AP English Language & Composition

97 core topics + 106 prerequisite topics taught as needed · approximately 66 hours of instruction including spaced review

How the course runs

An adaptive diagnostic (up to 40 questions) places the student on the course's knowledge graph - topics already known are credited, and instruction begins exactly at the learning frontier. Every topic is taught with a worked-example lesson and auto-graded practice; a topic is mastered at 75%+ and then maintained through spaced reviews on an expanding schedule. Mixed checks follow every 6 lessons; each unit ends with a 12-item quiz, and course-wide assessments appear at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% mastery. Prerequisite gaps below the course are detected and taught rather than skipped, so completion certifies the whole tower, not just the top.

Core curriculum

The Rhetorical Situation · 8 topics

Exigence: What Made This Necessary [H]	Identify the pressure that called a text into being, and separate it from the occasion.
The Audience Under the Audience [H]	Tell apart who a text is addressed to, who it is written for, and who is meant to overhear it.
The Speaker Is a Construction [H]	Describe the version of a writer that a text builds, and why that version fits the situation.
Stated Purpose and Working Purpose [H]	Separate what a text says it is doing from the job it is actually built to do.
What the Writer Was Not Free to Say [H]	Find the limits a situation places on a text, and read what those limits shaped.
Kairos: Why Now [H]	Judge how a text's timing changes what it can accomplish.
The Shape the Medium Demands [H]	Explain how the form a text is delivered in changes what it can and cannot do.
When a Text Changes Situations [H]	Track what happens to a text's meaning when it is carried out of the situation it was written for.

Rhetorical Appeals & Strategies · 8 topics

Ethos: The Credit a Text Builds [H]	Identify how a text earns, spends or refuses the reader's trust.
Pathos: Feeling Put to Work [H]	Explain how a text produces feeling, and what the feeling is being asked to do.
Logos: The Part That Survives Dislike [H]	Test the reasoning and evidence in an argument on its own terms.
Which Appeal Is Carrying the Weight [H]	Decide which appeal a move depends on when a move is doing more than one thing.
Giving Ground on Purpose [H]	Analyze a concession as a trade: what was surrendered, and what it bought.
Word Choice as Strategy [H]	Explain what a chosen word does that its plainest alternative would not.
Arrangement, Repetition and the Short Sentence [H]	Show how sentence shape and order do persuasive work that the words alone do not.
Would This Move Land on This Reader [H]	Judge a strategy against the audience it was aimed at, including what it risks.

Argument: Claim, Evidence & Reasoning · 8 topics

Finding the Claim [H]	Locate the exact proposition an argument is asking you to accept.
What the Evidence Can Carry [H]	Judge evidence by relevance, sufficiency and where it came from, not by how impressive it sounds.
The Reasoning in Between [H]	Name the unwritten step that connects a piece of evidence to the claim it is offered for.
What the Argument Is Standing On [H]	Surface the unstated premise an argument needs, and test what happens if it fails.
Concession, Rebuttal, and the Difference [H]	Tell apart granting a point, answering it, and refusing to engage with it.
Where the Reasoning Breaks [H]	Name what has gone wrong in a piece of reasoning, precisely enough to say what would fix it.
How Far the Claim Reaches [H]	Match the size of a claim to the size of the evidence behind it.
What Would Settle It [H]	Compare two arguments by asking what evidence would decide between them.

Logical Fallacies & Flawed Reasoning · 9 topics

Attacking the Arguer [H]	Separate an attack on the person from a fair reason to check their evidence.
The Position Nobody Took [H]	Tell a reply that answers the stated position from one that answers an invented version of it.
After Is Not Because [H]	Test a causal claim against timing, confounding and the direction of the arrow.
The Sample That Chose Itself [H]	Judge a generalization by how its cases were gathered, not by how many there are.
Only Two Doors [H]	Tell a manufactured either/or from a choice that really does come down to two.
The Chain With No Links [H]	Test a chain of predicted consequences link by link for the mechanism that would carry it.
Borrowed Authority [H]	Weigh an appeal to expertise, numbers or tradition by what the source actually examined.
The Word That Changed Sides [H]	Track a key word through an argument and catch it changing meaning partway.
Naming the Flaw [H]	Say precisely which defect an argument has - and say when it has none.

