Welcome to AP English Literature and Composition!
This year in AP English Literature we will embark on an invigorating journey. As we read and
dissect various texts, you will become expert at recognizing and using the various devices
through which literature reveals meaning. You will also come to appreciate how literature
informs us about the world we live in.
The most relevant components of literary study are reading and writing. In this class, we will,
on average, write an essay per week. There will also be many occasions when writing will
occur in “pieces” as we focus on separate elements of literary analysis. Some essay-writing
will be done at home, especially that involving personal essays (such as college-application
essays) and research pieces. However, the bulk of the writing will occur in class. Much of the
reading conducted for this class will also occur at home. However, during our study of drama
and poetry, we will read quite a bit in class. Throughout the year, you will conduct research
that will culminate in a formal research paper and presentation. Obviously, your performance
in this class will depend on how thoroughly you complete the assigned reading and writing.
Speaking is also paramount in AP Literature since, after all, literature is all about
communicating ideas. We will have weekly informal discussions, and you will have several
opportunities to communicate formally through quarterly presentations. Each grading period
will include at least two presentations: one individual presentation and one collaborative
presentation. Thus, not only will you be presenting your analyses and ideas in writing, but you
will also have the opportunity to divulge them verbally.
In closing, I heartily welcome you to AP English Literature. We will enjoy a fascinating study
of literature and life, connecting our worlds through not just the written word, but music and
art, too. Attached is the specific information about class supplies and grading procedures.
Please share this information with your parents.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Audrey Smith
AP English Literature
Recommended Supplies:
A notebook (either spiral or three-ring) with attached folders for storing handouts and graded
papers;
A good supply of college-ruled paper - if the above-mentioned spiral notebook is thick, it should
suffice;
Several good black or blue ink pens (NO PENCILS or OTHER COLORS, please);
$3 each nine-weeks for Coffee Monday supplies (unless you choose NOT to participate) – you
may also bring a coffee mug from home, though I have a good supply to choose from;
(optional) 300 3 X 5 index cards (for making vocabulary flash cards).
Please bring your notebook and writing utensils to class every day.
Grading System: AP Literature and Composition
The following system will be used to assign all grades in this course:
Tests and Presentations/Projects: 40% (3-5 per grading period)
100 points per test (ALL tests are ESSAY TESTS)
100 points per presentation/project (scored according to rubrics provided)
100 points: reading journals (all journals averaged together for one grade)
Writing: 40% (6-10 per grading period, from 20-100 points each)
100 points: AP essays (some of these will count as tests)
100 points: poetry responses (the average of all poetry-response grades will equal one
writing grade each grading period)
40 points: various take-home essays or other writings/pieces
20 points: SAT practice essays (1st semester)
Quizzes, homework/class assignments, AP Multiple-choice practices: 20%
(5-7 per grading period, 20-100 points each)
10-50 points: all quizzes and graded homework/classwork assignments
100 points: all graded AP Multiple-Choice practices
The following policies for late work and make-up work outlined in the AP contract and the
Davidson student handbook will be strictly enforced:
Absences:
Make-up work is NOT allowed following an unexcused absence.
Pre-assigned essays and projects are due on the assigned day even if you are
absent.
It is the YOUR responsibility to contact me regarding make-up work.
Late Work: Work submitted late will be penalized 20% a day with a maximum
of 40% before receiving a zero on the assignment.
So that I may know you and your parents/guardians have read this information and are aware of
my grading system, please sign, detach, and return the portion below to me within FIVE school
days.
Thank you!
Audrey Smith -AP Literature and Composition
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I have read and understand the grading system for AP Literature and Composition.
__________________________________
student’s signature
___________________________
parent/guardian signature
PARENTS: Feel free to e-mail me any time during the school year if you have questions or
concerns.
Course Syllabus: AP Literature and Composition
*All items subject to change.
First Nine Weeks
Thematic Unit: Relationships
Vocabulary 1-125
1. Part One: Fiction
Summer Reading: As I Lay Dying and The Mayor of Casterbridge
[Reading Logs]
Short Stories: “Popular Mechanics,” (Handout); “Clothes” p. 273+ and “Good County People”
p. 456+ (Bedford) [Reading Logs]
2. Part Two: Poetry
a) Basic Elements (notes and handouts)
b) Practice: “The Death of a Toad” (handout) and “Those Winter Sundays,” “My Papa’s Waltz,”
“My Mistress’ Eyes,” (Bedford)
c) Connections: “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” (Windows: British Literature); “To His Coy Mistress,”
(Bedford) and “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” (Bedford)
3. Part Three: Drama
A Doll House (Bedford p. 1713+) [Reading Log]
4. Assessments:
a. AP Essays (in-class): One prose prompt, one poetry prompts, and three open-question
prompts (ONE of which will be a TEST grade)
b. Multiple-Choice practices: Two prose, two poetry
c. Quizzes: Vocabulary (2-3); Summer-reading novels
d. Other Essays: College Application Essay (2); SAT practice essay (1-3); poetry responses (bimonthly)
e. SLO pre-test (county administered)
f. Reading Logs (averaged together – one TEST grade)
5. Presentations:
a. Speech – (summer reading character or setting)
b. Found poem (poetic analysis)
(Begin reading Frankenstein)
Second Nine Weeks
Thematic Unit: Power and Corruption
1. Vocabulary 126-200
2. Part One: Drama
a. Macbeth (Windows: British Literature) [Reading Log]
b. Trifles (Bedford, p. 1368+) [Reading Log]
3. Part Two: Novel
Frankenstein [Reading Log]
4. Part Three: Short Stories
“A & P,” p. 753+ and “Brownies,” p. 358+ (Bedford) [Reading Logs]
5. Part Four: Poetry (Complex Elements and Form)
“Ode to a Nightingale,” “I Sing the Body Electric,” “London”(Bedford), “The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner,” (Windows: British Literature)
6. Assessments:
a. AP Essays (in-class): Two prose prompts, two poetry prompts, and two open-question
prompts
b. Mini Research Paper: a literary analysis
c. Multiple-Choice practices: One prose, one poetry
d. Quizzes: Vocabulary (2-3); outside reading (Frankenstein, Trifles)
e. Reading Logs (averaged together – one TEST grade)
7. Presentations:
Mini-Research paper (Speech)
Group Analysis: poetry, fiction, drama
(Begin reading Jane Eyre)