AP English Literature and Composition
Course Description
The AP English Literature and Composition course will present students with rigorous
academic challenges—as described in the AP Course Description—and a workload
equivalent to that of a literature/composition class at a university.
We will study various genres of literature such as poetry, short stories, drama, and
novels. We will also explore various writing genres and techniques.
This course will culminate in the AP English Literature and Composition Exam in May.
Most universities and colleges in the United States will award college credit for scores of
“3” or above on the exam.
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Understandings
Essential Questions
What will you understand as a result of this
unit?
What arguable, recurring, and thought
provoking questions will guide inquiry
and point toward the big ideas of the unit?
Literature provides a mirror to help us
understand ourselves and others.
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Writing is a form of communication across
the ages.
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Literature reflects the human condition.
Literature deals with the universal, i.e.,
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man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self,
man vs. God.
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Literature reflects its social, cultural, and
historical values.
How does literature help us understand
ourselves and others?
How has writing become a
communication tool across the ages?
How does literature reflect the human
condition?
How does literature express universal
themes?
Course Goals
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To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature.
To understand the way writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure.
To consider a work’s structure, style, and themes through the author’s use of figurative
language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
To study representative works from various genres and a period (from the sixteenth to
the twentieth century) but to know a few works extremely well.
To understand a work’s complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to analyze how
meaning is embodied in literary form.
To consider the social and historical values a work reflects and embodies.
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To write focusing on critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and
argumentative essays as well as creative writing to sharpen understanding of writers’
accomplishments and deepen appreciation of literary artistry.
Reading Expectations
It is important that you read every assignment with care and in a timely
manner. If you are unaccustomed to reading multiple texts closely, within a short time,
you will need to schedule accordingly. Poetry, despite being shorter than most other
texts, is often dense, complicated, and should be read multiple times.
It should be understood that all reading assignments will require annotations in the
form of double-entry journals.
Writing Expectations
As this is a literature and composition course, you will be expected to use
every assignment that involves writing to practice your best composition
skills. Composition assignments will include: timed writing, formal essays (expository
and argumentative), and narratives. No matter the kind of writing assigned, your best
composition skills should be practiced. We will work with various sentence
constructions, writing styles, and word choice. Our modes of writing will also be diverse;
blogging, editing through Google Docs, and online discussion boards will enhance our
exploration of literature.
To assist in the writing process, the class will frequently participate in Socratic seminars
in which multiple meanings of a single text will be explored. Students are expected to be
prepared for each discussion with text annotations, written questions that arose during
their close reading of the passage, and multiple responses to the distributed discussion
questions. Each student will be held accountable for sharing their textually-supported
opinions during the discussion as well as for providing constructive criticism of their
fellow students’ contributions to the seminar.
Texts
Novels
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Frankenstein
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Dracula
The Namesake
Short Stories
“Happy Endings”
“How Odin Lost His Eye”
Biblical Excerpts: Exodus 1 & 13
Poetry
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Beowulf
“The Fish”
“For My Daughter”
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Purple Hibiscus
The Kite Runner
1984
Brave New
World
Fahrenheit 451
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“One of These Days”
“The Miracle of the Sword and the
Stone”
“The Marriage of King Arthur and
Queen Guinevere”
“The Adventures of Sir Lancelot du
Lake”
“Everyday Use”
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde”
“A & P”
“A White Heron”
“Araby”
“Shooting an Elephant”
“A Modest Proposal”
“The Yellow Wallpaper”
“Harrison Bergeron”
“To My Daughter in a Red
Coat”
“The Daughter”
“My Papa’s Waltz”
“Those Winter Sundays”
“Prologue”- Canterbury
Tales
“The Pardoner’s Tale”
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”
“I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud”
“The World is Too Much
with Us”
“The Lamb” and “The
Tyger”
“The Divine Image” and “A
Divine Image”
“Holy Sonnets: Batter my
heart, three-person’d God”
“Holy Sonnets: Death, be
not proud”
“Song: Go and Catch a
Falling Star”
“The Flea”
“A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning”
“She Walks in Beauty”
Sonnet 101 (Petrarch)
Sonnet 18 (Millay)
Sonnet 43 (Elizabeth
Browning)
“Shall I Compare Thee to a
Summer’s Day?” (Moss)
Sonnet 18, 73, 116, 130
(Shakespeare)
“Acquainted with the
Night”
“To Winter”
“Unreasonable Snows”
“Story of Ashes and Flame”
“On My First Son”
“Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard”
“Ode to My Socks”
“Ode on a Grecian Urn”
“Ode to the West Wind”
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“Ode to a Nightingale”
“Gertrude talks back”
“Do Not Go Gentle Into
That Good Night”
“Mad Girl’s Love Song”
“My Papa’s Waltz”
“Those Winter Sundays”
“Wild Geese”
Where Does the Dance
Begin?”
