AP Literary Criticism



AP Literature and Composition—“The Art of Criticism”

Mr. Ainsworth

I am very glad you have chosen to take this class, and hopefully you will be glad you have chosen to take it. This class qualifies for college credit, and I therefore treat it as a college-level literature course and demand a level of maturity, discipline, and performance from you that I expect from college students. Obviously this applies to your attitudes towards critical theory and interpretation, your level of critical writing, your vocabulary, your participation in discussion, and your ability to complete assignments fully and punctually. We will be dealing with some advanced ideas and issues in the literature we evaluate, at times far beyond what you might expect from a high school class, but if we treat these issues with maturity and objectivity, you will derive a greater understanding of literature, culture, and humanity than would otherwise be possible. We have much to learn from each other, and I am excited to begin this endeavor.

There are two fundamental components of this class: literary interpretation and writing. The fulfillment of the first objective necessitates constant diligence in your preparation for class and focus during class. Discourse seems the most immediately effective means for furthering not only our combined knowledge of the subject but also our ability to think critically and with discernment about a given issue. Moreso, writing brings this process to final fruition, so writing as process and as a means of thinking will be essential to your development as articulate, discriminating individuals.

Our reading of literature will explore the development of modern English as a medium for the spoken and written word from its evolution in Elizabethan England through its unfolding as a global language through the rise and fall of British hegemony and the advent of “colonial” literary primacy. At each juncture, we will consider how the great works of literature both reflected and shaped the culture of the time, so along the way we will investigate shifting attitudes of art, religion, philosophy, politics, science, psychology—wherever our thoughts should lead—to better understand the interplay of art and life. We will inform our reading through the flexible application of various critical theories to reveal as many layers of interpretation as possible to pay homage to the complexity and beauty that defines great writing.

Our writing about literature will draw on the rhetorical skills developed last year in AP Language and Composition to interpret validly, succinctly, and convincingly. Not only will your prose skills be refined through the continued use of appropriate rhetorical modes with a focus on style and well-crafted, well-evidenced argument, you will hopefully fulfill the role of the critic as articulated by Oscar Wilde in his Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray: “The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.” Or, to paraphrase from Walter Pater’s The Renaissance: “The critic is the translator of beauty.” Through the skillful analysis of formal language—imagery, rhyme, structure, tone, alliteration—and figurative language—metaphor, symbolism, allegory—you will learn to look for the elements that comprise great works of literature.

Therefore, your assignments should represent the culmination of your own literary explorations and academic progress for each quarter. Furthermore, they will be exactly what you will find in the average college literature class—the focus is on the interpretation of literature, not cluttered busy work. Each quarter you will have only three major grades in addition to weekly ruminations:

20% Weekly ruminations and in-class writing

10% One seminar presentation in which you lead a discussion based on

outside reading relevant to curriculum

20% Quarterly exam comprised of multiple choice modeled after AP

exam as well as two essays

50% One critical paper, 4-6 pages, derived from above material

I expect your research and interpretation to consider secondary sources wherever possible or applicable. The internet is useful only as a guide or as a source for enhancing what is available to you. Do not rely only on the internet as your only source (one, it is lazy, two it is often inaccurate) Be sure to discuss your topic with me well in advance of the due date so I can assist you in locating secondary sources. Please refer to classroom mandate concerning plagiarism.

*Attendance Policy: Because of the nature of this course, I will allow you 5 absences a quarter. Absences in excess of five, unless approved by the instructor, will result in a loss of one point per absence from your quarterly grade.

*Class Participation: this course doesn’t have a class participation grade, but assignments are given letter grades, which, when converted to numbers for the calculation of averages, allows for a 2-3 point adjustment. Your participation will inform how those points are awarded for each assignment.

WEEK 1: Introductions and “Cinderella” Selected Carl Jung

WEEK 2: Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and minor poems

WEEK 3: Shakespeare’s Hamlet

WEEK 4: Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and selected sonnets

WEEK 5: Ben Johnson, Robert Herrick, John Donne.

