A.P. English Literature & Composition Syllabus
 
Introduction Welcome to Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. Over the next nine months you will embark upon a journey of discovery. You will explore college-level literature and work to produce college-level writing. Through this process you will be challenged to discover how our thoughts, perceptions and understandings of the world we live in are shaped. As we investigate the literature of this course, we will expose the techniques writers use to craft literature. We will analyze diction, syntax, tone and the literary and poetic devices used by successful writers. The poetry we engage with will be rich and layered. It will require intense and focused attention. The prose we read will be thick with cultural implications that we will strive to elucidate. In addition, we will not only read and perform plays from classic and contemporary dramatists, but we will also work to internalize their techniques as we develop and perform our own dramatic inventions. Through these investigations, we will critically expose the implicit and explicit cultural assumptions embedded in literature. We will learn to express our insights and analytical understandings of literature through frequent essays. By examining past essay prompts and student exemplars, we will hone these essay-writing skills. You can expect to write at least one essay every two weeks. We will then revise, edit and refine these essays until they are in a polished form. To express ourselves with college-level writing, we will need a college-level vocabulary. To acquire this, we will have weekly vocabulary assignments and quizzes that will lead to an understanding of etymology and the classic origins of our contemporary language. In addition, to acquire the computer literacy skills that colleges expect we will create an online discussion group for the class. In this group, we will post our responses to the literature that we are investigating. As well as providing an opportunity for reflection, this will allow us to see the processes that our peers are going through as they read the same texts we are reading. We will then respond to each other’s postings in order to open avenues of questioning that may not have occurred to us. Course Overview Required Texts Achebe, Chinua – Things Fall Apart Alexie, Sherman – The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Conrad, Joseph – Heart of Darkness Meyer, Michael – The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005, Boston Miller, Arthur – The Death of a Salesman Shakespeare, William – Othello: The Moor of Venice Shakespeare, William – A Midsummer Night’s Dream Walker, Alice – The Color Purple Supplemental Texts Appleman, Deborah – Critical Encounters in High School English Miller, Arthur – The Crucible Hochschild, Adam – King Leopold’s Ghost Nazer, Mende & Damien Lewis – Slave (excerpts) Tyson, Lois – Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide Videos Alexie, Sherman – Smoke Signals (1998) Hoffman, Michael – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) Media Education Foundation – The Diamond Empire (1994) Media Education Foundation – Generation M: Misogyny in Media Culture (2008) Media Education Foundation – Killing Us Softly 3 (2001) Media Education Foundation – Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need (2004) Media Education Foundation – Reel Bad Arabs (2006) Scorsese, Martin - Apocalypse Now! (1979) Standard Deviants – SAT Prep videos Royal Shakespeare Company – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996) Parker, Oliver – Othello (1995) COURSE SCHEDULE Unit 1 – College Preparation (Weeks 1 – 2) Enduring Understanding: One of the most difficult transitions we face in our society is the move from adolescence to adulthood where we must learn how to become fulfilled individuals who are part of the community as a whole. Essential Questions: How do we decide which colleges to pursue? How do we get into the colleges of our choice? How do we become citizens who contribute to the well-being of society? Texts: SAT Prep worksheets and software Standard Deviants – SAT Prep videos Culminating Project (Writing Mode – Narrative): College Essays– You must write at least three essays in response to prompts from colleges that you are applying to. These essays will then be subject to peer-review and editing in addition to the normal feedback provided by the instructor. Unit 2 – The Journey Within (Weeks 3 – 6) Enduring Understanding: When you stare into the fundamental questions of human nature, you must be prepared to meet answers of sublime beauty and apocalyptic horror. Essential Questions: Is Heart of Darkness a racist book? Where does evil lie? Within the individual or within society? Who was truly to blame for the darkness - Kurtz or European colonialism? Texts: Conrad, Joseph – Heart of Darkness Hochschild, Adam – King Leopold’s Ghost (excerpts) Nazer, Mende & Damien Lewis – Slave (excerpts) Video: Media Education Foundation – The Diamond Empire (1994) Scorsese, Martin - Apocalypse Now! (excerpts) Culminating Project (Writing Mode – Argumentative): In the Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, Marlow chooses to side with Kurtz instead of the Manager and the other Europeans. In a well-constructed essay analyze the Marlow's reasons for doing this. You may wish to consider selection of detail, characterization, and tone. Be sure to discuss Conrad's purpose for having Marlow make this decision. This essay must use Standard English and grammatical conventions. All of these aspects will evolve through multiple drafts that incorporate both peer and instructor feedback. Unit 3 – The Perspectives of Others (Weeks 7 – 11) Enduring Understanding: One of the greatest values of literature is its ability to transport and transplant us beyond our own personal and cultural experiences. Through fiction we are able to understand the forces and contexts from different points of view. At the same time, however, we must always be aware that all literature is written from a particular point of view situated in a particular time and context and can never be taken as objective truth. Essential Questions: How do we trace the influences of past culture and society on our personal lives in the present? How