AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus: Ms. Nantz
Course Overview
* This Advanced Placement Literature and Writing course is designed to immerse students into an English academic
discourse community. Students will critically read classical works of literature, evaluate author technique, write
collegiate essays using analysis and synthesis, conduct writing workshops, improve test-taking skills, and develop a
literary and rhetorical vocabulary. Think of this class as a way to broaden your world view by connecting to great
authors of the past through meaningful reading, writing, and discussion.
*I may not choose the same novels (from a unit) every year or follow the same sequence of units; however, the same
concepts will be addressed from whatever work of literature chosen. You will always have a body of poetry to
analyze, an outside reading assignment (that may include novel or short fiction reading), and a writing deadline. In
addition, AP students will be required to apply knowledge of poetry terminology given in class and kept in AP
English notebook, consisting of the following sections: Agendas, Notes, Poetry Responses, Assessment, Literary
Writings, and Creative Writings.
*Grammar: Grammar instruction will be taught through writing and will focus on improving skills, usage, and
style; Act preparation will also be provided.
*Our year is divided into 9-week quarters. Expect two major unit tests and two major writing assignments for each
quarter. Poetry responses are due every Tuesday (250 words at least and typed).
*Successful completion of AP English provides one course credit. Although it is not required that students take the
AP Exam in the spring, it is highly recommended. A score of three or above on the exam is accepted at Most
colleges and universities as the equivalent of three colleges credit hours (1 course).
*This course is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the AP English Course
Description.
*Reading Comprehension: During the senior year, the reading selection may include but is not limited to the
following: Novels: Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, Their Eyes Were Watching
God, Things Fall Apart, Nineteen-Eighty-Four, As I Lay Dying, A Farewell to Arms, and The Awakening, and Brave
New World
Drama: A Doll’s House, Macbeth, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Death of a Salesman
Short Stories and Poetry: Various Selections from textbook
Literary Concepts:
Students will be required to apply the following literary terms and concepts:
Allegory
Alliteration
Analogy
Antagonist
Aside
Autobiography
Ballad
Biography
Caesura
Characterization
Climax
Conflict
Connotation
Dialect
Dialogue
Drama
Dramatic Monologue
Dynamic Character
Epic
Figurative Language
Figure of Speech
Denotation
Flat Character
Foil
Foreshadowing
Genre
Flashback
Gothic
Hero/Heroine
Hyperbole
Imagery
Irony
Metaphor
Mood
Monologue
Narrator
Nonfiction
Oxymoron
Parable
Paradox
Parallelism
Personification
Persuasion
Plot
Legend
Protagonist
Repetition
Speaker
Suspense
Subplot
Point of View
Symbol
Theme
Tone
Rhyme Scheme
Romanticism
Round Character
Satire
Setting
Short Story
Simile
Schools of Literary Criticism
Discourse Community
Soliloquy
Motivation
Course / Planner / Student Activities
August: Introduction to AP English, Poetry, and the Elements of Fiction
*Philosophy behind AP English, why we study literature, and what it means to belong to an English discourse
community
*Diagnostic Reading Comprehension Test (Student Choice of classic: August 31 st)
*Elements of Poetry packet, how to write a poetry response, assignation of The Bedford: Introduction to Literature;
nine weeks body of poetry to choose from for weekly poetry response; monthly poetry focus on denotation,
connotation, imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, and metonymy
*Introduction to Schools of Criticism and focus on What is Formalism / New Criticism? with application to Oscar
Wilde’s “Madonna Mia”
Introduction to fiction: select short stories and annotations
Major Work: Introduction to Drama: Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Major Multiple Choice test and AP free response
essay focusing on tension, conflict, and character development; Major Works Data Sheet (group assignation)
September: Modern Drama, Romantic poetry, and the first great psychological novel
*AP Multiple Choice focus
Poets of the month: Dickinson, Whitman, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, and Keats
Drama: A Death of a Salesman
Fiction: Select short stories from Bedford
Novel: Begin Wuthering Heights; point of view, symbolism, psychological criticism, conflict; syntax, Major
Works data sheet covering plot, style, and characterization
October: Compare and Contrast, and Theme in Short Fiction
*Finish Wuthering Heights; AP MC and Free Response Essay
*Analyze the novel Frankenstein, AP Major Works Data Sheet, notes on historical context, read excerpt from
Paradise Lost, apply the biographical approach with discussion of Mary Shelly, discuss epistolary / gothic style,
identify themes of Promethean ambition, identify direct and indirect characterization, point of view, major symbols,
irony, antithesis, allusion, and map out plot (exposition-denouement), define new vocabulary,
*Writing Workshop: Free-writing with cause and effect, read a comparative literary analysis, using a graphic
organizer, compare Frankenstein to Wuthering Heights, develop a comparative thesis, compose essay, peer and
teacher conferencing, analysis due at the end of October
*Poetry: poetry responses continued and practice AP generated poetry exam with focus on symbolism
*Short Fiction: Analysis of Plot, character, setting, point of view, symbolism, and theme in “The A & P” and “Barn
Burning.”
