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Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy High School
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
2014-2015
Instructor: Anne M. Wake, M. Ed
Contact Information:
Office: 422A
Classroom: 323
Email: anne_wake@agassiprep.net
Phone: 702-316-2308
Website:
Class Time: Period 1, 7:25-9:10am
Office Hours: TWTh&F from 6:30am-7:00am in
323, or request an appointment (422A)
Website:
http://www.agassiprep.net/apps/pages/index.js
p?uREC_ID=407333&type=u
The AACPA Code of Respect:
The essence of good discipline is
RESPECT.
Respect for authority and respect for
others;
Respect for self and respect for rules.
It is an attitude that begins at home,
is reinforced in school,
and is applied throughout life.
Course Description
AP Literature and Composition is a class that focuses on close reading and critical
analysis of selected texts. You will learn several techniques of literary criticism to apply
to the texts we cover. I consider it my job as your instructor to give you the analytical
tools you need to do justice to these significant works of literature.
Students must take the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam at the
end of the year. This year, the English exam will be at 8:00am on May 6, 2015. In order
to be successful, you must actually read all of the texts assigned during class - Spark
Notes just won't cut it. Be sure to schedule uninterrupted reading time at home EVERY
DAY for this class, in addition to your DEAR period during the school day.
To understand and bring to focus these works of literature, you will have writing
assignments to complete for each unit. All writing assignments will be scored on a
scale of 1-9 (similar to the rubric used to score your AP Exam essays) and kept in your
permanent portfolio as a means to measure your improvement throughout the year.
AP English Literature and Composition is designed to expose you to great works of
literature and to test your thinking and writing skills as they relate to the literature. As
you may know, the AP exam consists of a multiple-choice section (55 questions, 60
minutes) AND an essay section. There are three essays on the AP Exam:
 Essay Question One is on a poem or pair of poems
 Essay Question Two is on a prose passage,
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 Essay Question Three is an "open" question to be applied to a novel or
play of literary merit
As we cover each work of literature, we will respond to AP-style questions and write
answers just as on the AP exam. By the time you take the test in May, you should be
completely familiar with the style of questions you will encounter and what it takes to
give a cogent answer. We will grade many of these within the class (this will help you
focus on what works and what doesn't).
The overall purpose of this Advanced Placement Literature and Composition course
is to prepare students not only for the AP literature examination, but more importantly,
for the rigorous academic demands of a college-level literature and composition class.
There are four major goals to our course derived from the most recent AP English
Course Description, published by the College Board. Those goals include:
1. Students will be able to analyze and interpret an author’s purpose and tone,
and relate those interpretations to the overall meaning of the work.
2. Students will be able to read and think both critically and analytically; and
they will demonstrate that ability by intelligibly utilizing the language of literary
criticism in writing and discourse.
3. Students will read a wide variety of world literature from the sixteenth century
to the present, representing a range of genres, in order to understand the depth
and complexity, which comprises quality literature.
4. Students will be able to articulate their interpretations of literature through
eloquent analysis, written in a readable style, free of mechanical error.
Overarching theme: The text selections for the major works, which we will study as a
class, have been chosen around a central theme: The Duality of Human Nature. This
year we will explore: how do we reconcile our internal conflict between
our inherent evil, and our desire to do good? What happens when we fail? Is
redemption achievable? Is it possible to resist temptation in the first place? What about
other dualities in our nature, such as the struggle to define our identity, despite
dichotomies forced upon us through societal expectations of gender roles, nationality,
and/or class? And finally, as Americans, what range of dualities in identity, culture,
and values do we face as individuals and as a society?
This year will be about exploring the internal struggles we all must fight against the darker
parts of our nature. That is, if a “darker half” does indeed exist…
Anticipated Instructional Text Selections
The school provides all instructional texts and students may keep them after the year is
over (except the textbook, which is checked-out and returned at the close of the course).
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All independent reading texts listed here are available in your teacher’s personal
classroom library for checkout.
Textbook:
Jago, Carol et. al. Literature and Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
Selected Poetry from:
 Meyer, Michael. Poetry: an introduction. Sixth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s. 2010. Print.
 Arp, Thomas R and Johnson, Greg. Literature: Structure Sound and Sense.
Eleventh Edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cenage Learning, 2012. Print.
Major Instructional Works:
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Excerpts from The Bible (Genesis, Job, Revelation)
Excerpts from Paradise Lost, Milton
Frankenstein, Shelley
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hamlet, Shakespeare (with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stoppard)
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Independent Reading Texts
Additionally, students will independently read a minimum of one selection from the
AP recommended reading list (see addendum at the end of the syllabus). The following
list of works are recommended in particular for this course, as they fit our theme this
year (many of these texts are available in your teacher’s personal classroom library for
checkout):
The Joy Luck Club, Tan
The Awakening, Chopin
Ceremony, Silko
Kindred, Butler
Angela’s Ashes, McCourt
Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury
Jane Eyre, Bronte
1984, Orwell
Native Son, Wright
Brave New World, Huxley
Atonement, McEwan
Anna Karenina, Tolstoy
The Road or Blood Meridian, McCarthy
In Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Angelou
This reading and text annotation must be completed by April 1, 2015.
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Materials
You should bring at least the following to class everyday:
 Two blue/black
 Composition notebook (Quotes and
pens
Notes/Reading Journal)
 One colored pen
 A notebook or binder in which you can take (and
 One highlighter
keep!) class notes—this should be for English
 Loose leaf collegeclass ONLY
ruled paper
 A folder for English ONLY (unless you have a
binder, see below)
Ideally: While there is no required organization system for this course, it is HIGHLY
recommended that instead of simply a notebook and folder, each student have a 1”
or 1.5” binder with 5 divider tabs (suggested labels in binder: Important Information;
Supplemental Texts; Hand-outs; Vocabulary; Returned Work).
On-Going Assessments
You will demonstrate your ability to read and think critically through a variety of
modes:
ANNOTATIONS
Early in the year, students are explicitly taught a method of annotating the text for:

