A.P. English Literature and Composition
Mission Hills High School
Instructor: Kathy Hale, AP Reader
College Board Approved Course Syllabus
2014-15
Goals: The overriding goals for this college-level course are to help students read
attentively and perceptively, understand how language complements content,
develop an appreciation of literature, and write insightfully and fluidly about it.
Objectives:
* Students will read classic and contemporary texts comprised of novels, plays, short
stories, poems, and literary criticism by diverse writers from varied cultures across five
centuries of study
* Students will study these texts to explore meaning and will respond to the ideas, issues
and themes implicit in them with clarity of thought and expression
* Students will produce timed expository, analytical, and argument essays on a weekly
basis that prepare them for the AP English Literature exam
* Students will apply technical writing and grammar lessons to improve their selfexpression and to elevate their writing style
* Students will study other artistic mediums such as art slides and film clips -- in
conjunction with literature -- to better discern the marriage of form and function
* Students will analyze how authors use language (i.e. diction, syntax, tone, imagery,
point of view. etc.) in order to enhance meaning
* Students will consider the literature's social, historical, political, and cultural context
when probing meaning
* Students will develop advanced skills in writing style demonstrating varied syntax, rich
diction and vivid detail, powerful verbs, descriptive adjectives and adverbs, and dense
language to achieve voice
* Students will rewrite longer essays after receiving instructor and peer feedback in areas
such as organization, detail and commentary, and writing style
* Students will produce longer and more complex essays that demonstrate advanced
skills in composition and analysis
* Students will recognize the universality of literature
* Students will use literature as a mirror to view the self and others
* Students will develop independence of thought and mature habits of critical thinking
While the above objectives are the backbone of this course, they perhaps do not fully
convey the exciting journey upon which we are about to embark in AP English
Literature. It is with tremendous excitement that I have the honor of introducing to you
some of the greatest works of literature that have ever been produced. It is my hope that
by the end of the course, you will see how many of the themes, allusions, archetypes and
even sound bites from the literature have become embedded in our culture, and you are
able to recognize them everywhere (ex. Big Brother was not a TV show first).
At the beginning of the year, we will focus on analyzing the literature and poetry with
depth and understanding, while we learn the "nuts of bolts" of advanced writing that
allow you to showcase your ideas with greater style and sophistication. Such lessons
include instruction on topics such as passive voice, power verbs, descriptive adjectives
and adverbs, academic diction, embedded quotes, dependent and independent clauses,
pronoun-antecedent agreement, dropping prepositions (don’t) and varied syntax, among
others. I will also spend instructional time teaching you how create and refine strong
introductions, conclusions; I will also instruct you on paragraph organization and
development from clear topic sentences to a balance of detail and commentary to
effective concluding sentences, fluid transitions and different kinds of essay organization
from topical to chronological. With time and application, your writing will achieve
greater fluidly and power. You will become very comfortable working with a scoring
guide rubric by the end of the year.
While an important activity is weekly timed writing, you will also revise essays at home
and in class. Please consider the first-draft comments I have given you regarding (for
example) deeper analysis, tighter commentary and more embedded quotation; others may
need to spend more time on the language of the essay itself incorporating (for example)
richer diction, varied syntax and descriptive detail. Still others, may need more practice
in organizing the essay itself with tighter paragraphs, smoother transitions, and more
textual evidence to support thesis. Classroom instruction will help students evaluate
essays (excellent, good, fair, poor) according to a 9-point rubric in terms of content, style
and organization. We will use peer editing also to discuss, critique and revise your work.
We will also review critical literary terminology such as diction, syntax, imagery, tone,
figurative language, etc. that we will be using constantly to dig deeper into the texts we
study. In the later fall, you will begin a literary term project that asks you to pair terms
with examples from literature and analyze how the example relates to the larger meaning
of the work such as theme, conflict, character, symbolism, etc. In the fall, you will
produce 15 terms; in the spring, you will produce 10. You may not repeat a term that you
have already used and explored.
