AP English IV, English Literature and Composition, Course Outline and Syllabus Benjamin Holloway,

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1 AP Literature and Composition 1 AP English IV, English Literature and Composition, Course Outline and Syllabus Benjamin Holloway, Bhollow2@houstonisd.org Course Objectives: The course overview and objectives for the course are taken from the AP English Course Description published by the College Board. In the AP English Literature and Composition course, students will have the opportunity to read both wide and deep, including poetry, fiction, and non-fiction prose from pre-sixteenth-century epics to contemporary literature. The readings will focus primarily on British literature, though the reading list will not strictly be limited to British authors. The Literature and Composition course will provide students with many opportunities to experience interpret and evaluate literature. Class discussion, small-group discussion, individual writing both in timed and untimed settings and synthetic projects allow students these opportunities. In addition, students will create their own writing based on readings, research and personal experience. This writing will emphasize the expository, analytical, and argumentative forms that are most commonly used in academic and professional writing. Students will produce a variety of writings that focus on a central idea and develop with appropriate evidence. Unlike the English III Language and Composition course, Literature and Composition will have a heavy emphasis on literary interpretation and analysis. Writing components of the class will give students practice and guidance with writing evidence-based interpretation. As students experience literature, they will also have chances to write personal reactions and reflective pieces about the works. In their writing, students will demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English. Also, students will move effectively through the stages of the writing process in order to revise their writing. Students will use both teacher and peers in order to aid in revision. For example, each nine-week cycle will include at least one formal essay that moves through the complete writing process and will involve in-class peer review and writing conferences with the instructor. Each nine-week cycle will also include an in-class timed essay that asks students to move quickly though the prewriting, drafting, and revising stages. Students will learn research skills. Specifically, students will understand how to locate, use and cite primary and secondary sources. Unlike previous English courses, Literature and Composition will introduce the concept of an annotated bibliography and ask students to write precise summaries of literary criticism. Students will use the Modern Language Association (MLA) editorial style to cite sources. Texts: Students will use the following texts for the majority of their readings and assignments: Austen, Pride and Prejudice

2 AP Literature and Composition 2 Faulkner, As I Lay Dying Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Goia eds., Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama McEwan, Atonement Shakespeare, Hamlet Ward, Salvage the Bones These works can be obtained from the school, though whenever possible it is best if students have their own copies for annotation. Grading: Students are evaluated on their analysis of texts, original essays written both in class and out of class, tests and quizzes that cover basic reading concepts, literary interpretation, grammar conventions, and vocabulary. Students are also evaluated on a number of projects and assignments that require in-depth study and evaluation of topics. Each final grade for a nine-week grading cycle will be consist of the following elements: 50% major writing, projects, and tests 20% quizzes 15% class work and homework 15% writing process (introduction exercises, outlines, first drafts, peer editing exercises, reflective writing) Late major grades will have 10 points deducted for each day late, excluding excused absences. Quizzes missed due to excused absences only may be made up outside of class. Class work or homework late more than one day, excluding excused absences, will not receive maximum credit. Due to the large number of students and the number of class essays, extensive commentary and correction will not be given on every essay. Students looking for more feedback are welcome and encouraged to set up a writing conference with the teacher to discuss any piece of writing. Similarly, there are opportunities for peer review beyond what may be assigned for class just ask. Any formal essay with a grade lower than 90 but higher than 70 may be re-written, preferably after an out-of-class revision conference with the instructor. This is in addition to in-class conferences and group workshops that may take place. These revised essays will receive a maximum grade of 90. Overview: The course is organized into separate units. For each unit, students utilize a variety of styles to create essays. Essays cover an array of subjects. Writings include both informal topics that allow students to develop as writers and formal process pieces that go through several stages of drafts and revision by both the teacher and peers. Each nine weeks, students will read a variety of readings, including fiction and poetry, that allows students to interpret and evaluate literature. Students will also read a variety

3 AP Literature and Composition 3 of nonfiction pieces to study how literary critics write about their own interpretation and evaluation. Outline 1. First unit Introduction to Literature (approx. four weeks) Social and historical context for the study of English as a separate field of inquiry Interpretation and interpretative communities Review of basic annotation and composition guidelines Preparing for college application, especially the essay portion Review of summer reading assignments Eagleton, The Rise of English Fish, How to Recognize a Poem When You See One Nussbaum, The Literary Imagination Graf, Disliking Books at an Early Age Choice of creative project over Pride and Prejudice that incorporates textual evidence (written) with visual representation and analysis Summer personal writing: pleasure Personal writing: essay from the Common Application 2. Second unit Early British Literature (approx. six weeks) British tradition and style Connecting expression to theme Connecting genre to style Poetic, dramatic, and narrative analysis Chaucer, The Wife of Bath s Tale Milton, from Paradise Lost Shakespeare, Hamlet Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Formal essay over themes in Hamlet 3. Third unit Modern British Literature (approx. seven weeks) Focus on short works and research Expressive language and style Development of the novel Women writers and feminist reading

4 AP Literature and Composition 4 Colonial legacy in literature Eliot, Tradition and the Individual Talent Fielding, Tom Jones (film) Gilbert and Gubar, The Female Swerve McEwan, Atonement Shaw, Pygmalion (My Fair Lady film) Choice of: 1. Bronte, Jane Eyre 2. Austen, Sense and Sensibility 3. Bronte, Wuthering Height Formal essay over outside film dealing with the Pygmalion myth Formal essay over choice of novel by a woman writer In-class test over Atonement 4. Fourth unit Literary Criticism and Theory (approx. eight weeks) Literary Canon Relationship between author, text, and reader Modern poetry Modern novel Barthes, Death of the Author Faulkner, As I Lay Dying Forster, A Room with a View (film) Guillory, The Canon as Cultural Capital Robinson, Treason Our Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary Canon Selection of poems for written response and discussion Choice of creative project over As I Lay Dying that incorporates textual evidence (written) with visual representation and analysis Reflective essay relating the theoretical readings to fiction or poetry In-class essays over previously-read texts chosen by the student (Four Special Texts) 5. Fifth unit Research and Preparation for the Advanced Placement exam (approx. seven weeks) Researching literary criticism over a chosen text Modern novels and influence Preparation for the AP exam Revision of prose Ward, Salvage the Bones

5 AP Literature and Composition 5 Contemporary novel of the student s choice Major research essay on critical history of a major work from a major author (Four Special Texts), with a revision if necessary In-class essays over previously-read texts chosen by the student (Four Special Texts)