The visual guide to
AP® English Language and Composition
20 units, 189 topics. Each topic is explained in writing, drawn as a lesson you can watch, and checked with practice questions.
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The units, in the order they're taught.Filled: topics you've opened.
Big Idea 1Rhetorical Situation - Reading (Skill 1.A)
- 1.A The Six Components of the Rhetorical Situation (RHS-1.A)
- 1.A Exigence: What Provoked the Text (RHS-1.B)
- 1.A Purpose, and Texts That Carry More Than One (RHS-1.C)
- 1.A Audience: Shared and Individual Beliefs, Values and Needs (RHS-1.D)
- 1.A Context: Time, Place and Occasion (RHS-1.E)
- 1.A Constraints and the Available Means of Persuasion
- 1.A The Writer, the Speaker and the Persona
- 1.A Message, Subject and Thesis Told Apart (RHS-1.A)
- 1.A Genre and Medium as Rhetorical Constraints
- 1.A The Rhetorical Triangle: Writer, Audience, Subject
- 1.A Reconstructing a Rhetorical Situation From the Text Alone
Big Idea 1Audience and the Appeals (Skills 1.B and 2.B)
- 1.B How a Writer's Read of the Audience Steers Every Choice (RHS-1.F)
- 1.B Reaching an Audience's Emotions and Values (RHS-1.G)
- 1.B Appeals: The Modes of Persuasion (RHS-1.H)
- 1.B Ethos: How Credibility Gets Built (RHS-1.H)
- 1.B Pathos: How an Emotional Appeal Is Built (RHS-1.H)
- 1.B Logos: Load-Bearing Reasoning (RHS-1.H)
- 1.B Appeals That Backfire
- 1.B Similes, Metaphors, Analogies and Anecdotes as Audience Bridges (RHS-1.K)
- 1.B How Diction and Syntax Shape How a Writer Is Seen (RHS-1.L)
- 1.B Loaded Word Choice, Bias and Lost Credibility (RHS-1.M)
- 1.B Audiences Are Unique and Changing (RHS-1.N)
- 1.B and 2.B Common Ground: What a Writer Assumes the Audience Already Grants
- 2.B Writing to Your Own Audience's Beliefs, Values and Needs
Big Idea 1Rhetorical Situation - Writing (Skill 2.A)
- 2.A Choosing a Subject, a Focus and a Purpose
- 2.A What an Introduction Has to Accomplish (RHS-1.I)
- 2.A The Menu of Introduction Moves (RHS-1.I)
- 2.A Placing the Thesis in the Introduction or the Conclusion (RHS-1.I and RHS-1.J)
- 2.A What a Conclusion Has to Accomplish (RHS-1.J)
- 2.A The Menu of Conclusion Moves (RHS-1.J)
- 2.A Closing the Loop Back to the Introduction (RHS-1.J)
- 2.A Matching an Opening to the Purpose, Context and Persona
- 2.A Openings and Endings That Waste a Reader's Attention
Unit 4Big Idea 1 on the AP Exam: Skill 1 and Skill 2 Questions
- Section I: The Skill 1 Reading Question Types
- Skill 1.A Questions: Exigence, Purpose and Context Stems
- Skill 1.B Questions: What a Writer Assumes About the Audience
- Skill 2.A Questions: Choosing the Best Introduction or Conclusion Sentence
- Skill 2.B Questions: Revising for a Stated Audience and Purpose
- Free-Response Question 2: The Rhetorical Situation in a Rhetorical Analysis Thesis
- Section I Mechanics: 45 Questions, 60 Minutes, Five Sets
Big Idea 2Claims and Evidence — Claims and the Thesis (Skills 3.A, 3.B, 4.A, 4.B)
- 3.A Claims That Require a Defense (CLE-1.A, CLE-1.D)
- 3.A Claims of Fact, Value, and Policy
- 3.A Subclaims and How Claims Stack
- 3.B The Overarching Thesis of an Argument (CLE-1.I)
- 3.B Implied Thesis vs. Explicit Thesis Statement (CLE-1.J)
- 4.B Writing a Thesis That Previews the Line of Reasoning (CLE-1.O)
- 4.B Revising the Thesis When New Evidence Arrives (CLE-1.U)
Big Idea 2Claims and Evidence — Evidence and Commentary (Skills 3.A, 4.A)
- 3.A Types of Evidence (CLE-1.C)
- 3.A Statistics and Quantitative Evidence
- 3.A Anecdote, Testimony, and Expert Authority
- 3.A Analogy, Example, and Illustration as Evidence
- 3.A Strategic and Purposeful Selection of Evidence (CLE-1.F, CLE-1.G)
