What is Literature and Composition?

This AP Literature and Composition course is designed to teach careful and critical analysis of imaginative literature and follows the curricular requirements described in the AP English Course Description.  Reading in an AP course is both wide and deep, reading deliberately and thoroughly.  Students will deepen their understanding of selected texts by considering a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.  Students will refine the writing and reading skills as they practice writing to understand, explain, and evaluate.  All critical writing asks that you evaluate the effectiveness of a literary piece.  Papers will be examined for effective word choice, inventive sentence structure, effective overall organization, clear emphasis and excellence of argument, including supportive evidence.  Lesser papers will be written regularly in class to spur thinking, stimulate discussion, and focus on issues of plot, characterization, theme and figurative language.  During the second semester, students will do a research paper and practice full AP exams.

INDEPENDENT READING ASSIGNMENT

Independent Reading Book Analysis

What are we doing this six weeks?

AP Lit and Comp

Sixth Six Weeks

4/20  Excerpt “From Hard Times”  Character Development Analysis

4/21  “The Second Coming” (RJ) Symbolism and Allusion Analysis.  Student exemplar.

4/22  Prose excerpt analysis.

4/23  Poetry analysis.

4/24  Poetry analysis.

4/27-4/30 (TAKS) Seniors come at 11:45.

4/27  Work on Independent Reading

4/28  Prose excerpt analysis.      

4/29  Poetry Analysis.

4/30  Test-taking strategies.  Questions?

5/1  Allusions, motifs, and symbolism, oh my!

5/4  INDEPENDENT READING ASSIGNMENT NUMBER TWO DUE

5/5  Review of the essays! (all 3)

5/6  The Final Review

5/7  AP LIT AND COMP TEST!!!!! (8a.m.)

5/8  The Elements of Art-Begin Poetry and Art

5/11  Art Appreciation—What do we appreciate?  How?

5/12  “Musee des Beaux Arts”-Auden

5/13  “Two Views of a Cadaver Room”-Plath

5/14  “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)”-Mclean

5/15  William Carlos Williams Poetry

5/18  Poetry Partners

5/19  Poetry Partners

5/20  Poetry Partners

5/21  Present Poetry/Art project

5/22 Senior breakfast and Walk practice 8:00 a.m.

5/25 Memorial Day

5/26 Children’s Book Due-Major Grade

5/27  The Joy of Literature

5/28  The Joy of Literature

5/29  The Joy of Literature

6/1-6/3  Reviews and Finals

6/5 Graduation Rehearsal at Nokia

6/6 GRADUATION 10 a.m.

AP Lit and Comp

Fifth Six Weeks

3/2          Assign essay. Disc. Poisonwood.

3/3          “Exodus”.  Graded Discussion of novel to date.

3/4          Passage analysis-PB

3/5          “Song of the Three Children”.        

3/6          “The Eyes in the Trees”.

3/9          Re-read Mansfield’s “The Garden Party”.  Analysis.  Disc.

3/10        Continue “The Garden Party”. Disc.

3/11        The Poisonwood Bible Essay Due-Major Grade.  Begin The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. (RJ)

3/12        Cont. Prufrock    

3/13        Cont. Prufrock

3/16-3/20  Spring Break! Yea!

3/23        “Buffalo Bill’s Defunct” (RJ)  Analysis.

3/24        Dickinson’s poetry-“I Cannot Live with You”, “Success is Counted Sweetest” and “There’s a Certain Slant of Light” (RJ),

3/25        “A Room of One’s Own” Woolf http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/

3/26        Cont. “Room” Analysis

3/24        Cont. “Room” Analysis

3/30        The Sandbox -Albee

3/31        Cont. Sandbox

4/1   First Independent Reading Analysis Due-Two Major Grades

4/2          Cont. disc. and analysis of Sandbox

4/3          “Ripe Figs”-Chopin Disc. and Analysis

4/6          AP test taking strategies-more!

4/7          “A Dollhouse”-Ibsen (RJ)

4/8          “A Dollhouse” Cont.  Analysis and Disc.

4/9          “A Dollhouse” Cont.

4/10        “A Dollhouse” Cont. Deeper analysis and disc.

4/13        APMC Practice Test

4/14        APMC Practice Test (Last one!)

4/15-4/17  Waiver Days

Fourth Six Weeks

1/20        Begin Invisible Man.  Chapters 1-6.  Claude McKay’s “America” and “Baptism”.  Disc.