Vocabulary

Diction

Figurative language/imagery

Important quotes relevant to theme

Tier 2 and 3 questions

Making inferences.
These annotations are assessed on a rubric to ensure all students understand the
expectations, and have plenty of practice analyzing short works. As the year progresses,
these assessments are less frequent as annotating is accepted as necessary for success in
close reading and college-level writing.
LITERATURE CIRCLES
During the reading workshop period, students maintain reading journals to keep track
of their notes for literature circles. For the four independent reading texts, students
make their selections in groups of 3-4 students. These groups comprise their literature
circle. Each week, the students are assigned a specific role in the group:

Discussion Director (writes 4-6 tier 2 and 3 discussion questions)

Vocabulary Visionary (identifies scholarly language and teaches these
words to group mates, as they are used in context)

Literary Luminary (identifies 4-5 quotes worthy of greater thought/study
to present to the group and offers his/her insight and identifies and analyzes
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instances of the author’s use of literary techniques, which we have studied in
class, through a “Say, Mean, Matter” chart)
In this routine, students share their observations, according to their roles, for 5 minutes
each, and the last 5-7 minutes are spent independently engaging in a free-write
“synthesis” reflection in their reading journals. The “synthesis” brings together take-aways, questions, and ruminations based on the reading and the literature circle
discussion with peers.
SOCRATIC SEMINAR
At least twice during each unit, the class will engage in a formal Socratic Seminar on a
particular issue and/or essential question raised by the text. These discussions require
preparation in the form of critical reading, annotation, and pre-seminar written reflections on
the topic.
Each Socratic Seminar will end with either a formal or informal writing assignment.
ESSAY ASSESSMENTS
In addition to timed, AP-style writing, we will engage in process writing (peer-editing,
revision and conferencing with the teacher) frequently during writing workshop in the
first two months of school. At first, you will break down AP prompts with me.
However, soon this guided preparation time is scaled back until students are ready for
independently planning before immediately engaging in the on-demand essay (as you
will have to do during the exam).
After writing an AP essay, students analyze student samples from previous years, and
grade them on the AP rubrics, before receiving their own essays and evaluating them
on the same scale. Students will always have the opportunity to revise their essays at
home for a higher grade after we have analyzed and evaluated student samples
together in class.
THE CORRECTION LESSON: GRAMMAR/MECHANICS/SENTENCE STRUCTURE
After each essay, grammar, sentence structure, and mechanics will be addressed in a
“Correction Lesson.” In these lessons, the teacher will present a student’s writing piece,
which exemplifies the most common concerns of the class observed in the assignment.
We will analyze the work, identify the problems, and revise the section of the essay
with the error(s).
Students with particular writing needs will be directed to the following websites:
www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/writing/
www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar
www.owl.english.purdue.edu
MULTIPLE CHOICE ASSESSMENTS
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Within each unit, students will take a multiple-choice assessment with both an excerpt
from their current reading, and a passage, which relates to our instructional text either
thematically or stylistically. The questions are written in a format similar to those,
which you will encounter on the AP exam.
Grading
Early in the year, an essay scoring a 4/9 on the AP rubric is sufficient to obtain an A.
However, by November, students need a 5/9 for an A. In January, a 6/9 is an A. In
March, a 7/9 is an A, and by May, we aim for an 8/9 on the AP. This gradual scale
keeps students motivated by setting realistic expectations, and encourages
improvement, by requiring students to push themselves in order to maintain high
marks.
 Essay grades comprise 50% of the class grade (This includes writing of all types:
AP-style timed writing; Toulmin Model process writing; pre- and post- writing
analysis; graded editing; creative writing; assignments paired with outside
