I am looking back at some of my
favorite courses I had designed and taught throughout the years. Perhaps they
will be helpful templates for a few current teachers. Here is the third one:
English IV: Literature &
Composition AP (2002-2009)
Instructor/ Course Designer: Glen
Brown
Course Description:
The Honors English program
culminates in Literature and Composition AP.
Designed for students who are highly motivated and have achieved a high
level of language arts skill, the course prepares students for the English
Literature and Composition AP Exam, according to the curricular requirements
described in the AP English Course Description, as well as for college courses
in literature and writing. The course
includes an intensive study of selected works from various genres from
Sophocles to contemporary literature.
Emphasis is on close reading of novels, plays, essays, and poetry,
followed by discussion and written analysis of those texts. All student compositions require a critical
understanding of the textual details and themes found in the literature
studied. Students will have
opportunities to write and revise formal, extended analyses and timed in-class
responses. Moreover, students will be
provided with instruction and feedback on their writing assignments throughout
the process of their analyses. Students
will also do research that culminates in essays and oral presentations. Summer reading (four texts) is required,
along with a journal based on responses to those texts.
English
IV (AP) Standards:
Standard I: Reading
Students will read challenging texts, both
poetry and prose. They will understand
both the essential meaning of the text and its deeper, more symbolic meaning.
1.1 Understand plot in novels and plays and situation in poems
1.2 Analyze characters in novels and plays, speaker and other characters in poems
1.3 Understand the impact of milieu on a novel or a play’s action and characters
1.4 Understand the social and historical values embodied in a work of literature
1.5 Recognize irony in novels, plays, and poetry
1.6 Synthesize plot, character, setting, and irony to interpret theme
1.7 Understand the relationship between other literary elements (tone, diction, imagery, symbolism, figurative language, etc.) and a work’s content and theme
1.8 Understand essays and assess their relevance and rhetorical style in making an argument
1.1 Understand plot in novels and plays and situation in poems
1.2 Analyze characters in novels and plays, speaker and other characters in poems
1.3 Understand the impact of milieu on a novel or a play’s action and characters
1.4 Understand the social and historical values embodied in a work of literature
1.5 Recognize irony in novels, plays, and poetry
1.6 Synthesize plot, character, setting, and irony to interpret theme
1.7 Understand the relationship between other literary elements (tone, diction, imagery, symbolism, figurative language, etc.) and a work’s content and theme
1.8 Understand essays and assess their relevance and rhetorical style in making an argument
Standard II: Writing
Students will write focused, insightful analyses of novels, plays, and poetry. They will be able to synthesize research in a coherent, well-supported, argumentative essay. Their writing will be complex and grammatically sound and subject to revision.
2.1 Analyze in depth stylistic
elements in prose and poetry
2.2 Analyze in depth themes and the relationship of stylistic elements to theme
2.2 Analyze in depth themes and the relationship of stylistic elements to theme
2.3
Develop a complex thesis with thoughtfulness and clarity
2.4 Connect ideas logically and clearly
through a variety of sentence structures
2.5
Synthesize ideas skillfully through effective organization and emphasis of ideas
2.6
Argue effectively through use of deductive and inductive reasoning
2.7
Demonstrate increasing grammatical, syntactical, and stylistic mastery
2.8 Develop and utilize an effective
vocabulary in writing and discussion
2.9 Demonstrate the use of appropriate diction to establish and maintain tone and voice
2.10 Analyze historical and social values to develop a global view of literature and its context
2.9 Demonstrate the use of appropriate diction to establish and maintain tone and voice
2.10 Analyze historical and social values to develop a global view of literature and its context
Standard III: Presenting,
Listening and Developing Media Literacy
Students will listen to and respond respectfully to viewpoints
other than their own. They will
participate effectively in whole class discussion and make organized,
well-delivered presentations to the entire class.
3.1 Students will be active in small group tasks, thereby listening and interacting effectively to promote the learning of the group
3.2 Students will express themselves in whole class discussion, supporting and defending their position when challenged
3.3 Students will present forcefully and clearly when making a formal presentation
Standard IV: Researching
Students will gather, evaluate, and synthesize information from a
variety of sources in support of a given purpose: informative, argumentative, etc.
4.1 Gather information from a
variety of reliable sources
4.2 Refine their search as
they progress
4.3 Develop sophisticated search
methods
4.4 Develop increasing
awareness of the varying degrees of quality and authenticity in sources
4.5 Analyze and synthesize
research
4.6 Integrate and document research using
MLA format.
Standard V: Aesthetics
Students will explore the interrelationship of literature to other
art forms and the potential of writing for self-expression.
