Odyssey. Due date for completion of reading: will be in early November.

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1 AP Literature Course Syllabus Ms. Wilson Course Description: In this course you will hone your writing and analytic skills, in preparation for both the AP Literature and Composition exam and your future college studies. Below you will find an outline of the course units grouped by marking period. You can expect to have two outside readings and a series of papers each marking period. General notes on this syllabus: In addition to the units and assignments mentioned above, there will be practice tests and essay prompts given on a regular basis to hone your writing and analytic skills. Class-wide outside reading projects will be assessed through various means; individual outside reading projects will be assessed through book talks and your participation and attention when others are presenting book talks. Writing Practices and Procedures: A variety of strategies will be practiced when planning, writing and revising both outside and timed in-class writing. Pre-writing activities will include: modeling and critiquing sample essays, brainstorming, free-writing, annotating and utilizing graphic organizers. Drafting and revising activities will include teacher conference, peer review, writing workshops, and self-assessment. Revision is encouraged at every step in the writing process. Even after an essay has been graded, revision will be permitted; however, you must conference with the teacher both before and after revising. Essays will be assessed using the nine point AP rubric. A revision scale will also be utilized to help identify specific areas in need of improvement; a copy of this checklist is attached to the end of the syllabus. Marking Period One The class-wide outside reading for this marking period is Homer s The Odyssey. Due date for completion of reading: will be in early November. I. What is Literature? Recap of summer assignment, discussion of the prompt: Books to be discussed: The Road, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, A Yellow Raft n Blue Water, Tender at the Bone, The Devil in the White City and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. II. The College Essay You will work on perfecting your college essay draft (due the first day of class). We will go over editing techniques and you will workshop essays. You will turn in the final draft for an essay grade. Due Date: TBD III. Introduction to AP Literature Introduction to Book Talk and outside reading assignment Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking Chapter One: Thinking about Literature (pages 1 17) 1. What is literature? 2. Why is literature important? 3. What is metaphor? 4. How do authors successfully create and inhabit a metaphor?

2 IV. 5. What makes an effective reader? 6. How does a reader work through indirection, implication and inference? 7. What are the differences between experience, analysis, and extension as pertaining to literature? We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant by Emily Dickinson, The Sacred by Stephen Dunn, When my love swears that she is made of truth by William Shakespeare, Vegetarian Physics by David Clewell, Praise Song for the Day by Elizabeth Alexander, Peanuts by Charles Schultz, The Bagel by David Ignatow, Shawl by Albert Goldbarth, Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins, Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, Learning to Read by Franz Wright, Out, Out by Robert Frost, and Snow by Julia Alvarez. Close Reading Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking : Chapter Two: Close Reading Analyzing Poetry and Passages of Fiction (pages 19 58) 1. What is close reading? 2. How does one engage a text? 3. How does one effectively use first impression questions? 4. How does one recognize and evaluate the elements of style, including diction, figurative language, imagery, syntax, tone and mood? 5. How does one recognize and evaluate the additional elements of style that pertain to poetry, including rhyme, meter, form, poetic syntax and sound? 6. How does one differentiate between different poetic forms including Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets, elegies, odes, and villanelles? 7. How does one recognize and analyze poetic techniques, such as enjambment, caesura, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia? 8. How can these elements of style be used to analyze both poetry and prose effectively? 9. How may annotation, exploratory writing and graphic organizers be used to successfully analyze a text? 10. How does one effectively write a close analysis essay? We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: My Antonia by Willa Cather, To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Houseman, Old Mr. Marblehall by Eudora Welty, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,

