Advanced Placement English
I.
Career Skills—During this first segment of the course, students will learn proper
style techniques for completing personal profiles, résumés, business letters, personal
essays, scholarship application essays, standard application forms, and for developing
other career and post-secondary related skills. The unit closure will involve
assembling a professional portfolio (outlined on a separate handout). The
supplementary text for cultivating these skills will be The Job Hunting Handbook
(Dahlstrom and Company, 2006).
A. This phase of the course teaches and requires students to write in several forms (e.g.,
narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects
(e.g., to address public policies, popular culture, personal experiences, etc.). Turning
Point, Personal Philosophy, Significant Person/Event, Academic Integrity, and
Complaint/Resolution to a Problem essay topics will occur during this unit.
B. Since all of these writings will compile a portfolio, students will have frequent
opportunities to write and rewrite. Reflection writing will provide further practice in
metacognition, where students will think about their thinking, exploring and
discovering what they are learning in the process of writing.
C. Students will also write a research/argumentative essay outlined below.
II.
Writing—Every Wednesday and Thursday students will respond to informal Quick
Write and Think About topics to increase writing fluency, to think critically and
analytically about their world, and to develop skill in formulating and disseminating
ideas quickly. Every month they will grow one of these ideas into a piece of finished
writing—either prose, narration, poetry, or some other genre chosen by the student.
A. This phase of the course requires students to write in informal contexts (e.g.,
imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses)
designed to help them become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and of
the techniques employed by the writers they read. We will employ Katie Wood
Ray’s Reading Like a Writer protocol in reaching this end.
B. The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing
assignments, both before and after the students revise their work; this feedback
will assist writers in the areas of idea development, organization, word choice,
sentence fluency, voice, and conventions.
C. This feedback will come during peer editing sessions, writing workshop settings
with mini-lessons, teacher conferences, and personal appointments.
III.
Vocabulary—The Word for the Day vocabulary program with its bi-weekly essay
exams will provide opportunity for students to develop vocabulary and to respond
with articulation and application.
IV.
Analysis—To fulfill the following general objectives:
¾ to develop students’ ability to independently analyze short stories, poems,
nonfiction, drama, and novels; to interrogate an author’s ideas, to create
counterarguments, and to make a personal connection to literature
¾ to equip students with skills in stylistic analysis of literary texts, skills such as
close observation, annotation/marking text, critical questioning, citing evidence,
and evidentiary reasoning (What does it say? What does it mean? What is its
value?)
¾ to enable students to write effective critical analyses, to support and develop an
argument, and to employ proper MLA style
¾ to provide students opportunities to successfully complete timed writings on
impromptu subjects
¾ to empower students through practice in thinking and speaking skills
¾ to understand the key questions to analysis: What does the author mean? How
does he/she achieve this meaning? Why does the author choose these
techniques/rhetorical strategies?
A. The Short Story: “The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams, “Eveline” and
“Counterparts” by James Joyce, “Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway, “The
Japanese Quince” by John Galsworthy, “The Jockey” and “Sucker” by Carson
McCullers, “Tears, Idle Tears” by Elizabeth Bowen, “The Lagoon” by Joseph
Conrad, “A Wedge of Shade” by Louise Erdrich, “Tickets, Please” by D.H.
Lawrence, “The Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield, “A Worn Path” by Eudora
Welty
1. Elements of Fiction
2. Analysis of Conflict for Theme
3. Analysis of Various Literary Devices for Theme
4. Short Story Analysis with Student Collaborated Oral Presentations
5. Timed-Writing on Fiction (Impromptu on Charles Dickens or another suitable
author/passage)
6. Writing the Analytical Paper. This will be an interpretation of the short story that is
based on a careful observation of the work's textual details, considering structure,
style, and themes; as well as the social and historical values it reflects and
embodies.
