Course Overview
Welcome to AP Literature and Composition. In this year-long class we will be analyzing literature from the point of view of both the writer and the reader. One goal will be to determine how literature affects those of us who read it and to examine how literary works fit into their own time periods as well as into our own.
One of the primary methods of instruction will be the use of discussion (both in large and small groups). For our purposes it is important to continue to develop a healthy respect for the expressed ideas of others. Please come prepared to state your opinions using specific evidence from the readings to support your thinking; then listen attentively and respectfully to others who may express another point of view. Collaboration, collegiality, and growth are the focus for us all.
We will be writing often – on average weekly – creating literary analyses, character studies, and critical essays in class. Rewrites are welcome, encouraged, and expected. I will provide opportunities for individual writing conferences and for peer evaluation. In addition, short reflective writings and informal research will take place outside of class. Your reading response journal will provide an opportunity for you to “think” on paper prior to class discussion of an assignment. It is the student’s responsibility to prepare in advance for the material being considered each day. I look forward to working together on this challenging and exciting curriculum.
Assessment:
Assessment is done primarily through essays; however, some quizzes are given (including weekly vocabulary quizzes) and your response journals will be evaluated periodically. Issues of grammar and mechanics will be addressed as needed in the form of mini-lessons.
In-class essays will be graded using a five-point rubric, while outside assignments may be evaluated using rubrics developed specifically for that task. In any case, your writing will be evaluated based upon the following core criteria:
Clear focus upon the question at hand
Effective organization
Varied and effective sentence structure
Scholarly word choice
Thorough support and elaboration
Excellence of argument
Join our class remind:
Enter 81010
Text this message:
@23b82dh
Prior to class discussions, students will prepare written responses to focus questions. This process is intended to provide time for students to think independently in preparation for class dialogue. Each student is responsible for maintaining a complete portfolio of all writing assignments in the classroom.
Course Grading Criteria:
Assessments will include written, multiple choice, performance, formal and informal assessments and will be used as an objective measurement of the learning outcome. This allows reflection on what needs to be retaught and/or when curriculum compacting can occur to avoid repetition of mastered material. Assessments will be personalized as self-reflection, student-generated rubrics, group projects to offer assessment capable learners opportunities to thrive. Formative assessments will drive instruction and performance assessments will combine with authentic assessment and learning opportunities to prepare students. Benchmark assessments and partnered reflection/formative planning with drive outcomes. Performance based learning will extend our purpose and enrich the plan which is always to benefit the learner and the learning community.
See link for information
Grade Scale:
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
NP: 59
Plagiarism:
pla·gia·rism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.
synonyms: copying, infringement of copyright, piracy, theft, stealing
Work Policy:
Work is due at the beginning of the class. Late assignments are accepted; however, they will require a written document, signed by student and parent/guardian.
All work is due at the beginning of class. Missing work will receive a placeholder grade of zero until work is provided. Work is accepted only within the marking period. If a work has been reviewed in class, the student may be given an alternate assignment.
Students/parents have my contact information and are encouraged to contact me with questions regarding the assignment. Attempts are always celebrated.
Late Work: All work is due at the beginning of class; Late work is considered missing and will have a placeholder grade of zero. Students will have to sign a document committing to a due date, with parent/guardian signature. If a missing work has been reviewed in class, the student may be given an alternate assignment.
Zero Policy: All student work can be re-taken for an adjusted grade when a student has a zero or has a grade below mastery of 80% as the goal is learning at all times. The only exception is a second infraction of the plagiarism policy.
Tutoring is offered every Thursday after school in the classroom and upon request; please notify me in advance.
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:
1- Prompt arrival
2- Prepared, ready to work on time; electronics only with teacher approval
3- Completion of homework and assignments on time/at the beginning of class.
4- Promotion of a positive work climate
5- Use of appropriate language and behavior
6- Respect of yourself, peers, faculty and school property
Supply Guidelines List:
1- One-inch binder
2- Looseleaf paper
3- Colored pencils
4- Flash/jump drive
5- Highlighters
6- Composition notebook or journal
7- Erasable pens or pencils
Wish list: paper towels, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes
Student Handbook:
Students are expected to follow Enloe High School Handbook
Textbook:
Arp, Thomas R. and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense 9th ed.
Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
Supplementary Materials:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster
Mythology Edith Hamilton
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Hamlet William Shakespeare
Antigone Sophocles
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Othello William Shakespeare
Sample Pacing Guide; dates may vary see planner
August -October The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Learning Outcome: To foster the concept of intertwining themes, the redemption unit supports the concept of the dangers of discrimination and the inescapability of one’s past. This unit combines current events and embraces informational text, thematic concepts and literary devices. Overarching topics to be explored in journal form while reading and discussing the novel include the following:
Auxiliary Materials:
Selected segments from Les Miserable, Frankenstein, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and historical documents.
Written responses:
Students synthesize two scenes for tone in a one page written response
An exercise in which students synthesize two scenes for tone in a one page written response. This pre-writing exercise is designed to facilitate close reading of the novel. Keyed to the Dover edition, this assignment directs students to appropriate portions of the novel in order to collect evidence for an in-class essay, which follows.
Student selection of topic from five essay prompts. Evaluation is based on the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to revise and resubmit this essay.
August – February
Poetry Study:
Learning Outcome: Students will read chapters of Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense to examine various poetic elements and their application to insightful literary analysis. We will examine specific poems in class in preparation for seminars. Seminars will focus upon poetry as genre and address:
Written responses:
The following in-class essays are presented using AP essay format. They are evaluated using the nine-point AP scale. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
The following essays are to be completed outside of class. Students are provided with a rubric at the time the assignment is given. In addition, class time for questions and problem solving is provided at intervals.
Independent Assignment:
Learning Outcome: Students will read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to cement their knowledge of Greek gods and major myths and to enhance understanding of allusion. Students may either answer study questions or develop an independent project with teacher approval to demonstrate mastery of this material.
Drama:
October – November Othello William Shakespeare
Learning Outcome: To foster the concept of intertwining themes, the role/archetype of the outsider synthesizes with that of the Shakespearean epic form in prior academic year and supports the concept of the dangers of discrimination, isolation, racism and the inescapability of one’s fears. This unit combines drama, poetry, pop-culture, prior literature, and embraces rich discussion of current events, thematic concepts and literary devices. The anchor text is William Shakespeare's Othello. This unit serves as an introduction to the analysis and evaluation of the epic form transformation from ancient Greek Aristotelian model to Shakespeare's model. The unit culminates in a Fire vs. Ice activity anchored in the text and launched by Robert Frost's poem of the same name. This activity uses a grid to outline choice and control for learners to create, communicate, collaborate and think critically. Students demonstrate knowledge through a team challenge Fire, Iago, vs. Ice, Othello, which is judged by the pit, peasants from the famous Globe Theatre, to determine which character contributed more dimensionally to the tragedy of Othello. Overarching concepts, targets, and mastery include:
Written responses:
In addition to a performance assessment using multiple intelligences in a debate format, students create the following:
one monologue in iambic pentameter analyzed in a one page written response
one essay selection on the topic of sacrifice, cruelty, setting, symbol or dramatic foil. Students must trace the development and impact of selection on a character and/or events and how it ties to theme.
Note: In-class essays are presented using AP essay format. They are evaluated using the nine-point AP scale. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
“Independent Assignment:
Students will read a relevant chapter of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to cement their knowledge of Greek gods and major myths and to enhance understanding of allusion. Students may either answer study questions or develop an independent project with teacher approval to demonstrate mastery of this material.
Short Fiction:
Learning Outcome: Students will maintain a reading response journal focusing on reading strategies to evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of a variety of short stories. Relevant readings from How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster will be assigned in conjunction with these shorter works. Class discussions based on this assignment are scheduled weekly.
Evaluating Fiction
January “The Child by Tiger” Thomas Wolfe
February “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell
Point of View
February “Paul’s Case” Willa Cather
February “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemingway
Plot and Structure
March “The Destructors” Graham Greene
Characterization
March “Miss Brill” Katherine Mansfield
Theme
February “Gooseberries” Anton Chekhov
March “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty
Symbol and Fantasy
March “The Rockinghorse Winner” D.H. Lawrence
Irony
April “The Guest” Albert Camus
February – April
February – March Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Learning Outcome: Students will establish context by completing a webquest exploring the history and effects of 19th Century European colonialism
Overarching topics to be explored in journal form while reading and discussing the novel include the following:
Identify and trace both the literal and figurative journeys evident in the novel.
Consider this novel as a “journey through hell.” To what extent do students agree / disagree with this assessment?
Locate and evaluate the effectiveness of such literary devices as allusion, irony, paradox, and repetition.
Identify themes and connect them to other pieces of literature.
Note the unique use of the terms white and black, darkness and light and explore the significance of these words to the work.
Auxiliary Materials:
Selected segments from King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild.