reading; and others at my discretion)
 Reading Journals and Literature Circles 25% (Annotations; “Quotes and Notes”;
Literature circle roles; etc.)
 Unit Tests and Quizzes 15% (vocabulary an multiple choice AP test-prep
quizzes; one multiple choice/short answer exam concludes each unit)
 Classwork/Homework 10% (class participation in discussion/seminar; daily
synthesis reflections; periodic HW assignments, etc.)
*A Note About Class work and Homework: It is expected that all HW
and CW will be completed. Not all CW/HW assignments will be
collected/graded, but students should always be prepared for them to be
collected. The purpose of this work is to directly prepare for the essays,
quizzes, and exams, which constitute the majority of the grade. If students
do not put effort into CW and HW, then learning is not possible, and
therefore success on major assessments is not possible. The learning
should be its own reward.
Semester Grades
 Semester 1 grade: Quarter One (45%) + Quarter Two (45 %) + Semester
Exam (10%)
 Semester 2 grade: Quarter Three (45%) + Quarter Four (45 %) + Semester
Exam (10%)
Explanation of Student Grades
4 Point
Grading
Scale
4.0
Grade
Percentage
A
100% - 94%
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3.0
2.0
1.0
0
B
C
D
F
86% - 83%
74% - 70%
69%-60%
59% or below
AACPA “Minimum F” Policy: if a student attempts to complete an assignment yet
scores lower than a 30%, the student will receive at least a 30% on that assignment.
However, if a student does not attempt or turn in an assignment and the assignment is
thus “missing”, that score will be 20%. The only time a student will receive a score
lower than 20% would be if plagiarism/cheating occurred (in which case the score
would be a “0%” and subject to further disciplinary action from the Dean’s office)
How and when students will be advised of their grades
Through Infinite Campus, the student grade book will be updated weekly. All students
and parents have access to this grade book. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the
student and parent to check this grade book regularly. Additionally, the school sends
progress reports mid-quarter and report cards quarterly.
Late Work Policy
Since you are preparing for college, late work is unacceptable (this is a school-wide
policy). For a paper to be considered on time, it must be ready to be turned in at the
beginning of class.* If the student misses the assignment, the student will have to write
an alternate make-up essay during my office hours before school, which will generally
be more difficult than the original assignment.
*Papers completed at home are required to be printed. Printing should be
completed at home or at school before the day the work is due. If students walk
into class without a paper in hand, then it is considered late. This includes
printing from an electronic source after class. These situations, even if the same
day, will result in loss of 10%. Students also should not expect to come into the
teacher’s classroom the day the paper is due to print—this is disrespectful to the
teacher’s time. Simply put: the work must be in paper form, and in hand. If a
printer is not working, then the paper can be emailed to the teacher the night
before, at the teacher’s Agassi Prep email account.
A NOTE ABOUT ABSENCES: absence from school does NOT necessarily
excuse a final paper from being late—that is what email is for. Late final papers
will only be excused in extreme situations, considered on a case-by-case basis. In
this modern age of email and the availability of obtaining knowledge about the
class via the class webpage, emailing your instructor, or calling classmates, it is
expected that students will return to school with all necessary assignments
fulfilled. Papers due on the day of an absence should be emailed that day.
Extensions
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Under special extreme circumstances, you may request an extension on a major paper or
project. In order for your request to be considered, you must submit it in writing at
least THREE SCHOOL DAYS prior to the assignment’s due date (an email to the
teacher’s Agassi account is acceptable). The teacher will inform you in writing within 24
hours of receiving the request whether or not the extension is granted. If the extension
is NOT granted, then the original due date is still in effect.
Extra-Credit
The only way to obtain extra credit is via a class-wide assignment. These opportunities