“The Mother”
“The Bean Eaters”
“On the Subway”
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Dramas
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King Lear
Hamlet
Nonfiction
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How to Read Literature Like a
Professor
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Course Overview
August 24
Introduction
We will discuss the expectations for class and their presentations based on the content
of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Students will take a diagnostic test found in
5 Steps to a 5: AP English Literature 2015.
August 25-September 18
Heroes & Villains
Plot Structure, Author’s Purpose, Themes, Archetypes, Epic Hero
The discussion and analysis will concern structure, purpose, and archetypal characters
of the epic Beowulf and the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. We will examine the
following literary devices in our exploration of Beowulf: inference, syntax, milieu,
caesura, and kenning. In Dracula, we will continue to focus on milieu and inference but
will begin to explore the meanings behind Biblical allusions, physical imperfections, and
supernatural creatures. In effect, Beowulf will serve as an introduction to the “How” of a
text, and Dracula will begin our journey into the “Why.”
Writing Emphasis
The reading of the epic and novel will be followed by both creative and formal writing
assignments. Students will write a formal boast in the style of Beowulf and will create
their own epic hero journey with a modern setting. The companion piece “How Odin
Lost his Eye” will serve as both a valuable insight to the Old English literary period as
well as a text to be explored in a practice essay. Students will write their first formal
essay after reading Dracula. They will have a choice of 4 different themes to explore:
dreams, sexual desire, beauty and youth, or religious influence. Students will practice
formal writing techniques as they construct an outline, rough draft, and final draft that
explore the theme using textual evidence and analysis of literary devices.
September 21-October 14
Seeing Double
Ambiguity, Character Development, Parallelism, Tragic Hero
Through “King Lear,” students will explore the layers that exist in good literature. By
analyzing repeated words, similar characters, and parallel plots, students will gain a
deeper understanding of character development and the ensuing themes. The unit will
begin with an understanding of symbolism and motif. Students will write a double entry
journal analyzing Elizabeth Bishop’s use of these tools in her poem “The Fish.” Toward
the end of the unit, to bring an intertextual element to the play, students will read
scholarly research on the character of the fool and will compare that archetype to other
characters in various works of literature. As a final review, students will analyze Alice
Walker’s “Everyday Use” as well as excerpts from the Arthur Legends, comparing
themes and symbolism to that of Shakespeare’s in “King Lear.” We will also analyze the
following literary devices in our study: invective, soliloquy, dramatic irony, tragic hero,
foils, and pathetic fallacy.
Writing Emphasis
Throughout the unit, students will be reading a majority of the play independently,
recording their observations in double-entry journals. They will complete creative
writing assignments in correlation with the play, such as writing their own soliloquy
(Lear 1.2) to deal with a problem unique to high-school seniors. Students will be
assessed on their understanding of parallels through a comprehensive test in the style of
the AP exam. Students will answer multiple-choice questions on factual, analytical, and
inferential levels and will compose an essay. This essay will incorporate their knowledge
of “King Lear” and draw parallels from “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden.
October 15-November 13
On a Mission
Theme, Point of View
We will analyze point of view and the relationship between theme and point of view
through a careful reading of several selections from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
Beginning with the prologue, students will analyze the estates of the middle ages and
Chaucer’s satirical response to them. We will then read “The Pardoner’s Tale,” and with
this text, students will practice forming questions on the analytical and inferential levels.
We will focus on the benefits of first and third person narrators with a special emphasis
on unreliable narrators during our reading of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” and students
will write a research paper after their reading of “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.” Supplemental
texts “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” will enhance students’
understanding of point of view and its impact on characterization. In this unit, special
attention will be given to the following literary terms: direct and indirect
characterization, frame story, irony, situational irony, dramatic irony, and verbal irony.
