Cover: The Language of Composition, 4th Edition by Renee Shea; Lawrence Scanlon; Robin Dissin Aufses; Megan M. Harowitz; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos A. Escobar

The Language of Composition

Fourth  Edition©2023  Renee Shea; Lawrence Scanlon; Robin Dissin Aufses; Megan M. Harowitz; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos A. Escobar

About

Everything You Need to Succeed in AP® Language.

The Language of Composition, Fourth Edition, by Shea et al., includes all of the content and support you need to be successful on the AP® Language and Composition Exam. This one volume includes writing instruction/practice, a thematic anthology of readings for analysis, as well as AP® exam tips; give yourself the foundation you need to earn a great score.

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Table of Contents

1 • Rhetorical Analysis

Section 1

The Rhetorical Situation
Rhetorical Appeals
Analyzing Rhetoric and Style
Culminating Activity / Section 1: Analyzing Rhetoric: Defending a Claim with Evidence

Section 2


From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 2: Crafting an AP® Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Section 3
Developing Sophistication in an AP® Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 3: Developing Sophistication in an AP® Rhetorical Analysis Essay

2 • Argument


Section 1


What Is Argument?
Understanding Claims
Understanding and Analyzing Evidence
Logical Reasoning and Organization: Shaping an Argument
Culminating Activity / Section 1: Analyzing Argument: Defending a Claim with Evidence

Section 2

From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Argument Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 2: Crafting an AP® Argument Essay

Section 3

Developing Sophistication in an AP® Argument Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 3: Developing Sophistication in an AP® Argument Essay

3 • Synthesis


Section 1

Approaching Sources in Arguments
Examining Sources in Arguments
Synthesizing Sources
Using Sources to Inform an Argument
Using Sources to Appeal to an Audience
Culminating Activity / Section 1: Synthesizing Sources

Section 2


From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Synthesis Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 2: Crafting an AP® Synthesis Essay
How Free Is Free Speech?

Section 3


Developing Sophistication in an AP® Synthesis Essay
Culminating Activity / Section 3: Developing Sophistication in an AP® Synthesis Essay

4 • Identity
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 4
Central Essay / Amy Tan, Mother Tongue
Classic Essay / Zora Neale Hurston, How It Feels to Be Colored Me
Other Voices
Visual Text
Conversation / Defining Masculinity
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Identity

5 • Environment
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 5
Central Essay / Bill McKibben, 2050: How Earth Survived
Classic Essay / Rachel Carson, from Silent Spring
Other Voices
Visual Text
Conversation / Animal Conservation
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Environment

6 • Money
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 6
Central Essay / Barbara Ehrenreich, from Serving in Florida
Classic Essay / Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
Other Voices 
Visual Texts
Conversation / Paying for College
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Money

7 • Community
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 7
Central Essay / Rebecca Solnit, from A Paradise Built in Hell
Classic Essay / Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
Other Voices
Visual Text
Conversation / Reparations
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Community

8 • Justice
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 8
Central Essay / Ta-Nehisi Coates, from Between the World and Me
Classic Essay / Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
Other Voices
Visual Texts
Conversation / The Second Amendment
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Justice

9 • Culture
Chapter Introduction / AP® Unit 9
Central Essay / Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize Lecture
Classic Essay / Joan Didion, On Self-Respect
Other Voices
Visual Texts
Conversation / Cultural Appropriation
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Suggestions for Writing / Culture

Endmatter /

AP® English Language Practice Exam
Glossary / Glosario
Grammar Workshops
MLA Guidelines for a List of Works Cited
Text Credits
Index

