ADVANCED PLACEMENT LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION:
WORLD LITERATURE
SYLLABUS
I. Course Description
AP Literature and Composition: World Literature is an academically rigorous course and will
cover a survey of Western and world literature from ancient to modern times. Emphasis is placed on
critical thinking and reading and writing of an analytical nature such as required by the AP Literature
and Composition test which may be taken senior year. The Course follows the curricular requirements
described in the AP English Course Description. Students will engage in a variety of writing styles for
the purposes of understanding, explaining, and writing about literature. In order to improve their
writing about literature, students will be given instruction in using vocabulary effectively and
appropriately; using a variety of sentence structures, including subordination and coordination;
planning logical organization and coherence; including a balance of generalization and specific
details; and effectively using rhetoric, including controlling, tone, establishing and maintaining voice,
and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure. On formal writing
assignments, students always have the option of revising the composition for a better grade after
receiving feedback from the instructor; in some instances revision will be mandatory.
Students who take the Advanced Placement test in May will be required to pay the test fee. A
summer reading/writing project is required.
Prerequisites: All students will have passed American Literature or Honors American Literature ;
most students will have also received credit for British Literature or Honors British Literature; some
students will have received credit for Contemporary Literature, Multicultural Literature, Film and
Literature, or Humanities rather than British Literature.
II. Course Content
1st Quarter
Contemporary American Literature (Summer Project)
Heller – Catch-22 (summer reading/writing project is a reading journal)
Writing assignments:
Timed AP Writing on Catch-22 using choice of 4 past prompts (Students
are given instruction and feedback on logical organization and
developing a balance of generalization and detail)
Formal literary essay on Catch-22 After reading excerpts from Story
and Structure, students write a critical analysis of Catch-22, focusing on
character, setting theme, structure, or tone.; feedback on sentence
structure, diction, organization, illustrative detail, and tone is given in
individual writing conferences and students are required to revise the
essay.
Pre-writing technique: color-marking a passage from the text
Written interpretation of passage from the text of Catch-22 . Instruction
Is focused on vocabulary, tone, voice, and diction.
Ancient Greek and Roman Literature
Vocabulary study: Instruction and practice in developing a wide-ranging
vocabulary through analysis of combinations of Greek and Latin root words.
Throughout the course, the teacher will provide instruction and feedback to
help the students to develop a wide-ranging vocabulary and employ it
effectively in their writing
Hesiod – genealogy of the deities and creation of man from Theogony
(from Classical Mythology)
Homer – excerpts from the Iliad and the Odyssey
Writing assignment: explanation of methods of persuasion used on
Achilles to get him to return Hector’s body to Priam Instruction and feedback
in the form of group discussion is focused on logical organization, coherence,
and transitions.
Sophocles – Oedipus the King and Antigone
Observation of textual details: interpretation of Helen poems from
past AP prompt
Aristophanes – Lysistrata
Socrates – summary of philosophy from Before and After Socrates
Plato – “Levels of Reality and the Allegory of the Cave” from The
Republic and “The Death of Socrates” from the Phaedra
Aristotle - “Natural Slaves and Natural Masters” and selection from
Poetics
Virgil – Books I and II of the Aeneid
2nd Quarter
Research paper – Any topic related to world literature or the humanities. Must
use MLA documentation. Instruction is given in documentation. Students are
instructed on parallel structure in a pre-writing outline to develop logical organization
and coherence. Students are given instruction and feedback on effective use of
rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing an maintaining voice, and achieving
appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure. The students have the
option of revising the research paper after individual conferences.
English Literature
Review of major literary periods of British and Western Literature
Shakespeare – Hamlet
Reading response for Hamlet is a creative project which may involve
poetry writing, web site creation, fictional revision, art, or oral
presentation
Stoppard – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Timed AP writing from choice of past AP prompts
3rd Quarter
French Literature
Excerpt from The Song of Roland
Selected fabliaux
Marie de France – selected lais (“Eliduc”)
Rabelais – excerpts from Gargantua and Pantagruel
Moliere – The Physician In Spite of Himself
Montaigne – “Of Cannibals” and “Of the Inconsistency of our Actions”
Voltaire – Candide
Composition: In-class writing on AP prompt using Candide and/or in-class
color-marking and written response to text based on careful observation of
textual details Peer evaluation focuses on appropriate use of vocabulary,
variety of sentence structure, and coherence.
