Syllabus for AP Literature and Composition 2013-2014
Instructor Belinda Juergens
Email juergensb@rcschools.net
Siegel High School Room 123
Phone 904-3800 ext. 29526 or 29636
Credit Hours: One-half credit per semester (course requires full-year enrollment)
Prerequisite: Successful completion of either English III: AP Language and Composition or English III Honors;
enrollment is based on teacher recommendation and/or student request.
Class Meetings: Held Monday through Friday in room 123 during fifth and sixth periods.
Required Supplies: Ring binder, college-ruled loose-leaf paper, required texts, novels and plays, blue or black ink
pens, #2 pencils, correction fluid, post-it flags, highlighters, index cards, technology storage device.
Names beginning with:
A-C
two boxes of tissue
D-F
one can of tennis balls
G-J
one package (500 sheets) of copier paper
K-M
one package of individually wrapped candy or fruit snacks
N-P
two rolls of paper towels
Q-S
one package of individually wrapped candy or fruit snacks
T-V
one package of red pens for peer editing
W-Z
one package of Wet Ones or Clorox antibacterial wipes
Primary Texts:
Glenn, Cheryl and Loretta Gray. Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook. 17th ed. Boston:
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2009.
Jago, Carol, et al. Literature & Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011.
Grading Procedure: Total points with students being made aware of point value when assignment is made.
Supplemental Texts:
Allen, Janet, et al. Holt McDougal Literature: British Tradition. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing, 2012.
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. New York: Harper Collins,
2003.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading-Thinking-Writing. 7 ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2005.
Required Books/Plays:
*Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Grendel by John Gardner
1984 by George Orwell
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Fences by August Wilson
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
**A Question of Freedom by Dwayne Betts
*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
*Denotes a summer reading choice (1 of 4); all four will be read and utilized at some point during the year.
**Denotes a summer reading book. This is chosen by our school system as part of a collaborative project
with Middle Tennessee State University. If this was not a summer choice, it will be completed at some point
in the school year.
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Our School’s AP English Program:
In the area of English, College Board currently offers two courses: AP Language and Composition and AP Literature
and Composition. Our school is currently teaching the Language and Composition course at the junior level and the
Literature and Composition Course at the senior level. The instructors for both courses are fully certified by the
College Board and have attended an AP Vertical Team Training, a five-day AP Institute that focuses on the specific
course content, and an Advanced Training that deals with teaching methods and strategies for instructing AP students.
The content of both courses has been approved though the 2007 AP Course Audit for satisfying the rigorous
standards set forth by College Board for a course to carry the AP designation. This certification was renewed for 20132014.
About English IV AP Literature and Composition:
You are currently enrolled in the Literature and Composition course. The College Board recommends a focus on
literature that is both “wide and deep.” Students are encouraged to read works from a variety of genres, cultures, and
time periods. The AP Literature and Composition exam is composed of 50% American literature and 50% British
literature. The scope ranges from 1600 to the present. Although your ultimate goal in this course is to receive college
credit, please remember that the test is not our primary consideration. The goal of the course is to “engage students in
the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature.” Students will expand their ability to analyze literature
through close reading of a variety of texts. According to College Board, “Close reading involves three key elements:
experience, interpretation, and evaluation.” Our study this year will focus on the close reading of works within the
senior curriculum with additional readings from novels, plays, and the Bedford text that will allow us to prepare for the
exam on a weekly basis. My personal goal for this course is four-fold:
(1) To cover the basic British literature curriculum that is necessary and appropriate to insure your future success in
college and to make you a well-rounded citizen of the world.
(2) To prepare you for the research environment and the analytical nature of research writing in college.
(3) To foster a love of classical literature.
(4) To prepare you for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Exam.
To this end, we will spend the year in intense study of literature and composition. I am excited about taking this
journey with you as we explore the wealth of literature from England and around the globe.
