2012-2013 ... The course teaches students to write interpretations of pieces of
literature that are .... “Introduction to the AP Literature Exam” from 5 Steps to a 5.
AP English Literature & Composition Syllabus
2012-2013
Course Description: The essential goal of this class is to help students become better readers, writers, and thinkers. The rigor of this class will prepare students to successfully complete the AP English Literature and Composition Exam at the end of the school year and to develop advanced skills for post secondary education and career opportunities. Each day we will examine the thematic concerns found in literary works, and students will write about what they read. Skills Taught: The course teaches students to write interpretations of pieces of literature that are based on careful observation of textual details, considering:
structure, style, and themes social and historical values reflected and embodied the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone
The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed in-class responses. The course requires:
writing to understand: informal, exploratory writing activities that enable students to discover what they think in the process of writing about their reading (such assignments could include annotation, freewriting, keeping a reading journal, and response/reaction papers) writing to explain: expository, analytical essays in which students draw upon textual details to develop and extended explanation/interpretation of the meanings of a literary text writing to evaluate: analytical, argumentative essays in which students draw upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work’s artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values
Approach to Literature: During each nine-week grading period, the class will study one of the following literary themes respectively: Heroes, Good and Evil, Laughter in Literature, and Man and Society. During the course of the year, we will be examining several different genres within the context of the above themes. We will reflect on how these themes are examined, defined, and valued in different historical periods and cultures as well as in our own. While we read the poetry, drama, and fiction within the above thematic contexts, we will also analyze and evaluate the literary techniques used by the authors. Additionally, we will perform close analysis of structure and style, including diction, tone, syntax, figurative language, and symbolism as they contribute to the while literary work. We will use these elements to discuss and write about the works we read. Writing Strategies: Writing in this class will be literature-based, and students will write about everything they read, often multiple times in a variety of formats. Students will write informal pieces to explore what they think on a path to understanding the works they read. Students will analyze the techniques authors use and explain how the authors achieved their ends. Students will also evaluate works and their importance in terms of the value of their contents and in relation to other works. Written responses will range from synopses, summaries, and personal reflections to the whole or parts of works studied to more formal and elaborate literary criticism -- with an emphasis on analytical exposition. 1
While students will write in a variety of modes about the literature they read, the goal will always be to write effective responses to the AP Literature and Composition essay prompts in the spring. Therefore, all student writing will be, directly or indirectly, a reflection of that goal. Whatever techniques or modes students need to work on toward that end, they will become the focus of writing instruction. If, for example, students are having difficulty citing from text, then students will have numerous opportunities to sharpen various citation skills. Students will also write throughout the school year responses to prompts from past AP exams to evaluate their progress toward the goal. More frequently, however, students will respond to teacher-developed questions and prompts that approximate and replicate various aspects of the AP exam writing prompts. The assignments will be generated to lead students to a fuller understanding of the works and to lead them to better communicate their understanding through writing. Rubrics will be provided before students submit their writing assignments to clarify expectations for each type of required writing, and all papers will receive verbal and written feedback. This feedback will include, but not be limited to, instruction about interpretation, logic, grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, citation, and paraphrasing. Students will use these teacher comments to improve what they have already written andguide them on future written assignments. In addition, writing assignments will progress from the relatively simple at the beginning of the school year to the level of sophistication and complexity necessary to successfully respond to the prompts on the AP exam in the spring and into higher education. Finally, we will discuss everything we read and write at various points in the analytical process. Required Textbooks: Frankenstein, Shelley Candide, Voltaire Elements of Literature (6th Course), Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Grendel, Gardner Hamlet, Shakespeare The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde The Inferno, Dante Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, Perrine and Arp, 6th edition Multiple-Choice and Free-Response Questions in Preparation for the AP English Literature and Composition Examination, Vogel A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut Students will also being using various texts from the internet and other resources *Students will also have 10 novels to choose from for their Literary Circle Project Quarter One August 23 – October 26 Heroes: Week 1&2
Introduction to the Course and the Theme Review of syllabus and course expectations. Discuss the nature of the AP exam with reference to “Introduction to the AP Literature Exam” from 5 Steps to a 5. Examine sample AP exams for form, content, and difficulty. Begin taking portions of the AP exams for practice. Discuss characteristics of heroes ranging from super heroes to everyday heroes.
