AP English 12 – Shari Ray
St. Mary’s Episcopal School
Third Period Syllabus – A, C, D, and E days
Conscience and Consciousness
What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Summer Reading – Ethics, Modernity, and Story
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
First Quarter – Identity, Alienation, and Existentialism
Major Texts: Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Othello – William Shakespeare
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Tom Stoppard
The Stranger – Albert Camus
“The Myth of Sisyphus” – Camus
Writing Assignments:
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Three summer essays
“This I Believe” Essay (creative)
“The Things I Carry” Essay (creative)
Comparison of Hamlet and “The Hollow Men” (analytical)
Major Essay – “The Existential Dilemma and Importance of
Consciousness: Hamlet, Sisyphus, and Pi” (analytical essay)
Analytical Response to Othello
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August
Week One
Mon 16 – Welcome to School! (1/2 day)
HW -Bring the three summer essays (personal essays) to class
-Be ready to discuss Brave New World
Tues 17 – Brave New World and Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”
HW -Reread Life of Pi Part One
Thurs 19 – Senior speeches and “This I Believe”
HW -Read “The Myth of Sisyphus” and Ecclesiastes passage
-Revise “This I Believe” essay
Fri 20 – “This I Believe” and “Myth of Sisyphus”
HW -Reread Life of Pi pp. 97-189
Week Two
Mon 23 – Begin discussion of Life of Pi
HW -Final draft of “This I Believe” essay due
-Complete the rereading of Life of Pi
Tues 24 – “This I Believe” final draft DUE / Complete discussion of Life of Pi
HW -Read Hamlet Act I scenes 1-4
Thurs 26 – Hamlet
HW -Read Hamlet Act I scene 5 – Act II
-Short Essay: Read Chapter 1 of The Things They Carried (provided). Then
write a short (400-500 word) personal essay about what you carry.
-Be prepared for Henrietta Lacks (for tomorrow)
Fri 27 – Derby Day!!!
Week Three
Mon 30 – Hamlet
HW -Read Hamlet Act III scenes 1-2
-Short Essay: “The Things I Carry” Essay due
Tues 31 –“The Things I Carry” short essay DUE / Hamlet
HW -Read Hamlet Act III scene 3 – Act IV scene 3
September
Wed 1 – Hamlet
HW -Read Hamlet complete Act IV
Fri 3 –Hamlet
HW -Read Hamlet Act V
- T-shirt and memorization due tomorrow
Week Four
Monday and Tuesday – Student Holidays!
Wed 8 – Hamlet / T-shirt and memorization
HW – Short Essay: Compare and contrast the tone of Hamlet’s second soliloquy
with Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” (due Thursday)
-Hamlet Test on Wednesday
Thurs 9 –Comparison short essay DUE – Hamlet TEST
HW - Major Paper: “The Existential Dilemma and the Importance of
Consciousness: Hamlet, Sisyphus, and Pi” (analytical) – Outline due and
opening paragraph due Friday
Fri 10 – Outline and opening paragraphs for Major Essay due
Begin reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in class
HW -Major Paper due Tuesday
Week Five
Tues 14 – Major Paper DUE: “The Existential Dilemma and the Importance of
Consciousness: Hamlet, Sisyphus, and Pi”
Begin reading Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead in class
HW - R & G Act I
Wed 15 – R & G
HW - R & G Act II
Thurs 16 – R & G
HW - R & G Act III
Fri 17 – Complete discussion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
HW -Read Camus’ The Stranger Part One
Week Six
Tues 21 – The Stranger
HW -Read The Stranger Part 2
Wed 22 – The Stranger
HW - Test on Existential Literature
Thurs 23 – TEST on Existential Thought: The Stranger and Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead
HW - Othello Act I
Fri 24 – Othello
HW – Othello Act II
Week Seven
Tues 28 – Othello
HW -Othello Act III
Wed 29 – Othello
HW -Othello Act IV
Thurs 30 – Othello
HW -Othello Act V
October
Fri 1 – Complete discussion of Othello
HW -Test on Othello
-Analytical response paper on Othello
Week Eight
Tues 5– TEST on Othello / Response essay DUE
HW -Othello projects
End of Quarter – Fall Break!!!