Source: College Board 2004-2005 Workshop Materials
Monday Seminars: On Mondays of regular school weeks (those without a holiday, in-service session, inclement
weather day, school activity interruption, etc.) AP Literature and Composition students will conduct a learning seminar
over previously assigned works of literature. These works are included in either the required or supplemental texts or
on handouts supplied by the instructor. The works are assigned on Thursday of the previous week. These seminars
sometimes focus on the time period/genre/theme we are covering that week, but sometimes deviate from our current
position. You are responsible for getting seminar assignments from a friend or from your instructor in the event that
you are absent when this is assigned. You may email me for the assignment if you are absent on Thursday and Friday.
You must be present on Monday to receive the full credit for the seminar assignment. You must have your text or a
printed copy of the poem/story/excerpt in order to receive credit for the seminar.
SAMPLE SEMINAR ASSIGNMENT
Kate Chopin Short Story Seminar
(This was a January seminar last year).
Read “The Story of an Hour” p. 15 Bedford and “A Pair of Silk Stockings” from Kate Chopin story collection.
Write two paragraphs on the stories. In the first, compare/contrast the imagery that reveals the “freedom” of the
protagonists in the stories. In the second, using textual evidence as well as extrapolation, assess what you believe to
be the past history of each protagonist and the future of Mrs. Sommers.
Course Content:
Getting to Know You: The First Few Days
Day One: Take personality test and assess personalities for grouping.
Day Two: Cover syllabus and classroom expectations. Complete student information sheet.
Day Three: Discuss the need for reading in all areas of life. We will read the USA Today article “How Schools are
Destroying the Joy of Reading” by Patrick Welsh (August 4, 2005). We will discuss this article as a class.
Day Four: Students will write an in-class timed essay in which they will respond to the allegations made by Mr. Welsh
in the previously mentioned article. Students will choose one of three topics.
Topic Choice #1
Has there been an experience in your school career that you felt truly killed your joy of reading? Explain that
experience and its effect on you as a reader.
Topic Choice #2
Do you feel that textbooks should include more/less multicultural literature at the expense of classical literature?
Explain your answer.
Topic Choice #3
Do you agree with the author of this article that the heavy anthologies that only give you a sampling of works are
guilty of “destroying the joy of reading?” Why or why not?
Day 5: We will discuss the summer reading assignments and establish the parameters for the assessment of summer
reading. The first summer reading assessment on a choice book will take place on Thursday, August 29. The second
summer reading assessment on a choice book will take place on Tuesday, September 3. Assessments will involve
writing paragraphs that “connect” people, places, objects, and ideas in the book to one another. The directions for the
assignment follow:
Directions: You will use AP paper provided for the Connections assignments. Be sure to place your name, date, and
class period in the upper right corner of the first page. The people, places, ideas and objects from the literary work
have been randomly selected. Your response to connecting these people, places, ideas and objects will result in five
short essay responses. You may mention the obvious connections, but be sure to delve beneath the surface. Look for
both figurative and literal responses.
Seminar Assignment: You will have your first seminar on Monday, August 26. You are to read two poems. They are
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell on pages 693 and 694 of Literature & Composition and “Loveliest of
Trees” by A.E. Housman (you can obtain a copy from me or get this online).
Day Six: I will introduce seminar structure and guidelines in preparation for Monday’s seminar. We will read Billy
Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry” on page 722 of the Bedford.
I encourage you to make a daily visit to Poetry 180 (www.loc.gov/poetry/180), a site that will allow you to read a poem
each day of your school year. The poem we are reading today is poem number one.
First Nine Weeks: The Anglo-Saxon Quest for Immortality and the Monster Mystique
Featured works:
Anglo-Saxon Riddles (Cynewulf and Anonymous)
“The Seafarer” (Anonymous)
Beowulf (Anonymous)
Grendel (John Gardner)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) {This work is to be read as independent reading if it was not a summer reading
choice; if it was a summer reading choice, the student will choose between The Picture of Dorian Gray ,
Pride and Prejudice and A Question of Freedom..