- 3.A Sufficiency of Evidence (CLE-1.H)
- 3.A Commentary That Links Evidence to a Claim (CLE-1.K, REO-1.C, REO-1.D)
- 4.A Embedding Quotation, Paraphrase, and Summary (CLE-1.E, CLE-1.L)
- 4.A Building a Body Paragraph of Claim, Evidence, and Commentary (REO-1.M)
Big Idea 3Reasoning and Organization — The Line of Reasoning and Argument Structure (Skills 5.A, 6.A)
- 5.A What a Line of Reasoning Is (REO-1.A, REO-1.B)
- 5.A How the Sequence of Paragraphs Reveals the Reasoning (REO-1.E)
- 5.A Flaws That Render an Argument Specious or Illogical (REO-1.F)
- Deductive Reasoning and the Syllogism
- Inductive Reasoning and the Inductive Leap
- The Toulmin Model: Claim, Data, Warrant, Backing, Qualifier, Rebuttal
- Warrants and Unstated Assumptions
- Classical Arrangement and the Rogerian Alternative
- Kinds of Argument: Definition, Evaluation, Causal, and Proposal
Big Idea 3Reasoning and Organization — Methods of Development (Skills 5.C, 6.C)
- 5.C What a Method of Development Does (REO-1.G, REO-1.H)
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Narration (REO-1.I)
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Definition and Description (REO-1.L)
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Cause and Effect (REO-1.J)
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Comparison and Contrast (REO-1.K)
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Classification and Division
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Exemplification
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Process Analysis
- 5.C Developing Ideas Through Problem and Solution
- 6.C Choosing and Combining Methods to Advance an Argument
Big Idea 3Reasoning and Organization — Organization, Coherence, and Transitions (Skills 5.B, 6.B)
- 5.B Unity and Coherence at Three Levels (REO-1.N)
- 5.B Topic Sentences and the Shape of a Body Paragraph (REO-1.M)
- 5.B Repetition, Synonyms, Pronoun Reference, and Parallel Structure (REO-1.O)
- 6.B Transitional Elements and the Relationships They Signal (REO-1.P)
- 6.B Transitions That Introduce Evidence and Mark Its Relationship (REO-1.Q)
- 6.B Placing a Sentence Where the Reasoning Needs It
Big Idea 2Claims and Evidence — Qualification, Counterargument, and Rebuttal (Skills 3.C, 4.C)
- 3.C Oversimplification and Overgeneralization (CLE-1.V)
- 4.C Qualifiers and Modifiers That Limit a Claim (CLE-1.W, CLE-1.X)
- 3.C Entering an Ongoing Conversation About a Subject (CLE-1.Y)
- 3.C Concession: Granting Part of the Other Side (CLE-1.AB)
- 3.C Rebuttal and Refutation (CLE-1.AC, CLE-1.AD)
- 3.C Placing and Signalling a Counterargument (CLE-1.AE, CLE-1.AF)
- 3.C Credibility Earned by Engaging Opposing Arguments (CLE-1.AA)
Unit 11Logical Fallacies in Reasoning
- What Makes a Piece of Reasoning Fallacious
- Ad Hominem: Attacking the Arguer Instead of the Argument
- Straw Man: Rebuilding the Opponent Weaker
- Slippery Slope: The Chain With a Missing Link
- False Dilemma: The Doors That Were Painted Out
- Hasty Generalization: Too Few Cases, Too Large a Claim
- Post Hoc and False Cause: After Is Not Because
- Circular Reasoning and Begging the Question
- Appeal to Authority: Borrowed Credibility
- Appeal to Ignorance and the Burden of Proof
- Bandwagon: Popularity Standing In for Proof
- Red Herring: Changing the Subject on Purpose
- Non Sequitur: The Conclusion That Does Not Follow
- Equivocation: One Word, Two Meanings
- False Analogy: A Comparison That Breaks Under Load
- Telling a Fallacy From a Legitimate Appeal
Big Idea 2Claims and Evidence — Synthesis of Sources (Skills 3.A, 4.A)
