West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus 2008-9
Mrs. Gray
Texts: Arp, Thomas R., and Johnson, Greg: Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An
Introduction to Poetry (Harcourt Brace College Publishers) Eleventh
Edition, 2005
Beckett, Samuel: Waiting for Godot, 1954
Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre, 1847 (summer reading)
Bryson, Bill, from The Mother Tongue, 1990
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment, 1866
Euripides, Medea, Fifth Century, BC
Cheever, John: “Reunion,” 1947
Gibaldi, Joseph and Achtert, Walter S.: MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research papers (MLA) 2008
Joyce, James: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” 1955
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, 1966 (summer reading)
Shakespeare, William, Hamlet (Folger Shakspeare Library Edition) 1600
Sophocles: Antigone or Oedipus Rex, Fifth Century, BC
Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver’s Travels, 1726
Woolf, Virginia: The Waves, 1931
A non-fiction prose piece to be read outside class (See reading list)
A novel to be read outside class (See reading list)
An epic or extended poem to be read outside class (See readng list)
A play to be read outside class (See reading list)
A memoir, diary, personal essay series of letters or autobiography to be read outside class (See reading list)
Course Requirements: Practice AP tests, multiple-choice tests, and essays
Short exercises from the text and journal entries
In-class, timed writing on poetry, prose, and outside reading assignments
Group presentations
Three longer papers written outside class; revisions
Class discussions
AP Test ( We encourage you to take the AP Literature or AP Language test, or both)
Final Assessment
Class Preparation: You should read carefully each poem assigned at least twice. Your preparation should include consultation of the Oxford English Dictionary for words that are unfamiliar. You should read each outside reading choice carefully before the writing assignment in order to ask clarifying questions before writing. Homework exercises, papers, journals, or presentations are due on the date specified. Be sure to bring to class copies of all literature being discussed on any given day.
Guidelines for Papers:
Format: All papers must be formatted according to the MLA Handbook, available at my website(www.wwptoday.com)See WWP TeacherPages. Click on Mrs. Gray
Academic Integrity: You are expected to know and comply with the shool’s policy on academicc integrity as stated in your Agenda. For further discussion of plagiarism, consult the MLA Handbook.
Course Outline: AP Literature and Composition, Mrs. Gray
September 4-November 5, 2008
Week of September 4-8: Introduction to course and essay pre-test on poetry
Week of September 8-12: Essay pre-test on prose: Multiple-choice pre-test; sign up for outside reading (non-fiction prose) due in class on October 24; Introduction to conventions of the essay. Class discussion to prepare for summer reading essay: Bring copies of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea to class on September 17 and September 24.
Week of September 15-19: Read chapter one, Sound and Sense ; pp. 2-10 and poems on pages 9-20 before class on Monday. Homework for Thursday, 9/18: For two of the poems on pages 9-20, select a line or two and write a response which reveals the importance of the line within the poem as a whole. On September 17, we shall discuss voice in the two novels assigned for summer reading.
*You have most of the year left to accomplish this long-term assignment: Choose one poem from your text to analyse in depth, including research, in an essay which you will write in class on March 13, 2009.
Week of September 22-26: Your paper comparing Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea is due on Wednesday, September 24. Read to prepare for discussion of chapter 2, pp. 22-40 in Sound and Sense, including all poems. HW: for two of the poems not discussed in class, write a paragraph that tells the speaker, audience, circumstances of the poems. Include a sentence or two summary telling what the poem is about. Then, write a paraphrasis of the poem (Due September 25/26). Also on September 25/26, an in-class essay: Tell who says what to whom, and under what circumstances.
Week of September 29-October 3: On September 29,we shall read Cheever’s short story “Reunion” for class discussion of point of view. Discussion in class of chapter 3 in Sound and Sense, pp. 41-53; in-class exercises pages 46 and 47 and all poems. Homework for October 1:Write or find a poem that has a distinctive speaker who is clearly not the poet. HW: Respond to two poems not discussed in class. consider the significance of one key word in the poem (Due October 2/3). Also on October 2/3, in-class essay: Tell how the poet uses diction to enhance meaning in the poem.