Featured literary devices from this period: caesura, alliteration, kenning, epithet, allusion, flashback, oral tradition
Featured thematic content from this period: concept of wyrd, belief in brevity of life vs. immortality, the monster as a
product of nature or nurture
Featured genres of the period: epic poetry, riddle, elegiac poetry, modern novel, gothic novel
Writing Assignments:
1)
Students will compose their own Anglo-Saxon riddles, following the structure and style of the
samples we have read in class.
2)
Students will compose a literary response essay in which they compare Grendel and Frankenstein
on the basis of theme, setting, and tone. This is a timed, in-class essay. It is based on an AP-style prompt and
will be scored holistically.
Our Monday seminar the week prior to the writing of this essay will include a pre-writing session in which students
meet in groups and brainstorm similarities in Grendel and other works they have read. They will categorize these
thoughts by tools of the writer’s craft.
Additionally, during the first six weeks guidance will come speak with you about college preparation. By Friday,
September 20, you should have a resumé and a college application essay (not a personal statement) ready to turn in to
be evaluated.
Second Nine Weeks: Medieval Narrative Poetry and Introduction to Research
Featured works:
Medieval ballads “Barbara Allan” and “Lord Randall”
Everyman
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
We will read the entire “General Prologue,” “The Pardoner’s Tale,” “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” and “The
Nun’s Priest’s Tale.”
Fences by August Wilson
Le Morte d’ Arthur selections
Featured literary terminology: refrain, approximate rhyme, rhyming couplet, quatrain, ballad stanza, vernacular, folk
legend, courtly love, allegory, mock heroic style, framework device, persona, verbal irony, understatement
Featured genres: ballad, exemplum, fabliau, Breton lai, fairy tale, beast fable, lyric poetry, narrative poetry, miracle
play, mystery play, morality play, anecdote, romance
Writing Assignments:
1) Preliminary work on the research writing assignment.
2) Students will work in groups to compose ballads that follow the Medieval ballad tradition.
This grading period will feature the introduction to the research process. I have chosen to have the AP Literature and
Composition students write a literary analysis on one of the tales from the Canterbury Tales that we do not study in
class. This process is spread out over four grading periods to allow us to move on in our chronological study and to
give the instructor time to grade and provide feedback for each step of the process. Students will choose a tale (only
two per class may choose the same tale). You will then gather preliminary bibliography. You have three days in our
school library and have access to Walker Library at MTSU as well. The assignment is made upon completion of our
classroom study of the Canterbury Tales. During this grading period students will return to their sources gathered in
their bibliography and take notes based on a preliminary thesis statement. They will have five class meetings in the
library in which to complete this in addition to time for them to “fill in the gaps” at Walker Library. Students are
required to use at least three specialized reference works, at least two scholarly journal articles, at least two regular
books, and two online sources from credible authors. Students will learn to use a variety of search tools in this
process.
Third Nine Weeks: The Renaissance, Drama, and Information Gathering
The research process will carry over into the third and fourth grading periods.
Featured works:
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
King James Bible ( a Psalm, a proverb, and a parable)
Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Various sonnets (mostly Shakespeare, but others to include all three types)
The Picture of Dorian Gray {This work is to be read as independent reading if it was not a summer reading
choice; if it was a summer reading choice, the student will read Pride and Prejudice or A Question of
Freedom}
“If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet”(chapter four), “ When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare. . .” (chapter six), “. . .