Rousseau – excerpt from Confessions
Flaubert – Madame Bovary (independent reading)
Pre-writing technique: color-marking / discussion on passage from the text
Composition: Timed writing on Madame Bovary using choice of past
Prompts from AP tests.
“A Primer of Existentialism”
Sartre – No Exit
Timed writing from choice of past AP prompts
Camus - “The Guest”
Maupassant - selected short stories
4th Quarter
Letter to the Editor Persuasive writing; must be revised until it is approved
for mailing
Poetry Study Review of poetry devices; oral explication and color-marking of text
Using the text Sound and Sense, students will review poetry techniques and practice
using the appropriate vocabulary to write and speak about poetry.
Italian Literature
Marco Polo – excerpt from Travels
Story from The Little Flowers of St. Francis (folktale)
Petrarch - sonnets
Dante – selections from The Divine Comedy
Boccaccio – excerpts from the Decameron
Machiavelli – excerpt from The Prince
Cellini – excerpt from the Autobiography
Castiglione – excerpt from The Book of the Courtier
Composition: examination of the Renaissance man and comparison of
style and purpose in writings of Cellini, Castiglione, and Machiavelli
Pirandello - Six Characters in Search of an Author
Russian Literature
“The Fish in the Forest” (folktale)
Gogol – Act I of The Government Inspector
Tolstoy – The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Checkhov – “The Bet” and “The Slanderer”
German Literature
Remarque – All Quiet on the Western Front (independent reading)
Kafka – The Metamorphosis
Composition: existentialist themes in The Death of Ivan llyich and The
Metamorphosis
Spanish Literature
Cervantes – excerpt from Don Quixote
Marquez – “Death Constant Beyond Love”
Cortazar – “House Taken Over”
III. Course Materials
Students are advised to purchase their own copies of the summer reading so that they can mark
the text.
Course textbooks:
Arp, Thomas R., and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to
Poetry. 11th ed. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth, 2005.
Arp, Thomas R. and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Story & Structure: An Introduction to Fiction.
Twelfth Ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.
Lawall, Sarah, et al., eds. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. 7th edition. 2 vols.
New York: Norton, 1999.
Students should have access to word processors and are expected to acquire a style guide for
MLA research papers..
IV. Course Policies
Attendance: Students are expected to be in class on time every day. School attendance
policies will be strictly adhered to.
Make-up/late work: Students are responsible for obtaining work missed during an
absence. Make-up work is expected to be completed within a reasonable time,
generally within the number of days of the absence. Work is expected to be turned
in on the due date; late work, if accepted, will receive a reduction of the grade.
Because AP students tend to miss class frequently for other activities, they should plan
to get work prior to planned absences rather than waiting to make it up.
Classroom Rules and Expectations: Appropriate behavior is expected; inappropriate
behavior will be dealt with accordingly. Students are expected to know the school
rules as listed in the Student Handbook.
V. Grading Policy/Assessment
Grades: Grades will be determined on a point system with letter grades assigned
according to the school district’s set percentages. Students will be informed of the
point value of each assignment.
Assessment: There will be a variety of assessments, including tests, quizzes,
compositions, oral presentations, and daily assignments. Formal compositions may be
revised, more than once if necessary, for a higher grade. Students will also engage in
timed, in-class writings using prompts from past AP tests which are appropriate for
readings in the course curriculum. Close readings and text-based written responses to
reading selections will focus on structure, style, themes, literary devices and social and
historical and social values.
Progress Reports: Students and parents may access grades at any time on Powerschool.
VI. Course Procedures
Unless specifically told that assignments are collaborative, students are
expected to do their own work without the help of other students or print or
electronic sources. Plagiarized work will receive no credit, and the student
will be referred to the Academic Integrity Committee.
Students are expected to come prepared to class with textbooks, notebooks, and writing
utensils every day.
VII. Personal Statement
It is assumed that students voluntarily signed up for AP Literature and Composition and are,
therefore, self- motivated, enthusiastic, and disciplined. The teacher has had AP training and
experience and is prepared to help all students succeed and grow as lovers of literature and
citizens of the world.
VIII, Contact information
E-mail: priwers@westerville.k12.oh.us