AP English Literature/Dual Enrollment Literature
Fall 2011/Spring 2012
College Board Course Description
An AP English Literature and Composition course engages students in the careful
reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of
selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language
to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students consider
a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller-scale elements as the
use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
AP Literature focuses primarily on British authors but includes authors from diverse
backgrounds as well as a balance of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Literary periods are
studied but not in chronological order. Works from the Greek and Medieval periods are not
studied in this course because they do not appear on the AP Literature exam.
Note: An Advanced Placement course provides students with the opportunity to attain college
credit at the high school level; therefore, the workload is heavier and the expectations are higher.
Students are highly encouraged to attend three Prep Sessions outside of school hours and attend
tutoring, available one hour each week, to further prepare for and acquaint themselves with the
AP exam and college-level work.
Assessment
Students are expected to take the AP Literature exam in May 2012. The exam is provided
without charge; those earning a qualifying score of 3, 4, or 5 receive a monetary award. Students
may also earn college credit for sophomore literature courses, ENG 243 & 244: Survey of
English Literature, through Wytheville Community College.
Required Materials
Three-ring binder
Loose-leaf paper
Pencil or pen (blue or black ink)
Flash Drive
Post-It notes for marking novels
Textbooks
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2008.
Novels will be issued to students as they are assigned and may be taken out of class.
Note: The lowest grade will not be dropped each nine weeks. Extra credit opportunities are not
common, but extra credit is awarded to students who attend Saturday prep sessions on the
following dates:
September 24 at Patrick Henry High: Getting Acquainted with the Exam Layout
TBA (January) at Marion Senior High: 3 Hour Mock Exam
March 10 at Patrick Henry High: Deconstructing the Mock Exam
Classroom Etiquette
Students should show respect for their teacher and classmates. Comments or actions that make
anyone feel uncomfortable or disrespected will not be tolerated. Everyone is entitled to an
opinion, but should only share it in a respectful manner. Use common sense and common
courtesy. Also, PLEASE raise your hand when you would like to speak.
Responsibilities
By choosing this course, students agree to:
Come to class on time.
Come to class prepared.
Turn in work when it is due or before an expected absence.
Keep the cellphone, food, and drink (other than water if necessary) out of class.
Abide by rules and expectations set by the school.
Failure to comply will result in:
1. Verbal warning
2. Student/Teacher conference
3. Call to parents
4. Office visit
Late Work Policy
Students will have one day for each excused absence to make up work without penalty. Students
turning in work the day after the due date, without an excused absence, will receive only half
credit on the assignment. For each day late, the points available will drop by ten points (2nd day
late—only 40% credit, etc.). After an assignment is five days late, no credit is available.
Everyone is expected to turn in work on time. Do not expect a snow day to create an extension
for an assignment. If work is due on a day we are absent from class because of snow or a schoolrelated event, that work is due on the day we return. The same goes for quiz, test, or in-class
essay dates.
Plagiarism Policy
In accordance with preparation for the AP Language exam, students will complete most of their
writing in class through timed essays and in-class writing assignments. Students must be aware
that plagiarism is using another person’s thoughts and accomplishments without proper
acknowledgement or documentation. It is an unconscionable offense and a serious breach of the
honor code. Students who plagiarize will receive a grade of zero for the assignment. No
exceptions. Be advised that college students breaking the honor code are often completely
dismissed from school. Any cheating will result in a zero, a call to the parents, a referral to
guidance, and possibly worse.
Grading Scale
We will use a ten-point grading scale: 100-90=A, 89-80=B, etc. To adhere to common practice
in AP courses, a 9-point rubric will be used for grading essays (9=100, 8=95, etc.). Students will
be given a copy of the rubric, with expectations for more advanced writing as students move
through the course. Major assignments’ percentages per nine weeks are as follows:
Assignments
Essays: 35%
Essays will be a mixture of in-class timed writings and out of class writings. Each essay has
the opportunity to be revised since students write rough drafts and “workshop” them through
peer review and teacher comments. Essay prompts will mirror the structure of AP Free Response
essay questions on prose and verse and focus on the major works for each nine weeks. Essays
will progress in length from 500 to 1,000 words by the end of the year.