Second Quarter – Hope, Despair, and Redemption
Major Texts: Romantic Poetry – Blake, Byron, Shelley, and Keats
Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Writing Assignments:
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Memoir (creative)
Personal/college essays (creative)
Poetry Journaling (analytical)
“Major Essay: The Voices of Ulysses and Prufrock: The Glory of the
Classical Hero and the Angst of Modern Man” (analytical essay)
Week Nine
Mon 11 – Othello Projects
Tues 12 – Introduction to Romantic and Victorian Poetry / AND Introduction to the
Memoir
HW -Write a 1st draft of your Memoir
-Read selected poetry of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of
Experience – read and annotate all poetry from this section
Othello Performance (14th)
Thurs 14 – Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
HW -“The Book of Thel” – Blake –journal question
-Memoir final draft due Tuesday
Week Ten
Mon 18 – “The Book of Thel” - Blake
HW -Memoir (final draft) due Tuesday
-Byron’s poetry (“Written after Swimming,” “She Walks in Beauty,” “Hope is
happiness,” “When we two parted”) AND Shelley’s poetry (“Mutability”
and “Ozymandias”)
Tues 19 – Memoir Due / Poetry of Byron and Shelley
HW -Shelley’s Odes (“To the West Wind,” “To a Sky-Lark”) – journal question
Wed 20 – Shelley’s Odes
HW -Keats’ Poetry (“On Chapman’s Homer,” “When I Have Fears,” “Bright
Star,” “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”) – journal question
Thurs 21 – Keats’ Poetry
HW -Keats’ Odes (“To a Nightingale,” “On a Grecian Urn,” “On Melancholy” –
journal question
Week Eleven
Tues 26 – Keats’ Odes
HW -Read Eliot’s “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” – annotate carefully
Wed 27 – T. S. Eliot’s “J. Alfred Prufrock”
HW - Read Tennyson’s “Ulysses” and annotate carefully
Thurs 28 – Tennyson’s “Ulysses”
HW -Test on Poetry
Fri 29 – TEST on Romantic (and selected) Poetry – Blake, Byron, Shelley, Keats
HW - Major essay due on Tuesday
November
Week Twelve
Tues 2 – A Little Modern Poetry: Two Modern Villanelles – “One Art” and “Ellie Mae
Leaves in a Hurry”
HW - Essay Due
Wed 3 – Major Essay Due: The Voices of Ulysses and Prufrock: The Glory of the
Classical Hero and the Angst of Modern Man” (analytical essay)
Lesson: Thomas Hardy’s Poetry – “Hap,” “The Ruined Maid,” “Are You Digging
on my Grave?” and Intro to Tess
HW - Tess (pp. 1-58)
NOTE: In the reading of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, we will be studying selected poetry in class
at the same time. Keep up with the nightly reading of Tess.
Thurs 4 – Tess
HW - Tess (pp. 59-110)
Fri 5 – Tess
HW - Tess (pp. 110-160)
Week Thirteen
Tues 9 – Tess
HW - Tess (pp. 160-208)
Wed 10 – Tess
HW - Tess (pp. 208-252)
Thurs 11– Tess
HW -Complete Tess
Fri 12 – Complete discussion of Tess
HW -Test on Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Week Fourteen
Tues 16 – TEST on Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Wed 17 – Introduce Dostoevsky and Crime and Punishment
HW - C&P (pp. 3-52)
Thurs 18 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 52-106)
Fri 19 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 106-154)
Week Fifteen
Tues 23 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 154-193)
Thanksgiving Break!
Week Sixteen
Mon 29 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 193-248)
Tues 30 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 248-306)
December
Wed 1 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 306-350)
Fri 3 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 350-405)
Week Seventeen
Mon 6 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 405-448)
Tues 7 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 448-511)
Wed 8 – C&P
HW - C&P (pp. 511-551)
Fri 10 – Study Day - Complete discussion of C&P
Exams
Happy Holidays!