AP Literature and Composition
Spring 2014 Emily Wejchert [email protected]
1. Course Overview
Welcome to Advanced Placement Literature and Composition. AP Lit and Comp has two main objectives:
• To introduce students to the close, careful, college-level study of advanced, canonical literature
• To further develop advanced composition (writing) skills in order to convey increasingly complex, elucidating
arguments about a text and its significance.
Through the close and careful study of literature, literary history, and literary interpretation, this class is
designed to challenge your analytical, interpretive, and evaluative abilities. This process will shape you into
more discerning critical thinkers with regard to both literature and your own writing.
As readers, you will approach texts closely and broadly in order to understand how a text conveys its
significance through small details and while still making broad connections to a larger literary and cultural
tradition. When combined, these two approaches enable you to analyze the details of how a text can convey
meaning within itself--but always with an eye toward the broader patterns of allusion, archetype, and cultural
context.
As writers, you will write about literature in order to 1) understand what a text communicates; 2) explain how a
text communicates; and 3) evaluate a text’s broader meaning using specific textual details and social/historical
context. This class is designed, at times, as a writing workshop. In other words, you will collaborate with each
other and with me to improve your abilities as writers. Through this process of collaboration and revision, not
only will you strengthen your own writing, but the act of writing will impel you to think even more critically
about the literature you encounter.
What I expect most of all from our class is hard work on the part of the individual writer, close, critical, and
inquisitive reading, and inspired discussion among all students.
2. Required Texts
Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved.
3. Grade Distribution
a. Writing (50%)
i. In-class Essays
ii. Paper 1
iii.Paper 2
iv.Paper 3
b. Assignments/Activities (30%)
c. Interactive Journal for SSR (10%)
d. Class/At-Home Notebook (10%)
4. Course Structure and Requirements
a. Writing. This course will have you writing at various lengths and levels of formality.
i. Weekly, sometimes daily exercises: Short, analytical responses to literature. These will be graded for
completion. These are exercises intended for you to try out your ability to critically analyze a piece of
literature in a low-stakes setting.
ii. In-class timed writing: These essays will mimic the experience of writing for the AP Exam. We will
have several throughout the term, mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will be sustained,
focused, close readings of a text or portion of a text. They will be graded according to the AP scoring
rubric and will count as a major part of your grade. In-Class Essay #5 will be a mid-range (2-3 page)
paper that evaluates universal, relatable themes of Hamlet in order to judge its lasting artistic and
canonical merit.
iii. Formal, polished essays: You will write three out-of-class essays that will necessarily be more
complex than your in-class writing. These essays should follow standard MLA format 1 and should be
the most polished of your work. Practically speaking, these essays will mimic the type of writing you
will perform in college. These essays will go through a peer-review process, discussed more below.
Unless you communicate with me prior, any essay turned in late will be penalized by 10% per
day late. After 5 days, the paper will not be accepted and entered as a zero.
1. The first essay will be a short but powerful (1 page) close reading or analysis of a short story’s
stylistic decisions in service of its overall theme.
2. The second essay will be a mid-range (2-3 page) interpretation of a poem’s figurative and
thematic qualities. It will require you to develop an interpretive thesis about a poem’s use of both
figurative language and poetic devices (such as imagery, tone, irony, meter) in light of its overall
theme or message.
3. The third essay will be a longer (5 page) research proposal. This proposal will make an informed
argument about a work of drama and its meaning in light of its socio-cultural context of
publication and reception. It will be comprised of a prospectus and three rhetorical précis of three
outside sources or critical articles on our novel.
Peer Review: We will hold peer-review sessions for all out-of-class essays. During peer-review
sessions, you will evaluate each others’ work for overall rhetorical features such as thesis, logical
organization, appropriate use of details, and controlling tone; also you will focus on finer details of the
writing process such as appropriate, advanced diction and variety of sentence structure. Your feedback to
one another and the process of revision is massively important to your growth as writers and thinkers.
