Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Syllabus 2014
Course Overview
“An Advanced Placement (AP) course in literature and composition should engage students in
the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of
selected texts, students should deepen their understanding of ways writers use language to
provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students should consider a
work’s structure, style, and themes as well as much smaller-scale elements as the use of
figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.” (from the College Board AP Program
Course description).
Essential Questions
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How does literature communicate an understanding of human conflicts, trials, and
philosophies?
How does knowledge of the social and historical context of a literary work contribute to
its interpretation and analysis?
How does knowledge of literary devices assist us in the interpretation and analysis of a
work?
How does writing encourage the development of critical thinking skills essential to
literary analysis and interpretation?
College Board Curricular Expectations (Scoring Components)
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The course includes an intensive study of representative works such as those by authors
cited in the AP English Course Description. By the time the student completes AP English
Literature and Composition, he or she will have studied during high school literature
from both British and American writers, as well as works written in several genres from
the sixteenth century to contemporary times (SC1).
The course teaches students to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is
based on a careful observation of textual details, considering such elements as the use
of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone (SC2).
The course teaches students to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is
based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the work’s structure, style
and themes (SC3).
The course teaches students to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is
based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the work’s social, cultural
and/or historical values (SC4).
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The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite timed, inclass responses (SC5).
The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal,
extended, analyses outside of class (SC6).
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, free writing, keeping a reading journal,
reaction/response papers, and/or dialectical notebooks) (SC7).
The course requires writing to explain: Expository, analytical essays in which students
draw upon textual details to develop an extended interpretation of a literary text (SC8).
The course requires writing to evaluate: Analytical, argumentative essays in which a
student draws upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work’s
artistry and quality (SC9).
The course requires writing to evaluate: Analytical, argumentative essays in which
students draw upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work’s
social, historical, and/or cultural values (SC10).
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments,
both before and after the students revise their work that help the students develop a
wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately (SC11).
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments,
both before and after the students revise their work that help the students develop a
variety of sentence structures (SC12).
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments,
both before and after the students revise their work that help students develop logical
organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence. Such techniques
may include traditional rhetorical structures, graphic organizers, and work on repetition,
transitions, and emphasis (SC13).
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on student’s writing assignments both
before and after they revise their work that help the students develop a balance of
generalization and specific, illustrative detail (SC14).
The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students’ writing assignments both
before and after they revise their work that help the students establish an effective use
of rhetoric including controlling tone and a voice appropriate to a writer’s audience
(SC15).
Expectations
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Students are expected to follow the rules of standard written English. Mini-lessons will
provide instruction in sentence variety and problem areas (SC12, 13).
All in-class and out-of-class writing will be graded according to the AP Course grading
criteria. Criteria will be provided with each assignment. The grading criteria will be
reviewed before each in-class timed essay (SC5).
Unit and researched essays will be submitted in two steps: a first draft will be written
and submitted for feedback and at least one revised draft will be written and submitted
for grading (SC5, 6).
Poetry writing assignments will be graded according to the conventions of each poetry
genre. Grading criteria will be provided for poetry writing assignments.
Projects (posters, video, and/or presentations) will be given individual rubrics and
reviewed when project is assigned (SC6).
Students are expected to come to class prepared with books, supplies, and completed
assignments.
Consult the student handbook for information on AP late work and absence policies.
Class Format
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Our class will consist of lecture, group and individual presentations, Socratic Seminars,
style and literary analysis of various works, and writing/vocabulary/analytical skills.
Active and close reading is a regular activity. We aren’t just “reading”—we are engaging
in a conversation with the text.
Our purposes for writing are varied. We will write to understand, to explain, and to
evaluate.
There will be frequent opportunities to master the ability to produce essays that are
clear, with revision, in their intention, well-organized, and supported by evidence
through peer review sessions. During these sessions, we will analyze and evaluate
specific rhetorical aspects, with specific focus on strategies for revision. The AP teacher
will also be available to discuss essays using 9-point AP grading scale (SC 11-15).