are offered periodically throughout the year, but very rarely and never at the end of a
semester. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities as
they arise.
 NOTE: There is no such thing as extra credit in college. Extra Credit
assignments will never be given to an individual student and will never be
allowed as a replacement for missing, or unacceptable work.
Conduct
This is a college-level course; disruptions to the learning environment are entirely
unacceptable. Any conduct, which disrupts the education of the class, will be handled
quickly and seriously. Parents will always be notified, and may be asked to come in for a
conference.
Food in the Classroom Per AACPA policy, FOOD IS NEVER ALLOWED IN THE
CLASSROOM. Students arriving to class with breakfast in hand will NOT be permitted
into the classroom. This will result in a tardy arrival, and so the appropriate
consequence will ensue. Repeated instances will receive a phone call home and/or
referral to the Dean.
Absences
To best succeed in school, you ought to be in class everyday. But if an absence is
unavoidable, then you are responsible for contacting the teacher and making up all class
work and homework by the next class period of your return. It is suggested that all
students maintain a reliable “study-buddy” who will gather missed work and notes for
him/her.
If a student is absent on the day of a major essay or exam, the school day the student
returns (regardless of whether or not the class meets that day), s/he is expected to
attend the teacher’s office hours to make-up the work. If s/he fails to do this, the
student will be given an alternative, more difficult assignment to complete. Remember,
taking the initiative to do this make-up work is solely the student’s responsibility,
NOT the teacher’s.
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Tardy Policy in Ms. Wake’s Class
Arriving late to class is entirely unacceptable in Ms. Wake’s AP Literature class. “On Time” is
defined as seated and working when the bell rings. “Excused” tardy arrivals do not exist
unless in an extreme circumstance, which the teacher excuses at her discretion in a meeting
after class. When a student arrives late to class, s/he will sign in on the tardy log. The
following describes the progression of disciplinary action:
1. First Warning
2. Second Warning
3. Detention with Ms. Wake (6:45am-7:15am)*
4. Detention with Ms. Wake (6:30am-7:15am)*
5. RPC with the Dean (we work to investigate the reason behind the tardy arrivals and
resolve the problem)
6. “Campus Beautification”
7. More “Campus Beautification”
8. Starts negatively affecting the classwork/class participation grade. Consequences go
back to step 3 and will rotate again through the same process.
NOTE: Excessive tardies may result in more serious disciplinary action.
*Failure to attend an assigned detention can result in a referral to the Dean’s office.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism
Directly quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing the ideas of others without specific and correct
identification of the sources, OR handing in work, which is not the student’s own constitute
plagiarism. (A full definition of Academic Dishonesty is clearly explained in the AACPHS
Student Handbook. Please read this section.) In AP Literature, students must correctly abide
by the rules of MLA documentation and presentation of source material. Remember: YOU are
responsible for the preparation and presentation of all assignments. Students who attempt
any form of academic dishonesty, can expect: a zero on the assignment, a parent conference,
and possible suspension. (This includes students who allow others to copy their work.) The
concept of plagiarism and how to avoid it will be discussed at the beginning of the school
year, and reinforced periodically throughout the year. If a student ever has a doubt about
whether or not they are plagiarizing, they are encouraged to ask the teacher.
NOTE: “Copying,” or allowing another to “copy,” one’s work is also plagiarism and will
result in the same consequences outlined above for plagiarism. Although in cooperative study
and peer editing students may ask for criticism, such aid must be limited. The individual
student is responsible for the preparation and presentation of assignments.
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Please sign and return this last page only.
Ms. Wake AP Literature and Composition
Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy
Student’s Name:
Student’s Number:
Student:

