2010-2011 Introduction to AP English Welcome to AP English, a course designed to help you discover the beauty and excitement of literature and poetry. By the end of this school year, each of you will have discovered the varied art of writing, reading, and interpretation. You will learn to see beyond a text and into authors hearts, discovering their worldview and how the writers of Western Literature have shaped our own perspectives of the world. Besides interpretation, we will examine literature through our own personal worldviews and work to use our personal perspectives as a starting point for discussion related to the literature. The class will be taught in Open-Ended Seminar style; I practice student-centered classrooms, and I will be doing much Teaching With My Mouth Shut, utilizing small discussion groups, prompting you into research and analysis, pressing you to discover your own Essential Questions (based on the Big Questions provided in class) that will personalize your study and create a foundation for future learning. On a personal level, you will be doing regular reading and writing in response to the literature you explore, to be evaluated and revised according to the writing principles we learn in class. Following the over-arching theme of The Seven Basic Plots, we, together, will pursue the following goals: Sharpen our reading and interpretation skills related to novels, short stories, drama, and poetry. The First Semester (18 weeks) will concentrate on prose (novels, poetry, and short stories), using music and film to accentuate themes and explore historical perspectives. The Second Semester will concentrate on poetry, using prose to demonstrate inter-textuality related to type and archetype. Develop tools to critically evaluate literature and poetry from a compositional and historical perspective: You will be exposed to five schools of literary theory Feminist, Historical, Marxist, Formalism, and Archetypal and you will learn to integrate these theories into your analytical writing. Test-taking Strategies, we will participate in at least two morning sessions and one extended period designed to prepare for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam. In the end, you will have gained sophisticated interpretation and communication skills that will prepare you for future academic rigors and help you become more intentional and thoughtful about the world around you, the true goal of all education. 1
Grading To promote the most effective learning, I commit to quick (generally one-day) turn-around on papers and tests. Your grades will be posted every Friday onto the school website. If you have questions about your grade, please follow this procedure: 1) Come to me directly 2) Have the paper/test/quiz in hand when you come to me 3) Be prepared to work collaboratively on the answer (be prepared to answer this question: Why do you think this grade is what it is? Your final Semester grade will be a product: Classroom Participation/Inquiry/Discussion 25% Writing (Papers) 30% Tests and Quizzes 20% Portfolio 25% Inquiry/Class Discussion Explications/Annotation=AIM, OPTIC, SOAPstone, TP-FAST Discussion Leader -- Your participation/contribution in leading group discussions Big Questions = Weekly, Bi-weekly opportunity to lead class discussion Contribution = Chart compiled by teacher marking classroom discussion Writing -- Always given an A if handed in on time (10% reduction every day thereafter) 3 Cs (Must have 18 completed by the end of the semester) Journals/Study Guides (will integrate grammar, style, and creativity) Analytical Essays (in response to selected reading) Argumentative Paper per unit (to investigate key idea from unit) Timed-Writes Questions (based on your own AP Prompts) Tests and Quizzes: Regular Daily Reading Quizzes on conceptual units, novels, and dramas Tests will be taken both in Objective and Essay formats. Portfolio Re-writes (10 of your best, revised 3 Cs and 3 best, revised papers) All quizzes and tests (Reviewed, in sequence, at quarter) Study Packets (for each unit) Classroom Notes Completed journals (will have already been graded) College Essay Contribution Charts (made during class discussions/presentations) 2
Units and Outcomes Specific details regarding quizzes, journals, writing will be given at the beginning of the Unit being taught. Below, then, is a general map (with accompanying objectives) for the course. Topic/Unit 1 The Symbols That Shape Us: Archetypes in Literature Texts: A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (Weeks 1-4, 8-9) The Seven Basic Plots, Christopher Booker Short Story: Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne Select Essays, Poetry, Pictures, and Music Movies: The Scarlet Letter or Simon Birch Moving to Mastery of: 1) Understanding of Archetypes as backbone for literature 2) Recognition of the elements of The Seven Basic Plots in prose 3) Recognition of Archetypes and Structures in Owen Meany Assessments: 1) Word Quizzes, Excerpt Quizzes 2) Poetry Terms Journal 3) Four Analytical Essays (Archetypal, 2 Form, Personal) 4) One Critical Essay (Argumentative Essay) 5) Owen Meany Study Guide The Bible and Antiquity (Archetype Families) John Irving, in his book, Trying to Save Piggy Snead, argues If a person doesn t understand the Bible, he will never fully understand Western Literature. Archetypes are the glue holding literature together; they create meaning, enrich stories, and draw maps for inter-textual journeys that make reading exciting. Starting with the anthropological archetypes of our own foundations (found in The Bible), we will devote this 5-6 WEEK UNIT to understanding the central Types, Archetypes, and Forms within of Western Literature. 3