For this reason, I ask that you take this part of the process very seriously. If you miss a peer-review
workshop or fail to bring a draft, you will receive no credit. Because this happens in real time, there will
be no opportunity for a make-up session. When submitting the first draft of a paper for peer review, your
paper must be within 300 words of the assigned word count to receive credit.
1
Please see me if you have trouble with MLA. The official resource is the MLA Handbook. A free, online resource is http://
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
b. Interactive Journal for SSR: On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you will spend approximately 30 minutes
reading a novel of your choice and of literary merit. During this time, you will record your thoughts,
notes, observations, summaries, questions, etc. in a notebook that will serve as your interactive journal. I
will collect your IJ’s periodically throughout the semester to check for completion, effort, and to witness
how you think about literature authentically. The IJ will make up 10% of your grade and will be graded
for completion and length.
c. Class/At-Home Notebook: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will feature traditional college-style athome reading and in-class reading, discussion, and activities. For each piece you read, you will complete
at least one page of notes, summary, and reflection. (This notebook, along with your interactive journal,
will be of strong assistance while reviewing for the AP Exam.) I will check for completion on a daily,
weekly, or bi-weekly basis: sometimes announced, sometimes unannounced. The Class Notebook will
make up 10% of your grade and will be graded for completion and length.
d. Plagiarism: Plagiarism occurs when a student presents someone else’s ideas as his or her own without
proper documentation. Using someone else’s words or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas and presenting
them as one’s own is unacceptable. Plagiarizing will result in a zero on the assignment, putting your entire
grade at risk. As an ethical issue, it will be referred to SMHS administration. Stay original, but do consult
others’ work with proper credit. Avoid plagiarism.
e. Classroom Policies: To ensure that we all have an opportunity to learn in a supportive environment,
please follow these guidelines:
1. Arrive promptly. Our class needs all members present to begin.
2. Attend class. Chronic absences diminish the collective experience and impinge on my
professional time with makeup work.
3. Listen actively and keep side conversations in check. Few things show greater respect to your
peers, yourself, and your instructor than being an attentive listener. Side conversations detract
from the overall experience and distract everyone not involved in the conversation.
4. Step up and step down. It is important that all voices and perspectives gain equal importance. If
you tend to dominate discussion, comment a little and then make room for others to speak. If you
tend to keep quiet, challenge yourself to contribute.
5. Stay current. Managing personal stress, extracurricular responsibilities, work, tendencies to
procrastinate and your workload for all of your classes is a challenge, but it is also your foremost
responsibility as a student. Staying on top of your assignments and managing your time and
energy effectively is an important skill to solidify before college.
6. Limit screengazing. Devices should be used only at the teacher’s discretion. The following
scenarios are appropriate: When needed for an assignment; When finished early with an
assignment while others are still working quietly; In a true emergency. All other uses of devices
tend to communicate, either intentionally or unintentionally, a lack of respect through a desire to
escape. It’s also distracting. For the benefit of our class community, please stow away all
electronic devices during class time.
5. Calendar of Assignments
Please note: This calendar is subject to change based on the needs of the class.
A note on preparation before class:
You are responsible for reading and annotating the assigned reading for the class period on which it is
listed on the syllabus. For each selection, please complete at least one page of notes.
These notes must include a summary of the text, about 2-3 sentences.
Following that, the strategies you use to analyze the texts are ultimately up to you, provided they
establish intellectual rigor. Examples of response are:
-Marking literary terms and their application
-Performing a close reading
-Asking critical questions of the text
-Formulating a thesis about the text
-Tracking character development, narrative development, or themes and motifs
Jan.
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Feb.
Introductions and Welcome; Class Norms; Syllabus Overview
Textbook checkout; Textbook Analysis; Literacy Narrative Begin (all in class)
ALLUSION, MYTH, ARCHETYPE.
