Keep this packet safe – you will need it all year!

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

2012-2013
Ms. Morris

Course Description
The goals of the English Literature and Composition course are to prepare you to take the
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition exam (on Thursday, May 10, 2012,
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) and to prepare you for college courses by providing you with college-
level material and assessment. Because this course is both demanding and intellectually
stimulating, it requires your best effort consistently.

Course Objectives
By the end of the course, the goals are that:
1. You develop a basis for independent, critical analysis of literature.
2. You feel more confident about yourself as a reader and writer.
3. You discover and confront issues and questions that are important to you.
4. You become more knowledgeable about different cultures.
5. You are prepared for the rigors of college or university work.

Required Materials
You will receive various textbooks, paperbacks, and handouts. You are expected to bring them
with the following items to class every single day (no matter what you think we might be doing):
Binder and paper for taking notes
Memory stick for typing essays and projects
Writing utensils

Grading Scale
A = 100-93% B = 92-85% C = 84-77% D = 76-69% F = 0-68%

Required Summer Assignment

You will gather information about getting university credit by taking the AP English Literature
and Composition exam (see attached handout and rubric).

You will also read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and the accompanying handouts (attached).
You will complete a literature journal and notes on the major ideas in the novel (see attached
handout and rubric). The entire summer assignment is due on the first day of class – don’t
procrastinate! The novel will be studied and discussed further in class. In addition, you will be
expected to take a test on it the first day of class.

Independent Reading of One Novel per Semester

In addition to the required reading for class, you are required to read one novel on your own each
semester and complete an essay. The novel should be chosen from the reading list and the essay
is to be chosen from a list of open essay topics, both included in this packet.

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The Oral Report

Each of you will give one oral presentation to the class at some time during the year. A schedule
will be drawn up according to guidelines agreed to by the class. Your oral report will consist of
a reader’s guide to the outside reading novel you completed that semester. You must prepare a
list of objectives (what you want us to learn), a handout and quiz, and a Works Cited page
documenting the sources of your information in MLA format. Grading rubric is in this packet.

Homework
Do expect plenty of homework, probably about 5-8 hours per week. You will need to be a
highly motivated reader and writer.

Participation Expectations
Come each day prepared to discuss the assignment, or in the case of written work, with the
necessary essay completed and in hand. You are responsible for completing assignments on
time, and for seeing me at the appropriate time for make-up work. You should check your
grades online regularly and see me with any questions.

Always participate in discussion. Do not be intimidated by anyone in the room. You do have
something to say. It is worth saying and hearing and only you can make sure it is said. By the
same token, true discussion is reciprocal: it requires thoughtful listening and fair and courteous
commentary.

Attendance is vital! Unexcused absences will not be tolerated. If you must be gone – for a
weighty or life-threatening reason – keep up with the work as if you were here. Send written
work to school so that I get it on time. Read missed work so that you’re not behind when you
return. Confer with me and your classmates about what happened while you were gone. Always
get other people’s notes. Being gone is no excuse for not doing the work. But remember:
nothing can substitute for being here. Nothing.

You must take notes – for your own good. No college student would consider sitting through a
class without taking notes – nor will you. Always be prepared to take notes; if nothing else, the
very process aids your memory. Days and weeks later, your notes will be invaluable.

GIVE to the class – of your time, your best effort, your sincerity – and it will reward you in turn.

**Late work won’t receive full credit. If you anticipate a problem, you need to alert me ahead of
time.

I reserve the right to raise or lower a student’s grade based on exceptional participation or
exceptional lack of participation.

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On the Agenda
Lots of literature Mythology review
Mechanics and usage review (as needed) In-class group work
Essays (in-class and out of class) Vocabulary
Literary terms/poetry analysis terminology Attend production(s)
Practice AP exams

Exams
You will be taking a semester and a final exam. Details of the exams’ content will be covered in
class. Students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to take the AP exam.

Teacher Responsibilities
I pledge to you that I will require at least as much of myself as I am requiring of you. I will be
prepared for class; I will endeavor to be fair; I will listen to you; I will do my best to help you
succeed. If you think there is anything I should do differently, please tell me because I may be
ignorant of the problem. I want you to feel this is your course as much as mine. Believe me, I
will learn as much as you do. We will learn together.

Please feel free to approach me at any time about anything. It is not only my job to be here for
you; it is my wish.

Contact Info
If you need to discuss anything with me you may call me or meet with me before or after school
or during advisory. It’s helpful, but not necessary, to make an appointment beforehand. My
home phone number is 608-246-8486. My phone number at school is 648-2355 ext. 328 and my
email is bmorris@lakemills.k12.wi.us. If you are absent for several days and need to check on
what you’ve missed, if you have any concerns about the class, an assignment (especially the
summer assignment!), or the test, etc., feel free to contact me.

