Advanced Placement
English Literature and Composition:
THAT UNTRAVELLED WORLD
All experience is an arch
Where through gleams that untravelled world
Whose margin fades
Forever and ever when I move (Ulysses, Tennyson).
Course Description: Students in this course prepare for the liberal arts courses they will confront at
university, as well as the AP Literature and Composition exam given in May. The course is the equivalent of
an introductory college course in which the students become skilled readers of prose from a variety of
periods, disciplines, and contexts. All objectives, as well as the majority of texts, are taken from the AP
English Course description, which emphasizes the skills necessary for students to become flexible writers
who can compose in a variety of modes and for a variety of purposes. Through intensive reading and writing,
students become aware of the interaction between authorial purpose and the literary devices used to achieve
that purpose. In addition, students learn to “read” the underlying themes and strategies used in film. In short,
students practice exposition, analysis, and argumentation on themes of intellectual, moral, emotional stature
in order to become thoughtful, articulate adults.
Course Overview: Most students in the course have completed have completed a year of AP Language and
will build on the awareness of language established in the 11th grade. Each unit will focus on specific
analytical tools of the course by examining works in terms of both didactic and aesthetic considerations.
Among the topics are intentionality, validity in interpretation, reductionism, theory-based interpretation, such
as psychoanalysis, as well as the personal and social construction of meaning. Essays include such topics as a
close analysis of an ambiguous proverb, persuasive pieces on multiple issues, analysis of stories, of poetry, of
plays, of novels, and journal entries, which explore the application of universal themes to personal
experience and understanding.
In addition, this course introduces students to a select part of the historical record of British literature
extending from the Anglo-Saxon period through the first decades of the 20th century. The emphasis will be on
the students’ achievement of a basic literacy in reading historic English language texts. Such close readings
tend to facilitate student insight into socio-historical contexts, periods, literary criticism, literary terminology,
characteristics of multiple genres, as well characteristics of the classic canon.
The course covers foundational knowledge in the reading and analysis of a variety of literary genres, such as
fiction, epic, lyric, essays, drama, and oral literature over a wide range of historical periods, to promote an
understanding of the relationship between the literature and the historical contexts in which they were
produced.
Texts:
The Language of Literature, McDougal Little (district issued text)
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Kennedy and Gioia (district issued
text)
How to read a Poem, Burton Raffel
E.E. Cummings: Selected Poems, edited by Richard S. Kennedy
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
Sula, Toni Morrison
The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
The Bacchants, Euripides
Macbeth, Shakespeare
Othello, Shakespeare
I Claudius, Robert Graves
Style: Ten lessons in Clarity and Grace, Williams
Strategies:
Journals
Students will be required to respond to thematic prompts for each six weeks by applying the authorial, as well
as the cultural message to their own lives in a series of journals, in which they reflect on their experience,
their perception of that particular “untravelled world“. A polished journal entry will be handed in for a grade
at the end of every six weeks. Sample assignments have been included in the course planner.
Discussion
Students will be required to lead group discussions, in which they research, analyze, take a position, and
teach interpretations of poems, scenes from plays, chapters from novel, and short stories. These “studentlead” class discussions will take place once every six week cycle and will be graded according to a rubric.
Sample assignments have been included in the course planner.
Take Home Essays
Students will be required to write and revise one analytical argument every cycle except the sixth. The
prompt will be assigned at the beginning of each cycle with due dates, as well as the criteria in the form of
rubrics, for the first draft and revision. The first draft rubric emphasizes structure and organization. The
criteria includes emphasis on the students' mastery of
1. Writing a clearly focused, argumentative thesis statement that also informs the reader of the
structure of the essay.
2. Choosing and incorporating the most relevant evidence from the text to support their analytical
assertion.
3. Providing cogent, insightful commentary that clearly connects the thesis and the evidence.
4. Formulating topic sentences, which clearly guide the paragraph and support the thesis, as well as a
concluding sentence which pulls the ideas together.
5. Smoothly integrating, as well as correctly citing, all textual evidence.
Students are instructed that mastering a first draft rubric often takes more than one draft, so they are required
to meet with the teacher to discuss their strengths and weaknesses before submitting another draft.
Once the students have mastered the first draft rubric, they will work towards mastery of the criteria on the
second draft rubric. The criteria includes;
1. Creating an introduction and conclusion, which place the argument in context, engage the reader, and
provide insight into the relevance of the student's position.
2. Revising syntax for clarity, variety, and rhetorical emphasis.
3. Revising diction for accuracy, veracity, and rhetorical emphasis.
4. Revising to ensure the essay displays a measure of originality and a strong voice, which compels the
reader to become involved in the student's position.