Writing Emphasis
Students will personally experience the power of point-of-view as they write their own
estate satire. In this estate satire, students will implement elements of good
characterization, choose the point-of-view best suited to their story, and develop their
narrative style. In addition to that creative writing assignment, students will write a
research paper exploring one of the following topics related to “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”:
medieval beast fables, medieval ideas about dreams, medieval anti-feminism, or courtlylove.
November 16-December 18
Shall I Compare Thee
Connotation, Figurative Language, Style, Poetic Forms
This unit will cover the following lyric forms: Petrarchan sonnet, Elizabethan sonnet,
elegy, and ode. We will analyze each author’s style using the poetic forms and figurative
language he/she chooses to implement. The unit will begin with the identification and
analysis of poetic meter. Students will identify paradox in two of Donne’s “Holy
Sonnets” and will explore conceit in his poems “The Flea” and “Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning.” The literary device blazon will be introduced with Petrarch’s Sonnet 101,
and the tone and mood of Petrarchan sonnets will continued to be explored through
sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Claude McKay, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and
William Wordsworth. We will focus on imagery as we read Shakespeare’s sonnets 116,
73, and 130, accompanied by Keats’ “Bright Star” and Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with
the Night.” Alliteration and assonance will be given special attention as we study the
elegies “On My First Son” by Ben Jonson and “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
by Thomas Gray. The following literary devices will be analyzed: apostrophe, analogy,
antecedent, diction, syntax, metaphor, conceit, tone, mood, personification, rhyme
scheme, and persona.
Writing Emphasis
Students will combine all of their knowledge of poetic devices in their essay exploring
their choice of one of the following odes: “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, “Ode to
the West Wind” by Percy Shelley, or “Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats. In this essay,
students will analyze the sounds, imagery, and poetic form to convey the significance of
the object being lauded in the ode.
January 5-February 5
Argue Like You Mean It
Satire, Allegory, Rhetoric/Rhetorical Modes, Effective Arguments
For this unit, students will begin by exploring the British Neoclassicism period’s
fascination with satirical writing. They will read “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift
and then will delve into allegorical writing with Dr. Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book and
George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant.” After reading each of these texts,
students will evaluate the argument, determining its effectiveness on the intended
audience as well as on themselves. Students will identify key rhetorical devices in
Hamlet, and they will implement these devices in their own writing as they assign
“blame” to key tragic events in the play, such as Ophelia’s suicide, Hamlet’s violent rage,
and Laertes’ hasty revenge plot. The following literary terms will be emphasized in this
unit: parody, sarcasm, euphemism, transition, hypophora, anaphora, syllogism, and
intended audience.
Writing Emphasis
Students will write a job interview script using the following rhetorical devices:
disinterest, virtue, and practical wisdom. Students will also write a comparison/contrast
essay for the ghost scene in Hamlet (1.4-5) and the Biblical account of Saul’s conversion
(Acts 9). Culminating activities for the unit include a class debate and a rhetoric test in
the style of the AP exam. Students will have a timed essay on the following topic: The
following excerpt is from Shakespeare’s Henry V (3.1). Read the passage carefully. Then
write a well-developed essay in which you analyze how Henry reveals himself to be a
powerful leader to his English troops. You may wish to consider such literary devices as
rhetoric, imagery, and point of view.
February 8-March 4
Science and Progress
Allusion, Antithesis, Irony
In this unit, the Victorian period of British literature will be explored through the novel
Frankenstein and short story “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Studying the
impact of science and progress of technology in both Victorian texts, students will
examine archetypes, different forms of irony, and the impact of setting on emerging
themes. In Frankenstein, students will focus specifically on Shelley’s heavy
implementation of Biblical allusion and her use of multiple narrators. Students will
discuss the motivations, morals, and themes that arise from the following events in the
novel: Frankenstein’s creation of another human being, the monster’s murder of
Frankenstein’s younger brother, Frankenstein’s silence when Justine is accused, and
Frankenstein’s monster’s desire for a wife. In “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” students will
analyze and discuss how the connotation and denotation of the word “monster” has
changed in each literary period. They will review their knowledge of Beowulf, King Lear,
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Hamlet, and Dracula to summarize the archetypal heroes and
villains of each literary period, comparing and contrasting each. The literary terms
emphasized in this unit are as follows: antithesis, frame story, gothic novel,
foreshadowing, and allusion.