3 The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams, Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art by John Keats, Delight in Disorder by Robert Herrick, My Father s Song by Simon Ortiz, Promises like Pie-Crust by Christina Georgina Rossetti, Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Slam, Dunk, & Hook by Yusef Komunyakaa, Fast Break by Edward Hirsch, Traveling through the Dark by William Stafford and Woodchucks by Maxine Kumin. Major Writing Assignment: You will complete the prompt on page 57 of the textbook asking you to craft a comparison and contrast essay based on the poems Traveling through the Dark and Woodchucks. Remember to use the close reading skills that have been practiced throughout this unit. Essays should consider an examination of how the poet s use voice and figurative language to produce different techniques about a common theme. Due Date: TBD V. Analysis Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking Chapter Three: The Big Picture: Analyzing Fiction and Drama (pages ) 1. How does one recognize and evaluate the elements of fiction including plot, character, setting, point of view, symbol, and theme? 2. How does one correctly apply terms relating to characters and characterization, including protagonist, antagonist, round, flat, stock, foil, indirect, and direct? 3. How does one recognize and evaluate a text in light of the following literary terms: bildungsroman and epiphany? 4. How may historical context and the cultural environment influence both the author s selection and the reader s interpretation of the setting? 5. How does one recognize and evaluate the additional elements of fiction that pertain to drama, including act &scene divisions, dialogue, monologue, soliloquies, dramatic irony, stage directions, and props (symbols)? 6. How does one write a successful interpretive essay? We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: One of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Hard Times by Charles Dickens, The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Call it Sleep by Henry Roth, 1984 by Georg Orwell, Tess of the D Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield, The

4 Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Seeing Eye by Brad Watson, A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, The First Day by Edward B. Jones, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, Othello by William Shakespeare, A Doll s House by Henrik Ibsen, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn, Andre s Mother by Terrence McNally, and Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Major Writing Assignment: You will complete one of the prompts on page 121 of the textbook asking you to craft an interpretive essay based on one of the following stories: One of These Days and Seeing Eye, The Fist Day, Andre s Mother or Trifles. Remember to use the analysis reading skills that have been practiced throughout this unit. Due Date: TBD VI. Book Talks The end of each of the first three marking periods will conclude with book talks. The book talks for the fourth marking period will be due prior to the AP test. At the beginning of the year you selected your text and book talk date. For the three marking periods in which you do not have a book talk you will be assessed, using a variety of techniques, on your participation and engagement when viewing the book talks presented by your classmates. Book Talk Dates MP 1: TBD Marking Period Two -The class-wide outside reading for this marking period is Fences by August Wilson (page in the textbook). Due date for completion of reading will be determined. I. Extension Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking Chapter Four: Entering the Conversation (pages ) 1. How can multiple literary texts be used to support an interpretation or viewpoint? 2. How does one successfully write an essay integrating multiple texts? 3. How does one effectively integrate quotations to strengthen an argument? 4. When and how should an author use personal anecdotes in an essay? 5. When writing an essay how does one employ techniques of successful writing, such as: variation of sentence structure, use of transitions, balance between detail and generalization, effective use of vocabulary, variation of tone and voice in consideration of audience, emphasis(focus) on appropriate and meaningful detail, and establishment of a logical organization? How does one revise and improve an essay taking these elements into account?

5 II. III. We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, Playground in Tenement Alley by Lewis W. Hine, Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes, In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers by Dwight Okita, Immigrants by Pat Mora, Two Kinds by Amy Tan, The Latin Deli by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Two Ways to Belong in America by Bharati Mukherjee. Major Assignment: You will complete a response to one of the prompts on page 160 of the textbook asking you to craft an essay in which you analyze multiple texts (or enter into a conversation) regarding the topic of America. You must use a minimum of four sources for this essay. Due Date: TBD Roots of Ancient Drama 1. What is a tragic hero? 2. How does Oedipus Rex follow the tragic structure? 3. What is the purpose of tragedy? 4. What are the common elements of a tragedy? 5. How do the unities of action, space and time function within Oedipus? 6. How has mythology influenced the texts of the time period and later ones? 7. What is hamartia and how is it represented through the character of Oedipus? 8. What is hubris? 9. What are the characteristics of ancient drama? 10. How did Aristotle define dramatic characteristics? We will complete a series of activities regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read full texts of the following pieces: Oedipus Rex and Antigone both by Sophocles. Major Assignments: You will have a group presentation assignment regarding the background information for the play that will include researching literary terms, philosophy, and history pertaining to ancient drama. Due date: TBD You will create a dramatic term application essay in which you identify and analyze the dramatic techniques used in either Oedipus Rex or Antigone. Due date: TBD. Elizabethan or Shakespearean Drama 1. What are the characteristics of Elizabethan drama? 2. Is Hamlet a tragic hero? 3. What is Hamlet s tragic flaw?