“White Lies and Whited Sepuchres in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” by Phillip V. Allingham.
Written responses:
An exercise in examining multiple points of view to evaluate character – This pre-writing exercise is designed to facilitate close reading of the novel. Keyed to the Dover edition, this assignment directs students to appropriate portions of the novel in order to collect evidence for an in-class essay, which follows.
Students use the prewriting exercise to examine the effect of the treatment of Kurtz’s character on the theme of deception that pervades the novel. Evaluation is based on the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to revise and resubmit this essay.
March – April Hamlet William Shakespeare
Learning Outcome: Students will maintain a reading response journal to structure the study of drama. The teacher will provide instructions for specific segments that focus upon:
The use of dialogue to create suspense
The place of setting in creating mood and atmosphere
The device of the ghost
A study of text and subtext
Paraphrase of important soliloquies
Various relationships within the drama
Theme
These journal responses will form the basis of our class discussion for this study.
Written responses:
Students are provided with rubrics for each piece as it is assigned. In-class essays are graded using the AP nine-point scale; in all cases, writing should be well organized and insightful with rich elaboration in support of the student’s point of view. Word choice should be specific and reflect a growing ability to control language in a scholarly manner.
Rubrics specific to the following essays are provided at the time of assignment.
Create an interior monologue for major characters as the “Mousetrap” scene unfolds to reveal an understanding of that character’s motivations and personality.
Analyze of that same scene from a feminist perspective
The following essays are presented in AP exam format and graded using the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
An in-class essay analyzing the effect of the Ghost upon the development of the drama
An in-class essay explicating the motif of false appearances.
The final activity associated with Hamlet is a seminar in which students present the perspectives developed in their writing.
Independent Assignment:
Students will read Antigone by Sophocles and explore in writing the following ideas as they relate to this ancient Greek drama:
Identify the characteristics of Greek tragedy and analyze the play as a classic example of the form
Research Greek burial rituals and explain their connection to the central conflict
Identify three themes with specific support from the text
A rubric structured around the components listed above is provided for students at the time the assignment is made. Class time for discussion, questions, and problem solving is provided at intervals.
April – May
Independent Assignment: The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
Learning Outcome: Students will complete a number of activities (chosen at teacher discretion) from The Learning Center curriculum unit to identify epigram as an effective literary device, differentiate between comedy of manners and contemporary comedy, and analyze the power of language.
Students will be provided with a rubric focusing upon characterization, epigram, and tone as they contribute to comedy of manners. After viewing a video presentation of the play, students will write a review of the production focusing upon those three elements.
April Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
Learning Outcome: Students will serve as resources to each other by completing a variety of teacher-designed activities to analyze this novel. Findings will be presented to the rest of the class. Ten (10) separate assignments address social issues, the literal and figurative aspects of journey, imagery, authorial experience as it parallels character experience, creative writing as personal response to the novel, motivation for and consequences of Janie’s choice of spouses, written responses to literary criticism, setting as “character,” and interior monologues to reveal character. Each activity contains an individual rubric to assist students as they prepare to teach their classmates.
Written responses will include a timed essay in response to an appropriate open question from previous AP exams. These responses are graded using the nine-point AP rubric.
April – May Exam “Boot Camp”
Daily preparation for the AP Exam to include sample objective tests, brainstorming responses to past open questions, timed writings. Students will write three essays from previous exams in class. Each essay will be graded using the nine-point AP evaluation. Individual conferences, peer review, and class discussion will follow each written assignment. Students are to revise one essay for reassessment. This final essay counts as one test grade.
Exam May 2020
Help · About · Pricing · Privacy · Terms · Support · Upgrade
Portions not contributed by visitors are Copyright 2018 Tangient LLC
Welcome to AP Literature and Composition. In this year-long class we will be analyzing literature from the point of view of both the writer and the reader. One goal will be to determine how literature affects those of us who read it and to examine how literary works fit into their own time periods as well as into our own.
One of the primary methods of instruction will be the use of discussion (both in large and small groups). For our purposes it is important to continue to develop a healthy respect for the expressed ideas of others. Please come prepared to state your opinions using specific evidence from the readings to support your thinking; then listen attentively and respectfully to others who may express another point of view. Collaboration, collegiality, and growth are the focus for us all.
We will be writing often – on average weekly – creating literary analyses, character studies, and critical essays in class. Rewrites are welcome, encouraged, and expected. I will provide opportunities for individual writing conferences and for peer evaluation. In addition, short reflective writings and informal research will take place outside of class. Your reading response journal will provide an opportunity for you to “think” on paper prior to class discussion of an assignment. It is the student’s responsibility to prepare in advance for the material being considered each day. I look forward to working together on this challenging and exciting curriculum.
