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AP ENGLISH Literature and Composition 12
Woodland Hills High School
Instructor: Mrs. Silverman
Room: 114
e-mail: silvli@whsd.net
Student Syllabus
Course Description
Students in this course are engaged in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative
literature. Through close reading of selected literary works, they will develop critical standards for
interpreting the effects writers create by means of the artful manipulation of language. To achieve
these goals, students study individual works and their characters, action, structure, and language.
They consider large-scale literary elements such as form and theme, and smaller-scale elements
such as figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. The writing assignments focus on the
critical analysis of literature and include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. If a student
performed at the basic or below basic level on the Keystone literature exam, this course is not
recommended. This course prepares students to take the AP examination in Literature and
Composition in May of the senior year.
Course Goals and Student Expectations
AP English students are expected to contribute to class every day and be independent learners. A
climate of learning is only made possible with cooperation and class participation. The class will be
conducted as a seminar/meeting. AP English students should be prepared to read, write, and
discuss literature every day. AP English students are capable and motivated students who want to
learn.
Students will:
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Attend class daily and participate in class discussions.
Study materials presented in class and in the readings.
Keep a dialectical reading journal as an integral tool for developing vocabulary and generating
ideas for writing and class discussions (same handout from summer reading).
Pass quizzes and tests on content studied at a minimum of 75% mastery.
Complete one writing project on an outside reading each marking period.
Present one mini-lecture to class introducing an author or literary/historical time period.
Complete the Advanced Placement examination.
Research, write, and present the Senior Project (graduation requirement).
Use language and organize ideas in a clear, coherent, and persuasive manner.
Develop critical standards for prose and poetry in regard to meaning, structure, value, time period,
and relate these ideas with student experiences.
Explain and interpret ideas and themes presented in selected literature through discussion and
writing.
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Apply critical analyses through writing and speaking.
Write critical and expository essays which interpret literature and poetry.
Write and revise compositions in response to interpretive exercises, activities, and class
discussions to explain literary selections.
This course will loosely follow the chronology of your British Literature textbook with the addition of
supplemental texts by American and global writers to expand our discussion of themes, archetypes,
and the literary and historical movements of the literature we study. We will also refer to
contemporary literary theory as a means to expand our critical and interpretive lenses.
Main texts to be used in class:
Glencoe British Literature Textbook
Norton Introduction to Literature 9th Edition
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
Course Content by Unit
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION—WHAT IS LITERATURE?
TEXTS: Summer reading Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Out of This Furnace Thomas Bell
Othello William Shakespeare
Academic essays Kent, Charles W. “What is Literature: An Attempt at a Definition.” The
Sewanee Review 3.3 (1895): 307-313.
Hall, Robert A., Jr. “Once More—What is Literature?” The Modern
Language Journal 63.3 (1979): 91-98.
Literary essay
“The Myth of Sisyphus” Albert Camus
OBJECTIVES:
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Analyze structure and break down the logical organization of two academic essays defining
literature (1895 and 1979).
Compare/contrast two definitions and establish working definition with student input for course.
Compare the writing quality of three literary works (summer reading) as a model for future analysis
of style, tone, theme.
Identify and characterize the narrator through an analysis of voice.
Draw inferences in the analysis of character by analyzing the language and tone of the narration.
Articulate how imagery, tone, and narrative technique can be used to reveal theme from reading
and responding to short stories in writing.
Recognize in fictional prose the three elements of style: grammar, rhythm & sound, and diction
and practice in sentence writing using a variety of sentence structures and styles referenced in
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course.
Interpret textual evidence and formulate a well-argued thesis based on close textual analyses of
structure, style (figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone), and social/historical values of
each literary text.
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Analyze “Myth of Sisyphus” as metaphor for senior year.
ASSESSMENTS:
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Write a timed in-class essay on style and imagery (sample AP exam prompt)
Peer assessment of timed essay response, as well as revision according to teacher feedback
during student-teacher conferences, as well as large group instruction, for the 5-paragraph essay.
Write a 5-paragraph essay on a student selected novel from summer reading, which explicitly
interprets the novel’s structure, style (diction, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone),
and social/historical values represented in novel.
Participate in a whole class close reading of Albert Camus’ “Myth of Sisyphus” as a model for
future close readings (form and theme, social/historical values [existentialism], literary elements).
