AP English Tentative Course Outline (Order may change as well some shorter texts may be added and

others omitted)

Ms. L. Helm St. Joseph Catholic High School lisahelm@gpcsd.ca

Advanced Placement is a program which allows and encourages high school students to expand their educational horizons prior to entering university or college. Since AP is both a rigorous course and an examination, it takes a great deal or preparation on the students’ as well as the AP teachers’ part.

The College Boards Advanced Placement Program offers motivated high school students the opportunity to take challenging university-level courses while in high school. These courses are taught by high school teachers who utilize course descriptions developed by committees of university professors and experienced AP teachers.

Each spring, students are offered the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills on subject-specific Advanced Placement Examinations. Successful completion of an Advanced Placement Examination can result in university credit, advanced standing, or both depending on the university a student chooses to attend.

The AP English Literature and Composition Course and Examination

An AP course in English Literature and Composition engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students will deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. Students will consider a work’s structure, style and themes as well as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism and tone.

Writing assignments will focus on the critical analysis of literature and should include expository, analytical and argumentative essays. Writing instruction will focus upon developing and organizing ideas in clear, coherent, and persuasive language. It should include the study of the elements of style.

The AP Examination in English Literature and Composition is a three-hour examination which employs multiple-choice questions in order to test the student’s critical reading of selected passages (one-hour part of examination). The examination also requires writing in order to measure the student’s ability to read and interpret literature and to use other forms of discourse effectively (two-hour part of examination). Performance on the essay section of the examination accounts for 55 percent of the total grade; performance on the multiple-choice section is weighed at 45 percent.

Multiple Choice Section- Prose and poetry will be tested- Passages may come from 17th, 18th, 19, 20th, or 21st centuries- Approximately 55 questions covering four to five passages- Penalty for guessing – right minus one quarter wrong- Time limit: 60 minutes- Weight: 45% of total exam score

Free-Response Section- One prompt requiring analysis of a prose passage- One prompt requiring analysis of a poem- One open-ended question, usually related to al literary element- Time limit: 120 minutes to write all three essays- Weight: 55% of total exam score- Are graded out of 9

Final marks on the AP exam are reported out of 5.

English 30 -1/AP English Literature Proposed Course Syllabus

Course PrerequisitesStudents should have completed English 10-1 and English 20-1 in grades ten and eleven.

They will have studied in depth the following major works as mandated by the provincial curriculum: , Grade 10 - To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet/Merchant of Venice Grade 11 – The Glass Menagerie Macbeth, Lord of the Flies, and a self-directed novel.

General Course DescriptionThis Advanced Placement course combines two courses, the grade twelve academic English curriculum (English 30-1) as specified by the provincial education department.English 30-1 (AP Prep) follows the curriculum requirements outlined in the Program of Studies for Senior High School English Language Arts, while preparing students to write the AP English Literature and Composition exam.

Of the 100 credits needed to graduate from high school, students will earn five credits in English 30-1 and three additional credits in English Lit AP. Students will write the three-hour AP English Literature examination in May and will also be required to write and pass the five and one half hour English diploma examination set by the provincial government in June. This diploma examination in worth 50% of a student’s high school English mark. The other 50% of the students mark will be calculated from course work.

Reading AssignmentsStudents are expected to complete summer reading assignments and the study questions that accompany those readings. They will also be assigned one contemporary novel to be read during spring break.

It is imperative that the works be read closely and carefully and that all associated assignments are completed on time.

Pre-testAll students will write an essay and multiple-choice English pre-test at the beginning of the course. These two tests will provide essential information regarding writing skills and the ability to interpret literature. Lessons and class assignments will be tailored to meet student needs and enhance learning based upon the analysis of these two evaluative devices.

Vocabulary DevelopmentIn order to encourage the development of a wide-ranging vocabulary, all students will keep personal lists of words they have not understood in the literary works that are read. They will determine the meanings of these words and will add to the list throughout the course. Throughout the year, all students will study specific vocabulary words from the texts we are studying. In addition, during semester one all students will work through the text, 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk.

After every multiple choice exam, students will circle any vocabulary words with which they have had problems. Students will present the meanings of these problem words to their classmates. Students will create a simple vocabulary test for their peers based upon the words presented.