WEEK 6: Metaphysicals Excerpts from John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Begin Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

WEEK 7: Finish Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

WEEK 8: First Draft Due Selected Samuel Johnson 18th century Lyric poets

WEEK 9: Presentations William Blake

WEEK 10: Presentations/Final Drafts/Quarterly Exam/ Final draft due

WEEK 11: William Wordsworth, Samuel T. Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson,

WEEK 12: Henry David Thoreau

WEEK 13: Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats, Edgar Allen Poe

WEEK 14: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman,

WEEK 15: Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, George Meredith,

Gerard Manley Hopkins

WEEK 16: Thomas Hardy’s Return of the Native, or another by the same author.

WEEK 17: Hardy, cont.

WEEK 18: Finish Thomas Hardy, The Rosettis and Swinburne

Begin Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray First Draft Due

WEEK 19: Finish Picture of Dorian Gray Presentations

WEEK 20: Presentations/Quarterly Exam/Final Draft due

WEEK 21: W.B. Yeats selected poems, Begin Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,

WEEK 22: Finish Conrad, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

WEEK 23: FEBRUARY BREAK Begin D.H. Lawrence

WEEK 24: Continue with D.H. Lawrence novellas and poetry

WEEK 25: James Joyce Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

WEEK 26: Finish Portrait of the Artist

WEEK 27: Begin student-selected reading: see below.

WEEK 28: First Draft Due/ Presentations

WEEK 29: Presentations / Quarterly Exam/ Final draft due

WEEK 31: SPRING BREAK

WEEK 32-3: AP EXAM REVIEW

WEEK 34: AP EXAM REVIEW, AP EXAM 5/8

WEEK 38: PORTFOLIOS/PRESENTATIONS/FINAL DRAFTS

Once we finish some core canonical reading for the AP exam, students will have direct input in the selections. Sometime mid-year I will provide a list of suggested works and describe the selection process, but be thinking and talking about what you might want to read well before that point. He who lacks voice lacks choice. I would like to see all genres, both genders, and multiple geographies well-represented. I also want to have a strong selection of post-colonial work. With the shorter genres, we can either dig deeply within one author’s work or go buffet-style and sample broadly if not deeply.

This syllabus is ambitious but flexible. It is also a verb at this point so is in the process of becoming. I will include short selections as their relevance occurs to me; you will also have the opportunity to provide input regarding the curriculum. Regardless of our choices, it should be obvious that the class will be intense, but this is what makes things exciting. And we cannot look at these works in isolation, for each one draws upon the European heritage we will have been studying, one that was written in ancient Greece and Rome, was sung among the so-called Germanic barbarians, and recited by the Celtic tribes of Europe, both as pagans and Christians. Also, the course of English literary culture cannot be viewed as a series of isolated movements: all things are connected, and themes, aesthetics, and ideas are constantly recycled and developed by each generation. Enjoy the journey.

ASSIGNMENTS

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL ASSIGNMENTS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS

Ruminations: You should expect one rumination per week as well as periodic in-class writing assignments. Ruminations will either be assigned essays or free but critical responses to the reading of a given week. Assigned essays may be AP exam style assignments designed to prepare you for the skills needed for the exam or topics challenging you to consider a text from various theoretical perspectives. They must provide direct, textual evidence (quotes) that considers primarily how the author uses language and literary devices to make art and shape meaning. Papers must conform to MLA standards and be approximately two pages in length, so it will be necessary to maintain a careful focus and a finite scope through carefully choosing evidence, arranging your thoughts, and sharpening your writing. You will be assessed on the thoughtfulness of your response, the aptness of your analysis, and the clarity of your style using the AP Literature and Composition rubric and the course grading criteria. Feedback on the effectiveness of your discussion and your rhetoric will be given as written comments and suggestions. These short papers will not be revised. You may skip one rumination per quarter without penalty.