Week of October 6-10: Discussion of Chapter 4, “Imagery,”pages 55-68, in Sound and Sense. HW: For the poem assigned to you (See groups below), write an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that names how the poet uses imagery to enhance meaning (due day of presentation). We shall read a short story by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez: discuss theme, diction, point of view and imagery in “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”.
Week of October 13-17: Group presentations of poems in chapter 4. HW: Due at the beginning of class each day: Respond to one of the poems that we plan to discuss that day in class. Consider the way the poet uses imagery.
Group A presents poems by Hopkins, Williams and Dickinson
Group B presents poems by Rich, Heaney and Frost
Group C presents poems by Hayden, Toomer, Byron and Keats
Friday, October 17: Homework due: write or find a poem that uses imagery to enhance meaning. In-class writing: Discuss how the poet uses imagery to enhance meaning in the poem. HW: Read and be prepared to discuss excerpt from Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue.
Week of October 20-24: Multiple-choice practice. Multiple-choice test. Discussion of the history of the English language as presented in The Mother Tongue. October 24: Book Talk and In-class essay on Non-Fiction Prose Choice. Choose a novel to read outside class before December 19.
October 27-November 21: Crime and Punishment (class schedule below)
October 27/28: Introduction to the novel and distribution of texts
October 29: Come to class having read Part I; discussion and journal entry to share in class
October 30: Come to class having read Part II; bring in a journal entry for discussion
October 31/November 3: Before class, read halfway through Part III; discussion in class
November 4: Complete Part III; bring in a journal entry for discussion
November 5 Read halfway through Part IV; discussion
Second Marking Period: November 10, 2008-January 23, 2009
November 10/11: Complete Part IV; journal entry due on Part IV
November 12: Read through Part V
November 13: Journal through Part V
November 14/17: Read halfway through Part VI; discussion
November 18: Complete Part VI; Journal through Part VI
November 19: Whole-book discussion and critical viewpoints
November 20/21: Open-book essay on Crime and Punishment; HW for November 24: Read Chapter 5 in Sound and Sense and prepare for discussion of poems.
Week of November 24-26: Discuss Chapter 5 in Sound and Sense. HW: Read pages 69-89 and be prepared to discuss poems on those pages. Students will be assigned poems to prepare for class discussion. HW: Write a poem that uses figurative language to enhance meaning (Due 11/25). Also on November 25: In-class writing: Discuss how figurative language operates in the poem. The revision of your essay on Crime and Punishment is due on December 3.
Week of December 1-5: Introduction to Chapter 7, practice exercises and discussions of poems from chapter 7. A revision of the Crime and Punishment essay is due on December 3.
Week of December 8-12: HW: Write a poem in which irony enhances meaning--and explain how you achieved this (due 12/9) December 12: In-class essay on irony.
Week of December 15-19: Begin discussion of symbolism. HW due December 18: Write a poem in which the use of symbol is important to meaning. December 18: In-class essay; discuss how the poet uses figurative language, especially symbolism, to enhance meaning. December 19: Book Talk and in-class essay on a novel of your choice. Sign up for third independent reading, an epic. Discuss the conventions of the epic. A paper written outside class on an epic or extended poem is due on January 23, 2009. HW: Read Chapter 6 in Sound and Sense.
December 22/23: Overview of Antigone, Oedipus the King and Medea. Be sure to take home copies of the plays; if you forget, though, they are all free online.
Vacation
Read Antigone (or Oedipus ) and Medeaover the break (Each will require about three hours to read), and keep a log of questions, observations, illustrations, conventions, history, myth, whatever seems important to you!
January 5-9: Discuss plays and review logs. In-class essay on the Greek plays on January 9. Begin A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, and read Chapter one by Monday. Introduction to “Tone”, Chapter 10 in Sound and Sense.
January 12-16: Work on tone, chapter 10. You will be preparing group presentations on individual poems from the chapter. Read Chapter two of Portrait at home. In-class passage analysis on January 16.HW: Read Chapter 4 in Portrait.
