Foothill Technology High School AP Literature and Composition Syllabus

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1 Foothill Technology High School AP Literature and Composition Syllabus Course Description Welcome to English Literature and Composition. You are about to embark on an entirely new journey into English literature. This course is infinitely DIFFERENT than the AP Language and Composition class that you completed last year. This is not an extension of that course. Be prepared to think about texts in an entirely new way. The AP Literature and Composition course follows the curricular requirements found in the AP English Course description which is available on the AP College Board web site at apcentral.collegeboard.com/englit. Please familiarize yourself with this document. This course includes an intensive study of works of both British and American writers as well as works written in several genres from the sixteenth century to contemporary times. Even though this course, according to the Ventura Unified School District, is entirely British Literature, we will be studying a number of American authors and poets from different genres and eras. This course is divided into thematic units. During each unit you will study key texts, learn and practice vital writing and reading skills, develop a more sophisticated vocabulary, study and implement diverse writing styles and learn to analyze and evaluate without judging. Throughout this course you will be expected to read actively, deliberately and thoroughly. You will be expected to respond to literature in a number of ways and you will be asked to analyze your own work, the work of your peers and the work of the chosen authors. You will be expected to write in different ways this year, this includes; writing to understand, writing to explain, writing to evaluate and writing to analyze. You will write in class essays on a weekly basis and you will have a number of homework assignments that are connected to the pieces that we are studying. Some of the homework assignments will be analytical, others research based or a combination of both. There will also be pieces that you will be expected to read as part of a small study group that will enhance your understanding of the work done in class. For this class to function smoothly and maturely, I have some expectations: ~ I expect that you be prepared when you enter class every day. ~ I expect you to be serious about the work at hand and ready for in depth exploration into literature. ~ I expect you to be responsible for your own literary vocabulary. ~ I expect you to be able to analyze, evaluate and interpret several genres of literature by the end of this course. ~ I expect you to take the AP test in May. 1

2 Grading Your grade will be based on five categories of assignments: In-class essays (which will be graded according to the AP scale) ~ You will write a timed essay every Monday (or Monday schedule day). I will grade every third essay. The other two will be guided peer or self reflection. We will have in class discussions about the essays and the recommended responses. You may use your Renaissance/Finish Strong card to rewrite ONE in-class essay per quarter. You must let me know AS SOON AS YOUR essay is returned that you would like to rewrite. You have ONE WEEK from date of essay return to resubmit your revised essay. Homework essays (which will be graded according to the AP scale) ~ All homework prompts are provided in the syllabus. All homework will be graded by the teacher. You may use your Renaissance/Finish Strong card to rewrite ONE homework essay per semester. You must let me know AS SOON AS YOUR essay is returned that you would like to rewrite. You have ONE WEEK from date of essay return to resubmit your revised essay. ALL homework essays must be in MLA format. Yes you have to use in text citations and a works cited page! Multiple choice tests (10 15 points per week) ~ You will complete a short multiple choice test as your warm up every block day. We will discuss answers immediately following the test. Participation and annotation ~ Participation in class discussions and annotation of texts and poems are key for success in this class. Participation happens in various ways: during informal discussions, during Socratic seminars, on blogs and during other class activities. I expect thoughtful and continuous participation. Annotation happens in your texts, on your poems and in your reading journal. Points may be given periodically for this. Active reading involves writing and note taking while you read. Hero Project ~ All seniors must complete the Senior Hero Project to graduate from FTHS. AP students are not exempt from any part of the project. College Application Essays ~ There is no homework scheduled for the month of November. Your time should be spent focusing on your college application essays. I will be available for the entire month to help you with these. Unit One Heroism and Identity "Beowulf" - Translated by Seamus Heaney Grendel - John Gardner Wodwo - Ted Hughes UNIT SCHEDULE 2

3 Main areas of study: The archetypal hero; the hero s journey, the epic poem, stream of consciousness; setting; characterization; foils; point of view. Themes: Meaning vs meaninglessness; identity; good vs evil; the power of art/song/language the need for community; fate vs free will; duty (code of honour); heroism (youthful vs mature) glory; reputation and salvation. Homework Read The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. After your reading and analysis, answer the prompt below: Choose one of the important characters from the novel that you studied who might, on the basis of their actions alone, be considered immoral or evil. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Unit Two An Introduction to Poetry and Poetic Forms Sonnet Sonnet 87 - Shakespeare Sonnet Shakespeare Tell Me Some Way Lizette Woodworth Reese From Clearances 5 Seamus Heaney Ode Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats Ode to Meaning Robert Pinsky Dramatic Monologue My Last Duchess Robert Browning Pastoral To My Sister William Wordsworth The Thought-Fox Ted Hughes Mock Orange Louise Gluck Main areas of study: Structure, Poetic devices, Imagery, Tone, Theme (SPITT) Homework 1. Read and analyze The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge or The Wasteland By T.S.Eliot. 2. You will be writing TWO papers. A 3 page research paper and a 3 page analysis. A) Research the poetic format, the author s life and romanticism/modernism. Write a three page research paper in which you present the author s life, achievements, biographical information and the genre. Make sure that you explore the Romantic or Modernist era so that you understand what romantic/modernist poetry is. MLA FORMAT IS REQUIRED. 3

