English Literature and Composition IV General Course Information Course Description

AP English Literature and Composition will give students a learning experience equivalent to a typical undergrad introduction to literature class. Through close reading of literary texts, students will come to understand how writers use language to provide meaning and to answer the big questions in life. We will "measure" literature against the history of philosophy to understand how literature fits into its own time as well as in all time. Our literary analysis will look through the lenses of style and structure, rhetorical strategies, diction, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, language and syntax. Vocabulary study is important. Students will also master literary terms. Writing well about literature is a key component of the class. It is expected that students will demonstrate a level of competency the subject of English to be competitive in various local and state colleges and universities.

Course Outcomes In this course students will

improve close reading and analytical strategies; while texts are provided, students are strongly encouraged to buy their own copies of each text for ease in close reading and annotating text. stretch their imaginative abilities in reaction to literature improve their ability to find and explain (through discussion and writing) what is of value in literature revisit the purposes and strategies of rhetoric in order to develop an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure improve organization in writing through techniques to improve coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis effectively state, support and explain their claims in their arguments advance vocabulary skills to cope with unfamiliar language

Methods of Instruction Discussion is the primary way in which students come to understand a particular text. The course utilizes the Socratic Circles as well as Philosophical Chairs and other AVID Methodologies including Costa Level of Questioning, SQR, WICR, etc to focus the critical lenses as we delve into relative topics and text. Discussion is both large group and small group. Discussions are sometimes student led. Cooperative learning groups are also used extensively in this class. Projects/assignments will be done individually as well. Some assigned texts are to be read independently, in addition to other course texts.

Writing about Literature

Students will write a variety of college required essays over the course of the year, most timed and in class. While all essays expect general rhetorical excellence, each one has a particular thematic or analytical focus (see essay summary below). Students will be writing to understand, writing to explain, and writing to evaluate. Quality of interpretation comes from depth of insightful understanding. Students are encouraged to revise essays. (All revisions are due one week after originals are returned). Students will analyze two published critical essays in order to evaluate professional models.

Essay Writing: Year at a Glance

1. Analytical: Style Analysis 2. Analytical: Character Development 3. CollegeBoard Essay 1 4. College Board Essay 2 5. Short Fiction: Compare & Contrast 6. Satire 7. Diction & Imagery or Theme 8. CollegeBoard Essay 3 9. CollegeBoard Essay 4 10. Poetic Analysis 11. Synthesis Essay CollegeBoard essay signifies that the essay prompt is from an actual previous AP exam.

Writing Assignments: There will be numerous writing assignments. Students will undergo several writing units throughout the year. These units will review composition skills and focus on the following: Writing under pressure (timed writings) How to write the college application essay and scholarship essay Research paper Style analysis essays (authors language, imagery, tone, structure, and syntax) Poetry analysis essays

Papers will be examined for effective word choice, inventive sentence structure, effective overall organization, clear emphasis, and excellence of argument. Student essays, especially at the beginning of the school year, will be graded with thorough feedback, and returned for a rewrite. Students will be given frequent opportunities to

write and rewrite with teacher feedback. Style Analysis of Prose and Poetry: Analyze elements of style analysis (tone, attitude, imagery, diction, language, figure of speech, point of view, structure, narrative techniques, resources of language, etc.) Intelligently discuss these elements even when the devices are not listed in the prompt. Analyze a poem using TP CASTT and devices of style analysis listed above.

Resources/Texts (Texts listed below are generally included in course, but will vary from year to year). Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel (HML 42) The Canterbury Tales, (Selected Tales including the Knight's Tale) Chaucer (HML 143) Sir Gawin and the Green Knight, Gardner (HML 229) The Darling, Chekhov (HML 1016) Christmas Storms and Sunshine, Gaskel (HML 995) Telephone Conversation, Soyinka (HML 1334) Six Feet of the Country, Gordimer (HML 1342) The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells (independent reading) The Paston Letters (HML ) Sonnet 30 & Sonnet 75, Edmund Spenser (HML 320) Gullivers Travels, Swift (HML 636) Utopia, More/ Spanish Armada Speech-Q. Elizabeth vs. The Prince, Machiavelli (HML 446-459) Shooting An Elephant, Orwell (1252) Words and Behavior, Huxley (HML 1266) Lord of the Flies, Goldman (independent reading) Paradise Lost, Milton (HML To An Athlete Dying Young & When I Was 21, Housman (HML 1060) The Life of Samuel Johnson, Boswell (HML 682) Araby, Joyce (HML 1201) The Demon Lover, Bowen (HML 1230) Riders to the Sea, Synge (HML 1212) The Frog Prince & Not Waving But Drowning (HML 1310) The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde A Modest Proposal, Swift (HML & handout) Brave New World, Huxley (independent reading) The Metamorphosis, Frank Kafka (Independent Reading) The Tragedy of MacBeth, Shakespeare (HML 340) Various satirical selections, persuasive texts, & assigned tests

Assessment:
Assessment of understanding of literature is done primarily through essays. Some quizzes are given (weekly vocabulary quizzes). Knowledge of literary terms is tested. Students are expected to be active participants in discussions. Students will create a writing log to help with self-assessment of writing.

