Course Purpose:
Advanced Placement English is a college level English course. The course
challenges the motivated, college-bound student who has been successful in
previous english classes. Students should already have a mastery of writing
conventions and research skills. A.P. English emphasizes excellence in
independent reading and writing, class participation, leadership and
creativity. This course prepares students for the A.P. Literature/Composition
Exam's multiple choice questions and essay prompts given by the College Board
and Educational Testing Service, if they so choose. Students that pass the
exam are exempt from Freshman English at more than 1,200 colleges and
universities.
Course Description:
This course requires intensive reading of poetry and prose from a variety of
periods at the college level. Students will have a better understanding of
their literary heritage by reading works of famous British and American
writers. The course is both demanding and intellectually stimulating.
The course also teaches students how to read and evaluate primary and
secondary sources in order to incorporate them into an original composition.
Students will be required to document these sources using guidelines set
forth by the Modern Language Association ( M.L.A.)
Course Level Outcomes and Assessments:
Students will read, reflect upon, analyze, and discuss a variety of
literature,a ssessments include journal entries, timed essays, group and
individual presentations, tests, projects, and writing assignments. Students
will write for a variety of purposes. Assessments will include college
essays, expository, narrative, persuasive, analytical and creative
compositions. Students will apply writing convention in formal and informal
compositions; writing is asssessed for conventions, sentence complexity,
standard usage, and mechanics. Students will practice using the format,
rhetorical strategies, and style of the Literature/composition Exam, both
multiple choice questions and essay prompts, and will be assessed through
practice scoring essays and taking the exam in May.
Attendance:
Attendance is important. As I will be expecting a lot of reading and writing;
missing one day could mean missing as much as you would miss in two or three
classses of regular English.
Work, Work, Work
You will be expected to read over the Summer ( see Summer Reading List) and
one book every two or three weeks indepenently throughout each quarter. You
will also be given time writing assignments based on actual questions form
past A.P. exams. The A.P. rubric will be used to grade these essays.
Late Work:
All assignments are due on the due date whether you are in school or not.
This is a college level expectation. You will have five lates to use
throughout the year. This means you may hand in an assignment one day after
the expetected due date. I will keep track. However, lates cannot be used two
weeks prior to the end of a marking period. Once you use these, you must hand
in work on time or it will result in a zero.
Vocabulary:
An extensive amount of voacbulary will be given and tested throughout the
year. The words will come from assigned novels, the A.P. list of vocabulary
to know, Vocabulary tersm approved for seniors and other appropriate sources.
You will be tested on these terms and expected to use the words in your
writing assignments, speeches and presentations.
Writing:
Writing in A.P. English encompasses literary genres, styles, devices, and
themes such as the characteristic of a hero, corruptiopn in humans, order in
diverse society, ethics, political and economic disparity, the threats of
technology,etc. All students will assume a critical stance to analyze a
variety of literature, interpreting through their knowledge of author's
background, historic context, literary era, and /or style. Students should be
proficient writers able to establish a thesis, organize and argue a thesis
effectively, and analyze literary elements such as plot, character, setting,
and theme.
Expectations:
Students are expected to arrive to class on time with the following tools:
hard copy of the completed assignment(s) for the day, three-ring binder
separated into sections ( See binder requirements which may be revised as the
year progresses), a pencil and eraser, a pen, a highlighter, and anthologies
and /or current literature selection.
Students are expected to perform all tasks well and on time and to
demonstrate respect for colleagues, instructor, and the classroom
environment/materials used. Students willl await a turn to speak in class
discussions and be courteous when offering opinions.
Notes and Handouts:
You need to keep handouts and you'll need a space to record information
present in class and in assigned informational reading. Including historical
context notes, biographical information aboutt he authors, literary genre,
and notes on videos, etc. All notes should be neat, organized, and legible.
Your notebook should be valuable to you as a place to store information and
to explore your thinking on the reading. This notebook will be part of your
grade. Take it more seriously than you have ever taken an English notebook
before. It will be a tool to help you prepare for the exam.
Literary Terms:
You will be given important li8terary terms and techniques as part of the
curriculum in order to assist in evaluation of pieces of literature. We will
discuss these definitions and apply them to our reading. You will be held
accountable and tested on these literary definitions and techniques.
Journal Resposnse Log:
There are two standard A.P. questions about every piece of writing: What is
the author trying to accomplish ( questions of purpose, theme, audience) and
How is the author accomplishing it? ( questions of structure, rhetoric,
voice, literary edebvices, etc.)
You will be asked to answer these questions in our study of literature.
.
Writing:
You will be asked to write approximately two papers per quarter, one major
interpretive essay over the class novel ( or another pre-appoved AP worthy
selection) and one 40 minute AP essay over your outside novel. Your formal
essays each quarter may be written on an extended AP topic formt he free
response section or your own pre-approved topic; in either case, it should be
based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the work's use
of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone, structure, style, and
themes, and social and historical values which it reflects and embodies.
Peer Editing:
As part of the writing process, you are required to bioth edit others' work
AND have your own work edited I should receive copies of this edited work
ALONG WITH your final copy. I expect that each written assignment be edited
by AT LEAST two other other students in class.
Prewrites and Rewrites:
Although the AP timed write or the formal essays are due on the due date, you
are encouraged to set up an appointment with me to review your paper befor
ethe deadline. We will spend a lot of class time reviewing both AP essays
( yours and samples from the AP reading) and formal essays once they have
been turned in. Finally, you may rewrite any essay using your peer editor's
and/or my comments and receive a final grade which averages the original
essay and the rewrite. The remarks/peer review must be handed in with the new
copy.
Daily Work
You will have an assignment each evening, as well as your ongoing outside
novels( class and independednt). You are expected to come to class prepared,
having read AND prepared the assigned selection. Preparing a selection means
reading it actively and closely, taking notes when applicable and coming to
class with provocative insights, questions, and ideas to share. Each day the
work is not done is one more thing you lose towards your own edificationa nd
education.
Reading Groups
Each quarter, you will be assigned one outside novel to read with a group
from class. You will be asked to meet at least three times for a half and
hour or more each to discuss the novel you are reading. I must be invited to
one of these meetings, even if only for a few minutes. The belief here is
that reading a book with the input of your peers will not only help you to
better understand it but also make the experience more enjoyable overall.
Mock AP
We will be doing a number of Mock AP Exams throughout the year in preparation
for the test; in fact, the first one will be the first week of school. Given
the time constraints, most of these will be parts of the real AP rather than
the full test. However, as requested, we will try to do a full test.
Course Goals
1. To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature
2. To understand the way writers use langauage to provide meaning and pleasure
3. To consider a works structure, style, and themes as well as the use of
figurative language, imagery, and tone
4. To study representative works from various genres and peruiods
5. To consider the social and historical values of the works
6. To write critical analyses of literature including expository and
analytical ssays to better understand and appreciate literary artistry
7. To become aware through reading and writing the resources of langauge,
connotation, metaphor, syntax, irony,a nd tone
8. TO be WELL_ROUNDED FOR THE AP EXAM