1/21        Begin motif chart for IM.  Discussion of novel.  (What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue

1/22        Chapters 7-12 in IM.  “Strange Fruit” Billie Holiday.  Apply to novel.

1/23        Brooks “What Shall I Give My Children?” and McKay’s “If We Must Die”

1/26        Chapters 13-22 in IM.  A look at paradoxical forces within novel.

1/27        “Runagate Runagate” Disc. and analysis

1/28        Assign essay.  Langston Hughes poetry.

1/29        Brooks Poetry-Timed Writing-Major Grade

1/30        Chapters 23-25 in IM.  Discussion. 

2/2          Epilogue in IM. 

2/3          Motifs in IM.  Analyze.

2/4          Style analysis-Ellison’s graphing of sentences

2/5          Finish Ellisonian sentences.

2/6          Passage analysis-IM.

2/9          Begin The Poisonwood Bible.  Close reading/imagery.

2/10        “Genesis”.  Imagery excerpt.

2/11        Read Kingsolver’s “Stone Soup”.  Apply to novel.

2/12        Cont. “Stone Soup”

2/13        Ellison Essay Due-Major Grade

2/16        “The Revelation”.  Disc. and analysis

2/17-2/20  Waiver Days

2/23        “The Judges”.  Disc. and analysis. 

2/24        Timed Writing-Major Grade

2/25        “Bel and The Serpent”  Disc. and analysis.

2/26        APMC

2/27        APMC.  End of the six weeks.

Third Six Weeks

11/17  Intro. to Satire.  Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”

11/18  Disc. of Swift.  Apply satire.  Begin Moliere’s Love is the Doctor (RJ).

11/19  Cont. Moliere.  Study guide in book.

11/20  Analyze Moliere and Satire.

11/21  Excerpts from A Confederacy of Dunces.  Analyze.

12/1  Intro to Hardy, Begin Mayor of Casterbridge.  Chp. 1-4

12/2  MC Chp. 5-6  Romanitcs Notes.  American and British-philosophy.

12/3  Satirical Analysis Essay Due-Major Grade.  MC Chp. 8-10.  Excerpt from “Nature”. 

12/4  Disc. of “Nature”.  Analyze and apply to novel.  “The Solitary Reaper”, “I Wondered  Lonely As a Cloud”, “The Prelude” (RJ).  Excerpt of Dorothy Wordsworth journal.  MC Chp. 11-14

12/5  Disc. of Wordsworth.  Apply to novel. 

12/8  Chapter analysis.  MC Chp.15-20

12/9  MC Chp. 21-26.  Coleridge’s “To William Wordsworth”.  Analyze

12/10  MC Chp. 27-31.  Read Keats’ “Ode to  a Nightingale” (RJ) and “To a Skylark”.

12/11  Satirical essay-“How to Be a Romantic Poet” Goodheart.  MC Chp. 32-37

12/12  Read Hardy’s “The Workbox”.  Analyze.  MC Chp. 28-41

12/15  Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.  Apply to novel.  Finish MC.

12/16  Timed Writing-Poetry-Major Grade

12/17  Graded Disc. MC

12/18  Begin Pride and Prejudice.  Analysis packet.  Research Austen. 

12/19  Cont. research Austen.

1/5   Becoming Jane-extended exercises and activities/analysis of novel

1/6  Becoming Jane

1/7  Text Analysis--novel

1/8  Becoming Jane;  The Poetry AP Essay Prompt

1/9   PP Paper Due-Major Grade; Cont. the poetry AP prompt

1/12  APMC Practice

1/13  APMC Practice

1/14   Review

1/15   Final Exams

1/16   Final Exams

AP Lit and Comp

Second Six Weeks

10/6         Review practice APMC test.  “The Origins of Tragedy” p. 1180-1195 RJ.  “Renaissance Drama and Shakespeare’s Theater” p. 1239 RJ.  Intro. to Shakespeare.

10/7         Bacon’s essay “On Revenge”.  Discuss.  Begin Act I Hamlet. RJ.  (Study guide is in the book as well.)  What AP readers long to see/ tips.  Article:”William Shakespeare and Hamlet”

10/8         Complete Act 1.  Analysis.  “If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet.” How to Read  The Central Question in Hamlet article.

10/9         Intro. to Shakespearean sonnets.  Sonnet 18  (RJ). Analysis.  Begin Act 2 of Hamlet.  Discussion of imagery and character. 

10/10       Sonnet analysis.  Sonnet  130 (RJ). Finish Act 2.  Assign research paper.  Article on “The Embassy of Death” by Knight.