5.1 Research and present connections
between a writer’s work and her/his artistic
milieu
5.2 Write personal essays
that present their own experience coherently and insightfully
Core Instructional Resources:
The Trial, Kafka; Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky; Wuthering Heights, Bronte; The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer; Oedipus the King & Antigone, Sophocles; The Prince, Machiavelli; Hamlet, Shakespeare; Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky; Demian, Hesse; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce; Sound and Sense, Laurence Perrine, ed.; No Exit, Sartre; Grendel, Gardner; Heart of Darkness, Conrad; Macbeth, Shakespeare; The Stranger, Camus; AP Test Prose and Poetry Packets; Kaplan AP English Literature & Composition Workbook; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare
Note: Various American authors are taught in the English III AP course. Some of the core books studied include The Scarlet Letter, Walden, Ethan Frome, The Awakening, The Grapes of Wrath, Beloved, As I Lay Dying, The Great Gatsby, The Things They Carried, The Poisonwood Bible.
Supplementary Media Resources: Les Miserables, Faces of the Enemy, The Red Violin, Zorba the Greek, Apocalypse Now, Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, or The Seventh Seal
Major Assignments/Projects: Summer reading-response journals; several critical writing assignments/reports per quarter that examine theme and author’s technique; analytical prose and poetry essays that reveal a close-textual analysis of structure, style, and theme; college application essay; original poem; Canterbury Tale emulation; an argumentative research-based paper, philosophically based, on a concept of justice; a research project and presentation on a selected author; quarterly reader-response journals and web reductions.
All
extended analyses are expected to go through the process of writing
(pre-writing, drafting, sharing, revising and proofing). Students are also expected to arrange a
conference with me before the final submission of the essay.
Homework Policy:
Nightly! No late work is accepted
for assignments unless there are extenuating circumstances. E-mail the assignment to avoid a grade
reduction. Note: a composition is
considered late if you come to class without it even if you turn it in later
that day.
Absences:
It is your responsibility to follow the class calendar and to inquire
about any class that you miss. If you
have an excused absence from class, you must make up the test the day of your
return before school. If you have a
field trip, you must take your test the day it is scheduled. Failure to follow these directions will
result in a zero.
Plagiarism:
Borrowing facts, ideas, or language from others without crediting the
source is plagiarism. It is your
responsibility to read, understand, and adhere to the Plagiarism and Cheating
Policy. Some of our writing assignments will
be submitted to turnitin.com.
Teacher Availability:
You are responsible for your own education and intellectual
development. If you do not understand
what is being discussed in class, set up a conference with me before
school.
AP - 1st Quarter:
(Dear AP students, for Canterbury
Tales, type one reader-response journal entry (1 ½ -3 pages) for three of
the tales assigned (your choice); for Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone,
type one reader-response journal entry for each play. Discuss either setting, point of view,
character, symbolism, tone, irony, satire, diction, figurative language,
allusions, aha’s of discovery, or philosophical ideas and questions in your
journal entries… just like summer. Your
journal entry is due.* A one-page Web Reduction is due**)
8-25 Welcome: turn in
those summer journals to me and turnitin.com!
8-26 Wuthering Heights
– Em ily Bronte (short report due)
8-27 Wuthering Heights
8-28 Wuthering
Heights**
8-29 (Senior counseling groups)?
9-2 The
Trial – Franz Kafka (short report due)
9-3 The Trial
9-4 The Trial College
Essay Due
9-5 The Trial**
9-8 Crime &
Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky (short report due)
9-9 Crime &
Punishment
9-10 Crime &
Punishment
9-11 Crime &
Punishment**
9-12 Poetry reading
9-15 Poetry reading
9-16 Canterbury Tales –
Geoffrey Chaucer/Group Power-point Presentation
9-17 Prologue/Group Writing Assignment
9-18 Prologue
9-19 Group work on
writing tales/ Justice Research
Instructions/Essay due Dec. 1st.
9-22 Knight’s Tale (Canterbury
Tales: short report & allusions due)
9-23 Knight’s Tale*
9-24 Miller’s Tale
9-25 Nun’s Priest Tale*
9-26 Pardoner’s Tale/ Research topic & tentative thesis due
9-29 Wife of Bath’s
Tale*
9-30 Chaucer Objective Test
10-1 Group work on
writing tales/ Research topic &
tentative thesis due
10-2 Group
presentation/Canterbury emulation due
10-3 Group
presentation/Canterbury emulation due
10-6 Group
presentation/Canterbury emulation due
10-7 Group
presentation/Canterbury emulation due
10-8 Oedipus Rex –
Sophocles/Group Power-point Presentation
10-9 Oedipus Rex (short
report due)
10-10 Oedipus Rex*
10-15 Oedipus Rex**
10-16 Antigone –