Renee Shea

Renée H. Shea was professor of English and Modern Languages and director of freshman composition at Bowie State University in Maryland, where she taught graduate seminars in rhetoric. A College Board faculty consultant for more than thirty years in AP® Language and Literature, and Pre-AP® English, she has been a reader and question leader for both AP® English exams. Renée served as a member on many committees for the College Board, including the AP® Language and Composition Development Committee, the English Academic Advisory Committee, and the SAT Critical Reading Test Development Committee. She is co-author of Literature & Composition, American Literature & Rhetoric, Conversations in American Literature, Advanced Language & Literature, and Foundations of Language & Literature, as well as volumes on Amy Tan and Zora Neale Hurston for the NCTE High School Literature Series. Renée continues to write about contemporary authors for publications such as World Literature Today, Poets & Writers, and Kenyon Review. Her recent publications focused on Celeste Ng, Imbolo Mbue, Namwali Serpell, Manuel Muñoz, and Ohio’s 2020–2024 poet laureate, Kari Gunter-Seymour.

Lawrence Scanlon

Lawrence Scanlon taught at Brewster High School for more than thirty years and then for another ten years at Iona College in New York. For twenty-five years, he was a Reader and Question Leader for the AP® Language and Composition Exam. As a College Board consultant over that same period of time, he has conducted AP® workshops in both AP® English Language and AP® English Literature throughout the United States and in South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has also provided professional development as a private consultant for many school districts. He served on the PSAT Review Committee and the AP® English Language Test Development Committee. Larry is co-author of Literature & Composition, American Literature & Rhetoric, and Conversations in American Literature and has published articles on curriculum and method for the College Board and elsewhere.

Robin Aufses

Robin Dissin Aufses is director of English Studies at Lycée Français de New York, where she teaches AP® English Language and Composition. Previous to this position, Robin was the English department chair and a teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, New York, and prior to that she taught English at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, New York. She taught AP® English Literature and AP® English Language at both schools. She is co-author of Literature & Composition, American Literature & Rhetoric, and Conversations in American Literature and has published articles for the College Board on novelist Chang-rae Lee and the novel All the King’s Men.

Megan M. Harowitz

Megan M. Harowitz is a National Board Certified Teacher with over ten years of experience in the secondary English Language Arts classroom. She has received distinctions including the National Council of Teachers of English High School Teacher of Excellence (FL) She has served as President and Executive Director of the Florida Council of Teachers of English. Megan currently works at Rockville High School (MD) as the Staff Development teacher, AP® Coordinator, and AP® Language teacher. She is also a co-author of The Language of Composition, 3rd edition.

Katherine Cordes

Katherine E. Cordes is a National Board Certified English teacher with a BA in English, psychology, and medieval studies; an MEd in curriculum and instruction; and an MFA in poetry. She has more than twenty years of experience in the secondary English Language Arts classroom and currently teaches AP Seminar®/Honors English 10 and AP® English Literature at Skyview High School in Billings, Montana, where she has also taught dual enrollment college writing and AP® English Language. As part of the College Board’s Instructional Design Team, Katherine contributed to the development, review, and dissemination of the 2019 AP® English Literature Course and Exam Description, and she has been an AP® Reader for the AP® English Literature and AP® Seminar Exams. She is a co-author of Literature & Composition and The Language of Composition.

Carlos Escobar

Carlos Escobar teaches tenth-grade English and AP® English Literature and Composition at Felix Varela Senior High School in Miami, Florida, where he is also the AP® Program Director. Carlos has been a College Board Advisor for AP® English Literature, an AP® Reader, and a member of the AP® English Literature Test Development Committee. He has mentored new AP® English teachers and presented at various local and national AP® workshops and conferences. As part of the College Board’s Instructional Design Team, Carlos contributed to the development, review, and dissemination of the 2019 AP® English Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description. He designed and delivered daily live YouTube lessons streamed globally by the College Board and was the Lead Instructor for AP® Daily, the College Board’s skill-based, on-demand video series. A co-author of Advanced Language & Literature and Literature & Composition, Carlos has also co-authored the Teacher’s Editions for Literature & Composition, Second Edition; Advanced Language & Literature; and Foundations of Language & Literature.