10/14       Read Act 3 in Hamlet.  Analyze.  Avoiding plot summary in literary analysis handout.

10/15       Library-research

10/16       Library-research

10/17       Library-research

10/20       Read Act 4 in Hamlet.  Analyze.  AP Essays Do’s and Don’ts Handout.

10/21       Read Act 5 in Hamlet.  Analyze.

10/22       Library-research

10/23       Hamlet Assessment-Major Grade

10/24       Read Act 1-King Lear.  Analysis and discussion.

10/27       Read Act 2-King Lear.  Analysis and discussion.

10/28       Read Act 3-King Lear.  Animal Imagery analysis.

10/29       Sonnets 29 (RJ) and 94.  Analysis and discussion.  Apply to play.

10/30       Act 4-King Lear.  Tone exercise handout.

10/31       Act 5-King Lear.  Discussion and analysis.

11/3         Article “Divine Justice in King Lear”. Criticism.  Discussion and analysis.

11/4         Timed Writing-Major Grade

11/5         AP Test Taking Tips-essays.

11/6         Rough Draft-Peer Revisions and Editing

11/7         The open ended essay-AP

11/10       Research paper due.  Major Grade.

11/11       First Paragraphs Exercise. (Modeling)

11/12       Cont. modeling exercise.

11/13       Practice APMC test.

11/14       Practice APMC test.

AP Lit and Comp

First Six Weeks

8-25         Intro to course, syllabus, expectations

8-26         Summer Reading Assessment over Crime and Punishment and Things Fall Apart.  Major Grade

8-27         Intro. into Reading, Responding to, and Writing about literature. Pp. 1-3 in Roberts and Jacobs.  Discussion, annotation directions and clarifications, AP Lit terms that you need to know for the year.

8-28         Poetry of the English Language pp. 602-605 in RJ.  “Snake” by D.H. Lawrence.  Analysis and discussion for TFA.

8-29         Finish “Snake” analysis.  Summer reading assignments due.  Intro. to Cornell notes.

9-2            Begin Heart of Darkness.    “Go to the center of yourself and see if you come out ok.” Background info on Conrad and novel.  Study guide questions.

9-3            “Cross” by Hughes and Obama editorial.  Apply to TFA.  Read about tone pp 327-333 and pp. 739-742 (excluding poetry) in RJ.  Use Cornell notes for info from RJ passages.

9-4            Close reading of excerpts from TFA and CP.  Analysis.

9-5            Begin college essay.  Disc. of voice-read Bassin’s “The Writer’s Craft.”  Examples.

9-8            University requirements for admission and essays. (Lab)

9-9            Receive passages for APMC practice test.  Close reading and analysis of CP passage looking for imagery and symbolism. 

9-10         Timed writing over CP passages.  Receive analytical essay for HoD/TFA.

9-11         Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” p. 609 and Browning’s “My Last Duchess” p. 632 in RJ.  Apply to CP.

9-12         Allusion/motif/symbolism analysis of summer reading. (How to Read)

9-15         Read “The Seafarer” by Raffel.  Apply to Marlow and HoD.

9-16         Passage pairing of TFA and HoD.

9-17         Bring APMC passages with notations.  Passage one discussion.  Receive voc.

9-18         Heart of Darkness completed.  Final Assessment. Major Grade

9-19         Read “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Elliot. Analyze and discuss.

9-22         Graded discussion over “The Hollow Men.”  College essay due.

9-23         Silverglate’s  “Torture Warrants?” and Heymann’s  “Torture Should Not Be Authorized”.  Apply to HoD

9-24         Timed writing HoD.

9-25         Rough draft of essay for peer editing and revision. 

9-26         “Yuba City School” Divakaruni.  Analysis and disc apply to summer reading and HoD.

9-29         HoD/TFA essay due. Major grade

9-30         AP test taking tips for MC.  HoD study guide due.

10-1         A look at the AP Lit test.  (essay types, etc)

10-2         Practice APMC test.

10-3         Practice APMC test.

Important terms for a successful year of critical reading.

AP Literature and Composition Terms

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/

http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display_rpo/poetterm.cfm

Some other helpful websites.

http://www.collegeboard.com/

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_englit.html

Some MLA tips!

mla

Want some great AP books to read?????  Look at this list!

AP reading list

What is Mrs. Land reading right now?

Pillars of the Earth-Follett

Friday Night Knitting Club-Jacobs

Revolutionary Road-Yates

Oryx and Crake-Atwood

Need to contact me?  Email me at katrina.land@gpisd.org