Sophocles (Discussion questions handout)
10-17 Antigone/ Research tentative outline/revised thesis
due
10-20 Antigone* (Machiavelli excerpts handout)
10-21 Antigone** Sophocles Essay Test
10-22 The Prince (excerpts)
10-23 The Prince/ Claim development Worksheet for Justice
essay due
10-24 Hamlet –
Shakespeare/Group Power-point Presentation
AP – 2nd Quarter:
(For Hamlet, type one reader-response journal entry; for Notes from
Underground, type one combined reader-response journal entry for Part I and
one for Part II; for Demian, Portrait of
the Artist as a Young Man, and Dostoevsky’s “Rebellion” and “Grand
Inquisitor,” type one reader-response journal entry for each. Discuss either
setting, point of view, character, symbolism, tone, irony, satire, diction,
figurative language, allusions, aha’s of discovery, or philosophical ideas and
questions in your journal. Your journal entry is due.* A one-page Web Reduction
is due**)
10-27 Hamlet (short
report due)
10-28 Hamlet
10-29 Hamlet
10-30 Hamlet
10-31 Hamlet
11-3 Hamlet*
11-4 Hamlet Objective Test**
11-5 Notes from
Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky/Group
Power-point Presentation
11-6 Notes… (short
report due)
11-7 Notes…
11-10 Notes… Research tentative outline/revised thesis
due
11-11 Notes…
11-12 Notes…*
11-13 Notes from
Underground Essay Test**
11-17 Demian – Hermann
Hesse/Group Power-point Presentation
11-18 Demian (short
report due)
11-19 Demian
11-20 Demian
11-21 Demian
11-24 Demian*
11-25 Demian Essay Test**
12-1 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man –
James Joyce/Justice Research Essay Due
12-2 Portrait… chap. 1
12-3 Portrait… chap. 2
12-4 Portrait… chap. 3
12-5 Portrait… chap. 4 (short report due)
12-8 Portrait… chap. 5
12-9 Portrait… James Joyce/Group Power-point Presentation*
12-10 A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man Essay Test**
(Choose any poem from a previous or current chapter (not
discussed) in Sound & Sense or from any of the handouts and type a
2-3 page analysis w/o resources. Give
yourself exactly 40 minutes to do this assignment. It is due the day the chapter is
assigned. We will discuss the following
chapters each day).
12-11 chap. 11
12-12 chap. 11*
12-15 chap. 1
12-16 chap. 2*
12-17 chap. 3 (The Brothers Karamazov excerpts handout due
Jan. 10th)
12-18 chap. 9 a typed original or emulated poem due
12-19 10th
Annual Brownstock & quite
unbelievable!
1-5 chap. 13
1-6 chap. 14*
1-7 Poetry
1-8 “Rebellion”*
& Problem of Evil—from Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov
1-9 “Grand
Inquisitor”
1-12 “Grand
Inquisitor”*
1-13 “Rebellion/Grand
Inquisitor” Objective Test
1-14… Semester Exams
AP
– 3rd Quarter:
(For No Exit, type one 1
½ -3 page reader-response journal entry; for the documentary by Sam Keen and
the essays by Morrow, Shattuck, Broyles, and Kushner type one reader-response
journal entry for each; for Grendel, Heart of Darkness, and Macbeth,
type one reader-response journal entry; for The Stranger, type one for
part I and one for part II. Discuss
either setting, point of view, character, symbolism, tone, irony, satire,
diction, figurative language, allusions, aha’s of discovery or philosophical
ideas and questions in your journal entries.
Your journal entry is due.* A one-page Web Reduction is due**)
Jan. 21 No Exit – Jean-Paul
Sartre
Jan. 22 No Exit
Jan. 23 Faces of the Enemy –
Sam Keen/No Exit journal due*
Jan. 26 Faces of the Enemy
Jan. 27 Discussion of Evil –
Lance Morrow/Keen journal due* (Group
Discussion)
Jan. 28 Discussion of Evil –
Roger Shattuck/Morrow journal due*(Group
Discussion)
Jan. 29 Discussion of Evil
-- William Broyles/Shattuck journal due*(Group
Discussion)
Jan. 30 Beowulf/Grendel – Gardner
Group Power-point Presentation/Broyles
journal due*
Feb. 2 Grendel/Problem of
Evil (short
report due)
Feb. 3 Grendel
Feb. 4 Grendel
Feb. 5 Grendel
Feb. 6 Grendel*
Feb. 9 Grendel Essay
Test**
Feb. 10 Heart of Darkness – Conrad
Group Power-point Presentation
Feb. 11 Heart of Darkness
(assigned question for discussion)
Feb. 12 Heart of Darkness
(assigned question for discussion)
Feb. 13 Heart of Darkness
(assigned question for discussion)
Feb. 17 Heart of Darkness
(assigned question for discussion)
Feb. 18 Heart of Darkness (assigned question for discussion)*
Feb. 19 Heart of Darkness Essay
Test**
Feb. 20 Macbeth – Shakespeare (short report due)
Feb. 23 Macbeth
Feb. 24 Macbeth
Feb. 25 Macbeth
Feb. 26 Macbeth
Feb. 27 Macbeth*
Mar. 2 Macbeth Objective Test**The Stranger – Albert Camus
Mar. 3 The Stranger – Camus
Group Power-point Presentation
Mar. 4 The Stranger (short
report due)
Mar. 5 The Stranger
Mar. 6 The Stranger
Mar. 9 The Stranger*
Mar. 10 The Stranger Essay Test**
(Eight
day prose preparation entails writing three essays and completing several
exercises)
Mar. 11-13 Prose AP Preparation
Mar. 16-20 Prose AP Preparation
AP
– 4th Quarter:
(Dear AP students, you are to choose a poem (not discussed) from
each previously or currently assigned chapter in Sound & Sense or
from the handouts and type a 2-3-page analysis w/o resources. Give yourself exactly 40 minutes to do this
assignment as in AP testing conditions.