UNIT 2: ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD, THE EPIC HERO, AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
TEXTS: Glencoe British Literature Textbook
Beowulf (and three different excerpt translations by Morgan, Heaney, Raffel)
“Ulysses” Alfred Lord Tennyson
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
OBJECTIVES:
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Identify cultural clashes that produced the English language, as well as the impact of Christianity
on pagan culture in Beowulf.
Identify and analyze themes and elements of the epic hero archetype in Beowulf and Victorian
poet Tennyson’s “Ulysses.”
Analyze poetic devices used in medieval poetry (alliteration, enjambment, kennings).
Compare/contrast style and diction of three different excerpt translations of Beowulf.
ASSESSMENTS:
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Write an epic boast implementing stylistic devices used in Beowulf (alliteration, enjambment,
kennings).
Develop a thesis that defends one translation of Beowulf by analyzing why its translator is the
most accurate stylistic interpreter of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Revise sample AP essay according to student-teacher conferencing, peer revision circles, large
group teacher instruction, and teacher written suggestions from drafts.
Participate in a Socratic seminar on the changing face of epic heroism and masculinity as
represented in Anglo-Saxon, Victorian, and contemporary cultures.
UNIT 3: THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD, SATIRE, AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF HELL
TEXTS: The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
“Bisclavret” Marie de France
Excerpt Dante’s Inferno
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No Exit Jean-Paul Sartres
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
OBJECTIVES:
 Analyze the use of framing devices.
 Identify elements of the Anglo-Norman lai and analyze Marie de France’s writing as a source text
for Chaucer.
 Analyze the universality of satirical themes presented through the use of figurative language,
humor, and irony to convey the social/historical values of the literary period represented.
 Compare/contrast socio-historic periods (medieval, modern) and their influence on author
depictions of hell in three literary texts.
 Identify stylistic elements of Dante’s poetic style (terza rima, speaker, framing devices).
ASSESSMENTS:
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Independent study of Canterbury Tale of choice which will include:
1. One page summary of the tale.
2. Annotated bibliography of five academic articles about chosen tale in which the student
must write a brief article synopsis and evaluate the source.
3. Essay analyzing the tale’s purpose, using research (MLA style documentation) and
personal observations of text.
4. Informal oral presentation of research to class.
Compare in writing Camus’ existential philosophy (from “The Myth of Sisyphus”) with that of
Sartres using textual evidence for support (AP style timed writing comparing texts).
UNIT 4: THE RENAISSANCE, SHAKESPEARE, AND THE TRAGIC HERO
TEXTS:
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Hamlet William Shakespeare
“On Revenge” Sir Francis Bacon
Aristotle’s theory of tragedy
Elaine Showalter’s “Stages of Feminism”
Sigmund Freud’s “Oedipal Complex”
Fences August Wilson
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
Develop knowledge of subordinate and coordinate clauses through teacher instruction, written
practice, and group discussion.
Discuss teacher feedback and instruction and revise these insults utilizing a variety of sentence
structures, including uses of subordination and coordination.
Complete a character analysis by examining actions and words of the characters.
Articulate universal themes that are common to great tragedy.
Evaluate plot, character, theme, and language as elements of tragedy.
Define elements of Aristotle’s classical definition of the tragic hero and the modern anti-hero.
Compare dictions used by both playwrights.
Compare socio-historic periods—Renaissance culture and 1950’s American culture—in terms of
creating conflict for the characters.
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Use feminist and psychoanalytical theory to examine character motives in both Hamlet and
Fences.
ASSESSMENTS:
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Perform Shakespearian soliloquies using newly learned vocabulary, sentence variety, and
subordination and coordination.
Complete unit vocabulary test.
Complete grammar exam on complex sentences: subordination and coordination.
Create and write a modern prose soliloquy that is evaluated for the use of unit vocabulary, a
variety of sentence structures, and subordination/coordination.
Write a timed in-class essay using a sample AP prompt from AP English Literature and
Composition Released Exams.
Write a well-developed essay defending whether Fences’ protagonist Troy Maxson is better
defined as a classical tragic hero or modern anti-hero.
Write a photo essay tying 1950’s Teenie Harris photography to Fences through analysis of mood
and subject in art.
View and compare two Troy Maxson performances/director interpretations of character.
