Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Topic/Unit: Summer Reading
Suggested Timeline: 4 Weeks
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
 Texts tell us about ourselves and others (the human condition) across time and place.
 Texts tell us about particular and universal aspects of culture that help us make meaning of our lives.
 Examining context helps readers make meaning of texts.
 Critical approaches affect explication, analysis, and interpretation of a text; texts can be interpreted in a variety of ways and
different ways may yield varying interpretations but some interpretations are better supported by the text than others
Essential Questions:
 How does what we read influence how we read?
 How do an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as
well as its aesthetic, informational, or persuasive impact.
 How can we respond to texts in critical and creative ways of writing and speaking?
PA Academic Standards (PA Common Core): CC.1.3.11–12.D, CC.1.3.11–12.E, CC.1.3.11–12.F, CC.1.3.11–12.G, CC.1.3.11–12.H,
CC.1.3.11–12.K
Tier 3 Vocabulary: archetype, motif, theme, dystopia, characterization, tone, mood, diction, syntax, point of view, symbol
Concepts:
Competencies:
Instructional Practices:
Assessments:
The student will know:
The student will be able to do:
Suggested texts include:
The instructor may utilize:
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in
the Rye
College Board Released 2004 Exam
(used as a diagnostic)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Socratic Seminar style class
discussions
How to determine the major
issues in each novel
Determine and analyze the
relationship between two or
more central ideas of a text,
How to compare and contrast
including the development and
the theme of the novels to other interaction of the central ideas;
works they have read
provide an objective summary
Understand the structure of the of the text.
novel and the interplay of
Cite strong and thorough
imagery and symbolism
textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
Study the development of
explicitly, as well as inferences
character in setting/the role
environment plays in character and conclusions based on and
related to an author’s implicit
development
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Sample AP Exam Questions (Question
Tennessee Williams’ The Glass 3 - Free Response)
Menagerie
AP Style Multiple Choice (based on
Five Steps to a Five
each novel)
Students will read each novel
Dialectical Journals for each novel
over the summer and complete
the dialectical journals as
assigned
Page 1
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Learn about the life of the
and explicit assumptions and
author to determine how his or beliefs.
her philosophy may be reflected
Analyze the interaction and
in his or her novel
development of a complex set
Learn the literary terms related of ideas, sequence of events, or
to the novel
specific individuals over the
course of the text.
Relate the characters and
situations to the present and to Evaluate how an author’s point
significance of the work
of view or purpose shapes the
content and style of a text.
Cite strong and thorough
evidence to support analysis
Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade‐level
reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of
strategies and tools.
Read around activity with
sample AP prompts
Read College Board student
responses and score them
according to the provided rubric
Classroom discussion
Cooperative Learning
Page 2
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Topic/Unit: Poetry
Suggested Timeline: 6 weeks
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
 Poetry is open to interpretation, but only with substantiation from the text itself.
 The poet and the speaker are, more than likely, separate entities.
Essential Questions:
 How do poets themes of self and identity?
 How do poets’ choices in structure and diction affect the poem?
 How do sound and sense work in conjunction to make meaning in a poem?
 What strategies can we use to make meaning of poetry?
 How can we evaluate a poem?
PA Academic Standards (PA Common Core): CC.1.3.11–12.G, CC.1.3.11–12.I, CC.1.4.11–12.E, CC.1.4.11–12.H, CC.1.4.11–12.K,
CC.1.4.11–12.S, CC.1.2.11–12.A, CC.1.2.11–12.B, CC.1.2.11–12.D, CC.1.3.11–12.B
Tier 3 Vocabulary: theme, tone, mood, connotation, denotation, syntax, diction, contrast/juxtaposition, poetic meter, scansion, allusion,
imagery, paradox, irony,
Concepts:
Competencies:
Instructional Practices:
Assessments:
Learners will know:
Determine the suitability and
effect of title
Learners will be able to do:
Determine and analyze the
relationship between two or
more central ideas of a text,
Analyze the dramatic situation including the development and
of poetry
interaction of the central ideas;
provide an objective summary
Determine the elements of
description: images, mood, and of the text.
tone
Cite strong and thorough
Determine and explain theme, textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
meaning, and dramatic
explicitly, as well as inferences
structure
and conclusions based on and
related to an author’s implicit
Compare use of images or
and explicit assumptions and
development of themes
beliefs.
Cooperative Learning
Sample AP Question 2 Prompts
Sample AP Multiple Choice
exams
Poetry Scansion
Weekly poetry responses
(throughout the entire year)
Poetic Devices worksheets
Student Led Socratic Seminar
discussions
Complete teacher developed exams
Student essays (initial drafts and
revision)
Oral presentations of poets and their
works
Weekly poetry explications
Suggested texts include:
The National Endowment for
the Humanities “21 Poems for
AP Literature”
Page 3
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Perrine’s Structure, Sound and
Sense: An Introduction to
Poetry, Tenth Edition, Thomas
Arp and Greg Johnson
(classical and modern poems
including sonnets, villanelle,
Evaluate how an author’s point sestina, by Shakespeare,
of view or purpose shapes the Dickinson, Plath, Donne,
content and style of a text.
