AP Literature and Composition
Ms. Vazquez
Room 421
mivazquez@somersetacademy.com
Course Description:
The Advanced Placement Literature and Writing course is designed to teach
beginning college writing through the fundamentals of rhetorical theory, and
follows the curricular requirements described in the AP English Course
Description. Students will be provided with a learning experience similar to
that of an undergraduate Introduction to Literature course. In this class,
students will engage in the careful reading and critical analysis of varied
works of literature. Students will consider a work’s theme, structure, style,
the writer’s use of language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
Writing is an important component of this course, and students will compose
a variety of essays, ranging from creative writing to critical analysis to
documented research papers. Additionally, students will be required to keep
a writing portfolio and will revise first draft essays on a regular basis. I do
not expect first drafts to be your best work, so I highly encourage thoughtful
revisions of your essays, not just superficial corrections of grammar and
syntax.
Course Outcomes
In this course students will improve their close reading and analytical
strategies by responding imaginatively to literature. Students will also learn
to reflect on a work’s social and historical value by paying careful attention
to textual details and historical context. Developing an effective use of
rhetoric is also essential, and students will do so by controlling tone,
establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis
through diction and sentence structure. Students will improve organization
in their writing by using techniques to improve coherence. Such techniques
include use of transitions, emphasis, and repetition. Finally, students will be
able to effectively state, support and explain their claims in their arguments.
Reading Assignments
Students are expected to have completed the summer reading assignments
upon the start of the school year. There will be discussion, writing, and
examination based on these texts.
It is imperative that all reading assignments assigned in and out of class be
read closely and carefully and, when possibly, be annotated.
Writing Instruction and Assignments
Students will write short critical essays dealing with brief prose passages,
novels, drama, and poetry. The critical responses will be based on close
textual analysis of style and structure. Students will also write personal and
creative responses. Two longer research-based papers dealing with
historical values will be required. Some writing will be completed in class
while other assignments will be take-home work.
When assignments are evaluated by the teacher, comments on papers will
encourage students to use a variety of writing techniques and to edit their
work carefully. Excellent writing will be indicated, and areas that need work
will also be pointed out. Common writing errors will be duplicated for
classroom use, and students will play “teacher” determining what those
errors are and then revising and correcting them.
In-class Writing, Quizzes and Exams
Examinations dealing with each of the major units studied will be given. As
well, general genre-specific multiple-choice exams will also be written at the
completion of each unit. Students will write timed, in-class essay
examinations on a regular basis. Practice AP examinations will also be
taken.
I will not announce quizzes ahead of time, and we will have a number of
them, both straightforward reading ones and ones that ask you to engage an
idea. Reading quizzes will always be given the first five minutes of class; if
you come in late, you may not take the quiz. Questions on reading quizzes
will be straightforward and simple as long as you have done the required
reading.
Required Materials:
One 1 inch binder
1 Composition Notebook
2 packs of black or blue ink pens
1 pack of red pens for editing and revision
1 highlighter
1 dictionary
1 thesaurus
White-out correction tape
Grading Scale
Exams/AP Assessments: 55%
Quizzes: 20%
Classwork: 15%
Homework: 10%
Numerical Average Letter Grade
90 – 100
80 – 89
70 - 79
60 - 69
Below 60
No work submitted
A
B
C
D
F
0
.
.
The following is an overview of what we will be covering during the school year. It is
subject to change, and I will announce the changes in class.
1st Semester AP Literature and Composition Schedule
Introduction to the Course
What is Literature? Reading, Responding to, and writing about Literature. Pg. 112;
1424
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• Hand out syllabus & course calendar
• Setting the tone for the course
Analyzing Literature
Genre Study
Language (style)
Audience
AP Literature Writing Assignments
• Review summer assignment/ Examination
• Introduce Vocabulary Study and Weekly quizzes
• Introduce Elements of Literature terms for test
• The first AP essay
o Analyze rhetorical qualities
o Talk through the process: what went right, wrong, what do you
need?
Poetry
In class reading aloud of poetry with discussion of tone and speaker; discussion of tone
as metaphor for sound. Emphasis on the FIVE S’s strategy.
