Malley AP Syllabus

8/14/2019 Malley AP Syllabus

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Advanced Placement Literature and CompositionCourse Description and SyllabusJoel MalleyMcKinley High School

Buffalo, New York

Course DescriptionWelcome to Advanced Placement Literature and Composition. The College Board describesthis course as an intensive study of representative works of both British and Americanwriters written in several genres from the sixteenth century to contemporary times. Wewill be studying works from authors ranging from the ancient Greek playwrightSophocles to the gothic novelist Mary Shelley to modern poet Yusef Komunyakaa. Wewill study how authors across centuries have wrestled with the same basic questionsand universal themes. Through this study we will not only expect to understand theworks, but also have a greater into ourselves and the world that surrounds us.

In addition to gaining exposure to ideas spread through literature over the centuries,we will also focus on writers use of language to provide both meaning and pleasurefor their readers (AP Literature Course Description). This is not a class for tourists; worksmust be read thoroughly and deliberately. You must become steeped in literary culture.Students who wish to skim material or rely on class discussion for their soleunderstanding of a work should reevaluate their placement in this class. While we arecertainly concerned with the larger themes, occasions, and historical periods depicted ina work, we are equally concerned with the literary methods and style a writer employsto convey meaning that is rich and often complex.

So, grab a highlighter and a pen, and find a comfortable chair. Youre here to get your

hands dirty in some of the greatest art this world has ever seen.

Required TextsChopin, Kate. The Awakening. Clayton: Prestwick House Literary Touchstone

Classics, 2005.Delillo, Dom. White Noise. New York: Penguin, 1999.Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man. New York: Random House, 1995.Gioia, Dana & Kennedy, X.J. ed. Literature: AN Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and

Drama, ninth edition, New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.Miller, Arthur. The Death of a Salesman. (provided in Kennedy & Gioia)Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (provided in Kennedy & Gioia)

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Clayton: Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classics,2005.Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. Clayton: Prestwick House Literary

Touchstone Classics, 2005.

Other short fiction, essays, and poetry as selected (provided)


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throughout the year. These projects will have varied purposes, but willpredominantly serve to help you interpret literature through a multimodalmedium.

In Class Responses Several times a week you will be asked to write shortresponses to a question, quote, or some other verbal or artistic prompt. Thesewill be done in the beginning of class and are meant as food for thought and toincrease engagement in thematic discussions.

In Class Timed Writings Throughout the year, you will be asked to write in-class timed responses to exam style tasks that address devices, themes, issues, orsocial/historical values being discussed in the context of individual longerworks. Frequently a parallel task will serve as your summative assessment for awork. *

Weblog Discussions Several times throughout a unit, you will be required topost responses to questions relating to essential questions or relevant themes, or

be asked to evaluate a works artistry. These blog discussions will be less formalthan critical papers. Sometimes you will be given an open question; sometimes atopic will be assigned.

* Graded critical, creative, and in class writings are eligible for revision after you receive aninitial grade. In order to receive a new grade, you must not only edit, but also revise for lapses inlogic, organization, development, and any other stylistic concern pointed out in my writtenfeedback.

Other GradesI reserve the right to deliver short reading quizzes as I see fit. Some quizzes will consist

of a few comprehension questions, while others will ask you to write about a particularquote or character. These are designed to be an additional accountability measure toensure you are current with your reading. Quizzes cannot be made up.

Summer ReadingYou were to complete two novels over the summer and keep a reading journal. Thisjournal is collected on the first day of class. No late work is accepted. This journal and ageneral assessment will constitute 20% of your first quarter average.

Here are the works you may choose from:

The Kite Runner, Khaled HosseiniThe Color Purple, Alice WalkerThe Poisonwood Bible, Barbara KingsolverJane Eyre, Charlotte BronteA Farewell to Arms, Ernest HemingwayThe Life of Pi, Yann Martel

Specific guidelines for the reading journal are distributed in May of the junior year to allinterested applicants.


