AP Literature and Composition Syllabus 2019 - 2020
AP Literature and Composition Syllabus 2021 - 2022Mr. Rivero, MiltonCity of Hialeah Educational AcademyContact: mrivero@Google Classroom Code: qalxqkaCourse DescriptionAP English Literature and Composition is designed to be a college/university level course. This course will provide you with the intellectual challenges and workload consistent with a typical undergraduate university English literature course. This course includes an intensive study of representative works such as those by authors cited in the AP English Course Description. By the time you complete this course, you will have studied both British and American writers, as well as works written in several genres from the sixteenth century to modern literature. This course will follow the curricular requirements outlined by the College Board in the AP English Literature and Composition Course Description, which focuses on building skills necessary for college-level reading and writing. The texts include works from a variety of time periods and genres in British and American literature. There will be a number of writing assignments in this course that will prepare you for the essay section of the AP exam. You will learn to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is based on a careful observation of textual details, considering such elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. These writing assignments include timed in-class essays (with opportunities for revision) as well as formal essays outside of class with several opportunities for revision. Again, this is considered a college-level course, which means that you will be asked to read and analyze challenging, provocative, dense, and sometimes controversial material. You will also be expected to come to class prepared to challenge yourself and others with careful analysis and academic discussions of the texts we are reading. Course Goals ● To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature. ● To understand the way writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure. ● To consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller-scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. ● To study representative works from various genres and periods (from the sixteenth to the twentieth century) and to know a few works extremely well. ● To understand a work’s complexity, to absorb the richness of meaning, and to analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form. ● To consider the social and historical values a work reflects and embodies. ● To write, focusing on critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. ● To gain the ability to have an academic and lively discussion of literature through the Paideia Seminar model. ● (After the Exam) To use the tools and skills learned throughout the year to analyze film as literature.Course Texts & Materials In this course, we will explore various novels, plays, epics, poems, and short fiction. You may wish to consider obtaining a personal copy of the various novels and plays used in the course. This will allow you to annotate and take notes directly in the novel or play. You are NOT required to purchase your own texts. Copies of texts will be available to borrow or use from my library. The school library also has many of these texts, some of which are available in the Overdrive app as ebooks. Some of these works may also be available online. A list of internet resources will be available on the course's website. List of major works explored in this course:Hamlet by William Shakespeare1984 by George OrwellVarious short stories and poems as outlined in the units section.Performance Tasks: ? Timed essays based on past AP prompts ? Essay questions as required of college-level writers ? Reading/responding to/analyzing novels, drama, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry ? Imaginative writing including but not limited to: poetry and imitative structures ? Literary analysis papers — expository and persuasive ? Personal essay ? Graphic organizers, double-entry journals, paragraph responses, and questionsHomework In order to prepare for the exam in May and be successful in this class, it is imperative that you do work outside of class and come to class every day prepared to work with the text assigned the day before. Discussing varying aspects of literature, structure, style, theme, and the author’s argument will be a daily practice. In preparation for these discussions, you will often be asked to write down your thoughts, questions, and discoveries in regards to your reading homework. Plan on doing some reading and writing every night. In addition to the assigned class readings, you will be assigned two formal essays (Frankenstein & Heart of Darkness), and some AP exam practice. As this is a college-level course, I am expecting college-level behavior and college-level work ethic. Grading & Attendance Your weekly timed writing assignments, reading quizzes, formal essays, and unit tests will be graded. I will hold you to the COHEA English Department grading policy. (see attached) Many of the practice tests and practice activities will receive a simple completion grade. Additionally, this course will follow COHEA attendance policy (see attached) for advanced and college courses. Students are evaluated based on the criteria below:·??????Major Assessments/Tests: 35%·??????Minor Assessments/Quizzes: 20%·??????Classwork: 15%·??????Homework 5%·??????Projects/Essays/Cooperative Presentations: 25%Exam Prep This course includes various approaches that develop skills to study and write about poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction. This course will build a vocabulary of rhetorical techniques, as well as introduce additional terms of literary analysis for poetry and fiction. Discussion of the AP examination will include test materials and student exemplars from previous examinations. We will explore the multiple-choice section to develop close reading skills and literary terms and techniques. All students are expected to take the exam on May 6, 2020; COHEA will cover the cost of the exam. CLASSROOM RULESHonor:?????We will always…·??????tell the truth.·??????do the right thing.·??????be team players.·??????take responsibility for our actions.·??????be hard working.·??????be proactive, not reactive.Respect:?We will always …·??????respect the rights of others to learn.·??????show respect for ourselves, our school, and others.·??????conduct ourselves in a courteous and appropriate manner.·??????be compassionate towards all members of the Bulldog Nation.·??????Be considerate of others’ opinions.Loyalty:?We will always …·??????care for others to build trust.·??????help others reach their potential.·??????steer clear of gossip.·??????strive to be consistent and reliable.·??????stay true to our words.