Grading: Garland English Department Scale (All Levels) A: 100-90-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Exemplary B: 89-80------------------------------------------------------------ Competitive C: 79-75 ---------------------------------------Above Average C: 74-70---------------------------- --Average D: *69-65-----------------Below Average F: 64- 0---------DAMAGING
Grades are calculated by weighted categories. Assignment Hierarchy: Exams > Projects & Soc. Discussion > Essays & Homework > Quiz> Classwork AP Rubric is used for scoring essays

Begin editing here --> Semester One (18 weeks) What to Expect WEEKLY Vocabulary Quizzes These quizzes have the following objectives: Improve vocabulary knowledge and competence. Improve sentence fluency, sentence variety, and grammatical conventions. INTRODUCTORY UNIT (2 weeks) Review summer assignment: present projects The first AP essay: Identity o Analyze rhetorical qualities o Talk through the process: what went right, wrong, what do you need? Hand out syllabus & course calendar Setting the tone for the course Independent reading: Invisible Man Introduce Vocabulary Study & Weekly quizzes Introduce Elements of Lit terms for test Answering the "So What?" question (reference: an essay about essays) Invisible Man (Independent novel) Analytical Focus: plot, point of view, diction, tone, faulty reasoning Thematic Focus: Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Individual vs. Society Assignment: study guide

Beowulf (1 week) Analytical Focus: Characterization, Conflict, Theme Thematic Focus: The Heroic and the Humble Assignment: study guide

Canterbury Tales (3 weeks) Study the General Prologue, The Pardoner's Tale (on video), The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale & The Reeve's Tale. All students memorize & recite the first 18 lines of the GP in Middle English to understand a bit of what English used to be. Analytical Focus: Structure, diction, symbolism, imagery Thematic Focus: chivalric values, love, human idealism Assignment: study guide Essay (2): Setting Critical Essay Analysis #1 on Canterbury Tales with a partner The Inferno (2 weeks) Analytical Focus: structure, diction, tone, symbolism, figurative language, allegory Thematic Focus: heroic journey, choices, more Assignment: study guide Essay (3): Tone

The Metamorphosis (Independent novel) Analytical Focus: point of view, imagery, diction, tone Thematic Focus: alienation Thematic Focus: study guide REVIEWING RHETORIC (2 weeks) Read and annotate Tom Wolfe article and discuss Debate: Why girls do better in college (texts provided; teams read, analyze and prepare arguments and rebuttals) Argument/Rhetoric terms test Essay (4): AP essay ______________ (2 weeks) Analytical Focus: Character, Irony, Point of View Thematic Focus: Women's Rights Assignment: study guide Critical Essay Analysis #2: individual

SHORT FICTION Unit (4 weeks) Analytical Focus: various literary elements, as applicable Thematic Focus: various themes Close reading: annotate a major text from this unit Compare/Contrast graphic organizer Essay (5): Compare/Contrast (three options) A Modest Proposal (1 weeks) Analytical Focus: humor, irony, satire, syntax Thematic Focus: Manners & Conventions Assignment: study guide Mock satirical critique and commentary SEMESTER EXAM A practice AP exam is given as the 1st semester exam

Semester Two: WEEKLY: Vocabulary Quizzes THE COLLEGE ENTRANCE/SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY (1 week) Look at exemplars Analysis: what makes an exemplary essay? Rhetorical focus: voice/ethos and logic/logos; organization; fluency; word choice; conventions Peer review SATIRE UNIT (1 week) A Modest Proposal, Swift (annotate text) Various practice test selections Essay (6) Brave New World (Independent novel) Analytical Focus: Dystopian genre, diction, tone, imagery Thematic Focus: value of art, what it means to be human, ethics of science & technology Assignment: study guide Dialectical journal entries Theme Project: This presentation should focus on some aspect of the future. Students may research any aspect of society (space, weather patterns, political systems, culture, etc.) of interest to them. Project must include documented research illustrating trends toward their vision and three original pieces of writing. Collaborating

the two a future world multi-media presentation must be created. Literary Analysis To read closely and critically To identify and analyze mood and tone, contrast, rhetorical shift, irony, allusion, distortion, juxtaposition, syntactical structures What powerful repeated message is illustrated throughout Brave New World? 1984 (2 weeks) (or All Quiet on the Western Front) Analytical Focus: Point of view, diction, tone, imagery, syntax Thematic Focus: Dissolution of language, innate vs. learned behavior, objective reality Activity: Logical Fallacies & Rhetorical Strategies Essay (7): analyze a passage--diction, tone, imagery All Quiet on the Western Front (2 weeks) (or 1984) Analytical Focus: Point of view, diction, tone, imagery, figurative language, etc. Thematic Focus: Glorifying service, horrors of war, camaraderie, who starts war and why? Activity: Study Guide, analyzing passages Essay (7): choose a theme from the noveldiction, tone, imagery, figurative language SHAKESPEARE (2 weeks) Text will vary from year to year Analytical Focus: Shakespearean structure, figurative language, etc. Thematic Focus: varies Activity: Analyzing passages

POETRY (3 weeks) (various chapters and selections from Sound and Sense, Perrine) Analytical Focus: elements of poetry Thematic Focus: varies with poem Poetry terms test Essay (8) TEST PREP (3 weeks) Practice Objective Tests: two versions Review answering strategies, thinking processes, pitfalls, etc. Practice AP essay !! AP EXAMS (First part of May) FINAL PROJECT (3 weeks) (after test through end of school year) Students suggest a project that meets at least two of the following

 Integrates the study of the literature/concepts/themes we have studied Is a new study of a text/concept Requires all students to write/contribute Is a collaborative or public performance

In addition to the literature being covered in class, outside reading is required throughout the year. A major novel must be read outside of class each six weeks and a note card for the novel must be completed. Taking the AP English Literature and Composition exam in May is a course requirement.