Synthesis: Sources in Conversation · 8 topics

The Question the Sources Are Arguing About [H]	State the proposition a set of sources is actually at issue over, and what each one is answering.
How One Source Stands to Another [H]	Describe the relation between two sources more precisely than agree or disagree.
Comparing Like with Like [H]	Test whether two pieces of evidence are about the same object, population, period and definition before setting them side by side.
Real Conflict and Apparent Conflict [H]	Tell a genuine contradiction from two sources measuring different things, and locate where a real one would have to live.
Putting a Source to Work [H]	Use a source inside your own argument instead of summarizing it in turn.
What a Source Can Be Cited For [H]	Match the claim you make to what the source actually measured.
Staking a Position the Sources Support [H]	Write a thesis that is neither a summary of the sources nor a refusal to choose between them.
What the Set Cannot Settle [H]	Name the question a source set leaves open and the evidence that would close it.

Media Literacy & Source Credibility · 8 topics

Who Made This, and What Were They Rewarded For [H]	Judge a source by its expertise, its incentives and what it discloses - without treating an interest as a verdict.
Checking a Source by Leaving It [H]	Verify a claim from outside the page that makes it, using independent records rather than the page's own account of itself.
Following a Claim Back to Its Origin [H]	Trace a reported finding through each retelling to the document it started in, and name what changed on the way.
The Frame Around the Facts [H]	Analyze how headline, emphasis, order and image shape a reader's conclusion without any sentence being false.
Numbers That Are True and Misleading [H]	Interrogate a statistic for its denominator, its base rate, its measurement and how its sample was drawn.
Does the Evidence Reach the Conclusion [H]	Test whether the evidence offered actually supports the claim made, and name what would count against it.
Why This Reached You [H]	Explain how ranking, sharing and timing decide what you see, and why a feed cannot measure how common a view is.
Is the Evidence What It Claims to Be [H]	Test whether an image, clip or recording is genuine and correctly placed - and say so when the answer is that you cannot tell.

Diction, Tone & Connotation · 8 topics

Same Fact, Different Verdict [H]	Choose the word that carries the verdict you want without changing the claim you are making.
How Strong Is Too Strong [H]	Pick the rung of a word ladder the evidence actually supports.
Where the Judgment Is Hiding [H]	Find the word that is arguing inside a sentence of facts, and take it out without losing anything.
Softening It and Sharpening It [H]	Tell a euphemism from a plain statement, and a strong true sentence from one that overclaims.
The Level of the Diction [H]	Match the level of your words to the occasion, and tell inflated diction from necessary technical language.
Naming a Tone Precisely [H]	Name a writer's attitude with the word the evidence supports, not the nearest feeling.
Where the Tone Turns [H]	Locate the sentence where a writer's attitude changes, with or without a signal word.
What the Word Choices Add Up To [H]	Read a writer's position out of an accumulation of choices he never states as an opinion.

Syntax & Sentence Style · 8 topics

Which Clause the Reader Believes [H]	Put the fact you are asserting in the main clause and the fact you are conceding in the subordinate one.
Items That Have to Match [H]	Keep every item in a series - and every half of a not only / but also pair - in the same grammatical form.
The Phrase That Grabs the Wrong Subject [H]	Check what an opening phrase actually attaches to, and repair it without changing who did what.
What a Limiting Word Limits [H]	Place only, just and even where they belong, and pin a modifier that could belong to either side of it.
Adding Detail Without Adding a Sentence [H]	Name and build the four free modifiers: appositive, participial phrase, relative clause and absolute phrase.
Semicolon, Colon, Dash [H]	Choose the mark the joint between two clauses actually calls for, and keep a comma-heavy list readable.
Active, Passive, and the Missing Actor [H]	Identify the passive, name what it leaves out, and tell when leaving the actor out is the honest choice.
Where the Main Clause Falls [H]	Tell a periodic sentence from a cumulative one, and rebuild either into the other without changing what it reports.

The Rhetorical Analysis Essay · 8 topics

The Analytical Thesis [H]	Write a thesis that claims how a text works, not what it contains.
From Choice to Effect [H]	Say what a rhetorical choice does, not merely that it was made.
Summary Is Not Analysis [H]	Tell the difference between retelling a source and claiming something about it.
Choosing and Framing the Quotation [H]	Pick the words the claim turns on, and frame them so they do work.
The Line of Reasoning [H]	Order body paragraphs so each claim is made possible by the one before it.
Grounding the Analysis in Its Occasion [H]	Tie every claim about effect to a real audience, occasion and exigence.
Verbs, Hedges and the Analyst's Voice [H]	Choose verbs that carry a claim, and claim only what the text supports.
Revising a Rhetorical Analysis [H]	Diagnose a draft's structure before polishing any of its sentences.

