West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
AP English Literature and Composition Syllabus 2007-8
Mrs. Gray

Texts:   Arp, Thomas R., and Johnson, Greg: Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An
             Introduction to Poetry (Harcourt Brace College Publishers) Eleventh
             Edition, 2005
Beckett, Samuel: Waiting for Godot, 1954
Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre, 1847 (summer reading)
Bryson, Bill, from The Mother Tongue, 1990
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment, 1866
Euripides, Medea, Fifth Century, BC
Cheever, John: “Reunion,” 1947
Gibaldi, Joseph and Achtert, Walter S.: MLA Handbook for Writers of
           Research papers (MLA) 2006
Joyce, James: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” 1955
Rhys, Jean, Wide Sargasso Sea, 1966 (summer reading)
Shakespeare, William, Hamlet (Folger Shakspeare Library Edition) 1600
Sophocles: Antigone  or Oedipus Rex, Fifth Century, BC
Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver’s Travels, 1726
Woolf, Virginia: The Waves, 1931
A non-fiction prose piece to be read outside class (See reading list)
A novel to be read outside class (See reading list)
An epic or extended poem to be read outside class (See readng list)
A play to be read outside class (See reading list)
A memoir, diary, personal essay series of letters or autobiography to be read outside class (See reading list)
Course Requirements: Practice AP tests, multiple-choice tests, and essays
Short exercises from the text and journal entries
In-class, timed writing on poetry, prose, and outside reading assignments
Group presentations
Three longer papers written outside class; revisions
Class discussions
AP Test ( We encourage you to take the AP Literature or AP Language test, or both)
Final Assessment
Class Preparation: You should read carefully each poem assigned at least twice. Your preparation should include consultation of the Oxford English Dictionary for words that are unfamiliar. You should read each outside reading choice carefully before the writing assignment in order to ask clarifying questions before writing. Homework exercises, papers, journals, or presentations are due on the date specified. Be sure to bring to class copies of all literature being discussed on any given day.
Guidelines for Papers:
Format:  All papers must be formatted according to the MLA Handbook, available at my website(www.wwptoday.com)See WWP TeacherPages. Click on Mrs. Gray
Academic Integrity:  You are expected to know and comply with the shool’s policy on academicc integrity as stated in your Agenda. For further discussion of plagiarism, consult the MLA Handbook.
Course Outline: AP Literature and Composition,  Mrs. Gray

September 6-November 7, 2007                   
Week of September 6-7: Introduction to course and essay pre-test on poetry

Week of September 10- 14:  Essay pre-test on prose: Multiple-choice pre-test; sign up for outside reading (non-fiction prose) due in class on October 26; Introduction to conventions of the essay. Class discussion to prepare for summer reading essay: Bring copies of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea to class on September 14 and September 21.

Week of September 17-21: Read chapter one, Sound and Sense ; pp. 2-10 and poems on pages 9-20 before class on Monday.  Homework for Thursday: For two of the poems on pages 9-20, select a line or two and write a response which reveals the importance of the line within the poem as a whole. On September 21, we shall discuss voice in the two novels asigned for
summer reading.     
          *You have most of the year left to accomplish this long-term assignment: Choose one poem from your text to analyse in depth, including research, in an essay which you will write in class on March 11, 2007.

Week of September 24-28: Read to prepare for discussion of chapter 2, pp. 22-40 in Sound and Sense, including all poems.  Your paper comparing Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea is due on September 26. HW: for two of the poems not discussed in class, write a paragraph that tells the speaker, audience, circumstances of the poems. Include a sentence or two summary telling what the poem is about. Then, write a paraphrasis of the poem (Due September 28). Also on September 28, an in-class essay: Tell who says what to whom, and under what circumstances.
      
Week of October 1-5: Homework for October 2: Write or find a poem that has a distinctive speaker who is clearly not the poet. For October 3: read Cheever’s “Reunion” for class discussion of point of view.  Discussion in class of chapter 3 in Sound and Sense, pp. 41-53; in-class exercises pages 46 and 47 and all poems.  HW: Respond to two poems not discussed in class. consider the significance of one key word in the poem (Due October 4). Also on October 4, in-class essay: Tell how the poet uses diction to enhance meaning in the poem.
Week of October 8-12:  Discussion of Chapter 4, “Imagery,”pages 55-68, in Sound and Sense. HW: For the poem assigned to you (See groups below), write an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that names how the poet uses imagery to enhance meaning (due day of presentation). Also, write or find a poem that uses imagery to enhance meaning. Be prepared to turn it in on October 18.  We shall read a short story by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez: discuss diction, point of view and imagery in “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”.

