Our online AP English Language and Composition class is designed for homeschooled sophomores, juniors, and seniors (15+) who are capable and willing writers and who enjoy reading, sharing, and comparing. The College Board created AP Lang to focus on non-fiction, and throughout the year students will tackle time-tested and award-winning reading in an asynchronous class format.

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At Blue Tent, we've been teaching AP Language for over 10 years. We understand the framework and College Board objectives for the course--and how to help students grow in their critical thinking and writing proficiency. We also understand how to help students succeed at exam-time. Over 70% of our AP Lang students earned 4's and 5's on the most recent May 2022 exam, and we commend them for their hard work!

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Class Details

• AP English Language & Composition is a full-year class.

• Tuition: $800

• Instructor: Christine Proctor

• Dates: August 14, 2023 to May 14, 2024 (AP exam). See our FAQ for a complete list of dates and breaks.

• Format: This is an asynchronous class, so there are no live meeting dates. 

  • While this class is highly active, all interaction takes place in a text-based or recorded fashion on the class website.

• Grade level: 10th and up​

  • For age/grade guidelines, prerequisites, and class-fit recommendations for all classes, please see our FAQ.

• Class size: 15-20

• Course materials are listed HERE.

• This course is NCAA-approved.

• This course complies with the AP course audit and has been approved by the College Board for the 2023-24 school year.

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Relevant and Enjoyable

Drawing on the well-regarded class text The Language of Composition, students will analyze and discuss essays and articles that address social, economic, psychological, and political issues from a range of perspectives--and they will all be relevant to their world.

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• Readings include books and articles by Malcolm Gladwell, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, and others—with an eye toward overarching rhetorical arguments and means of persuasion.

• Reading current newspaper editorials, students will measure the tenor and temperature of syndicated columnists whose newspaper columns they will select based upon their own interests and persuasion.

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But they won't do all this on their own! A Socratic approach to class discussions will welcome and encourage active participation and welcome a variety of viewpoints. Students will consider, compare, and debate in friendly, collaborative forums that are both text-based and video-recorded.

 

Refining Writing Skills

With a year or two of high school-level writing instruction and practice under their belts, students who enter AP Lang understand the fundamentals of the five-paragraph essay and want to expand beyond that template to grow as writers.

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• Over the year, they'll learn or reinforce the most current (2021) MLA formatting guidelines. Using that framework in all their writing, students will put MLA core conventions into practice each week to solidify the nuances of parenthetical citation and works cited pages. 

• The class will tackle three types of essays: synthesis, argumentative, and rhetorical analysis.

• An audience of their peers will offer supportive, helpful suggestions, and the instructor will offer detailed feedback on every paper turned in.

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Sharing their writing in discussion forums will offer examples of alternate approaches. In AP Lang, students won't be looking for right answers or one single right way to approach a writing task. Rather, they'll be developing their own argumentative and analytical skillfulness. Developing their own writer's voice.

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The AP Exam

Critical reading exercises will be interwoven throughout the course, and in the second semester, students will ramp up and begin working on timed writing. 

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• To help prepare for success, six weeks before the AP exam, students will shift gears and focus exclusively on exam prep, with weekly writing assignments that simulate AP exam content and timed conditions.

• In addition to scrutinizing and critiquing actual AP essays that were scored by exam readers, students will take a number of partial and full practice tests from released exams.

• As the year draws to a close and the AP exam beckons, students will have a firm grasp of what to expect in that culminating activity. And they'll feel prepared.

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After the AP exam is over and students let out a big sigh of relief, they will feel ready for that next step: college writing and analysis. And it's likely that they will have earned college credit for their effort!

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We hope students will enter our AP Language class eager to share, debate, and enjoy collaborating with a community of soon-to-be friends from across the country. Together they will expand their horizons!

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