AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus

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1 AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus Course Description The course engages students in the investigation and exploration of a wide selection of classical literature and follows the curricular requirements of the AP English Literature and Composition Course Description. Writing is an integral part of this course, focusing on critical analysis of literary works of various forms and periods. A culminating writing assignment is an extensive, formal research paper exhibiting mastery in the application of the Modern Language Association style. Students who are selected for this course must actively participate in discussion on a regular basis, demonstrating analytical skills and the ability to synthesize, in order to critique sophisticated styles of literature. Upon the successful completion of this course, students choosing to take the Advanced Placement exam, scoring three or above, may receive college credit for introductory freshman English. Course Standards 1. Read critically: make careful observations of textual detail; establish connections among these observations; use inferences; and draw conclusions about a work s meaning and value. 2. Discover pattern and purpose in a variety of texts. 3. Understand distinctive and sometimes divisive cultural contexts that inspire a text. 4. Increase students ability to write clearly, cogently, even elegantly, about literary works. 5. Describe, analyze, and explain the influences of the English language on literary texts. 6. Complete a research project: select and refine a topic; locate information, organize, summarize, and present ideas from research. 7. Actively engage in class discussions to elicit meaning from a text. 8. Assimilate new vocabulary from literature and literary criticism into spoken and written communication. 9. Understand the influence of social and personal history on a writer or a group of writers. 10. Read and understand poetry with an understanding of its defining elements. 11. Understand the form and function of a variety of various poetic forms.

2 Course Requirements 1. Students are required to do summer reading. All students read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and two other selections from an extensive reading list. 2. Students are required to keep a reader response journal. Beginning with their summer reading, students are asked to comment on one or several of the following: a. Observations for basic understanding: concepts, situations, and symbols b. Observations about characters c. First impressions d. Developing patterns e. Likes and/or dislikes f. Connections to our own lives g. Connections to other works of literature h. Author s technique and style These journals will be used to initiate class discussions and could be the fodder for the essay on the novel. It is important that these entries be more than mere summary. Each student needs to go beyond superficial explanation to formulate opinions about the characters, the writing style, and the ideas presented. 3. Students will be required to write on a regular basis. Most writing assignments will be analytical compositions based on the reading assignments from class. Students should be prepared to complete timed writings in preparation for the AP exam. All essay assignments will be accompanied by a rubric based on the AP exam rubric. There will be other assignments including creative writing, short writings to experiment with style and voice, and poetry writing. Students will complete graded compositions approximately every two weeks. 4. Students will have regular reading assignments. It is imperative that students read with care and complete all reading assignments on time. Short reading quizzes will be given periodically. These will be given at the beginning of class and will be straightforward and easy for those who have done the reading. 5. This class only functions when students are prepared to discuss the reading. By sharing ideas about the literature we grow and learn about vocabulary, other

3 points of view, multiple meanings in a text, and ideas that simply did not occur to us. Every students needs to make a consistent effort to participate in class discussions. Unit One Human Potential Nine Weeks First Quarter Literature Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky Short Stories: The Country Doctor, Kafka A Rose for Emily, Faulkner The Open Boat, Crane Bartelby the Scrivener, Melville The Glass Menagerie, Williams A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams Poetry (concentration on the sonnet and the heroic couplet: Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Donne Holy Sonnet: At the round earth s imagined corners Shelley Ozymandias Keats Bright Star Millay, What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why Cullen From the Dark Tower Denis Johnson Heat We start off the year with discussions on the development of character in Crime and Punishment. Students do research on the author and the time period to aide in discussion of the cultural context of the novel. Our discussion of the novel and possible essay topics include: Considering the social context of the novel, is Raskolnikov a villain or a hero? What role does Sonya play? What is Dostoyevsky s attitude toward the theory of the extraordinary man? What is the form of Raskolnikov s punishment?