Poetry to be used within curriculum: (More poems will be added as time permits)
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A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne
Broken Heart by John Donne
The Naked and the Nude by Robert Graves
An Apology for Using the Word “Heart” in Too Many Poems – Hayden Carruth
Eating Poetry – Mark Strand
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love – Christopher Marlowe
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The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd – Sir Walter Raleigh
The Fish – Elizabeth Bishop
Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock – T. S. Eliot
On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer – John Keats
When You are Old – William Butler Yeats
The Collar – George Herbert
Ulysses – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Ode to a Grecian Urn – John Keats
Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind – Stephen Crane
Oranges – Gary Soto
The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake
The Chimney Sweep by William Blake
My Last Duchess by Robert Barrett Browning
Metaphors by Sylvia Plath
William Shakespeare Sonnets 18, 116, 130
They Flee From Me by Sir Thomas Wyatt
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
Richard Cory by Edwin Robinson
Selected Poems by Robert Frost
Samples of Petrarchan Sonnets
Intro to the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence
Dunbar, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Lucille Clifton, Kool Moe
Dee)
In class writing assignments will focus on:
Language
Imagery
Symbolism
Sonnet and Epigram
Villanelle
Sestina
Ode
Elegy
Allusion
Intertextuality
Theme
Analytic/Critical/Evaluative) Assignment
Sonnet Assignment
Research Paper #1
Revisions
Workshop
Drama: The Traditions
The Basics: Theme, Structure, Spectacle, Song, Character, Plot, Soliloquy, Aside
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An intro to drama – The “drama” of your AP lives; the “drama” of taking an
examination on reading poetry; drama as text and as theater; writing a play.
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The terminology of Drama; Dramatic Poetry
The Traditions Extended:
Oedipus the King - Sophocles
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Shakespeare, Othello.
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Comparison and contrast.
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Explanation of analytical assignment
2nd Semester AP Literature and Composition Schedule
Short Fiction and Novels
 Cultural and Historical Context
 Close Reading Assignments
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Symbolism and Allegory
 Social Reflection
 Style syntax, diction, sound, figurative language
 Dialogue
 Point of view, character, plot, setting, theme and structure
 Style and Artistry
 Rhetorical Techniques/Specificity and generalities
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Analytical Focus: various literary elements, as applicable
• Thematic Focus: various themes
• Close reading: annotate a major text from this unit
• Compare/Contrast graphic organizer
• Essay Compare/Contrast (three options)
 Tone through structure and theme
Short Stories:
“A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner
“Soldier’s Home” Ernest Hemingway
“The Blue Hotel” Stephan Crane
“Araby” James Joyce
“A & P” John Updike
“The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin
“Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Chrysanthemums” John Steinbeck
“The Lesson” Toni Cade Bambara
“The Cruse” Andre Dubus
“The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“I Stand Here Ironing” Tillie Olsen
Various short stories will be used and handouts will be provided.
The Novels – The Kite Runner, Invisible Man
The Plays – Othello, Macbeth
During this time, we will also be discussing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The
Awakening, and The Picture of Dorian Gray – your summer reading requirements
Explanation of Final Analytical Paper and Research
Prepare for AP Exam
Review and Discuss Research Paper and final
Student workshops and writing
Examination on Reading Novels
Research Paper #2
Students have frequent opportunities to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed
in-class responses. The course requires: - Writing to understand: Informal, exploratory writing activities
- Writing to explain: Expository, analytical essays
- Writing to evaluate: Analytical, argumentative essays
The following include a sampling of the specific topics you will be writing on
in preparation for your AP examination, but more importantly, for your
appreciation of literature and growth as a writer.
Analytical Essay on Invisible Man:
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Socratic Seminar; AP 2005 Free Response Question #3—In
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, is said to possess, “that
outward existence which conforms, that inward life which questions.” Identify a
character who conforms outwardly while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in
which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward
questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary. Due date: TBD
Analytical Essay on “A Rose for Emily”:
Write an analytical essay applying the Feminist Critical Perspective to “A Rose for Emily.”
Consider the following questions: How are women portrayed in the text? How is the relationship
between men and women presented in the text? To what extent does the portrayal of men and
women support a patriarchal view of the world?
Argumentative Essay on Othello:
Some have said that the focus of Othello is not the title character, as is the case with
Shakespeare's other great tragedies, Macbeth, King Lear, and Hamlet. Write an essay
considering the following questions: Is Othello simply too one-dimensional to be considered a
great tragic hero? Does his seemingly unrealistic gullibility lessen our interest in him and his
suffering?
Writing Rubrics
All assignments for formal papers will include a specific grading rubric. We will go over the rubrics prior
to submitting papers and review expectations for the particular piece of writing. Please consult each
rubric carefully before submitting your work. The following is an AP Nine Point Trait Rubric which will
be used for the majority of your writing.