Overcoming the Monster: Dark and Light Figures (Motif in Literature) Booker says of the Overcoming the Monster plot, This realm of story telling contains nothing stranger or more spectacular than this terrifying, life-threatening, seemingly all-powerful monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. With this in mind, we will examine Owen Meaney from the perspective of Characterization and create an Archetypal Template that demonstrates the truth of Booker s claim. Rags to Riches: Irony, Tone, and Mood (Voice in Literature) Booker says of the Rags to Riches plot: Again and again in the storytelling of the world we come across a certain image which seems to hold a peculiar fascination for us. We see an ordinary, insignificant person, dismissed by everyone as of little account, who suddenly steps to the centre of the stage, revealed to be someone quite exceptional. Our goal, here, is to discuss Owen Meaney in its historical context and demonstrate how culture at large informs literature, and how literature informs the reader through sentiment. The Quest: Heroes and Anti-Heroes (Characterization in Literature) Booker says of The Quest:... stories naturally shape themselves in the human imagination {centering} on the pull of the hero toward some distant, all-important goal. However much he becomes drawn into particular episodes along the way, we always know that these are merely subordinate to his overriding purpose, and that until that goal has been reached and properly secured, the story cannot be satisfactorily resolved. Reflecting on the heroes journey, we will discover the motifs and themes of longing and identity as they serve for motivation related to characters in Owen Meaney. Comedy: Light vs. Dark (Virtue in Literature) Booker says, The key to comedy is the transition between two general states... the first exists in twilight through most of the story... the second starts with recognition where the dark figure is in some way caught out, and all is at last seen clearly. Our goal in examining Owen Meaney will be to isolate the elements of comedy and examine how they work in Irving s plot. Tragedy: Fight with gods (Conflict in Literature) Booker says of tragedy,... there is one part of {the hero or heroine}, one desire, one appetite, which is nagging at them to the point where the urge to gratify it is building up into an overwhelming obsession. Our goal with tragedy is to explore motivation (conflict) in John s life and Owen s life to determine the universal dreams characters possess (for himself, for his society, for nature, and for God). Re-Birth: Creation, Fall, Redemption (Motif in Literature) Booker says about the Re-birth, What marks out the Rebirth plot is the way we see the central figure eventually frozen in his dark and lonely state with seemingly no hope of escape. And it is here, as light stealing in on darkness, that the vision appears which inspires the stirring back to life, centered on a particular redeeming figure... With Owen 4
Meaney, we will track the path of creation, fall, redemption as a patter that emerges in contemporary literature. Voyage and Return: Losing the Self (Identity and Place in Literature) Booker says of the Voyage and Return says, The real victory of such Voyage and Return heroes is not over the forces of darkness outside them. It is over the same dark forces within themselves... The complete happy ending of the Voyage and Return story is simply that the hero returns to his familiar world transformed. He has become a new man. Also, John Gardner says there are only two kinds of plots: A child leaves home, and a stranger comes to town. The aim of this unit is to study, discuss, and inquire into the shape a person s place -- in this case the settings within All The Pretty Horses and Owen Meany -- of origins and examine how literature shows us a mirror into the spaces we occupy. Unit 1 (B): All the Pretty Horses: The Wilderness and The Self (Weeks 5-7, 8-9) Texts: Novel: Music: All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy Tale of Brave Ulysses, Cream Desperado, The Eagles Poem: Gregorio Cortez, Mintz Ithaca, Cavafy Ulysses, Tennyson Little Gidding, Eliot Movies: (Excerpts) Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid Tombstone Moving to Mastery of: Close Reading Understanding Archetype/Setting Analytical Essays (Free-Write) Assessments: 5
Weekly/Daily Quizzes Dialectical Journal Mini-Essays (based on Dialectical Journal) One free write (Prose Analysis) Pretty Horses Study Guide Evaluation for Paper: The American West embodies the American Spirit, where men roam free to chase their dreams. In this novel, set in the 1950 s John Grady Cole has lost his dream in America and becomes what America once was: free, dangerous, and adventuresome. In this FOUR - FIVE week unit, we will study this literary form of the PASTORAL and use music, movies, and film that embody the notion of escape as we examine the Hero s Quest. Our goal with this unit will be to enrich our ability to see RHETORICAL DEVICES in play and show how the structure of the a novel helps to create meaning for the reader. 6