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Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

Tentative Outline
Ms. Morris

1st Quarter
The Tempest – Shakespeare (with performance at APT)
Siddhartha – Hesse
Various short stories and poetry
Poetry and literary terms
Mythology review
Symbolism and use of color
Multiple choice practice
Close reading techniques
Open essays

2nd Quarter
Things Fall Apart – Achebe
Othello or Hamlet - Shakespeare
Various short stories and poetry
Poetry and literary terms
Symbolism and use of color
Multiple choice practice
Close reading techniques and essays
Open essays

3rd Quarter
Heart of Darkness – Conrad
The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne or Snow Falling on Cedars – Guterson
Various short stories and poetry
Poetry and literary terms
Symbolism and use of color
Multiple choice practice
Close reading techniques and essays
Open essays

4th Quarter
Various short stories and poetry
Test strategy and review
Film study

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Some Guidelines for AP Essays
Morris

Use these guidelines along with the AP essay rubric and other handouts to help you craft your
essays. Essays will not be credited until they have been uploaded to Turnitin.com.

Grades are based on the clarity of your prose as well as on the thoughtfulness of your insights
into works of literature. Use high-level vocabulary, but don’t over do it in an attempt to be
impressive. Be sure to write in present tense and mention the title and author in the first
paragraph. Underline or italicize titles of books and plays; use quotation marks for titles of short
stories and poetry.

Organization is important. You should have a clear introduction and conclusion; the body
should be made up of paragraphs that support the assertion(s) made in the introduction. You
should use quotes from the work to support your assertions in the paper. I think a good paper
will have 3-4 quotes; HOWEVER, don’t bring in irrelevant quotes to make up the numbers. If
your assertions are really true to the text, you will find plenty of quotes to support them. As you
revise, ask yourself continually if each sentence in the body of the essay supports what you’ve
outlined in the introduction. If not, you need to consider changing either the introduction or the
body so they fit together.

Revise thoroughly, to lead your reader to your ideas easily and without ambiguity; good writers
typically need four or more rewrites to clarify, develop and connect their points (remember:
revising involves changes to the content and structure of your essay; proofreading is aimed only
at correcting mistakes in grammar, usage and mechanics). If you ignore my revision suggestions
altogether (including both those given in class and those written on your essay), you will
automatically lose one point on the AP essay scale. You are encouraged to use the Writing
Center on any paper, and may at times be required to use it.

If you don’t see improvement in your essays over the course of the second quarter, you should
consider scheduling some individual tutoring sessions with me or the Writing Center. If the
whole class is struggling, please let me know so we can spend more class time on essay strategy
and techniques.

Details: Papers should be about two pages typed double-spaced. Please include a heading,
which should have the following: your name; date; a label (Draft 1, Draft 2, etc.); and the title.
Hand in all drafts and notes each time a paper is due.

Keep in mind that our basic aim is to investigate the writer’s techniques, style and strategies,
because in literature, the meaning is in the style. Ask questions about how a work is written and
why the author does it that way (use your notes on literary elements), and look for answers by
examining the work more closely (read and re-read and re-read again!). The real reading of
literature looks beneath the surface: our class discussions should give lots of practice in asking
questions, and we’ll practice investigating those questions and developing insights. In your
papers you’re being asked to do the same thing, but in a more concentrated and independent way,
and to spend a lot of time on something your reader probably gave little time to. This comes as a
shock to some, but the assignment is not to show the teacher that you’ve done the work, but
rather to become the teacher yourself, to help the reader to see what you’ve discovered. (Think
of your readers as the other members of the class who have read the work and would like to learn
more about it.) In short, the purpose of an essay is to help others to “see” the work in more depth
and detail.

Develop your own insights but don’t force or exaggerate an interpretation just to be “original;”
be sensitive to the tone and spirit of the work. Avoid commenting on the quality of the work
(especially sycophantic comments about what great writers these are!) – of course the work is of
high quality; if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be writing about it. Use the class discussions as a starting
point for your paper, but don’t just regurgitate what was said in class – try to add something new,
your own perspective.

The best single piece of advice I can give is: think of the work as a kind of puzzle; see where the
questions are and then see where they lead you. If you know everything you’re going to say
before you start writing, that’s probably a bad sign.

Any other questions, just ask.

