COURSE OUTLINE
AP English Literature and Composition
Level: Grade 12
I. Course Description:
The aims of the Advanced Placement English Literature course are both ambitious and
general. The course attempts to teach students to write well about something important
and to develop in them the skills of the mature reader. In the Advanced Placement course,
students are involved in both study and practice of writing about literature.
II. Topics:
Literary themes examined both semesters:
 The search for meaning and/or faith
 The search for self
 The individual in conflict with society
 The influence of culture, family, and time period on individual values
Throughout the year, students will develop the ability to
 Write the grammatically correct, effectively organized essay with appropriate thesis,
paragraph development and conclusion,
 Write the critical analysis of literature under timed, test-taking conditions,
 Utilize all the resources of language (connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, diction,
etc) to achieve effective expression of ideas in a clear, coherent, organized manner,
 Read literature in a careful, in-depth manner by considering its structure, themes,
language, characters, action, value, and style,
 Consider the relationship of literature to contemporary experience, as well as to the
time in which it is written,
 Evaluate critically the work of peers and her/his own work,
 Develop critical standards for the independent appreciation and interpretation of any
literary work and increase sensitivity to literature as shared universal experience,
 Obtain a broad literary background,
 Become enthusiastic life-long readers,
 Work collaboratively on discussion topics and essays,
 Learn to utilize proper research documentation from secondary and primary sources.
III. Teaching and Assessment:






Discussion of works, both student and teacher led
Study questions, completed individually and in pairs or groups
Synopsis, summary, outline of essays and short stories
Examination of passages or extracts from poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction.
These will be critical analyses of various elements such as a passage from Grapes of
Wrath to analyze the use of imagery and diction in creating setting, a passage from
“The Yellow Wallpaper” to analyze the use of point of view, and a passage from “A
Modest Proposal” to examine the satirical tone.
Explication of poetry
Line by line examination of poems for poetic elements, culminating in an in-class
timed essay on a practice AP test











IV.
Vocabulary building. Vocabulary lessons from the book Vocabulary Power Plus for the
New SAT, Book Three, involve a completion of the lessons, the practice reading, and
sentence activities
Literary Research and research paper
Documented Essays
Critical essays
In-class timed essays
Individual conferencing as needed
Grammar as needed
Socratic Seminar-to develop questions and discussion
Examination of types of novels, such as satire, science fiction, gothic, naturalistic,
regional
Analysis of the structure of various genres of literature for point of view, tone,
characterization, style, narrative voice, setting, and endings
Philosophical analysis of man’s search for meaning and self
Resources:








The Bedford Introduction to Literature
Elements of Literature: Sixth Course
Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT
5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literatur
PLATE title: AP English Literature and Composition (online tutorials and assessment)
Othello, Macbeth, sonnets—Shakespeare
Excerpts from The Canterbury Tales—Chaucer. Beowulf, King Arthur, and Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight
Other readings which may include any of the following: Ethan Frome, Lord of the
Flies, Peace like a River, How to Read Literature like a Professor, A Thousand
Splendid Suns, Kite Runner, Heart of Darkness, Native Son, A Tale of Two Cities,
Bless me, Ultima, The Importance of Being Earnest, Maus I and II, and others.
Janet Patty