Class Requirements
1. Materials:
 A ream of copy paper for the library.
 Three-ring binder with at least five dividers
 Highlighters
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Blue and black ink pens and pencils
Sticky notes
2. Required Reading:
 Textbook: Michael Meyer’s The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Eighth
edition.
 Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor (summer assignment)
 Choice from a selection of novels (summer assignment)
 Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (purchase in school library)
 Shakespeare’s Hamlet (textbook)
 Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ( on school Kindles)
 Chopin’s The Awakening (textbook)
 Ibsen’s A Doll House (textbook)
 Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale (purchase)
 Ellison’s Invisible Man (purchase)
 Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
 William’s A Streetcar Named Desire (purchase)
 Various short stories and poems will be included from different eras (textbook
and handouts) (SC1).
Grading Scale
Daily Grades: journals, homework, reading: 50%
Major Grades: timed and out of class essays such as compare/contrast, analytical, and
synthesis, and Socratic Seminars, mock AP tests
Rules
1. Respect others.
2. Be prepared.
Plagiarism/ Cheating
Check out the school’s Academic Integrity Policy. All instances will be reported to
administration.
Fall Semester:
First Six Weeks
We will begin with group presentations over the summer reading.
Assessment for summer novel: 1979 AP Open Ended Question (SC5)
Unit 1: Opening Act: Waiting for Godot, Hamlet, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
We will begin by acting out Godot .
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Introduction to Theatre of the Absurd and Existentialism
Exploration of essential comedy, structure, Biblical allusions,
contradictions, and paradox (SC2 ,3)
Activities/Assessments (Shelly Cook)
Discussion of the play’s message about the human condition and the
human spirit (SC 7)
Creation of a picture of Godot using textual evidence.
Written reaction to Newsweek article: “Worth the Wait”(SC 7)
Collection of affective data (SC 7)
Timed essay (SC 8,9,10)
Hamlet will be read at home after highlighting aspects to examine when close
reading.
Activities/Assessments:
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The Fever Chart, a graphic representation of notes on an analytical
question about the play. This will be presented to the class. There will
be a culminating essay based on the fever chart (SC 7, 8, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15) (Tim Averill).
Essay over Hamlet, the existential man (SC2, 4, 8, 10, 11-15)
Reading test
Each student will prepare a lesson for the class over a scene in
Hamlet.
After reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, students will
write a comparative essay over a shared theme throughout the three
dramas (SC3, 4, 6, 8, 11-15) (Shelley Cook).
Second Six Weeks:
Unit II: Feminist Perspective: The Awakening, A Doll House, The Handmaid’s Tale, selected
poems by Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, May Swenson, Adrienne Rich, and others
Activities/Assessments for Poetry:
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Introduction to poetic forms, purposes, and conventions (SC2, 3, 4)
Understand how poetic techniques and historical/social context contribute to
comprehending the poetry’s story and meaning
Use critical thinking/analytical skills to understand poetry
Use TPCASTT and DIDLS techniques and multiple choice questions from the
poetry section of released AP exams (SC3)
Reader response journals
Performance of poetry with discussion of how individual components of a poem
contribute to its overall effect using released AP prompts.
Activities/Assessments for Prose:
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Explication of short passages, key themes, and crucial conversation
Approaches to literary criticism
Identification and explanation of literary devices and the effect of those
strategies on the work as a whole (SC 4,7)
AP multiple choice practice using Applied Practice resource books
Activities/Assessment for Drama and Prose:
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Creation of a multimedia presentation of Doll’s House using songs to create a
soundtrack and explanation of how songs fit into particular acts of the play
and their larger significance on the work as a whole
Outside of class essay explaining the effect of the feminist perspective present
in both novels after analytic paper on each
This should be your own personal analysis rather than a survey of critics’
opinions (SC5, 8). The papers will be four typed double-spaced pages long, and
will:
identify a question about Life and the Human Condition that the work
addresses and to what extent the work answers the question;
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discuss a theme of the work and how the author presents that theme through
the events of the plot; (This is part of your thesis statement)
discuss another element of the work (character, characterization, setting,
point of view, style) as it contributes to the theme (This is the other part of
your thesis statement).
discuss how the question addressed by the work and the response it proposes
is relevant, or observable in your life experiences so far (including your
experience through movies, music, television, and other books);
a conclusion that explains why the work should be included in a list of works
of high literary merit.
