AP English Literature and Composition Instructor: Hilary Thompson Syllabus of Major Assignments 2010-2011 Course Description Welcome to your AP English Literature and Composition course. This is a yearlong course designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the AP English Course Description and is divided into four quarters of 9 weeks each. Each period has a focus of study, and students will seek answers to complex questions presented by the unit. The course will include an intensive study of works from several genres, ranging from the sixteenth century to contemporary times, and also provide a mix of American, British, and world literature. Together, these works will provide a forum for much thoughtful discussion and writing. Your approach to reading each of these works will dictate your performance in this challenging course. Read actively, as you may find yourself challenged by some of the world s greatest literature. If read carefully and deliberately, these works of literature will yield multiple meanings and themes. Not surprisingly, the other half of this course involves writing and more writing. Writing assignments will focus on the critical analysis of literature and include expository, analytical, argumentative, and creative essays. Your study will involve determining and analyzing a work s structure, style, and themes; the social and historical values reflected in the work; and literary devices such as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. You will also revise your writing pieces so that you can become cognizant of your own choices in diction, syntax, organization, and increase you ability to balance generalizations with specific and illustrative details and commentary. Course Goals Through reading, students will deepen their understanding of how writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure for readers. Moreover, students will consider a work s various elements in order to ascertain value and artistry. Students will develop writing skills characterized by the following: developed and organized ideas using clear, persuasive, and correct language, expansive vocabulary used with accuracy, varied sentence structure, effective use of rhetoric, tone, voice, and emphasis, and sophisticated and mature insight. Writing Expectations As this is a literature and a composition course, you will be expected to use every assignment that involves writing to practice your best composition skills. You will be expected to write in three categories: writing to understand (in the form of informal, exploratory writing); writing to explain (in the form of expository, analytical essays); and writing to evaluate (in the form of analytical, argumentative essays).
Composition assignments may include: annotation, reading and double-entry journals, response papers, close readings, timed writes (essay tests), and formal essays (personal, expository, critical, and argumentative). These assignments will be based on close textual analysis of structure, style, and social/historical values. We will also work extensively on specific writing abilities, including how to effectively use rhetoric. You will learn how to recognize and control tone in your own work, how to establish and maintain voice in your writing, and how to achieve your desired and appropriate emphasis on subject matter thorough use of diction and sentence structure. For all timed writes and formal essays, you will be expected to practice the writing process of prewriting, writing, and revision. Feedback will be given from the instructor, peers, and from your own observations. Feedback will be designed to help you develop a wide-ranging vocabulary that you can use both appropriately and effectively throughout your writing, as well as your discussions of literature. No matter the kind of writing assigned, your best composition skills should be practiced. We will work with various composition constructions, Standard Written English, sentence variety, and word choice. You will learn through lessons and feedback how to develop a balance in your essays between generalization and specific details that illustrate your points adequately and effectively. All assignments for formal papers will include a specific grading rubric. We will go over the rubrics prior to submitting papers and review expectations for the particular composition or paper. Please consult each rubric carefully before submitting your work. Chapters from Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature (9 th edition. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1999) will supplement composition instruction. You will be expected to rewrite larger papers and literary analysis after you receive feedback. Timed writes (essay tests) will present a scoring guide as feedback. These will be scoring guides as used by the AP English Literature and Composition Exam for that specific question. Grammar and usage: as a junior in an AP English Literature and Composition course, you should have a good command of Standard Written English. There will be mini-lessons throughout the course dealing with complex grammar and usage issues, sentence constructions, and diction. Occasionally you may need some additional help with this. There are many good online guides to grammar. The link below is one such guide. Please consult this guide or a writing handbook for grammar problems. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
Required Texts and Materials 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 used in the course. You may purchase copies from a local new or used bookstore, or from an online book source. Texts read in class will be available to all students through the English Department, but these copies must not be annotated or marked in any way; thus, a personal copy is advisable. Reading and Writing Schedule First Semester: 1 st Nine Weeks Week 1:How to ask questions: active reading and the road to understanding. You will be given various handouts and readings on the art of reading actively to increase your understanding of content, structure, style, and theme. Weeks 2-4:Skills Workshop You will begin to practice these techniques with written assignments and class discussions on assorted short stories, including those by William Faulkner and Flannery O Connor. This part of the unit will culminate in a formal compare/contrast essay analyzing how theme is created in two of the short stories. In addition, you will be given handouts concerning how to read and respond to poetry. Poetry Responses will be explained and assigned. We will also begin to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam Weeks 5-7:American Voices: Novel You will read The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. You will perform such social and historical values present in the work, as well as the feminist viewpoints. You will workshop to revise the formal essay, using instructor and peer feedback. In addition, we will continue to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam Weeks 8-9:American Voices: Play You will read Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. You will perform such writing tasks as double-entry journals, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through literary devices, such as
First Semester: 2 nd Nine Weeks Weeks 1-2: A Closer Look at Poetry You will read various poems from British, American, and world literature, which span the time periods from the sixteenth century to the contemporary. We will study structure, style, and the terms and devices used for analyzing poetry, as well as several methods and techniques for analysis. You will perform such writing tasks as responses, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through poetic devices, such as figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Poetry project and presentations will be assigned. This project will include group work, instructor feedback, formal analysis, and dramatic interpretation. In addition, we will continue to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam Weeks 3-5: The Poetic Language of Shakespeare You will read Othello by William Shakespeare. You will perform such social and historical values present in this work. You will workshop to revise the formal essay, using instructor and peer feedback. In addition, we will continue to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam with released exams. Weeks 6-9: A Different Culture at Home: Native American Literature You will read Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. You will perform such social and historical values present in this work. You will workshop to revise the formal essay, using instructor and peer feedback. In addition, we will continue to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam with released exams. Poetry presentations will be completed. Second Semester: 3 rd Nine Weeks Weeks 1-5 You will choose a novel from the list of those used on past AP exams. You will perform such writing tasks as double-entry journals, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through literary devices, such as
Poetry project and presentations will be assigned. Weeks 5-9 You will choose a second novel from the list of those used on past AP exams. You will perform such writing tasks as double-entry journals, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through literary devices, such as figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. We will explore structure, style, and the social and historical values present in this work. You will workshop to revise the formal essay, using instructor and peer feedback. In addition, we will continue to practice for the multiple-choice and essay sections of the AP exam Poetry presentations will be completed. Second Semester: 4 th Nine Weeks Weeks 1-5 You will read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. You will perform such writing tasks as double-entry journals, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through literary devices, such as Weeks 5-9 You will read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. You will perform such writing tasks as double-entry journals, close readings, and a formal analytical essay on how theme is created through literary devices, such as