AP Literature and Composition

AP Literature and Composition Course Description: The goals of this class are straight forward: to improve the student s analysis of various literary genre, to acquaint the student with various types of criticism, to enable him to use these types of criticism, to refine the student s writing skills, to refine the student s discussion skills, to improve the student s analytical writing on literature, and to acquaint the student with the College Board s Advanced Placement English exams. This course is equivalent to two semesters of college freshman English, so students are expected to conduct themselves accordingly--no late assignments, be punctual, and treat other members of the class with respect. In the greater scheme of things, students should grow as a language arts practitioner, should increase the depth and complexity of their thinking, and should grow as human beings. Resources: Perrine s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense 8th edition(harcourt College Publishers, 2001), Chaucer-The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Cather-My Antonia, Fitzgerald-The Great Gatsby, Hardy-Tess of the d Urbervilles, or Conrad-Heart of Darkness, or O Brien, The Things They Carried, Atwood-The Handmaid s Tale, Faulkner-As I Lay Dying, and, Austen-Pride and Prejudice. Materials Required: All papers will be submitted to turnitin.com so if you don t have access to the internet from home, you will need to bring the paper on a disk and submit it from school. Course Outcomes: The students will become discriminating thinkers through the study of literature, better writers through writing a variety of essays, better oral communicators through discussions and presentations, and better researchers through the research paper and presentation. Course Requirements: The main projects are a poetry explication project (50 pts), poetry explication paper (50pts), interpretive analysis (50pts), technical analysis (50pts), and a character analysis (50pts). See the Critical Essay handout for more details on these papers. Also required are a research paper and a research seminar presentation (200 pts total). See the Research handout for more details. Other required essays will be either 25 or 50 points according to the degree of difficulty of the individual paper. These may include but are not limited to argumentative essay, personal essay, cause and effect essay, classification essay, and a definition essay. Papers will not be accepted late, and a 0 with no chance of revision is the penalty for plagiarism. There will be numerous timed writings based on AP Exam formats and graded with the AP rubric. Informal assignments may include reading journals, parodies, satire, skits, and other creative pieces. Grading: Your grade will be based on total points in categories (Assessments, 60 %, Daily Work, 40%) for a given semester. Not all assignments may be graded; however, as all assignments are important, it is in your best interest to approach all assignments as though they are being graded. Class participation is mandatory. On Tuesday of novel presentations, there are reading quizzes, and these must be taken before you participate in class discussions. If you are absent the Monday of one of these quizzes, I will expect you Tuesday before school to take the quiz or forfeit the right to take it. 1

Advanced Placement English Literature and Language Tentative Schedule Highlights (This list is an overview for your long term planning; detailed weekly schedules which include the specific short stories/essays/poems in each category will be posted on Fridays) Week # 1 Week #2 Week #3 Week #4 Week #5 Week #6 Week #7 Week #8 Week #9 Week #10 Week #11 Week #12 AP exam pre-test; rubric lessons; Perrine, pp1-36; Perrine Chap.2 Plot and Structure summer reading due; finish Chap. 2 stories; Perrine Poetry, Chap.1 Reading the Poem Lecture over types of literary criticism; reading criticism exercise Perrine Drama Chap. 1 Nature of Drama ; Mind the Gap; practice prose timed write Sophocles Oedipus Rex; Perrine, Chap. 3 Characterization ; literary analysis peer edit Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales; literary analysis due; Poetry, Chap.2, Denotation/Connotation Pride and Prejudice Perrine Chap. 4 Theme ; Poetry Chap.3 Imagery ; poetry timed write practice; character analysis peer edit Perrine Drama Chap. 2 Realistic and Non-Realistic Drama ; The Tempest; character analysis due The Great Gatsby technical analysis peer editing, Poetry Chap. 4 "Figurative Language 1 ; start poetry presentations Chap. 5, Point of View ; Poetry Chap. 2 Figurative Language 2 ; tech. analysis due As I Lay Dying research paper prospectus due Week #13 Poetry Chap 4, Figurative Language 3 and Chap.5 Symbol/Allegory ; Fiction Chap. 6 Symbol/Allegory ; research paper peer editing Week #14 Week #15 Week #16 Week #17 Week #18 The Handmaid s Tale; Poetry Chap. 10 Meter research paper due; Fiction Chap. 7 Humor/Irony Poetry Chap. 8 Tone ; Chap. 9 Musical Devices ; poetry explication peer editing Death of a Salesman; poetry explication due; The Things They Carried; portfolio due Poetry Final; Fences; Final multiple choice exam 2