Or the Bible” (chapter seven) from How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
Featured literary terms: sonnet, English (Shakespearean) sonnet, Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet, Spenserian sonnet,
octave, sestet, iambic pentameter, heroic couplet, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution,
denouement, deus ex machina, hubris, hamartia, motif, oxymoron, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, apostrophe,
metonymy, synechdoche, foil, Shakespearean hero, protagonist, antagonist, allusion, grave humor, catharsis, soliloquy,
aside, didactic tone, existentialism
Featured genres: sonnet (English, Italian, Spenserian), comedy, history, tragedy, pastoral verse, sonnet cycle, literary
criticism, tragicomedy, absurdist drama
Writing assignments:
1) Students will write a comparative paper on the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as they are
seen in Hamlet and in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, focusing on the change from minor
character to protagonist.
2) Students will have a series of quotations from Hamlet that they must translate into today’s language.
They will be given a quotation test in which they must identify the speaker, audience, and context of each
of the quotations.
3) Students will complete the rough draft of the literary analysis paper.
Note: This grading period will also include a brief study of the Protestant Reformation and King Henry VIII and the
establishment of the Church of England as the Protestant/Catholic controversy is central to much of the literature for
the next two centuries.
Fourth Nine Weeks: The Seventeenth through the Twentieth Centuries and the Research Draft
Students will return to the research process by putting their note cards into categories in order to finalize a thesis
statement and complete a preliminary outline. Thesis statements and outlines will be evaluated and returned to the
students with suggestions for revision. Students will then begin to write and document the rough draft of the research
paper. This will be due around the middle of March.
Featured works:
Seventeenth Century
Paradise Lost (Book 1 only)
Milton’s sonnets
Various John Donne poems as examples of metaphysical poetry
Various Ben Jonson poems
We will discuss the School of Donne and the Sons of Ben and look at sample poets following each style.
John Dryden (excerpts)
Enlightenment
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift ( excerpts)
“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
The Rape of the Lock (excerpts) by Alexander Pope
Pre-romantics
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray
Note: At this point, I stop and introduce students to the great British elegies. We will read three of the
five.
“The Lamb” and “The Tiger” by William Blake
Featured literary terminology: metaphysical conceit, paradox, epic simile, alliteration, dissonance, invocation,
oxymoron, allusion, pun, in medias res, anti-hero
Featured genres: metaphysical poetry, epic, sonnet, carpe diem poetry, elegy, pastoral elegy, satire
Note: I begin intensive test preparation and review during this grading period. We take a full practice test and
evaluate two essays for each student. I will return the rough draft of the research paper with a grading rubric that is
filled with comments for revision that will include formatting, citation, content, and structural revisions. Students will
have two weeks from the time I return the rough draft to make revisions and turn in a completed final copy of the
paper. This concludes the literary analysis research process.
Featured works:
Romantics
“The World is Too Much with Us” and “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William
Wordsworth
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats
“In Memorium A.H.H.” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Adonais” by Percy Blysse Shelley
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning
Assignment for the Victorian Period
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (outside reading at end of grading period)
Later Victorians
“Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy
“Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold
“Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman
The Modern Period
1984 by George Orwell or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (outside reading)
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood
Featured literary terminology: anaphora, litotes, hyperbole, allusion, heroic quatrain, alliteration, pastoral, realism,
fatalism, enjambment, apostrophe
Featured literary genres: elegy, dramatic monologue, ode, Victorian novel
The beginning of this grading period is consumed with intensive preparation for the AP Exam. We will complete
and evaluate two multiple choice practice exams. We will write the essays for one of the two exams. Students will
revise the weakest essay of the three. In addition, there will be a Saturday review before the exam (May 3). We will
complete a practice exam (including essays) and score it during the review. We will discuss all multiple choice
questions before leaving and students will receive feedback sheets on the essays on Monday following the review.
Note: This is a short grading period because of senior activities culminating in graduation and because we will
finish content prior to the AP Literature and Composition Exam, which is Thursday, May 8.
This grading period will also include a study of propaganda and logic, with an emphasis on the use of these devices in
advertising. Students will complete an advertising analysis.