·??????be humble.Required Supplies?1 ? inch 3 ring binder with 3 dividers (to assist in your organization)Black and/or dark blue ink pens and pencilsIndex cards (4x6 and 3x5) and highlightersCollege-ruled notebook paper (and lots of it)1 folder with pockets?USB Flash drive/Jump driveStandard English Dictionary and Thesaurus?Colored pencilsWebsites?: It is YOUR responsibility to keep up with any work that is assigned online. If there are ever any issues with your ability to login to your online work, you need to notify me and bring a parent letter that verifies your issue. However, it is still your responsibility to make up any assignments missed. Not doing so will result in a “Z” in the grade book.?Assignment/Make-Up PolicyLate work is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. I will ensure that you have enough time to complete assignments, but the student must be able to turn in their assignments complete and by the instructions given.?I understand that there are things that cannot be avoided (getting sick, an emergency in the family, doctor appointments), but it is up to the student to ensure that any work missed is made up.? ?The following lists the policies for turning in late/missing work.?Absent: In the case of an absence, the student is required proof that their absence has been excused by the school via parent note, doctor's note, etc. After I receive verification, the student has as many days as they were out to complete the assignment (example: if the student was absent for two days, they have two days, including the day they returned, to complete missing assignments). This does not excuse you from assignments received when you've returned.?Emergency: In the case of an emergency, I will contact the parent to verify that the emergency is, in fact, valid. From there, I will allow up to one day to make up the work. If an assignment is a day late, the highest grade you may receive is a 70% (C).?Plagiarism?The definition of plagiarism, according to Merriam-Webster is to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source.?In other words, copying from your classmates or from another source (internet, novel, news article, etc.) and passing it off as your own.?This is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in my class. If you are caught, a referral will be made and the counselor will be made aware of this to potentially change your schedule out of this class. Writing Expectations As this is a literature and composition course, you will be expected to use every assignment that involves writing to practice your best composition skills. Composition assignments will include: quick responses, weekly timed writing using previous AP exam prompts, and formal essays (expository and argumentative). ● All writing assignments will include a specific grading rubric. We will go over the rubrics prior to submitting papers and review expectations for the particular assignment. Please consult each rubric carefully and use it to help in your revision process both before and after submitting your work. ● Weekly timed writing using practice AP exam questions. These will be scored using the AP scoring guides used for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam for that specific question. Timed writing will be done under “exam conditions” in order to prepare and practice for the exam in May. You will be required to write your essays by hand using PEN only. You will have a number of opportunities to revise your in-class and formal essays; the expectation is that you revise your writing both before and after you receive feedback from me. ● We will use writing to understand, to explain, and to evaluate the texts we explore. Your writing will focus on thinking about the text (author’s craft, style, structure, and literary elements), thinking within the text (what is the author’s argument, purpose, and what does the author want the reader to take away from the text), and thinking beyond the text (how does this text relate to or reflect the larger world and the zeitgeist of its time). ● Throughout the year there will be mini-lessons dealing with complex grammar and usage issues, sentence constructions, diction, tone, voice, and other aspects of standard written English. Occasionally you may need some additional help with this. I am available after school and can arrange to be available during Advisory period.Course Units Each unit will help you develop the following skills: ● A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively ● Improve your facility with standard written English including but not limited to sentence structure, logical organization, and effective use of rhetoric, tone, & voice ● Writing a focused and persuasive analysis of a text using apt and specific textual support highlighting the author’s use of literary techniques to develop overall meaningUnit 1: Short Fiction, Mood, And You. The beginning of the course focuses on the core fundamentals of reading fiction: characters, setting, plot, and narrator. Students will learn from these short stories how essential mood is to a literary work, as well as how to pick out nuances that are key elements to a work of fiction. Introduction to AP Lit & Composition Course, AP Lit Q&A. Sonny’s Blues by James BaldwinDiary of a Madman by Lu XunThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins GilmanEveryday Use by Alice WalkerUnit 2: Poetry, What Is It Saying? Poetry is often considered the bane of student comprehension. What exactly is this poet saying? Why do they need to use these aspects of figurative language? Who expects to understand any of this? I expect you to understand it. And using the texts below, we’re going to slow down and take our time to identify how texts can convey meaning through metaphors, how poetry can have their own characters within, how structure plays a role in a poem, and you’re going to defend your perspective in an argument. Texts explored: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot“Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes“I am Offering This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca“The Sun Rising” by John DonneUnit 3: Dramatic Fiction, in the Form of HamletShakespeare’s work is often considered the zenith of drama. His works have stood the test of time, and is often referenced in media today. Since this is an AP Literature course, Shakespeare is almost mandatory. For this unit, we will read the timeless classic Hamlet, where “To be, or not to be” will, in this case, be “definitely” when it comes to your understanding of this play and it’s multiple literary functions. By studying a longer literary work, students have an opportunity to analyze character and how multiple literary elements contribute to the development of character. In this unit, students build their ability to analyze how characters’ incompatible perspectives and motives contribute to conflict. Understanding these relationships allows students to develop interpretations about them. Having practiced claim and evidence paragraphs in Units 1 and 2, Unit 3 adds significant complexity as students learn to develop a thesis statement about an overarching interpretation