6 IV. 4. How does Shakespeare use literary devices and dramatic conventions? 5. Are the themes universal or limited to a particular time and place? 6. How do Shakespeare s techniques differ from those used in ancient drama? We will complete a series of activities regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read William Shakespeare s Hamlet. Major Assignments: You will keep a reading log. Due date: TBD. You will also complete an essay on a prompt; the general topic will be agreeing or disagreeing with the statement that we are all Hamlet. You will get a full description of this assignment closer to the due date. Due date: TBD. Book Talks The end of each of the first three marking periods will conclude with book talks. The book talks for the fourth marking period will be due prior to the AP test. At the beginning of the year you selected your text and book talk date. For the three marking periods in which you do not have a book talk you will be assessed, using a variety of techniques, on your participation and engagement when viewing the book talks presented by your classmates. Book Talk Dates MP 2: TBD Marking Period Three - The class-wide outside reading for this marking period is The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Due date for completion of reading will be determined. I. Modern Drama 1. What are the characteristics of modern drama? 2. What dramatic techniques are used in modern drama? 3. How does modern drama differ from Elizabethan and ancient drama? 4. Why might these differences have been implemented? 5. What do the differences signify? 6. How does the American Dream function thematically in this play? We will complete a series of activities regarding these questions. You will also be reading Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Major Assignment: You will be applying the ideas about America and the American Dream as represented by Miller in Death of a Salesman to one of the representations of America presented in Chapter Four of the textbook. A specific assignment will be provided closer to the due date. Due date: TBD II. Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking : Chapter Five: Home and Family (pages ) 1. What is home? 2. How are homes and families represented in literature? 3. How do these representations change throughout eras?

7 4. What do these changes signify? We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: The Dead by James Joyce, Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Moths by Helena Maria Viramontes, Saving Sourdi by May-Lee Chai, On My First Son by Ben Johnson, Before the Birth of One of Her Children by Anne Bradstreet, We are Seven by William Wordsworth, A Prayer for My Daughter by William Butler Yeats, Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, Daddy by Sylvia Plath, and The Bistro Styx by Rita Dove. Major Assignment: You will complete a response to one of the prompts on page 365 of the textbook asking you to craft an essay in which you analyze multiple texts (or enter into a conversation) regarding the topic of home and family. You must use a minimum of four sources for this essay. Due date: TBD III. The Modern Novel 1. How does the author employ the technique of stream of consciousness throughout the text? 2. How does the author's use of stream of consciousness and point of view affect the way the reader views the characters? 3. What symbols are in the text? 4. How does the author represent characters being trapped? 5. What are the things that are preventing the characters from being free? 6. How does Michael Cunningham represent the characters and figures from Mrs. Dalloway in his novel The Hours? We will complete a series of activities regarding these questions. You will also be reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Major Assignment: You will be writing a paper analyzing Michael Cunningham s portrayal of figures from Mrs. Dalloway in The Hours, his modern re-working of the piece. A specific assignment will be distributed closer to the due date. Due date: TBD IV. Book Talks The end of each of the first three marking periods will conclude with book talks. The book talks for the fourth marking period will be due prior to the AP test. At the beginning of the year you selected your text and book talk date. For the three marking periods in which you do not have a book talk you will be assessed, using a variety of techniques, on your participation and engagement when viewing the book talks presented by your classmates. Book Talk Dates MP 3: TBD