Assessment:
Assessment is done primarily through essays; however, some quizzes are given (including weekly vocabulary quizzes) and your response journals will be evaluated periodically. Issues of grammar and mechanics will be addressed as needed in the form of mini-lessons.
In-class essays will be graded using a five-point rubric, while outside assignments may be evaluated using rubrics developed specifically for that task. In any case, your writing will be evaluated based upon the following core criteria:
Clear focus upon the question at hand
Effective organization
Varied and effective sentence structure
Scholarly word choice
Thorough support and elaboration
Excellence of argument
Join our class remind:
Enter 81010
Text this message:
@23b82dh
Prior to class discussions, students will prepare written responses to focus questions. This process is intended to provide time for students to think independently in preparation for class dialogue. Each student is responsible for maintaining a complete portfolio of all writing assignments in the classroom.
Course Grading Criteria:
Assessments will include written, multiple choice, performance, formal and informal assessments and will be used as an objective measurement of the learning outcome. This allows reflection on what needs to be retaught and/or when curriculum compacting can occur to avoid repetition of mastered material. Assessments will be personalized as self-reflection, student-generated rubrics, group projects to offer assessment capable learners opportunities to thrive. Formative assessments will drive instruction and performance assessments will combine with authentic assessment and learning opportunities to prepare students. Benchmark assessments and partnered reflection/formative planning with drive outcomes. Performance based learning will extend our purpose and enrich the plan which is always to benefit the learner and the learning community.
See link for information
Grade Scale:
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
NP: 59
Plagiarism:
pla·gia·rism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.
synonyms: copying, infringement of copyright, piracy, theft, stealing
Work Policy:
Work is due at the beginning of the class. Late assignments are accepted; however, they will require a written document, signed by student and parent/guardian.
All work is due at the beginning of class. Missing work will receive a placeholder grade of zero until work is provided. Work is accepted only within the marking period. If a work has been reviewed in class, the student may be given an alternate assignment.
Students/parents have my contact information and are encouraged to contact me with questions regarding the assignment. Attempts are always celebrated.
Late Work: All work is due at the beginning of class; Late work is considered missing and will have a placeholder grade of zero. Students will have to sign a document committing to a due date, with parent/guardian signature. If a missing work has been reviewed in class, the student may be given an alternate assignment.
Zero Policy: All student work can be re-taken for an adjusted grade when a student has a zero or has a grade below mastery of 80% as the goal is learning at all times. The only exception is a second infraction of the plagiarism policy.
Tutoring is offered every Thursday after school in the classroom and upon request; please notify me in advance.
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:
1- Prompt arrival
2- Prepared, ready to work on time; electronics only with teacher approval
3- Completion of homework and assignments on time/at the beginning of class.
4- Promotion of a positive work climate
5- Use of appropriate language and behavior
6- Respect of yourself, peers, faculty and school property
Supply Guidelines List:
1- One-inch binder
2- Looseleaf paper
3- Colored pencils
4- Flash/jump drive
5- Highlighters
6- Composition notebook or journal
7- Erasable pens or pencils
Wish list: paper towels, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes
Student Handbook:
Students are expected to follow Enloe High School Handbook
Textbook:
Arp, Thomas R. and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense 9th ed.
Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
Supplementary Materials:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster
Mythology Edith Hamilton
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Hamlet William Shakespeare
Antigone Sophocles
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Othello William Shakespeare
Sample Pacing Guide; dates may vary see planner
August -October The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Learning Outcome: To foster the concept of intertwining themes, the redemption unit supports the concept of the dangers of discrimination and the inescapability of one’s past. This unit combines current events and embraces informational text, thematic concepts and literary devices. Overarching topics to be explored in journal form while reading and discussing the novel include the following:
- annotating historical information and synthesizing the information to draw meaning to literary text
- understanding the nuances in secular differences in Middle Eastern culture
- applying the historical and secular information to infer discreet meaning to characterization in literary text
- synthesizing theme across multiple literary works and evaluating how that theme enhances the work as a whole
- adapting understanding to the framework of the storyteller in response to the first-person narrator
- analyzing the use of medias res through flashback and how it develops the story in contrast to a chronological approach
- applying literary devices and thematic concepts to mixed genres to enhance understanding and appreciation
Auxiliary Materials:
Selected segments from Les Miserable, Frankenstein, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and historical documents.