Students are instructed that mastering a second draft rubric often takes more than one draft, so they are
required to meet with the teacher to discuss their strengths and weaknesses before submitting another draft.
Timed Essays
Students will practice timed arguments and analytical essays using the prompts from past AP Literature
exams. Each cycle will include 3-4 timed prompts. Students will be introduced to, use, and master a rubric
for timed AP essays. The ten criteria include student mastery of:
1. Argument includes at least two compelling examples
2. Examples are fully developed with at least several of the most relevant pieces of evidence
3. Commentary provides deep, insightful connections, which clearly demonstrate the connection between the
prompt, the thesis, and the evidence
4. Thesis statement provides clear, concise argument, which indicates the structure of the paper
5. Topic sentences serve as clear guides to the development of the paragraph, as well as direct support of the
thesis
6. Each paragraph includes transitional words/phrases to smoothly guide the reader from point to point
7. Each paragraph includes a concluding sentence which pulls all the ideas together and supports the thesis
8. The diction is accurate, veracious, sophisticated
9. Syntax is smooth, controlled, graceful, powerful
10. Little or no grammatical flaws, such as run-ons, fragments, subject verb agreement, vague pronoun
reference
Students are encouraged to submit a revision the class period after the essays have been returned and the
grades will be averaged. In addition, students practice on multiple choice passages drawn from the College
Board website, Cliff Notes,practice book, and Applied Practice workbooks. Finally, the students take a full
length exam on the second Saturday in April. Sample prompts for each cycle are included in the planner.
Writing Workshops and Style
Students will be required to participate in writing workshops, which focus heavily on the art of revision. The
topics range from reviewing grammatical errors, structure, organization, effective intros, conclusions, diction,
and syntax. Many of the lessons will be drawn from Ten lessons in Clarity and Grace and an equal number
of lessons will involve a projected screen, upon which the teacher will model the questions and possible
answers a writer uses to make effective choices in diction and syntax. Students will then be required to apply
the same methods to their own work. Sample workshops are included in the course planner.
Vocabulary
Students will be responsible for vocabulary words drawn from the SAT Hot Words List, as well as the
readings covered. Quizzes will be given once a week to ensure mastery.
Grading
Summer Reading Exam (Cycle 1)/Quizzes
Exams/Take Home Analytical Essays/Research
Class Discussions/Timed Analytical Essays/Multiple Choice
Homework/Common Assessment
30%
40%
20%
10%
Course Planner
Unit One. The Journey of the Artist: Implications of an Aesthetic Code.
Essential Questions:
• What value does literature have for our lives?
• What can we learn about ourselves and others from literature?
• What are the elements of effective oral, written, and visual communication?
• How do these literary works shed meaning on the social, historical, and cultural values of this
period?
•
What is the relationship between language, imagination, and inspiration?
• What elements of culture, of community, of family shape our identity? Our “vision” of beauty?
Our “vision” of truth?
• Why is the quest for independence and self definition an important but often perilous
“journey”?
• How do we define beauty? What place does beauty have in our personal life? In our
community? In our culture? Is there a conflict between our personal and vision and the vision
of society at large?
Week One: Introduction to the Course
Benchmark. Sample of AP multiple choice questions for two passages. Students work with a partner to
compare answers before teacher-led class discussion.
Writing Workshop: Sample of AP prose, poetry, and open ended prompt. Students work in pairs and create
outline for each before rubric and sample essays handed out and discussed.
Take home essay: Find a poem or lyrics that capture your definition of beauty and explicate how the piece
applies to your personal “aesthetic code”. Due second Monday using a first draft rubric on structure and
development. Please refer to the strategies section for the criteria of a first draft rubric.
Week Two: Short Story
Focus on structure, point of view, and imagery. Faulkner, “Barn Burning,” page 143; Joyce, “Araby,” page
330; Wharton, “Roman Fever,” handout.
Writing Workshop: Further discussion of the first draft rubric and how to revise errors on structure and
development.
Timed Essay. Students given an AP style analytical prompt on one of the passages from the assigned short
stories and given an hour to write an evaluative essay and thirty minutes to share and discuss with a partner
before handing in.
Take Home Essay: Students revise the first draft of their personal essay to master the criteria on the first
draft rubric on structure and development. Due third Monday.
Journal: Discuss a moment when you were overwhelmed by beauty. What compelled you? Did the incident
expand or reinforce your perception of beauty?