This course is both reading and writing intensive and offers opportunities for you to work
cooperatively and independently. We will study approximately six major works together
– Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath, The
Awakening, Their Eyes Were Watching God -- as well as extensive poetry study with indepth focus on the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes. In the
fall, you will have the choice of an independent classic; in the spring, you can select a
more contemporary text to explore. Units, assignments, and themes for the literature
appear in the course outline that follows. An important class activity will be the ongoing
reading and scoring of essays according to the College Board rubric to give you a better
understanding of the elements which make for a successful, passing essay. All of your
formal writing will be assessed by a content/style rubric that we will visit and revisit
throughout the year and should reflect your very best Standard English and composition
skills. I expect you to incorporate the grammar and writing essentials instruction I
referenced earlier as you write, revise and resubmit.
You will be asked to produce and revise many different types of writing. Formal
compositions will include the following: personal statement/college essay; timed essays;
and formal essays (personal, expository and argumentative). For the timed essays, we
will use the scoring guidelines as used by the AP English Literature and Composition
Exam for that specific question. Informal writing will include free responses, creative
writing and reflections/responses on literary criticisms. We will also do Multiple Choice
practice in class. While I will teach you the strategies how to be more successful on
multiple-choice questions, the work we do in class discussion on style analysis of many
prose passages and poems will also help you substantially.
Hopefully, the outline below will give you a good idea of what to expect for both the fall
and spring semester in terms of the literature and the assignments. Please do not hesitate
to contact me if you need help of any kind. Please keep absences to an absolute
minimum. I look forward to a rich and exciting year.
Fall Semester
Poetry: An Overview
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An introduction to Reading and Writing Poetry (Bedford’s Poetry: An
Introduction, fourth edition by Michael Meyer)
Students will learn creative and analytical techniques that enable them to read
poetry and write about it responsively and insightfully
AP Literary Glossary
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Students will receive an AP Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms to study
and memorize over the course of the next two semesters.
The understanding of these terms will assist students in their discussion and
analysis of literature
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster – (may alternate with Great Expectations by Charles
Dickens)
Discussion Questions: What statement does the novel make about Imperialism? Which
characters are empowered by race, gender, and class and which are not? What roles do
Christianity, Islam and Hinduism play in the novel? How is the text itself ambiguous?
Explore the symbolism and significance of the cave scene.
Topics: Forster’s liberal humanism, narration and negation, gender politics, British
imperialism, muddle and mystery, satiric elements and comic irony, Elizabethan
imagery, names and connotations, the critical reception of the novel
Poetry: A Critical Case Study: T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”:
Bedford’s Poetry: An Introduction
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Both student analysis and response, as well as critical excerpts from formalist,
biographical, historical, psychological and sociologist perspectives
We will tie Forster’s and Eliot’s themes into their social and cultural context and
how they are the forerunners of 20th-century modern literature
Short Stories & Literature: selected short stories by Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence
from Bedford; passages and selections by Henry James, Emily Bronte and Toni Morrison
Essays:
 A character caught between colliding cultures
 A social occasion that is meaningful (timed essay including scoring guide and
anchor papers)
 A symbol that is significant to the work as a whole
 Students will revise one of the above essays after receiving peer/instructor
feedback. We will review a rubric prior to submission that includes the elements
of composition instruction and mini lessons that we have covered in class to date.
 Instructor will conduct individual writing conferences in and out of class
College Essay
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Finding the right focus; reviewing model essays; writing and charting to
brainstorm; writing with style; revising for maximum impact in terms of language
and content
We will reviews models of three college essay modes: personal essay, personal
reminiscence, and essay of experience – lots of former MHHS power students!
Students will revise essay after peer and instructor feedback for early assessment
Poetry: Diction, Tone, Imagery, and Figures of Speech (Bedford’s Poetry: An
Introduction)
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Written and oral analysis and discussion of the following poetic elements and how
they enhance meaning: levels of diction; denotations and connotations; persona;
ambiguity; syntax; dramatic monologue; carpe diem; patterns of imagery; poetry
vs. prose; the metaphor family (metaphor, simile, synecdoche, metonymy,
personification, apostrophe, hyperbole, understatement, paradox, oxymoron)
Selections include poetry from five centuries include the following poems:
Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”, Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of
the Twain”, Galway Kinnell’s “The Quick and the Dead”, Matthew Arnold’s
“Dover Beach”, Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est”, Gary Soto’s “Who Will
Know Us?”, Anne Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book”, Margaret Atwood’s
“February”, Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror”,
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Essay of analysis: John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” – this
lesson will include teacher model and rubric – essay will be shared in class and
we will peer edit, evaluate and revise your essay with emphasis on incorporating
quotes, diction, syntax, descriptive adjectives and adverbs, power verbs and
clarity of thought and expression.
