AP English Language and Composition Syllabus 4 - Syllabus 4 Scoring Components

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Oliver

AP English Language and Composition Syllabus 4 outlines course requirements and grading expectations for college-level writing and analysis. Scoring components define narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays across varied topics, including stages of drafting with teacher and peer feedback, informal writing practices, nonfiction reading analysis, visual-to-text relationships, and research and citation skills. The syllabus also specifies course objectives, grading weights for essays and tests, and assessment methods using rhetorical devices, quizzes, and vocabulary and mechanics checks.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Scoring Components (SC1–SC16)

Writing assignments and drafting process

Reading analysis and visual-to-text relationships

Research skills and source citation

Teacher instruction and feedback

Course Objectives

Grading System

AP® English Language and Composition: Syllabus 4 Syllabus 1058835v1 | Scoring Components | Page(s) | | --- | --- | | SC1 The course requires students to write in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects (e.g., public policies, popular culture, personal experiences) . | 5, 11, 14 | | SC2 The course requires students to write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts with therevision incorporating, as appropriate, feedback from teachers and peers. | 2, 9 | | SC3 The course requires students to write in informal contexts (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses) designed to help them become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and/or aware of the techniques employed by the writers they read. | 10, 12, 14 | | SC4 The course requires students to produce one or more expository writing assignments. Topics should be based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres and might include such topics as public policies, popular culture, and personal experiences. | 5, 7–9, 11, 14 | | SC5 The course requires students to produce one or more analytical writing assignments. Topics should be based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres and might include such topics as public policies, popular culture, and personal experiences. | 5, 11–13 | | SC6 The course requires students to produce one or more argumentative writing assignments. Topics should be based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres and might include such topics as public policies, popular culture, and personal experiences. | 6, 12, 14 | | SC7 The course requires nonfiction readings (e.g., essays, journalism, political writing, science writing, nature writing, autobiographies/biographies, diaries, history, criticism) that are selected to give students opportunities to explain an author’s use of rhetorical strategies or techniques. If fiction and poetry are also assigned, their main purpose should be to help students understand how various effects are achieved by writers’ linguistic and rhetorical choices. | 4, 6, 8 | | SC8 The course requires students to analyze how visual images relate to written texts and/or how visual images serve as alternative forms of texts. | 4, 6, 8, 10, 13 | | SC9 The course requires students to demonstrate research skills and, in particular, the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources. | 7, 9 | | SC10 The course requires students to produce one or more projects such as the researched argument paper, which goes beyond the parameters of a traditional research paper by asking students to present an argument of their own that includes the synthesis of ideas from an array of sources. | 7, 12 | | SC11 Students will cite sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, American Psychological Association (APA), etc.) . | 7, 15 | | SC12 The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments, both before and after the students revise their work that help the students develop a wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately. | 2 | | SC13 The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments both before and after the students revise their work that help the students develop a variety of sentence structures. | 2 | | SC14 The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments, both before and after the students revise their work that help the students develop logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence. Such techniques may include traditional rhetorical structures, graphic organizers, and work on repetition, transitions, and emphasis. | 3 | | SC15 The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments both before and after they revise t

FAQs

What types of writing does the course require?

Students write multiple forms, including narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays, plus informal writing activities designed to strengthen awareness of writing techniques.

How does the drafting and revision process work?

Essays move through several stages or drafts, with revisions incorporating feedback from teachers and peers before final copies are produced.

What grading components and test formats are used?

Essays account for 30% of the six-week grade, with rough drafts and editing contributing part of that weight; tests account for 25% and include multiple-choice questions on rhetorical devices, supported by reading-based and new passage analysis.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Oliver