2014-2015

AP English Literature & Composition

Keith G. Page

Room 2409

Conference Hours: By appointment

Phone: 281-641-6978

E-Mail: keith.page@humble.k12.tx.us

“Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and

speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have

been impossible.

They are the engines of change, windows on the world, and lighthouses erected in the sea

of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasure of the mind.

Books are humanity in print.” Barbara Tuchman

Equal Opportunity Statement:

The Lone Star College System is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment. LSCS does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, disability, age, veteran status, nationality, or ethnicity in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, employment policies, scholarship, or loan programs, and other District or College administered programs and activities.

Course Texts:

Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.

Shostak, Jerome. Vocabulary Workshop: Level H. New York: Sadlier, 2002Paperbacks:

Dante: The Inferno (Trans. John Ciardi)Sophocles: Oedipus the King Euripides: MedeaShakespeare: Hamlet, MacbethAusten: Pride and PrejudiceBronte: Wuthering Heights

Conrad: Heart of DarknessIbsen: Ibsen: Four Major PlaysOrwell: 1984Huxley: Brave New World

Teaching Resources:

Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for College: A Worktext on Sentence Variety and Maturity. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 1998.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2010.

Strunk, William and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. Needham Heights: Longman, 2000.

Course Description:

This course is an introduction to literature as well as a continuation of the freshman composition sequence. There are three major areas of emphasis: 1) short analytical or critical essays; 2) the four literary genres 3) the research paper

An AP English Literature and Composition course engages students in the carefulreading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading ofselected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use languageto provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students considera work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller-scale elements as theuse of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.

The course includes intensive study of representative works from various genresand periods, concentrating on works of recognized literary merit. The pieces chosen invite and reward rereading and do not, like ephemeral works in such popular genres as detective or romance fiction, yield all (or nearly all) of their pleasures of thought and feeling the first time through. The AP English Literature Development Committee agrees with Henry David Thoreau that it is wisest to read the best books first; the committee alsobelieves that such reading should be accompanied by thoughtful discussion and writing about those books in the company of one’s fellow students.

Reading in an AP course is both wide and deep. This reading necessarily buildsupon the reading done in previous English courses. In their AP course, studentsread works from several genres and periods—from the Ancient Greece to the twenty-firstcentury—but, more importantly, they get to know a few works well. They readdeliberately and thoroughly, taking time to understand a work’s complexity, to absorbits richness of meaning, and to analyze how that meaning is embodied in literaryform. In addition to considering a work’s literary artistry, students reflect on thesocial and historical values it reflects and embodies. Careful attention to both textualdetail and historical context provides a foundation for interpretation, whatever criticalperspectives are brought to bear on the literary works studied.A generic method for the approach to such close reading involves the followingelements: the experience of literature, the interpretation of literature, and theevaluation of literature. By experience, we mean the subjective dimension of reading

and responding to literary works, including pre-critical impressions and emotionalresponses. By interpretation, we mean the analysis of literary works through closereading to arrive at an understanding of their multiple meanings. By evaluation, wemean both an assessment of the quality and artistic achievement of literary worksand a consideration of their social and cultural values. All three of these aspectsof reading are important for an AP English Literature and Composition course.Moreover, each corresponds to an approach to writing about literary works.

Rationale:

Because of the increasing mechanization of the world, people should take every

opportunity to explore the human nature that still resides within us all. Those

characteristics that have formed our identities as individuals and as societies have been

part of humankind since recorded time, and although the circumstances of society

change, that which we consider “being human” does not. This introduction to literature

also refines the students’ skills in critical thinking and writing techniques, providing not

only ideas to carry into the students’ future lives but also abilities to understand or to

challenge ideas. By increasing their knowledge of interpretive literature, not just popular

fiction, students can develop interests that may help give meaning to their lives as they

pursue careers and future relationships.

Attendance and Late Work: Students must contact the instructor if they are going to be

absent on a scheduled quiz or test day. If the absence was not planned, the student is still

obligated to contact the instructor. Students will have one week to make up missed

quizzes or tests. Make ups will be given at the instructor’s discretion. Unless a student

has contacted the instructor ahead of a due date, the student must submit work on the day

it is due. Absenteeism does not excuse the student’s responsibility to turn scheduled work

in on time. If no contact has been made with the instructor, a zero grade will be recorded

for any scheduled work not received on the due date. Attendance is a mandatory aspect of

class participation. If a student misses more than three absences a semester, it is the

instructor’s right to drop the student from the course.