Week Three and Four: Poetry
Focus on speaker, context, connotation: How to read a Poem, Raffel, Chapter One, “What a poem Means”
In class reading aloud and discussion of meaning through looking closely at speaker, context, connotation.
Raffel’s chapter includes approximately fifteen poems, of which we will study Frost, “The Pasture,” page 5;
Smart, “Hymn XXXIII,” page 7, Hettich, “I Remember When,” page 8-9; browning, “Home Thoughts from
Abroad,” page 10-11; Browning, “My Last Duchess,” page12-13; Wordsworth, “She Dwelt Among
Untrodden Ways,” page 14; Dickinson, “I Heard a Fly Buzz,” page 17; Pope, “Conclusion to The Dunciad,
Book IV,” 31-32.
Discussion: Students pair up to guide group discussions on poetry supplements to Raffel’s first chapter.
Word worth, “My Heart Leaps,” page 35; Tennyson, “In Memoriam,” page 36; Keats, “On First looking into
Chapman’s Homer,” page 37; Raleigh, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” page 47; Asper, “Housecat,”
page 48; Cummings, “this young question mark man,” page 48-49; Graves, “A Poet You Will Be,” handout.
Timed Essay. Students given an AP style analytical prompt from the 2006 AP exam that asks how the
literary techniques in “To paint a Water Lily” reveal the speaker's attitudes towards nature. Students have an
hour to write and thirty minutes to share and discuss with a partner before handing in.
Week Five and Six: Greek tragedy
Focus on characteristics of Greek tragedy, reading the discussion in Kennedy, 829-834, as well as Aristotle,
“Defining Greek Tragedy,” 835-837. Euripedes, “The Bacchants,” handout.
Assign roles and read aloud in class, pausing to discuss literary devices and meaning.
Discussion: Students present research on the role of Dionysis, Apollo, the role of the play festivals, and
Euripides
Timed Essay: AP open ended prompt, 1989. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery
O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe it
is the only way to make people see.” Write an essay in which you make “a good case for distortion” as
distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of “The Bacchants” are distorted and explain
how these “distortions” contribute to the effectiveness of the work Avoid plot summary. But make sure you
back up your evaluative assertions with substantial textual evidence.
Journal: Why might Euripedes’ message about balance be important to your generation? Please be specific.
Unit Two. The Journey of the Hero: Implications of an Heroic Code.
Essential Questions:
• What value does literature with an “Heroic Code”have for our lives?
• What can we learn about ourselves and others from such literature?
• What are the elements of effective oral, written, and visual communication?
• How do these literary works shed meaning on the social, historical, and cultural values of this
period?
•
What is the relationship between language, imagination, and inspiration?
• What elements of culture, of community, of family shape our identity? Our “vision” of an
“Heroic Code”? Our “vision” of truth?
• Why is the quest for independence and self definition an important but often perilous “journey
for a “hero”?
• How do we define heroic character? What place do such characteristics have in our personal
life? In our community? In our culture? Is there a conflict between our personal vision and the
vision of society at large?
Week One: The Short Story
Focus on structure, flashbacks, stream of consciousness, imagery, symbol. Hemingway, “Snows of
Kilimanjaro,” handout.
Writing Workshop: Discussion of second draft rubric, focusing on lean syntax, active voice. Teacher
models revision of syntax on projected screen, demonstrating methods used to create effective syntax.
Timed Essay: AP style analytical prompt on one of the passages from the flashbacks. Avoid plot summary.
But make sure to back up all evaluative assertions with substantial textual evidence. Students have fifty
minutes to write an analytical argument, while adhering to the criteria from the timed essay rubric.
Week Two and Three: Poetry.
Focus on metaphor: How to Read a Poem, Raffel. Chapter Two, “What Poetry Does: Metaphor”.
In class reading aloud and discussion of meaning through looking closely at metaphor. Raffel’s chapter
includes approximately fourteen poems of which we will study Cummings, “Impressions: I,” page 52; Blake,
“The Sick Rose,” page 54; Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress,” page 56-57; Jonson, “On my first Son,” page 59;
Simic, “Empire of Dreams,” page 62; Blake, “A Poison Tree”, page 64; Shelley, “Ozmandias,” page 65;
Dickinson, “The Spider”, page 71.
Discussion: Students pair up to guide group discussions on poetry supplements to Raffel’s second chapter:
T.S. Eliot, “Preludes,” page76-78; Donne, ”Song,”, page 78; Yeats, “The Dawn,” page 80; Wordsworth, “The
World is Too Much With Us,” page 81; Zaranka, “A mirror driven Through nature,” page 82-84; brooks, “My
dreams, My Works, Must wait Till After Hell,” page 87-88.
