Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
Melissa Conway-Wolcott
East Jackson Comprehensive High School
Jackson County Schools
COURSE DESCRIPTION
AP English Literature and Composition is a semester long college level course designed
to engage students in close reading and critical analysis of rich texts as outlined by the
AP English Literature Course Description. The course is reading and writing intensive.
Throughout the semester, students will develop skills in various forms of written
expression and will practice extensively for the AP exam in May. In their interaction with
literary texts, students will acquire the necessary critical skills, literary terminology,
vocabulary, and writing (style and conventions) skills to interpret complex works, to
write insightful compositions, to develop their own writing style, and to gain proficiency
in AP test-taking skills. An inherent part of the course is timely and detailed feedback on
writing throughout the writing process and opportunities for revision to aid students in
their textual analysis and interpretive skills as well as in the cultivation of their own style
of writing. Participation in class discussion and learning activities is vital for learning,
and each student is expected to come to class each day prepared to contribute.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
The teacher will select British and American works from a variety of genres and time
periods ranging from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries, acknowledging both the
depth and breadth of the course and building upon the literary base of the students.
Because the students enter AP English Literature from courses that have focused solely
on American literature, the texts chosen are predominantly British. During the summer
and academic year, students will have the opportunity to read a novel or play, short
prose, and numerous poems in each thematic unit.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
In this writing intensive course, students write and revise often to develop their skills in
various forms of written expression as well as critical reading and thinking. All of the
following are types of writing that students will compose during this course.
Writing to Understand
 Guided Reading Questions
Before beginning their reading of a major text, students receive questions that
guide them to notice specific aspects of the text. They choose to respond to a
specified number of the questions. The following is an example of such a question
about Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: Why are most of the novel's characters given
only descriptive titles—not actual names? Discuss the functions of three such
characters (doctor, brickmaker, accountant, manager, or helmsman, for example)
in the novel. What does Marlow learn from them, and why does he choose not to
name them?
 Double-Entry Journal
As students read a literary text, they choose a specified number of quotations to
which to respond in three specific ways. In each entry, students number the
entry, write the quotation including page and paragraph number, identify the type
of connection, and compose a response of at least two sentences. The three types
of connections are:
(1) Personal Connection: Contemplate how the quotation connects to some aspect
of your personal knowledge and experience. The quotation may remind you of a
situation you have been in or seen, or a person you know or an idea you have
learned through personal experience.
(2) Intratextual Connection: Reflect on how the quotation connects to another
passage from the same text. Think about ways in which the connected passages
emphasize character, setting, conflict, or another element of the work.
(3) Intertextual Connection: Ponder how the quotation connects to another text
(literature, film, media, music, or art). Consider similarities that the two texts
share (characterization, mood, plot, setting, theme, tone), and discuss how the
two texts relate to one another.
 Personal Narrative
Students hone composition skills by writing about their own experiences.
 Literary Imitation
Students learn about how literature is written by imitating literary texts,
transforming the original by focusing on their own experience or updating to a
contemporary situation.
Writing to Explain
 Literary Analysis Paragraph Response
Students analyze specific quotations and/or literary concepts in a work by
composing paragraph in which they explain meaning and thematic connection.
 Literary Interpretation Essay
Students write essays in which they explain the theme of a literary work,
supporting their interpretations with textual evidence and literary terminology.
 Compare-Contrast Essay
Students compose essays in which they compare and contrast two literary texts,
often relating the major work of the thematic unit with a minor work from the
unit.
Writing to Evaluate
 Persuasive Essay
Students compose essays in which they argue a position about the social and
cultural values expressed in a literary text.
 AP Exam Timed-Writing Essay
Students write essay in response to prompts modified from AP English Literature
Examinations. These essays require students to make and explain judgments
about literary artistry are composed in class during a 40-minute time limit. After
receiving feedback, students revise essays out of class.