UNIT 5: THE ENGLISH RESTORATION, EMPIRE, AND “OTHERNESS”
TEXTS: “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift
Oroonoko Aphra Behn
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
Postcolonial Theory: Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
2007 AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
OBJECTIVES:
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Analyze three different literary responses to empire and/or colonization (satiric essay, novella,
novel).
Identify and discuss the author’s use of motif, symbolism, tone, imagery, satire, and irony in
literature.
Use postcolonial theory to interpret literature, particularly marginalized “others.”
ASSESSMENTS:
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Complete a peer revision worksheet – attached to each draft of the multi-paragraph essay that
focuses on content, logical organization of ideas, style (subordination and coordination), and
grammar mechanics appropriately, as well as unit vocabulary.
Complete a written annotated reading log that focuses on the author’s use of motif, symbolism,
tone, imagery, and irony in modern drama.
Compose several drafts and revise the multi-paragraph essay according to teacher
instruction/feedback and peer revision; evaluate or argue for either theme: illusion vs. reality from
either Death of a Salesman or Fences, utilizing a critical essay on the play for illustrative, specific
support of the thesis statement.
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UNIT 6: WOMEN’S VOICES: THE VICTORIAN AGE TO POSTMODERNISM
(ESSAYS, DRAMA, SHORT STORIES)
TEXT: Glencoe British Literature Textbook
Norton Introduction to Literature 9th Edition
“A Vindication of the Rights of Women” Mary Wollstonecraft
“A Room of One’s Own” excerpt Virginia Woolf
“Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gillman
“Jury of Her Peers” Susan Glaspell
“Soap and Water” Anzia Yzierska
“Desiree’s Baby” Kate Chopin
“Sanctuary” Nella Larsen
“Sarah” Mary Lavin
“No Name Woman” Maxine Hong Kingston
Images of women in male-authored texts:
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
“The Dead” James Joyce
“Wife-Wooing” John Updike
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Interpret literature in terms of socio-historical implications for women.
Identify elements of the short story: point of view, tone, symbolism, conflict, theme, imagery,
mood, irony, epiphany, metafiction.
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UNIT 7: GENRE STUDY—DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE
TEXT: 1984 George Orwell
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
“The Pedestrian” Ray Bradbury
“Blood-Child” Octavia Butler
“Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut
AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
OBJECTIVES:
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Explore the modern philosophies of Existentialism and Absurdism in literature paying attention to
how the author uses a balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail to illustrate these
philosophies.
Articulate the various themes of the novels.
Define unit vocabulary and write compositions utilizing the unit vocabulary with a variety of
sentence structures (including subordination and coordination) to increase vocabulary and
grammar skills (Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course).
Identify, define, and explicate examples of the following rhetorical devices: simile, metaphor,
personification, apostrophe, metonymy, allegory, symbol, paradox, hyperbole, understatement,
irony, and illusion.
Discuss how people generalize one another according to stereotypes and how the unit’s authors
may or may not stereotype these characters accordingly.
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Apply a balance of generalization and specific details in writing through teacher
instruction/feedback from multiple drafts of essay on existentialism vs. absurdism.
ASSESSMENTS:
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Develop a thesis that evaluates the novel’s artistry and quality.
Write a timed in-class essay that explains and evaluates the artistry and quality of the novel, and
argues its relevance towards modern 21st century issues (sample AP prompts from 2011 AP
English Literature and Composition Released Exam).
Written revision of the sample AP essay according to teacher instruction, comments and peer
revision.
Revise and edit the in-class essay into a formal extended multi-paragraph analytical essay that
evaluates and discusses how people stereotype one another and how the unit’s authors
stereotype these fiction characters accordingly.
Write and revise an outside-of-class essay illustrating how the themes of the novel are examples
of existentialism or absurdism using a balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail
from Native Son and The Stranger as support (at least 3 drafts that utilize teacher comments and
peer revision comments).
UNIT 8: POETRY AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
TEXT: Norton Literature: 8th ed. (various poems)
Glencoe Literature Textbook
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
2007 AP English Literature and Composition Released Exam
OBJECTIVES:
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Choose and utilize words for their connotations as well as denotations.
Analyze the effectiveness of poetry that conveys experience through the use of sensory imagery.
