AP English IV Syllabus
2015-16
This course is intended to prepare students for the rigorous demands of writing and reading in the college setting. Students taking the AP Literature test in the spring can possibly earn 3 hours college credit, with a score of 3 (not taken at some universities), 4, or 5. Students are required to come to class every day, bring all materials (paper, writing utensil and textbook, if applicable) and complete all of their coursework so that they do not fall behind. It is imperative that you attend class daily. Make-up work will be negotiable if there is an excused absence, but even excused excessive absenteeism will affect performance on most assessments.
This course is to comply with the curricular requirements described in the AP Literature Course Description, which can be found on AP Central at collegeboard.com. It will also adhere to the Common Core Standards, which have been adopted by the state of Kentucky and many other states in our nation. An end-of-course exam will occur for all 12th grade students, and this will account for 20% of their entire yearly grade.
Contact Information
Shannon Bailey
270-265-2506
[email protected]
Text Messaging Service: Enter the number 81010 and text this message, @b874c
Grading - unit tests, computer projects, and writing assignments will make up most of the grades in this class. Daily work should be utilized in order to practice the skills and concepts necessary for success on graded assignments (formative assessments). It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to master these skills through these formative activities in order to be successful on the summative (graded) assessments. Chances to make up tests and projects will be given on a case-by-case basis (excused absences only). Most work is due at the beginning of the class period on the day of the due date. Late work may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. Please see me if you are having difficulty with completion of the required curriculum.
AP-style essays are the most likely type of writing assessment you will receive as a student in this class. The standards for on-demand writing include the ability to focus, pre-write, draft, revise and edit a real-world type of writing such as a speech, business letter or an editorial/news story. AP assessments are usually in essay format, and utilize the 3-part essay format (intro, body, closing).
Vocabulary will be an integral part of every unit.
Grammar will be covered in order to comply with Common Core Standards. Grammar will be individually addressed in your writing according to your needs.
Textbook
Applebee, Arthur N. The Language of Literature: British Literature. McDougal Littell: Evanston, IL., 2006.
Booth, Alison and Kelly Mayes. The Norton Anthology to Literature. W.W. Norton & Company: NY. 2010.
The following is a list of reading selections that are associated with their respective time periods. The study of these texts will likely be in chronological order, but are subject to change to accommodate scheduling.
Preliminary list of novels to be read in class
1984 by George Orwell -- summer reading or novel of choice
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton -- summer reading or novel of choice
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- summer reading or novel of choice
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo -- summer reading or novel of choice
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy -- summer reading or novel of choice
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy -- summer reading or novel of choice
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte -- summer reading or novel of choice
The Once and Future King by T.H. White -- summer reading or novel of choice
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood -- summer reading or novel of choice
Medea by Euripides -- summer reading or novel of choice
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontё -- first semester
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- second semester Hamlet by William Shakespeare – first semester
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad -- first semester
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde – first semester
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – second semester
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak -- second semester
All of the novels and readings studied throughout the high school English classes (9-12th grades) are fair game for the AP test.
Performance tasks:
- Timed essays based on past AP prompts that are relevant to the current reading material
- Essay and research writing as required of college-level writers
- Reading, responding, analyzing novels, drama, fiction, and nonfiction and poetry
- Imaginative writing like poetry, speeches, and stories
- Graphic organizers, paragraph responses, and levels of questions to guide classroom inquiry
- End-of-Course (EOC) assessment required of all seniors as part of final grade (20%)
- Pre-course Assignment: due upon return from summer break
- Actively read novels and complete the summer reading AP essays
- Review with discussion of time periods for novel and its respective issues as a result of author influence
- Unit assessment will be covered in the required essay for the reading.
Research paper – King Arthur: 3 weeks A research paper associated with The Once and Future King and Le Morte d’Arthur, will be one of the first summative grades during this class. You will complete a 2-4 page research paper using skills for preventing plagiarism, such as documentation, citing techniques, and in-text references to other sources. Your research paper must make a claim and support it with valid references.
Career and College Readiness Standards for this assessment
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from text.
