AP English Literature and Composition
Syllabus and Class Information
2015-2016
Description of the Course
Students in an AP course of English and Composition will engage in careful reading and
critical analysis of literature. Through such study, students will sharpen their awareness of
language and understanding of the writer’s craft.
This is a rigorous class that will require hard work, dedication, and lots and lots of reading.
It is designed to comply with the curriculum requirements described in the AP English
Course Description. The majority of works studied are from World Literature.
Students are never without a reading assignment or an outside paper due date.
Textbook:
Perrine’s Literature Structure, Sound & Sense – replacement cost $67.07
AP Central Springboard Workbook
Reading List: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Summer reading)
How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas Foster (Summer
reading)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley **
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Different Seasons by Stephen King
Four books of your choice from AP approved list
**These books may be borrowed from me. All others on the list will need to be
purchased by date given on the calendar.
Materials needed:
Pens
Post-it notes
Folder/binder
Notebook paper
Grading System:
Grades will be earned as follows:
35% for tests/major assessments
40% for writing
25% for other (daily work/quizzes)
20% for the final exam
Highlighters
Composition Notebook (9 ¾ x 7 ½)
Late Work
As this is taught as a college class late work should not be an issue. However, the
MISD has deemed that students will be assessed a penalty of 15 points per day for up to
three days for late daily work. After three days, the grade is a 0. Major writing
assignments may be rewritten for an improved grade.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty—cheating or plagiarism—is not acceptable. Cheating includes the
copying of another student’s work—homework, class work, test answers, etc.—as one’s own.
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s original ideas or writing without giving credit to
the true author. A student found to have engaged in academic dishonesty will be subject to
loss of credit for the work in question, as well as disciplinary penalties, according to the
Student Code of Conduct.
 Cheating on daily work will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment.
 Cheating on quizzes, tests or projects will result in a grade of 0 and the parent,
associate principal and/or academic principal will be contacted.
Missed exams/tests/quizzes can be made up during tutoring hours after school. My tutoring
times are Monday and Wednesday or by appointment.
Unit Name
Summer Reading -- Invisible Man and How To Read Literature Like A Professor
1. Major essay test on summer reading
2. Begin AP Multiple Choice (APMC) practice with questions from passages from IM
3. Review group project with application test
4. Summer reading assignment chart – due second day of school
Beowulf/Canterbury Tales
1. Exposure to first examples of English literature
Short Stories
1. Review major parts of literature using short stories: plot, character, setting,
point of view, symbolism, theme, style, tone, and irony.
The Kite Runner
1. Reading quizzes given periodically throughout unit
2. APMC practice
3. Timed writings
4. Exam
Great Expectations and Frankenstein
1. Didactic journal
2. Reading quizzes given periodically throughout unit
3. APMC practice
4. Creative project
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
1. The play Hamlet will be read in class.
2. Reading logs by Act.
3. Reading quizzes are given by Act.
4. APMC practice with passages from Hamlet.
Brave New World/Contemporary
1. Reading quizzes given periodically throughout unit.
2. Exam given at the end of the book.
3. Essay assigned. From a list of five topics, students will choose a topic.
Different Seasons/Close Reading Film Study – Extending the Text
1. Study questions on the novella “The Body”
2. Essay assigned.
Independent Reading
2 books per semester (4 for the year)
1. Student will choose a book or play from the AP Approved List.
2. The first Independent Reading will be from a shortened AP list and involve a
Critical Analysis of the book with an accompanying Bibliography and Socratic Seminar.
3. With all other independent readings they will produce a creative book report
from the fifty choices. Projects may or may not include a presentation. Requirements of
the project (besides the creative part) include: a critical biography of the author; a brief
synopsis of the plot; a poetry selection that applies to the work with explication; and a
formal Works Cited page.
On Going Studies:
Journal Writing
Using the composition notebook
Poetry
Entire year
Each six weeks a number of poems will be assigned for independent study. Poetry responses
will be due approximately every three weeks from assignment date.
Vocabulary
Entire year
We use the Prestwick House Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT. We have vocabulary
quizzes every other week.
We also keep a dictionary of literary terms to help with our test taking skills and writing.
Tests on literary terms will be given four times in year.