AP English Literature & Composition
Kamehameha Secondary School
English Department 2014 - 2015
Instructor: Lazarus
Course Summary
Overview
My teaching objective: I want you to be authors.
This course is only one of many steps that you will take in order to realize your literary
potential. The path before you (same as the one behind you) is littered with obstacles. There
are boulders and fallen branches, sudden inclines and fatal drops. What’s worse, you’re walking
barefoot. The obstacles that you typically would overlook (had you a pair of shoes) demand
your full attention. Hiking barefoot requires slow and focused steps, as does writing, as does
reading. This course is designed to broaden your awareness of, while deepening your sensitivity
to, the things that most people take for granted.
Structure
This course is a fusion of self-directed learning and communal integration. Individually, you will
be annotating and completing all assigned readings, preparing in advance for Socratic
seminars, and engaging fully with our reading-based writing prompts (journal, essay, freewrite, etc.). Communally, you will regularly be contributing to class discussions and actively
participating in Ho'opapa (dual learning) initiatives (group projects and workshop).
The only difference between expository and creative writing is that the latter, from my
experience, can neither be instructed nor learned in school. Creative writing requires disparity,
namely between life on the page and LIFE off the page. The former is decidedly yours. It is a
product of your design. Off the page, however, you are largely a victim of circumstance, and
your existence is governed by an immeasurably complex set of laws. Reading (particularly how
other authors grapple with disparity) is the only suitable teacher in creative writing. Weekly
workshops will afford us a communal space to empower our writing.
Expository writing is imperative to creative writing. Writing doesn’t automatically inform. There
are modes of logic necessary for our writing to inform. This can and will be acquired in this
course. You will learn by teaching— editing the work of others (authors and students). Revising,
ultimately, is of greater importance than composition and thus will take priority in this course.
That said, this is an AP course that culminates in an exam that tests composition with timed
essays. Through expository writing, you will learn how to construct a portable and logical
framework by which you can readily filter and organize whatever information is required of you.
AP English Literature & Composition
content
Unit One: hoʻāka “to cast a shadow” (8 weeks)
In the Hebrew Bible, on the first day of creation, it reads: “And God said, “‘Let there be light.’
And there was.” Every day that follows the first day is similarly called into existence by God. If
humans are, as the Book of Genesis goes on to say, created b’tzelem (in likeness) to God, can
our language call new worlds into existence? What about worlds long gone?
And who are we — the humans — in this scenario? Are we, as philosopher Cornel West says,
“featherless, two-legged, linguistically conscious creatures whose bodies will one day be the
culinary delight of terrestrial worms”? Or are we, as astronomer Jill Tarter says, “wandering star
dust that evolves for so long it begins to ask where it came from”?
In Unit One, we will analyze the evolution of language in relation to the evolution of human
societies. We will trace the technology of writing back to its oral origins, investigating how
literacy and orality impact and inform human interactions. We will take a critical approach to
human mythologies, notably those encompassing the Hebrew Bible. We will work to delineate
figurative from literal. We will acquire a terminology for the human limitations put on and
inherent in language.
texts (*partial) @KS - bookstore
JPS Hebrew Bible, Genesis. *Watermark, Joseph Brodsky. *Immense Journey, Loren Eiseley.
*Folding Cliffs, W.S. Merwin. *Orality & Literacy, Walter Ong. *Writing Revolution, Amalia
Gnanadesikan. Plato’s Dialogue - Allegory of the Cave. The Chosen, Chaim Potok. *Tao Te
Ching, Lao Tzu. *Beginning of Desire, Aviva Zornberg. *Ich und Du, Martin Buber. *Book of
Questions, Edmond Jabes. Gilgamesh, Herbert Mason.
applied critical theory
Linguistics (Anthropology). Intertextuality. Existentialism. Hawaiian Epistemology.
terminology
Orality. Literacy. Oral-residue. Dichotomy (po & ao). Hermeneutics (rabbinic midrash).