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Questions: How does Elizabeth’s character change throughout the course of the three
sections? Discuss how the motifs of pride and prejudice are meaningful to the novel.
How does Austen use wit, humor and irony to advance the satire? How does the work
exemplify a novel of manners? Identify and explain the novel’s climax. To what degree
does poetic justice take place at the end of the novel.
Topics: Passion vs. Reason; social class and a changing England; how appearances
deceive
Essays:
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A second couple who serves as a foil for the first
A parent-child relationship that is meaningful
Two settings whose contrast is meaningful to the work as a whole
Independent Novel I
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Students will choose an independent classic novel prior to 1900 from a list of
selections including the following: the novels of Jane Austen, Daniel Defoe’s
Moll Flanders, Emily Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations,
Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables
Students will create three typed pages (or five hand-written) of reading logs with
reflection, commentary and query reflecting close reading and analysis
Students will produce an AP Short Form that demonstrates insight and
understanding about the novel, as well as employing advanced writing techniques
Multiple Choice
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Ongoing practice in Multiple Choice Questions in Preparation for the AP English
Literature and Composition Examination (Fifth Edition) by Vogel and Winans
Literary Terms
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Students produce 15 literary terms analyses using class texts
Students may re-submit scored terms for a higher grade
Due before Winter Break; students must keep track of returned Literary
Terms with weekly score; organize and submit for a final grade in Dec. with
an alphabetical table of contents by term and a point grand total
A Shakespearean play such as Hamlet, Macbeth or King Lear TBA
Spring Semester
Poetry: Symbols, Allegory, Irony, Sounds, Meter and Rhythm (Bedford’s Poetry: An
Introduction)
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Written and oral analysis and discussion of the following poetic elements and how
they enhance meaning: conventional vs. contextual symbols; allegory and
didactic poetry; forms of irony; satire; ballads; sound devices; patterns of rhyme
Selections include poetry from five centuries include the following poems:
Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night”, Julio Marzan’s “Ethnic Poetry”,
Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, William Blake’s “The Chimney
Sweeper”, Emily Dickinson’s “A Bird came down the Walk”, Edgar Allen Poe’s
“The Bells”, Maxine Hong Kingston’s “Restaurant”, John Keats’ “Ode to a
Nightingale”,
Timed in-class writing on poetry comparing and contrasting two Renaissance
sonnets including samples and scoring guide
American novel #1 TBA
Long essay on a Shakespearean:
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Persuasive essay: five pages in length with at least three articles of literary
criticism referenced – subject of choice
Students submit a thesis and detailed outline for instructor approval and
comments prior to writing a first-draft
Review of MLA format for citation
Direct instruction: review of the essential elements of composition (clear thesis,
using quotes smoothly and effectively, balancing quotes and commentary,
paragraph development and organization, etc.), grammar (pronoun usage, active
voice, punctuation, use of prepositions, etc.) and style (powerful verbs, varied
syntax, descriptive imagery, rich diction, etc.). These elements will be included
in a grading rubric that we will review prior to paper submission
You will be expect to rewrite long essay for a final draft after you receive
instructor feedback in writing conference
Poetry: Poetic Forms and Open Form (Bedford’s Poetry: An Introduction)
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Written and oral analysis and discussion of the following poetic elements and how
they enhance meaning: fixed form; free verse; rhyme scheme; couplet; heroic
couplet; tercets and triplets; terza rima; quatrain; ballad; Petrarchan and
Shakespearean sonnets; villanelle; sestina; epigram; limerick; elegy; ode; picture
Selections include poetry from five centuries include the following poems:
William Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much with Us”, William
Shakespeare’s “My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”, Edna St. Vincent
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Millay’s “I will put Chaos into fourteen lines”, Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-term
Break”, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind”, Walt Whitman’s “I
Sing the Body Electric”, William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”
Two short papers analyzing poems in unit
Independent Novel II
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Students will choose an independent contemporary novel after 1900 from a list of
novels and plays including the following: Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex, Oscar
Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, George Orwell’s 1984, Amy Tan’s The
Bonesetter’s Daughter, Khalid Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Toni Morrison’s
Beloved
Students will read and analyze the novel independently
Students submit a thesis and detailed outline for instructor approval and
comments prior to writing a first-draft
Students will pick a thesis and write a five-page paper on a topic of their choice
with at least three articles of literary criticism – tying in historical, cultural and
social factors, for example -- referenced and cited
Classroom workshop for revision and discussion with peers/instructor for
feedback prior to submission of first-draft
Poetry: A Study of Emily Dickinson: Bedford’s Poetry: An Introduction
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Both student analysis and response on her poetry’s form, content and meaning, as
well as critical readings of Dickinson’s poems
Instruction on the artistic value and unique contributions of Dickinson’s poetry to
literature. We will also explore the poetry of her contemporary Walt Whitman
and his unique contributions to the art form.
