AP English Literature and Composition
Course Description
The goals of this course are
to
Required Text:
DiYanni, Robert. Literature:
Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 5th
Edition. McGraw Hill ISBN # 0-07-242617-9
Recommended Materials:
Any AP Literature and Composition
Preparation Guide
In the AP Literature and Composition course, the student should consider obtaining a personal copy of the various novels, plays, epics, poems, and short fiction use in the course.
Short Stories:
“Astronomer’s Wife,” Kate Boyle; “Shiloh,” Bobby Ann Mason; “Araby,” James Joyce; “The Rocking Horse Winner,” D.H. Lawrence; “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor; “Eleven,” Sandra Cisneros; “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez; “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman; “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne; “Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka’ “I Stand Here Ironing,” Tillie Olson; “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” Katherine Anne Porter; “Gimpel the Fool,” Isaac Bashevis Singer; “The Lesson,” Toni Cade Bambara; “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien.
Poetry:
“The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost; “Rape,” Adrienne Rich; “An Irishman Foresees his Death,” William Butler Yeats; “1(a” and [Buffalo Bill’s],” E.E. Cummings; “London,” William Blake; “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” “Dover Beach,” Matthew Arnold; “The Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life,” Anthony Hetcht; “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and “The Garden of Love,” William Blake; “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” Robert Herrick; “When I was one-and-twenty” and “To an Athlete Dying Young,” A.E. Housman; “To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvell; “When I consider how my light is spent,” John Milton; “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley; “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and “The world is too much with us,” Walt Whitman; “We Real Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks; “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S. Eliot; “Do not go gentle into that night,” Dylan Thomas; “Death of a Toad,” Richard Wilbur’
Plays:
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Novels:
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Reading
An AP English Literature and
Composition course engages students in the careful reading and critical
analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected
texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language
to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read,
students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as
such smaller-scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery,
symbolism, and tone.
Reading in this course is both
wide and deep. This reading necessarily builds upon the reading done
in previous English courses. Students will read works from several genres
and periods—from sixteenth to the twenty-first century—but, more
importantly, they get to know a few works well. They read deliberately
and thoroughly, taking time to understand a work’s complexity, to
absorb its richness and meaning, and to analyze how that meaning is
embodied in literary form. In addition to considering a work’s artistry,
students reflect on the social and historical values it reflects and
embodies. Careful attention to both textual detail and historical context
provides a foundation for interpretation, whatever critical perspectives
are brought to bear on the literary works studied.
Active Reading
Reading actively includes
understanding the writer’s purpose, audience, logic, and themes. Highlighting
and annotating help the reader toward understanding what is read.
Highlighting involves marking the text with symbols (underline, number,
etc.) whenever the reader comes across a particularly useful or interesting
section. Annotating involves carrying on a conversation with the text
by using marginal notes. The reader might do this by asking questions
and looking for parallels among the reading, other readings, and the
reader’s personal experiences. Questions which arise during active
reader are then answered through a more careful analysis.
Writing
“Don’t tear up the page and start over again when you write a bad line-try to write your way out of it. Make mistakes and plunge on…Writing is a means of discovery, always.”
–Garrison Keillor
“Inspiration usually comes
during work, rather that before it.”–Madeleine L’ Engle
“I’ve always thought best
when I wrote.” -Toni Morrison
“Writing is a political instrument.”
– James Baldwin
“I write to find out what
I’m thinking. I write to find out who I am. I write to understand
things.” – Julia Alvarez
“To engage in imitation is
to begen to understand what originality means.” –Nicholas Delblanco
“The beautiful part of writing
is that you don’t have to get it right the first time-unlike, say,
brain surgery.” –Robert Cormier
Writing is an integral part
of course and exam. Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis
of literature and include expository, analytical, and argumentative
essays. Although critical analysis makes up the bulk of students
writing for the course, well-constructed creative writing assignments
may help students see from the inside how literature is written. Such
experiences sharpen their understanding of what writers have accomplished
and deepen their appreciation of literary artistry. The goal of both
types of writing assignments is to increase students’ ability to explain
clearly, cogently, even elegantly, what they understand about literary
works and why they interpret them as they do.