We will discuss the following chapters each day. The AP practice this quarter entails test
information, AP vocabulary, practice tests, and exercises).
Mar 30 AP discussion: practice tests
Mar 31 AP discussion: practice tests
April 1 AP discussion: practice tests
April 2 Sound
& Sense chap. 4
April 3 chap.
5
April 6 chap.
6*
April 7 chap. 7
April 8 chap.
8*
April 9 chap.
10
April 13 chap.
12*
April 14 AP
practice
April 15 AP
practice
April 16 AP practice
April 17 AP
practice/analytical poem essay due
April 20 AP practice
April 21 AP
practice
April 22 ACT
April 23 PSAE
April 27 A
Midsummer Night’s Dream
April 28 A
Midsummer Night’s Dream
April 29 A
Midsummer Night’s Dream
April 30 A Midsummer Night’s Dream*
May 1 A
Midsummer Night’s Dream**
May 4 Relax:
Any Questions?
May 5 Relax:
Any Questions?
May 6 Relax:
“Who Cares. We’re all going to…”
May 7 AP
Exam: Literature & Composition
May 8 TBA
May 11-15 AP Visual
Word
May 18 -21 AP Visual Word
May 22 Ferris
Buehler’s Day Off
May 26-28 AP Visual
Word
May 29 Senior
Assembly
June 1 Yearbook
June 2-4 Final
Exams
English AP Overview:
Quarter 1:
Summer Reading Follow-Up
8 summer journal entries -- Crime & Punishment, The Trial, Wuthering
Heights, Collins/Dunn/Mueller/Pastan
Unit Content: Aristotelian &
Hegelian analysis, Allegory & Tragedy, Hard & Soft Determinism,
Justice, Power & Politics (Plato, Calvin, James I, Machiavelli, Locke,
Rousseau, Carlyle, Hitler, Mussolini, Marx, Jefferson)
Core
Materials: Crime and Punishment; The Trial; Wuthering Heights; poetry
selections from Billy Collins, Stephen Dunn, Lisel Mueller, Linda Pastan; The Canterbury Tales: “Knight’s
Tale,” “Miller’s Tale,” “Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” “Pardoner’s Tale,” & “Wife
of Bath’s Tale”; Oedipus the King, Antigone
(using an Aristotelian & Hegelian analysis); The Prince (selections: 14, 16, 17, 18, 21)
Concepts/Skills -- All English IV
(AP) Standards with an emphasis on reading: understanding literary elements
(setting, point of view, character, symbolism, tone, irony, satire, diction,
figurative language, allusions, etc.); finding commonalities in different
works; reading with focus on concept and philosophical themes and questions
that emerge from literature; developing an understanding of the social and historical
perspective of a piece of literature; developing AP vocabulary.
Writing: college application
letter; analyzing literature: formulating thesis, effective introduction, clear
development of thesis, detailed support, effective introduction and use of quotations,
logical connection of ideas, and argumentative skills.
Research: researching primary and
secondary sources to support a philosophical argument: e.g. a current justice issue.
Aesthetics: examine and judge an author’s place in
historical and cultural context.
Presenting/Listening/Media
Literacy: determine best visuals, method
of engaging audience; deliver forcefully and with clear focus.
5 thematic research reports,
written and reported to class (Crime
& Punishment, Dostoevsky; The
Trial, Kafka; Wuthering Heights,
Bronte; “Knight’s Tale,” “Miller’s Tale,” “Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” “Pardoner’s
Tale,” & “Wife of Bath’s Tale” from The
Canterbury Tales, Chaucer; Oedipus
the King & Antigone, Sophocles)
1 college application essay*
1 timed, in-class essay test (Oedipus/Antigone)*
1 in-class objective test
(Chaucer)
1 Canterbury Tale emulation plus
prologue
5 journal entries – three from Canterbury Tales, one for Oedipus Rex & Antigone
5 Web Reductions -- Crime &Punishment, The Trial, Wuthering
Heights, Oedipus, Antigone
1 Group Power-point Presentation
(3/8 of class) Author Presentations: the author’s life,
works (style and themes), and
cultural milieu (literary movements, art, music, architecture, philosophy,
theology, political & historical events.)
Assessment: Summer
reading/response journals: approx. 15% of semester grade
Remainder of percentage divided
among quizzes/ objective and essay tests, research reports, journals,
explanatory/analytical compositions, Canterbury emulation and presentation and author
presentations
Quarter 2:
Unit: Meaning & Identity/
Individuation & Jungian Psychology, The Problem of Evil, various Poetical
Elements
Core
Materials: Hamlet; Notes from
Underground; Demian; A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man; chapters
1, 2, 3, 9, 11, 13, 14 from Sound and Sense; “Rebellion” & “Grand Inquisitor” from Brothers
Karamozov
Concepts/Skills – All English IV
(AP) Standards with an emphasis on Writing: continuing development of all
writing skills from previous unit; writing in-class AP essays. Analyzing and explicating unit’s
themes/poetry and developing AP vocabulary
Reading a poem for musical
devices, pattern, denotation and connotation, imagery, simile, metaphor,
personification, apostrophe, metonymy, symbol, allegory, sound, meaning and idea; recognizing speaker, occasion, and purpose. Continue reading skills from first
quarter.
