College Board s AP English Course Description May 2009/2010, is a college-level

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1 AP English Literature and Composition Course Outline Course Description: AP English Literature and Composition, according to the College Board s AP English Course Description May 2009/2010, is a college-level course designed to engage 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 (51). Goals: As set forth in the College Board s AP English Course Description May 2007/2008, the primary goals of this course are summarized as follows: 1.) to cultivate in students the skills of careful observation of textual details while reading and writing to experience and understand literature subjectively 2.) to teach students analytical and interpretive skills in reading and writing to explain literature and its myriad meanings 3.) to foster the capacity in students while reading and writing to evaluate literature for quality and artistic achievement and its inherent social and cultural values (45-46). Philosophy: My sincerest hope is that AP Literature will prepare you to be a lifelong learner. The course is intended to enhance your communication skills so that you will be prepared well for college or whatever path you choose. The course is designed to engage higher-order and critical thinking skills through a wide range of activities. I expect you to prepare rigorously for this course by 1

2 reading ceaselessly, reading closely, working diligently to improve your writing, completing assignments thoughtfully, and participating maturely and wholeheartedly in class discussion. Reading: The students in AP English Literature and Composition will explore through close reading fiction, poetry, drama, and literary criticism that encompass a variety of literary traditions. The foundational readings in this course include the intensive examination of representative works from the 16 th century through contemporary times British, American, and works in translation from European and world authors. In this course we will discuss the way writers throughout history have expressed what it means to be human. The College Board s AP English Course Description May 2009/2010 describes three elements for the close reading of literature: experience, interpretation, and evaluation (51). Experience entails the emotional impressions and responses we have to literature; evaluation recognizes the need to analyze literary works closely to arrive at their meaning; and evaluation encompasses the assessment of the quality and artistry of literary works, but also their social and cultural contexts. Students will be expected to read closely, and to cite specific textual support from primary works and often the ideas of other literary scholars as they discuss and write in response to what they have read. Writing: One of the requirements of AP English Literature and Composition is the constant pursuit of sharpened, focused written expression. This goal requires the relentless process of writing, reflecting, re-writing, reflecting, editing, and rewriting again. For the purpose of enhancing the individual growth of each student, the writing workshop will be an ongoing practice. You will be given full credit on writing workshop days in the homework category for a rough draft 2

3 available at the beginning of the class period and that meets the requirements of the assignment. Focusing on improving organization, diction, sentence variety and integration of specific support, we will collaborate in class, peer edit, conference, you rewrite, and I will then grade the rewritten paper. You will file all your drafts and completed papers in your portfolio so that you can see your progress and continue revisions as necessary. In workshop, we will work in a variety of writing genres, including informal personal response, literary analysis, comparison contrast, narrative, poetry, and exposition. At the end of each semester, students will reevaluate their writings and reflect on their on-going composition process and the development of maturity in voice and style. Writer s workshops and the resulting editing will follow the objectives for developing students abilities to explain clearly and soundly their understanding and interpretation of literary works as presented in the College Board s AP English Course Description May 2009/2010: o a wide-ranging vocabulary used with denotative accuracy and connotative resourcefulness; o a variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordinate and coordinate constructions; o a logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques of coherence such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis; o a balance of generalization with specific illustrative detail; and o an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, maintaining a consistent voice, and achieving emphasis through parallelism and antithesis. 3

4 Students will also have opportunities for creative and informal, reflective writing. In short, writing will reinforce their reading. Activities: The language experiences of the class will include reading, writing, listening, speaking, and reasoning. Class activities and assignments will include the following examples: reading assignments with mandated due dates; continued vocabulary development emphasizing both denotative and connotative implications and both general vocabulary and vocabulary particular to literary analysis; poetry journals (4 out-of class poem analyses per semester); one to two out-of-class formal literary analysis papers a semester; five to seven timed AP inclass writings a semester, approximately two per unit; out-of-class and in-class reflective journals; writing workshops requiring peer feedback and re-writing of formal, extended analyses; individual writing conferences with the instructor regarding both out-of-class formal, extended writings as well as in-class writings; both oral research presentations and a formal written research paper; Socratic seminars; Shared Inquiry discussions, and quizzes/tests. Students will prepare for success on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition through a variety of experiences including previously released AP multiple choice exams and timed writings. Textbooks and Auxiliary Materials: Textbooks Perrine s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. -- $55.00 Hodge s Harbrace Handbook -- $ Major Works will be chosen from the following as time permits A Doll s House (Henrik Ibsen) 4