Week of October 15-19:  Group presentations of poems in chapter 4. HW: Due at the beginning of class each day: Respond to one of the poems that we plan to discuss that day in class. Consider the way the poet uses imagery.

     Group A presents poems by Hopkins, Williams and Dickinson
     Group B presents poems by Rich, Heaney and Frost
     Group C presents poems by Hayden, Toomer, Byron and Keats
Friday, October 19: In-class writing: Discuss how the poet uses imagery to enhance meaning in the poem.  HW: Read and be prepared to discuss excerpt from Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue.

Week of October 22-26:  Multiple-choice practice.  Multiple-choice test. Discussion of the history of the English language as presented in The Mother Tongue. October 26:  Book Talk and In-class essay on Non-Fiction Prose Choice. Choose a novel to read outside class before December 14.

October 29-November 26: Crime and Punishment (class schedule below)

October 30: Introduction to the novel and distribution of texts
October 31: Come to class having read Part I; discussion and journal entry to  share in class
November 1: Come to class having read Part II; bring in a journal entry for discussion
November 5:  Before class, read halfway through Part III; discussion in class
November 6:  Complete Part III; bring in a journal entry for discussion
November 7:  Read halfway through Part IV; discussion

Second Marking Period: November 12, 2007-January 25, 2008

November 13:  Complete Part IV; journal entry due on Part IV
November 14: Read through Part V
November 15: Journal through Part V
November 19: Read halfway through Part VI; discussion
November 20:  Complete Part VI; Journal through Part VI
November 21: Whole-book discussion and critical viewpoints
November 27: Open-book essay on Crime and Punishment; HW: Read Chapter 5 in Sound and Sense  and prepare for discussion of poems.

Week of November 28-29: Discuss Chapter 5 in Sound and Sense. HW: Read pages 69-89 and be prepared to discuss poems on those pages. Students will be assigned poems to prepare for class discussion. HW: Write a poem that uses figurative language to enhance meaning (Due 11/29). Also on November 29: In-class writing: Discuss how figurative language operates in the poem. The revision of your essay on Crime and Punishment is due on December 7.

Week of December 3-7: Introduction to Chapter 7, practice exercises and discussions of poems from chapter 7.  HW: Write a poem in which irony enhances meaning--and explain how you achieved this (due 12/5).  A revision is due on December 7.

Week of December 10-14:  December 11:  Book Talk and in-class essay on a novel of your choice. December 14: In-class essay on irony. Sign up for third independent reading, an epic. Discuss the conventions of the epic. A paper written outside class on an epic or extended poem is due on January 24, 2008. HW: Read Chapter 6 in Sound and Sense.

Week of December 17-21:   Begin discussion of symbolism.  HW due December 17: Write a poem in which the use of symbol is important to meaning. December 20: In-class essay; discuss how the poet uses figurative language, especially symbolism, to enhance meaning. December 21: Overview of Antigone, Oedipus the King and Medea. Be sure to take home copies of the plays; if you forget, though, they are all free online.

Vacation

Read Antigone (or Oedipus ) and Medea over the break (Each will require about three hours to read), and keep a log of questions, observations, illustrations, conventions, history, myth, whatever seems important to you!

January 2-4:  Discuss plays and review logs. In-class essay on the Greek plays on January 4. The revision of this essay is due on January 7, 2008. Begin A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, and read Chapter one by Monday. Introduction to “Tone”, Chapter 10 in Sound and Sense.

January 7-11: Hand in revision on January 7. Work on tone, chapter 10. You will be preparing group presentations on individual poems from the chapter. Read Chapter two of Portrait at home. In-class passage analysis on January 9. In-class essay on Tone on January 11. HW: Read Chapter 4 in Portrait.