Presenting/Listening/Media
Literacy: determine best visuals, method
of engaging audience; deliver forcefully and with clear focus.
Aesthetics: examine and judge an author’s place in
historical and cultural context throughout units.
4 thematic research reports,
written & reported to class (Hamlet,
Shakespeare; Demian, Hesse; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce;
Notes from Underground , Dostoevsky)
1 analytical & argumentative
research essay (10-12 pgs on the concept of justice)*
1 original poem*
3 timed, in-class essay tests (Demian, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man, Notes from Underground)
2 in-class objective tests (Hamlet, “Rebellion” & “Grand
Inquisitor” from Brothers Karamazov,
Dostoevsky)
3 poem analyses*
6 journal entries – Hamlet, Demian, A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man, Notes from Underground, “Rebellion & Grand
Inquisitor” from Brothers Karamazov
4 Web Reductions -- Hamlet, Demian, A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man, Notes from Underground
1 Group Power-point Presentation
(1/4 of class) Author Presentations: the author’s life,
works (style and themes), and
cultural milieu (literary movements, art, music, architecture, philosophy,
theology, political & historical events.)
Assessment: Quizzes/ objective
& essay tests, research reports, journals, explanatory/analytical
compositions. Author Presentations.
Quarter 3:
Unit: Manicheanism, Good vs. Evil/
Morality & Revenge
Core
Materials: “Faces of the Enemy,” No Exit, Grendel, Heart of Darkness, Macbeth, The Stranger, AP Test Prose
Packets & various Essays: “Evil” by Lance Morrow, “Why Evil Is Cool” by
Roger Shattuck, “Why Men Love War” by William Broyles, “Nihilism,” “Myth of Sisyphus,” “Primer of Existentialism.”
Concepts/Skills -- All English IV
(AP) Standards with an emphasis on reading: analyzing and explicating unit’s
themes, understanding difficult prose passages, understanding and marking an AP
prose and poetry passage, comparing & contrasting poems, following
images/motifs through a novel or play, recognizing symbolism & point of
view, examining structure and style and developing AP vocabulary.
Writing: analyzing motifs; analyzing AP passages (prose
and poetry): in-class, timed analyses; examining sentence structure
(subordination & coordination), diction, tone, voice, and style.
Presenting/Listening/Media
Literacy: effective class and small group discussion skills.
4 thematic research reports, written
& reported to class (Grendel, Gardner;
Heart of Darkness, Conrad; Macbeth, Shakespeare; The Stranger, Camus)
1 analytical prose essay (Grendel, Heart of Darkness, or Macbeth)*
3 timed, in-class essay tests (Grendel, Heart of Darkness, The Stranger)
1 in-class objective test (Macbeth)
AP prose preparation packet (3 AP
essays/various exercises)
9 journal entries -- No Exit; film: “Faces of the Enemy”;
essays: “Evil” by Lance Morrow, “Why Evil Is Cool,” by Roger Shattuck, “Why Men
Love War” by William Broyles, “Nihilism,” “Myth of Sisyphus,” “Primer of
Existentialism”; Grendel; Heart of
Darkness; Macbeth; The Stranger
4 Web Reductions – Grendel, Heart of Darkness, Macbeth, The
Stranger
1 Group Power-point Presentation
(3/8 of class)
Quarter 4:
Unit: Relationships, various
Poetry Elements & AP Final Preparation
Core
Materials: Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 from Sound and Sense; AP practice; A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Concepts/Skills -- All English IV
(AP) Standards with an emphasis on reading: recognizing figurative language,
paradox, imagery, irony, allusion, overstatement, understatement, meaning and
idea, sound and meaning, pattern, tone, rhythm and meter, and other musical
devices in poetry and developing AP vocabulary
Writing: review all analytical writing skills for AP
exam; write practice exams.
1 analytical poem essay*
AP practice tests (9 essays (5
prose & 4 poetry) plus various exercises from Kaplan AP English Literature
& Composition
3 Practice Multiple-Choice Tests
(one hour apiece)
1 journal entry – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1 Web Reduction – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
AP Exam: Literature &
Composition (60 minutes for Objective Test and 120 minutes for 3 Essays)
Assessment: Quizzes/ objective
& essay tests, research reports, journals, explanatory/analytical
compositions
*These essays will be revised and
subject to peer reviews and/or a conference
Sample Assignments:
Summer Reading—
1.
Read the following works. No Spark
or Cliff's Notes, etc. or movie substitutions.
