AP English Literature Unit Calendar:
Appearance vs. Reality and the Individual vs. Society in Victorian England and America
Queen Victoria’s reign as Queen of England from 1837 to her death in 1901 had a profound impact on both British
and American culture of the time period and even beyond. In particular, she introduced what is still known today
as a culture of “Victorian morality,” or any set of values that espouse sexual restraint, a low tolerance of crime, and
a strict social code of conduct. Oscar Wilde examines the impact of Victorian society’s unrealistic expectations on
the individual in his play The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), showing how rejection, whether from a potential
partner or society as a whole, can lead to deceit and engaging in a double life in order to satisfy conventions.
Similarly, the central internal conflict of Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening (1899) revolves around such duplicity.
As the 2005 AP English Exam Open-Ended prompt points out, “protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess ‘that
outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.’” In an essay on Victorian ideals, Felicia Appell
describes the “outward existence” that would have characterized Edna’s world:
Women in the Victorian society had one main role in life, which was to marry and take part in their
husbands’ interests and business. Before marriage, they would learn housewife skills such as weaving,
cooking, washing, and cleaning, unless they were of a wealthy family. If they were wealthy, they did not
always learn these tasks because their maids primarily took care of the household chores. Typically,
women were also not allowed to be educated or gain knowledge outside of the home because it was a
man’s world. One critic, Richard D. Altick, states, “a woman was inferior to a man in all ways except the
unique one that counted most [to a man]: her femininity. Her place was in the home, on a veritable
pedestal if one could be afforded, and emphatically not in the world of affairs.” Patriarchal society did not
allow women to have the same privileges as men. Consequently, women were ascribed the more
feminine duties of caring for the home and pursuing the outlets of feminine creativity.
Both The Importance of Being Earnest and The Awakening challenge the values of their specific time periods, but
they still speak to us today because of our universal tendencies to mask our individual realities with false social
appearances and our equally universal desires to break free from such societal constraints.
Anchor Texts: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest; Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Supplementary Texts: Prose/poetry selections to be analyzed in AP-style essays
11/9/15
11/10/15
11/11/15
11/12/15
11/13/15
In-Class Work Day
Field Trip: The
Tempest @ The
Shakespeare
Tavern in Atlanta
Unit 3 Introduction:
- Unit calendar
preview
- Read/discuss
opening scene of
The Awakening
- Begin MWDS for
The Awakening and
The Importance of
Being Earnest
In-class reading:
The Importance of
Being Earnest
Vocabulary Quiz
#11
Out-of-class
reading: The
Awakening
AP Essay #3 (OpenEnded) due to
turnitin.com
Last week’s satire
assignments turned
in by today
11/16/15
11/17/15
11/18/15
11/19/15
11/20/15
In-class reading:
The Importance of
Being Earnest
In-class reading:
The Importance of
Being Earnest
In-class reading:
The Importance of
Being Earnest
In-class reading:
The Importance of
Being Earnest
Vocabulary Quiz
#11
Out-of-class
reading: The
Awakening
Out-of-class
reading: The
Awakening
Out-of-class
reading: The
Awakening
Out-of-class
reading: The
Awakening
Senior Project
Work Day
(Research Paper
Final Draft due to
turnitin.com)
11/23/15
11/24/15
11/25/15
11/26/15
11/27/15
THANKSGIVING
BREAK
THANKSGIVING
BREAK
THANKSGIVING
BREAK
THANKSGIVING
BREAK
THANKSGIVING
BREAK
11/30/15
12/1/15
12/2/15
12/3/15
12/4/15
AP Essay #4
(Poetry) due to
turnitin.com
Socratic Seminar
Discussion: The
Importance of
Being Earnest
MWDS/DRJ Due
Date (15 entries – 5
per act): The
Importance of
Being Earnest
In-Class Essay: The
Importance of
Being Earnest
Vocabulary Quiz
#12
12/7/15
12/8/15
12/9/15
12/10/15
12/11/15
In-class reading:
The Awakening
Socratic Seminar
Discussion: The
Awakening
MWDS/DRJ Due
Date (15 entries – 5
per each third of
book): The
Awakening
In-Class Essay: The
Awakening
Vocabulary Quiz
#13
Senior Project
Work Day (Blog
10/10/10 Check)
12/14/15
12/15/15
12/16/15
12/17/15
12/18/15
AP Essay #5 (Prose)
due to turnitin.com
FINAL EXAMS
1st/5th
FINAL EXAMS
7th/3rd
FINAL EXAMS
2nd/4th
FINAL EXAM
6th