English 11 AP Syllabus
2011-2012
English 11 AP Syllabus
Please note: This is a reading and writing-intensive class. You will be expected to read a
variety of books, both inside and outside class, and you will be expected to write at least
one analysis essay per week along with more formalized research papers.
1st Quarter: September 6 – November 4
17th and 18th century; Reading Comprehension
• Introduction to Rhetoric
¤ Ethos, Logos, Pathos
• Close Reading; Analyzing Style
¤ Identifying types of Diction
¤ Identifying types of Syntax
• Literary Criticism; feminist, Marxist, psychological, reader response
• Tropes and Schemes
• AP Literary Terms
Reading Selections (in addition to text selections):
The Scarlet Letter
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, sermon by Jonathon
Edwards: parallel structure, figurative language, imagery,
diction, emotional appeal
• Poems by Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley: thematic
and stylistic differences
• Declaration of Independence—Jefferson’s first draft and
the final copy, compared for rhetorical differences,
emotional impact
• Harrison Bergeron short story by Kurt Vonnegut:
thematic tie-in with Declaration of Independence
• The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving:
characteristics of Romanticism
• Crossing the Great Divide journal of Meriwether Lewis
• Various works from the Fireside Poets: theme, traditional
structures, poetic devices
• Self-Reliance essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson: reflection
of Transcendental beliefs, themes within the essay
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau: thematic links to
Emerson’s writing, American Dream
• Resistance to Civil Government essay by Henry David
Thoreau
• Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Thoreau’s influence on philosophy of passive resistance
Writing:
English 11 AP Syllabus
2011-2012
• Comparison/contrast of style and themes in the poetry of Phillis Wheatley and
Anne Bradstreet
• Imitate Edwards’ persuasive style in letter form using fear as a motivator to
discourage some behavior in classmates (parallelism, figurative language,
imagery, diction)
• First AP prompt: Essay discussing Bradstreet’s use of an extended metaphor in
“Author to Her Book” to reveal her attitude toward her poetry (1996 exam)
• Additional AP prompt: Queen Elizabeth’s speech to her troops at Tilbury (1992
exam) to analyze how she uses “the resources of language—such as diction,
imagery, and sentence structure—to achieve her purpose
• Various journals/reading responses/annotations
• Grammar Mini-lessons
• Student writing workshop
2nd Quarter: November 5 – January 27
The Dark Romantics
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•
•
Literary Analysis SOAP
Visual Text
Literary Terms and use of Tropes and Schemes as they contribute to author’s
purpose
• Fallacies of Argument
Reading Selections (in addition to text selections:
• Short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne: repetition of
theme, characteristics of Dark Romanticism
Young Goodman Brown
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
Rappaccini’s Daughter
Roger Malvin’s Burial
The Birthmark
• Selected essays concerning bioethics to tie-in with
Hawthorne’s concerns about burgeoning 19th century
medicine:
The Ethics of Euthanasia by Lawrence J. Schneiderman
A Case of Assisted Suicide by Jack Kevorkian
Rush to Lethal Judgment by Stephen L. Carter
Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe:
allegory, theme, elements of short story
• The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe: poetic elements, rhythm,
rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, etc.
• Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman: themes,
contrasting styles, poetic devices used to achieve
purpose and support theme
. Short stories by H.P. Lovecraft to contrast with Poe’s
style
Writing:
Okefenokee prompt (from “Sample Free-Response Questions, 2006”): analyzing
English 11 AP Syllabus
2011-2012
how the distinctive style of each writer reveals the purpose of its writer
• Marriage Proposal prompt (1993 exam): comparing rhetorical strategies of two
speakers in two passages to predict effect
• Comparing major themes within the works of Hawthorne using examples from
three or more works
• Contrasting the themes and stylistic devices of Whitman and Dickinson
• Ongoing grammar mini-lessons
• Student writing workshop
Third Quarter: January 28 – April 6
Realism…..Modernism
• The synthesis essay
• Sample Multiple Choice questions/Timed Essays
• Literary Terms
Reading Selections:
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin: writing style, Regionalism,
symbolism, characterization, theme
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton: setting as an objective
correlative for main character, symbols, writing style
• Ethan Frome video: visual images used to convey
atmosphere and characterization, color symbolism
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick
Douglass: slave narrative, rhetorical strategies for
purpose and effect; themes of education
• Various essays from the text concerning issues of
education:
A Homemade Education Malcolm X
The Human Cost of An Illiterate Society Jonathan Kozol
When Learning Hurts Aaron Shatzman
On the Uses of a Liberal Education: Lite Entertainment
for Bored College Students Mark Edmondson
• Various regional short stories reflecting the varied
voices of America’s 19th century
To Build a Fire by Jack London
The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte
Under the Lion’s Paw by Hamlin Garland
The White Heron Sarah Orne Jewett
A Pair of Silk Stockings, Desiree’s Baby, and Ripe
Figs by Kate Chopin
• The Open Boat by Stephen Crane: Naturalism, stylistic
voice, choice of detail, figurative language
• Various works of Modern poetry, examined for
experimentation in form and theme
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber: stream
of consciousness, Modernist disillusion
• A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner: Southern Gothic
literature, social setting in support of theme
English 11 AP Syllabus
2011-2012
• The Jilting of Granny Weatherall by Katherine Anne
Porter: stream of consciousness, issues of aging
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: stylistic variances
for different character voices, Southern Gothicism, stream
of consciousness
• Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
Writing:
• Synthesis Essays: “Television’s influence on presidential elections” (sample
synthesis essay #1 for instruction and practice) and “Introduction of non-indigenous
species” (sample synthesis essay #2)
• Synthesis of theme and Modernist philosophy in “Ars Poetica” by Archibald
MacLeish, “Poetry” by Marianne Moore, and “Since Feeling is First” by E.E.
Cummings
Fourth Quarter: April 9 – June 15
As the date for the AP Exam nears, timed writings are more frequent (weekly) and
journals are used to practice prewriting for additional topics. Literature study from the
Modernist era continues with a focus on The Grapes of Wrath, and two works of
American drama: The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun. Contemporary artists are
studied for their power to affect change in American society. This leads to a formal
research opportunity for students to identify and find information about a contemporary
societal ill and to respond by writing a researched argument paper. Students research the
topic through different sources (newspapers, magazines, news stories, online resources,
visuals, etc.) and develop an argument about their chosen topic. The paper will integrate a
variety of resources, using both direct and indirect citations, in MLA format.
Reading Selections:
• A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Short Stories by
Flannery O’Connor:
Southern Gothicism, theme, characterization, plot, symbols
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
“The River”
“The Life you Save May Be Your Own”
“The Displaced Person”
“Good Country People”
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: proletarian novel,
social protest, symbolism, intercalary chapters
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams: flashback,
play as a memory; the disillusion of the American Dream;
reading is supplemented by viewing of the MCA Home Video of
The Glass Menagerie (1994)
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: the changing
American Dream, conventions of drama; reading is
supplemented by viewing of Columbia Pictures’ A Raisin in
the Sun (1961)
• Harlem by Langston Hughes: inspiration for title of
Hansberry’s play, theme
• Essays about the American Dream
English 11 AP Syllabus
2011-2012
How it Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston
American Dreamer Bharati Mukherjee
Just Walk On By Brent Staples
¡Inglés, Sí! Jorge Amselle
Writing:
• Daily prewriting during weeks preceding test using released free-response topics
• Research paper on social issue of student’s choice
• In-class timed essays
• In-class timed multiple choice questions