Aesop, “The Fox and the Grapes”; Bidpai, “The Camel and His Friends” (pp. 5-7)
Genesis Activity (in class) Literacy Narrative due 11:59 pm via Google Drive
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William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (pp. 29-37); “Plot” (pp. 9-13)
In-class Essay #1 and SSR Checkout
SHORT STORY. James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” (pp. 53-63, stopping at page break)
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James Joyce, “Araby” (pp. 612-617); Short Story Close-Reading Paper 1 Assigned
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Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death” (pp. 382-391)
In-class Essay #2
Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” (pp. 109-120); Ernest Hemingway, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
and “The Direct Style”(pp. 174-178; 209-210)
Short Story Close-Reading Paper 1 Peer Review (in class)
NO SCHOOL
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17
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James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues” (finish); John Updike, “A&P” and “Writer’s Perspective
(pp. 15-21); James Baldwin, “Writer’s Perspective” (pp. 87-89)
Jorge Luis Borges, “The Gospel According to Mark” (pp. 508-513) Minimum Day
Isabel Allende “The Judge’s Wife” (pp. 478-485); Kate Chopin, “The Storm” (pp. 127-132)
NO SCHOOL
Gabriel García Márquez “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” (pp. 566-571)
Short Story Close-Reading Paper 1 Due 11:59 pm via Google Drive
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (pp. 571-584) Minimum Day End Term 3
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Mar.
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POETRY.
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl” (617-619); D.H. Lawrence “Piano” (pp. 706-707); Adrienne Rich “Aunt
Jennifer’s Tigers” (p. 707) and “Writer’s Perspective” (714-715)
In-class Essay #3
Thomas Hardy “The Workbox” (pp. 738-739); William Blake “The Chimney Sweeper” (739)
and “London” (pp. 778-779); Wilfred Owen “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “War Poetry” (pp.
742-743)
William Carlos Williams “This Is Just To Say” (p. 750) and “The Red Wheelbarrow” (p. 731);
Carl Sandburg “Grass” (p. 758); Sarah N. Cleghorn “The Golf Links” (p. 736)
Poetry Interpretation Paper 2 Assigned; Emily Dickinson “Wild Nights,” “I’m Nobody! Who
Are You?,” “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” and “I Started Early -- Took my Dog” (pp.
1098-1104)
In-class Essay #4
Sor Juana “Asegura la Confianza...” and “Presente en que el Cariño...” (p. 1044); Neruda “Cien
Sonetos de Amor” (pp. 1047-8); Borges “Los Enigmas” (1051); Pacheco “Alta Traición
SSR Interactive Journal #1 Due (Finish SSR book #1 with notes); Library checkout
Langston Hughes “Dream Variations,” “I, Too,” “Battle of the Landlord,” “Theme for English B”
and “Harlem [Dream Deferred]” (pp. 1116-1124) EW at conference
John Donne, “Death Be Not Proud” and “The Flea” (pp. 1162-1163)
John Milton, “How I Consider How My Light Is Spent” (p. 1212); Andrew Marvell “To His Coy
Mistress” (p. 1208)
Poetry Interpretation Paper 2 Peer Review (in class)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets “Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments,” “That Time of Tear thou Mayst
in Me Behold,” and “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing like the Sun” (pp. 1237-8)
Hamlet screening
Poetry Interpretation Paper 2 Due 11:59 pm via Google Drive
End Term 3.
24-28 SPRING BREAK
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Apr.
1
2
3
4
DRAMA.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 1
Hamlet Act 2
Hamlet Act 3
Hamlet Act 4
Hamlet Act 5
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Hamlet Evaluative Artistic-Canonical In-Class Essay #5; SSR Interactive Journal #2 Due
May
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11
THE NOVEL. Toni Morrison Beloved
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Beloved
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Beloved
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REVIEW AND TEST PREP.
AP Practice Exam 1
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In-Class Essay #6
Novel Research Proposal Due 11:59 PM
AP Practice Exam 2
AP EXAM 8:00 AM
POST AP: LITERATURE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT AND LITERARY CRITICISM
Selections from Critical Theory Today (Handout)
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Final Exam: In-Class Essay
Critical Theory Project Due
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Memorial Day
Film as Literature: In-class Film Screening
Film as Literature: In-class Film Screening
The Study of Literature: Student Perspective Presentations
The Study of Literature: Student Perspective Presentations