AP English 12 – Shari Ray
St. Mary’s Episcopal School
Fifth and Sixth Period Syllabus – A, C, D, and E days
Conscience and Consciousness
What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Third Quarter – And What About Suffering? And Does It Mean
Anything?
Major Texts: A Doll’s House – Ibsen – “The Woman Question”
The Metamorphosis – Kafka – Aburdist
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Sartor Resartus” – An Essay by Thomas Carlisle
Victorian Poetry – Browning, Browning, Tennyson, Hopkins, Rossetti,
Arnold
Selected Modern Poetry – Feminist Poetry
The Poetry of T. S. Eliot
Writing Assignments:
 Three short analyses of selected poetry (analytical)
 Critical Analysis Paper: This quarter students will research, pre-write, edit, and
revise an 8-10 page analytical paper on a researched topic. This is a culminating
paper for this course.
January
Week One
Mon 3 – Mays Writing Prize
Wed 5 – Library Days
Thurs 6 – Library Days
Fri 7 – Library Days
HW – Begin systematic work on your Analytical Paper – due 2/1
Week Two
Mon 10 – Introduction to the Victorian Era – Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
HW – Read and annotate E.B. Browning’s “The Cry of the Children” (1922) and
Sonnets from the Portuguese #’s 21, 22, 32, and 43 (1926)
Wed 12 – Selected Poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
HW – read and annotate E.B. Browning’s “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point”
(1927)
Thurs 13 – Selected Poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
HW – Alfred, Lord Tennyson and In Memoriam – Read the Intro to “In Memoriam
A.H.H.” very carefully (pp. 1942 and following) as this explains the purpose for the
poem. Then read and annotate the following sections of the poem: OBIIT, 2, 3, 5,
6, 9, 27, 28, 30, 78, 95 (read this one most carefully, as herein lies the climax of the
poem), 105, 106
Fri 14 – Discuss Tennyson’s In Memoriam
HW – Reread Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shallot” (1953)
 Short Essay: Choose one of the Victorian poems that we have read thus
far. Then write a 350-500 word analysis of that poem answering this
question: How does the poet’s use of diction, tone, and syntax affect the
thematic meaning of the poem?
Week Three
Mon 17 – Martin Luther King Holiday!
Tues 18 – Short Essay Due – Selected Poetry by Robert Browning – “Soliloquy of the
Spanish Cloister” and “My Last Duchess”
HW – Read “My Last Duchess” (2058) and “Porphyria’s Lover” (2054) – Be ready
to discuss Browning’s treatment of women in these poems.
Thurs 20 – The Dramatic Monologue: “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” (Also
“Hazel Tells Laverne”)
HW – Read and annotate “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” (2064) – be
ready to discuss the journey itself as femme fatale.
Fri 21 – Discuss “Childe Roland” – Intro Matthew Arnold and read “Dover Beach” in
class
HW – Read and annotate “Stanzas from the Grand Chartreuse” – Be ready to
discuss Arnold’s comment on Victorian thought and society.
 Short Essay (due Tuesday): Choose one of the Victorian poems that we have
read thus far. Then write a 350-500 word analysis of that poem answering this
question: How does the poet’s use of diction, tone, and syntax affect the thematic
meaning of the poem?
Week Four
Mon 24 – Matthew Arnold and “Stanzas”
HW – Gerard Manley Hopkins – read and annotate the following Hopkins’ poems
(2160-2167)“God’s Grandeur,” “As Kingfishers Catch Fire,” “Spring,” “The
Windhover,” and “Pied Beauty,” “Spring and Fall,” and “I Wake and Feel the Fell of
Dark, Not Day”
 Short Essay Due
Tues 25 – Short Essay Due – Discuss the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
HW – Thomas Carlisle’s Sartor Resartus “The Everlasting No” and “The Everlasting
Yea” (provided)
Thurs 27 – Carlisle and Hopkins
HW – Test on Victorian Poetry
Fri 28 – TEST on Victorian Thought and Poetry
HW – T.S. Eliot
February
Week Five
Mon 31 – T.S. Eliot
HW – Analytical Paper Due @ 7:45
Tues 1 – Analytical Paper Due @ 7:45/ T.S. Eliot in class
HW
Thurs 3 – T.S. Eliot
HW
Fri 4 – T.S. Eliot
HW – No homework…Father/Daughter Dance!
 Short Essay (due Monday): Read “Loyal Housewife” and “Negative Space” –
Then write a 350-500 word analysis of these poems answering this question: How
does the poet’s use of diction, tone, and syntax affect the thematic meaning of the
poem?
Week Six
Mon 7 – Short Essay due / T.S. Eliot
HW – Read Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Tues 8 – Short Essay Due / A Doll’s House and selected feminist poetry
HW – Complete A Doll’s House
Thurs 9 – A Doll’s House and selected feminist poetry (“Barbie Doll,” “What’s That Smell in
the Kitchen,” “Doll House,” “Marks”
HW – read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis
Fri 11 – The Metamorphosis
HW – Test
Week Seven
Mon 14 – TEST
Tues 15 – Introduce The Brothers Karamazov
HW – Brothers reading 1
Thurs 17 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 2
Fri 18-Mon 21 – Student Holidays! (Note: You may consider using this long weekend to
get ahead on your Brothers reading. Just a thought.)
Week Eight
Tues 22 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 3
Wed 23 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 4
Thurs 24 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 5 – “The Grand Inquisitor”
Week Nine
Mon 28 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 6
March
Tues 1 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 7
Wed 2 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 8
Thurs 3 – Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 9
Week Ten
Mon 7– Brothers
HW – Brothers reading 10
Tues 8 – Final discussion of Brothers
HW – Test on Brothers
Wed 9 – TEST on The Brothers Karamazov
Thurs 10 – Introduce Student-Teaching Project
Spring Break!!!
Week Eleven
Tues 22 – Student Teaching of Modern Poetry
HW – AP prose
Wed 23 – Student Teaching
HW
Thurs 24 – Student Teaching
HW – Read James Joyce’s short story “Araby” (2503)
Fri 25 – Student Teaching
HW – Read three short stories by Flannery O’Connor (“Good Country People,” “A
Good Man Is Hard to Find,” and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
Week Twelve
Tues 29 – The Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor
HW – Read two short stories by Virginia Woolfe (“The Moth” and “The New
Dress”)
Wed 30 – The Short Stories of Virginia Woolfe
HW – Test on Modern Poetry and Prose
Thurs 31 – TEST on Modern Poetry and Prose
HW – East of Eden reading 1-6
NOTE: We will also be reading poetry and working on AP prep in class during the reading
of East of Eden. There will be additional writing assignments during this reading.
April
Fri 1 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden reading 7-10
Week Thirteen
Tues 5 – Senior/Mother Luncheon
HW – East of Eden chapters 11-14
Wed 6 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 15-18
Thurs 7 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 19-22
Fri 8 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 23-25
Week Fourteen
Tues 12 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 26-30
Wed 13 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 31-36
Thurs 14 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 37-41
Fri 15 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 42-49
Week Fifteen
Tues 18 – East of Eden
HW – East of Eden chapters 50-55
Wed 19 – Final discussion of East of Eden
HW – Test on East of Eden
Thurs 21 – TEST on East of Eden
Fri 22-Mon 25 – Easter Holidays!
Week Sixteen
Tues 26 and Thurs 28 – AP Preparations
Fri 29 – Black Friday!