Grading Scale for AP Essays

AP English Literature and Composition

Essays revised through two or more drafts

AP Grade Letter Grade Percentage Points of 40
9 A 100 40
8 A- 95 38
7 B+ 91 36.5
6 B- 86 34.5
5 C 82 33
4 D+ 75 30
3 D- 70 28
0-2 F 60 24

Single draft essays

AP Grade Letter Grade Percentage Points of 30
9 A 100 30
8 A- 95 28.5
7 B+ 91 27.5
6 B- 86 26
5 C 82 25
4 D+ 75 22.5
3 D- 70 21
0-2 F 60 18
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
Outside Reading List

Each semester you are required to read a novel in addition to the works we are reading in class.
You will then be asked to choose an appropriate open question topic from past AP English Lit.
exams (using the list you’ve been given) and write a well organized, well developed essay about
the novel you have read. One semester, you will present an oral report in addition to the essay.

For extra credit points on this assignment, you may also complete a two-column Literature
Journal, with quotes, paraphrases or summaries in the left column and reactions in the right
column. Such a journal would provide an excellent pre-writing activity.

You may choose any work from the list below, or another work approved in advance by your
teacher. Summaries and reviews can be found on amazon.com.

Author Title
Anaya, Rudolfo Bless Me, Ultima
Atwood, Margaret The Blind Assassin
The Handmaid’s Tale
Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice
Cather, Willa My Antonia
Dickens, Charles A Tale of Two Cities
Dumas, Alexandre The Count of Monte Cristo
Eliot, George Silas Marner
Faulkner, William Light in August
Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby
Forster, E.M. A Room with a View
Fugard, Athol Master Harold… and the Boys
Golding, William Lord of the Flies
Heller, Joseph Catch-22
Hemingway, Ernest The Old Man and the Sea
The Sun Also Rises
Hosseini, Khaled The Kite Runner
Hurston, Zora Neale Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ibsen, Henrik A Doll’s House
Irving, John A Prayer for Owen Meany
Kafka, Franz Metamorphosis
Kallos, Stephanie Broken for You
Kesey, Ken One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
McCarthy, Cormac The Road
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman
The Crucible
Mistry, Rohinton A Fine Balance
Morrison, Toni Beloved
Author Title
Ondaatje, Michael The English Patient
Orwell, George 1984
Rhys, Jean Wide Sargasso Sea
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William King Lear
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Othello
Twelfth Night
Romeo and Juliet
Sinclair, Upton The Jungle
Smiley, Jane A Thousand Acres
Sophocles Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men
Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse Five
Walker, Alice The Color Purple
Welty, Eudora The Optimist’s Daughter
Wharton, Edith Ethan Frome
Wilde, Oscar The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Importance of Being Earnest
Williams, Tennessee The Glass Menagerie
A Streetcar Named Desire
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition - Open Essay Topics
Below are open essay topics from 1981-2011 in reverse chronological order. Read each one carefully and next to it note all the works you’ve read in your
English classes throughout high school that would apply to it. Consult with your teacher about any independently read works and their suitability for use on
the exam. You will also need this page to complete your outside reading assignment.
Year Topic Applicable Works
2011 How a character’s response to justice or injustice, understanding of
justice, and search for justice is significant to the meaning of the
work as a whole.
2010 How a character’s exile is both alienating and enriching and how it
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
2009 How a symbol functions in a work and what it reveals about the
characters or themes of the work as a whole
2008 How the relation between a foil character and a major character
contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole
2007 How a character’s relationship to the past contributes to the
meaning of the work as a whole
2006 Use of a country setting to establish values in a work and its
function and significance to the work as a whole
2005 analyze how the tension between a character’s outward conformity
and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work as a
whole
2004 analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it
offers any answers and affects understanding of the work as a
whole
2003 how the function of a tragic figure as an instrument of suffering of
others contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole
2002 role and significance of a morally ambiguous character

2001 the role and significance of a character’s apparent madness or

irrational behavior and how that behavior is actually reasonable
2000 how the investigation of a mystery (whether solved or not)
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole
1999 contribution of a character whose mind is pulled in conflicting
directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations or
influences
1998 the contribution of “uncivilized free and wild thinking” to the value
of a work
Year Topic Applicable Works
1997 how a scene of a wedding, funeral, party or other social occasion
reveals values of characters and their society and the scene’s
contribution to the meaning of the work as a whole.
1996 the significance of a happy ending achieved through a spiritual
reassessment or moral reconciliation
1995 how an character alienated because of gender, race, class or creed
reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values
1994 the function of a character who appears briefly or not at all but is a
significant presence
1993 the contribution to meaning of “thoughtful laughter” in a work

1992 the function of a confidant(e) in a play or novel

1991 the significance of two contrasting places in a play or novel

1990 the significance in a work of a parent-child conflict

1989 the use of distortion in a literary work

1988 an author’s making internal or psychological events exciting

1987 an author’s techniques used to change a reader’s attitudes,

especially toward social ills
1986 the effect of an author’s manipulation of time in a novel, epic, or
play