5 A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams)* All the King's Men (Robert Penn Warren)** As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)* Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller) Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison) Madame Bovary (Gustav Flaubert)* King Lear (William Shakespeare) Othello (William Shakespeare) Tartuffe (Moliere) The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka) The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)* The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)* The Stranger (Albert Camus) Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Edward Albee) *summer reading option **required summer reading Some Thoughts about Reading Selections: Some of the selections above are in the textbooks we will use. While no student is required to purchase any additional books for this course, I hope that you will choose to do so. As you hopefully discovered with the summer reading, when you write in a book, you become a more active, conscientious reader. To purchase inexpensive titles online, visit abebooks.com and doverbooks.com. These are wonderful resources! However, as with any assigned reading in this class, I will supply a book from our supply in the English department bookroom to all who choose not to purchase 5

6 one. Please do not hesitate to see me if you wish to borrow a work listed in the required text list. AP Exam Policy: Students enrolled in Advanced Placement Literature and Composition are expected to take the AP exam for this course in May. Blogging: You will be required to keep an online journal in which you respond to what we are reading and discussing. You must write 500 words per week. Decide on your own topics related to what we are studying (based on thematic units and ideas of personal or class concern). Include and comment on quotations from the current text as they apply. Blogs will be checked each Monday for the previous week. Allusions and Background Presentations: Two days a week, students will present a prepared explanation of an allusion to the class. On other days, students will present background information relating to the current literary work under study. You will be responsible for at least one of each over the course of a semester. These provide potential for blogging responses when you are able to apply them and explain how they function within that or another literary work. Poetry and Poetry Journals: We will use a number of approaches to poetry such as studying them through performance, composing multiple choice questions in groups, writing original poetry emulating sample poetic styles, constructing (and responding to) original poetry analysis prompts, or discussing the techniques poets use to convey ideas and tone. Each semester, you will be responsible for writing a detailed analysis of at least five poems. For each of these, I will provide you with a suggested list of poems from which to choose. You will assess and analyze each poem, discussing how the 6

7 poet uses structure, figurative language, poetic devices, syntax, word choice, imagery or other aspects of the poem to effectively convey tone and meaning. Thematic Units of Study Unit Three Family Matters This unit will focus on the complex relationships evident within a family and the ramifications of resultant conflicts. Highlights of this unit include: Eveline (James Joyce), He (Katherine Anne Porter), and Heat (Joyce Carol Oates) structure and point of view King Lear Shakespeare s depiction of a family broken by greed Death of a Salesman recap from first semester, connections with Lear Revisiting an AP title: Students continue to gather information, narrow their thesis statements, organize and begin to write their papers Examination of first semester exam timed writing prompts, focusing on organization of ideas and presentation of support (specifics as well as elaboration) Three timed writings: poetry analysis, passage analysis, open question Students will write an original villanelle Socratic seminars Continuation of poetry exploration, poetry responses, and allusions assignments Multiple choice practice Unit Four: The Struggle for Clarity 7

8 The focus of this unit will be man's psychological struggle to find his own meaning and uniqueness within an often-confusing world. Students will study the psychology of Freud, Jung, and Maslow and apply these concepts to the analysis of the literature. Highlights of this unit include: Psychological concepts and an overview of existentialism student presentations The Stranger a close reading an examination of absurdity The Metamorphosis a discussion of Freudian psychology and alienation Colonialism in Africa student presentations A close reading of Heart of Darkness how psychology helps a reader understand characters; students keep a reading journal to record observations of Conrad s imagery Discussing Heart of Darkness in its socio-political context Things Fall Apart Revisiting an AP title complete writing draft, conference, peer edit, make revisions and produce final paper Three to four timed writings: assorted types Poetry as performance Continuation of poetry exploration, poetry responses, and allusions assignments Multiple choice practice Unit Five Humor and Pathos This unit will explore man's foibles, eccentricities, strengths and weaknesses through satirical literature that illustrates the comic and tragic aspects 8

9 of life. Students will study the techniques and types of satire as they analyze the literature. Highlights of this unit include: Background on satire as social commentary Tartuffe French satire The Importance of Being Earnest aspects of a comedy of manners Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? dark humor (the effects of alcoholism on modern marriage) The Sandbox the nature of absurdist drama Recap of A Modest Proposal (Jonathan Swift) Writing: an original satire commenting on a current social issue Two to three timed writings: poetry analysis, passage analysis Socratic seminars Continuation of poetry exploration, poetry responses, and allusions assignments Multiple choice practice Unit Six Synthesis Final emphasis on test preparation for the AP exam during this unit will be toward the Open Question, in particular. While students have had some experience with this question previously during their studies this year, students will participate in a number of discussions and practices that will further enhance their confidence. After final preparation is made for the AP English Literature and Composition exam, students will write and present their own Last Lecture based on the lecture by Randy Pausch. Highlights of this last unit include: Test Preparation Blitz o Prewriting practice with open ended questions 9

10 o Literary Terms review o Self-reflection and analysis of timed writings o Small group discussions: focus on personal selection of works o Timed writing practice The AP Lit and Comp Exam May 5 Last Lecture presentations 10