January 20-23: Choose fourth independent reading assignment, a play (Due March 5). Discuss the conventions of dramatic literature. January 23: paper due at the beginning of class on an epic or extended poem. Discussion of Chapter 4 in Portrait. Continue to work on “Tone,” chapter 10.
January 26-30: In-class essay on Tone on January 26/27. Begin reading chapter 8 on on allusions; complete Portrait; review and mid-term assessment (January29, probably a passage analysis from Portrait and a multiple-choice section on a poem); Choose a play to read for your next outside reading assignment (Due March 6).
Third Marking Period: January 28-March 31, 2008
February 2-6: Continue working on the allusion chapter (Classical and Biblical allusions) HW: Write a poem that contains a literary or historical allusion. Explain its function in the poem (Due February 3). Scavenger Hunt in the library on Wednesday. February 5/6: In-class essay on allusions. If you still have not done so, choose a play to read for your next independent reading that is due on March 6.
February 9-12: Read Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot aloud in class. In-class exercise on Godot on February 12/18.
February 19-20: Discussion of chapter 11 in Sound and Sense,”Musical Devices. Due February 19, an original poem that uses musical devices effectively. Briefly explain how these devices contribute to meaning.
February 23-27: Discuss chapter 12 in Sound and Sense, “Rhythm and Meter”. For February 25, find or write an original poem that has some kind of established rhythm and meter. Identify both and briefly discuss the effect on the meaning and/or tone of the poem.
March 2-6: Discuss chapter 13, “Sound and Sense”. TRY to write a poem in which sound matches sense. If you or your family speak more than one language, please write your poem in both English and that second language. (Yes, you may receive help in doing this from a family member. You might write the poem first in English and then have the family member translate it for you if you do not speak a second language yourself.) This is due on March 6, March 3 if you are going to miss school on March 6. On March 6, be prepared to write an in-class essay on a play. Then sign up for your fifth independent reading choice, a memoir, series of letters, personal essay, diary or autobiographical writing for the in-class essay on Thursday, April 23.
March 9-13: March 12: Test on chapters 11-13 in Sound and Sense (sound devices). Identify terms and apply concepts learned about how sound in poetry contributes to sense. The test will probably consist of short answers and an essay. March 13, write an essay on a poem from your text in class today. The revision is due on April 3. Begin Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, discussion chapters 1-5.
March 16-20: . CompleteThe Waves, discussion, creative writing exercise and passage analysis. Multiple-choice practice and test.
March 23-April 21: Hamlet (Separate schedule below)
March 23-27: Act I, film clips, discussion
March 30: Act II group prep; Acts II, IV and V AP multiple-choice prep
March 31: Act II discussion
April 1/2: Act III group prep; Acts II, IV and V AP multiple-choice prep;
April 3:Act III discussion
Also, your revision is due today.
April 13: Act IV group prep; Acts II, III and V AP multiple-choice prep.
April 14/15 Act IV discussion
Fourth Marking Period: April 11-June 20, 2008
April 16: Act V group prep; Acts II, III and IV AP multiple-choice prep
April 17: Act V discussion
April 20/21: Hamlet culminating activity: scenes performed in theater 1
April 23 (Shakespeare’s birthday!): Book Talk and In-class essay on a memoir, etc.
April 24-27: Discuss chapter 14 in sound and Sense,”Pattern”. You will be composing sonnets, villanelles and sestinas!
Homework: Read chapter 9 in Sound and Sense.
April 27-May 1: Discuss Chapter 9 in Sound and Sense: “Meaning and Idea”, a good review for AP Exams. April 30/May 1: In-class writing: compare two poems as to depth of meaning.
May 4-8: Gulliver’s Travels: the Voyage to Liliput; AP Literature Examination: Thursday, MAY 7, 2009
May 11-15: Gulliver’s Travels : The Voyage to Brobdingnag; The Voyage to Laputa, etcetera
May 18-20: Gulliver’s Travels: The Voyage to the Houyhnhnms and “Evaluating Poetry, Chapters 15 and 16 in Sound and Sense. Recordings of poets reading their works.
May 27-29: Meet in library to prepare Project presentations
June 1-19: Project presentations, review and final examinations.