And Another Thing: Early drafts of papers shown are on the assignment schedule are always due on Friday, a week after the assignment has been made, and the final copies are always due on the following Wednesday. Vocabulary quizzes are always Fridays, and literary term quizzes are Thursdays. There will a time write on the novels studied modeled after the open ended questions on the AP exam and graded on the attached AP-esque rubric. Poetry presentations will be on Fridays one per Friday depending on class size. Periodically, we will take sample multiple choice tests (10 questions over one piece of literature) and analyze the best answers. Plan on 5 of these throughout the semester. Research presentations are due the Tuesday we study a particular novel. 3

AP English Literature and Composition Writing Requirements Critical Essays Students will be writing a minimum of four outside of class critical essays which they have probably learned to call literary analysis, but whatever one calls the paper, the basic concept was taught in English 11 or Honors 10. This paper is arguably the most difficult type of essay to write because the student is responsible for the analysis of the work being addressed and one must support one s hypothesis with reasonable evidence from the text. Do not fall prey to the sophomoric mind set that any interpretation of a piece of literature is a valid one. One must have rationale and accurate evidence to support the thesis, and this evidence must be used in proper context of the text. The early drafts are due the Friday before the Wednesday the final paper is due, and these early drafts must be a completed paper--no half typed, half written I m almost done save the introduction. If the first draft is not completed on time for peer editing, the final will not be considered. Your schedule will list specific due days, so consult that schedule. Essay grading: Your papers will be graded based on the Six Trait Analytical Writing Rubric that you have encountered in all your English classes. Your papers will be examined for strong organization, effective and precise word choice, proper emphasis and depth of thought. These essays are essentially arguments, so you will be expected to use the strong argument techniques you learned in AP Language and Composition. Your evidence should offer a persuasive connection to your overall argument. Format: Each paper you hand in should have the following heading--it may be on the left side of the paper: Your name Teacher name Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition January 12, 2007 Each paper is to be typed in 12-point type and double-spaced. Do not use any font that is cute, clever or cunning. Your name should appear on each page of the paper in the upper right hand corner --V.Bennet- 3-- as example. When in doubt, MLA. If the paper is not is a reasonable representation of this format, the paper will not be read. Caveat: There are no late papers. If you are one to wait until the night before an assignment is due to finish it, and the printer malfunctions/ runs out of ink/paper/hard drive crashes et. al.--bummer. Do not procrastinate and do not take for granted that technology is infallible. Always make a copy of the assignment. Hints: be sure that the paper has a title which reflects the concept of the paper use the inverted pyramid style for the introduction 4

the author and work being written about should appear in the introduction make it clear to the reader what the subject is read and re-read the work summarize the work when necessary but do not retell the story (only that information the audience needs to appreciate the criticism is needed) no single word transitions do not restate the thesis in the conclusion be familiar with literary terms in the back of our primary texts use parenthetical documentation provide evidence from the text to support your thesis provide works cited even for one citation; you needn t add a page--tack in on the bottom of the final page proofread ask questions, but not three minutes before the paper is due Specific Assignments: When you are writing on a short story in the text, you must turn the paper in before we discuss the story or poem. You may use a story/poem not in our anthology, but you must have my permission before you hand the paper in. Interpretive analysis--this is probably closest to what you may have done last year. This paper should be 500-750 words long, so you must be concise. Essentially, the question you will answer in this type of paper is What does this story mean? What is the theme of the story, in your eyes, and how did you come to this conclusion? Little Red Riding Hood as a Misogynist Tract for example. Character analysis Choose a character from a short story and discuss his/her development. Think about how the character s development furthers the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the actions of the character. This paper should be 500-750 words long. Technical analysis: This paper deals with the techniques of a piece of literature-- the question is no longer What does it mean? but becomes How...? How does the author use diction, syntax, irony, style, point of view, irony, setting et. al. The second part of the question is..to what end.? For example, a sample thesis could be Oscar Wilde s male characters in The Importance of Being Ernest use sarcasm to make social commentary on Victorian society. This paper is 750 1000 words long. Poetry Explication: This paper is essentially a critical analysis written on a poem but will probably be closer to 1000 words than 750. As Chapter 11 and 12 in the great white book discusses, the paper is a line-by-line explanation of the poem that also integrates discussion of form, scansion, sound devices, and figurative language in that explication. You need to include a copy of the poem with the paper. You will see why when you read the example of that paper. Research Paper: This is the longest paper you will write, and it is based on the novel on which you do your research project. The paper will be 1500-2000 words, and you need to incorporate secondary texts(a five dollar term for criticism) into your paper. You will need 2-3 pieces of criticism for this assignment, and it should be used to support your reading of the novel. Perhaps you will writing about how Fitzgerald uses weather to reflect the mood of the characters in the scene. After you have gathered your evidence, 5