Writing Instruction and AssignmentsAt the beginning of the course, students will read the book The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. They will be assigned one chapter each day, and sample exercises from the chapters will be completed and taken up in class. It cconcentrates on fundamentals: the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. When analyzing texts in written assignments, students will be asked to analyze: topic, audience, tone; establishing and maintaining voice; developing the thesis; choosing appropriate words (diction) and developing a variety of sentence structures (syntax); using appropriate and logical organizational methods; finding a suitable style; constructing effective paragraphs; employing methods of development; ordering the material – chronological, spatial, inductive, deductive; developing generalizations; citing specific examples and using quotations; using illustrative details; concluding the composition; considering language – simplicity, freshness, denotation, connotation, slanted diction; improving sentences (sentence variety and types, order of sentence elements, coordination, subordination, parallelism, emphasis, repetition, transitions, comparisons, sentence coherence, sentence fragments, the

comma splice, pronoun and antecedent, verb tense, mood, etc.) Practice exercises will be completed and quizzes will be given on these topics. Scoring guides and rubrics (provided in advance throughout the course) will ensure that students demonstrate competence in these more complex sentence structures.

Students will write short critical essays dealing with brief prose passages, novels, drama, and poetry. The critical responses will be based on close textual analysis of style and structure. Students will also write personal and creative responses. One longer research-based paper deal with historical values will be required. Some writing will be completed in class while other assignments will be take-home work.

When assignments are evaluated by the teacher, comments on papers will encourage students to use a variety of writing techniques and to edit their work carefully. Excellent writing will be indicated, and the areas that need work will also be pointed out. Common writing errors will be duplicated for classroom use, the students will play “teacher” determining what those errors are and then revising and correcting them.

Quizzes and ExaminationsExaminations dealing with each of the major units studied will be given. As well, general genre-specific multiple-choice exams will also be written at the completion of each unit. Students will write timed, in-class essay examinations on a regular basis. Practice AP and Diploma examinations will be taken.

*Note that instruction in writing will occur on a regular basis in class. After the students study each chapter and complete various exercises from the text, The Writing Process, the teacher will determine the strengths and weaknesses of the class and will tailor instruction in writing based upon student need.

Basic Organization of Class:Daily Assignments:Each class will begin with poetry analysis or a practice writing assignment from previous AP examinations. At the end of every week, we will discuss/analyze a writing sample from a previous AP examination. You will often be put in groups to prepare a presentation on specific analysis questions. All of these activities/assignments will be graded.

Late Assignments:We will not accept a late assignment unless an excuse written by a parent is received at least one day before the due date.

Class Expectations: RESPECT for everyone and everything in the classroom.

EVALUATION

Your mark in this course will be determined as follows:

Differentiated Project/Product Work (including essays) 30%Class work in mini-lessons/Process work (quizzes, journals, poet, etc) 20%Unit Evaluation 50%

* Your participation mark will be composed of weekly evaluations of your respectfulness, preparedness, promptness, attentiveness, and sense of responsibility (see STUDENT EXPECTATIONS). Violations of student expectations (lates, coming to class unprepared and inattentive/disruptive behavior) will seriously affect this portion of your mark. This mark is NOT based on academic achievement, but my assessment of your willingness to learn.

Unit One:Who am I? The Search for Identity; Perception in Personal Literary ContextsThe question every human faces is that of identity: self-definition encompassing values, interests, dreams, and perceptions. One vehicle facilitating the search for identity is literature. Authors experiment with point of view, style, and tone—elements in the quest for identity of characters within. How to approach a text—how to discuss it, how to evaluate it, how to use it—are issues for any reader hoping to know both the text and themselves.

Essential Questions: Who and what gives us our identity? What happens when identities collide? What is the corollary between multiple critical lenses and our self? If language shapes identity, how does it do so?