GRADING & RUBRICS
All grades are based on a point system, with grades coming from a variety of
assessments: timed and un-timed compositions, in- and out-of-class compositions,
quizzes, tests, group work, individual projects, close reading, research-based inquiry,
seminars, class work, thesis practice, prompt re-visitation, self-analysis, and revisions of
papers. The point-value of assignments is determined by significance. Writing prompts
scored according to the nine-point AP scale will be a key indicator of how well students
are progressing in the class. Because writing is a process, I will place emphasis on the
progress individual students make and the effort they expend with their writing;
therefore, I assess and provide feedback on prewriting, drafting, revision, and editing.
In addition to writing, I will evaluate student progress in reading, public speaking,
grammar and conventions, vocabulary, understanding of literary terminology, allusion
knowledge, and literature analysis. Final grades in the class will reflect a student’s
improvement and growth in critical analysis and writing throughout each semester.
According to school district policy, numerical averages and grade equivalents are as
follows: A 90-100, B 80-89, C 75-79, D 70-74, F 0-69.
Rubric of All Rubrics for AP Exam Timed-Writing
8-9
27-30
points
6-7
24-26
points
5
22
points
3-4
18-21
points
1-2
10-15
points
modified from the original created by Conni Shelnut (Lakeland High School, Florida)
Superior papers specific in their references, cogent in their definitions, and free of plot summary
that is not relevant to the question. These essays need not be without flaws, but they demonstrate
the writer's ability to discuss a prompt with insight and understanding and to control a wide range
of the elements of effective composition. At all times, they stay focused on the question and the
thesis. These papers reflect stylistic flair and in-depth and original, concrete supporting
details. This score is equivalent to an A.
These papers are less thorough, less perceptive or less specific than 9-8 papers. These essays are
well-written but with less maturity and control than the top papers. They demonstrate the
writer's ability to analyze a literary work, but they reveal a more limited understanding than do the
papers in the 9-8 range. Generally, 6 essays present a less sophisticated analysis and less
consistent command of the elements of effective writing than essays scored 7. This score is
equivalent to a B.
Safe and “plastic,” superficiality characterizes these essays. Discussion of meaning may be
pedestrian, mechanical, or inadequately related to the chosen details. Typically, these essays reveal
simplistic thinking and/or immature writing. They usually demonstrate inconsistent control over the
elements of composition and are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as the upper-half
papers. On the other hand, the writing is sufficient to convey the writer's ideas and stays focused
on the prompt. This score is equivalent to a C.
Discussion is likely to be unpersuasive, perfunctory, underdeveloped or misguided. The meaning
they deduce may be inaccurate or insubstantial and not clearly related to the question. Part of the
question may be omitted altogether. The writing may convey the writer's ideas, but it reveals weak
control over such elements as diction, organization, syntax or grammar. Typically, these essays
contain significant misinterpretations of the question or the work they discuss; they may also
contain little, if any, supporting evidence, and practice paraphrase and plot summary at the
expense of analysis. This score is equivalent to a D.
These essays compound the weakness of essays in the 4-3 range and are frequently unacceptably
brief. They are poorly written on several counts, including many distracting errors in
grammar and mechanics. Although the writer may have made some effort to answer the
question, the views presented have little clarity or coherence. This score is equivalent to an F.
Grading Rubric for Literary Analysis Paragraph Responses
9-10
points
8-9
points
7-8
points
5-7
points
Responses in the range of 9 to 10 are persuasive and convincing and reveal an insightful
understanding of the topic and the literary work. They contain a focused main idea, logical
organization, extensive development of ideas, and profoundly appropriate supporting evidence
from the literary text as well as precise use of literary terminology. These responses are
grammatically clear and well-written and include precise parenthetical citations.
Responses in the range of 8 to 9 are competent and reasonable and reveal a clear understanding
of the topic and the literary work. They contain a main idea, organization, thorough development
of ideas, and clear supporting evidence from the literary text as well as use of literary terminology.
These responses may have a few grammatical errors but are generally clearly written. They
include parenthetical citations for quotations.
Responses in the range of 7 to 8 are simple and superficial and reveal a limited understanding of
the topic and the literary work, possibly addressing only a part of the topic. They contain an
unfocused main idea, limited organization, limited or superficial development of ideas, and vague
supporting evidence from the literary text as well as unspecific use of literary terminology. These
responses may be grammatically flawed but they do include parenthetical citations.
