Page 15 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

Ultimately, these thematic chapters provide you with the flexibility you need to align
the content of your course with the needs and interests of your students. We
understand that a topic might generate hours of conversation one year, but only last a
few moments in another year. We recognize that one class of students may be able to
throw down with Thoreau, while another may learn more by kicking it with McKibben.
And we know that effective teaching means accounting for students’ interests and the
zeitgeist of the moment, so we’ve given you six chapters from which to craft the content
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of your instruction. The broadness of the themes even allows you to seamlessly trade
out readings to integrate other works you may prefer to teach.
Within each thematic chapter, you’ll find a Central Essay, a Classic Essay, and
several texts that fall in the category of Other Voices. Each reading in the book is
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accompanied by questions that develop understanding, require close reading and
analysis, inspire deep thought, and provoke engaging class discussion and civil debate.
The Central Essay provides multiple entry points to think through the overarching
chapter theme, thus establishing what we call the “philosophical ballast” for the
chapter. That is, the Central Essay serves as a grounding, central point that encourages
students to lean toward other texts and then return to the theme with a more nuanced
perspective. Central Essays also serve as exemplars of brilliant rhetorical writing, and
the writers are among the best to have been published in contemporary times.
Our Classic Essays pay homage to those pieces of writing that continue to move
people’s hearts and minds, no matter how many years have elapsed since they were
first printed. Students may grapple with some of the antiquated language in these
pieces, but the ideas remain relevant, rhetorically rich, and worth the rigor.
If the Central and Classic Essays are the keystones, the Other Voices are the stones
that complete the arch. You’ll never be able to assign them all within a given year — let’s
just reality check our expectations — but we know you’ll be tempted, because each text
has the potential to deepen students’ understanding of the chapter theme and widen
students’ perspective on the many viewpoints people may take. (We apologize in
advance for the moment that will come when you just can’t decide which text to assign.
Take heart in knowing there is no wrong choice, and you have our support no matter
what you choose; we believe in you . . . and there’s always the Pre-Built Unit to help out
if needed.)
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Each thematic chapter also contains a Conversation, structured similarly to the AP
Exam’s Synthesis free-response question, which will invite students to use words and
visuals created by others to develop their own arguments on far-ranging topics such as
animal conservation, celebrity activism, free speech, and more. Questions after each
Conversation text help students examine different viewpoints on the issue at hand. After
engaging with the full set of Conversation texts, Making Connections questions then
help students compare and contrast various arguments, a key intermediary step in
moving from analysis toward synthesis. After they synthesize the written and visual
sources provided, students are ready to develop their own voices and positions by
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responding to an AP -style Synthesis free-response question that begins each Entering
the Conversation question set.

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Teaching AP English Language and Composition with The Language of Composition TE-xiii

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