Advanced Placement Literature & Composition
Ms. Menaul 2015-2016
Course Overview:
Welcome to Advanced Placement Literature & Composition! There are two overarching goals of this class: the first is to
prepare students for success on the A.P. test in May; the second (and arguably more important) is to reinforce a love of
literature, which is hopefully why you signed up for this class in the first place. A.P. Lit will be different from the
previous English classes you have taken. We will read a broad range of literature (from ancient Greek tragedy to the
modern American novel) and consider every piece of work in its entirety in both discussion and writing. We will examine
the “what” and the “how”: what literary strategies each author uses, and how those strategies help create meaning. We will
also look at each work in its historical context, considering how the outside world influences the text. And we will
evaluate – both the author’s skill and the text’s overall significance. Does the author get his/her message across
effectively? Is one text more important than another? Is it possible that the world would be different without a particular
book, poem or play? At every step of the way, we will be reminded that reading is not a passive activity; every text we
tackle will be thoroughly questioned, explained, analyzed and evaluated. By the end of each unit, you will be an “expert”
in the literature we have covered, and you’ll experience the Miracle of Reading: you change. You will be different at the
end than you were at the beginning.
Reading & Writing Components:
Reading:
 Students will read a wide range of literature, including fiction, poetry, and drama. We will use a compact textbook
for poetry and short stories (Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, by X.J. Kennedy
& Dana Gioia), as well as the following texts to “anchor” each unit:
1984
Heart of Darkness
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Things They Carried
Oedipus Rex
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hamlet
Wuthering Heights
Kite Runner

Students are expected to keep up with reading assignments actively, maintaining a Reading Response Logbook
that is updated with every reading assignment. Each Reading Response includes analysis of a significant
quotation; evaluation of a literary device that appears in the text; questions for class discussion; and class notes.
Writing:
 Students will write in a variety of formats, for a variety of purposes. By May, students will have had plenty of
practice analyzing and evaluating both familiar and unfamiliar texts in writing.
Over the course of the year, students will write to understand, to explain, and to evaluate.
o Writing to understand is a daily occurrence in A.P. Lit: from Reading Response Logs at home, to journal
prompts in class, students write informally to develop their understanding every day.
o Writing to explain and writing to evaluate are more formal exercises, and will be assigned on a weekly
basis. “Extended” essays are written outside of class (one per quarter), and revisions are required. Formal
writing assignments will include:
 Extended literary analysis essay (with revisions)
 Extended persuasive essay (with revisions)
 Timed, in-class responses to close reading
 Timed Practice Tests, based on previous A.P. questions (with revisions on select essays)
 Creative Writing (including fiction, poetry and personal narrative)
 Extended essays are the cornerstone assessments of the course. Although the A.P. exam does not offer the
luxuries that writing at home affords you (such as time, spell-check, or the opportunity to reflect and revise), the
process of writing a polished essay is the only way to truly do justice to your understanding of the literature we

