AP English Literature and Composition
Amanda Kerrigan
2015-2016
A Living Document
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 (2006 The College Board).
Course Goals:
 To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature.
 To study representative works from the various genres and periods (16th – 21st
centuries), and know several works well.
 To consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as the use of figurative
language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
 To understand a work’s complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to
analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form.
 To write focusing on the critical analysis of literature and including expository,
analytical, and argumentative essays.
 To increase the student’s ability to explain clearly, cogently, even elegantly, what
they understand about literary works and why they interpret them as they do.
 To develop stylistic maturity, which is characterized by a wide-ranging
vocabulary; a variety of sentence structures; a logical organization, enhanced by
specific techniques of coherence such as repletion, transitions, and emphasis; a
balance of generalization with specific illustrative detail; and an effective use of
rhetoric.
Course Expectations:
The rigor of this course demands that a student’s best effort be put forth. This course
does not mix well with senioritis or excessive absences. All assignments are expected to
be turned in on time and in proper MLA format. If extenuating circumstances arise,
students must speak with the instructor for an extension. This may include extra work.
Because this is a college level course, you will be treated like college students. It is up to
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you to take care of business: you will not be babysat. Because writing is a recursive
process, all writing is eligible to be revised and rewritten. Students have one week to
turn in revised writing for a higher grade.
Required Texts:
Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, Thomas R. Arp & Greg Johnson
Writing About Literature, Edgar V. Roberts
1. 1 piece of classic American Literature (The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne;
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald; Huck Finn, Mark Twain)
2. 1 piece of classic British Literature (Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte; Pride and
Prejudice, Jane Austen; Wuthering Heights; Emily Bronte)
3. 1 Shakespearean tragedy (Macbeth, Othello, The Merchant of Venice)
4. 1 American play (Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller; The Crucible, Arthur Miller;
Fences; August Wilson; etc.)
5. 1 piece of African American Literature (Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale
Hurston; Black Boy, Richard Wright; The Color Purple by Alice Walker; The Bluest
Eye by Toni Morrison)
6. 1 piece of World Literature (Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad; Things Fall Apart,
Chinua Achebe, Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton)
7. Multiple choice independent and group novels/plays
Elements of the Course:
 Reading, responding, and analyzing novels, drama, fiction, non-fiction, and
poetry.
 Literary analysis essays and creative writing assignments.
 Vocabulary instruction.
 The study if style analysis and literary terminology for the purpose of critical
analysis.
 Preparation for the AP Literature and Composition Exam.
 Timed Writings/ one polished paper a semester based on one timed writing.
 College Application essays and resumes.
 Research paper.
 Homework that reinforces concepts taught and practiced in class. Homework
is not listed on this syllabus.
Student Evaluation:
2
Course Work
Participation & Preparation
Class work
Assessments, Writing, Major Projects
Final Exam
Percent of Final Grade
5%
15%
60%
20%
Numerical Average
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
Below 60
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Course Schedule:
The literature we read will be largely choice reading. Our shelves are brimming with
an incredible selection of classic literature from around the world that are meant to be
enjoyed. The last thing we want to do is commit “readicide”. You may not love all of
the novels and plays we read together this year, but you will at least have a voice and a
choice in most!
Please refer to your “Important Due Dates” sheets for each quarter for an in-depth
schedule.
FIRST QUARTER
Week 1
Introductory Material
Literary Focus: baseline data gathering; choice reading
Course Expectations and Introduction
Begin Independent Reading with AP contemporary lit focus
ICE #1; MC baseline
Week 2-7
BOOTCAMP
Literary Focus: close reading, basics of literary analysis
Writing Focus: the critical analysis essay, concise writing
3
Close Reading
Roberts chapter 2
Handouts
The first few weeks of class we will read one short story a night and write a ONE page
critical analysis essay analyzing an assigned literary technique as it pertains to the story.
BOOTCAMP
Characterization:
Katherine Mansfield, “Miss. Brill”; Richard Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost
a Man”
Setting:
Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”; Graham
Greene, “The Destructors”
Point of View:
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”; William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
Theme:
Toni Cade Bambara, “The Lesson”; Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”
Assessment: ICE #2, ICE #3 Prose Passages
Bootcamp Graduation
Week 8-9
Getting into College
Literary Focus: poetry
Writing Focus: personal narrative
Process Paper #1: College/Scholarship Essays and Resumes
ICE #4 Open Essay (Independent Reading)
Introduction to Poetry Response
SECOND QUARTER
Week 1-2
Introduction to Drama
Literary focus: critical approach, drama terms, hamartia, hubris, catharsis, types of irony
Writing focus: critical analysis essay integrating literary focus
4
Choice American Play : A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams
 Reader’s theatre
 Introduction to Drama
Daily Poetry focus
Literary focus: poetry analysis; AP literary terminology
Writing focus: SPOTTTS; poetry response papers
PR #1
PR#2
PR#3
PR#4
PR#5
PR#6
Whole Class Novel #1 (Choose Brit, American, or World): _________________________
Assessment: ICE#4-#8 (Poetry prompts, Open Essay Prompt)
Timed Writing Final Project: Choose one timed writing and develop it into a polished
paper
Independent Reading Ladder
FINAL EXAM: mini mock AP Exam (to include ICE #7 and ICE #8)
Winter Break Reading
Class Choice
Choice Novel
Whole Class Novel
Group Novel
AP multiple choice packet
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THIRD QUARTER
Week 1-2
Winter Break Reading
Literary focus: TBD
Writing focus: TBD
Winter Break Reading Activities
REVIEW:
Selected poetry, review SPOTTTS
Ernest Hemmingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”, review BOOTCAMP
Assessment: Winter Break Reading
Whole Class Novel/Play #3 ______________________________________
Whole Class Novel/Play #4 ______________________________________
Small Group Novel #2
______________________________________
FOURTH QUARTER
Week 1-2
The HORROR!
Literary focus: diction, syntax, detail, imagery, treatment of subject matter
Writing focus: style analysis essay
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
 Writing instruction: style analysis
 AP multiple choice questions
 Socratic Seminar
T.S. Eliot , “The Hollow Men”
Handout
The Research Paper
 The research process, note cards, outline, drafting, and revising
Assessment: ICE on Heart of Darkness
Assessment: T
Research: Final Draft due at the end of week 4
6
Assessment: quotation test
Week 8
Final Exam/AP Test
GRADUATION!
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