Oral Presentations: Once per quarter you will be responsible for leading a discussion about your chosen term paper topic. You will share your interpretation and the textual evidence that led you to your understanding. Because you will have 15 minutes of class time, avoid plot summary by providing any background information and, if applicable, copies of the text to the class the day before your presentation. If possible, refer classmates to a book we have or the internet. You will be assessed on the originality of your interpretation, the effectiveness of the evidence, and whether your ideas compelled class discussion and questions.

Essays: This essay will challenge you to provide a substantial and rhetorically sophisticated critical analysis of a work of literature concurrent with each quarter’s curriculum. Ideally you will chose a canonical text the class has not read, but if you do choose one we’ve discussed, your paper must present an approach different from what the class has explored. Chosen texts must be approved by the instructor at least two weeks before the first draft is due. Essays will present a clear, theoretically sound thesis thoroughly and effectively supported by an appropriate selection of textual evidence that explores the use of language to shape meaning. Consider relevant and useful literary devices and techniques used by the author in the creation of complex and great literature. Finally, your analysis should reflect the quality of the chosen work and justify its place in the literary canon. Secondary sources are not required, but where appropriate, I will encourage you to use them. For the third quarter, the use of secondary criticism is required. These essays must conform to MLA standards and be 4-6 pages in length, not including the works cited page.

Essays will use the peer editing approach, so when submitting your first draft, provide a copy to each of your group members. Each group member will then be responsible for reading and evaluating the essays and providing useful feedback during the peer editing sessions. Your instructor will likewise read the first drafts and provide meaningful commentary and suggestions for improving both the quality of your discussion and the sophistication of your prose prior to submission of the final draft. Final drafts will be due three class days after your oral presentation.

For the fourth quarter, we will skip the peer editing process. However, this essay must be a “critical” creative work that reveals your chosen theoretical identity. In addition to the composition, I expect a 2-3 page analysis that identifies your chosen critical perspective and explains how the composition explores and reveals that perspective. This work will be presented at a formal literature reading during exam week.

Quarterly Exam: For the first three quarters, each exam will be modeled after the AP Literature and Composition Exam and will consist of a multiple choice section and at least two timed essays. Unless otherwise directed, work will be completed in class. The Portfolio Assessment will count as your fourth quarterly exam.

Though you will most likely not enjoy all the reading assignments, and indeed, not all literature intends to entertain, I hope you will recognize the intellectual and aesthetic merit of most of what you read. To that end, I hope on a regular basis you will share with the class a moment or passage in your reading that made you catch your cerebral breath, illuminating you and, I sincerely hope, enlightening you.

Portfolio Assessment

AP Literature and Composition.

1. Title: “A Memoir in Six Words”

2. Preface (1-2 pages): Introduce your portfolio through a brief essay that reveals your initial thoughts when confronting this assignment. Through this preface, you should introduce yourself and convey your best sense of your self as a writer, reader, and thinker. You should also explore how you found and developed your theoretical perspective. Discuss your selection process and what you hope your readers will find while perusing the pages.

3. For each of the following items, provide not only the suggested essay, proofread and revised, but also a brief rationale for its inclusion and a synopsis of what you might do differently if you were given the assignment again:

a. Favorite work from 6-8th grade.

b. Favorite 9-10th grade essay.

c. Favorite creative work(s) from any school year.

d. 11-12th grade essay that best reflects your critical philosophy.

e. 11-12th grade essay that best reflects your sense of ethics.

f. 11-12th grade essay that best reflects your appreciation of art.

It’s conceivable that one essay may serve multiple entries. In this case, obviously provide your rationale, but perhaps provide additional, compensatory material.

4. Book reviews (2-3 pages): Select and provide reviews for five works of literature you

think all students should read. Of course in the process you’ll validate their placement on your list.

5. Character study (2 pages): Provide a character analysis for two literary characters,

one whom you most admire and one whom you most despise.

6. “Tabula Rasa” essay, which should be a reading of yourself, first looking inward to analyze, from your chosen perspective, what your thoughts and actions reveal about your “character,” then outward through the lens of that perspective. (3-4 pages)

7. Ave atque Vale (1-2): Provide some closing thoughts not only for this project but as well your thoughts as you begin and end your journey as critics and philosophers—transmitters of truth, translators of beauty.