have been studying. Each quarter, students will write and revise at least one extended essay. It is expected that
students will incorporate feedback from the teacher as well as his/her classmates.
Feedback will include the following components:
o Introduction: clarity of thesis
o Evidence: quotes directly linked to thesis
o Analysis: thought-provoking, beyond the obvious, no summary
o Organization: coherence and logical flow
o Conventions: correct spelling & grammar (including citations)
o Syntax: sentence variety & structure
o Diction: collegiate word choice
o Tone & Voice
I will teach mini-lessons throughout the year as needed in each of these areas. Vocabulary will be covered in
context, as we read. Students define unfamiliar words as part of reading homework, and together the class
generates the list of words on which they will be tested.
Timeline:
Quarter 1: The Individual in Society – Social Commentary
 Summer Reading Review: Great Expectations & Emma
o Preview Literary Devices & Terminology
o Introduce Close Reading
o Practice Theme Statements – Introduce concept of MOWAW: The meaning of the work as a
whole.
o Establish Socratic Seminar norms
o Consider historic context
o Introduce Writing to Evaluate: Is one work more important than the other? Consider the artistry
and quality of each book, as well as its social, historical and cultural value.
 1984 (including postscript) & One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
o Focus on Close Readings. How do the authors use figurative language, imagery, symbolism and
tone to create meaning?
 Example: How does Orwell use formal literary elements to develop the symbolism of the
thrush? (123-124)
 Example: How does Kesey use formal literary elements to develop the “pleasant
analogy” of the “peckin party”? (55)
o Focus on Historical Context:
 Example: How are these two books indicative of the social and historical context in
which they were written? What is the “combine” the characters fight against in both
books?
o Extended Literary Analysis Essay: Explain how 1984 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
function as social commentary. How do the authors use formal elements, such as symbolism,
imagery, and figurative language, to send a message about society?
 Poetry: The Basics (structure, tone, speaker, poetic devices, imagery, style)
Sample Poems: Mary Oliver’s “Percy” poems; “A Book,” by Emily Dickinson; “Introduction to Poetry”
and “Sonnet,” by Billy Collins; “Hay for the Horses,” by Gary Snyder; “Metaphors,” by Sylvia Plath; “I
Hear America Singing” and “To a Locomotive in Winter,” by Walt Whitman; “The Piercing Chill I Feel,”
by Taniguchi Buson; “Nuns Fret Not,” by William Wordsworth”; “Chaos” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Quarter 2: “Ignorance is Strength”
 The Greeks & The Origin of Drama
Review Antigone (10th grade) and Aristotle’s concept of Tragedy
Read: Oedipus Rex
Read: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
 Hamlet
o Review: Renaissance & Humanism
o Focus on Close Reading: diction, syntax, structure, style, figurative language, imagery,
symbolism
 Kite Runner (outside reading – Winter Break)
o Focus on MOWAW: What does Amir’s experience tell us about life? Is he a tragic hero?
 “Paradise Lost” (Excerpts)
o Focus on Structure: epic poem, blank verse
o Focus on Symbolism: The Ear
o Extended Persuasive Essay: Evaluate the party slogan, “Ignorance is Strength.” Using evidence
from literature throughout the ages (Oedipus, Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Kite Runner), decide to
what extent the slogan is true.
 Poetry: The Basics, continued (special emphasis on Renaissance)
Sample Poems: “Wild Geese,” by Mary Oliver; “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” by Dylan
Thomas; “On Paradise Lost,” by Andrew Marvell; “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” by Adrienne
Rich; “My Heart Leaps Up,” by William Wordsworth; “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” by
Shakespeare & “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” by Howard Moss
Quarter 3: “The Darkness of Man’s Heart”
 Heart of Darkness, The Things They Carried (excerpts), & The Picture of Dorian Gray
o Focus on Close Reading & Comparison of Themes
 Example: Compare passages from HOD with excerpts from Lord of the Flies (review
from 10th grade)
o Focus on Characterization:
 Example: Compare and contrast Kurtz (HOD) & Mary Anne (TTTC, “Sweetheart of the
Song Tra Bong”)
o Focus on Symbolism:
 Example: How does Wilde use formal literary elements to develop the symbolism of the
painting?
o Focus on Evaluating & Literary Criticism:
 Example: Is Chinua Achebe right in asserting that there is “obvious racism” in Heart of
Darkness? (Read Achebe’s 1977 article in the Massachusetts Review, “An Image of
Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’”).
o Extended Literary Analysis Essay: Select an epigram from The Picture of Dorian Gray and
explain how it applies to the literature we’ve read this year.
 Poetry: Tone & Theme
Sample Poems: “The Hollow Men,” by T.S. Elliot; “The Listeners,” by Walter de la Mer; “A Negro
Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston Hughes; “The Collar,” by George Herbert; “If Poisonous Minerals,” by
John Donne; “The World is too much with us,” by William Wordsworth; “Sign for my Father, Who
Stressed the Bunt,” by David Bottoms; “Morning Poem,” by Mary Oliver
Quarter 4 (Pre-Test): “Dangerous Liaisons”
 Wuthering Heights
o Focus on Close Reading: setting, imagery, symbolism, characterization, tone
o Focus on Evaluating & Literary Criticism:
 Example: Read original 1848 reviews of WH. Does the novel reveal “shocking pictures
of the worst forms of humanity,” or “cast a grateful light on the dreary path we have
travelled”?
o Focus on Creative Writing & Style:

Example: Re-write a scene from another character’s point of view, mimicking Bronte’s
style.
o Socratic Seminar: Evaluate the importance of Wuthering Heights as a “classic.” Does it deserve
to be ranked among the “must-read” literature of the English canon? Consider the artistry and
quality of the novel, as well as its social, historical and cultural value.
 Poetry: Tone & Theme
Sample Poems: “No Coward Soul is Mine,” “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem,” and “A Chainless Life,” by
Emily Bronte; “To His Coy Mistress,” by Andrew Marvel; “The Flea” by John Donne; “To the Virgins,
to Make Much of Time,” by Robert Herrick; “Go, lovely Rose,” by Edmund Waller; “Ex Boyfriends” and
“What Do Women Want?” by Kim Addonizio; “Man Writes Poem,” by Jay Leeming
Quarter 4 (Post-Test): The Individual in Society
 Students design curriculum after the A.P. exam, based on the topic of the Individual in Society. Past
content has included Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn; Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse; The Catcher in the
Rye, by J.D. Salinger; and the film Into the Wild, based on the book by Jon Krakauer.
o The final essay is to be determined, based on the curriculum designed by the students. It will
generally focus on the question: How does literature inform our understanding of the “right way
to live?”