AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus

AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus

AP English Literature and Composition Course Overview The advanced placement course for English Literature and Composition meets each week for 45 minutes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and for 90 minutes on Thursdays and Fridays. The major focus of this course is on both college level textual analysis and rhetoric. During the AP course, students are exposed to and analyze a variety of texts (both poetry and prose) from both American and British authors, challenging them to perform analysis and engage in critical thinking to reach college level expectations. Students will complete writing assignments that require in depth understanding of literary elements, themes, and overall purposes of texts. During their first novel study, students are introduced to Close Reading techniques (or more specifically Formalism) and write 1 formal Close Reading Paper and 1 in-class Close Reading paper mirroring the types of prompts given on the AP Exam. Students engage in writing workshops to peer review each other s work. Students also write an original dystopian short story based on a utopian society that their peers designed. The students collaborate in small groups to create the societies (providing their peers with written outlines of their utopias). They then collaborate to write original short stories, which are meant to critique and expose the flaws or potential dangers of their peers governmental and social structures. For their first drama study, students read a Tennessee Williams drama and write one Literary Analysis paper drawing from both primary and secondary sources and structure their argument according to Cicero s structure of rhetoric and persuasion. As part of their peer review process, students read some expository prose focused on persuasive and rhetorical writing strategies and apply these strategies to their peers and their own writing. Poetry is included as an ongoing focus throughout the course beginning in the second quarter. Two periods a week are then dedicated to reading and analyzing poetry consistent with the themes or time periods of the current novel study. As part of the ongoing poetry unit, students read a mock-epic poem from the 18th century and write an original mock-epic poem imitating the language and structure that is characteristic of epic poems. Throughout their second novel study, students are introduced to canonical 19th Century texts, including works by Charlotte Bronte, and supplementary poetry by Thomas Hardy and Christina Rossetti. This novel study is focused on thematic, as well as structural analysis of the novel as a whole. Students explore the novel and the place it occupies within the Bildungsroman genre, and read an argumentative essay, which analyzes the characters and the major themes of the novel. Students are required to write a persuasive Literary Analysis paper either countering or defending the essay s position on the novel. For their first short-story unit, students read a selection of contemporary American stories including works by Joyce Carol Oates, Denis Johnson, Raymond Carver, and Tobias Wolff. Students focus on author craft, structure, characterization, form, and theme. They then write an

original short story that purposefully follows or deviates from the structure of one of the stories they have read. Beginning in the third quarter, students are introduced to various works of expository prose including works by Nietzsche, Darwin, and Paine. This ongoing unit is structured much like the Poetry unit, with 2 periods a week being dedicated to comprehension and analysis of these texts. This unit also includes direct instruction of rhetorical strategies used by the various authors, as well as direct instruction on academic vocabulary. Students read and analyze a variety of American political speeches and create their own video (or live performance) of a chosen speech. For their third novel study, students read a work of Literary Modernism by American author, H. D. and return to New Criticism and Close Reading. Students are introduced to the basics of Literary Theory and analyze the novel through various literary lenses including New Historicism, Formalism (through New Criticism) and Moral Criticism. Students also create an art project which visually represents the various themes of the novel. The second Drama study of the course is on Othello by William Shakespeare. Students read the play in parts, analyzing the author craft in terms of plot structure, language, stage directions, and characterization. Students watch the film adaptation of the play and analyze how the director and actors deviate or conform to the original script and how these changes affect the themes and audience interpretations of the drama. Students write a formal thematic analysis of the play, drawing from both primary and secondary sources. The fourth Novel Study consists of a Literary Ethics approach to Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. During this unit, students focus on textual detail and craft in order to analyze and evaluate the aesthetic value of the novel and discuss the cultural and ethical value of the novel. They read expository prose to supplement their understanding of existing ethical theories and beliefs about Literature. Students write a persuasive essay arguing whether or not they believe literature must have ethical value, drawing from various expository texts and making specific references to the novel. The fifth and final novel study of the year is a study of Joyce s A Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man. During this unit, students focus on New Criticism Literary Analysis and reading comprehension of the novel. They then write a personal reflection about something they lost through the process of growing up (e.g. innocence, trust, creativity, confidence in personal beliefs ). Students read supplementary poetry dealing with the theme of growing up and the price of becoming an adult.

