Course Syllabus

COURSE TITLE: AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION  2011-2012

Mark D. Veon, Ed.S.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, a college-level course, prepares students to take the Advanced Placement Exam in Literature and Composition.  The course is designed to engage students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature: novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and expository prose. Compositions integrally related to the literature and writing assignments are designed to stimulate thought and imagination and to challenge each student’s ability to articulate his/her ideas and understanding. The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal, extended analysis and timed, in class responses.  Students are to keep their compositions in a portfolio to facilitate revision of essays into polished final drafts. In the process of writing and revising, students will examine their papers for effective and appropriate word choice, inventive and varied syntactic structures, coherent and logical organization, and clear, persuasive, elegant connections of evidence to their overall understanding of the whole.  Weekly one page personal responses to various type of poetry will be required during the first semester in order to encourage enthusiasm for poetry. Students will research background information about the major novels studied and prepare presentation materials for class discussion.  In addition, students will write several short critical papers and one longer research-based paper explicating poetry, drama, and/or novels.  Each paper will use specific and well-chosen evidence to articulate an argument based on close textual analysis of structure, style, and social/historical values of the piece of literature.  Students will study vocabulary in the context of the literature and will refine grammar and usage skills as a part of the composition process.  Weekly AP Literature Exam practices focusing on multiple choice questions and free response essays taken from previously released tests and other practice materials will further prepare students for the exam.

Course Objectives:   Each student will

           

            A. read numerous assigned short stories, poems, essays, and at least eight novels/drama

                 selections.

            B. develop and practice close reading strategies.

            C. analyze in oral and written discussions the various elements of fiction, poetry, and drama as

                 they function to create a work of literature.

            D. increase both “recognition” and active vocabulary.

            E. develop a personal style of writing.    

            F. compose and revise formal, extended analysis and timed in-class responses.

            G. revise compositions correcting problems in structure, diction, content, mechanics, and usage.

            H. maintain a folder or portfolio of writing assignments in the various stages of the writing

                 process for periodic self-assessment and conferences with the teacher

            I.  use and document the four kinds of literary evidence: direct quotations, paraphrases,

                 summarized actions and events, and opinions of peer reviewed critics.

J.  write documented research papers using MLA style.

            K. develop and practice strategies for answering multiple choice and essay test items appearing

                on the AP Examination in English Literature and Composition. 
           

Required Texts and Materials:  In the AP Literature and Composition course, the student should consider obtaining a personal copy of the various novels and dramas used in the course—although these texts will also be found in the primary textbook for the course and/or in class room sets of texts.  The following is a preliminary list of novels, plays, and anthologized material:

·         The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare

·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stoppard

·         The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare

·         A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare

·         Macbeth, Shakespeare

·         The Tempest, Shakespeare

·         The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer

·         Time’s Arrow, Amis

·         Short fiction and essays—as selected and anthologized

·         Poetry—as selected, anthologized

Reading and Writing Assignments

Reading Assignments:  The most important requirement for this course is that students read every assignment with timely care and attention.  Students will need to plan their schedules to accommodate the amount of materials required to be read for classes as well as the depth and complexity of understanding that the reading will require.  Poetry, though usually not long, is dense and complicated and requires a minimum of two close readings per poem.  Longer pieces, short stories and novels, require particular planning.  Passages from the materials on the required reading lists will be examined closely and used as prompts for discussion in class—both oral and written. The summer and Winter Break reading lists are available on the instructor's blog.

Writing Assignments:  The kinds of writing in this course are varied, but include comprehension papers, explication papers, and analysis papers.  All critical writing asks that the student evaluate the effectiveness of a literary piece, but to be an effective evaluator, one must understand and explain.  The essence of scholarship is the combination of the three approaches to writing.

Students will write (on average) a composition every two weeks, with time for examination and revision.  Papers will be examined for effective word choice, varied and inventive sentence structure, clear organization, and incorporation of evidentiary detail.  Some compositions will be assigned to stimulate discussion and will focus on specific issues of plot, characterization, and theme for the works studied.  Free response essays from previously released AP tests will be applied to the various longer works studied.  Students will also write one page responses to poetry, particularly in the first semester, as exercises in explication and/or analysis of the poems presented.  In addition, students will write several short, critical papers explicating poetry or drama, including one that is research-based. Finally, students will write a longer research-based analysis paper. This project will take place across both semesters.  

ASSESSMENTS:  Please refer to the Troup High School Grading Policy for the complete grading scale.

Class I Major Assessments:  In-class writing will consist of two types of essays: free response questions taken from past AP Exams (which will be given under timed conditions as the exam date approaches) and tests on novels/units under study.  The free response essays will be graded holistically using specific rubrics and allowing for the improvement of the students’ ability over the course of the year.  Tests on the major works studied will consist of several passage identification questions, short answer questions and one essay which has been adapted from the open-ended questions from the AP Exam to fit the appropriate work. Research papers written outside of class will also contain an in-class assessment to be sure of the student’s mastery of the material.

Class II Minor Assessments:  Quizzes will incorporate practice on the Multiple Choice portion of the AP Exam, periodic quizzes on the reading selections, passage identification, and short answer questions, and vocabulary quizzes covering vocabulary from the reading materials as well as literary terminology.

Class III Assignments: Group work, classroom interaction, syllabus signed, grade sheets signed, homework checks, class participation, and vocabulary checks.

Blogging Opportunity

            Students are strongly suggested to access Mr. Veon’s blog at http://AP2014.blogspot.com to learn more about selected readings and to interact with other students about assignments through posting appropriate comments and questions. Students can also ask questions of the instructor through this blog. Interaction through the blog is NOT required and students wanting hard copies of any materials or links posted on the blog should simply request them.

Testing for Credit Reminder:

            Please note that Troup County no longer pays for each student's AP Tests (administrated in April/May 2014). Students receiving free/reduced lunch assistance may qualify for payment of one (1) AP test fee.  

Conclusion: A Note to AP Literature and Composition Students

            Lastly, I appreciate your willingness to take on the extra challenge of Advanced Placement coursework. This course operates at the college level and is intended to prepare you to write comfortably at the graduate and even the post-graduate level by May. I also feel strongly that--rigor aside--you will truly enjoy the class.

I have read this syllabus and understand what is required of me in the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition class.

____________________________________                        _______________________________________

Student’s Name                                                                        Parent and/or Guardian’s Name

____________________________________                       

Date of Signature