Distinguish between "total meaning" and "prose meaning" in poetry.
Apply logical organization enhanced by techniques to increase coherence such as repetition,
transition, and emphasis in poetry.
Identify, define, and evaluate the effectiveness of alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, and
refrain.
Scan lines of poetry to determine poetic foot and line (Norton Literature: 8th ed).
Discuss the effective use of rhetoric, controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and
achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure in large group teacher led
instruction.
Interpret tone in student-generated poems after teacher instruction and small-group student led
discussion activity.
ASSESSMENTS:
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Teach a poetry lesson to the class that clearly displays the effective use of rhetoric, controlling
tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through poetic
devices (symbolism, metaphor, simile, rhyme, and rhythm) including diction and verse/sentence
structure.
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Using a sample poem from the AP exam, write an in-class timed analysis arguing how the
poem’s organization and poetic techniques of repetition, transition, and emphasis are essential to
interpreting the poem’s imagery (sample AP prompt from 2011 AP English Literature and
Composition Released Exam).
Revise second draft according to written teacher instruction/feedback on student drafts and peer
revision comments done in small groups or pairs.
Compose final draft utilizing teacher feedback and peer revision comments.
UNIT 10: RESEARCH WRITING UNIT – SENIOR PROJECT
TEXT: MLA Handbook for Research Writers
Warriner’s Handbook: Holt 6th Course
Student Research sources
OBJECTIVES:
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Research, write, and present the Senior Project (graduation requirement).
Identify a topic of interest to research.
Develop a thesis statement that can be researched, analyzed, argued, and supported by expert
critical sources for the purpose of writing a 5-8 page research paper.
Use language and organize ideas in a clear, coherent, and persuasive manner.
Discuss and explain the effective use of rhetoric, controlling tone, establishing and maintaining
voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure before and
after teacher instruction by writing note cards.
Develop logical organization skills utilizing MLA Format in a Sentence Outline to increase student
awareness of the topic’s coherence, repetition, transitions, and emphasis of ideas and research
details.
Apply a balance of generalization and specific, illustrative details using MLA format to cite
research through several written drafts before and after teacher instruction and peer revision of
writing.
Present and provide a 20 minute timed presentation with the option of several visual aids.
ASSESSMENTS (Common Core Standards Writing Assessment Rubric):
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Preliminary written topic proposal and thesis statement followed by teacher feedback and
comments.
Write specific, illustrative details from research sources using a minimum of 20 Note cards
following MLA Guidelines (MLA Handbook For Research Writers).
Develop research into a formal sentence outline following MLA Format (MLA Handbook For
Research Writers).
Compose several drafts of 5-8 page research paper utilizing peer revision and teacher feedback
and instruction on MLA formatting guidelines before and after each draft.
Revise drafts to achieve the perfect final copy of the 5-8 page research paper.
Demonstrates effective use of rhetoric, tone, voice, diction, and sentence structure appropriate for
a formal research paper.
Develop and write an outline for a speech that persuades, explains, and argues the Sr. Project
focus/thesis during a timed 20 minute student presentation.
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The Senior Project is a graduation requirement. It is based on a self-selected topic; however, all
projects must be academically challenging and intellectually rigorous. The project requires a written
and detailed proposal. Parents/guardians must approve the project. Once the proposal is granted,
the research process begins. The end product must meet the academic standards for Language Arts
and the requirements of this project.
The Senior Project will be an ongoing assignment throughout the year. Students are required to
conduct independent research and write the drafts of this project outside of class. Students will hand
in components of the project at various stages throughout the school year. The Senior Project will be
a major part of each six-week grading period. It will also make up the mid-term and final grade
for this course (see the Senior Project Unit Plan for details and due dates).
Plagiarism Policy
Students who plagiarize the Senior Project, or any other assignment, will automatically receive a
zero. A discipline report will also be issued for any incident of plagiarism. Remember that guidance
counselors write recommendations for college admissions and scholarship awards.
Parents/guardians will be notified immediately.
Student Evaluation/Assessment
Students will earn their grades based on the following methods of assessment:
 Reading selection quizzes and tests
 Written assignments/special projects
 Essays written in response to sample AP examination questions
 Oral Presentations
 Class Participation
 Large and small group discussion
 Senior Project
A straight point system will be used. Student scores are calculated by the following formula:
[Student’s number of points / the total number of points assigned = % grade]
The Woodland Hills School District grading system is:
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
AP courses are weighted courses. Students receive weighted credit only if the grade is an “A” or a
“B.” If an “A” normally yields four points in a non-AP course, an “A” in an AP course yields five points.
