AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In the AP English Literature and Composition course, students will read widely and
deeply selected texts of different genres and literary periods with the aim of
understanding how the author uses various literary devices to achieve meaning and
how the literature reflects historical and social values. Students will read and respond
to the literature through informal writing, small and large group discussion, in class
timed essays, and formal extended analyses, either written or presented orally.
Writng assignments will focus on literary analysis and include expository, analytical, and
argumentative essays as well as creative writing. Instruction in developing and
organizing ideas in clear, coherent language will include lessons in
denotation/connotation of words, sentence variety, techniques of coherence, balance
between general/specific detail, and the effective use of rhetoric. Students will read
and discuss professional and student model essays as resources for their own writing
improvement. They will participate in the writing process, producing mutiple drafts for
teacher, peer and/or self-evaluation, oral sharing, and revision workshops to include
focused lessons on grammar, mechanics, and syntax, as well as timed writing
situations.
Elements of the course:
a. writing to understand: journals, response/reaction papers, free writing,
annotation
b. writing to explain: expository, analytical essays to convey individual
interpretations of works, some supplemented by research
c. writing to evaluate: analytical, augmentative essays, some supplemented by
research
d. self/peer evaluation and writing conferences
e. weekly vocabulary
f. grammar, as the need arises
g. preparation for the AP Literature and Composition Exam (in class timed
writing and multiple choice practice based on released tests)
h. college application essay practice
i. oral presentations
Assessments
a. periodic quizzes on reading
b. unit exams/culminating essays on major works
c. vocabulary tests
d. essays (scored on the AP rubric and scale of 1-9; 9=100; 8=90; 7=85; 6=80;
5=75; 4=70; 3=65; 2=60; 1=50)
e. projects (to include creative writing and oral presentations) utilizing rubrics
created by teacher or student
COURSE SYLLABUS
THE HEROIC TRADITION (9 WEEKS)--What is a hero? Has the definition changed
over time? How?
Major Works:
1984, George Orwell (summer reading)
Beowulf
Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
Selected poems, short fiction, or nonfiction such as
“Soldier’s Home,” Ernest Hemingway
“Everyday Use,” Alice Walker
excerpts from Grendel
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
various literary criticism
SAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Informal: Annotate your copy of 1984 for passages significant to the
characterization of Winston Smith.
Expository: College essay. Students will participate in a writing workshop to
Include prewriting and instruction in organization and development of ideas to
include multiple drafts evaluated by peers and revisions.
Analytical: Compare/contrast two of the following as as tragic heroes. Winston
Smith, Willie Loman and Oedipus Rex
AP PRACTICE
Multiple choice items taken from a released AP test
Study of various literary terms
THE STING OF SATIRE (9 weeks)--What are the goals of satire? How does an author
achieve these goals? How does a reader recognize a satirical tone?
Major Works
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (Prologue and selected tales)
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
“A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift
Selected poems, short fiction, or nonfiction such as
“The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg,” Samuel Clemens
‘My Oedipus Complex,” Frank O’Connor
“The Unknown Citizen,” W.H. Auden
“The Siren,” Margaret Atwood
excerpts from Candide, Voltaire
selected articles from The Onion
political cartoons
various literary criticism
SAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Creative: Write a description of a classmate in rhymed couplets modeling
Chaucer’s style in the Prologue. Rubric will stress inclusion of general and
specfic detail.
Expository: Write a satirical essay addressing a common problem and offering a
“modest” proposal for its solution. Rubric will emphasize effective use of
rhetorical devices such as tone, voice, diction, and syntax
Evaluative: 1997 AP Language and Composition prompt:
AP PRACTICE
Multiple choice items taken from a released AP test
Study of various literary terms
Selected prompts from released tests as timed writings
MAN’S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE (9 weeks)--What is the relationship between man
and the universe? Is man the center of the universe? Is the universe friendly or
unfriendly to man or is it merely unconcerned?
Major Works
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard
Selected poems, short fiction, or nonfiction such as
excerpts from Paradise Lost, Milton
The Stranger, Albert Camus
The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
“Dover Beach,” Matthew Arnold
“The Hollow Men,” T. S. Eliot
“the cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls,” e.e. cummings
“Cinderella,” Anne Sexton
SAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Informal: Keep a journal while reading Hamlet in which you record quotations for
various motifs in the play and write commentary for each.
Analytical: Write an essay in which you trace a motif such as poison, flowers,
disease, etc. in Hamlet and relate it to theme. Synthesize information
from at least 2 pieces of literary criticism to support your interpretation.
Instruction will emphasize organization and coherence through transitional
devices such as repetition and transition.
AP PRACTICE
Multiple choice items taken from a released AP test
Study of various literary terms
Selected prompts from released tests as timed writings
CONFORMITY AND REBELLION (9 weeks)--Is society made for man or is man made
for society? Is revolution justifiable? Is conformity ever necessary? Why might
conformity be bad?
Major Works
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
A Doll House, Henrik Ibsen
Romantic poetry
Selected poems, short fiction, or nonfiction such as
“Much Madness Is Divinest Sense,” Emily Dickinson
“Some Keep the Sabbath,” Emily Dickinson
“The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Gilman
“Harlem,” Langston Hughes
“On the Rainy River,” Tim O’Brien
SAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Informal: Response/reaction reading log for Wuthering Heights
Evaluative: How negative or affirmative is the conclusion of A Doll House?
Analytical: Choose 3 poems not studied in class written by at least two different
Romantic poets and write an essay in which you explain how each poem
illustrates a different aspect of Romanticism.
AP PRACTICE
Multiple choice items taken from a released AP test
Study of various literary terms
Selected prompts from released tests as timed writings
TEXTS AND RESOURCES
Vocabulary Workshop, Level F, Sadlier-Oxford
Elements of Literature, 6th Course, Holet, Reinhart, and Winston
The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
1984
Brave New World
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Wuthering Heights
The Stranger
The Metamorphosis