Research, Citation & Academic Integrity · 8 topics

The Question a Search Can Finish [H]	Turn a topic into a research question that names what would count as an answer.
The Source That Can Answer This Claim [H]	Match a claim to the kind of record that could contain it, rather than to a general ranking of sources.
What This Source Was Built to Know [H]	Interrogate a source by its method and its purpose rather than by whether you like its conclusion.
Paraphrase, Patchwriting and the Line Between [H]	Rebuild a source's idea in your own architecture instead of translating its sentence word by word.
Which Sentences Owe a Citation [H]	Decide what a sentence owes a source by asking what was taken, not by counting matching words.
Saying What the Source Can Support [H]	Report a source so that a reader who could see the whole of it would call your sentence fair.
Reading a Citation Before Reading the Source [H]	Read what an entry and its locator already tell you about a source you have not opened.
Where the Line Actually Is [H]	Reason about an academic integrity case by asking what a reader has been told, not what the writer intended.

AP English Language: Rhetorical Analysis · 8 topics

Exigence: Why Now [H]	Identify the pressure that makes a text worth producing at a particular moment, and what a writer does when there isn't one.
The Speaker the Text Builds [H]	Describe the version of a speaker that a text constructs, and the moves that construct it.
Appeals as Choices, Not Labels [H]	Explain what a particular appeal is doing to a particular audience, without stopping at a name for it.
Where the Argument Puts Things [H]	Explain what the order of a text accomplishes, and what a different order would have cost.
Conceding, Qualifying, Refusing [H]	Track exactly what a writer gives away to the other side, and what the giving buys.
What the Evidence Is Doing [H]	Say what a piece of evidence measures, what claim it is attached to, and where it stops.
The Assumption Holding It Together [H]	Find the premise an argument needs but never defends, and test the argument by attacking it.
Tone, and What Restraint Costs [H]	Name a text's attitude precisely, and read the sentence shapes and omissions that produce it.

AP English Language: Argument & Synthesis · 8 topics

What the Prompt Is Actually Asking [H]	Take an exam prompt apart into the proposition, the reach and the materials before writing a word.
A Position Somebody Could Refuse [H]	Write a thesis an informed reader could disagree with, and qualify by naming a line rather than by hedging.
The Line of Reasoning [H]	Order the paragraphs the way the claim itself requires, so each one is a step the thesis needs.
Evidence, and the Sentence That Uses It [H]	Tell evidence from commentary, and write the sentence that says what the evidence establishes and how far.
Citing a Source for What It Can Carry [H]	Use a document for the claim it can actually support, and notice when it declined to take your side.
Building an Argument Out of a Set [H]	Give a synthesis essay the shape of your argument instead of the shape of the file.
The Concession That Costs Something [H]	Grant a real point and then show why you can still pay for it, on the objection's own subject.
Complexity, and the Ways It Is Faked [H]	Earn a sophisticated argument by doing something, not by sounding like somebody who has.

Prerequisite material - taught automatically when the diagnostic finds gaps

Phonics: Letters, Sounds & Short Vowels · 1 topics

Capital and Lowercase Letters

Match every capital letter to its lowercase partner.

High-Frequency Words & Sight Vocabulary · 2 topics

Recognizing High-Frequency Words	Know the most common words on sight, instantly.
High-Frequency Words in Sentences	Use common words correctly inside a real sentence.

Print Concepts & Early Comprehension · 2 topics

Listening Comprehension	Understand a story that is read out loud to you.
What Happened First, Next, Last	Put the events of a story in the order they happened.

