Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Welcome to AP! For centuries, writers have employed imaginative literature to better understand humans perpetual search for identity. By practicing critical analysis of multiple genres, together we will strive to understand that search. In the process, you will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Please keep in mind that your efforts, insights, and talents contribute not only to your own success, but also to the success of the entire class. Come prepared to discuss the material thoughtfully. (Expect frequent quizzes on assigned readings, too.) I will also frequently administer timed writing drills that utilize the AP exam format and past AP prompts. In addition to practicing literary interpretation and analysis, we will strive as a group to help each student perfect his or her writing skills, to expound upon ideas and to revise work with respect to grammar, organization and rhetorical technique. At the close of each major unit, you will complete a slightly longer (3-4 page) formal writing assignment. This more formal paper should demonstrate the effective communication of original ideas using an increasingly sophisticated vocabulary and appropriate rhetorical techniques. Our final writing assignment will be somewhat longer in length and will include original argument, textual examples, and properly documented perspectives from published literary critics and other outside sources. GRADES Nine-week s grades will be based on class participation (25%), performance on quizzes (25%), in-class writing assignments and revisions (25%), unit papers and the mid-term (25%). The final exam will count 20% towards the overall course grade. According to school policy, seniors who have an A in the course will not have to count the final exam grade but are expected to take the exam at the scheduled time. TEXTS Kennedy, X.J., ed. Literature, an introduction to fiction, poetry and drama. Fourth Ed. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1987. Strunk,William and E.B. White. Elements of Style. 3 rd Ed. New York: Longman Publishers, 1995. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harpercollins Publishers, Inc. 1998. O Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2004.
INTRODUCTION: Writing for Yourself, Writing for Others Syllabus-- AP Literature and Composition AP readers responses (Handout) Strunk and White The Elements of Style Discussion Topics: Course and personal expectations, Exploring differences in opinions, Evaluation of personal writing style, Types of writing exploratory, expository, argumentative, Characteristics of mature writing, Voice Writing assignment for the introductory unit: Voice UNIT ONE: The Search for Identity in Times of Crisis Tragedy, pp. 855-859 (from Kennedy Text) Aristotle Poetics, VI, XIII-XIV, pp. 1317 Sophocles Oedipus Rex, pp. 859-898 Antigone, pp. 1172-1200 Discussion Topics: The Tragic hero, Characterization in Drama, Irony, The Search for Identity, Use of Imagery and Figurative Language Shakespeare s theatre, pp. 900-902 William Shakespeare Macbeth The Merchant of Venice Discussion Topics: Shakespeare s Language, Blank Verse, Character and Motivation, Justice and Mercy Edmond Rostand Cyrano Discussion Topics: Symbolism, Tragic and Comic Elements, Diction, Syntax Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie, pp. 1200 1246 Discussion Topics: Realism and Non-Realism, Modern Tragedy, Dramatic Conventions Writing Assignments for Unit One: Internal and External Action in Tragedy The prompts in this unit will address character, tragic themes, irony, and symbolism. Every two weeks or so you will select one of your in-class assignments to revise and submit for a bi-weekly grade. As the unit concludes, you will write a longer, more formal paper in response to a prompt. You will then have the opportunity to revise your paper before submitting it to me. Papers should be 3-4 pages in length, and should be typed, double-spaced, and thoroughly edited.
UNIT TWO: Emotion and Reason in Poetry Reading a poem, pp. 411-416 Andrew Marvell To His Coy Mistress, p. 418 Robert Herrick To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, p. 727 Discussion Topics: Speaker, Form, Carpe Diem, Figurative Language Word Choice and Word Order, pp. 457-460 William Carlos Williams This is just to say, p. 444 William Wordsworth My heart leaps up when I behold, p. 467 Percy Bysshe Shelly Ozymandias, p. 663 John Donne Death be not proud, p. 708 Discussion Topics: Diction, Tone, Syntax, Metaphysical Poets, Romantic Era Imagery, pp. 480-490 Jean Toomer Reapers, p. 484 H.D. [Hilda Doolittle] Heat, p. 490 John Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn, (online) Wilfred Owen Arms and the Boy Dulce and Decorum Est p. 438 Discussion Topics: Types of Imagery, Metaphor, Allusion, Apostrophe Singing and Saying, pp. 513-518 Rime, pp. 538-540 Reading and Hearing Poems Aloud, pp. 545-553 Anonymous Bonny Barbara Allen, p. 520 William Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer s day, p. 493 That time of year thou mayst in me behold, p. 765 Robert Frost Desert Places, p. 542 Walt Whitman Beat! Beat! Drums! p.565 T. S. Eliot Virginia, p. 548 Gwendolyn Brooks
We Real Cool, p. 554 Discussion Topics: Sound Devices, Meter, Sonnets, Ballads, Music and Poetry, Theme Writing Assignments for Unit Two: Comparative Poetry Analysis In this unit we deal with aesthetic judgments rather than with complex characterization, so many of the writings you will complete in your journals or in timed drills will advance opinions or judgments about a poem s artistry or effectiveness in relation to its purpose. Again, I use many of the AP prompts from past exams for timed drills. We will study a variety of poems from the Elizabethan Era to the Romantic Era and the Harlem Renaissance. You will not write about each poem but will write about one or two poems within each assigned group of readings. UNIT THREE: Story-telling and the Awareness of Self Reading a Story, pp. 3-11 Point of View, pp. 18-24 John Updike A & P, pp. 12-16 William Faulkner A Rose for Emily, pp. 24-31 Discussion Topics: Plot, Point of View, Detail Readings Setting, pp. 51-54 Character, pp. 73-76 James Joyce Araby, pp. 54-58 Kate Chopin The Storm pp. 59-63 Katherine Anne Porter The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, pp. 83-90 Discussion Topics: Setting, Character, Women writers, Irony, Sexuality, Voice Tone and Style, pp. 118-121 Irony, pp. 147-148 Ernest Hemmingway A Clean, Well-lighted Place, pp. 122-125 Shirley Jackson The Lottery, pp. 148-169 Evaluating a Story, pp. 223-225 Alice Walker Everyday Use, pp. 138-145 Discussion Topics: Tone, Irony, Theme, Syntax, Style, Cultural Context Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God
Tim O Brien The Things They Carried Discussion Topics: Structure, Style, Theme, Historical context Writing Assignments for Unit Three: Short Stories and Novels This unit not only includes a comparison of different literary voices such as Hemingway and Faulkner but also requires a student to respond to some of the more controversial subject matter of the course such as race, feminism, and war. The unit paper on the novel will be longer than the previous unit papers and will include properly cited perspectives from literary critics analyzing elements of the novel and evaluating a novel in historical and cultural context. Because the readings in the unit naturally lead students to address some of the more probing social questions associated with industrialization, race in the South, feminism, and anti-war perspectives in the U.S., these papers will be more complicated. Once students have completed their papers, some may opt to present their paper orally to their classmates. NOTE: The class concludes with all of the students taking a sample AP exam for the class final. Because this is a college-level class, students are expected to keep abreast of assignments and to notify the teacher IN ADVANCE if they need to miss due to sports, college visits, or other reasons. Each student s family should have already signed the agreement to allocate sufficient time to complete assignments and to obtain copies of Macbeth, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Things They Carried. I, in turn, agree to provide rigorous instruction and challenging course content as described in the College Board s AP Course Description. I will do my best to prepare students for the AP Exam administered in May. In the past, students who have scored an A in my class have generally gone on to score a 3 or better on the exam, and some have scored a 4 or 5. Let s keep up the tradition! Diane Stubbins stubbinsdc@fuquaschool.com 494-392-4131 ext.294