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Week 3-5
Ancient Heroes Read background on the Anglo-Saxons, Elements of Literature, 6th Course. Write predictions of heroic characteristics in this culture. Discuss epic poetry. Read Beowulf. Read “The Head of Humbaba.” Students Compare and Contrast Beowulf and Gilgamesh. Read John Gardner’s Grendel. Discuss point of view, symbolism, motifs, and the Anti-Hero. Compare/Contrast point of view in Grendel and Beowulf.
Weeks 6-9
Tragic Hero Discuss Shakespeare’s life. Discuss the language of Shakespeare by examining Sonnet 18, Sonnet 116, and others. Discuss the elements of Shakespearean tragedy, irony, particularly dramatic irony, and background information on the play, Hamlet. Take parts and read the play orally. Discuss characters, events, and language. Act out various scenes. Students write a variety of essays during the study of the play discussing events, characters, elements of tragedy, and literary techniques employed. . Students are given the 2002 Open-Ended Response essay prompt as a timed writing. They will be given direct composition instruction: format-clear thesis, incorporation of examples, analysis of given examples pronoun usage, support paragraphs, audience, support of the thesis throughout the paper, strong concluding paragraph. They will take the essay through multiple drafts with appropriate teacher feedback to improve writing skills. Students will edit each other’s papers looking for things such as plot summary, analysis, correct information, grammar and mechanics, rhetorical choices, and organization.
Quarter Two October 27- January 20 Good and Evil: Week 1-4
Origins of Evil Students read the early sections of the King James Version of Genesis in Elements of Literature. Through analysis, reflective writing, and discussion, students will discover the sources or causes of evil. Students read both orally and independently The Inferno by Dante. Students created a project in which they depicted a level of Hell, while analyzing their specific level looking for symbolism, motifs, and theme. In addition to the depiction of the level, students also write analytically about their level. Students are introduced to TP CASTT to analyze poems. During the study of The Inferno, students examine the poems “To His Coy Mistress,” “Fire and Ice,” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” Students also continued their analysis with poems of their choosing. Students are also introduced to the AP Poetry essay. Students are given an AP Poetry essay as a timed writing. The in-class timed writing will serve as a rough draft. As a class, the paper is discussed and tips for improvement are given. This paper will be peer edited and final draft will be composed. Students are also introduced to a poetry project, which will span into the third quarter. See attached below for instruction on poetry project. 3
Week 5
Read and discussed the prose in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Students discussed and wrote about the theme Good and Evil. Discuss AP Prose essay. In-class AP Prose Essay. Students will also read selected readings from various sources on how to improve their writing and how to write good essays.
Week 6-9
Students read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Students engage in a Socratic Seminar form of discussion. The vocabulary in Frankenstein is often too complex for those reading, so as students read, they keep a log of words to enhance their vocabulary skills. Students are quizzed over words that were commonly written down as unknown words. Students also look at tone and symbolism. Students note the inclusion of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in Frankenstein. Students do a close reading of the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Students will be instructed in how to properly write a critical analysis. Students develop and write a critical analysis that focuses on the deeper meaning of how individual components contribute to the overall effect of the poem. Students will take essays through multiple drafts with peer and teacher feedback. Additionally, if the student’s work is not satisfactory, the student will have an opportunity to rewrite his/her essay. See full description of writing assignment at the end of the syllabus.
Quarter Three January 24-March 30 Laughter in Literature:
Week 1
Introduce satire. Students read “A Modest Proposal.” Students write their own “Modest Proposal” modeled on Swift, but commenting on a social issue pertinent to the students’ current lives. Since this could be a challenging activity, students will take this paper through numerous drafts with teacher and peer feedback, as well as teacher conferences. Students read will read the first two chapters of Voltaire’s Candide. Students will examine the satirical techniques Voltaire uses.