January 14-18: Choose fourth independent reading assignment, a play (Due  March 3). Discuss the conventions of dramatic literature. Discussion of Chapter 4 in Portrait. Begin reading Chapter 8, Sound and Sense: “Allusion”

January 22-25:  Continue to work on allusions; complete Portrait; review and mid-term assessment (probably a passage analysis from Portrait and a multiple-choice section on a poem);  January 24: paper due at the beginning of class on an epic or extended poem. Choose a play to read for your next outside reading assignment (Due March 3). The revision of the Greek plays essay will be due on February 7, 2008.

Third Marking Period: January 28-March 31, 2008

January 28-February 1: Continue working on the allusion chapter (Classical and Biblical allusions) Scavenger Hunt in the library on Wednesday. HW: Write a poem that contains a literary or historical allusion. Explain its function in the poem (Due February 1). February 1: In-class essay on allusions. Choose a play to read for your next independent reading that is due on March 1.

February 4-8: Read Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot aloud in class. In-class exercise on Godot on February 8

February 11-14:  Discussion of chapter 11 in Sound and Sense,”Musical Devices. Due February 13, an original poem that uses musical devices effectively. Briefly explain how these devices contribute to meaning.
February 14: Valentine’s Day exercise: ”Sentimental, Didactic and Rhetorical Verse”.

February 20-22:  Discuss chapter 12 in Sound  and Sense, “Rhythm and Meter”.  For February 22, find or write an original poem that has some kind of established rhythm and meter. Identify both and briefly discuss the effect on the meaning and/or tone of the poem.

February 25-29: Discuss chapter 13, “Sound and Sense”. TRY to write a poem in which sound matches sense. If you or your family speak more than one language, please write your poem in both English and that second language. (Yes, you may receive help in doing this from a family member. You might write the poem first in English and then have the family member translate it for you if you do not speak a second language yourself.) This is due on March 5.

March 3-7:  On March 3, be prepared to write an in-class essay on a play. Then sign up for your fifth independent reading choice, a memoir, series of letters, personal essay, diary or autobiographical writing for the in-class essay on Friday, April 18.
March 7: Test on chapters 11-13 in Sound and Sense (sound devices). Identify terms and apply concepts learned about how sound in poetry contributes to sense. The test will probably consist of short answers and an essay. Begin Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, discussion chapters 1-5.

March 10-14: March 11: essay on a poem from your text is due. The revision will be due on April 10. Complete The Waves, discussion, creative writing exercise and passage analysis. Multiple-choice practice and test.

March 17-April 18: Hamlet (Separate schedule below)

March 17-20:  Act I, film clips, discussion
March 31:  Act II group prep; Acts II, IV and V AP multiple-choice prep
April 1:  Act II discussion
April 2:  Act III group prep; Acts II, IV and V AP multiple-choice prep
April 3:  Act III discussion
April 7:  Act IV group prep; Acts II, III and V AP multiple-choice prep April 8:  Act IV discussion

Fourth Marking Period: April 11-June 20, 2008

April 10:  Act V group prep; Acts II, III and IV AP multiple-choice prep
Also, your revision is due today.
April 11:  Film clips, critical opinions
April 14:  Act V discussion
April 16:  Hamlet culminating activity/in-class essay
April 18:  Book Talk and In-class essay on a memoir, etc.

April 21-25: Discuss chapter 14 in sound and Sense,”Pattern”. You will be composing and performing and illustrating group-generated poems for the class. More directions will follow.
Homework: Read chapter 9 in Sound and Sense.

April 28-May 2: Discuss Chapter 9 in Sound and Sense: “Meaning and Idea”, a good review for AP Exams. May 2 : In-class writing: Compare two poems as to depth of meaning. AP Literature Examination: MAY 8, 2008

May 5-9: Gulliver’s Travels: the Voyage to Liliput

May 12-16:  Gulliver’s Travels : The Voyage to Brobdingnag; The Voyage to Laputa, etcetera

May 19-23: Gulliver’s Travels: The Voyage to the Houyhnhnms and “Evaluating Poetry, Chapters 15 and 16 in Sound and Sense. Recordings of poets reading their works.

May 27-30: Meet in library to prepare Project presentations