Timed Essay. Students given an AP analytical poetry prompt that asks how the speaker, context,
connotative language , and metaphor contribute to the author’s meaning. Make sure to back up all evaluative
assertions with substantial textual evidence. Students have fifty minutes.
Weeks Four-Six: Elements of Fiction.
Focus on structure, metaphor, theme, syntax in Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte
D’Arthur, and Morrison’s, Sula.
Discussion: Teacher-led discussion to explore how the structure, metaphors, themes, and syntax contribute
to the author’s meaning.
Journal: Describe your heroic code and how you implement this code in your life. Be specific by balancing
your generalizations with specific incidents, anecdotes as evidence to support your position.
Timed Essay and Multiple Choice Practice: Students given two AP passages with multiple choice
questions and and an open ended AP essay prompt to complete in an hour and a half. Avoid plot summary in
the argument. Make sure to back up all evaluative assertions with substantial, relevant evidence.
Unit Three. Journey of the Soul; Implications of a Spiritual Code.
Essential Questions:
• What value does literature with an “Spiritual Code”have for our lives?
• What can we learn about ourselves and others from such literature?
• What are the elements of effective oral, written, and visual communication?
• How do these literary works shed meaning on the social, historical, and cultural values of this
period?
•
What is the relationship between language, imagination, and inspiration?
• What elements of culture, of community, of family shape our identity? Our “vision” of an
“Spiritual Code”? Our “vision” of truth?
• Why is the quest for independence and self definition an important but often perilous
“spiritual” “journey?
• How do we define spirituality? What place does spirituality have in our personal life? In our
community? In our culture? Is there a conflict between our personal vision and the vision of
society at large?
Week One and Two: Shakespearean Tragedy.
Focus on characteristics of Shakespearean tragedy, reading the discussion in Kennedy, 885-888. Othello,
888-990. Assign roles and read aloud in class, pausing to discuss literary devices and meaning.
Read criticism by Auden, “Iago as a Triumphant Villain,” page 991; Bodkin, “Lucifer in Shakespeare’s
Othello,” page 992; Vaughan, “Black and White in Othello, “ page 993.
Take Home Essay: Students write a 3-5 page analytical paper on a soliloquy from either Macbeth or
Othello focusing on the first draft rubric. Due third Monday.
Week Three: Renaissance Poetry.
Focus on context, speaker, metaphor, simile, personification, apostrophe, litotes, paradox, sonnet. McDougal,
Little text on the Renaissance.
Discussion: In class reading aloud and discussion of how the literary devices contribute to meaning:
Spenser, “Sonnet 30,” page 297; Spenser, “Sonnet 75,”, page 297; Shakespeare, “Sonnet 29,” page 302;
Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130,” page 302; Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning,” page 451; Donne, “
Death be not Proud,” page 451; Milton, section from “Paradise Lost,” page 480-484.
Timed Essay: Students given an AP poetry prompt from 2007, which asks them to compare and contrast “A
Barred Owl” and “The history Teacher”, analyzing how each poet uses literary devices to make his point.
Students have 45 minutes.
Week Four Through Six: The Novel.
Focus on literary elements in Greene’s, The Power and the Glory.
Discussion: Student lead discussions on how devices in assigned passages contribute to authorial meaning.
Timed essay: Practice multiple choice with two AP passages and an AP style open ended analytical
argument that requires the students to use The Power and the Glory. One and a half hours.
Take Home Essay: Students required to revise their analytical essays on a Shakespearean soliloquy to meet
the criteria of the second draft rubric for 50% of their fall midterm.
Vocabulary; 180 SAT Hot words, as well as the vocab from the readings, will be included on the midterm.
Unit Four. The Romantic Journey: Implications of a Romantic Code.
Essential Questions:
• What value does literature with an “Romantic Code”have for our lives?
• What can we learn about ourselves and others from such literature?
• What are the elements of effective oral, written, and visual communication?
• How do these literary works shed meaning on the social, historical, and cultural values of this
period?
•
What is the relationship between language, imagination, and inspiration?
• What elements of culture, of community, of family shape our romantic perspective? Our
“vision” of a “Romantic Code”? Our “vision” of truth?
• How do we define Romanticism? What place do such an ideology have in our personal life? In
our community? In our culture? Is there a conflict between our personal vision and the vision
of society at large?
Week One Through Two: Romantic Poetry.