Writing Emphasis
Students will write an argumentative essay concerning the idea of marriage in
Frankenstein as well as in our culture today. They will read the New York Times article
“In the Season of Marriage, a Question. Why Bother?” by Andrew Cherlin, and they will
argue for or against marriage in this day and age, citing appropriate textual evidence
from the novel. For “Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde,” students will read “Manly Honor:
Part III — The Victorian Era and the Development of the Stoic-Christian Code of Honor”
and will participate in an online discussion board to establish whether the era’s
standards influenced Victorian men (as portrayed in the two texts) to become better
versions of themselves or created a deterioration of their morals and character.
March 8-March 23
Growing Pains
Bildungsroman, Atmosphere, Character Development, Symbolism
Beginning with John Updike’s classic “coming-of-age” short story, “A & P,” students will
analyze character development on a spiritual/psychological level throughout the
“Growing Pains” unit. The next text, James Joyce’s “Araby,” will serve as a model for the
students’ own bildungsroman short stories. The final short story reading of the unit, “A
White Heron,” will provide the students a chance to determine whether the protagonist
places the story in the “bildungsroman” category or if the protagonist remains stagnant
in development, making the piece an anti-bildungsroman. Special attention will be given
to the authors’ use of a narrative hook, symbolism, colloquialisms, and stream-ofconsciousness writing.
Writing Emphasis
Because students will read the bildungsroman novel of their choice (The Namesake,
Purple Hibiscus, or The Kite Runner) independently, they will record their impressions
of their novel on a Wordpress blog which they will create. Students will complete a
minimum of five blog posts about the following novel elements: a major turning point
for the main character, the aspect of M.I.C.E. (Milieu, Idea, Character, Event) that is
eminent in the novel, symbolism or motif, the ways in which the protagonist proves
himself to be a Romantic hero, and details that contribute to the verisimilitude of the
novel. In each of the blog posts, students will use textual evidence and rhetorical
elements to argue their answer to each prompt.
April 4-April 22
World Problems
Dramatic/Situational Irony, Literary Criticism, Archetypes
We will focus on dystopian literature throughout this Modernism unit. In class, we will
read “Harrison Bergeron,” and students will independently read a dystopian novel of
their choice (Brave New World, 1984, or Fahrenheit 451). Movie clips and textual
excerpts from the popular Hunger Games trilogy will be used to supplement the
readings. Students will use contemporary song lyrics, “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay and
“Heavy is the Head” by the Zac Brown Band, to evaluate different symbolic and point-ofview approaches to the same issue. Students will read their novels outside of class, but
during the class period, students will be grouped by their novel choice. At the beginning
of the novel, students will join a group with others who are reading the same novel in
order to discuss initial impressions and to share opinions of the author’s style and use of
literary devices. When the rising actions begin in the novels, groups will consist of one
representative from each novel. Each novel representative will share with the group his
author’s approach to tension, conflict, and theme; students will then compare and
contrast the three different dystopian novels which were written in the same decade to
deal with similar societal issues. Students will revisit the concept of literary archetypes,
dramatic and situational irony, hubris, and paradox.
Writing Emphasis
At the end of the unit, each student will write a timed essay proving that the protagonist
of his/her novel is an anti-hero. Students will also read a Forbes article discussing the
“trend” of YA dystopian novels, and they will participate in an online discussion board
that poses the following question: Are dystopian novels and movies a trend, or will they
always be popular among young adults?
April 25-29
Rhymes of the Times
Extended Metaphor, Narrative Poetry
In the final week before the AP exam, students will review literary elements through
modern and contemporary poetry. As we study the villanelles “Do Not Go Gentle into
That Good Night” and “Mad Girl’s Love Song,” students will review poetic structure and
sound. Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” and “Where Does the Dance Begin, Where Does It
End?” will be used to examine style, syntax, diction, symbolism, and tone. Gwendolyn
Brooks’s “The Mother,” and “The Bean Eaters” will be used to re-examine ambiguity.
The extended metaphor will be reviewed with Sharon Olds’s “On the Subway.”
Writing Emphasis
During this review week, students will write essay outlines for short poetry and prose
accounts and will complete multiple-choice questions written in the style of the AP
exam. Students will complete a review packet that not only reinforces critical reading
and helpful test-taking skills but also reminds them of the literary periods and the
conventions that exist for each era.