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Course Outline

Unit One Building BlocksApproximate # of Weeks: 3Text(s)

Selected poems from X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, Literature: An Introductionto Fiction, Poetry, and Drama as well as copies of other poems to supplement.John Updike's A & P.

Chapters 15, 16, 17 from Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Dramacovering connotation, imagery, and figurative language and the Explicatingsections from Chapters 41 & 42

Big Questions/Big IdeasHow do smaller units of meaning (words, syntax, devices) affect the overall meaning(tone, theme)?

Essential Skills In this unit, students will review/be introduced to basic skills forliterary analysis. We will primarily focus on reviewing devices such as personificationand metaphor, and introducing other devices such as apostrophe and metonymy.As the poem is an accessible, self-contained unit of meaning, its a good way to start offlooking at how the pieces (language, devices) affect the whole (tone, theme, etc.). Wewill study these small works and eventually build up to Updikes short story. Studentswill practice annotating and will write an explication. Writing mini-lessons will bedelivered on effectively integrating quotations and logical structuring of evidence andcritical commentary.Assessment

Nightly annotations analytical essay explicating a poem (500 750 words)

Unit Two Gothic Literature With a Hint of RomanceApproximate # of Weeks: 4Text(s)

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Selected short stories from Edgar Allan Poe Selected romantic and gothic poetry including Ozymandias; Goblin Market;

Rime of the Ancient Mariner; selected poems by Wordsworth & Tennyson

Big Questions/Big Ideas

In this unit, we will study Frankenstein as Romantic backlash against enlightenmentthinking. The central issue we'll be wrestling with the danger of unfettered scientificpursuit. We will examine this issue through the parallel stories of Robert Walton andVictor Frankenstein, as well as to the allusion to Prometheus in Shelley's subtitle. Wewill use selected poems to investigate the concept of the "unpardonable sin," as well asconsider romantic visions of nature as healing and restorative.

Essential SkillsIn addition to literary devices and larger elements, during this unit we will pay special


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attention to analyzing narrative structure, elements of the gothic and romanticism,pathetic fallacy, devices to evoke fear, the uncanny, foil, and allusion and thesedevices/elements effects on meaning. Writing mini-lessons will be delivered onrestricted thesis construction, using transitions, and other skills as necessary.

Assessment several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questions students will write a short critical paper in a workshop setting (brainstorming,

compose, peer edit, group conference with instructor) analyzing a passage fromthe novel

upon completion of the novel, students will address a past AP Literature FreeResponse prompt relevant to the work (timed writing)

Unit Three The Tragic FigureApproximate # of Weeks : 6TextsOedipus Rex, Sophocles

Death of a Salesman, Arthur MillerSelected poems with thematic or situational relevance as selected.

Big Questions/Big IdeasStudents will study both a classic and modern tragic figure. We will examine thesetragedies using Aristotles concept of tragedy as a lens as well as Arthur Miller's essay"Tragedy and the Common Man." We will determine how both Oedipus and WillyLoman fit into Aristotle's definition. In both plays we'll examine hamartia, recognition,catharsis, etc. We will discuss determinism and the role of Greek Gods, and discuss theFreudian concepts of id, ego, and superego as a way to analyze Oedipus' actions. Wewill discuss both works as reflections of the period in which they were written, focusing

on questions of leadership and power in Sophocles' work and the decline of theAmerican dream in Miller's.

Essential SkillsIn addition to literary devices and larger elements, during this unit we will pay specialattention to analyzing dramatic, verbal, and cosmic irony, symbolism, allusion,narrative structure, flashback, dialogue, stage directions, the role of the chorus, and theuse of foil and these devices/elements effects on meaning. Writing mini-lessonsdelivered on rhetorical techniques, strong introductions, writing about a longer work,and other skills as necessary.