Major texts:Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (classic play)Margaret Lawrence, The Rain Child (short story)F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (novel)Jane Urquhart Stone Carvers (novel)

Additional works that can be read independently:Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Henry James, Portrait of a LadyAnnie Proulx, The Shipping NewsLoy Kogawa, ObasanVirginia Woolf, Orlando

Unit ProjectAnswer the essential questions of the unit in a written and visual form. You must use texts from this unit or others of literary merit. You’ll be evaluated on Thought and Detail, Understanding of the objective, Creativity, and Matters of Correctness. Specific rubrics will be provided.

Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). At the end of the unit, they will write in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list.Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors.

AP Essay Preparation2003 AP English Literature and Composition Free Response Question #3

According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightening than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightening.”Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by the figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Use the AP rubric from 2001 to score the essays. Special emphasis will be placed on creating a variety of sentence structures, especially subordination and coordination, and effective use of transitions. Students will help each other with revisions before the teacher evaluates them. Teacher comments will encourage a wide variety of vocabulary, a sense of voice, syntactical variations, and an awareness of tone and theme. Special focus will be placed of apt and specific supporting evidence, as opposed to broad sweeping generalizations.

Analyzing Poetry PracticeAt the end of every week, we’ll practice a poetry question from a previous AP exam (Question 1 from the written response). Student written responses to these questions will be kept in a journal and marked using the 9 point rubric provided by the Collage Entrance Examination Board.

Unit Two:What is Truth? Narrative Traditions; Illusion and Reality“Truth” includes metaphysical and narrative dimensions. How to live an authentic life is the central metaphysical concern; how to read a narrative in which past, present, and future merge; in which retelling of the same event occur; and in which ambiguity reigns supreme are its narrative concerns. Additionally, language can be used to hide truth as well as to illuminate it.

Essential Questions: What is truth? Is it absolute or relative? What is the relationship between language and truth? How willing are we to embrace truth? What if a “truth” impels us to violate an essential element of our self-

concept? Do texts present truths or undermine them?

Major texts:Miller, Death of a Salesman (modern play)Plato, “Allegory of the Cave” (theory)Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” (essay)

Additional works that can be read independently:Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of SolitudeWilliam Faulkner, As I Lay DyingMargaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s TaleEdward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western frontTennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

Unit ProjectAnswer the essential questions of the unit in a written and visual form. You must use texts from this unit or others of literary merit. You’ll be evaluated on Thought and Detail, Understanding of the objective, Creativity, and Matters of Correctness. Specific rubrics will be provided.

Review of Personal and Critical Writing Theory (1 week)Review of teacher-created handouts dealing with personal response to texts writing assignments and with critical/analytical response to literary texts writing assignments. (Samples and models provided and discussed.)

Review editing techniques from teacher-created handouts.Review of MLA format from MLA Handbook for Writers and from teacher-created handouts. Review of provincial government scoring descriptors for diploma exams.

Writing AP Style Rubrics – samples, practice assignments and creation of rubrics.

Evaluation: Take-home writing assignments based on Death of a Salesman dealing with a topic such as: Consider how the nature of self-preservation has

been reflected and developed in Death of a Salesman. Discuss the ideas developed by Arthur Miller about the role that self-preservation plays when individuals respond to competing demands.

Use provincial government scoring descriptor for peer-evaluation. Revise assignment based on peer feedback, and then submit revised work to teacher.

In-class writing on AP open-ended topic such as: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in Death of a Salesman struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.

Use the 2006 Form B rubric to score these essays. Special emphasis will be placed on creating a variety of sentence structures, especially subordination and coordination, and effective use of transitions. Students will help each other with revisions before the teacher evaluates them. Teacher comments will encourage a wide variety of vocabulary, a sense of voice, syntactical variations, and an awareness of tone and theme.

Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). At the end of the unit, they will write in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list.Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors.

AP Essay Preparation2004 AP English Literature and Composition Free Response Question #3Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, considering Barthes’ observation, write and essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Analyzing Poetry PracticeAt the end of every week, we’ll practice a poetry question from a previous AP exam (Question 1 from the written response). Student written responses to these questions will be kept in a journal and marked using the 9 point rubric provided by the Collage Entrance Examination Board.