Comparason/contrast essay comparing the poetry of Dickinson to Frost (timed
essay including scoring guide and anchor papers)
Poetry: A Study of Langston Hughes: Bedford’s Poetry: An Introduction
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Both student analysis and response on Hughes’ poetry’s form, content and
meaning, as well as perspectives and critical readings
Instruction on the Harlem Renaissance Movement and its significance to
American culture and politics; tie-in with Zora Neale Hurston and novel
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston & The Awakening by Kate
Chopin – a comparson/contrast unit subject to books for The Awakening
Questions: How is Janie an outsider in both the black and white communities? How is
Janie different from other black women? Discuss how each husband is an outward sign
of Janie's character growth. How does society impact the individual? What contribution
does the black storytelling tradition make to this novel? How does Hurston use language
to enhance her novel? Discuss the many reasons why Janie kills Teacake. How is the
novel a quest? Why was the novel unpopular during its own era?
Topics: Black vs. Black Prejudice; Black vs. White Prejudice; Dialect; Point of View
and Voice; Poetic Prose; Life “on the Muck”; Man vs. Nature
Short Story: Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” – an interpretation paper based on
point of view and its contribution to the meaning of the work as a whole. We will also
discuss the thematic ties with Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Essays:
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Why the dialect is an essential component to novel
How point of view enhances novel’s meaning
How a rural setting is important to the meaning of novel (timed essay with scoring
guide and anchor papers)
A social occasion that is significant to the work
Multiple Choice
* Ongoing practice in Multiple Choice Questions in Preparation for the AP English
Literature and Composition Examination (Fifth Edition) by Richard Vogel and Charles F.
Winans
Literary Terms
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Students produce 10 literary terms analyses using class texts
Students may re-submit instructor scored terms for a higher grade
AP English Literature Exam Practice
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Students will complete three timed full-length AP English Literature released
exams in December, February, and April in class
We will review both the multiple-choice and the essay portion of the exam in
class to help students better assess their strengths, weaknesses and ongoing
progress in the course
Students will meet with instructor to get more feedback as needed
A.P. English Literature – MHHS -- Hale
Terminology Review
Figures of Speech
 metaphor; simile; personification; synecdoche; metonymy; controlling metaphor;
 implied metaphor; extended metaphor; chiasmus (“Pleasure’s a sin, and
sometimes sin’s a pleasure”; conceit
Syntactical Devices
 rhetorical question; front loading; end loading; loose sentence; periodic sentence;
run-on sentence; sentence fragment; parallelism; antithesis; anaphora; inversion;
repetition; grammar; polysyndeton
Devices of Irony
 verbal irony; situational irony; dramatic irony; cosmic irony; sarcasm; paradox;
oxymoron; hyperbole; understatement; pun; wit
Devices in Satire
 Devices of Irony (above) + humor; parody; caricature; dramatic persona
Poetic Devices
 meter; rhythm; rhyme; feminine rhyme; masculine rhyme; slant rhyme; internal
rhyme; iambic pentameter; blank verse; euphony; cacophony; enjambment;
caesura; foot; couplet; heroic couplet; fixed form; open form/free verse; scansion;
end-stopped line; stanza;
Sonic Devices
 alliteration; assonance; consonance; onomatopoeia; euphony; cacophony
Types of Poems
 ballad; ode; Shakespearean sonnet; Petrarchan sonnet; villanelle; elegy; sestina;
limerick; lyric; narrative; soliloquy; dramatic monologue; didactic poetry;
doggerel; epic; epigram; haiku; pastoral; terza rima
Fictional Genres
 quest; satire; drama; romance; picaresque; vignette; allegory; anecdote; farce;
parable; tragedy; comedy; coming-of-age
Devices of Plot
 exposition; conflict; climax; conclusion; denouement