Class Participation: Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions. It

is the instructor’s choice to record a class participation grade.

Dates of Exams, Quizzes, and Major Assignments: All scheduled dates for exams,

quizzes, and major assignments are listed on the course calendar. The calendar can be

found on the instructor’s web site.

AP Literature & Composition Learning Outcomes: Analyze a text by implementing rhetorical and/or literary strategies. Recognize the elements of appropriate literary genres. Focus a topic and formulate a critical/analytical thesis, focus, main point,

or claim appropriate for an academic audience that analyzes literature—nonfiction and/or fiction.

Use a variety of organizational strategies within a single paper to support a thesis, focus, main point, or claim.

Interpret texts in a variety of cultural and historical contexts. Demonstrate an ability to use effective research techniques to find

appropriate oral and/or written media such as books, articles, interviews, visuals, and government documents.

Demonstrate an ability to evaluate sources. Avoid plagiarism when incorporating quotations, paraphrases, and ideas. Follow standard guidelines in documenting resources. Synthesize and evaluate various interpretations of texts to complete an

extended research project. Compose relatively error-free papers.

Essay Requirements:

1. Your short literary analysis essays as well as your research paper must be typed

(and then printed) using a twelve-point standard (Times New Roman) font.

Personal computers are available in the library. See Chapter 4 of the MLA

Handbook for information on manuscript form.

2. Due to the year-long length of this class, we will have a chance to explore various

creative writing assignments for which a semester-long class might not have time.

Your initial two papers will ask you to extend beyond the assigned text and bring

your personal connections to the work.

3. To avoid a failing grade, your papers must always meet the minimum length

requirements: three FULL pages for the three short literary analyses; six FULL

textual pages for the research paper.

4. You will not consult secondary sources for the short literary analysis papers. The

analysis will come from you and you alone; therefore, you will only use

parenthetical (in-text) citations when quoting from the primary source (i.e. your

literature text). Attach a Works Cited page with the full bibliography information

for your literature text to each essay. See Chapter 5 of the MLA Handbook for

information on creating a Works Cited page.

5. You will write a minimum of one timed writing response per six weeks. These are

geared to prepare you for not just the AP Literature & Composition exam but any

timed essay assignment.

6. You will be asked to keep a reader-response journal throughout the year that asks

you to make connections to the particular text you are reading.

7. For the research paper, documentation for both primary (the novel) and secondary

(critical) sources must be parenthetical. See Chapter 6 of the MLA Handbook

for information on parenthetical citations.

8.

The Research Paper:

DEFINITION: At this level, the research paper will be an argumentative

critical analysis of theme, character, symbolism, setting, or point of view

in an assigned novel. All research topics must have my approval.

SPECIFICATIONS: The paper must have a minimum of SIX FULL,

typed pages of text and a minimum of TEN secondary (critical)

sources. Remember that the novel is your primary source, not a

secondary source, so you will have a minimum of ELEVEN entries on

your Works Cited page. To locate secondary sources, make extensive

use of online databases such as Literature Resource Center or Academic

Search Premiere. We will have a research orientation with a reference

librarian; do not miss that class. Be aware that at this level, Masterplots or

Cliff Notes or any similar summary of plot and criticism is unacceptable as

a secondary source. Likewise, do not use any information from an

Internet source whose address (URL) contains “.com” or “.net”; addresses

with “.edu” and “.org” are, at times, acceptable, but be selective.

9. Please be aware that for written work to be considered acceptable at this level, it

should be thoughtful, clear, and carefully crafted. Furthermore, it must be free of

errors that distract and confuse.

Academic Honesty Policy: 

Kingwood High School expects every student to maintain a high standard of individual

integrity for work done.  Plagiarism is theft of another writer’s/speaker’s words or ideas,

and work with plagiarized content will receive a zero.  Plagiarism includes turning in

another person’s paper as your own, lifting ideas and words from lectures or other media,

copying word for word, or paraphrasing without documentation.  When in doubt –

document.  All words and phrases taken directly from a source must be enclosed in

quotation marks and be followed by internal documentation.  A Works Cited page

following MLA format must accompany all papers.  The penalty for any plagiarism or

for turning in someone else’s paper as one’s own at any time in the course is zero on

the paper, an F in the course, and possible suspension from the college. **Due to the

rise in plagiarism cases, be advised that the college subscribes to the anti-plagiarism site

www.turnitin.com to which all papers must be submitted.