Featured literary terminology: symbolism, juxtaposition, enjambment, end-stopped line, pathos, mythological allusion,
movement, oxymoron, irony, alliteration, synecdoche
Featured genres: villanelle, modern novel, shaped poem, carpe diem poetry
Writing assignments:
1) AP Practice Test Essays (3) Students will revise the weakest essay of the three, paying careful attention to
syntactical variety, use of sentence-combining strategies, patterns of organization, use of detail, blending of
textual example with analytical commentary, level of vocabulary, and use of transitional elements.
2) Students will complete an essay on 1984, analyzing the use of symbol and political satire.
Other poets/writers covered in Monday seminars(others to be announced):
Emily Dickinson “I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died” and “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain”
Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Seamus Heaney “Digging”
Maya Angelou “Woman Work”
Alice Walker “The Flowers”
Wilfred Owen “Dulce et Decorum Est”
Randall Jarrell “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”
Theodore Roethke “My Papa’s Waltz”
Robert Hayden “Those Winter Sundays”
Andrew Marvell “To His Coy Mistress”
A.E. Housman “Loveliest of Trees”
Richard Wilbur “Advice to a Prophet”
John Cheever “Reunion”
Ernest Hemingway “Hills Like White Elephants”
Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Please note that this course outline is subject to change. It only includes the major works of study that are planned. I
may add or delete works at any time. This syllabus is very important to you, so it is to be kept in your notebook at all
times.
Miscellaneous notes:
1. English literature and composition are taught in this class. You have learned proper grammar already, so I will
expect you to demonstrate this knowledge in writing and speaking. Consult your Harbrace for grammar questions.
We will review grammatical concepts as a need arises and for ACT review.
2. We will study literature and composition at the same time. Grammar will be integrated with our study of writing.
You will be issued a Literature & Composition book and a Harbrace handbook as your adopted texts for this class.
The Holt McDougal Literature book that is the standard adoption for senior English will be used as a classroom set
and is to remain in your desk. Your Harbrace should be kept in your possession, as you never know when a need for
it may arise. You always need your ring binder. Never assume you may leave this in your locker.
3. We will read a number of supplemental works throughout the year. You are responsible for bringing a copy of
your novel to class every day while we are working with that novel. Some of the works are in your textbook. You are
responsible for purchasing the others. Some will be read in class, while others will be independent reading. You will
need to secure a copy of John Gardner’s Grendel and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein within the next few weeks.
4. We will write periodically. You are responsible for providing loose-leaf paper and an ink pen for writing. You are
expected to have these materials with you at all times as writing assignments may not be announced ahead of time.
5. You will have vocabulary assignments periodically. You will be expected to be able to define your vocabulary words
and use them correctly in sentences. You must also be able to identify the words in their context in literary passages.
There is no vocabulary workbook for this class. Vocabulary to be covered will come from the context of the literature
we are studying as well as the foreign terms designated by the state course of study.
6. We will give several oral presentations in this class. You may be asked to memorize a poem, a speech, or a song.
7. You must read in this class. You cannot pass if you do not read. Remember that Spark Notes and movies are not
substitutes for books. They have a purpose, but it is not as a quick fix.
8. The research paper is of incredible importance. It is virtually impossible to pass without the completion of a
research paper. THIS IS NOT DIFFICULT! It is simply a matter of following directions.
9. You must complete the computer user agreement necessary for access to the school computers. Some required
classroom projects and the research paper require school computer use.
10. You must maintain an English notebook. This notebook is very important to you. We will be referring to
handouts in the notebook on a regular basis.
Grading Procedure
I will be grading on a total points system. You will be made aware of the point value of each assignment as it is given to
you. The only daily grades that will be given in AP English IV will be seminar grades. You must have the required
text or a photocopy of the works to be reviewed on seminar days to be eligible for seminar points. You must be
present to receive the seminar participation points. If you are not in class on a seminar day, you will receive credit for
the written assignment, but it is impossible to make up the participation portion of the grade.