Mrs. Kathleen Baker Room 2316 Preps. A-Day= 3 rd period B-Day=7 th period AP English: Literature, Language and Composition Disclosure Statement Course Overview: Advanced Placement Literature, Language and Composition is a rigorous course designed to engage students in thought-provoking discussion and critical analysis of world literature and global issues in preparation for the Advanced Placement exams administered in May. Students will be required to read and respond to a wide spectrum of poetry, drama, fiction, and rhetorical/expository prose. Discussions and writing assignments will explore significant cultural and social issues and challenging literary works of internationally recognized quality. This is a college level course, and students are expected to work independently and to treat the material in an adult manner. The materials covered are often of a more complex and mature nature than those generally covered in a high school situation and may contain some controversial issues. Advanced Placement students should be able to: 1) engage in intelligent discussion involving active listening and constructive speaking; 2) practice a sense of personal and social responsibility to keep up with the workload and to contribute meaningfully to group efforts; 3) possess a willingness to accept criticism from the teacher and their peers; 4) exhibit a command of written language and/or a determination to improve such skills; and 5) a desire to search for more than superficial learning experiences. Students who accept this undertaking must realize that reading is essential to the class. Success will not depend on how well you read alone, but on how well you write, analyze, and interpret what you read. All students will be expected to devote a more than average amount of time to outside reading and writing assignments. Preparation for class is vital and not negotiable. Late work will not be graded. Understandings: Students will understand that: Literature provides a mirror to help us understand ourselves and others. Writing is a form of communication across the ages. Literature reflects the human condition. Literature deals with universal themes and conflicts, i.e., man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self, and man vs. God. Essential Questions: Arguable, recurring, and thought-provoking questions that will guide inquiry and point toward the big ideas of the course: What truths about the human experience can we learn through the reading of creative fiction, both prose and poetry? How does literature help us understand ourselves and others? How has writing become a communication tool across the ages? How does literature reflect the human condition? How does literature express universal themes? How do the best writers use language more effectively than average writers? How can studying the roles of and relationships between the reader, the writer, and the text lead to better reading, writing, and thinking? Major concepts/content AP English Literature, Language and Composition is designed to be a college/university-level course, thus the AP designation on a transcript rather than H (Honors). This course will provide you with the intellectual challenges and workload consistent with a typical undergraduate university English literature/humanities course. A grade of 4 or 5 on this exam is considered equivalent to a 3.3 4.0 for comparable courses at the college or university level. A student who earns a grade of 3 or above on the exam will be granted college credit at most colleges and universities throughout the United States. Baker 1
AP Tests: As a culmination to the course, you will take the AP English Literature and Composition Exam given in May (if you opt not to take the exam, you will take a similar in-class final exam). There are two Advanced Placement Exams that you prepare all year to take: The AP English Literature and Composition exam assesses students on their ability to read and analyze difficult fiction (poetry, drama, novel) similar to that found in an Introduction to Literature course in college. The AP English Language and Composition exam assesses students on their ability to read and analyze difficult nonfiction similar to that found in a Freshman Composition course in college. Course Goals 1. To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature. 2. To understand the way writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure. 3. To 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. 4. To study representative works from various genres and periods (from the sixteenth to the twentieth century) but know a few works extremely well. 5. To understand a work s complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form. 6. To consider the social and historical values a work reflects and embodies. 7. To write focusing on critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and argumentative essays, as well as creative writing to sharpen understanding of writers' accomplishments and deepen appreciation of literary artistry. 8. To become aware through speaking, listening, reading and chiefly writing of the resources of language: literary devices, connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone. Performance Tasks: Timed essays based on past AP prompts Essay questions as required of college-level writers Reading/responding/analyzing novels, drama, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry Imaginative writing including, but not limited to, poetry and imitative writings Writing Expectations: 1. As this is a literature, a language, and a composition course, you will be expected to use every assignment that involves writing to practice your best composition skills. Composition assignments will include: statements, paragraphs, timed writes (essay tests), and formal essays (personal, expository and argumentative). 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. 2. In reading the literature, you will keep a dialectic journal. Your focus will vary in response to the particular text; some possibilities are as follows: tracing character development, composing discussion questions, tracking thematic development, finding evidence for shifting tone, analyzing the use of figurative devices. 3. 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. You will be expected to rewrite larger papers and literary analysis after you receive feedback. Baker 2
4. 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, or the AP English Language Exam for that specific question. 5. Grammar and usage: As a senior in an AP English Literature, Language, 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. 6. Each semester you will write 15 analyses of literary devices/techniques. You will define the term, find an example from the class texts, and analyze how the device works in context and to support the work s meaning as a whole. Academic honesty is essential to the learning process. All work must be your own. Work copied or paraphrased in whole or in part (without proper MLA citation, in research) from another student, family member, published source, or the internet will receive a zero and will result in suspension from the course. Originality and authenticity may be verified by a number of methods. Cheating/plagiarism will result in a zero and U for both parties. 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. Check to make sure that you are buying the same edition as the English Department s editions. If available, you may check out books from your school s English Department. All titles may also be found in the local library branches. Some of the works can also be accessed online. Preliminary list of novels, drama and anthologized material: The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy Frankenstein, Shelley Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky Heart of Darkness, Conrad The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston The Awakening, Chopin Jane Eyre, Bronte Pride and Prejudice, Austen Othello, King Lear, or Macbeth, Shakespeare Man s Search for Meaning, Frankl Oedipus Tyrannos, Sophocles [please use selected translation] The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne Short fiction and essays as selected Poetry as selected Modern novels as selected Nonfiction sources as selected Materials Needed: (Daily) 3 ring binder (2 INCH) and loose college ruled paper (NO spiral bound paper) Baker 3