Grade scale:

A = 90 – 100; B = 80 – 89; C = 75 – 79; D = 70 – 74; F = 69 – 0.

Essay scoring:

A The grade of A on a paper means that it excels in most or all of the following

ways:

1. Treatment of subject shows good critical intelligence, careful workmanship, and

originality.

2. Organization is so clear that the reader knows at all times what the purpose is and

how the writer intends to accomplish it.

3. Paragraphs are coherent and are developed as fully as their function demands.

4. Sentences are clear in meaning and so constructed as to contribute precisely and

effectively to the writer’s purpose.

5. Choice of words is exact, appropriate, and sensitive.

6. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling conform to accepted usage.

“A” papers have few, if any, minor errors and no major errors.

B The grade of B on a paper means that a paper is good.

1. Treatment of subject shows some originality and better than average ability to

relate ideas.

2. Organization is clear, though lacking the full clarity and tight coherence of A

work. It is appropriate to the subject and purpose.

3. Paragraphs are reasonably unified, coherent, and well developed.

4. Sentences are generally fluent and clear and are sufficiently varied to make for an

easy style.

5. Words are used precisely and with some attention to stylistic appropriateness.

6. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling conform to accepted usage.

C The grade of C means that a paper is rather routine in its total effect.

1. Treatment of subject is acceptable but lacks distinction.

2. Organization is fairly clear; a central idea is systematically treated.

3. Paragraph development shows little originality; paragraph structure shows some

coherence but tends to be loose and uneconomical.

4. Sentences are correct and are sufficiently linked to make for continuity.

Generally, however, the style is flat, and the meaning is not always clear.

5. Choice of words is generally appropriate but shows little attention to effect.

6. There are few slips in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

D The grade of D means that a paper has a number of the following weaknesses:

1. Treatment of subject tends to be thin, vague, or trite.

2. Organization is not clear or effective.

3. Paragraphs tend to be incoherent and poorly developed.

4. Sentences are generally awkward or overly simple and show little awareness of

style. Their meaning is frequently not clear.

5. Choice of words is often imprecise, inappropriate, or trite.

6. There are a number of errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

F The grade of F means that a paper falls below minimum requirements. It has a

number of the following weaknesses:

1. Treatment of subject is thin, vague, or trite.

2. The paper lacks a distinct beginning, middle, and ending.

3. Paragraphs obviously lack unity and are poorly developed.

4. Sentences are awkward or are constructed in primer style. Many are not clear.

5. Choice of words is frequently inexact or inept.

6. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are faulty.

Reading and Writing Schedule:

Unit 1 How on Earth Did We Get to Where We Are?

Reading:Inferno

Rationale: Study Dante’s phantasmagoric view of Hell as a starting point in our study of the human condition. Where would Dante place us in his Hell? A focus on archetypal analysis as a critical strategy to study literature will be tied to Dante’s allegory

“The Story of an Hour”Rationale: Focus is on the students’ ability to closely read a modern piece of prose fiction. Students are introduced to the various critical strategies available to them through an examination of the story and Mrs. Mallard.

TriflesRationale: Focus is on the students’ ability to closely read a modern piece of drama

Oedipus the KingRationale: Focus is on psychoanalytical analysis as a critical strategy to study literature

MedeaRationale: Medea serves as the first of many strong female characters we study. Students are asked to synthesize their understanding of the female as presented in literature.

Sure ThingRationale: Students are introduced to the classic patterns of tragedy and comedy. This serves us well in our study of various units throughout the year and helps students make necessary connections with modern literature. Students are also refocused on the Comedic Ladder as a means to distinguish humor.

Writing:Let Me Hear Your Voice – Respond to one of this year’s crop of the University of Chicago entrance essays

Example:You are hosting a brunch of historical, literary, or other disreputable persons (think: Mad Hatter's Tea Party). What is your menu? Who are your guests? In answering this question, imagine a scenario: We want some exposition, serious or silly, we would accept some dialogue, and we are willing to trust you to respond in such a way that your brain power, your imagination, your sense of taste, and your capacity to tell a story reveal something true about you.

