K. Jackson/2013-14
AP Literature & Composition
Syllabus & Grading Guidelines
Classroom Etiquette
You will be expected to respect the integrity of the course and your peers throughout the course by:
1. Attend class regularly.
2. Be on time.
3. Be prepared.
4. Complete all assignments.
5. Communicate with me regarding any issues or concerns that you have.
Recommended Supplies
1. Notebook specific for English
2. Loose-leaf paper
3. Writing utensils
Grading Procedure
1. All units will include:
A. Reading Assignments/Quizzes
B. Seminar Participation
C. Post Assessments (various formats: formal essays, research project, dialectical
journals, multimedia presentations)
D. AP Mock Writing Assessments
E. AP Mock Multiple Choice Assessments
2.
3.
4.
5.
Reading Assignments : 25%
Seminar Participation: 15%
Post Assessments 40%
AP Mock Writing Assessments: 10%
Timed Writing Grading Scale:
9=100
8= 96
7 = 93
6 = 88
5 = 84
4= 77
3 = 74
2= 70
1 = 65
6. AP Mock Multiple-Choice Assessments: 10%
7-7-7 Rule for MC Assessments: 70% correct = 100% in the grade book. For example, if an AP MC
assessment has 10 items, a student scoring a 7 will receive a 100 as a grade.
**All grades will be based upon the school policy of a 7 -point scale.
Make-Up Work: Make up for missed quizzes, mock writings, and MC assessments will be due on the day you
return from an excused absence.
K. Jackson/2013-14
Extension contract: Due to inevitable extenuating circumstances that affect most people, you will be allowed to
submit a request for an extension on major assignments twice during the course. The extension must be requested at
least two days prior to the due date and must be for legitimate reasons (see form). Minor assignments will not be
accepted late.
In-class Reading/Assignments
1. Literary Genres/Techniques
A. Short Stories
Plot, Suspense, Setting, Conflict, Resolution: Poe: “The Black Cat”
Characterization: Mansfield: “Miss Brill”
Setting, Dialect, Theme: Faulkner: “Barn Burning”
Point of View: Bierce: “The Lottery”
Irony, Satire, and Sarcasm: O’Connor: “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
Allegory and Symbolism: Hawthrone: “The Minster’s Black Veil”
Fantasy, Symbolismand Archetype: Marquez: “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Irony, Symbolism, Theme: Gilman: “The Yellow Wallpaper”
B. Drama and Tragedy – Oedipus Trilogy
C. Non-Fiction: Plato, from the Apology; Emerson*, Thoreau*
D. Epic Hero – Beowulf
E. Characterization -- Chaucer, Selected readings from The Canterbury Tales
F. Poetry: Romanticism: Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Browning
American Renaissance/Romanticism: Poe, Longfellow, Dickinson, Whitman, Bryant
Modern Poetry: Frost, Williams, Cummings, Elliot, Pound, Yeats, Housman, Thomas
2. Thematic
A. Nature of Evil
Drama – Shakesepare – Macbeth
Novel – TBD
Short Stories – Nathaniel Hawthrone – “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark”
Poetry – Karl Shapiro – “Auto Wreck”
W. H. Auden – “Musee des Beaux Arts”
Emily Dickinson – “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”
Seamus Heaney – “Punishment”
Robert Frost – “Design”
Biblical passages
Nonfiction – Small, “Sermon: The Nature of Evil”
K. Jackson/2013-14
Terwilliger – “Sermon: The Wicked Witch Discusses Evil Over Dinner”
Bridges, “Sermon: A Question of Evil”
B. The Psyche of the Human Mind
Drama – Shakespeare – Hamlet
Novel – Joseph Conrad -- Heart of Darkness
Short Story – Kurt Vonnegut – “Harrison Bergeron”
Poetry – ee cummings – “anyone lived . . .”
Emily Dickinson – “Much Madness is the Divinest Sense”
Nonfiction --C. Isolation
Novel – Mary Shelly – Frankenstein
Short Stories – Kate Chopin – “The Storm”
John Steinbeck – “Chrysanthemums”
Poetry – Edgar A. Poe – “Alone”
Matthew Arnold “To Margerite”
Nonfiction – Lewis Wolpert – “Is Science Dangerous”
D. Self-Identity
Novel – Toni Morrison – Beloved
Short Story – John Updike – “A & P”
Poetry – William Wordsworth – “The World is too Much with Us”
Gwedolyn Brooks – “We Real Cool”
Essay – Ralph W. Emerson – “The Apology”
4. AP Boot Camp
Contact Information
1. Telephone: 298-4535
2. Email: kjackson@duplinschools.net
**Syllabus is subject to change due to literature availability and/or time constraints.