Crime
and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The
Trial – Franz Kafka
Wuthering
Heights - Em ily Bronte
Choose
one of the following works:
Billy
Collins - Sailing Alone Around the Room
Stephen
Dunn - New & Selected Poems
Lisel
Mueller - Alive Together
Linda
Pastan - Carnival Evening
2. Keep a reader-response journal:
typed, double-spaced, twelve-point font.
Please follow these directions for
the novels:
A. Type the
author's last name and the first word of the title on the left-hand side of
each entry at the top of each page.
B. Type the date of the journal entry at the
top right hand side of the page, along with the page numbers covered by the
entry.
C. Begin each entry on a new page in your
journal.
D. Write two journal entries each for Crime
and Punishment, Wuthering Heights, and The Trial, one for the
first half and one for the end of each book.
E. Each entry should be approximately 300
words long.
F. One entry per novel may be "free
response." Respond to whatever struck
you, emotionally or intellectually, in the reading.
G. For the remainder of
the entries, choose elements from the following list as the focus of your response. Vary your choices over the course of your
reading. In the left margin, give the element or elements, which you've chosen
for that response.
a. setting/atmosphere e. tone i. things that remind you of
b. symbolism f. irony and satire other books that you've read
c. use of figurative language g. “aha's” of discovery j. interesting ideas or philosophical
d. character development h. author's word choice questions/themes
a. setting/atmosphere e. tone i. things that remind you of
b. symbolism f. irony and satire other books that you've read
c. use of figurative language g. “aha's” of discovery j. interesting ideas or philosophical
d. character development h. author's word choice questions/themes
(diction) k. allusions (mythological/Biblical)
l.
point of view
3. There are two poetry entries
for your journal as well:
a) After
reading your poetry book, choose your favorite poem and tell me what you liked
about it and why you liked it in a well-developed paragraph. Also, in a second well-developed paragraph,
reflect upon the poet’s overall style and voice. What makes this particular book of poems unique
and interesting?
b) Write
your own poem. Choose one poem in the
collection and emulate the poet’s style and voice. Keep close to its rhythm, tone, and
pattern. Incorporate your own imagery,
figurative language, and surprise (juxtapositions of unlike ideas, images, and
realities). Be sure to also type up the poem you are emulating.
(Alternative: After reading your
poetry book, write your own poem emulating the overall style and voice
of the poet).
4.
Your journal entries are due on the first day of class. Place them in a pocket folder. They will be evaluated for their clarity,
variety, depth, insight, and quality of expression.
IMPORTANT:
·
Assume that your reader has read the work; do NOT summarize the
plot.
·
These responses are not essays; you should not write overly
generalized introductions and conclusions.
However, all responses, even the free responses, should have a specific
focus and a good development of that focus.
I am looking for focused thinking, responding, and writing based upon a
technique or element found in literature.
Each journal entry should take about 40 minutes to complete.
·
Do NOT use secondary sources.
You will be given a “0” if you use a source like “Cliff’s Notes” or if
you go to the Web for even part of your entries. I am interested in your reading, thinking,
and writing, not someone else’s. Do not
share your entries with another student.
Copying or adapting another student’s work, or allowing him (or her) to
do so, also constitutes cheating on this assignment. Please refer to the
attached Language Arts Cheating and Plagiarism Policy for further clarification. Sign and return this sheet with your journal.
Thematic Short Report--
To be the accuser and the accused is to give man his greatest
intensity of self-consciousness. – Richmond Y. Hathorn (a paraphrase)
Each student is responsible for examination of one of the
following themes and/or devices in Oedipus the King. If you clearly have a stated theme, part of
your research should also include how a formal technique or stylistic device
(diction, syntax, tone, inference, etc.) reveals that theme.
Please turn in a typed response to
me as well. It should be 2-3 pages.
1.
Dramatic irony & paradox to reveal theme
2.
The metaphor of vision and blindness to reveal theme
3.
The role of the chorus to reveal theme
4.
The nature of guilt and justice
5.
Individual will vs. determinism/fate
6.
Oedipus & Existentialism/Nilhilism:
The lonely path of self-discovery and the
exploration of darkness lurking within…
Use MLA documentation style and
include a works cited.
Canterbury Tales: Understanding the Historical & Social Perspective
Each student is responsible for information of one of the
following:
Please turn in a typed response to
me as well. It should be 2-3 pages.
These reports will be presented in
class.
Chaucer’s Life:
The 14th Century:
The Church/Clergy in Chaucer’s
Time:
Astrology/Influence of the
Planets:
(The Knight’s Tale)
Astrology/Influence of the
Planets:
(The Wife of Bath’s Tale)
Humours/Complexions
Medicine & Alchemy in
Chaucer’s Time:
Finally for all students to
consider—
Essay question: Many of the tales develop, either by direct
example or by contrast, the medieval ideals of chivalry, courtly love, and gentilesse. Select one of these terms as your focus, define
it, and discuss how Chaucer uses it as a theme.
Analysis Essay--
A motif is a recurring image,
symbol, or minor theme. Find any motif
in Grendel and write an essay of 3-5 pages, analyzing its use in the
novel. Your analysis should give insight
into the relationship of the motif to the novel’s major elements such as theme,
characterization, conflict, point of view, etc. Support your generalizations
with properly cited passages. Use MLA
documentation for all sources.