Written responses:
Students synthesize two scenes for tone in a one page written response
An exercise in which students synthesize two scenes for tone in a one page written response. This pre-writing exercise is designed to facilitate close reading of the novel. Keyed to the Dover edition, this assignment directs students to appropriate portions of the novel in order to collect evidence for an in-class essay, which follows.
Student selection of topic from five essay prompts. Evaluation is based on the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to revise and resubmit this essay.
August – February
Poetry Study:
Learning Outcome: Students will read chapters of Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense to examine various poetic elements and their application to insightful literary analysis. We will examine specific poems in class in preparation for seminars. Seminars will focus upon poetry as genre and address:
- Poetic language as it contributes to meaning
- Development of theme and tone
- Effect of musical devices upon the reader
Written responses:
The following in-class essays are presented using AP essay format. They are evaluated using the nine-point AP scale. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
- Analysis of imagery as it informs tone in poetry
- Compare/Contrast two poems considering elements such as point of view, imagery, and structure
The following essays are to be completed outside of class. Students are provided with a rubric at the time the assignment is given. In addition, class time for questions and problem solving is provided at intervals.
- Read and analyze a number of poems by a single poet of student choice, discussing the poet’s characteristic themes and techniques.
- Optional creative assignment for extra credit: Write an original poem employing the same techniques used by a poet, thereby creating a work that resembles that poet’s style but reflects the students own theme or point of view
Independent Assignment:
Learning Outcome: Students will read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to cement their knowledge of Greek gods and major myths and to enhance understanding of allusion. Students may either answer study questions or develop an independent project with teacher approval to demonstrate mastery of this material.
Drama:
October – November Othello William Shakespeare
Learning Outcome: To foster the concept of intertwining themes, the role/archetype of the outsider synthesizes with that of the Shakespearean epic form in prior academic year and supports the concept of the dangers of discrimination, isolation, racism and the inescapability of one’s fears. This unit combines drama, poetry, pop-culture, prior literature, and embraces rich discussion of current events, thematic concepts and literary devices. The anchor text is William Shakespeare's Othello. This unit serves as an introduction to the analysis and evaluation of the epic form transformation from ancient Greek Aristotelian model to Shakespeare's model. The unit culminates in a Fire vs. Ice activity anchored in the text and launched by Robert Frost's poem of the same name. This activity uses a grid to outline choice and control for learners to create, communicate, collaborate and think critically. Students demonstrate knowledge through a team challenge Fire, Iago, vs. Ice, Othello, which is judged by the pit, peasants from the famous Globe Theatre, to determine which character contributed more dimensionally to the tragedy of Othello. Overarching concepts, targets, and mastery include:
- annotating historical information and synthesizing the information to draw meaning to literary text
- understanding the nuances in secular differences in English culture
- applying the historical information to infer discreet meaning of Shakespeare's life characterization in literary text
- synthesizing theme across multiple literary works and evaluating how Greek literature impacts the work as a whole
- adapting understanding to the framework of the play and the integration of dramatic irony in the engagement of the audience
- analyzing the use of the dramatic foil how it develops the play through contrast
- applying literary devices and thematic concepts to mixed genres to enhance understanding and appreciation
Written responses:
In addition to a performance assessment using multiple intelligences in a debate format, students create the following:
one monologue in iambic pentameter analyzed in a one page written response
one essay selection on the topic of sacrifice, cruelty, setting, symbol or dramatic foil. Students must trace the development and impact of selection on a character and/or events and how it ties to theme.
Note: In-class essays are presented using AP essay format. They are evaluated using the nine-point AP scale. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
“Independent Assignment:
Students will read a relevant chapter of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology to cement their knowledge of Greek gods and major myths and to enhance understanding of allusion. Students may either answer study questions or develop an independent project with teacher approval to demonstrate mastery of this material.
Short Fiction:
Learning Outcome: Students will maintain a reading response journal focusing on reading strategies to evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of a variety of short stories. Relevant readings from How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster will be assigned in conjunction with these shorter works. Class discussions based on this assignment are scheduled weekly.
Evaluating Fiction
January “The Child by Tiger” Thomas Wolfe
February “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell
Point of View
February “Paul’s Case” Willa Cather
February “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemingway
Plot and Structure
March “The Destructors” Graham Greene
Characterization
March “Miss Brill” Katherine Mansfield
Theme
February “Gooseberries” Anton Chekhov
March “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty
Symbol and Fantasy
March “The Rockinghorse Winner” D.H. Lawrence
Irony
April “The Guest” Albert Camus
February – April
February – March Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Learning Outcome: Students will establish context by completing a webquest exploring the history and effects of 19th Century European colonialism
Overarching topics to be explored in journal form while reading and discussing the novel include the following:
Identify and trace both the literal and figurative journeys evident in the novel.