Topic/Unit 2 Small Worlds: Poetry, Archetypes, and Devices Texts: Perrine s Sound and Sense Movies: Excerpts from Pink Floyd s The Wall Moving to Mastery of: Deconstructing a Poem (SOAPstone, AIM, TP-FAST, OPTIC) Critical Examination (Literary Criticism) Understanding Rhetorical Devices (Rhetorical Journal) Comprehension of Diction, Syntax, and Tone Classical Rhetorical Argument (Argumentative Paper) Assessments: 1) Rhetorical Journal (Defining Rhetorical Devices) 2) Archetypal Map (Graphic Organizer -- Group Exercise) 3) One Critical Essay (Compare-Contrast) 4) One Argumentative Essay (Classic Rhetorical Structure) Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, in their book The Say, I Say contend, Experienced writing instructors have long recognized that writing well means entering into a conversation with others. We will discuss Rhetorical Analysis and the connection between author, audience, and text. This FOUR to FIVE WEEKS will be devoted to learning the art of argumentation -- as outlined in Graff and Berkenstein -- using critical theory, poems, and prose. Readings for the Week (Related Exercises in Journal): Week 5: Part 1: They Say (Timed-Write: Poetry) Week 6: Part 2: I Say (Timed-Write: Poetry) Week 7: Part 3: Tying it all Together Paper Topics: (Internal Citation/Bibliography must be made in APA Format). Using the classical rhetorical model, and being mindful of context, tone, and literary devices, write a well organized essay related to critical theory and the themes in the literature we ve studied. 7
Topic/Unit 3: America Rising: Dressler and the American Dream Texts: Novel: Martin Dressler, Steven Millhauser Music: Poem: Big Eyed Fish, Matthews Excerpts of Jazz/Blues Standards Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock, Eliot The Wasteland, Eliot Reapers, Toomer Toads, Larkin Convergence of the Twain, Hardy Short Story: Paul s Case, Fitzgerald Movies: (Excerpts) Gangs of New York Once Upon a Time in America Ken Burns Jazz Moving to Mastery of: Historical Criticism Integrating Archetypes, Plotting, and Characterization Timed-Writing (Free-Write) Assessments: Weekly/Daily Quizzes Two critical Essays (characterization) One free write (Prose Analysis) Martin Dressler Study Guide Evaluation for Paper: Four-Step Evaluation Process Entwined in the American Experience is the notion of the American Dream, the idea that, by hard work and determination, a person can achieve anything -- all their dreams can come true. During this FOUR - FIVE WEEK unit, we will look at the literary form of the GOTHIC/CITYSCAPE NOVEL and examine poetry, music, and movies that capture the 8
essence of this Dream at the beginning of the 20th Century, and use this Dream as the starting point for a discussion about how we see the world, who are heroes have become, and the emotional connection we have to some of our dreams as Americans. The month will conclude with a morning session: One-Hour Criticism. Here you will need to give close examination to a poem (theme, time period, technique) and write an expository response based on an AP Open-Ended Prompt. Evaluation for Test: 1) Will be graded on 9-point scale (content/conventions two scores average together) 2) No comments will be made we will do this in class discussion Unit 5: Hamlet: Prophetic Visions of a Lost Mind Texts: Novel: Music: Hamlet, Shakespeare So Much to Say, Dave Matthews Ophelia, Natalie Merchant Movies: (Excerpts) Hamlet (excerpts of three versions) Moving to Mastery of: Literary Criticism (Feminist, Archetypal, Marxist, Historical) Dramatic Techniques (Soliloquy) Recognition of Rhetorical/Syntactical Devices Assessments: Weekly Quizzes Hamlet Study Guide One Analytical Essay (Literary Criticism) Pretty Horses Study Guide Evaluation for Paper: With Hamlet, all we have studied comes together. In this FOUR WEEK examination, we will read, watch, discuss, and write about the literary techniques employed within 9
Shakespeare s play, and the value of interpretation as evidenced by three directors: Branaugh, Zefferelli, and Almeyereda. In the discussion, we will examine the differences between text and interpretation using different interpretive schools to view the story. Unit 6: Resident Scholar * Moving to Mastery of: Research (Historical, biographical, literary background) Responding to a Text (Explication Journal) Expository Essay (Explication of Seminal Poem in fashion of AP Prompt) This short period will be devoted to research, annotate, explicate poetry. Each of you will be assigned a poet, and through Thompson s Reference System and Bloom s Commentaries (electronic databases in our library: http://www.gale.com/ovrcct/index.htm ), you will be responsible to research and know the poet s literary period, personal history, and criticism about the poet (Bloom s Commentary). Week 8: Research (Literary Period Explication) Week 9: One Analytical Paper: Historical Criticism (Internal Citations only: CMS) You will be responsible to write an Expository (Explaining) Essay answering the Question: How does your poet s seminal work reflect his life, times, and worldview? 10