This is a suggested ordering as well as the basic expectations. This portfolio is an expression of self, and I hope you will put as much of yourself into it as you are willing. Don’t feel limited by this abstract. Add whatever you’d like. Make it a work of art with any media that you think will effectively complement the texts and represent the way you see things. PORTFOLIOS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE!!!

Guidelines for Oral Presentations and other pertinent details

DO PLAN ON 10-15 MINUTES FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.

DO NOT SIMPLY READ FROM YOUR PAPER.

DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS OF YOUR AUDIENCE; RATHER, BE PREPARED TO ANSWER THEM

DO PROVIDE COPIES OF TEXT TO CLASSMATES IF NECESSARY

Your presentation is an opportunity to share and discuss your research and analysis with your peers. Prepare a presentation that elucidates the more salient features of your paper and the textual evidence that validates and supports it. Hit the high points, the more significant and revealing aspects of your project, leaving time for questions and discussions that should and will evolve. Anticipate these questions and be prepared to answer them!

The guidelines your teacher will be using to arrive at a grade are as follows:

A: Thoroughly presents an original and compelling critical analysis of the

chosen topic, engaging the audience and generating questions. The presenter should within reason be able to answer these questions.

B: Presents an effective, insightful critical analysis of the chosen topic.

C: Demonstrates an attempt at critical analysis, but relies heavily on plot

summary, secondary sources, or historical information.

D: Presentation primarily summary, etc.

F. Presenter is unprepared, relies entirely on summary, etc., or is

plagiarized. If I am suspicious, I will demand your notes. Failure to

submit them guarantees an automatic F.

Grades will be given discretionary plusses or minuses as conditions warrant.

Your absence when scheduled, if unexcused, will cost you a letter grade.

Those Other Details:

All of the following will result in a loss of a letter grade on your term paper:

Failure to have copies of your first draft ready on the day they are due. If you are absent,

you must make arrangements to exchange papers with group members and email me your first draft at dainsworth@.

Failure to complete peer review worksheets and participate in the peer review process.

Failure to have final drafts ready by class time on the day they are due. If you are absent, I expect to

have your final draft emailed to me at dainsworth@.

Essay Evaluation Your Name:

Writer’s Name:

Title of Paper:

1. After reading the introduction, what do you think the essay will be about? Does the paper meet your expectations? How so? Suggest a way for the writer to improve the introduction.

2. What is the thesis or focus of the paper? How might the writer strengthen the thesis?

3. Is the thesis proven in the essay and does the essay maintain focus through effective organization? Explain why or why not. What suggestions might you offer to better develop the paper?

4. How does the writer support his/her argument? Is the supporting evidence handled well? Are the examples and quotations chosen adequate for fully supporting the thesis? Are they categorized and interpreted effectively?

5. What is the strongest paragraph in the essay? Why?

6. What is the weakest paragraph in the essay? Why? How could the writer improve this paragraph?

7. Does the conclusion adequately bring closure to the paper? Why or why not? How would you suggest strengthening it?

8. As a whole, does the essay rhetorically satisfy you? Why or why not? What changes might you suggest?

9. Mark any grammar or punctuation errors you find on the paper. Find any spots where the writer could use stronger diction and voice. What changes would you suggest?

10. Additional comments and suggestions.

ESSAY GRADING CRITERIA

DEVELOPMENT

A: The writer addresses the purpose fully and explores the issues thoughtfully, making insightful

observations and providing thorough context. The analysis is original and is presented in a forceful, intelligent voice that speaks directly to the appropriate audience. The paper contains no leaps of logic, exaggerations, or generalizations that cannot be supported. The introduction is rhetorically inviting and provides ample context; the conclusion demonstrates appropriate and thoughtful closure. The essay meets all the requirements of the assignment.