seek out criticism which supports your reading. You must include copies of your criticism so the instructor can determine you ve not taken secondary sources out of context. Review your How to Read Criticism assignment. ALL PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO http://www.turnitin.com. In-Class Essay Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to write an essay on demand, showing your ability to think, organize, and write under time constraints. The Advanced Placement test requires 3 essays. In order to practice this situation, we will have numerous timed writing situations, including but not limited to the ones below. Not every timed write will be graded, and some times you will have the opportunity to revise and improve. Expect to read and evaluate other student s efforts. The prompts will be prompts taken from or modeled after old AP tests. Practice poetry timed write Timed write on each of the 5 novels Prose timed write Timed writes concentrating on literary terms such as character, irony, symbol etc. Poetry timed writes concentrating on diction, figurative language, tone and sound Also you will have to opportunity to write short responses to literature. Some of these will be creative, some evaluative. In addition, you will have the opportunity to write satire, parodies, skits, poems and other creative pieces. 6

AP English Literature and Composition Presentation Requirements Research Seminar In small groups, students will present research on one of the novels we read as a class. Choose your authors and your research partners carefully, considering your interest in the author and his works. It is mandatory that your do some of your research in a college library and use professional academic journals Kansas Quarterly, Austen Review, Prairie Schooner, for example. Each presentation will cover author biography, historical context, style, structure and theme. At the minimum, you need 5 articles, one on each of the required topics. The presentation should be 45-60 minutes, and it is a group grade. Certainly, your presentation should be scholarly. Share with the class what you discovered about the author and his works. Connect what you learned about the author s life and era to the literature. But your presentation does not have to be dry. Use your imaginations. Involve the class. Think in terms of games, role playing, costumes, dramatizations, talk shows, group activities, etc. The unique and different will be well received. On presentation day, you will present the instructor with the following: 1. an annotated bibliography of the article/texts you used (identify which article is on theme et al.) 2. photo copies of those 5 articles 3. a script of what you will be presenting to the class. This may be in outline form. 4 a two-level outline or some type of fact sheet for your fellow students. This assignment is worth 100 points 50 points for the written material, 50 for the presentation. Caveat: This is a group project, not several individual projects presented consecutively. I expect a product that appears to have required commitment and effort from a group of students, not one over-achiever. Plan ahead. The authors you may choose are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, William Faulkner, Tim O Brien, and Arthur Miller. 7

Poetry Panel In groups of three, students will become experts on a poem not previously discussed in class. In a 30-35 minute presentation, students will teach the poem to the class. Each panel will designate one panel member to prepare the poem in depth with respect to three of the aspect below. Reading: Read the poem to the class. Give a paraphrase, state its theme and give textual evidence. Identify the subject and discuss the poems lyric or narrative concerns. Voice: Identify the tone, giving supporting evidence. Describe the speaker/persona Describe any irony present. Discuss ways in which the tone contributes to the significance of the poem. Words: Indicate, with examples, whether the diction is predominately concrete or abstract and the effect of any shift. Identify any allusions and discuss their contribution to the meaning of the piece. Saying and Suggesting: Indicate the denotation of any uncommon words. Identify important connotations, associations with other concepts and contexts, both positive and negative and discuss their contribution to the meaning of the piece. Identify symbols and discuss their effect on the significance of the poem. Imagery: Identify and discuss the image of the poem (or the lack of imagery), indicating the effect of the presence or absence of imagery on the meaning of the work. Figurative Language: Discuss the figures of speech. Identify them and indicate how they contribute to the meaning of the poem. Sound: Identify any elements of sound (euphony, cacophony, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, consonance) and discuss specific ways in which they contribute to the significance of the poem. If there is a rhyme scheme, write it on the board of an overhead transparency. Rhythm: Put the first four lines of the poem on the board/transparency and mark the scansion. Identify the meter if there is a regular meter. Discuss any variations in meter and their contributions to the meaning. If there is not regular meter, discuss the effect of its absence on the work. Form: Describe the form of the poem (closed, open, blank verse, closed couplet, stanza, sonnet, octave, sestet, and quatrain) and the elements of that form, identifying a closed form if one is used. Discuss the contribution of the form to the poem s meaning. Provide copies of the poem to each member of the class. Engage the students in the study of the poem, particularly in discussion of imagery, figurative language, and sound. The total value of the assignment is 50 points. It will be graded primarily on the content presented; however, graphics, musical/ video/media background can only enhance your presentation. As always, do not sacrifice substance and analysis for glitz and glamour. 8