Responses in the range of 5 to 7 are inadequate and reveal an incomplete understanding of the
topic and the literary work. They do not contain a main idea, organization is confusing or
disconnected, development of ideas is thin, textual evidence does not support their points, and
literary terminology is vague if present. These responses are grammatically flawed, lack clarity,
and fail to cite sources.
3-5
points
Responses in the range of 3 to 5 are seriously flawed and reveal little understanding of the topic
and the literary work. They do not address the topic directly, organization is lacking, development
of ideas is too brief, there is little or no textual evidence for support, and knowledge of literary
terminology is not evident from the writing. These responses may contain serious grammatical
flaws that make the writing difficult to understand.
READING AND WRITING SCHEDULE
The course is organized around two major thematic topics: the quest for identity and
individuality during the fall semester and the search for purpose in an imperfect word
during the spring semester. In addition to the assignments of each semester, students
also complete reading and writing assignments during their summer and winter breaks.
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First Semester
Introduction to the Course
 Introduction to the AP course, including test format and scoring formula; sample
multiple choice questions and practice turning sample prompts into questions to
address the prompts specifically; gaining a feel for what success on the AP test
will require.
 Discussion and assessment of the summer reading selections; introducing literary
terminology and tone words; identification/quotations quizzes along with writing
assignments—AP-style prompts and creative topics.
Unit Topic (Summer Reading): Society, family, and the individual
Essential Question: To what extent and to what effect do society, the family, and an
individual’s own psychological make-up shape one’s destiny?
Reading Assignments:
 Major Literary Text: The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), Death of a Salesman (Miller),
Fences (Wilson), Life of Pi (Martel)
Writing Assignments: (in-class AP-style prompts)
 On the first day of fall semester, students compose essays in response to the
following AP Exam Timed-Writing prompts:
1) The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the
majority is the recurring theme of many literary works. Select a character from
the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood who is in opposition
to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral
and ethical implications for both the individual and the society.
2) In many works of literature, a physical journey—the literal movement from one
place to another—plays a central role. Consider that a physical journey often
mirrors an internal transformation for a character. In Life of Pi, focus on how the
protagonist’s ocean journey is integral to the meaning of the work as a whole;
 (take-home AP-style prompt) The modern plays Death of Salesman by Arthur
Miller and Fences by August Wilson depict a conflicts between a parent and a
child. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflicts and explain
how the conflicts contribute to the meaning of the works. Your essay should be
edited and polished and will be enhanced by supporting evidence from the text.
 Write a 50-word précis of each play or novel. Be exact, counting every word.


Write a paragraph description of style and tone for each summer reading work,
including six adjectives to describe each author’s writing style. How do the style
and tone impact the meaning of each work?
(Life of Pi) In an alternative reality, you have been transformed into Tomohiro
Okamoto, the representative of the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry
of Transport to whom Piscine Molitor Patel has told the story of his sea voyage in
Life of Pi. After listening to Pi's complete tale, you must now write your official
government report. Compose your report, taking into consideration Pi's question,
“So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the
question either way, which story do you prefer?“ (317).
Unit Topic: Style
Essential Question: What is the write stuff?
 examine the elements of style and rhetoric; use excerpts from longer works, short
works, or AP prose passages to teach elements; exercises and imitations to
practice parallel structure, sentence variety, diction
Reading Assignments:
 Major Literary Text: essays in DiYanni text: “The Masked Marvel’s Last Toehold”
(Selzer), “The Ring of Time” (White), “Living Like Weasels” (Dillard); “My Losing
Season” (prologue/epilogue Conroy), “Ordeal by Cheque”
 Minor Literary Texts: The Practical Stylist
Writing Assignments:
 Style analyses of essays in paragraphs and graphic organizers
Unit Topic: Metapoetry
Essential Question: How does a poem mean?