*Unit Exam: Frankenstein: Multiple Choice and AP released essay prompt, focusing on characterization; Major
Work Data sheet due at the end of the month
November: Symbol, Allegory, and Feminism
*Short Fiction: Analyze symbol and allegory in “Young Goodman Brown”; also read Plato’s cave allegory
*Poetry: New body of poetry for poetry responses (focus: Poe, Robert Frost and other allegorical poets)
*Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God; focus on simile, metaphor, local color, dialect, and allusion
*Extensive MC practice
Unit Exam: Novel test covering Their Eyes; MC and Free Response Essay
December: Term Paper; short timed fiction response, Christmas reading and Semester Exam
*Concentrated in-class poetry analysis; one poetry response this month
*Examples of on-demand readings with essay prompts
*How to plan, write, revise, and edit the term paper due before Christmas break
*Begin reading Jane Eyre
*Semester Exam will have MC and a free response or short fiction analysis; skill based AP exam
January: Renaissance
* Poetry: Body of Renaissance poetry to analyze for poetry responses; focus on Spencer, Donne, and
Shakespearean sonnet (rhythm, meter, musical devices, pattern, paradox, overstatement, irony).
*2nd Week of January is Jane Eyre testing; Major Works Data sheet is due
*Major poetry test (memorization, application, scansion, and on-demand)
*Begin Macbeth
February: Drama and Protest Artists
*Play: Macbeth continued; Major Works Data sheet; essay test;
*Poetry: Modern protest poetry and analysis
*Novel: Begin Brave New World
*Short fiction practice
*Multiple choice skill and drill
March: Novel and Research
*Finish Brave New World; Major Works Data; MC and essay test
*Writing: Conduct research on literary criticism; argue a thesis from any school of criticism concerning
major work read in class; add literary critics to support argument; using a collegiate peer conferencing
guide, critique peer’s literary analysis; turn in literary analysis at the end of April (term paper second
semester)
*Poetry: Moderns
*Short Fiction practice
April: Spring break and Comedy
*Short fiction: AP practice tests with excerpt (reading and essay)—once a week
*Poetry: Continue with poetry responses; project—write a paradox poem or protest poem based on Brave
New World theme (experimentation with verbal irony)
* Drama: The Importance of Being Earnest; Major Works Data Sheet; literary focus (plot structure,
major themes, characterization, setting, point of view, symbolism, irony, and other elements appropriate
to the title, wordplay, puns, aphorism, epigrams, diction, parallelism, situational irony, dramatic irony,
exaggeration, incongruity, anticipation, Deus ex machine, double-entendre)
*Last major work MC and essay test
May: AP test month, AP poetry project, and AP final
*Practice Testing: One week allotted for test preparation
*Poetry Interpretation Project: Working in pairs, choose a poem, practice reading poem, listen to the
poem, feel the rhythm of language, analyze the diction, note what tone the words create, and after you
have read and discussed poem, find music that complements the poem, and set music to the poem
*Drama: View A Raisin in the Sun, The Color Purple, and Othello (discussion only)
*Final Exam: The AP Exam for college credit
Instructor and class Ideology:
Although AP English literature is double the work of a regular senior English class, it is doubly rewarding.
Hopefully, by the end of the semester, you will feel like a student of literature; you will feel confident discussing
highbrow text orally and through a written medium. By the end of the second semester, you will have made many
connections to history, to other texts besides literature and, ultimately, to the human condition. Your voice will
shine through in your writings and you will be comfortable adapting to different writing tasks. This class
encompasses a variety of different subjects such as history, philosophy, music, and psychology. You will enhance
your entire coursework due to the strength of your reading and writing ability, sharpened in this course. Plus, this
class will aid you in the turbulent transition into a collegiate environment—possibly you will earn college credit by
passing the AP exam, which will also make college life a little easier.
How you will adapt: You will need to find a routine that works for you. You will have long-range goals, but you
will be pop-quizzed on occasion to see if you are reading in a timely fashion. Failure to read the text is
inexcusable. If I see that you are simply not reading by the end of the first nine weeks, you will be moved to a
regular English class. To start out on the right foot is to develop a time management plan for this class. For
homework, always be aware that you will have to break down a major work into four weeks, analyze poetry once a
week, develop a working thesis for a composition, and support thesis with evidence from the text. If you are on the
ball, you will succeed grade-wise and contribute greatly to in-class literary discussions. Pay attention in class.
Every note-taking session and literary circle discussion can contribute greatly to your analytical writing. Also, make
room for creative writing and plan on in-class AP practice tests, in-class poetry analysis, ACT language skills
practice and testing, and short fiction analysis to impact your grade.
Grading: You will be graded objectively and subjectively. Even if you are not a master test-taker in the beginning
of the course, you have quizzes and poetry responses that can raise your grade. If you complete all tasks assigned,
you will not fall short in this class. Remember that a C means B in AP world. Also, I will take into consideration
writing improvement and class participation. Do not be discouraged by red marks that will fill your world during
the first semester of writing analytically. Take criticism graciously and use the commentary provided to improve
your composition skills.
Student Accountability: First Semester; first 9 weeks = 45%, second 9 weeks = 45%, Semester exam = 10%
Second Semester; first 9 weeks = 45%, second 9 weeks = 45%, Semester exam = 10% Quizzes, homework
questions, in-class assignments, poetry responses, and MWDS grade = 100 pts. each; tests and literary analyses
are worth 200 points each. Term Paper is worth 400 points.
Grading Scale: A = 100-92, B = 91-83, C = 82-74, D = 73-64, F = 63-below
Works Cited
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Elements of Literature Sixth Course: Literature of Britain.
Harcourt Brace & Co, Texas, 2000.
Myer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing.
7th ed. Bedford / St. Martin , MA, 2005
Perrine, Laurence and Thomas R. Arp. Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry. 8th
ed. Harcourt Brace & Co, FL, 1992.
Sebranek, Patrick, Kave Kemper, and Verne Meyer. Writers Inc: A Student Handbook
for Writing and Learning. Houghton Mifflin Co, MA, 2001.
Web Sites:
AP Central
Apcentral.collegeboard.com
ntpunitedstreaming.com