B. Poetry:
1. Introducing Poems (“Dog’s Death” by John Updike, “Pitcher” by Robert Francis,
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath)
2. Identifying Tools of Analysis/Poetic Terminology (“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by
Walt Whitman, “After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes” by Emily Dickinson,
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “The Bean Eaters” by Gwendolyn
Brooks)
3. Unlocking the Poem (“The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden, “Autumn Refrain”
by Wallace Stevens, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich)
4. Experiencing the Analytic Process (“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats,
“Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning,
“The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot, “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” by William
Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth, “Wild
Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats, “Musee des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden, “Do Not
Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, “The Fish” by Elizabeth
Bishop)
5. Poem Analysis by a Group with Oral Presentations
a. William Shakespeare—Elizabethan /English Sonnets
b. John Donne—Petrarchan/Italian Sonnets
c. Various Other Poets
6. Timed-Writing on Poetry (Impromptu))
7. Developing an Analytical Paper. This will be an interpretation of the poem that is
based on a careful observation of the work's textual details, considering such
elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
C. Nonfiction
1. Introduction to Stylistic Analysis/Prose Analysis (excerpts from Preface to Major
Barbara by George Bernard Shaw, “Memories of Christmas” by Dylan Thomas,
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, “Democracy” by Thomas Carlyle, “Battle
Scene” by John Steinbeck, “The Idols of the Mind” by Francis Bacon” The CrackUp by F.Scott Fitzgerald, “Ideals and Goals” by Edwin Grant Conklin)
2. Reading Essays for Understanding (“Of Studies” by Francis Bacon, “A Modest
Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, “A Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant” by George
Orwell, “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor” by Garrett Hardin,
“What Is Poverty?” by Jo Goodwin Parker, “Grandmother’s Victory” by Maya
Angelou, “Salvation” by Richard Wright (75 Readings Plus, 2000).
3. Oral and Written Analyses of Essays
4. Timed-Writing on Prose Passages (Impromptu)
D. Drama
1. The Elizabethan Renaissance and William Shakespeare
a. Read and Analyze Hamlet and view the film (Glenn Close, Mel Gibson, 1990)
b. Write a Literary Analysis Paper. This will be an interpretation of the play that
is based on a careful observation of the work's textual details, considering such
elements as theme, imagery, symbolism, style, or some other dramatic
convention.
2. Modern Drama
a. The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel
b. Timed-Writing on Drama (Impromptu)
** The resource text used for the analysis portion of the class is Advanced Placement English
(Center for Learning).
III.
Independent Reading—This course alone won’t provide the literary exposure
needed for college preparation; students will have to read on their own. Many
sources provide Recommended Reading Lists that include titles of classic and other
works of literary merit a student should read before attending college. The idea is to
engage in experiences that will enhance academic awareness and achievement.
Books inspire readers to think about life, universal truths, and the human experience
from multiple perspectives. As Jaclyn Moriarty writes, we need to “translate the
world into as many different languages as possible. If [we] see the world in just one
language, [our] world becomes too small.”
IV.
Book Projects—Each quarter students will engage in a special reading project,
outlined in a separate handout.
Quarter One:
Quarter Two:
Quarter Three:
Quarter Four:
Celebrating the Right to Read (Banned Books)
Captured in Stone Biographical Research
Literature Circles
The American Dream (Death of a Salesman by Arthur
Miller, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and
The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith)
A. Writing will accompany all of these projects. These papers, as well as the other
papers in this class, will be written with the writing process in mind. That is to
say, students will workshop the papers and use peer and teacher feedback to
revise and improve the drafts, ensuring logical/effective organization, varied
sentence structure, appropriate syntax, developed ideas, accurate and precise
diction, strong voice, and proper conventions/mechanics. The resource text for all
writing will be Write for College (Write Source, 2005), as students learn to cite
sources using the recognized editorial style of the Modern Language Association.
B. This phase of the course teaches research skills, and in particular, the ability to
evaluate, employ, and cite primary and secondary sources. These projects go
beyond the parameters of a traditional research paper by asking students to
present an argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas
from an array of sources.
C. With the film viewing during quarter four, students will also analyze how
graphics, music, and visual images both relate to written texts and serve as
alternative forms of text themselves.
V.
Advanced Placement Test—Final Closure/Optional. A score of 3 or higher on a choice
of two exams provides college credit and course waivers. The AP program is an
international one, with colleges and universities across the globe recognizing the
achievements of accomplished students. A brochure provided later in the course will
outline costs and requirements and provide more information. 2009 test dates are
Thursday, May 7 for the English Literature and Composition test and Wednesday, May
13 for the English Language and Composition exam. Both tests are scheduled for
morning administration in the counselor’s office. For more information about AP
programs, visit www.collegeboard.com/ap/students/index.html
** Additional Special Incentive Note: Through the Tech Prep program, Chinook High School
has an agreement with the College of Great Falls and with MSU-Northern to grant
credit/exemption from freshman composition if students have earned a B average or better in
English 11/American Literature AND students earn a B average or better in Advanced Placement
English.