Baldwin, Hughes, Wolfe,
Milton)
Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade-level
reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of
strategies and tools.
Analyze the interaction and
development of a complex set
of ideas, sequence of events, or
specific individuals over the
course of the text.
Page 4
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Topic/Unit: Drama
Suggested Timeline: 6 weeks
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
 Drama can provide a lens through which we may view ourselves.
 Drama can allow us to understand the conflicts and psychological struggles within an individual
 Drama can help us to understand the timeless and universal struggles of man.
Essential Questions:
 How is drama a reflection of the culture in which it was created?
 How does drama differ from other genres?
 How do various critical lenses contribute to an effective interpretation of dramatic works?
 How does the story of the rise and fall of the tragic hero coincide with the historical and cultural context of the play?
 How does the tragic hero represent what is timeless and universal in man?
 How is the human predicament expressed in the story of the tragic hero?
PA Academic Standards (PA Common Core): CC.1.3.11–12.G, CC.1.3.11–12.I, CC.1.4.11–12.E, CC.1.4.11–12.H, CC.1.4.11–12.K,
CC.1.4.11–12.S, CC.1.2.11–12.A, CC.1.2.11–12.B, CC.1.2.11–12.D, CC.1.3.11–12.B
Tier 3 Vocabulary: catharsis, dramatic irony, tragic hero, tragic flaw, theatre of the absurd
Concepts:
Competencies:
Differentiate drama from other Learners will be able to do:
literary genres.
Cite strong and thorough
Analyze plays to determine the textual evidence to support
author’s use of literary
analysis of what the text says
technique (exposition,
explicitly and make
complication, climax,
appropriately supported
resolution, denouement,
inferences based on the text
characterization, setting,
Analyze multiple
conventions).
interpretations of a story,
Evaluate the effective use of
drama, or poem (e.g., recorded
literary technique in drama
or live production of a play or
(adherence to three dramatic
recorded novel or poetry),
unities, use of symbol, irony,
evaluating how each version
imagery, allusion, figurative
interprets the source text.
language).
Instructional Practices:
Assessments:
Cooperative Learning
Exams (College Board released and
teacher generated)
Sample AP Multiple Choice
exams
The instructor may utilize:
Major papers that include revision Critical lens analysis of Hamlet
The Heath Introduction to
Drama, Fifth Edition
Minor papers without revision
(College Board Free Response
Question)
Hamlet, WIlliam Shakespeare
Nightly reading & reading check quiz
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead, Tom Stoppard
Regular class discussions of reading
Waiting for Godot, Samuel
Beckett
Practice AP Exams
Vocabulary Assignments
Page 5
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Analyze the existence and
effect of historical intrusion in
drama.
Describe how a particular story
or drama’s plot unfolds in a
series of episodes, as well as
how the characters respond or
change as the plot moves
toward a resolution.
Death of a Salesman, Arthur
Miller
In-class timed writing, for practice or
assessment
A Streetcar Named Desire,
Tennessee Williams
Write essays synthesizing the
impact of the use of dramatic
A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
techniques in two or more
dramatic works, from the same Analyze how particular
or different literary periods.
elements of a story or drama
interact and how setting shapes
Identify and utilize various
the characters or plot.
critical lenses (Marxism,
Feminism, Psychoanalytic,
Analyze how particular lines of
New Historicism, Reader
dialogue or incidents in a story
Response)
or drama propel the action,
reveal aspects of a character, or
provoke a decision.
Analyze the impact of the
author’s choices regarding how
to develop and relate elements
of a story or drama.
Page 6
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Topic/Unit: Short Fiction
Suggested Timeline: 6 weeks
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
 Texts tell us about ourselves and others (the human condition) across time and place.
 Texts tell us about particular and universal aspects of culture that help us make meaning of our lives.
 Examining context helps readers make meaning of texts.
 Critical approaches affect explication, analysis, and interpretation of a text; texts can be interpreted in a variety of ways and
different ways may yield varying interpretations but some interpretations are better supported by the text than others.
Essential Questions:
 How can a reader differentiate short fiction from other genres?
 How can we identify works of literary merit in short fiction?
 How does a writer develop a theme in a short story?
 How does a writer use language devices (diction, imagery, symbolism, figurative language) for specific effects in short stories?
How does a writer develop a character in a short story?
 How can setting impact the meaning of a story?
 How does an author create mood?
 How does point of view affect the meaning of a story?
 How does a writer’s use of foreshadowing and irony impact the meaning of a story?
PA Academic Standards (PA Common Core): CC.1.3.11–12.G, CC.1.3.11–12.I, CC.1.4.11–12.E, CC.1.4.11–12.H, CC.1.4.11–12.K,
CC.1.4.11–12.S, CC.1.2.11–12.A, CC.1.2.11–12.B, CC.1.2.11–12.D, CC.1.3.11–12.B
Tier 3 Vocabulary: archetype, motif, theme, dystopia, characterization, tone, mood, diction, syntax, point of view, symbol, allusion
Concepts:
Competencies:
Instructional Practices:
Assessments:
Analyze short prose narratives
to determine the author’s use of
literary techniques (character,
setting, plot, point of view,
theme)
Learners will be able to do:
Determine and analyze the
relationship between two or
more central ideas of a text,
including the development and
Evaluate the effective use of
interaction of the central ideas;
literary technique in short prose provide an objective summary
narratives (style analysis).
of the text.