I have read and understand the school rules listed above.
I have read and understand the progressive discipline steps for inappropriate
behavior and tardies—including the nuances in Ms. Wake’s AP Class.
 I have read and understand the course expectations provided for this course.
 I have read and understand that any books, computers, cameras, or other schoolowned items loaned to me are my responsibility. If they are lost, stolen, or
damaged, I agree to pay for their replacements.

__________________________________________________
Signature of Student
_______________
Date
Parent/Guardian Printed Full Name:
 I have read and understand the school rules pertaining to my child.
 I have read and understand the progressive discipline steps for inappropriate
behavior and tardies.
 I have read and understand what is expected of my child in this course.
 I have read and understand that any books, computers, cameras, or other schoolowned items loaned to my child are my financial responsibility. If they are lost,
stolen, or damaged, I agree to pay for their replacements.
 I have read and understand how to earn honors credit in this course.
__________________________________________________
Signature of Parent/Guardian
Best form of contact:
Phone:___________________________
_______________
Date
Email: __________________
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Addendum (Keep this list in your binder)
AP Literature Recommended
Reading List:
Fiction (Novel & Short Story)
A, B
Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart)
Julia Alvarez (In the Time of the Butterflies)
Kingsley Amis (Lucky Jim)
Martin Amis (Time's Arrow)
Rudolfo Anaya (Serafina's Stories)
Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's
Tale, Alias Grace, Surfacing)
Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)
James Baldwin (Go Tell It on the Mountain)
Saul Bellow (The Adventures of Augie March)
Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre)
Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights)
C
Italo Calvino (Invisible Cities, The Baron in the
Trees)
Albert Camus (The Plague, The Stranger)
Truman Capote (In Cold Blood)
Raymond Carver (Cathedral)
Willa Cather (Death Comes for the
Archbishop, O Pioneers!)
Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street)
John Cheever (The Wapshot Scandal)
Kate Chopin (The Awakening)
Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness)
Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage)
D
Louis DeBernieres (Corelli's Mandolin)
Don DeLillo (Libra)
Anita Desai (Clear Light of Day)
Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities, Great
Expectations)
E.L. Doctorow (Ragtime)
Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and
Punishment, Notes from Underground, The
Idiot)
Theodore Dreiser (Sister Carrie)
E, F
George Eliot (Middlemarch)
Ralph Ellison (The Invisible Man)
Louise Erdich (Antelope Wife)
William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, The Sound
and the Fury)
Henry Fielding (Tom Jones)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby, Babylon
Revisited)
Ford Madox Ford (The Good Soldier)
E.M. Forster (A Passage to India)
John Fowles (The French Lieutenant's
Woman, The Magus)
G, H
Myla Goldberg (Bee Season)
Graham Greene (The Heart of the Matter)
Jane Hamilton (A Map of the World, The Book
of Ruth)
Thomas Hardy (Tess of the D'Urbervilles)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (The House of the
Seven Gables)
Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also
Rises, Islands in the Stream)
Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha)
Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were
Watching God)
I, J, K
Kazuo Ishiguro (Remains of the Day)
Henry James (The Aspern Papers, The
American)
Ha Jin (Waiting)
James Joyce (Dubliners)
Franz Kafka (The Metamorphosis)
Maxine Hong Kingston (The Woman
Warrior)
Joy Kogawa (Obasan)
Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of
Being)
L, M
Margaret Laurence (The Stone Angel)
D.H. Lawrence (Sons and Lovers)
Bernard Malamud (The Fixer, The Natural)
Katherine Mansfield (The Garden Party and
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Other Stories)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (One Hundred Years
of Solitude)
Bobbie Ann Mason (In Country)
Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian)
Carson McCullers (The Heart is a Lonely
Hunter, The Member of the Wedding)
Herman Melville (Moby Dick, Billy Budd)
Toni Morrison (Jazz, Beloved, Song of
Solomon)
Bharati Mukherjee (Desirable Daughters, Tree
Bride)
N, O, P
Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita)
Joyce Carol Oates (We Were the Mulvaneys)
Tim O'Brien (Going After Cacciato, In the Lake
of the Woods)
Flannery O'Connor (Wise Blood)
George Orwell (1984)
Cynthia Ozick (Heir to the Glimmering World)
Alan Paton (Cry the Beloved Country)
Iain Pears (An Instance of the Fingerpost)
Katherine Anne Porter (Ship of Fools)
Erich Maria Remarque (All Quiet on the
Western Front)
Jean Rhys (Voyage in the Dark)
JeanPaul Sartre (No Exit)
Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels)
Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina)
Jean Toomer (Cane)
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (Fathers and Sons)
Mark Twain (The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
U, V, W
John Updike (Gertrude and Claudius)
Luisa Valenzuela (Clara)
Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five)
Alice Walker (Temple of My Familiar)
Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited, The
Loved One)
Eudora Welty (The Optimist's Daughter)
Edith Wharton (The House of Mirth)
John Edgar Wideman (Brothers and Keepers)
Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)
Richard Wright (Native Son)
R, S, T
PLEASE see me if you have any questions about any of
these selections, and/or are having trouble locating a copy
of one of these works. (I love helping students find the
right book for them  )
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