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive (realistic) topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to take, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
Conduct short- or long-term research projects based on focused questions.
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
Draw evidence from literary or informational test to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Poetry Analysis/responses: intervals throughout the year Poetry is an integral part of the AP Literature test and should be read and analyzed on a regular basis. Responses and analysis to poetry will be given over a number of different types of poetry. Constructed-response Writing: various intervals throughout the year to work on practice, revision and editing. Anglo-Saxon literature - Beowulf
Constructed-response writing: assess characteristics of the epic, epic hero, kennings, syntax, historical context (bard delivery, unwritten and passed down by orators) using Kentucky writing standards for on-demand responses (see above)
Medieval period
“Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
· Analyze characters in Prologue in conjunction with their respective Tale through discussion and participation in assessment packet
· Satire
Constructed-response writing: evaluate Chaucer’s use of characterization to satirize various perspectives of the clergy and other various characters on the pilgrimage
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” “Le Morte d’Arthur”
· Connect these short stories to the reading assignment, White’s The Once and Future King, and create levels of questions to guide discussion
· Evaluate elements of plot and short story through graphic organizer and rhetorical triangle worksheet
· Present “knightly” community service project to class utilizing chivalric codes through written and delivered speech to class
Elizabethan/Renaissance period - Poetry and tragedy
Spencer’s sonnets Marlowe’s “Passionate Shepherd” Raleigh’s “The Nymph’s Reply” Shakespearean sonnets
· Sonnet criteria and formation, evaluate and create sonnets emphasizing rhyme scheme, metrical feet, lines, devices of sound, verse forms, figures of speech, stanza forms, figurative language, tone, imagery and other poetry terms
· Assess students at various intervals over sections of terms concerning fundamentals of poetry (multiple choice and application through creation of sonnet and poetic lines that adhere to specific poetic criteria) Hamlet by Shakespeare
· Study concepts such as hubris, Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and the tragic hero, chain of events, plot structure and Shakespearean language throughout the reading of play
· Theme analysis
· Form and function of tragedy
· Timed AP question
Literary analysis paper using at least one outside source, with correct documentation, evaluating themes, style, plot structure and historical values
17th Century: approx. 3 weeks Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” and “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” Herrick’s “To the Virgins” and the Carpe Diem philosophy Pepys’ Diary
· Compare/contrast essay between various poems, including critical response to poetry in previous AP tests
· Metaphysical poetry Satire: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1 1⁄2 weeks – first semester)
· Evaluate historical context in conjunctions with character’s motivations (levels of questioning, discussion)
· Connect characters through characterization activity (group)
· Respond to previous AP question regarding country setting
18th Century
Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year,” “The Rape of the Lock” by Alexander Pope, Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” by Mary Wollstonecraft
· Evaluate satire and author’s purpose
· Deliver modern-day “modest proposal” to class through written and delivered speech
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (4 weeks – to be completed during first semester)
· Evaluate historical context in conjunctions with character’s motivations (levels of questioning, discussion)
· Connect characters through characterization activity (group)
· Discuss women’s roles as characterized through Pride and Prejudice and The Awakening
Romanticism
Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” and Springsteen’s “My Hometown,” Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty,” Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”
· Evaluate poetry terms and re-visit information gained from the Elizabethan period in preparation for AP test
· Students write poetry analysis
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – 2 weeks to be completed second semester
· Make connections to “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
· Discuss historical connections (Galvinism) and author choice of genre
· Evaluate Romantic characteristics in conjunction with the sublime, nature, imagination and Gothicism
· Literature circles: vocabulary, real-world/other text connections, summary and characterization
· Write, write, write and practice writing using AP practice question Nonfiction reading will be incorporated into all types of reading.
Literary Criticism
Literary theories will be discussed in length. Students will analyze The Book Thief based upon a particular literary theory (feminist, formalism, reader-response, Marxist, etc.). research, peer revision, teacher/student writing conferences
Craft first, second, and final drafts.
Various readings from the Victorian and 20th and 21st Century if time permits.
Best of luck for a great senior year and successful AP test completion!