English Language syllabus, dot point by dot point

Avoiding summary and plagiarism: recognizing the line between summarizing a source and analyzing it, the over-copying that the Part 2 directions warn against, and using your own words to present evidence so the response argues rather than retells.

Citing sources by text number: attributing every piece of evidence in the Part 2 argument to its source by text number (and line where helpful), why citation is a scored expectation, and how to cite smoothly without breaking the sentence.

Embedding and quoting evidence: integrating a short quotation into the grammar of your own sentence rather than dropping it in, choosing the smallest quotation that carries the point, and following every quotation with the explanation that links it to the claim or central idea.

Selecting relevant textual evidence: choosing the smallest specific detail or quotation that proves the exact point, distinguishing relevant evidence from merely true or broadly on-topic detail, across Part 1 evidence questions and both written responses.

Command words and task directions: reading the key command words on the Regents (identify, analyze, develop, distinguish) and decoding the bulleted task directions for Parts 2 and 3, so each response does exactly what is asked rather than a nearby task.

The three-part exam format: the structure of the whole Regents ELA exam (Part 1 Reading Comprehension, Part 2 Source-Based Argument, Part 3 Text-Analysis Response), how the raw points combine, and how the total converts to a scaled score out of 100 with 65 to pass.

Timing and pacing the exam: budgeting the three hours across Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, deciding an order to tackle the parts, leaving time to plan and proofread the essays, and avoiding the common timing failures.

Understanding the scoring rubrics: how the two holistic essay rubrics work (Part 2 out of 6, Part 3 out of 4), the four shared criteria they both use, what holistic scoring means, and how to use the band language to lift a response.

Characterization and point of view: analyzing how a writer builds and changes a character (direct and indirect characterization) and how the choice of narrator and perspective (first person, third limited, third omniscient) shapes meaning, two of the strongest writing strategies for the Part 3 response.

Figurative language and imagery: identifying metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, and sensory imagery, and analyzing the effect each creates, the toolkit you apply to Part 1 craft questions and as a writing strategy in the Part 3 response.

Narrative and structural techniques: recognizing how a text is ordered and shaped (chronology and flashback, contrast, foreshadowing, repetition, turning points, framing) and analyzing how a structural choice develops meaning, distinct from word-level language.

Rhetorical appeals and persuasion: identifying ethos, pathos, and logos and persuasive techniques (rhetorical questions, repetition, anecdote, statistics, appeals to authority), and analyzing how a writer uses them to persuade, for Part 1 informational questions and the Part 2 sources.

Tone, mood, and diction: distinguishing tone (the writer's attitude), mood (the atmosphere felt by the reader), and diction (word choice), and analyzing how a writer's diction creates a particular tone and mood, for Part 1 questions and as a Part 3 writing strategy.

Analyzing author's craft and purpose: explaining why a writer made a particular choice of word, structure, or technique, identifying its effect on the reader, and answering Part 1 questions about purpose, tone, and the function of a passage.

Answering the multiple-choice questions: a reliable method for the 24 Part 1 items (read, locate, predict, eliminate), recognizing vocabulary-in-context questions, and avoiding the distractor types the Regents builds (true-but-irrelevant, half-right, extreme, out-of-scope).

Close reading and text evidence: reading an unseen literary, poetry, or informational text actively, tracking what the text states and implies, and answering Part 1 questions from located textual evidence rather than gist or recall.

Determining central ideas: distinguishing a central idea from a topic or a detail, identifying the central idea of an unseen literary or informational text, and tracking how it develops across the passage for Part 1 questions and the Part 3 response.

Making inferences: drawing a conclusion the text supports without stating it outright, anchoring every inference to its textual trigger, and rejecting the plausible-but-unsupported and the over-reaching inferences that Part 1 distractors are built from.

Reading poetry on the Regents: reading the Part 1 poem for literal sense and implied meaning, interpreting figurative language and imagery in context, and recognizing how form (line, stanza, repetition) shapes meaning for the multiple-choice questions.

Addressing counterclaims: identifying the strongest opposing claim from the texts, acknowledging it fairly, and answering it with a rebuttal that strengthens rather than weakens your position, as the task's direction to distinguish your claim from alternate or opposing claims.

Establishing a precise claim: writing a single, defensible claim that takes a clear position on the Part 2 issue, distinguishing a precise claim from a vague or two-sided one, and placing it so it controls the whole argument.

Integrating evidence from multiple sources: selecting specific and relevant evidence from at least three of the four texts, weaving it across paragraphs organized by reason rather than by source, and explaining how each piece supports the claim, as the Command of Evidence criterion requires.

Organizing the argument essay: a coherent structure for the Part 2 argument (introduction with claim, reason-based body paragraphs, a counterclaim paragraph, conclusion), using transitions and a formal style, as the Coherence, Organization, and Style criterion requires.

The argument rubric and scoring: the four criteria of the Part 2 6-point holistic rubric (Content and Analysis, Command of Evidence, Coherence/Organization/Style, Control of Conventions), what each rewards at the top bands, and what separates a 6 from a 4 and a 4 from a 2.

Understanding the source-based argument: the Part 2 task (four texts on one issue, take a position, use at least three sources), how it differs from a personal-opinion essay, and what each line of the task directions requires.

Analyzing a writing strategy: choosing one writing strategy (literary element or technique), naming it accurately, and analyzing how the author uses it to develop the central idea with specific evidence, moving from labelling a device to explaining its effect on meaning.

Identifying a central idea for Part 3: stating a central idea as a full, specific sentence that the whole text supports, pitching it between a vague theme word and an over-narrow detail, so it gives the analysis something concrete to develop.

Structuring the text-analysis response: shaping the short Part 3 response (a brief statement of the central idea, then analysis of the strategy with evidence, then a close) into two or three coherent paragraphs, with no separate introduction or summary padding.

The text-analysis rubric and scoring: the four criteria of the Part 3 4-point holistic rubric (Content and Analysis, Command of Evidence, Coherence/Organization/Style, Control of Conventions), what each rewards at the top band, and what separates a 4 from a 2.

Understanding the text-analysis task: the Part 3 task (one text, identify a central idea, analyze how one writing strategy develops it), why it is a two-move analytical task rather than a summary, and what each part of the directions requires.