Assessment

several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questionsseveral speech/passage annotations students will use digital video to convey interpretations of passages from

Oedipus in a workshop setting, students will write a critical paper analyzing the

motivation of either Oedipus or Willy Loman, citing relevant quotations assupport

upon completion of both works, students will write a timed essay to a relevant


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AP Free Response prompt

Unit Four - Battle of the SexesApproximate # of Weeks: 4

TextsMuch Ado About Nothing, William ShakespeareSelected poems thematically aligned with the unit, including works by Edmund Waller,Andrew Marvell, William Shakespeare, Edna St. Millay, Dorothy Parker

Big Questions/Big IdeasStudents will study comedy and try to draw parallels between this work and moderncomedy, focusing on the basic comedic arc (boy meets girl, etc.), as well the devicesused to create humor. During the unit we will take a look at this play and severalpoems and compare and contrast the different views of relationships between thesexes. We will also focus on Beatrice as a strong female character and analyze how herqualities affect the overall action and theme of the play. Lastly, we will consider gender

roles as depicted in the poems and the play.

Essential SkillsIn addition to literary devices and larger elements, during this unit we will pay specialattention to analyzing comedic devices such as malaprop, puns, and double entendre,and their effect on style. In addition, we will pay considerable amount to syntax andpunctuation and their effect on meaning. We again will focus on characterization, and,more specifically, foil, as well as the overall development of Beatrice and Benedict.Writing mini-lessons delivered on rhetorical strategies, using an epigraph, developmentof ideas, and other skills as necessary.

Assessment several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questions involving theplay and poems

several speech/passage annotations As students read the play, students will search for quotes and scenes that

establish the dominant mood of the work. Students will then analyze how thesescenes and quotes establish the mood of the play. Students will receivesignificant workshop time to write portions of their essay.

When the work is completed, students will write a timed essay analyzing one ofthree assigned short passages from the play. In this essay students will be askedto explicate the passage and ultimately explain its importance relevant to thework as a whole

Unit Five - Poetry ProfessorApproximate # of Weeks: 4TextsSelected poems from X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,Poetry, and Drama


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Big Questions/Big IdeasIn this unit, students will study multiple types of poems (ballad, sonnet, elegy, etc.)from various traditions from the Elizabethan period to the late 20th century. I willmodel how to annotate and explicate Billy Collins "Schoolsville" and Wilfred Owen's"Dulce Et Decorum Est" and will provide a reasonable interpretation of each poembased on the poetic devices used by the two poets such as imagery, allusion, symbol,personification, among other devices. Then, the students are assigned a poem from theKennedy and Gioia text for daily presentations to the class. Here, they become expertson the poem without the aid of secondary sources. Their responsibility is to closelyread the poem analyzing the poet's use of language to convey the poem's meaning.Then, they will explicate the poem for the class.

Essential SkillsStudents will analyze how the poets use literary devices to convey meaning and tone.Students will also pay attention to how different types of poems (free verse, sonnet,elegy, ballad, villanelle) convey meaning through form. Writing mini-lessons will bedelivered as necessary, with a focus on writing with voice, varying sentence structure,

and utilizing a sophisticated vocabulary.

Assessment the students are assessed on their individual presentations, as well as their

exploratory poetry journal and nightly annotations the summative assessment is a timed in class writing based on a past exam's

poetry question during the first two weeks, students will workshop a poem based on one of the

following types of poetry: free-verse, ballad, sonnet, villanelle, elegy during the last two weeks of the unit, students will spend two days a week

workshop setting, writing a 2-3 page reader-response analysis/evaluation of apoem from the Poetry Professor packet.

Unit Six Emerging Feminism and the Woman as OutsiderApproximate # of Weeks: 4TextsThe Awakening, Kate ChopinSelected poems thematically aligned with the unit, including those by Sylvia Plath,Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Anne Sexton, and Adrienne Rich,and Steinbecks The Chrysanthemums and Jamaica Kincaids Girl.

Big Questions/Big IdeasStudents will study the larger work and consider what Chopin is saying about the role

of women in 19th century Creole society. To accompany this text, we will consider otherpoets and their exploration of their own identity. Through this process, students mightnot only study Ednas transformation and awakening, but also contemplate otherfemale poets perceptions of their role in society.