Unit ThreePoetry (2 weeks)A New Anthology of Verse (Roberta A. Charlesworth and Dennis Lee)Packet of fifty poems for poetry responses

Review of poetry basic information (narrative poetry (ballad, epic, etc.), lyric poetry (sonnet, ode, elegy, pastoral elegy, etc.), epigram, limerick, haiku, parody, figures of speech, rhythm, rhyme, etc.) – from teacher-created handout

Evaluation – examination on poetry theory

Read essay entitled “Poetry and Ordinary Experience” by M. L. Rosenthal pp. 334-351 in A New Anthology of Verse.

In-class reading aloud of poetry, discussion and note-making. Note: Students will continue to read and study poetry as the course progresses.

Ballad-“The Twa Corbies,” “Sir Patrick Spens,” “As I Walked Out One Evening” (W.H. Auden)Blank Verse-“There Was A Boy” (William Wordsworth), “Ulysses” (Alfred Lord Tennyson), “Strange Meeting” (Wilfred Owen)Concrete Poetry- “Natural Prayer” (Joe Rosenblatt)Dialect Poems-“An Old Woman’s Lamentations” (J.M. Synge)Drama-“Welsh Night” (Dylan Thomas)Dramatic Monologue-“My Last Duchess” (Robert Browning)Elegy-“My ’48 Pontiac” (Al Purdy), “ Dirge without Music” (Edna St. Vincent Millay)Epic-“Hail, Holy Night” (John Milton)Epigram-“On His Books” (Hillaire Belloc), “Epigram” (Alexander Pope)Haiku-“You Hear That Fat Frog” (Issa), “My Grumbling Wife” (Issa), “Accidentally Broke” (Ishikawa Takuboku)Heroic Couplet-“The Village Master” (Oliver Goldsmith), “The Proper Study” (Alexander Pope)Imagist Poetry-“The White Horse”(D.H. Lawrence), “This is Just to Say”(William Carlos Williams), “In a Station of the Metro”(Ezra Pound)Limerick-“A Man Hired by John Smith and Co.”(Mark Twain)Ode-“Ode on a Grecian Urn” (John Keats) “Ode to the West Wind” (Percy Bysshe Sheller)Parody-“Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams” (Kenneth Koch)Pastoral Poetry-“The Shepherdess Lament”(Edmund Spenser), “The Shepherd to His Love” (Christopher Marlowe), “The Nymph’s Reply” (Sir Walter Raleigh), “Raleigh Was Right” (William Carlos Williams)Sonnet-“Ozymandias” (Percy Bysshe Shelley), “Sonnet XVII: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”, “Sonnet XXX: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought,” “Sonnet LV: Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments,” “Sonnet CXVI: Let Me Not to the Marriage Of True Minds” (William Shakespeare), “How Do I Love Thee?” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning), “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” (John Keats), “When I Have Fears” (John Keats) “On His Blindness” (John Milton)Tanka-“You Never Touch” (Yosano Akiko)

Evaluation-Read packet of poems over the two-week period of time (teacher-created handout). Write five personal responses to five of the poems included. Responses must be a minimum of one page, single spaced. Turn in for evaluation (award credit, or no credit).

Poetry-multiple-choice items from released AP examinations and from released provincial examinations.Timed, in-class writing: critical analysis of poem-1985-“There Was a Boy” (William Wordsworth) and “The Most of It” (Robert Frost)-These two poems present encounters with nature, but the two poets handle those encounters very differently. In a well-organized essay, distinguish between the attitudes (toward nature, toward the solitary individual, etc.) expressed in the poems and discuss the techniques that the poets use to present these attitudes. Be sure to support your statements with specific references. (Students must learn to differentiate between broad generalizations and apt and specific references used as evidence and commentary.)

Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). At the end of the unit, they will write in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list. Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors.

Unit Four:How do we make moral choices? The Nature of Good and EvilAt the age of six or seven, people grapple with issues of good and evil. The conscience—the moral sense—guides people in making judgments about their actions, labeling some actions as good and others evil. Historically, cultures have determined what is good and what is evil, codifying some of these decisions in laws or precepts. This unit will examine situations involving moral choices. It will challenge you to examine your own moral code.

Essential Questions: What are good and evil? Is evil an intrinsic element of human nature? What happens when moral systems collide? What’s the difference between sin and crime? How does narrative point of view affect the presentation of good and

evil?