Reading Assignments:
 Major Literary Texts: “Ars Poetica” (MacLeish); “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
(Ferlinghetti); “Digging” (Heaney); “Eating Poetry” (Strand); “Gentle Reader”
(Jacobsen); “How I Discovered Poetry” (Nelson); “Introduction to Poetry”
(Collins); “On Reading Poems to a Senior Class” (Berry); “Poems, Potatoes”
(Plath); “Poetry” (Moore); “Prosody 101” (Pastan); “since feeling is first”
(cummings); “Sound and Sense” (Pope); “There is no frigate like a book”
(Dickinson); “The Thought Fox” (Hughes)
 Minor Literary Texts: poetry chapters – Perinne’s Literature: Structure, Sound,
and Sense (Arp)
Writing Assignments:
 As they read, students keep a Double-Entry Journal in which they compose ten
entries required per poem.
Unit Topic: The individual versus society
Essential Question: How does society shape an individual and ultimately influence his
quality of life?
Reading Assignments:
 Major Literary Texts: Pygmalion (Shaw), The Awakening (Chopin)
 Minor Literary Texts: “Galatea Before the Mirror (Alegria), “Barbie Doll” (Piercy),
“The Leap” (Dickey), “Meeting at Night”/”Parting at Morning” (Browning), “Break
of Day” (Donne), “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” (Rich), “My Last Duchess” (Browning),
“The Story of an Hour”/”Desiree’s Baby” (Chopin), “The Lifeguard” (Dickey),
“Woman Work” (Angelou), How to Read Literature Like a College Professor
(Foster) Ch. 9, 10, 13 (Pygmalion) 2, 16, 18 (The Awakening).
Writing Assignments:
 Students will respond to guided reading questions for each major text.
 Students will compose Literary Analysis Paragraph Responses for each of the five
acts of the play Pygmalion. For example, they respond to the following topic for
Act IV: Choose the one line from Act IV that you believe is the turning point or
climax in the play and defend your decision. You may support your assertion with
quotations from Act I-Act IV.
 After studying the concept of satire, students compose a Persuasive Essay,
showing that a social condition Shaw criticized in the early twentieth century still
exists today. They choose from topics such as: Social class divisions are highly
artificial; trying to be what one is not can make one appear ridiculous; marriage is
not always an ideal state; or the “undeserving” poor need as much help as the
“deserving” poor.
 Read the following quotation, which is the last sentence of the “Epilogue” of the
play Pygmalion by G. B. Shaw. Then write an insightful discussion that addresses
the meaning of the quotation in terms of the major characters of the play.
Include connections to the outcome of the play.
“Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her
is too godlike.”
 Students compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompts. After receiving feedback, students choose to revise one of the essays:
1)1965: An individual's struggle toward understanding and awareness is the
traditional subject for the novelist. In an essay, apply this statement to The
Awakening. Organize your essay according to the following plan: a) Compare the
hero as we see him in an early scene with the hero as we see him in a scene near
the end of the novel. b) Describe the techniques that the author uses to reveal the
new understanding and awareness that the hero has achieved.
2) 1987: Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political
attitudes or in traditions. In The Awakening, note briefly the particular attitudes or
traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the
techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid
plot summary.
 Students compose a Literary Analysis Essay in which they explain the significance
of a motif in the novel (such as birds and flight, ocean and swimming, or clothing
and nakedness) and its connection to theme.
 Students write a Personal Narrative in response to one of the topics from the
Common Application such as: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk
you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Students receive feedback and revise multiple times to perfect these essays that
they may use for their own college applications
Unit Topic: Names, roots, and wings
Essential question: What impact does a person’s heritage have in shaping identity?
Reading Assignment:
 Major Literary Text: Song of Solomon (Morrison)
 Minor Literary Texts: “Museé des Beaux Arts” (Auden), “Landscape with the Fall of
Icarus” (Williams),“O Daedalus, Fly Away Home” (Hayden), “Mending Wall”
(Frost), “Mirror” (Plath), “Living in Sin” (Rich), “A Birth” (Dickey), “Toads”/”Toads
Revisited” (Larkin), “Five Ways to Kill a Man” (Brock) “Youth’s Progress” (Updike),
“Poetry of Departures” (Larkin), “Advice to My Son” (Meinke), “Words for My
Daughter” (Balaban), “The Piano” (Lawrence), “Ulysses” (Tennyson), How to Read
Literature Ch. 1, 7, 14, 15
Writing Assignments:
 Students will respond to guided reading questions for the major text.
