AP English Literature and Composition
Ms. Baynes
2011-2012
Course Syllabus
Welcome to AP English. The primary goal of this course is to develop your abilities
as an independent reader and writer by offering you college-level literature during
your senior year. Successful completion of the examination in May should be one of
your goals. The larger gain, however, will be found in your increased ability to deal
with the ideas and subtleties that sophisticated literature contains.
Summer Reading Requirement
Students are required to read five books during the summer months.
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien
Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton
How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque
Within the first few days of the school year, there will be tests on all books. Discussion
focuses on themes and multiple interpretations that present themselves in these books.
The books are also used as reference points and supporting evidence for discussion
throughout the year.
Following the discussion component, the students write longer essays based upon past
AP Literature and Composition exam prompts. Students select the prompt that best suits
the novel they choose to write about.
Course Description
The overarching question that students should consider as they read each work of
literature is this: What does the author want me to understand? Answering this
question is the driving force behind all that we do, regardless of title or genre.
Short Stories
This unit affords students practice with determining the author’s purpose and intent of
using point of view, tone and diction, setting, characters, and structure (and other writing
tools) in short stories as pathways to deeper meaning. Each tool or technique is
approached with consideration of its effect on the meaning of the story. The stories are
from an extensive list of writers including but not limited to: Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Raymond Carver, James Thurber, Ellen Gilchrist, Katherine Brush, Jay Woodruff, John
Cheever, Bill Roorbach, Laurie Colwin, Lorrie, Moore, Bruce Holland Rogers, Shirley
Jackson, Nadine Gordimer, John Steinbeck, and John Updike.
Poetry
Students will conduct an investigation into poetry, considering such elements as
denotation and connotation, imagery, figurative language, allusion, meaning, ideas, and
tone.
Novels and Plays
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
This novel affords students the opportunity to engage in close study of language and of
the author’s ironic voice. We will discuss Austen’s confined rural landscape and her
revelation of aspects of the human condition. Essays of analysis on key passages will
accompany the reading. The unit concludes with a formal essay based upon literary
criticism of the work.
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
The students read this novel as an example of social and political commentary and of
satire. Dickens' use of point of view to elicit pathos from the reader and reveal the
message will be the focus of discussion. The culminating paper will be on this technique
and Dickens’ unique use of it.
A Passage to India – E. M. Forster
This novel explores the ramifications of British colonization of India. Central to the
novel is the uncertainty that often characterizes human interaction, at the personal as well
as at the cultural level. Students will compare the novel's realism and mysticism. The
unit concludes with a formal essay that compares those two elements of the novel.
Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert
Students will consider whether Flaubert truly is the ultimate realist, as many critics
categorize him, or whether he is more concerned with the act of writing. The precision of
his writing as he develops complex yet flawed characters is discussed. The author’s tone
and intent as the lesson of the story is revealed will be the focus of culminating papers.
Hamlet – Shakespeare
The goals of this unit are to practice close reading and to gain a full understanding of the
language of the play. Paraphrasing is a regular activity. We may view different film
versions of Hamlet. The students will choose thirty lines to recite in front of the class and
perform a selected scene. Writing includes analysis of a soliloquy and a formal essay on
the complexity of Hamlet’s character.
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Students will analyze the morality of the plot and consider the usefulness of nihilism,
utilitarianism, rationalism, and socialism in the context and setting of the novel and in the
present day. A culminating project will be a modern day legal justification of the case.
Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
This unit is an introduction to the Theater of the Absurd. We will try to make sense out
of nonsense while considering our overarching question, What does the author want me
to understand?
Candide – Voltaire
This is the anchor text for a satire unit that culminates with students' original written
satires.
The College Essay
The students are required to write personal essays for their college applications as part of
their school instruction. This project usually lasts one to two weeks.
The Research Paper
Students will write a critical analysis of four full-length novels or plays by the same
writer. Students receive a list of possible writers from their teacher. The purpose of this
assignment is to use a scholarly approach in order to analyze one of the following aspects
of those works:
Style
Setting
Tone
Symbol
Diction
Irony
Theme
Context
Character
Society
You must use at least four primary and at least two secondary sources in developing
your paper. You must submit at least 50 notecards. You must give evidence of
exhaustive research, covering a full range of criticism of your author and his or her
works.
Page length: 10-15 typed pages double-spaced, exclusive of the Works Cited page
Margins: One-inch margins
Font: 12-point font New Times Roman, blue or black ink
Format: MLA (refer to Duxbury Research Guide)
Students will begin their research independently at the beginning of the school year.
Global Collaboration
Students may be asked to engage in online collaboration with students from another
country. The goal is to broaden horizons by learning about another culture and by
considering differing perspectives on literature and life.
Other
AP test practice
Unit tests
Quizzes, both announced and unannounced
Literature response journals
Dialectic journals
Expository essays
Essays of analysis
Any part of this syllabus is subject to change. Book selections depend upon availability.