert Reich, A Four Year College Degree is Not Preparing People for Today’s Jobs
    Source C: Daniel Bortz, Skills Employers Look For in College Graduates
    Source D: Richard Vedder, Jonathan Robe, and Christopher Denhart, The Value of a College Degree is Diminishing Over Time
    Source E: Association of American Colleges and Universities, Employer Research Supports High Impact Learning Practices (infographic)
    Source F: Committee for Economic Development, Business Supporting College and Career Readiness (infographic)

Multiple-Choice Questions: Reading
    E.O. Wilson, The Bird of Paradise

Multiple-Choice Questions: Writing

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