Major texts:Shakespeare, Hamlet (Shakespearean Drama)George Orwell, “The Shooting of an Elephant”Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, FrankensteinAdditional works that can be read independently:James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManAldous Huxley, Brave New WorldThomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also RisesFyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

Hamlet (2 weeks)Shakespearean Drama Basic Information (soliloquy, aside, invective, pathetic fallacy, comic relief, blank verse, prose speeches, rhyming couplets, plots and sub-plots, tragic hero, character, etc.) – from teacher-created handoutsPlay tapes of Hamlet, study guide questions to be completed, discussion of themes

Evaluation – unit exam on Hamlet, multiple choice questions dealing with Shakespearean passages (from released AP multiple choice exams and from provincial exams)

Unit ProjectAnswer the essential questions of the unit in a written and visual form. You must use texts from this unit or others of literary merit. You’ll be evaluated on Thought and Detail, Understanding of the objective, Creativity, and Matters of Correctness. Specific rubrics will be provided.

Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). At the end of the unit, they will write in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list. Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors.

AP Essay Preparation2002 AP English Literature and Composition Free Response Question #3Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Analyzing Poetry PracticeAt the end of every week, we’ll practice a poetry question from a previous AP exam (Question 1 from the written response). Student written responses to these questions will be kept in a journal and marked using the 9 point rubric provided by the Collage Entrance Examination Board.

Unit Five:Style Analysis Basic Information (diction – connotation, denotation, euphemism, idiom, etc.), point of view shift, rhetorical shift, tone (tone determined through diction, imagery, point of view and syntax), tone shift multiple tones, figures of speech (apostrophe, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, pun; simile), sound devices (alliteration,

assonance, consonance, meter, onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm), literary devices (allusion, antithesis, argumentation [cause/effect, classification, comparison/contrast, deductive/inductive reasoning, emotional appeals, ethical appeals, logical appeals]), syntax techniques (juxtaposition, asyndeton, ellipsis, parallelism, polysyndeton, anadiplosis, anaphora, epanalepsis, epistrophe, chiasmus, inversion, rhetorical fragment, rhetorical question), etc. – from teacher-created handouts.

Short prose passages taken from The Act of Writing: Canadian Essays for Composition, Fourth Edition (Ronald Conrad) – “Coming of Age in Putnok” by George Gabori, “Outharbor Menu” by Ray Guy, “Suitcase Lady” by Christine McLaren, “The Cat” by Gregory Clark, “The Fifty-One Percent Minority” by Doris Anderson, “One Perfect House” by Farley Mowat, “Bicycles” by Erika Ritter, “How to Live to be 200” by Stephen Leacock, “An Ode to the User-Friendly Pencil” by Bonnie Laing

Evaluation – Style analysis terms exam, multiple-choice questions dealing with prose passages (from released AP multiple choice exams and from released provincial exams)

Work in groups, annotate a passage, develop ideas and document evidence which will be written into an essay. Use a passage such as the 1993 AP Literature Exam Lytton Strachey passage. (In the following excerpt from an essay, Lytton Strachey presents his conception of Florence Nightingale. In a well-organized essay, define Strachey’s view and analyze how he conveys it. Consider such elements as diction, imagery, syntax and tone.)

Take-home assignment – (2005 AP Literature Exam Prose Passage) – Printed below is the complete text of a short story written in 1946 by Katharine Brush (“Birthday Party”). Read the story carefully. Then write an essay in which you show how the author uses literary devices to achieve her purpose. The composition will be scored based on the 2005 rubric. Feedback will include such stylistic areas as effective use of emphasis, repetition and coherence.

Unit Six:What is the nature of a good life? Finding PurposeThe question all people face is how to live a meaningful existence. For some, “meaningful” means being financially secure; for others, it means adhering to family traditions and values; for still others, it means making a difference in the world by daring to challenge the status quo or by working tenaciously within the system to enact change. For the existentialists, existence imposes the burden of freedom: people have the challenge of creating their own meaning, apart from meaning prescribed for them by community, family, or country.

Essential Questions: What is a good life? What gives life meaning? What is existentialism? Is it an optimistic or pessimistic philosophy, or

both?