This ultimately affects the student QPA calculation.
Homework & Classroom Policies
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Student learning is directly correlated to the amount of time spent on learning. AP English students
are very busy students. A short writing assignment or quiz will be given without notice to check for
understanding of the readings and to initiate discussion of the literature. AP English students are
often excused from class to attend college visitations, field trips, and GATE programs. The following
procedures for absences are in effect:
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If you are absent due to illness, you have one day from your return to class to make up the
assignment for full credit.
If you are present on the day of a test or a timed writing, you are expected to take the test or to
write the essay on the assigned day, regardless of an absence (excused or otherwise) during the
interim.
If you are excused from class for a college visitation, GATE program, or a special field trip, you
are expected to inform me of the absence two days in advance of the absence.
I expect you to have your assignments completed and submitted on the due date if you are
present in school.
If you are absent on the due date of an assignment, you must submit that assignment on the day
that you return to school.
If you are absent on the day in which a test is given, you must arrange to make up the test within 2
days of your return to class. If the test has not been made-up within the week, you will receive no
credit for the test.
Due dates/Deadlines
AP English students are expected to complete all assignment on the due date. College does
not allow students extensions on assignments. In order to receive full credit for an assignment,
students must turn the assignment in on the date it is due. Extenuating circumstances will be
handled on a case by case basis. Students will always know the due date and the deadline for an
assignment. Assignments will not be accepted after the deadline and missing AP English to attend
GATE or a field trip is not an excuse to turn in a late assignment! If you are in the building, be
responsible and drop your work off with me at some point during the day.
Oral Presentations must be presented on time. We cannot hold the whole class up because a
student is not prepared to give an oral presentation. All oral presentations are scored with a rubric
that will be given to students in advance of the presentation. Students who are not prepared to
present, will receive no credit for the assignment.
Primary Course Materials
Students will be developing a study guide as we participate in the course. The study guide will be a
three-ring notebook/binder. All students are required to obtain a three-subject notebook. The
contents will include, but are not limited to the following:
 Class notes
 Do-nows
 Glossary of literary terms
 Reviews of basic rules for writing conventions, grammar, and punctuation
 Sample AP examination questions and responses
 AP examination and diagnostic tests
 A list of favorite literary quotes and responses to those quotes
 Dialectical reading logs
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Creative writing – poems, personal essays, and narratives
Evaluation rubrics
Students are responsible for bringing the following materials to class every day:
 Pen/Pencil
 Textbook
 3-Subject Notebook
Primary Literature Selections
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Beowulf (Signet Classics) anonymous
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Dubliners (Penguin Modern Classics) by James Joyce
Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare
Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry by Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp
No Exit and Three Other Plays by Jean-Paul Sartre
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Oroonoko by Aphra Behn
Fences by August Wilson (Paperback - Jun 1, 1986)
The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer
1984 (Signet Classics) by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (Single-Volume 8th Edition) Ed. by Stephen
Greenblatt
Required Independent Reading (and Writing)
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Students are required to read independently—one assigned outside reading per nine weeks.
Students will read and write dialectical reading logs, write essays to critique the selected text,
as well as research, read and annotate academic essays written about the text.
Essay questions are frequently selected from previous Advanced Placement exams.
Students must support written responses with quotes from critical essays with references back
to the text.
Student essays must be structured with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Students must include a thesis statement in the introduction; the conclusion contains evidence
addressed specifically to the thesis statement.
Suggested AP-recommended independent readings can be found on the
College Board website.
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Acknowledgement [return this portion to Mrs. Silverman]
The classroom instructor reserves the right to modify/change the content of this
syllabus to meet classroom and student needs.
I have posted a more comprehensive syllabus (12 pages) online for your perusal.
This syllabus and every handout in this class will be posted on the whsd.net website
and Schoology.
Please write your signature below to indicate that you have read and understood the
student expectations, the class procedures, and the course requirements.
Student signature: ______________________________ Date: _______
Parent/Guardian signature: ______________________________
Date: ________