Biblical source criticism (Documentary Hypothesis, exegesis, chiastic structure, polemic,
propaganda, intertextuality, hermeneutics). Poetics (imagery, metaphor, simile, allusion,
personification, metonymy, rhyme, alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhythm, meter, free
verse, etc.).
major activities
Student-composition of original midrash on Genesis family. Term essay, project, and
presentation on mode(s) of orality.
content
Unit Two: kāhea “to call out / to name” (8 weeks)
AP English Literature & Composition
Leviticus 1:1: “And He [God] called unto Moses, and He [God] spoke to him…” Except, in the
Hebrew, the “caller” is not specifically God. In fact, identifying “He” [God] as the subject of the
verb vayikra (called) would render the statement redundant, which in translation it now is. This
leads many to interpret the passage as: “And a calling [happened] to Moses, and God spoke to
him…”
Is writing a calling? Are we “called on” to tell stories? If so, where does this calling originate?
Who is doing the calling?
In Unit Two, we will examine this line of questioning by investigating attempts in literature to
answer. In other words, we will read what writers have to say on why they write and how they
came to write. Do they have grapple with disparity? What do they regret about their pursuit?
texts (*partial) @KS - bookstore
*Audubon: A Vision, Robert Penn Warren. *Miguel Street, V. S. Naipaul. Letters to a Young
Poet, Rainer Marie Rilke. Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard. *Illuminations, Rimbaud. Day on Fire,
James Ramsey Ullman.
applied critical theory
Existentialism. Intertextuality.
terminology
Memoir. Fiction (arc, setting, protagonist, antagonist, characterization, character labels, plot,
conflict, denouement, climax flashback, omniscience, points of view, foreshadow, motif). Non
Fiction. Non- [vs.] Fiction. Poetics (ibid.)
major activities
Student-memoir (modeled after Allegory of the Cave paradigm sequence) on why they write
and how they came to write. Regular AP-format “timed” essays and practice exams.
Composition of Term Anthology.
content
Unit Three: kūʻē a me kuleana “resistance and responsibility” (8 weeks)
Lamentations 5:21: “Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we shall be returned. Make anew our
days as those of old.”
The acts of renewal and turning back are interwoven.
Moses was a bone-gatherer. Amid Pharaoh’s approaching chariots, Moses “turns back” at the
Red Sea to fulfill Joseph’s oath of old: retrieve his bones. Despite the uncertainty of the hour,
despite putting his people in harm’s way, Moses decided to risk freedom, and their lives, in
order to unearth his forefather’s bones and take them away from Egypt. This parallels what we
do, writing within a cultural identity: we go back, we retrieve, and we carry forward.
AP English Literature & Composition
In Unit Three, we will explore the intrinsic tension and risk in going back (to ancestral narratives
and wisdom-traditions) to carry our culture forward. We will question what constitutes
Hawaiian literature / who gets to decide. We will confront the colonialism embedded in our
language and the language of literary criticism. We will examine issues of dialects and creoles in
writing, specifically the role, or lack thereof, Pidgin plays in Hawaiian literature. We will explore
how writing can transcend boundaries of socioeconomics, class, culture, etc. We will define
limitations. Lastly, we will investigate the accessibility of writing and reading today in
communities wrestling with colonization.
texts (*partial) @KS - bookstore
Waimea Summer, John Dominis Holt. Ola Na Iwi, Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl. First Indian on the
Moon, Sherman Alexie. *Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sherman Alexie.
*Sleeping with the Dictionary, Harryette Mullen. *Whites, Norman Rush. Everything is
Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer.
applied critical theory
Postcolonialism. Hawaiian Epistemology. Historicism. New Historicism. Existentialism.
Intertextuality.
terminology
Aforementioned (non- [vs.] fiction, poetics, orality and literacy, oral residue).
major activities
Student-composition of formal short stories. Regular AP-format “timed” essays and practice
exams. Term essay on Hawaiian resistance to colonial and postcolonial perceptions.
Conclusion
ke loko wai “the lake”
Exodus 25.8: “And let them make Me [God] a sanctuary, that I may dwell in them [the people].”
Take a good look at this passage. You will notice there is something wrong… God is clearly
asking the people to build him a sanctuary, but says it is in them that He will dwell.