Cooperative Learning
Sample AP Multiple Choice
exams
Student-led activities
Exams (College Board released and
teacher generated)
Student-led lessons on a selection of
short works
Works may include, but are
not limited to:
Minor papers without revision
(College Board Free Response
Question)
"Barn Burning" by William
Faulkner
Nightly reading & reading check quiz
Page 7
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Cite strong and thorough
textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
explicitly, as well as inferences
and conclusions based on and
related to an author’s implicit
and explicit assumptions and
beliefs.
"The Chrysanthemums" by
John Steinbeck
“A Very Old Man With
Enormous Wings” by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez
“The Sixth Borough” by
Jonathan Safran Foer
Regular class discussions of reading
Practice AP Exams
Vocabulary Assignments
In-class timed writing, for practice or
assessment
Analyze the interaction and
“Bread” by Margaret Atwood
development of a complex set
of ideas, sequence of events, or “Interpreter of Maladies” by
specific individuals over the
Jhumpa Lahiri
course of the text.
“Where Are You Going, Where
Evaluate how an author’s point Have You Been?” by Joyce
of view or purpose shapes the Carol Oates
content and style of a text.
“Hills Like White Elephants”
Determine or clarify the
by Ernest Hemingway
meaning of unknown and
multiple‐ meaning words and “Bartleby the Scrivener” by
phrases based on grade‐ level Herman Melville
reading and content, choosing
Other selections from The
flexibly from a range of
Norton Anthology of Short
strategies and tools.
Fiction, Fifth Edition, R.V.
Cassill
Page 8
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Topic/Unit: The Novel
Suggested Timeline: Approximately 10 Weeks
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
 Texts tell us about ourselves and others (the human condition) across time and place.
 Texts tell us about particular and universal aspects of culture that help us make meaning of our lives.
 Examining context helps readers make meaning of texts.
 Critical approaches affect explication, analysis, and interpretation of a text; texts can be interpreted in a variety of ways and
different ways may yield varying interpretations but some interpretations are better supported by the text than others.
Essential Questions:
 How does what we read influence how we read?
 How do an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as
well as its aesthetic, informational, or persuasive impact.
 How can we respond to texts in critical and creative ways of writing and speaking?
PA Academic Standards (PA Common Core): CC.1.3.11–12.D, CC.1.3.11–12.E, CC.1.3.11–12.F, CC.1.3.11–12.G, CC.1.3.11–12.H,
CC.1.3.11–12.K
Tier 3 Vocabulary: archetype, motif, theme, dystopia, characterization, tone, mood, diction, syntax, point of view, symbol
Concepts:
Competencies:
Instructional Practices:
Assessments:
The student will know:
The student will be able to do:
Suggested texts include:
The instructor may utilize:
Beloved, Toni Morrison
College Board Released 2004 Exam
(used as a diagnostic)
How to determine the major
issues in each novel
Determine and analyze the
relationship between two or
more central ideas of a text,
How to compare and contrast
including the development and
the theme of the novels to other interaction of the central ideas;
works they have read
provide an objective summary
Understand the structure of the of the text.
novel and the interplay of
Cite strong and thorough
imagery and symbolism
textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
Study the development of
explicitly, as well as inferences
character in setting/the role
environment plays in character and conclusions based on and
related to an author’s implicit
development
The Stranger, Albert Camus
As I Lay Dying, William
Faulkner
The Turn of the Screw, Henry
James
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
Socratic Seminar style class
discussions
Sample AP Exam Questions (Question
3 - Free Response)
AP Style Multiple Choice (based on
each novel)
Dialectical Journals for each novel
Page 9
Salisbury Township School District – Planned Course of Study – AP English
Salisbury…Inspire, Think, Learn, Grow…Together!
Learn about the life of the
and explicit assumptions and
author to determine how his or beliefs.
her philosophy may be reflected
Analyze the interaction and
in his or her novel
development of a complex set
Learn the literary terms related of ideas, sequence of events, or
to the novel
specific individuals over the
course of the text.
Relate the characters and
situations to the present and to Evaluate how an author’s point
significance of the work
of view or purpose shapes the
content and style of a text.
Cite strong and thorough
evidence to support analysis
Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade‐level
reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of
strategies and tools.
Student selected Author Study
writer (chosen from authors
featured on the AP Literature
and Composition exam from
1970 to the present)
Research-based AP Author Study
Project (students will compose a 1012 page research paper comparing
themes, style, and/or historical context
across an author’s works
Read around activity with
sample AP prompts
Read College Board student
responses and score them
according to the provided rubric
Classroom discussion
Cooperative Learning
Page 10