Consider this novel as a “journey through hell.” To what extent do students agree / disagree with this assessment?
Locate and evaluate the effectiveness of such literary devices as allusion, irony, paradox, and repetition.
Identify themes and connect them to other pieces of literature.
Note the unique use of the terms white and black, darkness and light and explore the significance of these words to the work.
Auxiliary Materials:
Selected segments from King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild.
“White Lies and Whited Sepuchres in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” by Phillip V. Allingham.
Written responses:
An exercise in examining multiple points of view to evaluate character – This pre-writing exercise is designed to facilitate close reading of the novel. Keyed to the Dover edition, this assignment directs students to appropriate portions of the novel in order to collect evidence for an in-class essay, which follows.
Students use the prewriting exercise to examine the effect of the treatment of Kurtz’s character on the theme of deception that pervades the novel. Evaluation is based on the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to revise and resubmit this essay.
March – April Hamlet William Shakespeare
Learning Outcome: Students will maintain a reading response journal to structure the study of drama. The teacher will provide instructions for specific segments that focus upon:
The use of dialogue to create suspense
The place of setting in creating mood and atmosphere
The device of the ghost
A study of text and subtext
Paraphrase of important soliloquies
Various relationships within the drama
Theme
These journal responses will form the basis of our class discussion for this study.
Written responses:
Students are provided with rubrics for each piece as it is assigned. In-class essays are graded using the AP nine-point scale; in all cases, writing should be well organized and insightful with rich elaboration in support of the student’s point of view. Word choice should be specific and reflect a growing ability to control language in a scholarly manner.
Rubrics specific to the following essays are provided at the time of assignment.
Create an interior monologue for major characters as the “Mousetrap” scene unfolds to reveal an understanding of that character’s motivations and personality.
Analyze of that same scene from a feminist perspective
The following essays are presented in AP exam format and graded using the nine-point AP rubric. Individual conferences, class discussion, and/or small groups will focus upon strengths and weaknesses of individual pieces. Students are required to rewrite at least ONE essay.
An in-class essay analyzing the effect of the Ghost upon the development of the drama
An in-class essay explicating the motif of false appearances.
The final activity associated with Hamlet is a seminar in which students present the perspectives developed in their writing.
Independent Assignment:
Students will read Antigone by Sophocles and explore in writing the following ideas as they relate to this ancient Greek drama:
Identify the characteristics of Greek tragedy and analyze the play as a classic example of the form
Research Greek burial rituals and explain their connection to the central conflict
Identify three themes with specific support from the text
A rubric structured around the components listed above is provided for students at the time the assignment is made. Class time for discussion, questions, and problem solving is provided at intervals.
April – May
Independent Assignment: The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
Learning Outcome: Students will complete a number of activities (chosen at teacher discretion) from The Learning Center curriculum unit to identify epigram as an effective literary device, differentiate between comedy of manners and contemporary comedy, and analyze the power of language.
Students will be provided with a rubric focusing upon characterization, epigram, and tone as they contribute to comedy of manners. After viewing a video presentation of the play, students will write a review of the production focusing upon those three elements.
April Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
Learning Outcome: Students will serve as resources to each other by completing a variety of teacher-designed activities to analyze this novel. Findings will be presented to the rest of the class. Ten (10) separate assignments address social issues, the literal and figurative aspects of journey, imagery, authorial experience as it parallels character experience, creative writing as personal response to the novel, motivation for and consequences of Janie’s choice of spouses, written responses to literary criticism, setting as “character,” and interior monologues to reveal character. Each activity contains an individual rubric to assist students as they prepare to teach their classmates.
Written responses will include a timed essay in response to an appropriate open question from previous AP exams. These responses are graded using the nine-point AP rubric.
April – May Exam “Boot Camp”
Daily preparation for the AP Exam to include sample objective tests, brainstorming responses to past open questions, timed writings. Students will write three essays from previous exams in class. Each essay will be graded using the nine-point AP evaluation. Individual conferences, peer review, and class discussion will follow each written assignment. Students are to revise one essay for reassessment. This final essay counts as one test grade.
Exam May 2020
Help · About · Pricing · Privacy · Terms · Support · Upgrade
Portions not contributed by visitors are Copyright 2018 Tangient LLC