Sentence & Capitalization Basics · 4 topics

What Makes a Sentence	Tell a complete sentence from a group of words.
Naming Part and Telling Part	Split a sentence into who it is about and what happens.
Capital Letters and End Marks	Start every sentence with a capital and end it with a mark.
Choosing the Right End Mark	Use a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

Context Clues (Grades 2-3) · 8 topics

When the Sentence Just Tells You	Find a word's meaning written into the sentence itself.
A Nearby Word That Means the Same	Use a synonym elsewhere in the passage to unlock a word.
When a Contrast Points the Other Way	Use a contrast word to work out the opposite meaning.
Working Back From Examples	Use a list of examples to work out the category.
When There Is No Clue Word	Work out a meaning from the whole situation.
Naming the Clue	Say which kind of context clue a sentence is using.
Putting Your Guess Back In	Check a guessed meaning by reading the sentence again with it.
Words With More Than One Meaning	Choose the meaning a sentence needs, not the one you thought of first.

Context Clues & Word Nuance (Grades 4-6) · 3 topics

When the Clue Is Somewhere Else	Find the meaning of a word when the clue sits in a different sentence.
Shades of Meaning	Choose the word whose size matches what actually happened.
Words That Carry a Feeling	Hear the approval or disapproval hidden inside a word choice.

Figurative Language & Idioms · 2 topics

Noticing When Words Are Not Literal	Tell when a sentence is not meant exactly as written.
Working Out What It Really Means	Say in plain words what a figure of speech is telling you.

Retelling, Sequence & Summary · 7 topics

Who the Story Is About	Name the character a story follows.
First, Next, and Last	Say what happened first, what came in between, and what came last.
Putting the Whole Story in Order	Arrange all the events of a story from beginning to end.
Finding the Problem	Name what goes wrong in a story.
Finding the Solution	Say how a story's problem gets resolved.
Summarizing a Story	Retell a story keeping only what matters.
Knowing What to Leave Out	Spot the detail a summary does not need.

Main Idea & Supporting Details · 6 topics

Topic or Main Idea?	Tell what a text is about from what it says about it.
Finding the Main Idea	Say in one sentence what a whole text is telling you.
Main Ideas That Are Not Written Down	Work out the main idea when no sentence states it.
Details That Back It Up	Find the fact in a text that supports a particular idea.
Writing a Summary	Retell a text keeping only what matters.
Telling a Detail from the Main Idea	Spot the sentence that is only a detail.

Author's Purpose & Point of View · 7 topics

Why the Author Wrote It	Name what a text was built to do, not just what it is about.
The Evidence for a Purpose	Point to the move in the text that proves what the writer wanted.
Who It Was Written For	Work out the reader a text was aimed at, and how you can tell.
The Author's Point of View	Say what the writer thinks about the subject, even when no opinion is stated.
Words That Take a Side	Notice how a writer's wording steers what a reader concludes.
Facts, Judgments, and Honest Uncertainty	Sort what can be checked from what is argued, and spot a writer naming their own limits.
Two Writers, One Subject	Compare two texts on one subject and find the exact point where they part.

Inference, Evidence & Summarizing · 7 topics

Stated or Implied?	Tell what a text says outright from what it only lets you conclude.
What One Detail Tells You	Draw the conclusion a single detail supports, and stop there.
The Line That Proves It	Given a claim, find the sentence in the text that actually supports it.
Putting Two Details Together	Reach a conclusion that no single sentence in the text states.
An Objective Summary	Say what a text argued, in its own terms, without taking a side.
Which Evidence Is Strongest	Choose between two relevant details by asking which one settles it.
Inference or Guess?	Spot the step that goes past what the text can carry.

Integrating Multiple Sources · 8 topics

What Your Sources Are Really About	State the one question a set of sources is answering, precisely enough to compare them.
Where Sources Agree	Find the ground two sources share before you look at where they split.
Where Sources Disagree	Locate the exact sentence where two sources stop agreeing.
A Fact Fight or a Meaning Fight	Tell whether two sources disagree about what happened or about what it means.
What Each Source Chose to Include	Notice what one source puts first, and what another leaves out entirely.
Choosing the Source That Can Answer It	Match a question to the source that is actually able to answer it.
Building One Answer from Several Sources	Write one sentence that holds everything the sources support and nothing more.
What None of the Sources Tells You	Name the question your sources leave open, and what would answer it.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (2-4) · 3 topics

The Main Idea of a History Text	Find what a history passage is really about.
Evidence in a History Text	Point to the detail that actually proves a claim.
Whose Story Is Being Told	Notice whose point of view a history text takes, and who is missing.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (5-6) · 3 topics

Reading a Source Like a Historian	Ask who made a source, when, and what they wanted it to do.
Claims and the Evidence Under Them	Separate what a history text asserts from what it shows.
When Sources Disagree	Compare accounts of the same event instead of trusting one.