Internal events essay: (1988 AP Open-Ended Question) (SC2, 5, 12-15)
Madness essay: (2001 AP Open-Ended Question) (SC 2, 5, 12-15)
Comparative Essay and debate(SC6,7,8, 10-15)
Socratic Seminar
Third Six Weeks:
Unit III: The Outsider: Invisible Man, Young Goodman Brown, A&P, various poems by Langston
Hughes and from the Bedford text.
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AP Test Prep
Independent Reading: Student choice from teacher approved list.
Through the investigation of character identity in the required novel and
various other prose and dramatic pieces, we will classify personal values,
interests, goals, and insights and analyze the elements that shape personal
identity (SC 8).
Activities/Assessments:
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Effects of point of view, style and tone
How to effectively discuss literary texts
Analysis of narrative and literary techniques for characterization
Exploration of author’s attitudes in required texts
Socratic Seminar
Tracking of motifs with explanation and significance to the work as a whole
(SC 8)
Essays from 1989 and 1995 AP Exams
In-class conferences on student writing (SC 11-15)
Fourth Six Weeks
Unit IV: Poetry
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Various forms, purposes, and conventions of poems by such poets as John
Donne, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Blake, Percy Shelley, Emily Dickinson,
Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and others (SC 1)
Understanding how poetic techniques and historical/social context contribute to
understanding of poetry’s story and meaning
In addition to poetry, we will read The Great Gatsby
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Activities/Assessment:
TPCASTT and DIDLS techniques
Poetry performances
Explication essay (SC 8, 9)
AP exam prep
Independent reading presentation
Daily dialogues with a poem in ongoing written response journals
Applied Practice multiple choice tests and essays for The Great Gatsby
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Fifth Six Weeks
Unit V: Exploration of Short Stories: A Rose for Emily, Everyday Use, The Yellow Wallpaper, The
Birthmark, Carnal Knowledge, The Happy Memories Club, The Story of the Good Little Boy,
There was Once, Videotape, and others
 Close reading
 Effects of point of view, style, and tone
 Effective discussion of literary texts
 Analysis of narrative and literary techniques for characterization
 Exploration of authors’ attitudes.
Activities/Assessment:
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Literary response journals assessing literary devices and their overall effect on
theme of each work
Released AP multiple choice questions relating to short stories
Original short stories for extra credit
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Working both individually and in small groups, look at and review effective
examples of timed in-class writing before completing two timed in-class essays for
this unit. Using the writing process, which includes the stages of planning,
drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, instruction and feedback will be
ongoing. The emphasis will be on revising multiple drafts, not on editing and not
on proofreading.
Engage in peer-editing sessions in order to master the ability to produce essays
and written compositions that are clear, with revision, in their intention, wellorganized, and supported by evidence (SC2,3)
Pinpoint and clearly explain the particular effect an author achieves in a piece of
short fiction and show how the author achieves that effect through the use of
such elements as symbols, imagery, diction, and organization in a 25—5—word
analytical essay
Find one source to apply to one of the short stories and write an evaluation of the
story’s artistry, quality, and social and cultural values (SC 9, 10)
Create a multimedia presentation (a literary text presentation) using sound and
images (SC 2, 3).
Sixth Six Weeks:
Unit VI: Return to Drama: Tennessee Williams
The last six weeks will focus on preparing for the AP exam.
We will read A Streetcar Named Desire and watch another Williams’ play (The Rose Tattoo).
Students will have a Socratic Seminar over Williams’ characterization of women.