Focus on context, speaker, metaphor, simile, personification, apostrophe, paradox, contrast, and precise
diction in How to read a Poem, Raffel. Chapter Three, “How Poetry Works”. In class reading aloud and
discussion of meaning through looking closely at the devices. Raffel’s chapter includes approximately
fourteen poems of which we will study Wordsworth, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3,
1802,” page 111; Blake, “The Tiger,” page 118; Byron,” We Will Go No More,” page 132; Keats, “When I
Have Fears That I May Cease to Be,” page 133.
Focus on the characteristics of Romanticism and the primary devices. in McDougal, Little text on the
Romantics.
Discussion; Student lead discussion on how the primary devices create meaning in Blake, “The Lamb,” page
709; Blake, “The Little Boy Lost,” page 709; Blake, “ The Little Boy Found,” page 709; Blake, “The Sick
Rose,” page 709; Wordsworth, “Tintern Abbey;” page 725; Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind,” page 781;
Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” page 798; Keats,” To Autumn,” page 798.
In Class Essay: AP style analytical poetry prompt from 2009, in which students are asked how the author
employs literary devices in adapting the my th of Icarus to a contemporary setting. Students given 40
minutes.
Week Four through Six: The Novel.
Focus on literary elements in Ondaatje’s, The English Patient.
Discussion: teacher lead and student lead discussions on how devices in assigned passages contribute to
authorial meaning.
Quizzes: weekly quizzes analyzing key passages in chapters assigned for homework.
Timed essay: Practice multiple choice with two AP passages and an AP style open ended analytical prompt
that requires the students to use The English Patient. One and a half hours.
Writing/Research Project: Students choose a book to overlay, transcribe their perceptions, ruminations
much like the English patient does with The Histories of Herodotus. Due the last Friday of the cycle.
Unit Five. The Moral Journey: Implications of a Moral Code.
Essential Questions:
• What value does literature with an “Moral Code”have for our lives?
• What can we learn about ourselves and others from such literature?
• What are the elements of effective oral, written, and visual communication?
• How do these literary works shed meaning on the social, historical, and cultural values of this
period?
•
What is the relationship between language, imagination, and inspiration?
• What elements of culture, of community, of family shape our identity? Our “vision” of an
“Moral Code”? Our “vision” of truth?
• Why is the quest for independence and self definition an important but often perilous “moral”
“journey?
• How do we define morality? What place does morality have in our personal life? In our
community? In our culture? Is there a conflict between our personal vision and the vision of
society at large?
Week One through Three: Poetry.
Focus on poetic devices with individual research and analytical papers, as well as presentations of a
poet from the following list: Elizabeth Bishop, Mathew Arnold, Robert Browning, Robert Graves,
Alfred Lord Tennyson, Maya Angelou, W. H. Auden, Lucille Clifton, Silvia Plath, Maria Rilke,
Langston Hughes, Marianne Moore, Pablo Neruda, Ezra Pound, Adrienne Rich, Theodore Roethke,
Anne Sexton, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, E.E. Cummings, Seamus Heany, T.S. Eliot, William
Butler Yeats, Octavio Paz, or Thomas Hardy.
Discussions: Student lead presentations on the poetry of the chosen author.
Take Home Essays: Three analytical papers and one on the cultural background and primary themes,
devices used by the chosen author. One paper due for four consecutive Mondays.
Week Four Through Six: The Novel.
Focus on the literary elements in Grave’s, I, Claudius.
Discussion: teacher lead and student lead discussions on how devices in assigned passages contribute to
authorial meaning.
Quizzes: weekly quizzes analyzing key passages in chapters assigned for homework.
Timed essay: Practice multiple choice with two AP passages and an AP style open ended analytical prompt
that requires the students to use I Claudius. One and a half hours.
Unit Six. The Individual Journey: Implications of a Personal Code.
Week One Through Three: Parody and AP Practice.
Focus on practice once a week plus a full length timed AP exam the third Saturday in April. In addition,
Students read Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, excerpts from “Gulliver’s Travels”, and Catch 22 and discuss the
use of parody, hyperbole, mock seriousness, sarcasm, and absurdity.
Week Three Through Six: Personal Anthology.
Focus on creating an anthology of polished pieces which reflects the growth of the student.
The anthology must include:
A title, which provides thematic structure
An introduction which explains the purpose and methods used
A letter which advises future students about what they would need to pack in order to embark on a
metaphorical journey, which will compel them to grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally.
Two polished analytical essays from the individual poetry project
One polished analytical essay on a Shakespearean soliloquy
One polished AP open ended essay
One polished AP analytical essay on a poem
One polished essay using a poem or lyrics which captures the student as a reader
All entries must show mastery of the second draft rubric on diction, syntax, polish.