What does your generation see as its mission, and what do you see as yours?

Major texts:Wiesel, Night (Memoir)Margaret Atwood, Surfacing (novel)John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany (novel)Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (modern play)

Additional works that can be read independently:Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood BibleSylvia Plath, The Bell JarNorman Maclean, A River Runs Through ItLeo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaJonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

Unit ProjectAnswer the essential questions of the unit in a written and visual form. You must use texts from this unit or others of literary merit. You’ll be evaluated on Thought and Detail, Understanding of the objective, Creativity, and Matters of Correctness. Specific rubrics will be provided.

Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). At the end of the unit, they will write in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list. Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors.

AP Essay Preparation2008 AP English Literature and Composition Free Response Question #3In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single play or novel, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Analyzing Poetry PracticeAt the end of every week, we’ll practice a poetry question from a previous AP exam (Question 1 from the written response). Student written responses to these questions will be kept in a journal and marked using the 9 point rubric provided by the College Entrance Examination Board.

Unit Seven:Prose and Poetry Style Analysis, Writing, and Multiple – Choice Exam QuestionsTeacher-generated packet of AP Literature and Composition passages, rubrics, and sample essays from 1990-2006.

Discuss, practice writing, writing to be teacher-evaluated using AP rubrics. Intensive writing on a daily basis for two weeks immediately prior to the AP Examination. Students will rubric each others’ papers and read their papers orally to help develop their own unique sense of voice.

Unit 8 – Film Study UnitPleasantvilleWhale RiderShawshank Redemption

Film Study Handouts – teacher-generatedStudy questions on four films – teacher-generated

Evaluation- Using one of the films, write an essay based upon the following topic: Our human heed to clarify uncertainties, to fulfill dreams, to meet challenges, or to explore possibilities may lead us on various quests. The manner in which we deal with the situations that we encounter in the course of our quests contributes to the outcomes of the quests. One person seeks out an experience that answers his need to broaden his view of life. Another is driven by an irrepressible need to leave the familiar and meet life’s challenges. What ideas are developed regarding the quests of characters?Evaluate using the provincial government scoring descriptors.

Unit 9:Diploma Essay Examination PreparationStudents will prepare for their three-hour essay examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). They will write every day in the computer lab and will deal with personal response to literature and critical/analytical response topics from a teacher-created list.Compositions will be peer-edited and/or teacher evaluated based on provincial scoring descriptors. Diploma Multiple-Choice Exam PreparationStudents will prepare for their two and one half-hour multiple-choice examination administered by the provincial government (worth 25% of their English grade). They will use released multiple-choice exams and will complete the questions section-by section. The exam will be taken up and analyzed by the students in order to enhance performance.

Resources:In-Class Handouts

Cameron, Bob. On Stage 3. “Billy Bishop Goes to War” by John Gray with Eric Peterson, pp. 14-49. Toronto: Globe Modern Curriculum Press, 1984.

Cameron, Bob. On Stage 3. “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, pp. 168-232. Toronto: Globe Modern Curriculum Press, 1984.

Charlesworth, Roberta A. and Dennis Lee. A New Anthology of Verse. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Second Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1971.

Conrad, Ronald. The Act of Writing – Canadian Essays for Composition. Third Edition. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited.

Davies, Richard and Jerry Wowk. Inside Stories III. Second Edition. Toronto: Thomson Nelson, 2003.

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Toronto: Penguin Books Signet Classic, 1961.

Gehle, Quentin L. and Duncan J. Rollo. The Writing Process. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1977.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Sixth Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Toronto: Penguin Books Signet Edition: 1988.

Harris, Muriel and Joan Pilz. Canadian High-School Writer’s Guide. Don Mills: Pearson Education Canada, 2004.Perrine, Laurence and Theresa M. Ford. Story and Structure. Canadian Edition. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada, 1987.

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Canada, 1990.

Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Mississauga: Copp Clark Longman Ltd., 1991.

AP English 30-1 Tentative Course Outline

Ms. L. Helm St. Joseph Catholic High School

lisahelm@gpcsd.ca

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the

deserts that our lives have already become.” C.S. Lewis