This sanctuary will eventually become the tabernacle, a portable axis mundi, by which the
people and God can communicate. A man named Betzalel is elected to chief architect of the
tabernacle because, according to the early rabbis, “he alone knew the combination of letters by
which the heavens and earth were created.” This midrash on Betzalel’s name is one of
convenience for the rabbis, as they were poised to transform Jerusalem’s ruins into a textual
tabernacle: one, unlike limestone, that could contain them, and their ever-multiplying
anxieties. Parchment would become their skin of preference, dragged out of ruin and misread
for eternity.
AP English Literature & Composition
If there exists in this world a tabernacle (a place where God and humanity meet), I believe it is in
consciousness. Language is the means by which we call ourselves into existence. Language is
how we share, mold, and amplify consciousness.
All of writing, it has been said, is a huge lake. There are great rivers that feed the lake, like
Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. And then there are trickles, like yours, like mine. All that matters is
feeding the lake. You don’t matter, I don’t matter; the lake matters. We must keep feeding The
Lake.
(note: in Hebrew, b’tzelem and Betzalel share the same root tzal.)
Minutiae
supplies
Students will responsible for the following at the start of each class: binders, folders, organizers
etc.; portable 3-hole punch; a writing journal with bound seam; working pens and pencils; index
cards for vocabulary building
student responsibilities
1) Follow all rules outlined in the Student Handbook
2) Come to class each day with assignments completed and materials needed that day
3) Work productively in group settings
4) Be attentive to the ideas of others and tolerant of diverse opinions
5) Give full attention to whomever is speaking to the class
6) Attend all assigned study sessions and seek help when necessary
7) Complete and format all writing assignments using Word (or compatible word-processing
programs)
8) Complete all work as assigned, including group work: lateness will result in penalized
grades— (see section on lateness below)
9) Attend class and avoid absences: a readmit slip must be submitted for any absence other
than an excused school activity; inform the instructor beforehand if you must go on a field trip
or other planned absence; if you miss class, visit the instructor before or after class or during
study help on the day you return to school
10) Avoid tardiness: you are expected to be in the room, ready to work when the bell rings;
chronic tardiness will be result in penalized grades and will be reported to the Unit
Administrator
11) Be considerate of each other's rights and feelings and behave with courtesy and profound
respect for all in our class
grading procedures
1) All assignments will be given a numerical value. Some tests and compositions and other
major assignments will be worth more points than others. Your letter grade for the quarter is
based on a daily reading, writing, discussion, performance, creativity, testing, and project
percentages.
AP English Literature & Composition
2) Daily classwork and homework will be checked and assessed for credit. The points a student
earns will vary depending on the assignment. This will count toward a grade average with the
daily reading and writing percentage.
3) The quarter grade will be computed as such: 80% HOMEWORK / CLASSWORK (including
quizzes and participation) / 20% PARTICIPATION (notably for workshop)
4) The semester grade will be computed by adding the quarter averages (40%
each) and the final exam grade (20%).
grading scale
93%
90%
87%
83%
80%
77%
73%
70%
67%
63%
60%
0%
-
100%
92%
89%
86%
82%
79%
76%
72%
69%
66%
62%
59%
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
late work
All assignments will be lowered by as much as 50% if overdue; thereafter, partial credit can
possibly be earned, depending on the nature of each assignment; this includes student
absences which fall on due dates; email or edmodo are regularly available for you to submit
work.
make-up assignments
If absent, the student must quickly obtain information on work missed from the teacher. Work
will be due in a reasonable amount of time depending on the length of his/her absence and the
nature of the assignment. It is up to the student to make arrangements with the teacher in a
timely and appropriate manner.
tech policy
Our class will utilize technology in constructive and beneficial ways by implementing course
work and participating in online resources (Edmodo, Noredink.com, Turnitin.com, and Google
Docs, etc.) to create a virtual classroom. When in class students must keep cell phones off and
use laptops only when assigned by the instructor and only for the task assigned. Failure to
comply with these rules will result in an automatic deduction of up to a full letter grade at the
end of the grading period.
office hours
AP English Literature & Composition
I am available for conferences during periods 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8; unless directed otherwise, please
notify me in advance: jolazaru@ksbe.edu