AP English Literature - Immaculate Heart High School

AP English Literature
2012-2013
Dr. Elizabeth Binggeli
ebinggeli@immaculateheart.org
Office Hours: even days, 2:15-3:00
Location: L5
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English Department Philosophy Statement
The English department believes that communication is the most basic yet also the most sublime of
gifts. Mastery of language is not an obscure talent only for the erudite and privileged; it is a hard-won
skill available to all. The study of literature is a constant meditation on the self, faith, politics, history,
and culture. Ultimately, reading and writing form the gateway to life-long learning and should ideally
provide students with a foundation for an informed and meaningful intellectual and spiritual life.
Further, we hope to inspire our students to recognize themselves as important and thoughtful members
of the global community.
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Course Description: AP English Literature
AP English Literature is a college-level course designed to prepare you for writing in college as well as for
taking the AP English Literature exam on May 9, 2013. The course follows the curricular requirements
described in the College Board’s AP English Course Description. Reading selections and writing
assignments will be rich and challenging; the pace of the class, intense. We will concentrate on analyzing
literature through close readings and the development of sophisticated analytical essays.
Students who have successfully completed AP English Literature will:
Employ close reading skills to examine the ways diction, syntax, tone, imagery, symbolism and
allusion work to create textual meaning.
Gain a clear understanding of the genres, periods, critical approaches and citation systems
particular to the analysis of literature.
Understand how cultural and historical contexts shape the formation, dissemination, and
reception of literary works.
Formulate opinions based on close readings and shape those opinions into original arguments
that are shared orally and in writing.
Construct sophisticated timed and untimed analytical essays with clear thesis statements,
organized supporting paragraphs, and compelling textual evidence.
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Academic Content Standards
The primary goal of the English department is to help students to read well and communicate
effectively. Upon graduation from Immaculate Heart High School students will:
Read critically and recognize literal and implied meaning in varied classic and contemporary
texts, assigned and independently selected.
Write coherent and focused essays that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned
argument. The writing demonstrates students’ awareness of the audience and purpose.
Approach writing as a process, progressing through the following stages: prewriting, drafting,
evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing.
Write clearly and use formal conventions of English language: grammar, spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, syntax, and diction.
Speak effectively and employ formal and informal conventions of the English language that are
appropriate to a variety of purposes and audiences.
Respectfully discuss topics, evaluate alternative points of view, and recognize questions and
issues raised in the works they read.
Recognize trends and developments in literature as an art form, including literary movements,
styles, and conventions.
Find, evaluate, and synthesize information for specific purposes, using a variety of properly cited
sources.
Apply critical reading skills to determine the meaning of new words encountered in texts and
use those words accurately.
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Required Materials
You are required to bring the texts listed below by Tuesday, August 28. Please consult the Follet website
to be certain you purchase the correct editions. Throughout the year, students are expected to consult
the weekly schedule online and bring to class the text(s) currently under discussion. Failure to do so will
adversely affect the participation grade.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness
Eliot, George. Middlemarch
Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury
Joyce, James. Dubliners
Shakespeare,William. King Lear
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Vogel and Winans. Multiple Choice & Free Response Questions
In addition to these texts, I will provide students with handouts of selected poems and short stories.
Students will themselves select a contemporary poem and novel of their choice to read as well.
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Class Policies
1. Absences and Missed Work
Written assignments must be uploaded to Turnitin by the due date and time. If you have a legitimate
need for an extension, please meet with me before the due date and we will determine a course of
action together. If a due date passes without an assignment uploaded or a meeting with the student,
that assignment will be dropped a half grade for every calendar day late. If you are absent the day of a
quiz or test, or the day homework is to be handed in, you must expect on the day of your return to take
that quiz or test, or to hand in the homework. In general, it is your responsibility to make up missed
work after an absence; do not assume that I will seek you out and make arrangements on your behalf – I
will simply record a zero for the missed assignment.
2. Turnitin and Academic Integrity
Students will upload take-home essays and other selected assignments to Turnitin.com. Students are
expected to be able to access their Turnitin accounts when necessary.
period class number password
2 5341995 apenglit2
4 5342007 apenglit4
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s WORDS or IDEAS without giving proper credit. This includes
paraphrasing a source without giving due credit. As you know, plagiarism is a serious breach of academic
integrity and any assignment containing plagiarism will receive a failing grade for that assignment.
3. Leaving the Classroom
If a student knows ahead of time that she must leave the classroom at some point during class time (to
meet with a counselor or administrator, or for a doctor’s appointment, for example), that student
should inform the teacher before class begins. If a student must leave the class to retrieve books and
materials or to go to the restroom, she must ask teacher permission. Given how very disruptive these
exits and entrances are, students should know that leaving the classroom an excessive number of times
will adversely affect the participation grade.
4. Adherence to IHHS Codes of Conduct
I expect students to follow IHHS Codes of Conduct.
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Course Requirements
1. Reading Requirement
The most important requirement of this course is that students complete all required reading. To
complete reading assignments students will likely have to re-read many texts, in particular the poetry
selections, which can be dense and challenging.