Nouns & Verbs · 5 topics

What a Noun Is	Name the words that stand for a person, place, or thing.
What a Verb Is	Name the words that tell what someone does.
Finding the Verb in a Sentence	Pick out the verb inside a whole sentence.
Making the Verb Match	Choose a verb form that matches one thing or many things.
Finding Both Parts	Pick out the noun and the verb in the same sentence.

Adjectives, Adverbs & Pronouns · 3 topics

What an Adjective Is	Name the words that tell what a noun is like.
Which Noun the Adjective Describes	Match an adjective to the one noun it is telling you about.
What an Adverb Is	Name the words that tell more about what happened.

Sentence Types, Fragments & Run-Ons · 4 topics

Spotting a Fragment	Tell when a group of words stops before it is a sentence.
Spotting a Run-On	Notice when two sentences have been jammed into one.
Three Ways to Fix a Run-On	Repair a run-on, and choose the repair that fits the meaning.
Joining Two Sentences	Combine short sentences with the joining word the meaning needs.

Verb Tenses & Subject-Verb Agreement · 5 topics

Past, Present, or Future?	Tell from the verb whether a sentence is about the past, the present, or the future.
Building the Past Tense with -ed	Add -ed to a verb and make the spelling changes the ending forces.
Verbs That Do Not Take -ed	Use the past tense of the irregular verbs, and keep it apart from the participle.
Actions Caught in the Middle	Use am, is, are, was, were and will be with an -ing verb to show an action in progress.
Have, Has and Had	Use have, has and had with a past participle, and say what had adds.

Conjunctions, Prepositions & Complex Sentences · 5 topics

Clause, or Just a Phrase?	Tell an independent clause, a dependent clause, and a phrase apart.
All Seven Coordinating Conjunctions	Choose among the seven - and, but, or, so, for, nor, and yet - by what each one claims.
The Comma Before a Joining Word	When a joining word holds two halves together, the comma goes in only if a whole sentence follows it.
Subordinating Conjunctions	Use because, although, unless, until, and their kin to say how two ideas relate.
Conjunctions That Come in Pairs	Use both...and, either...or, neither...nor, and not only...but also, with matching halves.

Writing Strong Sentences · 4 topics

Knowing When You Have a Sentence	Tell a finished sentence from a piece of one.
Saying More Than the Bare Fact	Add detail that answers a question a reader would ask.
Joining Two Sentences	Put two related sentences together without making a run-on.
Choosing the Right Joining Word	Pick the joining word that states the real relationship.

Paragraphs & Topic Sentences · 2 topics

The Sentence the Others Are About	Find or choose the sentence a paragraph is built on.
Details That Actually Support	Choose detail that backs the claim you made.

Opinion & Argument Writing · 7 topics

A Claim or a Fact?	Tell a position someone could argue with from a fact they could check.
The Reason Under a Claim	Find the sentence that says why a position holds.
A Reason That Just Says It Again	Spot a reason that goes in a circle instead of forward.
Evidence That Actually Proves It	Tell measured evidence from a stronger way of repeating an opinion.
Claims You Cannot Defend	Recognize a claim pushed past what any evidence could support.
Answering the Other Side	Answer the strongest objection instead of talking past it.
The Shape of an Argument	Name the job each sentence in an argument is doing.

Research & Reference Skills · 5 topics

A Question Worth Researching	Turn a subject into a question that sources can actually settle.
Does This Source Answer My Question?	Tell a source that answers your question from one that merely shares it.
Who Wrote It, and Why	Weigh a source by its author, its date and its purpose.
Notes in Your Own Words	Take a note that carries the idea without carrying the sentence.
Naming Where It Came From	Record a source completely enough that a reader could find it.

Grade 8 Reading & Language · 3 topics

The One Thing It Is All Serving	State the idea a whole text is built to serve when it is never printed, and write a summary that carries the point instead of the best detail.
The Line You Would Put Your Finger On	Pick the one detail that settles a particular claim, and say why the other true details do not reach it.
How Far the Evidence Actually Reaches	Separate a claim from its reasons and evidence, judge whether the evidence reaches as far as the claim goes, and spot a piece that does not belong at all.

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