To that end, writing instruction
includes attention to developing and organizing ideas in clear, coherent,
and persuasive language. It includes study of the elements of style.
And it attends to matters of precision and correctness as necessary.
Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on helping students develop
stylistic maturity, which, for AP English, is characterized by the following:
The writing required in an AP English Literature and Composition course is thus more than a mere adjunct to the study of literature. The writing that students produce in the course reinforces their reading. Since reading and writing stimulate and support one another, they are taught together in order to underscore both their reading. Since reading and writing stimulate and support one another, they are taught together in order to underscore both their common and their distinctive elements (AP English Course Description 2006).
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The
“9” Essay
The essay is a well-organized
essay that answers the question incisively. The writer develops a valid
thesis through the use of specific and relevant references to the text.
Insight into the literature is clearly expressed using language appropriate
to literary criticism. The writer demonstrates command of the elements
of composition and analytical writing.
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We will work every day on invigorating
your writing style. You will participate in writing workshops that will
focus on improving your voice, style, diction, syntax, and structure.
We will work on improving your ability to balance observations and generalizations
with concrete details and insightful commentary. We will work on eliminating
weak verbs, wordiness, deadwood, clichés, qualifiers, synonyms, preposition
overloading, and nominalization. We will implement the writing process
to help you write logically, emphatically, concisely, coherently, and
beautifully. In order to improve your writing, the process
requires several revisions to each piece of formal writing.
Peer editing and teacher feedback
will be a major part of the process. Peer editing helps students
recognize common mistakes and ways to encourage careful analysis. Teacher
feedback further guides students toward mastery of the aforementioned
writing techniques.
For each formal writing assignment,
you will be given a specific grading rubric. We will go over the rubrics
as a class prior to beginning each assignment and again prior to submitting
a paper for a grade. Remember to consult your rubrics throughout
the entire writing process.
Portfolio
You will produce a final writing
portfolio that includes creative writing, persuasive pieces, pastiches,
parodies, original poetry, reflections, interpretative essays, explications,
expository essays, meta-cognitive journals, evaluations, on-demand writing,
style analyses, literary analyses, formal analyses, and research papers.
Group Projects and Oral Presentations:
Students will from groups to
read and discuss the work assigned. The group will be assigned an element(s)
and/or a character(s) to analyze along with a seminar topic to research.
Each student will share their findings, insights, evidence, and observations
with the group. Each group will share their information with the class
Evaluation and assessment section
Performance Tasks:
Grading Scale
90-100 % | A |
80-89 % | B |
70-79 % | C |
60-69 % | D |
<60 % | F |
In-class writings, discussions, and activities | 40% |
Group projects, seminar topics, and collaborative work | 30% |
Out of class writing, reading, and other assignments | 30% |
Extra Credit and enrichment activities | (not to exceed 3%) |
*Absences and tardiness can
affect your grade.
Extra Credit and Enrichment
Activities
Summer Assignment: Modern Drama
Summer/2 weeks in class
Setting
Theme
Literary Terms
Biblical Allusions
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Miller’s “Tragedy and the
Common Man”
Unit 1: Literary Criticism and Genres: New Criticism, Historical/Social/Feminist, Archetypal/Mythic, and Other Approaches
6 weeks
Reading (and Writing about) Literature (DiYanni, pp. 2-13)
The Experience of Fiction, The Interpretation of Fiction, The Evaluation of Fiction, and The Act of Reading Fiction (Diyanni pp.21-32)
Types of Fiction (DiYanni, pp. 37-42)
Reading Poems: The Experience of Poetry, The Interpretation of Poetry, The Evaluation of Poetry, and The Act of Reading Poetry (DiYanni, pp. 670-681)
Types of Poetry (DiYanni, pp. 682-685)
Critical Theory: Approaches
to the Analysis and Interpretation of Literature (DiYanni, pp.2068-2111)
Reading poetry is a “recursive
process.” In-class reading aloud of poetry, reading actively/annotating,
group discussion and analysis, and writing about a work of literature.