 AP prompt: 1981: The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by
sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Song of
Solomon makes use of such allusion. Write a well-organized essay in which you
explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances
the work's meaning. Students will then do a prompt revisitation after their own
prompts are returned with feedback.
 Students write a Personal Narrative through Literary Imitation of Sandra
Cisneros’s “My Name.” They reveal the connection between their names and their
identity as they imitate Cisneros’s writing style.
 Find five “best style passages” that exhibit quintessential Toni Morrison. After
selecting the passages, write a good page explaining her style based on your
examples. Remember that Morrison’s style is pretty expansive.
 Find five best examples of parallel structure (different from your style passage
choices). Then explain the purpose of the parallelism in each example in
paragraph analyses.
 Write a 50 word précis of the novel. Count exactly 50 words.
 In a visual no larger than poster board and no smaller than half a piece of poster
board, show Milkman Dead’s heritage in a format such as a family tree or chart,
weaving in Milkman’s past and present. Use symbols and objects that are
representative of the various characters and their impact on the themes of
identity, song, flight, and love in Song of Solomon. The visual will be graded on
creativity, thoroughness, accuracy/neatness, and insight into the novel. Color is
necessary. Write a half page explanation of your representation.
Unit Topic: The darker side of man
Essential Question: Where is the heart of darkness?
Reading Assignments:
 Major Literary Text: Heart of Darkness (Conrad)
 Minor Literary Texts: “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” (Blake), “The Child by Tiger”
(Wolfe), “The Hollow Men” (Eliot), Apocalypse Now (Coppola), “Billiards” (Gibson),
Dover Beach” (Arnold), “The World Is Too Much with Us” (Wordsworth).
Writing Assignments:
 Students will respond to guided reading questions for the major text.
 style analysis graphic organizer “The Child by Tiger” as an introduction to the
themes of Heart of Darkness for various elements such as parallelism, imagery
(feline, fire, etc.), pathetic fallacy, repetition, tone, and narrative technique.
 AP-style prompt:
1) Discuss the use of darkness as a physical and symbolic presence in the novel.
2) An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the
view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant
“closure” has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not,
however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the
reader to abide ambiguity and uncertainty. Discuss the ending of Heart of
Darkness. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or
inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot; instead
discuss the significance of the ending to the theme and meaning of the work.
3) In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not
appear at all, is a significant presence. Discuss how such a character functions in
Heart of Darkness. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action,
theme, or the development of other characters.
Unit Topic: The funny nature of love
Essential Question: How is the comic nature of humanity reflected in love relationships?
Discussion of the types and characteristics of comedy.
Reading Assignment:
 Major Literary Text: The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare), The Importance of
Being Earnest (Wilde), As I Lay Dying (Faulkner)
 Minor Literary Texts: “Love in Brooklyn” (Frost), “The Telephone” (Wakeman),
“The Broken Heart” (Donne), “The Flea” (Donne), “The Passionate Shepherd to His
Love” (Marlowe), “The Nymph’s Reply” (Raleigh), “The Indifferent” (Donne), “The
Apparition” (Donne), “The Triple Fool” (Donne), “Love is Not All” (Millay), “Sorting
Laundry” (Ritchie), “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time” (Herrick), “To His Coy
Mistress” (Marvell), How to Read Literature (6)
Writing Assignments:
 As they read, students will respond to Guided Reading Questions.
 Students compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompts:
1) The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is easy to
discover. However, in other works the full significance of the title becomes
apparent to the reader only gradually. Discuss how the title of one of the playa
you have read in this unit is developed through the use of devices such as
contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view.
2) In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or
scene of a play introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay
about such a beginning of a novel and play you have read this semester in which
you explain how the introduction functions to set forth major themes.
3) Students will do a paired poem prompt pertaining to love such as the Eros
pairing.