Tests: 25%
Tests assess comprehension and application of material covered during each nine weeks.
Quizzes: 20%
Quizzes are used to assess mastery of new vocabulary, to check for reading, and to assess other
skills when the need arises.
Daily Activities: 20%
Assignments include group and individual work. Activities correspond with reading selections
and/or skills. Homework falls under the Daily Activities designation. Students will practice
responding to AP Prose and Verse essay prompts and answering AP Multiple Choice questions
for daily grades.
Note: Students and parents may access information about our class through the Faculty/Staff
page at http://www.scsb.org/mshs. Click on Jennifer Pennington to view my Quia page. The
course information is updated weekly.
Reading Selections
Note: Unlisted essays will be those written in-class and timed for the purpose of AP Exam prep.
Literary Periods: Modern/Contemporary
Prose Free Response #2 Focus
Thomas Lux, “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently”
Billy Collins, “Marginalia”
Seamus Haney, “Digging”
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (Essay)
Ted Kooser, “A Death at the Office”
James Wright, “Autumn Begins in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio”
Martin Espada, “Latin Night at the Pawnshop”
Tobias Wolff, “Hunters in the Snow”
August Strindberg, The Stronger
Annie Proulx, “People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water”
Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
George Orwell, 1984 (Essay)
Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron”
Literary Periods: Realism/Modern/Victorian
Open Free Response #3 Focus
Graham Greene, “The Destructors”
William Golding, Lord of the Flies (Essay)
Stephen Crane, “Open Boat”
---, “A Man Said to the Universe”
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner (Essay)
Literary Periods: Modern/Post-Modern/Victorian
Open Free Response #3 Focus
Michael Hollinger, Naked Lunch
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings”
Marge Pierce, “Barbie Doll”
---, “Secretary Chant”
Linda Pastan, “Marks”
Sharon Olds,“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
Margaret Atwood, “Bored”
Sylvia Plath, “Mirror”
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Ted Kooser, “Abandoned Farmhouse”
Charlotte Perkins Gillman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Kate Chopin, The Awakening (Essay)
---, “The Story of an Hour”
---, “Desiree’s Baby”
Literary Periods: Renaissance/Romantic/Victorian/Modern/Post-Modern
Verse Free Response #1 Focus
Renaissance
Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” / Jane Kenyon, “The
Shirt” / Susan Minot, “My Husband’s Back”
Christopher Marlowe, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”/ Sir Walter Raleigh, “The
Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”
Robert Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”/ Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy
Mistress”
William Shakespeare, “Not marble, nor the gilded monuments”
---, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”
John Donne, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
Romantic
John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
William Blake, “The Lamb”/ “The Tyger”/ “The Chimney Sweeper”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Essay)
Victorian
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Pied Beauty”/Theodore Roethke, “I Knew a Woman”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways”/Billie Bolton,
“Memorandum”
Rudyard Kipling, “If”
Thomas Hardy, “The Convergence of the Twain” / David Slavitt, “Titanic”
Poetry Essay
Literary Periods: Victorian/Realism/Contemporary
Humor, Satire and Parody Focus
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”/ Elaine Magarrell, “The Joy of Cooking”
Ann Sexton, “Cinderella”
Tobias Wolff, “Bullet in the Brain”
Ring Lardner, “Haircut”
Robert Frost, “Mending Wall”/ John Ciardi, “Suburban”
The Onion selections
Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”/ Anthony Hecht, “Dover Bitch”
Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”/ Blanche Farley, “The Lover Not Taken”
Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess”/ Gabriel Spera, “My Ex-Husband”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (Essay)
Final prep for May 2011 AP Literature Exam
Literary Analysis Essay
AP English Literature
Syllabus Acknowledgment Form
I, _______________________________________________, have reviewed the syllabus
for AP English Literature. By signing below, I signify that I understand the course requirements
and know how my grades will be determined. I understand the attendance, late work, and makeup policies for this course, and I am aware of the commitment that enrollment in an AP course
requires. My signature also signifies that I have read and understand the course plagiarism policy
and will abide by its guidelines.
__________________________________________________
(Student’s Signature)
_____________
(Date)