Invigorating Your Style Workshop: Creating Meaningful Thesis Statements, Using implicit and explicit evidence
Peer editing, rewriting, and
revising
Timed in-class writing: Compare/Contrast
two works in the same genre using all 3 critical approaches
Explanation of Critical Approaches to Literature Paper
Develop Rubric in class/share
anchor papers
Unit 2: Personal Essay for College Admission/Scholarship Application
3 weeks in class
Explanation of the Reflective Essay
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: Choosing a topic, developing your voice, using anecdotes,
narration strategies, dialogue and details, and writing emphatically
and concisely.
Peer editing, rewriting, and revising
Develop Rubric in class/share
papers
Unit 3: The Greek Theatre/Aristotle’s view of Tragedy
3 weeks outside of class/2
weeks in class
Oedipus the King and Antigone
The Greek Theatre: Sophocles in Context (Diyanni, pp.1217-1301)
Group project #1: Literary Analysis of Drama
Timed in-class AP Free Response Question
Discuss AP Test Question 3
rubric and study sample essays
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: Writing about drama, using academic verbs, embedding quotes,
and writing about character and theme
Peer editing, rewriting, and
revising
Unit 4: Style Analysis: Poetry and Prose
5 weeks in class
Elements of Fiction: Plot, Character, Setting, Point of View, Language and Style, Irony and Symbol (Diyanni, pp. 43-106)
Writing about Fiction (DiYanni, pp. 107-124)
Elements of Poetry: Voice, Speaker, Tone, Diction, Imagery, Figures of Speech, Symbolism, Allegory, Syntax, Sound, Rhythm, Meter, Structure, and Theme (DiYanni, pp. 686-755)
Writing about Poetry (DiYanni,
pp. 805-821)
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: Concrete detail, commentary, chunking, the ideal paragraph,
transitions, and tips for taking in-class essays.
Peer editing, rewriting, and revising
Group project #2: Literary Analysis: Poetry
Timed in-class writing: Tone and Elements of Style
Explanation of Interpretation Paper
Discuss rubrics for AP Test
Questions 1 and 2. Study sample essays.
Unit 5: The Novel: Toni Morrison’s Beloved
5 weeks outside of class/2
weeks in class
Structural Approaches
Point of View, Narration, and
the Implied Author
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: Identifying key terms, cueing the reader, meaning of the
work as a whole, writing in present tense, academic nouns
Peer editing, rewriting, and
revising
Group Project #3: Literary Analysis: Novel
Timed in-class writing: AP Free Response Questions
Explanation of Social/Historical Perspective Paper
Create rubric/share samples
essays
End of 1st
Semester
Portfolio with reflection and self-evaluation
Final Exam
Unit 6: The Elizabethan Theatre: Shakespeare in Context
5 weeks in class
Hamlet Prince of Denmark (in class) and Othello (outside of class)
Critical Perspectives and Research on Elizabethan Worldview
(Diyanni, pp.1302-1505)
(Diyanni, pp. 2031-2067)
Group Project #5: Research and Seminar (See topics)
Timed in-class writing: Issues in Hamlet/Othello
Explanation of the research
paper
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: MLA format, attribution, documentation, using sources,
quotations, citations, constructing a sound an argument, counterarguing,
and exposing fallacies.
Peer editing, rewriting, and
revising
Unit 7: Theatre of the Absurd/Existentialism
2 weeks in class
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
(DiYanni, pp.1507-08)
Homework and discussion questions
Unit 8: Metaphysical Poetry
2 weeks in class
Conceits
Poetry analysis and reflection
Practice multiple-choice selections
Unit 9: Philosophy and Literature
4 weeks in class
Crime and Punishment (outside of class)
“Metamorphosis” (DiYanni, pp. 393)
Flannery O’ Connor’s Fiction
(DiYanni, pp. 181-229).
Group Project: Create your own philosophy
Timed in-class writing: prose
analysis
Explanation of literary analysis paper: fiction
Create rubric and share sample
essay
Invigorating Your Style
Workshop: Writing a parody, creating a pastiche, and using personification.
Peer editing, rewriting, and
revising
Unit 10: Comedy/Satire: Tartuffe and “A Modest Proposal”
Elements of Satire and Ladder of Comedy