AP Course Reading and Writing List Novels: 1984 George Orwell (British) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (British) A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (Irish) Bid Me to Live Hilda Doolittle or H. D. (American) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Russian) Poetry: Shakespearean Sonnets (from Elements of Literature Textbook) (16th-17th Century) The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (18th Century) The Man He Killed and The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy (19th Century) A Pause of Thought by Christina Rossetti (19th Century) We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks (20th Century) Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen (Early 20th Century) Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas (20th Century) From Trimmings by Harryette Mullen (21st Century) To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell (17th Century) Childe Harold s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron (19th Century) Drama: A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams (Mid-20th Century American) Othello William Shakespeare (17th Century British) Short Stories: Cathedral by Raymond Carter Emergency by Denis Johnson Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates Daddy Garbage by John Edgar Wideman Expository and Non-Fiction Prose: A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift (Irish) Common Sense by Thomas Paine (English/American) On The Genealogy of Morality by Friedrich Nietzsche (German) The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (English) Steer Clear of Permanent Alliances speech by George Washington (American)

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech by Patrick Henry (American) Let Us Brave Once More the Icy Currents speech by Barack Obama (American) Writing Requirements: Close Reading/Formalist Analysis essays Literary Analysis drawing from Primary and Secondary Sources Literary Review Narrative Writing Mock-Epic Poetry Personal Reflection Writing

AP English Literature and Composition Course Units of Study Novel Study Including Close Reading Approximate time: 4 weeks Standards: SC3, SC7, SC8, SC10, SC11, SC12, SC13, SC14, SC15 1984 by George Orwell - Close Reading - Class discussions on theme analysis - Students discuss contemporary cultural implications of the text s themes. - Students write an analysis of their choice of important elements including structure, craft, style, theme, language, imagery, and symbolism. Students peer review their writing to assess strength of argument based on evidence, structure of writing, and persuasiveness. - Students write an original dystopian short story based on a utopian society that their peers design. The students collaborate in small groups to create the societies and provide their peers with written outlines of their societies. - The students collaborate in small groups to write original narratives meant to critique and expose the flaws or potential dangers of their peers governmental and social structures, using details of the societal flaws presented in 1984. - The teacher provides direct instruction on requirements of close reading analyses and provides feedback on rhetorical structure, vocabulary usage and syntax both before and after the students final revisions. Drama Study Including Literary Analysis Approximate time: 3 weeks Standards: SC9, SC10, SC6, SC10, SC11, SC12, SC13, SC14, SC15 A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - Focus on: plot analysis, author craft, theme. - Students watch movie analyzing aspects of the film that deviated from the play and their effects on the audience s interpretation of characters and story. - Students analyze play in juxtaposition to Aristotle s definition of tragedy as outlined in Poetics, with emphasis on the tragic hero concept. - Students write a Literary Analysis argumentative research paper on a topic of their choice drawing from both primary and secondary sources and structured according to Cicero s structure of rhetoric and persuasion. Students focus on textual details to make and explain judgments about the play s artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values. - Students read Politics and the English Language by George Orwell and apply his 6 elementary rules of writing to both their own and their peers argumentative essays.