2. Homework Paragraphs
I will often ask students to compose paragraphs for homework. These paragraphs are to be typed and
must follow MLA guidelines for format and citation. Assume that your paragraph may be shared with
the class for discussion. Periodically, I will ask students to upload sets of paragraphs to Turnitin.
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3. Take-Home Essays
Students will write a number of take-home essays, which will analyze and explicate assigned works of
literature. These essays will be based on close textual analysis of the structure, style and cultural context
of the given work. I will often require a rough draft of take-home essays; these drafts will be evaluated
in peer workshops or discussed one-on-one with me. Students will then have an opportunity to consider
these critiques and revise their essays. Take-home essays will be evaluated based on the clarity and
originality of argument, logical organization, use of specific textual evidence, and effective and correct
expression. All take-home essays must follow MLA guidelines for format and citation and must be
uploaded to Turnitin.com
4. In-Class Essays
Students will also write several timed AP-style in-class essays which will analyze short literary texts
(poems or excerpts of prose). These essays, too, will be evaluated based on the clarity and originality of
argument, logical organization, use of specific textual evidence, and effective and correct expression.
Some of these in-class essays will be for practice only; some will be graded.
5. Creative Projects
In order to begin to grasp the complexity of the sonnet form, students will compose their own sonnets.
At the end of the second semester, students will also create and present a postmodern project based on
a class text of their choice.
6. Oral Presentation on Contemporary Novel
Students will be required to read a contemporary (last ten years) novel which has been reviewed in a
prominent book review (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, etc.). Students must give an oral
presentation on this novel after Christmas break.
7. Quizzes, Tests and Exams
Students will take many quizzes, tests and exams in class.
AP-style multiple-choice tests on reading passages (most for practice only)
Non-AP-Style multiple choice tests and quizzes on class content (graded)
Practice AP (for practice only)
Final Exams (graded)
8. Participation
Participation in class discussion, group activities and oral presentations is required. Absences and
tardiness will negatively affect your participation grade. Your final grade in this class may be raised half a
grade for excellence in this area; it may be lowered half a grade for deficiency.
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Grades
Grades are computed on a point system, with the exception of the Final Exam, which is computed as
20% of the semester grade, and the participation grade, which may raise or lower the semester grade by
half a grade. The following grade breakdown is subject to revision:
Paragraph Checks 50
Graded In-Class Essays 100
Take-Home Essays 100
Tests 50
Quizzes 25
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Original Sonnet 50
Oral Presentation 50
Final Exam 20%
Participation
*raises or lowers semester grade by half a grade
IHHS Grade Breakdown
100-93 A 89-87 B+ 79-77 C+ 69-67 D+ 59-0 F
92-90 A- 86-83 B 76-73 C 66-63 D
82-80 B- 72-70 C- 62-60 D-
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Course Chronology:
First Quarter
UNIT ONE: GENRE – THE NOVEL
Content: Theme, Genre, Tone, Foreshadowing,
Introductory Paragraphs, Integrating
Quotations, Middlemarch
Evaluation: Summer Reading Test, Paragraphs,
Middlemarch Foreshadowing Essay
UNIT TWO: GENRE – POETRY
Content: Diction, Syntax, Line Breaks (Endstopping,
Caesura), Rhyme, Rhythm, Aural Effects,
Prosody, the Sonnet, the Ballad, the
Villanelle, the Sestina, the Haiku,
Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Other Poetry
Selections
Evaluation: Paragraphs, Midterm, Contemporary
Poem In-Class Essay, Original Sonnet
Third Quarter
UNIT FIVE: LITERARY THEORY
Content: Cultural Context of Colonialism,
Postcolonial Literary Theory, Heart of
Darkness, Things Fall Apart, Apocalypse
Now, “A Chance For Mr. Lever,”
Theoretical Articles
Evaluation: Paragraphs, In-Class Heart of Darkness
Essay, Take-Home “A Chance for Mr.
Lever” Essay
Second Quarter
UNIT THREE: GENRE – THE SHORT STORY
Content: The Short Story, Point of View, Character,
Diction, Syntax, Tone, Symbol, “The
School,” “Hills Like White Elephants,”
“The Doll’s House,” Dubliners
Evaluation: Paragraphs, Dubliners In-Class Essay
UNIT FOUR: GENRE – DRAMA and THE NOVEL
Content: Chronology and Plot, Stage Terminology,
King Lear, A Thousand Acres, Ran
Evaluation: Paragraphs, Stage Terminology Quiz,
Take-Home Lear/Thousand Acres Essay,
Contemporary Novel Presentations, Fall
Semester Final Exam
Fourth Quarter
UNIT SIX: LITERARY PERIODIZATION --MODERNISM
Content: Cultural Context of Modernism, Allusions,
“The Second Coming,” “The Hollow
Men,” The Sound and The Fury
Evaluation: In-Class The Sound and the Fury Essay,
Take-Home The Sound and the Fury Essay
UNIT SEVEN: LITERARY PERIODIZATION --
POSTMODERNISM
Content:
Cultural Context of Postmodernism, “How
to Write the Great American Indian
Novel,” “Howl,” Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead
Evaluation: Practice AP, (Early) Spring Semester Final
Exam, End of Semester Creative Project
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