4 B) Using the skills that you have been taught during this unit - write a three page, detailed analysis of the poem. Make sure that you look at how structure, poetic devices, imagery and tone all relate to the central message of the poem. Be sure to SPITT. Unit Three Symbolism & Historical Fiction The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay "Historical fiction... is the artistic form that springs from this impulse to give a shape to the past. But it s not JUST to give a shape to the past. It is to bring part of the past ALIVE into the present... It makes us feel, as a protagonist, what otherwise would be dead and lost to us. It transports us into the past. And the very best historical fiction presents to us a TRUTH of the past that is NOT the truth of the history books, but a bigger truth, a more important truth a truth of the HEART.- -Richard Lee Main areas of study: The bildungsroman, symbolism, friendship, the hero s journey, prejudice. Themes: Good vs evil, boxing vs fighting, magic and logic, friendships. EXTRA CREDIT: Read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Write a 3 5 page paper in which you explore this novel. Unit Four The Irony and Ambiguity of Power King Lear by William Shakespeare Dante s Inferno by Dante Alighieri Essay Rewrite- One of the in-class essays will become a formal analysis. You will be given time for peer review and the opportunity to rewrite this essay. The drafting process as well as the final product will be allocated points. Once the essay has been graded by the teacher, students will have the opportunity for a third rewrite, revisions should be based on teacher commentary. Main areas of study: Deception; parallel relationships/plot; characterization; foils; tragedy; the tragic hero; the fatal flaw; the 5 steps of action in tragedy; imagery. Themes: Sight vs insight, self discovery; madness; power relationships; revenge, the natural order. Homework Read Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe or Macbeth or Othello by William Shakespeare. Prepare a well thought out essay that is an answer to the prompt below: Often in literature, situations reach a point of no return, a point after which the life of a character can never be the same. Write an essay explaining the situation and its effect on the character, the other characters and the theme. Unit Five 4

5 Poetry Into the Future The Villanelle: classic and modern interpretations Do Not Go Gentle Dylan Thomas One Art Elizabeth Bishop The Sestina: Sestina Elizabeth Bishop Free / Blank Verse: Convergence of the Twain Thomas Hardy Kubla Khan Samuel Taylor Coleridge Naming of Parts Henry Reed Death of a Toad Richard Wilbur Advice to a Prophet Richard Wilbur Blackberry Picking - Seamus Heaney Death of a Naturalist - Seamus Heaney When I Buy Pictures Marianne Moore Main areas of study: Structure, Poetic devices, Imagery, Tone, Theme (SPITT) Homework PICK ONE ESSAY TOPIC Poetry Comparison Essays Write a 2-3 page response to ONE of the prompts listed below. Comparing Poetry 1 Morning Song - Sylvia Plath and Infant Sorrow - William Blake Prompt: In a well-organized essay, analyze how the speakers use imagery to reveals their attitudes towards infancy. Comparing Poetry 2 The Tables Turned - William Wordsworth and To David, About His Education -Howard Nemerov Prompt: In these two poems, the poets reveal their attitudes towards education. In a wellorganized essay discuss their similarities and differences. You may also wish to consider style, tone, poetic devices, structure and imagery. Unit Six Satire and Comedic Devices as Tools for Change Gulliver s Travels Jonathon Swift The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde Main areas of study: Mock travel narrative; satire, humanity and its foibles; gender differences (misogynism); comedy of manners; Victorian morality and its constraints; comedic devices. Themes: Physical power (might) v moral righteousness (right); indivdual vs society; style vs Substance; hypocrisy vs invention; 5

6 Homework Read Emma by Jane Austen. Prompt will be one of the prompts on the Signet classics website. The best essay from each class will be submitted for the scholarship. Unit Seven Absurdism and Modernism The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett Main areas of study: Narrative structure; point of view; time; characterization; stream of consciousness. Themes: Deterioration and rebirth; hope vs hopelessness; honour and disgrace; order and chaos; reality; obsession with the past. AP Test Dates Monday May 5 AP Psychology Tuesday May 6 AP Spanish Wednesday May 7 AP Calculus Thursday May 9 AP Literature & Composition Friday May 9 AP US History & Art Monday May 12 AP Biology & AP Physics Tuesday May 13 AP Government Wednesday May 14 AP Language & Composition 6