Advanced Placement English Literature
Ajo High School
2008-2009

The course includes an intensive study of representative works such as those authors cited in the AP English Course Description. The choice of authors is made by the school in relation to the schools overall English curriculum sequence, so that by the time the student completes AP English Literature and Composition she or he will have studied during high school literature from both British and American writers, as well as works written in several genres from sixteenth century to contemporary times. The works selected for the course should require careful, deliberative reading that yields multiple meanings.

Projected Reading List

QUARTER I
Promise & Progress

• Novel: Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
• Drama: The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams
• Short Story: A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Araby James Joyce
• Poetry: Voice: Shakespeare, Whitman, Neruda
• Essay: Self Reliance Emerson
• Selected Literary Criticism

QUARTER II
Ready Roles &
Dynamic Relationships

• The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
• Othello William Shakespeare
• Short Story ; Two Kinds Amy Tan;
• Sonny's Blues James Baldwin
• Poetry: Classic/ Romantic/ Modern Movements
• Essay: On Shakespeare's Characters Samuel Johnson
• Selected Literary Criticism

QUARTER III
Language Evolution&
Cultural Exchange

• Bless Me Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
• The Crucible Arthur Miller
• Short Story: A Rose for Emily William Faulkner; Civil Peace Chinua Achebe; The Ones That Walk Away from Omelas
• Poetry: Form and Function
• Essay: Martin Luther King, Jr. He Showed Us the Way Caesar Chavez
• Selected Literary Criticism

QUARTER IV
Fist of Nature&
Force of Time

• Novel: The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
• Drama: Waiting for Godot Samuel Becket
• Short Story: A Worn Path Eudora Welty;
• The Man to Send the Rain Clouds L.M. Silko
• Poetry: Collection Analysis Joy Harjo
• Memoir: From The Way to Rainy Mountain N. Scott Momaday
• Selected Literary Criticism

Independent Student Reading & Additional Selections

The course teaches students to write interpretation of a piece of literature that is based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the work's structure, style, and themes; the social and historical values it reflects and embodies; such elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism and tone.

• Students will complete timed writing and practice test questions from past AP exams and on course reading.
• Students will be asked to read and research background and criticism on the authors and periods of study.
• Students will be asked to define, identify and apply literary devices in class work, homework and on multiple choice and identification tests.

The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed in-class responses. The course requires: Writing to understand: Informal, exploratory writing activities that enable students to discover what they think in the process of writing about their reading (such assignments could include annotation, freewriting, keeping a reading journal, and response/reaction papers) · Students will keep a record of reading annotation, write reflective responses to reading passages and form question and responses for discussion purposes. They will keep this material in a reading journal to be completed independently and turned in and/or presented in class.

• Students will be asked to respond to brief reading based prompts on a daily basis.

  The course includes frequent opportunities to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed in-class responses. The course requires:

  Writing to evaluate:
  Analytical, argumentative essays in which students draw upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's artistry and quality, and it's social and cultural values.

• Students will develop persuasive thesis and supporting arguments in essays, papers and research projects of various lengths.
• Students will learn to support and cite their opinions through the use of summarized, paraphrased and quoted text selections.
• Students will learn and practice MLA citation methods.

The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing assignments, both before and after students revise their work, that the students develop: A wide ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination Logical Organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure · Students will complete 1 formal paper and 1 creative portfolio each quarter in addition to several in class essays. Timed writing will be evaluated primarily for content and revised work for both form and content.

• Work will be assessed and feedback given through the use of checklists, rubrics, commentary, conference as well as peer and self evaluation.
• Student work will be evaluated in the categories of language, structure and content as well as by the six traits holistic rubric.
• Awareness of individual writing elements will be taught through model and self revision exercises.
• Some writing assignments will be designed to evaluate one aspect of the writing process or element of the written product.
• Development of vocabulary will be facilitated through study of word roots, thesaurus use and examination of words in context.