do we become familiar with elements of African and Nigerian culture and literary traditions? How do we explore gender roles through differing cultural lenses? How do we understand narrative perspective as culturally-positioned (Afrocentric versus Eurocentric perspectives)? Texts: Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart Nazer, Mende & Damien Lewis – Slave (excerpts) Culminating Project (Writing Modes – Narrative, Descriptive): In Things Fall Apart, cultural identity plays an integral role in shaping Okonkwo’s character and thus the theme of the work. To explore the role that your own personal culture plays in shaping the decisions you make and the actions you take, you will create a cultural autobiography project. This project will involve multiple modes of expression including physical representations, poetry, and an essay. All of these aspects will evolve through multiple drafts that incorporate both peer and instructor feedback. Unit 4 – Post-Colonialism in the United States (Weeks 12 – 14) Enduring Understanding: For people and cultures who have suffered under colonialism there are many issues of identity and heritage that must be grappled with in new and unique ways. Robbed of the unifying traditions of their heritage, one way in which post-colonial authors deal with these issues is through postmodern writing in which they recreate their own identities and mythologies. Essential Questions: How do we explore postmodern techniques (black humor, irony, temporal distortion, shifting narrator, etc.) in fiction? How do we examine the phenomenon of othering in American society? How do we examine the phenomenon of orientalism in American media? How do post-colonial authors cope with the effects of colonialism through contemporary mythologizing? Texts: Alexie, Sherman – The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Video: Media Education Foundation – Reel Bad Arabs (2006) Culminating Project (Writing Modes –Argumentative): Using your knowledge of post-colonial and postmodern theories, write a well-developed essay that analyzes the techniques that Alexie uses in the novel to reinvent his Spokane-Coeur dAlene Indian identity and heritage from the orientalism of America’s colonial past. You should consider such techniques as tone, point of view, and characterization and the particular postmodern uses Alexie makes of them. Ultimately your essay should lead us to an insight about ‘othering’ not only with respect to Native Americans in American society, but also in regards to other peoples affected by colonization as well. You will have multiple opportunities to revise this essay based upon feedback that your instructor gives. Unit 5 – Women in Society (Weeks 15-17) Enduring Understanding: Our society has been founded upon a hidden privileging of patriarchal values. Through literature we are able to examine and question the unspoken assumptions of society. Through this questioning, we can bring to light our own unexamined values and beliefs that may or may not be just. This process is the beginning of change on a societal level. Essential Questions: To what extent does the male gaze influence our interpretation of literature? How is patriarchy perpetuated through the language we use and the stories we tell? Why have inequities between the sexes developed in our society? How does Alice Walker expose the hidden structures of patriarchy in our society through her diction, characterization and imagery? Texts: Walker, Alice – The Color Purple Video: Media Education Foundation – Generation M: Misogyny in Media Culture (2008) Media Education Foundation – Killing Us Softly 3 (2001) Culminating Project (Writing Modes – Argumentative): Using your knowledge of feminist theories, write a well-developed essay that analyzes the roles of women in the novel and the power structures that affect them. You should consider such things as tone, point of view, and characterization. Ultimately your essay should lead us to an insight about gender roles in not only early 20th century American society, but contemporary society as well. You will have multiple opportunities to revise this essay based upon feedback that your instructor gives. Unit 6 – Poetry I: Tools of the Trade (Weeks 18-19) Enduring Understanding: Poetry is one of the most ancient of art forms. In different forms, it has spoken to our humanity throughout the ages. However, before we can access its messages, we must first learn to understand and decode its forms. As we increase our abilities to recognize and decipher poetry’s forms and conventions, we increase poetry’s ability to impact our lives. Essential Questions: How do we analyze poetry for poetic elements? How do we produce an insightful analytical paper about a poem? How do we produce a close reading of a poem? How do we create different poetic forms? Texts: Selected Poems from Bedford/St. Martin’s – The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing Culminating Project (Writing Modes – Descriptive): Through the course of this unit we have studied various poetic forms. For each form, we have written multiple poems. Choose one poem from each form. This poem must be revised and edited and polished to publishable quality. You will then submit your poems as a unified collection. The performance component of this project will be an in-class poetry recitation. Unit 7 – Shakespearean Drama (Weeks 20 – 26) Enduring Understanding: Literature and Drama capture the fundamental essences of humanity. These core characteristics are eternal and do not change. People will fall in love, grow old, die, and celebrate birth throughout the history of humanity. Because of his ability to capture these essential understandings, Shakespeare is a beautiful subject for inquiry into the eternal aspects of literature. With effort, students can uncover the eternal in Shakespeare and discover their own connection to not only 16th century England, but to humanity as well. Essential Questions: How do we move beyond the difficulties and differences of Shakespearean language to discover its underlying messages? How do we bring a script to life through dramatic performance? Texts: Shakespeare, William – Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Royal Shakespeare Company – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996) Parker, Oliver – Othello (1995) Culminating Project (Writing Modes – Argumentative, Narrative, Descriptive): Analytical Paper – Prompt from 2006 AP English Literature & Composition Examination Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of ignorance and primitivism. Analyze how the country setting of A Midsummer Night’s Dream functions in the work as a whole. Dramatic Enactments - Through this unit we have been working within our acting companies to enact selected sections of the text. We will perform a final performance of our abridged version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each acting company will be responsible for one scene in our performance. Unit 8 – 20th Century Drama (Weeks 27 – 29) Enduring Understanding: Dreams are the catalyst to human greatness. However, corrupted dreams will rot a human life from the inside bringing it to collapse. Our dreams are subjected to many forces in their shaping, some of our own choosing, some not. In order to accomplish our dreams and ultimately determine if they are worthwhile and healthy, we must evaluate the forces at play in their formation. Essential Questions: How does capitalism play in the formation of our dreams? How does the concept of the ‘American Dream’ affect our identities and lives? How does the moral/social context of The Death of a Salesman apply to present day society? How does the potential loss of one’s dreams undermine one’s humanity? Texts: Miller, Arthur – The Death of a Salesman Video: Media Education Foundation: Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need Culminating Project (Writing Modes - Argumentative): Analytical Paper – Prompt from 2006 AP English Literature & Composition Examination 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.” Write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by Willie Loman contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole. You will have multiple opportunities to revise this essay based upon feedback that your instructor gives. Unit 9 – Poetry II: Poet Studies (Weeks 30 – 31) Enduring Understanding: Poetry provides a unique means of expressing aspects of the human condition that are inexpressible through other mediums. It is reflective of the mindset of the world that the poet lives in and thus can give us insight into human experiences other than and removed from our own. Through the use of poetic elements, poets create distilled snapshots of the world in which they live. Likewise through analysis of these elements, we can uncover a deeper understanding of the poets’ worlds. Essential Questions: How do we create sympathetic understanding of those who differ from us? How do we lead others on the journey of discovery into a poet’s life, society and works? Texts: Selected Poems from Bedford/St. Martin’s – The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing (T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, & Langston Hughes) Culminating Project (Writing Modes – Expository): We will become experts in the study of our individual poets. We will examine their historical/social context, their representative works, and their particular technical idiosyncrasies. We will then share our expertise with our classmates. For the final presentation for this project we will teach a small group of our peers about what we have learned of our poet and we will then lead them on a critical inquiry into a selected poem. Unit 10 – Our Place in the World (Weeks 32 – 36) Enduring Understanding: Whether we are cognizant of it or not, we are inextricably intertwined with the world around us. Our actions, words and beliefs shape those around us, who then shape those around them. In such a way our lives are like a continual fall of water into a smooth and glasslike pond. Wave after wave, our influence ripples outwards from us. In the same manner, the influences of all the millions of people around us shape who and what we are. In this world, no person is an island. Essential Questions: Under this premise, the essential question that needs to be asked is ‘what kind of influence will we be?’ Will our actions make the lives of others better? Will our thoughts create good intention in this world? Will our words ease the pains others suffer and work to right the wrongs that exist? Texts: Contemporary Media – newspapers, magazines, TV shows Achbar, Mark; Abbot, Jennifer - The Corporation Greenwald, Robert - Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism Morgan Spurlock - Super Size Me Final Culminating Research Project (Writing Modes – Expository, Argumentative): Your schooling until now has given you the tools to be effective and productive members of society. But with this power comes the responsibility of using it to make a positive change in the world. As an exploration of your own influence within the world our final project will be to seek out an issue in the world that you truly care about, an issue that your heart knows needs to be changed. You will then research the issue to investigate what strategic changes you could work towards to impact the issue. You are then to draw up an action plan for making a difference that can be implemented in the remaining time we have in school and to follow through on that plan. The final phase of this project is a reflective analysis of the effects of your project. As well as focusing on bringing a plan from its development stages to its implementation, this project will emphasize your research skills such as citation and the development an annotated bibliography. GRADING POLICY & ASSIGNMENTS Grading Category Percentage of Final Grade Exams 30% Quizzes 10% Projects 20% Homework 20% Classwork 20% Writing: • Weekly online responses to the literature and to each other’s comments • Bi-weekly essays (including pre-writing, rough drafts, revisions, and editing) • Written Projects for every unit • Dramatic Monologues • College Application Essays • Poetry in various forms and styles Presentations: • Dramatic Monologues • Shakespearean Drama Performances • Poet Studies • Final Project – Make a Difference Weekly Homework • Online Discussion Forum • Grammar Assignments • Vocabulary Assignments and quizzes • Literature Study Questions • Reading Response Logs • Literary and Poetic Devices Homework