AP Nine Point Trait Rubrics
9-8
Superior papers respond fully to the question asked and are specific in their references, cogent in their
definitions, and free of plot summary that is not relevant to the question. Shows a full understanding of
the issues and supports points with appropriate textual evidence and examples. Demonstrates stylistic
maturity by an effective command of sentence structure, diction, and organization. These essays need not
be without flaws, but they demonstrate the writer's ability to discuss a literary work with insight and
understanding and to control a wide range of the elements of effective composition.
7-6
Responds correctly to the questions but is less thorough, less perceptive or less specific than 9-8 papers.
These essays are well-written but with less maturity and control than the top papers. They demonstrate the
writer's ability to analyze a literary work and use textual evidence, but they reveal a more limited
understanding than do the papers in the 9-8 range. Some lapses in diction or syntax may appear, but the
demonstrates sufficient control over the elements of composition. Generally, 6 essays present a less
sophisticated analysis and less consistent command of the elements of effective writing than essays
scored 7.
5
Superficiality characterizes these 5 essays. Respond to the question, but discussion of meaning may be
simplistic, mechanical; they may be overly generalized, vague, or inadequately supported. Typically,
these essays reveal simplistic thinking and/or immature writing. They usually demonstrate inconsistent
control over the elements of composition and are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as the
upper-half papers. On the other hand, the writing is sufficient to convey the writer's ideas.
4-3
Attempts to deal with the questions, but do so either inaccurately or without support or specific evidence.
Discussion is likely to be unpersuasive, perfunctory, underdeveloped or misguided. The meaning they
deduce may be inaccurate or insubstantial and not clearly related to the question. Part of the question may
be omitted altogether. The writing may convey the writer's ideas, but it reveals weak control over such
elements as diction, organization, syntax or grammar. Typically, these essays contain significant
misinterpretations of the question or the work they discuss; they may also contain little, if any, supporting
evidence, and practice paraphrase and plot summary at the expense of analysis. May contain excessive
and distracting spelling and grammatical errors. Lengthy quotations may replace discussion and analysis.
2-1
These essays compound the weakness of essays in the 4-3 range and are frequently unacceptably brief or
poorly written. Fail to respond to the question. May reveal misunderstanding or may distort the
interpretations. They are poorly written on several counts, including many distracting errors in grammar
and mechanics. Although the writer may have made some effort to answer the question, the views
presented have little clarity or coherence and only slight, if any, evidence in its support.
Texts
Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs – Literature: An Introduction to Reading and
Writing
M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt – The Norton Anthology of English Literature: 7th
Edition/Volume 1 & 2
Jim Burke – Reader’s Handbook: A Student Guide for Reading and Learning
Euripides – The Medea
William Shakespeare – Othello
Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man
Thomas C. Foster – How to Read Literature like a Professor
Douglas McMullen, Jr. – The Princeton Review – Cracking the AP Literature Exam
2006 2007 Edition
CONTRACT FOR ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH CANDIDATES
To:
Advanced Placement Literature Composition Students and Parents
From:
Ms. Vazquez
Subject:
CONTRACT FOR ADVANCED PLACEMENT LITERATURE
AND COMPOSITION
In an effort to make Advanced Placement Literature and Composition students and
their parents more aware of the additional workload necessary to achieve success
in this college-level course, it is required that both students and parents read and
sign this contract.
An Advanced Placement English course requires a student to the following:
 commit himself/herself to good attendance, due to accelerated pace of the
course and the importance of class discussion.
 be willing to accept responsibility and to exercise the self-discipline
necessary to meet the following expectations:
Extensive reading of mature works of recognized literary merit,
including summer reading and writing assignments.
Extensive and varied writing, including documented papers
Extra study hours
 weigh the requirements of Advanced Placement English with prior
commitments, such as extracurricular activities and part-time jobs.
Once enrolled, the student is expected to complete the course and take the AP
exam in May.
AP Literature and Composition
CONTRACT
We, the undersigned, realize that importance of the above statement regarding expectations of
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition and concur with those expectations.
__________________________________
_____________________
Student’s Signature
Date
___________________________________
Print Name
___________________________________
_____________________
Parent’s Signature
Date
___________________________________
Print Name
Parents and Student:
Please provide an email address.
_____________________________________
______________________________
Parent Email
Student Email