Timed In-Class Writing Standards: SC8, SC7 Quarter Cumulative Exam - Students annotate The Hurt Locker by Brian Turner and write an essay discussing how the author s use of diction, repetition and metaphor helps to convey his theme. Novel Study Including Literary Criticism Approximate time: 4-5 weeks Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC7, SC10, SC11, SC12, SC13, SC14, SC15 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Analysis of 1st person narrator and unreliable narrators - Concept of Bildungsroman - Analysis of text and the social and historical values it reflects and embodies. - Students write a personal reflection mirroring Jane Eyre s chronological structure (starting from their early childhood and ending at their current stage of life with an emphasis on personal beliefs and points of view based on the personal experiences that crafted them). - Students read a variety of secondary sources (e.g. Rev. of Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. Graham's Magazine [Philadelphia] 32 (May 1848): 299/ Sternlieb, Lisa. (1999). Hazarding Confidences. Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 53, No. 453-457.) and argumentative essays (from independent research) about Jane Eyre. Timed In-Class Writing and Analysis Unit Final Exam Standards: SC2, SC6, SC7, SC8 - Students write an organized in-class persuasive essay defending or countering the position Sternlieb offers, drawing from both the secondary and primary sources provided or found. Poetry Unit Standards: SC1 On-Going - Students read various poetry from both American and British authors from 16th Century to today, and analyze works with strong focus on Formalism - Shakespearean Sonnets (from Elements of Literature Textbook) (16th-17th Century) - The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (18th Century) - The Man He Killed and The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy (19th Century) - A Pause of Thought by Christina Rossetti (19th Century)

- We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks (20th Century) - Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen (Early 20th Century) - Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas (20th Century) - From Trimmings by Harryette Mullen (21st Century) - To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell (17th Century) - Childe Harold s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron (19th Century) Timed In-Class Writing and Analysis Full Length AP Practice Exam - Students complete 1 hour of multiple choice questions (both comprehension and analysis) based on various passages and 2 hours of analytic essay questions (3 essays of 40 minutes). Short Story Unit Including Creative Writing Approximate time: 2 weeks Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC10, SC11, SC12, SC13, SC14, SC15 The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories edited by Tobias Wolff - Students read: - Cathedral by Raymond Carter - Emergency by Denis Johnson - Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates - Daddy Garbage by John Edgar Wideman - Focus on structure, theme, author craft, efficient language - Students must pick a story to PURPOSEFULLY deviate or conform to the same type of structure, characters, themes - Students write own creative short story following their own guideline Novel Study Including Basics of Literary Theory Approximate time: 3 weeks Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC4, SC8, SC9, SC10, SC11, SC12, SC13, SC14, SC15 Bid Me To Live by H. D. - Introduction to Literary Modernism - Students analyze the text through New Historicism lens (Analysis of text and the social and historical values it reflects and embodies) - Introduction to basic literary theory - Students analyze the text through various lenses of literary criticism - Students write a Close Reading Analysis paper based on their strategic choice of important elements including structure, craft, style, theme, language, imagery, and

symbolism. Students peer review their writing to assess strength of argument based on evidence, structure of writing, and persuasiveness - Art project: Students create a visual representation of the themes they have analyzed throughout the novel - Students write a Literary Review in which in they draw upon textual details in order to make and support their judgements about the novel s artistry and craft. Drama Study Including Film Analysis Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC6 Othello by William Shakespeare - Students focus on plot analysis, author craft, theme. - Students watch film adaptation analyzing aspects of the film that deviate from the play and their effects on the audience s interpretation of characters and story. - Students focus on textual details to make and explain judgments about the play s artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values. - Students write a Literary Analysis argumentative research paper on a topic of their choice drawing from both primary and secondary sources. - Students create Video Group Projects which depict the themes of the play (may choose to adapt the story to contemporary times) Novel Study Including Literary Theory (Literary Ethics) Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC4, SC9, SC10 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Students focus on textual detail and craft in order to analyze and evaluate the aesthetic value of the novel. - Students discuss the cultural and ethical value of the novel. - Students read expository prose by Nietzsche as supplement to discussion on theory of ethics. - Students write a persuasive essay arguing whether or not they believe literature must have ethical value, drawing from various expository texts and making specific references to the novel. Novel Study Including Return to Formalist Analysis Standards: SC1, SC2, SC3, SC5, SC6 A Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce - Students focus on New Criticism Literary Analysis and reading comprehension

- Students will write a personal reflection about something they lost through the process of growing up (e.g. innocence, trust, creativity, confidence in personal beliefs ) - Students will read and analyze Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas as well as other poems dealing with the theme of growing up and the price of becoming an adult.