Other Literary Devices that Enhance Meaning
 diction; imagery; foreshadowing; symbol; allusion; tone; mood; theme; internal
and external conflict; setting; analogy; antagonist; archetype; colloquial; jargon;
juxtaposition; motif; style; voice
Narration
 1st person narrator; 2nd person narrator; 3rd person omniscient; 3rd person limited
omniscient; 3rd person objective; stream of consciousness; framed narrative;
multiple narrators; flashback
Literary Movements
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Humanism (Renaissance): Artists looked to Latin and Greek texts to harmonize
these great texts with the Bible and strengthen Christianity. Ex. Shakespeare’s
plays and sonnets; Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”; Herrick’s
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”; Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress; Carpe
Diem; Dunne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (twin compass conceit)
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Age of Reason (Enlightenment): 1660-1800 – The natural world was
increasingly being explained by science. Satire exposes social problems. Ex.
Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”; Jane Austen’s P&P
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Romanticism: 1798-1832 – Artists looks to nature as a means of being more
spiritually connected to God. In economics, the laissez-faire policy gave
capitalists the rationale to ignore the problems of the poor. Ex. William Blake’s
“The Chimney Sweepers”; Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”; Coleridge’s “Kubla
Khan”; Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”; Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
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The Victorians: 1832-1901 – A time of overwhelming growth, prosperity, and
progress, Victorians moved from rural areas to cities in rapidly growing
industrialized cities. Many changes in lifestyle threatened traditional social
structures. Ex. Browning’s “My Last Duchess”; Matthew Arnold’s “Dover
Beach”; Rudyard Kipling’s “The Brown Man’s Burden”; Charles Dickens, Mark
Twain’s Huck Finn; Emily Dickinson; Walt Whitman
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The Moderns: 1900-present – Unprecedented change world-wide occurs due to
technology, wars, politics, psychology, economics, science, religion and
education. Many modern writers explore themes about the condition of humanity
today – many see the situation as bleak. Ex. Forster’s A Passage to India, “The
Hollow-Men” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”; Fitzgerald’s The Great
Gatsby; Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est”; Hardy; Plath; Kingston; Kinnell
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Realism/Naturalism: (part of Moderns) 1900-1950 – A style of writing that
embraces the gritty and graphic details of life. The characters are usually
conditioned and controlled by environment, heredity, instinct or chance. Ex.
Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath
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Harlem Renaissance (part of Moderns): 1920’s – A group of AfricanAmerican writers, painters, sculptors, actors, and musicians who were active in
New York City’s Harlem. Ex. Langston Hughes; Hurston’s Their Eyes
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Questions: How does King Lear use language to express himself? Who is the play’s
tragic hero and what is his tragic flaw? How is the royal family dysfunctional? How is
the tension between order and chaos meaningful? How is the tension between legitimacy
and illegitimacy meaningful? What is the significance of the blindness motif? Which
villain in the play is the most treacherous? Keeping in mind Elizabethan philosophy, to
what degree are the play’s themes and issues ambiguous?
Topics: Elizabethan World; Chain of Being; sonnets; video clips from different film
versions – comparison/contras
Essays: Shakespeare passage prose essays from other plays; open questions: character in
exile, character foil, a country setting, a parent-child relationship; characters who hold
power/characters who seek power