of the text. Students will then organize the various claim and evidence paragraphs to follow a line of reasoning, enriching those paragraphs with commentary that consistently explains how each specific paragraph—and specific evidence within each paragraph—relates to the argument as a whole. This development of a full essay becomes the focus of this unit and all subsequent units of the course.Text Explored: Hamlet by William Shakespeare Unit 4: Culture and the Stories WithinEach day, we are seeped within our culture. We wear it, speak it, hear it, and live it. In this unit, we will explore how culture is expressed through the form of the short story. We will read stories about sibling rivalry, of love, of setting, and of death. Through formal and informal writing exercises, students will practice explaining how different details or literary elements in a text interact and how their relationships contribute to the students’ interpretations. Texts explored: Two Kinds by Amy TanSweat by Zora Neale Hurston A Rose for Emily by William FaulknerThe Story of an Hour by Kate ChopinThe Chaser by John CollierUnit 5: Poetry In Its Many FormsStudents expand their understanding of metaphor by examining the traits of compared objects and their significance in conveying meaning. This unit also introduces extended metaphor; therefore, students will need not only a proficient understanding of metaphor, but also skill in recognizing related patterns of images and/or other metaphors that work together. Students will be given opportunities to compare their claims about an interpretation of a text to others’ claims and to evaluate whether the reasoning and evidence of another’s argument justify an alternative interpretation of the text.Texts explored: “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Bennett Browning“in just” by e. e. cummings“The Last Word” by Peter Davidson“Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath“The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot Unit 6: The Monsters Within UsWho says a complex text can’t be fun and interesting? Mary Shelly says it can. In her novel Frankenstein, we will explore who the true monsters are, who we are as humans, and how we can learn from “the modern Prometheus.” In this unit, students will explore and grapple with the complexity of literature. Students encounter complexity in plot, identify elements that disrupt a chronology, and explore how disruptions affect a reader’s experience. Furthermore, students explore contrasts and inconsistencies in character. To analyze such complexities in plot and character, students should be able to recognize patterns and breaks in patterns before they can explain how such contrasts and inconsistencies convey meaning. Students also explore narrator bias by critically considering the details a narrator provides (or does not provide) and considering how such bias invites complex interpretations.Text explored: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Unit 7: As We Near the End, Death LoomsIn this unit, students extend their understanding of complexity by examining how it develops over the course of a text, which requires students to develop proficiency in recognizing patterns and breaks in patterns over the course of a text. Students explore complexity in a setting and in a character, for example, and must be able to explain how changes in these elements and the values associated with them convey meaning.Subsequently, students develop arguments about their interpretations of a text. They should be able to identify patterns in a text that suggest a connection to experiences, institutions, or social structures and then explain the relationship between their evidence and the line of reasoning behind that interpretation. However, students should also learn to recognize when evidence does not support their line of reasoning, and thus their interpretation, and revise accordinglyTexts Explored: A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia MarquezThe Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen PoeA Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner That Evening Sun by William Faulkner Unit 8: Poetry, Chosen by You!This unit requires students to have developed proficiency in analyzing metaphors, contrasts, and complexities in a text in order to tackle more advanced skills. As students encounter conceits in poetry, they need practice unpacking the individual images, metaphors, and figurative language of the conceit. With this practice, they can analyze the figurative meaning conveyed in individual elements and also interpret how different elements in the conceit work together and contribute to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Additionally, students should be able to closely analyze a text’s language and structure in order to identify contrasts (e.g., juxtaposition, irony, and paradox) and ambiguities and the effects of both. More importantly, students need to practice explaining how such contrasts convey meaning. When reading, students will need practice identifying the multiple interpretations ambiguous language invites. When writing arguments, students should understand that considering ambiguous evidence may require revising their reasoning and interpretations rather than only acknowledging alternative interpretations.Students will take a direct involvement within this unit as they will select poetry from a list of poets that have made major contributions to literature. Unit 9: It’s All There, Waiting For youThis final unit requires students to engage in multiple thinking patterns (e.g., recognizing and tracing patterns, identifying breaks in patterns, identifying cause-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, examining a part’s function and its relationship to a whole) in order to understand relationships among literary elements and how they contribute to meaning. Challenge students to examine these patterns: how these patterns represent interactions among literary elements and how these patterns might describe different part-to-whole relationships in a text. For example, in tracking a character’s development, students might note details about the motives, perspectives, behaviors, conflicts, and relationships that seem inconsistent when compared to that character’s response to a plot’s resolution. This pattern of comparison and contrast in students’ thinking will lead to a better understanding of that character’s complexity and how it contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.Text explored: The Alchemist by Paolo ChoeloFinal Thoughts I am thrilled that we are going to explore great literature together. I will do everything I can to effectively prepare you for the AP Lit exam. The keys to this class are communication, hard work, and above all NOT PANICKING. You are all capable of doing well in this course and scoring a three or above on the exam! I believe in you; believe in yourself! ................
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