Essential SkillsIn addition to literary devices and larger elements, during this unit we will pay specialattention to analyzing the various motifs and symbols that Chopin employs. We will


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also focus extensively on Edna and her foils (Mademoiselle Reisz, Adle Ratignolle) andconsider the ending of the novel in light of our previous study of Aristotle and Millersdefinition of tragedy. Writing mini-lessons will be delivered as necessary, with a focuson writing with voice, varying sentence structure, and utilizing a sophisticatedvocabulary.

Assessment several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questions involving the

novel and poems several passage annotations students will write a critical paper in a workshop setting. They will select one

motif from the novel, examine its various appearances in the book, and explorewhat insights into the novel, the characters, the themes, and perhaps life itself,that the motif provides (examples music, the sea, swimming, children, birds,houses, black and white). Students will support their thesis and supportingpoints with careful observation of textual details.

Unit Seven - 20th Century African American ExperienceApproximate # of Weeks: 5TextsInvisible Man, Ralph Ellison"Every Day Use," Alice Walker"Atlanta Exposition Speech Booker T. WashingtonSelected poems by Countee Cullen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, ClaudeMcKay, Dudley RandallKennedy & Gioia, Writing a Research Paper

Big Questions/Big IdeasStudents will study Ellisons novel as a lens into the mid 20th century African Americanexperience. We will analyze the ways that Ellison used the tenets of existentialism toguide the narrator through his quest for identity. Throughout the work we will discussthe different ways that different characters affect the invisible man, and discuss whatthe minor characters might represent on a symbolic level. We will also consider thedifferent sociological perspectives of Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and thoseprovided by communism, as well as their equivalents in the novel. The poetry, shortstories, and nonfiction pieces will help provide further insight from other late 19th and20th century African American writers.

Essential SkillsIn addition to literary devices and larger elements, during this unit we will pay specialattention to analyzing the existential journey of the narrator, characters as symbolism,stream of consciousness, the influence of jazz on Ellisons style, and the narrativestructure, paying close attention to these elements effect on the meaning of the work asa whole. Writing mini-lessons will be focused on the research paper.

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Students will be given a choice of topics to write a research paper. This researchwill help inform their reading of the novel. Possible topics: The teachings ofMarcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee Institute, Harlem Renaissance,communism in mid 20th century America, and many more.

several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questions involving thenovel and poems

several passage annotations

Unit Eight Explicit Exam ReviewApproximate # of Weeks: 2Big Questions/Big IdeasIn this unit we will review the texts from this year. Groups of students will be assigneda work and will be responsible for presenting a review of the work, focusing on largerelements, the historical/analytical/sociological lens used in class, and the meaning ofthe work as a whole. In addition, students will write several timed essays and practicemultiple-choice questions. I will also review any literary devices or elements, or ideas

that students are still not comfortable with.

Unit Nine: Post Exam Modern Day Malaise and the Writer asSocial VoiceApproximate # of Weeks: 5TextsWhite Noise, Dom DelilloAmerican Beauty, Sam Mendes (dir.)Selected poems by Allen Ginsberg, Saul Williams, William Blake, and other poetryfeaturing the social voice of poetry.

Selected short stories, including The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, by UrsulaK. Le Guin, and Repent Harlequin! Cried the Ticktockman, by Harlan Ellison(provided)

Big Questions/Big IdeasIn the final unit students will focus on modern life through literature, poetry, and film.Although arguably all of the literature we have read this year features the writers roleas social critic, we will be specifically focusing on this role in the final unit of this class.We will focus on the different ways authors criticize society, and the effect of form andgenre on the overall effect of the work.

Assessment Students will be asked to create an original short story, book of original poetry,or multimedia project which serves as a literary social criticism.

several short weblog discussions about relevant thematic questions involving thenovel and poems

Malley AP Syllabus

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