4 What role does redemption play in the novel? Students write an essay outside of class based on a thesis they create. We continue our study of character with two plays by Tennessee Williams. The discussion of the characters in Williams plays center on characters who are alienated from society in some way. We will discuss that alienation, its origins, and its effect on the characters. The students then choose one of the plays and complete a timed writing based on character. The prompt is taken from 1995 AP exam and centers on alienation and society s assumptions and moral values. During this quarter we read at least four short stories listed above, more if time permits. We look carefully at Poe s definition of the short story and how well each of the authors is able to achieve that single effect about which Poe writes. This presents a viable means for students to think critically about short pieces where the author has to develop character, tone, and plot quickly and without digression. Students write an evaluative paper on one of the short stories. They are encouraged to use first person in this essay and using Roberts chapter on Writing About Likes and Dislikes, students may write about character development, a different culture or time period, how the author engages the reader, author s use of vocabulary, style, or tone. Students must write their own short story for a final assignment for this quarter. It must be at least 500 but no more than 1000 words. Evaluation of the short story will be based on the student s use of techniques we studied with the short story, i.e. structure, tone, style, and symbolism. The discussion of poetry in this quarter focuses on diction, imagery, tone and mood. We look closely at the sonnet form over several centuries. As a class we examine sonnets by Shakespeare and Donne. Students are asked to determine how diction and imagery determine tone and mood. Students then analyze another one of the sonnets from the above list paying close attention to diction and imagery and their overall effect on tone. Students are finally asked how all of these components contribute to the purpose of the single poem. Students determine the author s purpose and how well it is realized. Writer s Workshop 1. The first two weeks of the year, along with the literature discussions, we set up a writing workshop. Students practice sharing their reader response journals and first draft of the essay on Crime and Punishment. 2. Lessons in particular writing problems are given regularly during the first quarter and include the following: overuse of modifiers use of the present tense

5 writing strong topic sentences practice in introductory and concluding paragraphs avoiding you/one/the reader using transitions between paragraphs First Quarter Essential Questions: 1. What role does point of view play in a literary work? 2. How does the role of the hero change from one literary era to another, or from one culture to another? 3. What is the author s purpose in this literary text and what literary devices are used to determine that purpose? 4. What patterns and motifs are used explore character in a literary text? 5. How does the author use language to provide meaning and to engage the reader? 6. What vocabulary is essential to understand this literary text? 7. What vocabulary is essential to write about this literary text? 8. How can class discussions be used to comprehend a text? Unit Two Nine Weeks Illusion and Reality Second Quarter Literature Hamlet, Shakespeare King Lear, Shakespeare The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton Poetry (concentration on the ode and the elegy): Keats To Autumn Marianne Moore The Paper Nautilus Joy Harjo Perhaps the World Ends Here Arnold Dover Beach Milton Lycidas Gray Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Mark Doty Tiara Reader Response Journals While reading two plays by Shakespeare, we will be exploring the conflict between illusion and reality. Students continue to use their reader response journals as we proceed through the two plays. Sometimes I ask them to explore a particular question in their journals on Hamlet. For example, by the time we finish Act III the students should have

6 a firm grip on Hamlet s character. I ask them to compare Hamlet and Raskolnikov. What leads them to feel disenfranchised? Is it society? A flaw in the man? Both? Students have several other opportunities to address issues discussed in class and to raise questions of their own. Discussion Discussion of Hamlet will focus on the ideas first expressed in Hamlet s lines, Seems madam? Nay it is. I know not seems.these indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that within which passes show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe. Here is the chasm between illusion and reality. Other questions that we address include: What other characters are not what they seem? How is Hamlet s true identity revealed in his seven soliloquies? What images dominate the play? What themes does Shakespeare explore in the play? What is Hamlet s tragic flaw? With King Lear we continue in our discussion of illusion and reality. We explore the roles of both sets of children in the duplicitous betrayal of both Lear and Gloucester. We also address the seemingly meaningless violence in the play. What was Shakespeare s intent in presenting so many disasters? Is the world a hostile place with no hope for justice? Poetry Discussion of poetry centers on the rhetorical devices used by the author to elicit an emotional response such as symbol, theme, diction and syntax. Students are divided into two groups to complete an analysis of either Lycidas by John Milton or Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray. This project takes at least half the class period for approximately one week. Poetry presentations take minutes. Writing After we finish Hamlet and before reading King Lear, students write an essay on the following, Read the following quote and apply it to Hamlet: A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily

7 come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case (The Prince, Machiavelli). For this essay, students write a first draft and conference with other students and the teacher. Mini lessons on grammar and structure continue with emphasis on the following: Using the direct approach in sentence structure Choosing the best moments to quote in an essay Introducing quoted material Analysis following quoted material Avoiding rhetorical questions and what ifs When we have finished both Shakespeare plays, students complete a timed writing on the following AP prompt: According to critic Northrop Frye, Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning. Using Hamlet or King Lear, discuss the tragic figure as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole. 2 nd Quarter Essential Questions 1. How do the major characters in a literary work define truth and reality? 2. What are the inherent conflicts between illusion and reality as seen from the author s point of view? 3. What is the author s purpose in presenting a conflict between illusion and reality and what literary devices are used to achieve that purpose? 4. What patterns and motifs are used to determine the author s purpose? 5. How does the author use language to provide meaning and engage the reader? 6. What vocabulary is essential to understand this literary text? 7. What vocabulary is essential to write about this literary text? Unit Three Nine Weeks

8 Order and Disorder Third Quarter Literature Waiting for Godot, Beckett Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stoppard Catch 22, Joseph Heller Poetry (concentration on blank verse and the stanza): Tennyson, Ulysses Frost, Directive Dickinson, I died for Beauty but was scarce Smith, Not Waving but Drowning Hayden, Those Winter Sundays Muske, Epitaph Discussion We start this unit with research on existentialism and theater of the absurd. Students study writings of Sartre, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard. Discussion topics include the following: What is a tragicomedy? What role does memory play? How is time represented? What is its significance to the play as a whole? How are the characters defined? Does a reading of Godot warrant a religious reading? What is the overall tone of the play? Waiting is one of the central themes of the play? What is Beckett/Stoppard trying to say about waiting? About man s existence in the world? In his essay on existentialism and humanism, Sartre characterizes the human condition with three terms: anguish, abandonment, and despair. How does thinking about the play in light of this claim help illuminate it? With Catch 22 we begin with a discussion of satire. We look closely at Chapter One, specifically examining Heller s purpose and how he uses satire to achieve that purpose. Discussion topics include the following:

9 What is Heller s interpretation of the corporate nature of America? How would you characterize Heller s departure from realism? Is it effective? How does Heller use imagery to provoke his audience? What other rhetorical devices does Heller use? For what purpose? Response Journals In this quarter students are encouraged to ask themselves the right questions about a text and the response journals are used for this purpose. I model the question journal for the students so they know how to complete an entry. There are three basic rules: students have to ask a question that cannot be answered with a yes or a no ; this question has to be one about which they are genuinely curious; and finally they have to explore the question to its conclusion. Entries are about a page long and lend themselves well to class discussions. Examples of questions from Waiting for Godot might be, What does the little boy represent? or Why does Lucky put up with Pozzo s ill treatment if he could just walk away? Journal entries are due at the beginning of class so they can be used for discussion. We continue with the question journal for Catch 22. Writing Mini lessons on grammar and structure continue with emphasis on the following: avoiding stilted language syntax for tone and style using active rather than passive voice avoiding negative contructions We explore theme and its relation to the work as a whole with both plays. After a discussion on the various themes from the plays, the students choose one to explore in an analytic essay. For this essay, students will be working from a first draft, peer editing, revising and completing a final draft. Using a specific moment from the Catch 22, students are asked to write a short piece, no longer than one page, capturing the same tone and diction. This is an excellent way to get students to experiment with vocabulary and sentence structure. I ask the students to look at Chapter 5 and Heller s description of Yossarian s anger at being trapped in the nose of a B 25. Students attempt to capture the same tone and diction to convey that same type of anger.

