ASTEC Charter High School AP English , English IV and English III  
Picture

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition

Course Focus/Description

Welcome to AP British Literature and Composition, a class designed to be the equivalent of a college course. Be prepared to experience some of the great literature of Great Britain; to read widely and critically; to write extensively and for a variety of purposes; and to prepare for the AP Literature and Composition Exam. The pace is lively and the expectations are high. Although this course focuses on literature from Britain, you will need to draw on literature read in previous courses, especially last year’s 11th grade American literature and language study, so keep your copies of The Norton Anthology of American Literature (sixth edition), Huck Finn (Twain), The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)), The Things They Carried (O’Brien), A River Runs Through It (Maclean), The Crucible (Miller), To Kill A Mocking Bird (Harper), The Hunger Games (Collins), The Bluest Eye (Morrison), Night (Wiesel) and 1984 (Orwell). We will refer to these works through our class this year.
Course Expectations

In AP Literature and Composition, we will:

  • Practice responsibility and independence in learning (arrange make up work, have all assignments and materials ready for class, etc.)

  • Read extensively, deeply, and carefully from a variety of texts, genres, and time periods in English literature

  • Examine literature as a reflection of history, culture, and ideas, noting larger historical and philosophical contexts

  • Utilize close reading techniques necessary for critical thinking and for AP examinations

  • Practice writing under timed circumstances

  • Compose regularly, using expository, analytical, and argumentative forms of writing

  • Rewrite and use compositions from our class to identify strengths and weaknesses in syntax, organization, coherence, ratios of generalization and concrete detail, diction, voice, and sentence structure

  • Reflect on what we are reading and learning through writing, class discussion, on-line discussion

  • Enjoy the lively and respectful exchange of ideas in our classroom

  • Identify literary elements through our close reading, and see how the use of those literary elements adds to an author’s style and message

This advanced literature course will engage students in careful reading and analysis of a challenging set of literary works from a range of genres including the novel, short story, poetry, and drama. The focus of the course will be on intensive reading and discussion of the literature, as well introduce secondary
 critical essays for discussion and evaluation. Emphasis will be placed on thoughtful and cogent analysis of the readings using a variety of theoretical frameworks and devices.

The course is intended to provide students with an academic experience parallel to that of a college level literature course. This course will also include a writing component that focuses on expository, analytical and argumentative writing about the literature through both discussion and essay format. Students are expected to be active readers as they analyze and interpret textual detail, establish connections among their observations, and draw logical inferences leading toward an interpretive conclusion.

This course also prepares students who do all the coursework for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Exam administered each May. Students will read, write and discuss poetry, fiction, and drama at an advanced college level while using resources to develop skills including sophisticated use of literary elements and terminology, close readings of various texts, creating, drafting, and editing college-level analytical essays, preparing and writing timed essays, and advanced use and mastery of standard English.

At the completion of Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, the student will be able to:

• Make warranted and reasonable assertions about an author’s arguments,

• Recognize and use literary terms,

• Apply literary terminology to fiction, drama, and poetry,

• Annotate a literary text,

• Analyze different genres of literature, particularly short stories, novels, drama,

and poetry,

• Read literary texts closely, such as

1. Atonement (Ian McEwan)

2.
Wuthering Heights (Bronte)

3. 
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy)

4. 
The Importance of Being Ernest (Wilde)

5. 
Hamlet,  MacBeth(Shakespeare)

6. Beowulf ,Canterbury Tales, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

7. Epic, lyric, and narrative poetry in The Norton Anthology of English Literature

8. Independent Novels (chosen from list of authors of literary merit)

        • Read, understand, and answer timed analytical literary essays,

        • Recognize and assess the elements of different literary genres,

        • Read, draft, edit, and format analytic and research essays,

        • Answer multiple-choice questions similar to those on the Literature and composition exam 

        • Use computer technology and the Internet to complement an understanding of literature.

Throughout the course, students will be provided instruction and feedback on writing assignments, both before and after the revision of their work that helps them develop:

• 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.

Content Standards:

This Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition course is written to the content standards outlined by the College Board’s