15 Dividers (Lit. Vocab, Novel/Short Fiction (prose), Poetry/Drama, AP Book Project, Lit Practice, Multiple Choice, Poetry Question, Prose Question, Free Response Question, AP Language, Multiple Choice, Rhetorical Analysis, Synthesis, Free Response, Lang. Vocabulary) Composition Notebook (for dialectical reading journal) Pen and pencil (pen must be dark blue or black ink) USB Flash drive to save everything you do even assignments completed at home. Or you can save everything to your Microsoft 365/One Drive Account. Textbooks, other reading materials, and assignments Microsoft Word is recommended. Please note the Microsoft Office Suite is available for free. Follow the directions on the school s homepage. The classroom website is Canvas DSD: CANVAS DSD LOGIN: URL: https://dsd.instructure.com/login/canvas Username: Email (@go.dsdmail.net) Password: FIRST INITIAL OF YOUR FIRST NAME AND SCHOOL PIN NUMBER (no spaces) Summer Suggested Reading Assignment You are required to read The Mayor of Casterbridge AND one other title from this list. It is suggested that you keep a dialectical journal on the two selections. Othello William Shakespeare (British, 1622) Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte (British, 1847) The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne (American, 1850) Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian, 1866) The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck (American, 1939) Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe (Nigerian, 1958) The Chosen Chaim Potok (Jewish-American, 1967) The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver (American, 1998) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (Chinese-American, 2005) The Memory Keeper s Daughter Kim Edwards (American, 2006) Assignment Guidelines (SHS English Department Policy): Students must follow the SHS English Department standards for written work: All assignments must be written in blue or black ink. All papers must be typed, double-spaced and submitted to Canvas. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. Students will receive a zero 0 on the assignment and a U (unsatisfactory citizenship grade). This includes copying another student s work, or not grading honestly. Assignments are due at the beginning of class. Absent Work (SHS English Department Policy): When absent, it is the responsibility of the student to: ask for work, check out books, check the website, etc. All missing work from an excused absence must be made up within one week (7 days, including weekends) following the student s return in order to receive a possible full credit. Excused absent work must be turned in with an absent coupon or it will not be graded. After one week, no assignments from excused absences will be accepted. If you are ill and an assignment is due, please find a way to make sure your assignment is brought to class through a friend, parent, classmate, etc. Grading: A student must check his/her grade periodically and discuss with the teacher any discrepancies within one week of the assignment being posted. Baker 4
Students with absent or late work will have one week (7 days including weekends) from the date the assignment was due to turn in work. After one week, assignments will not be accepted. Please attach appropriate form and turn in to the absent & late work drawer. Extra Credit: Students will be given opportunities to improve skills-based assignments after making a contract with their teacher. Extra credit will not be offered as an alternative assignment to make up missed points. Percentage Grading Standard: (percentage of possible points) 90-100=A 87-89=A- 84-86=B+ 85-81=B 80-78=B- 77-75=C+ 74-72=C 71-69=C- 68-66=D+ 65-63=D 62-60=D- Below 60 %=Failing The grades in this course are weighted as follows: Course Work 10% Formative Assessments (quizzes, projects, discussion, homework) 35% Summative Assessments (formal papers, exams) 50% Progress (more practice) 5% Videos/Movie Clips: Several excellent films, movie clips, and other viewing materials have been made based on the reading materials we will study. Citizenship: The Davis School District citizenship policy applies in class (see Policy Handbook). Students will lose citizenship credit for excessive unexcused absences/tardiness (see attendance/tardy policy), disruptive behavior (including using a cell phone or other device), and showing disrespect to others (students, teacher, and guests). A student who earns a U must arrange to make it up IN THE OFFICE. No U s or tardies can be made up during the last two weeks of the term (see tardy policy below). Attendance/Tardiness: Hall pass use will be limited. No hall passes are allowed when a sub is in class. When a student is absent, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to notify the school attendance office within three days upon the student s return to school. A student with 4 unexcused absences will receive a U. Students 15 minutes late to class will be marked absent (see handbook). Students 15+ minutes late must check in at the office. Students not in their assigned seat when the bell rings will be marked tardy. Tardies must be made up within one week of receiving the tardy or it cannot be made up. Students are allowed to make up one tardy per term. After that one tardy is made up, the student will receive an N in citizenship. A student with 4 tardies will receive a U. If a student is absent it is his/her responsibility to check the teacher s website and be prepared for class the next time class meets. Class Rules: Students should come to class prepared and on time. If late, students should enter quietly. Respect others property, personal space, opinions, and thoughts. Respect the speaker (classmate, teacher, or guest speaker). Baker 5
No food or drinks (except clear bottles of water only!). Students must understand the appropriate use of cell phones. We may use them in class as part of a lesson, but students should avoid them as a distraction to learning. Personal music devices and games will not be allowed in the classroom. ***The bottom line is, do not bring the distractions to class. Communication with your teacher is essential. Please come to speak in person should issues or problems arise. This is your education. Be responsible. For students: If a student would like to discuss grades or attendance, discuss work from absences, etc., he/she should come and speak with me in person, not over email. It is best to speak in person so we can resolve problems. I rarely respond to questions over email from students, especially concerning grades. Student assignments will not be accepted if they are sent over email, unless permission is granted before the due date. Students should take the responsibility to speak to a teacher about grade questions. For parents: I will be available by phone (801-402-7970,) from 2:20-2:45 after school, and by e-mail. My e-mail address is: kbaker@dsdmail.net. I will not answer the phone during classes, so the best way to reach me is through email. This disclosure is also available on Canvas. All disclosures will be signed by the student and parent/guardian through the mydsd account. Baker 6