Your essay will be evaluated accordingly:
1) content or ideas: their significance, soundness, clarity,
development, and relevance to topic and purpose; 2) organization: the
essay’s structure or rhetorical methods; 3) personal style: the essay’s
voice and tone, originality and interest; 4) vocabulary and diction: the
choice and arrangement of words; 5) mechanics: usage, syntax,
punctuation, and spelling; and 6) documentation.
AP Research Paper Instructions:
Purpose:
This is a 10 to 12 page commentary
on the concept of justice and an issue relating to that concept. The purpose of your commentary is both to
define justice and to apply your concept of justice to situations in real
life. In the first part of the paper,
your focus is conceptual, as you weave together ideas and perspectives on
justice found from your reading and research with your own thinking and
perspective. In the second part, after
having researched a modern justice issue, you are to analyze that issue in
terms of the definition of justice that you established in the first half of
the paper.
Research Paper Format:
After you complete your discussion
of the theories of justice and establish a working definition of the word, you
will then apply that definition to the specific issue that you researched.
Your paper must be an analysis or
an argument. You cannot merely do a
report or just give information.
Here are some acceptable options:
1) An argumentative paper with an
interesting introduction, background of the issue, thesis (your position on the
issue), evidence to prove your position, arguments against your position, your
refutation (contradiction) of those arguments, and most poignant conclusion.
2) A problem-solving paper with an
interesting introduction; background of the problem; thesis (your view of the
best possible solution to the problem); analysis of the problem, its causes and
possible solutions; your explanation of the best solution, with evidence and
logical reasoning why it is the best solution; and most poignant conclusion.
You should read through at least
12-15 sources, citing most of them throughout your essay. Use MLA style of documentation. Include a bibliography and works cited page
and an outline with thesis statement.
One way to begin:
Decide what contemporary issue can
be discussed and argued regarding the concept of justice.
Research philosophers who are noted
for their theories of justice: Mortimer
Adler, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume,
Thomas Jefferson, Immanuel Kant, Martin Luther King, John Locke, John Stuart
Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, John Rawls, or Jean Rousseau, etc. Find the theory that will be most applicable
to that contemporary issue you have chosen.
Read through the philosopher’s
theory of justice and summarize, paraphrase, and quote what will be relevant to
your purpose, i.e., your thesis -- the issue you will be arguing. Be sure to cite all sources correctly.
Grading Criteria:
The best
papers are that which are purposeful.
The writer is able to communicate clearly and coherently. She (or he) understands that the theoretical
section must be unified, not just a random explanation of different
philosophers’ view on justice. She then makes
her definition of justice really work in the specific issue part of the paper.
Just
slightly less important but still very important: quality and depth of research.
Always
important: quality of writing. Tone should be assertive but not overly
emotional.
Proper
documentation. Remember that paraphrased
ideas or highly specific statistics must be documented, in addition to all
quotes! If you had to look back into
your Xerox copies or notes for a fact or example, it probably needs to be
documented. Put yourself in the reader’s
shoes: if he would say, “Where did this
information come from?” then you need to document it. When in doubt, document.
AP Vocabulary Schemata Building
BE PREPARED TO KNOW, DISCUSS AND/OR
APPLY
THESE
IDEAS/TECHNIQUES/ACTIONS/AUTHORS/BOOKS
INSIGHTFULLY, PROFOUNDLY,
PHILOSOPHICALLY:
Absurd
Theory
Age
of Enlightenment
Aesthetic
Theory
Alienation/Isolation/Exile
Allegory
Alliteration
Allusion
Ambition
Anapestic
Anaphora
Anecdote
Antagonist
Antithesis
A
posteriori reasoning
Apostrophe
Approximate Rime
Appearance
vs. Reality
A
priori reasoning
Archetype
Aristotle
Assonance
Asyndeton
Attitude
Awakenings/Epiphanies
Ballad
Bible
Blank verse
Bronte:
Wuthering Heights
Caesura
Camus:
The Stranger
Cause
& Effect
Caricature
Chaucer:
Canterbury Tales
Chiasmus
Chorus
Cinquain
Colloquial
Comedy
Comparison
& Contrast
Complexions/Humours
Conceit
Confidant
Conflict (man vs. nature, society,
self, god, time)
Conformity
Connotation
Conrad:
Heart of Darkness
Consonance
Continuous Form
Contradiction
Couplet
Culture
Dactylic
Darkness
& Light
Death
& Dying
Delusion
Democracy
Denotation
Desire
Determinism
(Hard/Soft) & Free Will
Dialect
Didactic Poetry
Diction
Dimeter
Dostoevsky:
Crime & Punishment, Notes from Underground, Rebellion/Grand Inquisitor
Doubt
Dramatic monologue
Eccentricity
Elegy
End Rime
End-Stopped Line
Enjambment
Envy
Epic
Equivocation
Erickson’s
Stages of Development
Ethics
(Teleology & Deontology)
Evil
(Morrow, Shattuck)
Existentialism
Exposition
Extended metaphor
Fall
& Redemption
Falling action
Fabliaux
Farce
Fate
Father&
Son/Daughter
Feminine Rime
Feminism
Fixed Form
Foreshadowing
Formal Diction
Flashback
Free verse
Freudian
Psychology
Gardner:
Grendel
Genre
Guilt
& Conscience
Haiku
Hegelian
Dialectic
Heroism
Hesse:
Demian
Hobbes
Hubris (pride)
Hyperbole
Iambic
Imagery
Imperialism
Individuation
Initiation
Immorality
Informal diction
In medias res
Innocence
& Experience
Internal Rime
Irony (situational, verbal,
dramatic)
Jungian
Psychology (collective unconscious, etc.)
