AP English
Mr. Bartolotta
Course Description
This is a yearlong course in which you will read, discuss and write about literature with
the sophistication expected of intelligent, motivated, able first-year college students. This
course will prepare you to do well on the Advanced Placement exam in Literature and
Composition offered toward the end of the school year by the College Board. You are
expected to take an active role in the class as a member of a community of readers and
writers. Expect to write one research paper or project each semester.
Grading
Grading in this course is based on a total-points system. To determine your grade at any
time during a term, divide the total points you have earned by the number of total
possible points at that time.
Late papers will be accepted when extraordinary circumstances make it fair to
accept them and with my explicit permission. I am the only one who get to determine
what is extraordinary. Late papers that are accepted under these conditions will be
penalized 10 percent per week unless reason and a sense of justice clearly dictate
otherwise. Late papers usually are not entitled to receive teacher comments and
feedback, only an indisputable grade.
Major Projects
Semester One: Research Project On a Major Author. You will develop and support with
appropriate research a thesis about two major works of an author of recognized literary
stature. In addition to your term paper, you will take one of the works and develop a
packet of instructional materials as if you were going to teach the work to a group of
eager, intelligent students. Details to follow.
Semester Two: Poetry Project. As the major part of a “paper of several pieces”, you will
develop and research a thesis on the work of a poet of recognized merit. Other pieces of
the project will require you to approach one poem from several different angles, such as
in a paraphrase, in a parody, in an annotation. Details to follow.
Miscellaneous information
Computer information
 My e-mail: bartolottat@fpsct.org
 Web page: www.fpsct.org; navigate to schools, FHS, staff
 AP info: CollegeBoard.com
Office Hours
 Before and after school almost any day, by appointment
 Period 1 almost any day, by appointment
 Need another time? Check. You might be invited to join me at lunch or study hall.
Parents: If you would like to share an email address with me, I would be happy to
contact you by email as well as telephone if the need arises. Just send me a greeting at the
address you would like me to use.
Syllabus
We will adhere to the following plan as well as we can while remaining flexible and
nimble enough to adjust to instructional opportunities and needs.
First Semester
Topics:
 The development of theme through the use of motif, imagery, characterization, and
other literary and rhetorical devices
 The relationship between narrative structure and meaning
Works:
 Summer Reading, Motif, Theme, Genre: Metamorphosis; Animal Dreams; Going
After Cacciato
 Romanticism ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner”; Frankenstein)
 Greek Drama: Medea; Oedipus the King
 Genre and theme (works TBA)
 The drama and poetry of the Renaissance. (Hamlet)
Major Compositions
 The summer essay
 The personal essay (appropriate for use with college applications)
 Research project on a major author due before holiday break
 Analytical essays on the readings
 At least one opportunity to write an original creative piece that interprets or responds
to some element of our readings and discussions
Second Semester
Topics:
 The elements of poetry
 The literature of ideas: how literature reflects views of the human condition
 The elements of satire and comedy
Works
 Poetry, classical, modern, contemporary
 Existentialism/Nihilism: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; The
Metamorphosis; The Stranger
 A choice of novel written before 1900
 Candide; The Importance of Being Ernest; Fuddy Meers
 Magic Realism:
Major Assignments
 Poetry projects due one week before spring break
 Essays on the readings, including independently developed assignments about the
novels written before 1900
 Final project that incorporates elements of all the year's readings