10 With the completion of Catch 22, students do a timed writing on the following prompt from the 1993 AP test: George Meredith said, The true test of comedy is that is shall awaken thoughtful laughter. Using Catch 22 as your focus, write and essay in which you show why this laughter is thoughtful and how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. The Research Paper During the 3 rd quarter we begin work on the research paper. Students may use any of the pieces we have read in class or any other work from the list I give them at the beginning of the year. Students are given review lessons on parenthetical documentation, writing outlines, finding credible sources, and developing a works cited page. Students are given several weeks to work on this outside of class. The paper is not collected until early in the fourth quarter. Poetry With Tennyson and Frost we look closely at imagery and again examine how diction affects tone and the overall meaning of the poem. We spend part of several class periods looking at poems by Dickinson. We go over I died for beauty together, and then the students choose another poem by Dickinson to present to the class. When we explore the poems with variance in the stanza form, students have to choose one of the forms we study, and then write a lyric poem using that form. 3 rd Quarter Essential Questions 1. How does an author use form and function to explore order and disorder in a literary text? 2. What is the author s purpose in presenting conflicts between order and disorder and what literary devices are used to achieve that purpose? 3. What patterns and motifs are used to determine the author s purpose in a literary text? 4. What vocabulary is essential to understand this literary text? 5. What vocabulary is essential to write about this literary text? Unit Four Nine Weeks Love and Commitment

11 Fourth Quarter Literature Pride and Prejudice, Austen An Ideal Husband, Wilde Death of a Salesman, Miller Poetry (concentration on open forms): T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The Hollow Men Preludes Langston Hughes I, Too Lucille Clifton, move Discussion Our discussions in this unit focus on the family. Discussion topics include, but are not limited to the following: How is the idea of marriage explored in Austen? How are Elizabeth s expectations different from Charlotte s? What is the function of the minor characters (Wickham, Lady Catherine, Mr. Collins)? What is the purpose of Austen s use of irony? How does Wilde use irony to point out the flaws in society? What are those flaws as he sees it? What notions of love do the different characters proffer? What are some of the symbols used by Miller? What do they symbolize? What is the tone of this play? How does it compare with the tone of the other two pieces? What is the author s intent in this play? How would Willy define love? Commitment? Is Willy Loman a tragic hero? Response Journal We continue to use the response journal as a means to initiate class discussions. More and more students write about their own evaluation of the works we read, What was successful? What was not? Writing After finishing Austen and Wilde pieces, students write an essay on the following AP prompt:

12 Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Using Pride and Prejudice or An Ideal Husband, both of which include scenes such as these, and in an focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. While reading Death of a Salesman we discuss the idea of the tragic hero and read Miller s essay Tragedy and the Common Man. Students have to decide for themselves whether Miller was able to create a 20 th century tragic hero. This is the focus of their last essay. Poetry We look at open forms during this quarter. After reading several poems including Clifton and Hughes, we spend part of several classes looking at several poems by T.S. Eliot. Students break into groups and work on the poems in class. For this assignment, students are encouraged to try to explicate the poems by themselves without help from books or the internet. They are asked to answer the following questions: 1. What is your initial response to this poem? 2. Who is the speaker? 3. What is the mood? What are the images that define that mood? 4. What is the theme? How do you know? What idea(s) is the author pursuing? 5. How is the poem structured? Why is it structured this way? 6. What are the central images? How is imagery used to explore the theme of the poem? 7. Are there metaphors or similes used in this poem? How? 8. How is symbolism used in the poem? 9. Do you like the poem? Why? Why not? 4 th Quarter Essential Questions

13 1. What is the author s purpose in exploring familial as well as love relationships in a literary text and what literary devices are used to achieve that purpose? 2. How does the author explore the conflict between the needs of the individual and the needs of a society? 3. To what extent do characters in a literary text shape their own lives? 4. What patterns and motifs are used to determine the author s purpose in a literary text? 5. What is the role of satire in a literary text? 6. What vocabulary is essential to understand this literary text? 7. What vocabulary is essential to write about this literary text? Grades Students' grades are based on points earned from the following: reading journals (10 20 pts. per entry) literature pop quizzes (20 25 pts.) analytic essays (100 pts.)* oral presentations (40 60 pts.) * analytic essays make up the vast majority if the AP students' grades Teacher Resources Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York: Pearson Longman, Roskelly, Hephzibah and David A. Jolliffe, eds. Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing. AP Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, Strand, Mark and Eavan Boland, eds. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New York: Norton, 2000.

Curriculum Map-- Kings School District (English 12AP)

Curriculum Map-- Kings School District (English 12AP) Novels Read and listen to learn by exposing students to a variety of genres and comprehension strategies. Write to express thoughts by using writing process to produce a variety of written works. Speak