Connecting to Literature – Discuss the modern concept of heroism in a 3-4 page paper.

Example:The revival of the Olympic Games in 1896 mirrored a society’s recognition of the heroism in the challenge of sport. What is the legacy of this era that celebrated heavier-than-air flight and polar expeditions as examples of man imposing himself on his universe? How has heroism been viewed in the last century? Are there any more heroes?

Timed writing – Introduction to responding to poetry. Focus will be on the study of poetic elements.

Example:Respond to Robert Penn Warren’s poem “Evening Hawk” carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the poet uses language to describe the scene and to convey mood and meaning.

Unit 2 Poetry in its Various Guises & Renaissance Drama

Reading: Poetry selections taken from The Bedford Introduction to Literature.

Selections from the following: Marge Piercy, John Updike, Philip Larkin, e. e. cummings, Randall Jarrett, Kathryn Howd Machan, Diane Ackerman, Sharon Olds, D. H. Lawrence, Linda Pastan, Stephen Crane, Conrad Hilberry, Henry Reed, Peter De Vries, Gary Soto.Rationale: Students are immediately introduced to some of the modern voices in poetry. Focus is placed on word choice, word order, tone, imagery, figures of speech, symbol, allegory, irony, sounds, patterns of rhythm, and poetic forms.

HamletRationale: Focus is on students’ ability to appreciate how ambiguity can aide in an appreciation of a literary work. Students are required to analyze character and theme form different critical perspectives with the idea of appreciating all.

MacbethRationale: A continuation in the study of the tragic character. Focus on the struggle within will dominate much of our study through the modern age.

Writing:Poetry & Song – Students are asked to write a 3-4 page paper that discusses what the music and the lyrics bring to a chosen song.

Example:Write a short paper (750-1000 words) in which you analyze the lyrics of a favorite song. Discuss what the words alone provide and what they lack in recreating the total power of the original song. The purpose of the paper is not to justify the song you have chosen as great poetry (though it may perhaps qualify); rather, it is to examine what parts of the song’s power come solely from the words and what come from the music or performance.

Timed Writing – Students are introduced to the open question on the Lit & Comp exam through writing over Hamlet.

Example:In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. In a discussion of Hamlet, write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

Poetry response journal – Students are required to write reactions to each poem they read and create at least one question for each poem read.

Unit 3 Metaphysical Poetry & Introduction to the Study of the Novel

Reading: Poetry selections taken from The Bedford Introduction to Literature.Selections taken from the following: John Donne, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Andrew Marvell, John Milton, Shakespeare.Rationale: Students study selections from renaissance, metaphysical, and cavalier poetry. Focus is on the study of difficult poetry and the use of extended metaphor. Various study techniques are employed including the Poetry Wheel and TP-CASST.

Pride and PrejudiceRationale: Students are introduced to the novel and its study. Focus is on Austen’s ironic style with particular attention paid to her particular use of syntax and understatement to achieve humor.

Writing: Timed Writing – Students are asked to respond to an AP poetry prompt that employs a metaphysical poem.

Example:Read John Donne’s “The Broken Heart” carefully.

Then in a well-organized essay, analyze how the speaker uses the varied imagery of the poem to reveal his attitude toward the nature of love.Timed Writing – Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on Pride and Prejudice

Example:“The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” – George Meredith.

Choose a novel (Pride and Prejudice), in which a scene or character awakens “thoughtful laughter” in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is “thoughtful” and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.

The Term Paper – Students are assigned a formal analysis of an independent novel. Papers must incorporate ten secondary sources in a 6-8 page discussion of the novel. The topic you write on is mostly up to you, but it must be related in some way to one of the approved choices. You may focus on a single idea (e.g.: literary values, religion, society, nature, reform, war, women, etc.); style; influence; reputation. You name it. Though I will be happy to offer advice and leads, please remember that choosing, shaping and focusing the topic so that it can be developed into a thesis is a part of the assignment. Please keep in mind that your thesis must make clear your critical approach to the topic (see Chapter 37 "Critical Strategies for Reading"). Choose something that interests you. Selections are changed on a yearly basis:

2013-14 Selections Crime and Punishment Invisible Man The Poisonwood BibleThe Road and another McCarthy workThe Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Presentation:Students must teach a 10-15 minute lesson on one of two areas: an analysis of a metaphysical poem or a particular study of the novel Pride and Prejudice. Students must prepare and provide handouts and a power point or video presentation

Unit 4 Studying Literature in a Historical Context: Action and Reaction

Reading:Poetry selections taken from The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Elements of Literature, and supplemental sources. Selections taken from the following: Jonathan

Swift, Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, William Blake, William Wordsworth, S.T. Coleridge.Rationale: Students study selections from the Restoration and 18th-century, and the Romantic period. Thematic focus is on the Romantic rebellion against the rationalism, balance, and harmony of the previous age. Thorough study of poetic elements frequently referred to on the Literature & Composition exam including, but not limited to paradox, irony, satire, humor, scansion, meter, rhyme, tone, diction, imagery.

Wuthering HeightsRationale: Students read the second-most referred to novel on the Literature & Composition test. The focus is on Bronte’s narrative technique and character analysis.

Writing: Dialectical journal – Students are asked to respond to various prompts that make connections to work under study. Prompts include responses to Pope’s An Essay on Man and Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads.

Example:

Timed writing – Students are asked to respond to an AP poetry question that employs a Romantic poem.

Example:

Timed writing- Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on Pride and Prejudice

Example:

Research process – Students work individually and in groups on writing a thesis, incorporating secondary source material, and documentation. Students peer edit each other’s work.

Unit 5 The Modern World: The Birth of Cynicism

Reading:“The Child by Tiger”Rationale: Excellent segue from Blake to Conrad. Focus is on the study of the short story with an emphasis placed on setting, plot, character, and allusion.

Heart of Darkness

Rationale: Focus is on an introduction to modernism in the novel with an emphasis placed on world view, narrative technique, symbolism, and a discussion of the merits and limitations of psychoanalysis.

A Doll House & Hedda GablerRationale – Focus on an introduction to modern drama. References are made to the drama studied in Unit 1. Plays are looked at from a psychoanalytical, feminist, and Marxist viewpoint.

Writing:Timed writing - Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on Heart of Darkness

Example:Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the

question minus the answer.” After reading Heart of Darkness, consider Barthes’s observation then write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Timed writing - Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on Hedda Gabler

Example:According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes

are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.”

Discuss how Hedda functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by Hedda contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.Peer editing – Students are led through the various stages of editing and instructed how to edit a classmate’s paper

Class discussion:Students must prepare notes and questions to participate in a student-led discussion of Conrad’s work.

Unit 6 The Future: A Boot Stamping on a Human Face – Forever?

Reading: Brave New WorldRationale: Focus is on the modern novel. Study of the novel includes narrative technique, syntax, imagery, characterization1984Rationale: Focus is a comparison of the two science-fiction novels. Study compares style, narration, characterization.

Writing:Timed writing - Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on Brave New World.

Example: In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that is the only way to make people see.”

Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion,” as distinct from literary realism. Base your essay on Brave New World. Analyze how important elements of the work are “distorted” and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Timed writing - Students are asked to respond to an AP open question with a focus on 1984.

Example:In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” From 1984, identify a character who conforms outwardly while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

Synthesis essay – Students write a 3-4 discussion that incorporates an understanding of both novels and reflections on modern society.

Example:Write a short paper (750 – 100 words) in which you discuss the relevancy of Huxley and Orwell’s vision

of the future to the modern world. Do you think one is more valid than the other? What do you see in contemporary society to justify your opinions?

Dialectical journal - Students respond to various thought-provoking prompts regarding contemporary society and an imagined future

Class discussion:Students must prepare notes and questions to participate in a student-led discussion of both novels

Vocabulary Students will study three units of vocabulary from Vocabulary Workshop each six weeks. A unit test will be given each six weeks

Students use the Vocabulary Workshop series by Sadlier/Oxford (Series H) in class. Students mainly study vocabulary in context with what they read, but they also use the Sadlier/Oxford study to study words on their own to build their repertoire. Evidence of learning new vocabulary and using existing vocabulary more appropriately must be evidenced in writing assignments.

Grammar Students will study grammar via teacher feedback on essays

Focus of grammar will be on developing sentence variety.