Synecdoche? Zeugma? Did you just sign up for another foreign language?

Once you move past the three musketeers of logos, ethos, and pathos, rhetorical strategies become a strange bunch of multisyllabic words that do look and sound like a foreign language. (Fun fact - zeugma is not of German origin but of Greek derivation. Yes, I did a little research this evening.) In class today, you had your first true immersion into the "big kid" cards. While some may seem perplexing today, the less these foreign terms will seem tomorrow or the next day or the next week.

AP Lang offers several avenues for college credit: dual credit through MOBap or UMSL and the AP exam next May. Each semester of AP Lang can be taken for 3 hours of college credit, which means 6 hours total for both semesters. Why earn college credit during the school year? Let's use a little enumeration: 1. College credit is $63-65 a credit hour, which means you will be paying under $200 per semester class in high school before even entering a collegiate atmosphere. You are saving class cost (hundreds, if not thousands of dollars), book cost (hundreds), and incidentals (parking, lab fees, etc.). 2. You can complete your basic English requirements now and use your college time to take more advanced English classes (if you are like me) or take classes towards your major. 3. You will participate in college-level coursework and be better prepared for collegiate writing. (This last reason will occur whether you decide to take the course for college credit or not.)

Go here for more information regarding these dual credit programs:  

• MOBap Excel: https://www.mobap.edu/admissions/admissions-dual-enrollment-programs/excel/
•  UMSL ACP: http://www.umsl.edu/continuinged/acp/ 

You are not required to take this class for college credit through the colleges offering such programs. If you choose to do so, you will have to register for the fall semester by September 4 and make sure you are signing up for the AP Lang class. Advanced Comp and AP Lang have the same course numbers but are separate classes. You cannot sign up for both at the same time.  Taking the AP test, and scoring well, will also provide you with college credit at many schools throughout Missouri and the nation. The central purpose of AP Lang is to take the exam and score the magic 5 at the end of the year!

Bring any questions about college credit/AP credit for Friday's class. I do have ethos on this subject, and I also know where to send you for more information.