Jargon
Jealousy
Joyce:
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Judgment
Jungian
psychology
Justice/Injustice
Juxtaposition
Kafka:
The Trial
King:
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Kohlberg’s
stages of moral development
Limerick
Limited point of view
Litotes
Locke
Loose sentence
Lyric
Machiavelli:
The Prince
Madness
Masculine Rime
Madness
Manicheanism
Marxism
Maslow’s
self-actualization
Message
Metaphor
Meter
Metonymy
Mood
Morality
Moral
Ambiguity
Mother&
Daughter/Son
Motif
Mythology
Naïve
Realism
Narrative structure
Narrator
Nietzsche
Nihilism
Occasional poem
Octave
Ode
Omniscient point of view
Onomatopoeia
Overstatement
Oxymoron
Parable
Paradox
Parody
Parallel structure
Pastoral
Patriotism
Pentameter
Periodic sentence
Persona
Personification
Petrarchan sonnet (Italian sonnet)
Phonetic Intensives
Plato
Plot
Point of View
Political
Traditions
Problem
of Evil
Protagonist
Pride
Quatrain
Rawls’
theory of justice
Realism (Naïve, Representative,
Metaphysical Idealism, Phenomenalism)
Reconciliation
Refrain
Regret
Relationships
Revenge
Rhetorical Poetry
Rising action
Rhyme
Rhythm
Rousseau
Run-on Line
Sacrifice
Sarcasm
Sartre:
No Exit
Satire
Scansion
Sestet
Sestina
Setting
Shakespeare:
Macbeth, Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, etc.
Shakespearean sonnet
Shaped verse
Simile
Sisyphus
Sleep
Social
Contract (Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes)
Socialism
Soliloquy
Sophocles:
Oedipus, Antigone
Speaker
Spondaic
Stanza
Stanzaic Poem
Stereotype
Stock character
Structure
Style
Suffering
Symbolism
Synecdoche
Syntax
Tercet
Tetrameter
Terza rima
Theme
Tone
Tragedy
Trimeter
Trochee
Turning point
Understatement
Utilitarianism
Values
Villain
Virtue
Villanelle
Violence/Tyranny/Terrorism
Voice
Youth
& Old Age
War
(Broyles)
It is a good thing I retired nine years ago. The following is from a colleague still teaching in the high school trenches of absurd school reform:
ReplyDelete“Dude. Your course posts in your blog are wonderful. But...
“Unless you have accompanying type two and type three data assessments for these courses and updated unit and curriculum maps, each specifically tied not only to a common core standard, but also to an EU and an EO, as well as being able to structure the course to allow for formative assessments and homework that counts as 0% of their overall grade, while summative assessments are 100% with the possibility for revision, then I can’t use it.
“And now that I’m on the topic of grading practices, please be aware that missing grades are not zeros at the end of the semester, but half credit. So missing 30 point assignment cannot be missing as a zero, but instead, a 15 point score. I like to call these breathing and shitting points. Because I assume they are breathing and shitting consistently and without cheating, I allow breathing and shitting points regardless of whether or not they submitted the work. I brought this up in a meeting. They just don’t seem to find me funny anymore.
“The rationale behind banning zeroes is that ‘research suggests’ the zeros are more harmful to their grade than any of the excellent work they do and submit on time. This is all statistics, apparently. I remember raising my hand AGAIN during THAT MEETING and saying, I think we know that the zeros are excessively harmful to their grade. We used to call them called deterrents. We like deterrents. Again, I seemed to have lost my funny. So I just mumble, Milton like, about setting the place on fire.
“Also, we can barely penalize for late work. Turning in work late is a behavior and we are here to assess their skills and improve their skills. Small assignments should not be penalized as late, while larger assignments should only be penalized as late after two weeks, and even then, no lower than a 10% grade reduction. And you have to feel bad about it, go to confession, and recite 300 Hail Mary’s while self-flagellating in a Starbucks bathroom.
“Also, be aware, that by 2019, all summative assessments must be IDENTICAL per teaching team and scanned through mastery manager to track student growth. This is in addition to the pre, mid, and post assessments for both your Type 2 and Type 3 PERA assessments, per the law. So that’s 6 half periods lost to data collection right there.
“Also, please read your daily morning devotional from our Bible by priestess Dweck…”