8 Marking Period Four - The class-wide outside reading for this marking period is Daisy Miller by Henry James (pages of the textbook) and A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O Connor (pages of the textbook). Due date for completion of reading will be determined. I. Textbook: Literature & Composition: Reading, Writing, Thinking, Chapter Six: Identity and Culture (pages ) 1. How does culture influence literature? 2. How does literature influence culture? 3. What factors contribute to creating one s identity? 4. Does identity change and evolve or is it constant? 5. How are culture and identity represented in literature? We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiiri. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A&P by John Updike, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, When I consider how my light is spent by John Milton, The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth, We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish, Mexicans Begin Jogging by Gary Soto, and The Powwow at the End of the World by Sherman Alexie. Major Assignment: You will complete a response to one of the prompts on page 571 of the textbook asking you to craft an essay in which you analyze multiple texts (or enter into a conversation) regarding the topic of identity and culture. Requirements and topics will vary upon your selection. Due date: TBD II. Odd and Ends This unit will provide a sampling of texts from the textbook chapters that we will be unable to cover in their entirety. 1. How do comedic dramatic techniques differ from the tragic techniques previously studied? 2. How are the topics of relationships and love depicted in varying ways in literature? 3. How are the themes of conformity and rebellion depicted in varying ways in literature? 4. How are the topics of art and the artist represented in varying ways in literature? 5. How are the themes of tradition and progress depicted in varying ways throughout literature? 6. How are the themes of war and peace depicted in varying ways throughout literature?

9 III. IV. We will complete a series of activities in the textbook regarding the topics of these questions. You will also read excerpts or full texts of the following pieces: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, The Flea by John Donne, To the Virgins to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick, She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron, Weighing the Dog by Billy Collins, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt(visual text), Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Song: To the Men of England by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas, Is About by Allen Ginsburg, Penelope by Carol Ann Duffy, An Epitaph by Matthew Prior, The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kubla Kan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay, Everyday Use by Alice Walker, Mending Wall by Robert Frost, The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats, The Things They Carried by Tim O Brien, The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell, and The Terrorist, He Watches by Wislawa Szymborska. Major Assignment: You will be completing the prompt on page 941 of the textbook; you will examine how Prior and Auden use elements of style to create mock elegies and epitaphs in their respective poems. Due date: TBD. Book Talks The end of each of the first three marking periods will conclude with book talks. The book talks for the fourth marking period will be due prior to the AP test. At the beginning of the year you selected your text and book talk date. For the three marking periods in which you do not have a book talk you will be assessed, using a variety of techniques, on your participation and engagement when viewing the book talks presented by your classmates. Book Talk Dates MP 4: TBD Culminating Project After the test you will spend time working in class to create a multi-perspective piece. Either using a text you are all familiar with (as Michael Cunningham did in The Hours) or creating an original work, you will tell a single story from varying viewpoints. Further details regarding this project will be distributed closer to the due date. You will, however, have to present your project to the class using some kind of visual medium. Due date: TBD

10 Revision Checklist / Scale This guide will be utilized during peer editing, teacher conferencing and selfassessment to determine competence in the categories listed below. 1 Beginning the author is starting to integrate good practices pertaining to this the skill within the essay, but with little consistency. 2 Developing the author integrates good practices pertaining to this skill within the essay with some consistency. 3 Mastering the author effectively integrates good practices pertaining to this skill consistently within the essay. The thesis is clear and appropriately complex, presenting a clear argument. The author effectively varies sentence structure in the essay. The essay has evidence of sound logical organization. This may include use of traditional rhetorical structures such as text by text, idea by idea, or element by element organization. The author effectively uses transitions both between and within paragraphs. The essay avoids repetition (unless used effectively as a rhetorical strategy). The essay is focused and the author emphasizes important and pertinent elements in support of a thesis. The essay maintains an appropriate balance between generalization and specific illustrative detail. The author effectively uses rhetorical techniques within the essay. This includes establishing a tone and voice appropriate for the audience and task. The essay effectively discusses how the author of the text being discussed employs literary devices and strategies, including: figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. (If the prompt specifically requests a focus on different literary elements from those mentioned above, assess it in light of those elements.) The author uses a sophisticated vocabulary correctly and appropriately in the essay. The use of vocabulary is consistent with the tone and voice used within the essay.