- 4.A What Synthesis Actually Requires (CLE-1.M)
- 3.A Finding the Conversation Between Sources (CLE-1.Z)
- 3.A Position Versus Perspective (CLE-1.R)
- 3.A Source Reliability, Bias, and Limitations (CLE-1.Q, CLE-1.S, CLE-1.T)
- 4.A Selecting and Combining Apt Source Material (CLE-1.P)
- 4.A Using Sources as Evidence Rather Than as the Argument
- 4.A Attribution, Citation, and Acknowledging Others' Work (CLE-1.N)
- 3.A Reading Quantitative and Visual Sources
Unit 13The Multiple-Choice Questions on Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning (Skill Categories 3, 4, 5, 6)
Unit 14Big Idea 4 Style: Diction and Tone (Skills 7.A, 8.A)
- 7.A Denotation and Connotation (STL-1.A)
- 7.A Adjectives and Adverbs as Perspective (STL-1.B)
- 8.A Precise Word Choice and Clarity (STL-1.C)
- 8.A Register and Level of Formality
- 8.A Abstract and Concrete Diction
- 8.A Jargon and Specialized Vocabulary
- 8.A Euphemism and Loaded Language
- 7.A Tone as the Writer's Attitude (STL-1.D)
- 7.A Inferring Tone from Word Choice (STL-1.E)
- 7.A Shifts in Tone (STL-1.F)
- 7.A Style as Word Choice, Syntax, and Conventions (STL-1.Q)
Unit 15Big Idea 4 Style: Comparisons and Figurative Language (Skill 7.A)
Unit 16Big Idea 4 Style: Syntax and Sentence Structure (Skills 7.B, 8.B)
- 7.B Independent and Dependent Clauses (STL-1.G)
- 7.B Coordination and Balance Between Ideas (STL-1.J)
- 7.B Subordination and Imbalance Between Ideas (STL-1.K)
- 7.B Choosing Between Coordination and Subordination (STL-1.I)
- 8.B Sentence Length and Variety
- 7.B The Periodic Sentence
- 7.B The Loose and Cumulative Sentence
- 7.B Arrangement Within a Sentence (STL-1.L)
- 7.B Inversion and Unusual Word Order
- 7.B Arrangement of Sentences for Emphasis (STL-1.H)
- 8.B Appositives and Parenthetical Elements (STL-1.T)
- 8.B Modifier Placement (STL-1.S)
Unit 17Big Idea 4 Style: Schemes of Balance and Repetition (Skills 7.B, 8.B)
Unit 18Big Idea 4 Style: Grammar, Mechanics, and Punctuation (Skills 7.C, 8.C)
- 7.C Punctuation as a Signal of Relationship (STL-1.N)
- 7.C The Comma (STL-1.O)
- 7.C The Semicolon (STL-1.O)
- 7.C The Colon (STL-1.O)
- 7.C The Dash (STL-1.O)
- 7.C Parentheses, Hyphens, and Quotation Marks (STL-1.O)
- 7.C End Marks and the Purpose of a Sentence (STL-1.O)
- 8.C Sentence Boundaries: Run-Ons, Splices, and Fragments
- 8.C Pronoun Clarity and Agreement
- 8.C Verb Tense Consistency and Sequence
- 8.C Subject-Verb Agreement (STL-1.M)
- 8.C Concision and Wordiness
- 7.C Italics, Boldface, and Design Emphasis (STL-1.P)
Unit 19The Exam: Section I, Multiple-Choice
- Section I: 45 Questions, Five Sets, 60 Minutes
- Section I: What a Reading Question Asks
- Section I: Reading Questions on Tone, Diction, and Syntax
- Section I: What a Writing Question Asks
- Section I: Adding a Sentence
- Section I: Deleting and Reordering a Sentence
- Section I: Choosing Evidence That Fits the Claim
- Section I: Eliminating on Scope, Task, and Tone
Unit 20The Exam: Section II, Free-Response and the Rubric
- Section II: Three Essays, 2 Hours 15 Minutes, and the Reading Period
- The 6-Point Rubric: Three Rows That Fill Independently
- Row A: The Defensible Thesis (0-1 points)
- Row B: Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points)
- Row C: Sophistication (0-1 points)
- Question 1: The Synthesis Prompt and Its Six Sources
- Question 1: Structuring the Synthesis Essay
- Question 2: The Rhetorical Analysis Prompt
- Question 2: Structuring the Rhetorical Analysis
- Question 3: The Argument Prompt
- Question 3: Finding Evidence With No Sources
- Question 3: Structuring the Argument Essay
- How Section I and Section II Become an AP Score