B: The writer has a significant and interesting point to make to a definite audience. The subject is well

developed in a solid but not striking manner, although the paper may not fully meet the reader’s expectations. The introduction and conclusion are handled effectively. All requirements are met.

C: The thesis is clearly identifiable, though the point conveyed is fairly obvious and the content

predictable. The paper only sporadically hold the reader’s attention and writer shows little sense

of audience. The discussion of the topic rarely probes beneath the surface and ideas are not developed fully. The introduction and conclusions are often generic and quotations are not integrated effectively. All requirements are met.

D: The paper only sporadically finds focus or audience and that focus is underdeveloped. There are leaps

of logic, exaggerations, or generalizations that are unfounded. Original thinking is not apparent and any ideas are not developed beyond the obvious. There is no use of specific examples or quotations from the text to corroborate a point. Introductions and conclusions are ineffective and there is little attempt to move beyond summary. The requirements of the assignment may not be met fully, probably due to length.

F: Paper fails to demonstrate any attempt at analysis and relies solely on summary. Paper lacks focus and

audience and fails to provide any development of ideas. Ideas may be plagiarized or quotations may not be properly cited. The paper fails to meet the requirements of the essay.

ORGANIZATION:

A: Paper is well organized without seeming mechanical or imposed. The focus is made clearly apparent

early in the paper. Supporting evidence is organized in a stylistically sophisticated manner to achieve the greatest effect. Each topical paragraph has a controlling idea, specific, supporting detail, and smooth transitions.

B: Paper is well organized but occasionally the transitions seem awkward. Supporting evidence is

arranged effectively.

C: The organization of the paper is generally acceptable, although the introduction and conclusion may

seem forced. Supporting evidence may be awkwardly arranged and out of place and transitions

are strained and artificial.

D: There may be some principle of organization but it is not followed. The purpose of the paper is

difficult to ascertain. The introduction and conclusion may be obscured and transitions are

generally lacking. The arrangement of supporting evidence is unwieldy.

F: Paper demonstrates a lack of planning and is unfocused. Information is presented in large,

disconnected clumps and paragraphs may be completely out of place.

STYLE:

A: Sentences flow smoothly with grace and emphasis. Language is distinctive and free from all but a few minor errors. Sentences are varied in length and structure according to emphasis. Quotations are

incorporated smoothly into sentences and word choice is uniformly good.

B: Sentences are clear and coherent; language is capably handled but not distinctive. Word choice is

normally good and there are problems only with complex grammar and punctuation.

C: Writer displays little sense of style. Word choice is generic and often repetitive. There are few errors

in sentence structure, but sentence length and structure does not vary for emphasis. Though there

are few major mistakes, minor errors in usage and spelling are frequent.

D: Sentences are choppy or tangled, with structural errors frequent enough to distract the reader. Words

are misused and there are frequent major grammatical errors.

F: Sentences are awkward enough to confuse their meaning. Writer demonstrates little understanding of

grammar and mechanics consistently fail to conform to the conventions of standard written

English.

A succinct but incomplete, user-friendly outline of critical theory

I. Text-based Interpretations:

A. The formalist approach (New Criticism)—focuses only on the formal elements (structure, theme, plot, metaphor, language use, etc) to establish an understanding:

(Because a work of literature aims for organic unity, a goal of interpretation should be

to demonstrate how each element and detail contributes to that unity

(Patterns of imagery and other repeated details often provide the basis of interpretation

(A work of literature should be considered as an object independent of the author’s

intention or biography

(Reader-response is not part of the work of literature and should not influence its

interpretation

(Political, sociological, religious, or moral issues outside the work do not affect its

meaning

B. Psychoanalytic Criticism—applies psychological theory, usually Freudian and/or Jungian, to analyze character motivation and behavior and underlying themes:

(Ego (the conscious personality) communicates in language, superego (the unconscious

mind) monitors and censors desires unacceptable to the ego and communicates in

symbols, and the id (the subconscious mind) contains the dark sexual desires that are

destructive if let loose and communicates in symbols (Freud)