Week 2-5
Students begin reading Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. Students will research the historical background of the Bombing of Dresden. Students will examine Slaughterhouse Five for things such as tone, theme, point-of-view, and setting. Students will be given time-writing essays. These time-writings will then become the basis for an essay the student will develop into a critical analysis of the novel. For Literature Circles, students choose a novel of their choice from a list. There will be other students reading the same novel. See assignment at the end of this syllabus.
Week 6
Discuss AP Poetry essay. Discuss “Night Hawk” by Penn Warren. Students will look at student samples and rubric from the 2006 question. In-class AP Poetry essay. Students will also be introduced to the Poetry portfolios.
Week 7
Literature Circles and Poetry Journal Portfolio Due.
Week 7-9
Introduce the Victorian era. Begin class performance of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Continue discussion and essays pertaining to the AP exam. Students will examine the way with which Wilde uses humor to discuss things such as marriage and Victorian ways. 4
Students will construct an essay that shows how Wilde satirizes the Victorian society. This will require students do some research on the Victorian era and society. Quarter 4 March 31-June 10 Man and Society: Because this grading period is shorter due to the approaching AP exam and the number of activities associated with graduation, relatively less literature will be covered. Although students have worked throughout the year on both multiple choice and essay questions that reflect those on the exam, they will also spend relatively more time explicitly reviewing for the AP exam. Introduce students to the Harlem Renaissance. Read selected poems by poets from this time period. Read short story by Zora Neale Hurston. Begin reading A Raisin in the Sun. Students will examine the work of A Raisin in the Sun in conjunction with other notable poets of the time to examine the context in which these works were written. Students will draft, revise, and edit an essay that explores the attitudes towards both African Americans and/or women during the Harlem Renaissance, and the implications it has in our society today (i.e. socioeconomic classes, racism, gender inequality, etc) . In addition, in conjunction with the students’ AP Environmental Science class, students will be looking at selected pieces by authors who have made a huge impact on the Environmental Science, such as Thoreau and Sinclair.
Student Evaluation: 1. All grades are on a 100% scale 2. Work will be weighted according to the amount of time and effort required. See below for grade weights: Class work 10% Homework 10% Tests 20% Essays 30% Projects 30% 3. Late assignments will be worth a maximum of 80%. After two class days-the same as the deadline following an absence-the work will not be accepted. 4. Make-up work will earn credit ONLY if the work is turned in on or before school established deadlines. 5. Additionally, students will have to state in writing why their work is late and why it should be accepted. Effort/Excellence: Because one of the major objectives of this class is to pass the AP exam in the spring, efforts will be made to get students to steadily improve through the school year by challenging students intellectually. Rewrites and revisions of work will be a major way of accomplishing this end. Students will often be required to rewrite essays and answers to essay questions, often before receiving any grade on the assignment. Furthermore, students may rewrite any written assignment on which they receive less than 80%. In return, some students will receive the average of the original and the new grade. Since growth is the goal, the effort the students make and the point in the school year that a grade is made will be factored into grades on assignments. Therefore, work of 5
equivalent quality will receive a higher score in the fall semester than it might in the spring. Additionally, some students bring more skills with them and will be, at least initially, held to higher standards. Literature Circles Project Novels to choose from: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte Great Expectations by Fyodor Dostoyevsky The World According to Garp by John Irving Animal Farm by George Orwell 1984 by George Orwell The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Independent Assignment: Write a one-page (minimum), typed evaluation of the work you have read for your Literary Circles. Your essay should be an evaluation of the novel rather than a description. Your task is to decide what is good, what is bad, and what is mediocre. Take a position on the work. Be sure, however, that your reaction is based on rational and logically defensible grounds. Standards for Evaluation:
Truth/Universality- Does the work speak to ideas that show truth and universality? These ideas are certainly abstract and philosophical, but an example may make them clearer. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a play over 2,400 years old, a number of the dramatic topics are certainly outdated. The play concerns a Greek city state with a ruling monarch: a system of government that is now non-existent. The religious beliefs focus on the dear that unburied souls never find rest, a belief completely foreign to our society. Finally, the plot revolves around a curse on a family that lasts for generations. Despite all these unlikely elements, the play concerns a real human problem that has relevance today. Antigone must decide between her duty to the state and her duty to her conscience; she must decide between God and country. Judge the work not simply by its parts but by its whole. The work may be imperfect. It may have flaws in style, organization, or character development. But if the sum total of the work is impressive, the flaws assume minor importance. Are you involved in the work as you read? Is the involvement justifiable or is it the result of sentimentality or melodrama, which is obviously artificial? Did you experience catharsis or an emotional drain as you become involved with the character? Vitality- Does the work seem alive? Does it have a life of its own? Would it grow and change for you if you read it again? Could it offer more insight on a second or third reading? Beauty- Consider the elements of unity, symmetry, harmony, and proportion. Preference-Personal likes and dislikes are considerably less important than the other criteria mentioned here, but they are not to be excluded. If your preferences, however, are not based on thought or knowledge, they have no place in this evaluation.