 After studying the pastoral poems “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and
“The Nymph’s Reply,” students compose a Literary Imitation of the pair of poems.
Second Semester
Unit Topic: The transcendent nature of love
Essential question: What kind of love transcends space and time?
Reading Assignment:
 Major text: Wuthering Heights (Bronte)
 Minor texts: “Sorting Laundry” (Ritchie), “When my love swears that she is made
of truth” (Shakespeare), “Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit
impediments” (Shakespeare), “We outgrow love” (Dickinson), “Alter! When the
hills do” (Dickinson), “If thou must love me” (Browning), “Getting Through”
(Pope), “Since there’s no help” (Drayton), “Scholars” (de la Mare)
Writing Assignments:





Style passage analysis: How do the diction, imagery, figurative language, syntax,
and style contribute to the overall effect of the description of each character or
setting? How do those techniques contribute to the understanding of the
passage?
Students will compose Literary Analysis Paragraph Responses to teacher-selected
significant quotations.
Students will compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompt:
1) Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two
cities or towns, two houses, or the land and sea) to represent opposed forces or
ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Write an essay explaining how
the two places in Wuthering Heights differ, what each place represents, and how
their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.
Students will compose a love poem without using the word love.
Students will compose an original poem using a specific form that suits the
meaning of the poem. (Ex. Sonnet, terza rima, villanelle, etc.)
Unit Topic: The modern psyche
Essential question: What choices in subject and technique do modern writers make?
Reading Assignment:
Students will select one novel from the list below and read it according to the groups
that form. There must be a minimum of three people and preferably no more than
five people per novel.
Choices:
 Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)
 Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)
 All the Pretty Horses or The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
 A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
 East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
 The Prince of Tides or Beach Music (Pat Conroy)
Writing Assignments:
 Students will be given creative as well as AP style assignments.
 Students will write an outside paper with secondary sources from a list of selected
topics.
Unit Topic: Much madness is divinest sense
Essential Question: What is the proper response to revenge?
Reading Assignment:
 Major Literary Text: Hamlet (Shakespeare)
 Minor Literary Texts: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Eliot), “Hamlet”
(Pasternak), “Elegy of Fortinbras” (Herbert)
Writing Assignments:
 As they read, students will respond to Guided Reading Questions.
 Students compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompt:
According to British novelist Fay Weldon, a happy ending involves “moral
development” and can be achieved through “some kind of spiritual reassessment
or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” Therefore, though the
stage is littered with dead bodies at the end of the play, Hamlet could be said to



have a happy ending. Discuss Hamlet’s happy ending and its significance in the
work as a whole.
Students will research a topic in Hamlet (i.e., the role of women, father/son
relationships, etc.) and write a formal research paper in MLA format with in-text
citations from primary sources and a minimum of three secondary sources.
Students compose a Literary Analysis Essay in which they explain the significance
of a motif in the novel (such as deception and spying, decay and disease, incest
and kinship, or acting and playing) and its connection to theme.
Students write a Compare-Contrast Essay based on the following topic:
Read Boris Pasternak’s “Hamlet” and use the poem to discuss the roles of destiny
and acting in the play. Consider the impact on the meaning of the play of
Hamlet’s lament about his fate—“The time is out of joint. O curséd spite,/That
ever I was born to set it right!” (1.5.6-7)—, his familial and political duties, his
madness, and the play within a play.
Unit Topic: Time out of joint
Essential Question: Is a person’s role in society scripted and inescapable?
Reading Assignment:
 Major Literary Text: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Stoppard)
 Minor Literary Texts: “Anthem for Doomed Youth” (Owen), “Dulce Et Decorum
Est” (Owen), “The Convergence of the Twain” (Hardy), “Design” (Frost), “George
Gray” (Masters), “Sisyphus and the Sudden Lightness” (Dunn), “Disillusionment at
Ten O’clock” (Stevens), e. e. cummings’ poems, “Much Madness Is Divinest
Sense” (Dickinson), “Spinster” (Plath)
Writing Assignments:
 As they read, students will respond to Guided Reading Questions.