(A central concern is to find signs of repressed emotional development due to latent

sexual/psychological trauma and/or urges as manifested in imagery (Freud)

(Close readings focus on recurrent sexual symbols, dreams, and evidence of repressed

feelings or desires influencing the characters or the author (Freud)

(Close readings map the manifestation of archtypal symbolism as utterances of the collective unconscious compelling the subject’s progress to individuation, often following the images and patterns of myth and the hero’s journey (Jung)

(Identifies the enantiodromic principle, the marriage of opposites (self/shadow-self…yin-yang), as a significant stage in the individuation process (the transcendence of duality) to become fully realized/aware (Jung)

(Close readings examine not only the manifest meaning of the work, but also the latent

meaning—what it really means to the sub/unconscious. Casual accidents, such as mistakes in language (Freud), and seeming coincidences (Jung) are extremely significant

(Attempts to discover patterns of behavior central to Freudian and Jungian theory

reveal subconscious/unconscious motivations that the characters may not notice

II. Reader-Based Interpretation:

A. Reader-response criticism—based on the reaction of the reader to the work:

(The response of the reader is the most important interpretive act. In a sense, the work

does not fully exist until read

(History of the work includes the history of the readers’ responses

(The reader supplies what the text omits, such as physical appearance, sensory

experience, and subjective inference

(Each reader’s unique response provides insight for interpretation

(Close reading identifies the author’s expectation of a reader’s response

(Readers tend to gather into interpretive “camps”

III. Context-Based Interpretation:

A. Feminist Criticism—focuses on aspects of literature largely ignored by male authors, male

readers, or male critics, examining implied expectations of the role of women as expected by

individuals or by society:

(Attempts to find language oppostions such as sun/moon, powerful/weak, light/dark,

logical/intuitive, calm/hysterical, active/passive, rational/emotional, master/slave,

intellectual/sensitive, dominant/nurturing, etc and illustrate that culturally, the first word

in each pair is typically associated with male dominance

(Close reading exposes subconsious patriarchal assumptions, exposing unexpected

themes in a work

(Features such as unusual awareness of the female body, maternity, natural cycles, withcraft, madness, the demonic, and disease are important to explore

(Necessitates a reevaluation of literature written when male dominance was taken for granted

B. Political-Economical Criticism—Marxism—focuses on class struggle, exploring the

exploitation of the poor by the rich, often focusing on the level of awareness of the issue in the

work:

(Scrutinizes economic circumstances for signs of economic exploitation

(A literary work reflects the economic social order that produced it, thus writers reflect

their class concerns

(The text, author, and reader response are worth analyzing because they reveal attitudes

toward the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

(Colonialism is always a significant subject for analysis

(The study of class struggle reveals itself in literature, often through exaggerations or

contradictions of character, description, or language

C. Cultural Criticism—calls attention to issues involving specific cultural groups, such as race

and sexuality:

(Ethnic dialect is a special source of literary power

(Stated and unstated cultural issues are essential to examine

(the role of art, music, and folk tales in literature is important

(Gender roles and expectations relevent to gay and lesbian characters are significant

areas for exploration

D. Historicism and New Historicism—the former is interested in the historical facts surrounding a

work of literature (date, author’s dates, who was in power, etc) while the later defines a work in a cultural, political, sociological, and ideological context, linking the work to the culture of its time:

(Every work of literature should be read in the context of its own time and author

(The assumptions, limitations, aspriations, and values of a social era effects its literature

and therefore becomes part of the meaning of a work, affecting our interpretation of it

(Understanding intellectual trends and scientific, psychological, economic, and political

theories of the time is essential to interpretation

(The study of history becomes a necessary preparation for interpreting any work of literature.

E. Postcolonialism—Combines all the elements of context-based and psychoanalytic analysis to understand the effects of imperialism, both on the conqueror and the conquered. This approach looks most carefully at the literature of the dispossessed as they attempt to fill the vacuum left by a collapsing empire, as they struggle to “come of age” in a land that was once and always their own and assume the identities that had been stripped from them by foreign hegemony and interests.

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