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Organization:
Introduction-Briefly describe your evaluation by explaining your central idea and the points by which you expect to demonstrate your idea. You may also mention the grounds for evaluation. Body- Demonstrate the grounds for your evaluation (excellencies or deficiencies of style, idea, structure, character portrayal, logic, point of view, etc.) Analyze the probability, truth, force or power with which the work embodies these elements. Avoid summary for its own sake. Emphasize evaluation rather than description. Conclusion- A statement of the total result of the work you are evaluating. Give your total impression of the work and restate your central theme.
Online On-going Assignment: Each member of the group will participate and be graded on their weekly participation in discussions on Google groups. This will help keep students on task and help check for understanding. Group Assignment: Each group will present their novel to the class. They will make a case for the novel to replace a novel that is currently on our reading list. The students will present their novel in a creative way (i.e. PowerPoint, Video, Pod cast, Rap etc.). Each group will take into consideration the same standards of evaluation as they did when they wrote their individual assignments. These projects will be presented as if students were presenting an idea to a boss in a professional work environment, and as such, they will proceed in a professional manner and dress. Poetry Portfolio Students will select a poet who is still alive and biographical and critical material can be found about him/her. Students will be doing a six-week exploration of poems technique, from denotation and connotation to imagery, metaphor, symbolism, paradox, allusion, tone, and musical devices such as alliteration, rhyme, and rhythm. One constant theme of this unit is that merely identifying these techniques is irrelevant. What we want to try to explain is how each technique contributes to the purpose of the poem. Students choose only one individual poet and write a series of six papers that build on each other. The assignments are as follows:
Choose three or four poems by this poet and discuss, in a two to three page processed paper, what poetic devices this author uses consistently. Using the same poems as above, compare and contrast the author’s themes. Using the same poems as above, consider the historical, cultural, or social setting of their construction. What meaning do these poems have for readers of today? Analyze one additional poem by this author in the context of the three papers above. What techniques does the author use; what are the themes; what is the social, historical, or cultural context? Using and revising material from the papers already completed, add research about the poet’s life to complete a 10 page processed paper on the style, themes, and importance of this poet and this poet’s works.
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Frankenstein/”Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Critical Analysis Essay In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is alluded to by Frankenstein. Authors choose their words carefully and with meaning. Your assignment is to write a critical analysis of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and how and why it is included in Shelley’s Frankenstein. You will go deeper than what is written to uncover a deeper meaning within the poem by doing a close analysis of the poem. Through a close reading of the poem, you will be linking the selected passage included in Frankenstein to the rest of the poem, as well as the novel Frankenstein. To do so, you will be looking at both writer’s technique and style. How does the selection fit within the poem? How does the poem fit with the novel? Why would Shelley choose to incorporate this particular poem? What is symbolic about this poem? How does that symbolism convey to the novel? How does the inclusion of the poem add to the overall artistry of the novel? These questions are merely guides to help your analysis of the poem and novel. Your paper should focus on the links between the passage of the poem in Frankenstein to the rest of the poem, “The Rime of Ancient Mariner,” and to the novel itself.
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