 Students will compose Literary Analysis Paragraph Responses to teacher-selected
significant quotations.
 Students compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompts:
1) "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." (George
Meredith) Choose a character or scene from Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
that awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you
show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of
the work.
2) 1985: A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of
literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and
disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this "healthy confusion." Write an
essay in which you explain the sources of the "pleasure and disquietude"
experienced by the readers of the work.
Unit Topic: Loss and Redemption
Essential Question: How does man overcome losses in life and gain redemption?
Reading Assignment:
 Major Literary Text: The Poisonwood Bible (Kingsolver), Equus (Shaffer)
 Minor Literary Texts: Trifles (Glaspell), “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” (Rich), “Those
Winter Sundays” (Hayden), “Turning” (Wade), “Elegy for Jane” (Roethke), “Bells
for John Whiteside’s Daughter” (Ransom), “My Papa’s Waltz” (Roethke), “To a
Daughter Leaving Home” (Pastan), “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
(Whitman), “One Art” (Bishop), “after minor surgery” (Pastan), “The Letter”
(Kenyon), “The Mill” (Robinson)
Writing Assignments:
 Students will compose Literary Analysis Paragraph Responses to teacher-selected
significant quotations.
 Students will do research-based inquiry on allusions from the novel and will write
Literary Analysis Response Paragraphs explaining the significance of the allusions
to the novel.
 Students compose essays in response to the following AP Exam Timed-Writing
prompts:
1) In many literary works, a character has a misconception of himself or his world.
Destroying or perpetuating this illusion contributes to a central theme of the work.
Choose a major character from The Poisonwood Bible to whom this statement
applies, and write an essay in which you consider the following points: what the
character's illusion is and how it differs from reality as presented in the novel and
how the destruction or perpetuation of the illusion develops a theme of the novel.
2) Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures—
national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a
character’s sense of identity into question. Choose a character from The
Poisonwood Bible who responds to such a cultural collision. Then write a wellorganized essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain its
relevance to the work as a whole.
3) Students will write an AP-style prompt on the paired poems “Bells for John
Whiteside’s Daughter” (Ransom) and “Elegy for Jane” (Roethke).
TEXTS
Arp, Thomas R., and Greg Johnson Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense.
New York: Harcourt Brace, 2008.
Delahunty, Andrew, and Sheila Dignan, and Penny Stock. A Dictionary of Allusions. New
York: Oxford UP, 2003.
DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. New York:
McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2007.
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining
Guide to Reading Between the Lines. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008.
Lunsford, Andrea, and Robert Connors. The New St. Martin’s Handbook. New York: St.
Martin’s P, 1999.
Writers INC. Wilmington, MA: Great Source Education Group, 2001.
TEACHER RESOURCES
Bevilacqua, Mary, Elfie Israel, and Rosemary Timoney. AP Literature and Composition:
Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. New York: Amsco School
Publications, 2002.
Casson, Allan. Cliffs AP English Literature and Composition. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley
Publishing, Inc., 2001.
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House, 2000.
Earnest, Duane. Practical Guide to the Advanced Placement English Literature and
Composition Examination. Detroit Lakes, MN: School House Books, 1999.
Ehrenhaft, George, Max Nadel, and Arthur Sherver, Jr. How the Prepare for the AP
English Examinations. 7th ed. New York: Barron’s, 2000.
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for College. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook,
1998.
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for High School. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook,
1998.
Pivarnik-Nova, Denise. AP English Literature & Composition. New York: Kaplan, 2004.
Rankin, Estelle M. and Barbara L. Murphy. 5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literature. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Vogel, Richard, and Charles F. Winans. Multiple-Choice and Free-Response Questions in
Preparation for the AP English Literature and Composition Examination. 6th ed.
Brooklyn: D&S Marketing Systems, Inc., 2001.
Vogel, Richard, and Charles F. Winans. Multiple-Choice and Free-Response Questions in
Preparation for the AP English Literature and Composition Examination. 2nd ed.
Brooklyn: D&S Marketing Systems, Inc., 1988.