1985 the cause of feelings of both pleasure and disquietude in a literary

work
1984 the relation of a single memorable line of poetry or scene in a play
or novel to the whole work (an unusual and unsuccessful question)
1983 a villain, the nature of villainy, and the relation of the character to
meaning
1982 the function in a work of a scene of violence

1981 a work in which the use of allusion (to myth or the Bible, for
example) is significant
Name Date

AP English - Oral Report

Each student will present one oral report per year. Your teacher will prepare a schedule. First
semester reports will be presented in January; second semester in April. All reports will be
presented before the AP Exam date. The oral presentation is related to your outside reading
assignment, but not the same thing.

You will prepare a reader’s guide (sort of a mini-Sparknotes) to the novel you read as your
outside reading assignment.

Requirement Points
Author background (date born, date died, period in which 10
he/she wrote, where lived, etc.)

Historical background (first publication date, important events 10

or movements, possible influences or inspirations, etc.)

Distinguishing characteristics of the work (such as genre, 10

stylistic characteristics, symbols, patterns of imagery, etc.)

Brief summary – maximum 10 sentences that include only the 5

major plot points, setting. Plot spoilers are acceptable (and
often necessary).

Analysis of the novel (this is a summary of the essay you’ve 10

written for your outside reading assignment)

Analysis of major characters (also identify protagonist and 15

antagonist)

Handout to give to class (your teacher will make copies with 15

adequate notice given) and bibliography in MLA format.
Handout can be a summary or a supplement; it should not
merely be a transcript of your presentation.

Presentation
Time limit: 5-7 minutes 5
Organized 10
Good eye contact 10
Volume, pronunciation, enunciation, etc.

TOTAL 100

Note : If you use Power Point or other visual aids, remember: the visual aid should be a summary
or a supplement; do not read from the screen!
Name Date

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Name Date

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

Literature Journal & Major Ideas Notes

You will complete a journal on water references in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Use the
example and grading rubric below to guide you.

Requirement Points
Water journal and Major Ideas Notes fully completed (to best of ability), 10
and handed in on the first day of class with this rubric stapled on top.

Journal
Journal is organized in outline format with the twelve chapters of 3
the novel as the major headings.
Journal has a wide margin (about 2 inches on one side) so that 2
notes can be added during class. Student is encouraged to
explain the pattern of imagery in each chapter.
Every reference to water is noted, whether literal or figurative, 10
solid or liquid, including references to thirst (labeled with page
number).
At the end of the journal, student attempts to explain the pattern 5
of water imagery used throughout the novel and its significance
to the overall meaning of the novel. This explanation shows
thoughtful interpretation, not mere summary, e.g., analyze,
explain, connect, compare, infer, integrate, predict, assess, rank,
convince, discriminate, support, conclude.

Major Ideas Notes 10

A response is given to each idea listed. This response should
include a relevant example from the novel and a page number.

TOTAL/COMMENTS 40
Name Date

Sample Imagery Journal

The example below is from “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In this
assignment, the student has been asked to journal about the descriptions of the wallpaper in the
story.

Wallpaper Journal
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“stripped off … in great patches all around the head of my bed” p.

529
“never saw a worse paper in my life.” p. 529
“sprawling, flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” p.
529 paper is described in terms
“dull enough to confuse… pronounced enough … to irritate … that imply sickness and
lame uncertain curves… suddenly commit suicide… outrageous decay
angles… destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions” p. 529
“color is repellent … smoldering, unclean yellow” p. 529
“dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others”
p. 530
“This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it
had!” p. 531 paper has an attitude and
“pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you seems to aggravate the
upside down” p. 531 narrator
“I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the
everlastingness…those absurd unblinking eyes are everywhere” p.
531
“I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before” p.
531
“…is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother – they
must have had perseverance as well as hatred.” p. 531
“has a kind of subpattern… you can only see it in certain lights…”
p. 532
“I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure that seems to narrator first sees the
skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design.” p. 532 figure in the wallpaper
“I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper.
Perhaps because of the wallpaper.” p. 532
“It dwells in my mind so!” p. 532
“follow that pattern about by the hour” p. 533
“bloated curves and flourishes … dilirium tremens go waddling up
and down in isolated columns of fatuity” p. 533 Summary: the wallpaper
“great slanting waves of optic horror” p. 533 seems to parallel the
narrator’s mental health;
ETC. the figure in the paper is a
metaphor for her struggle
with mental illness and
repression
Name Date

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

Exam Credit Information Assignment

Obtain information on AP credit from three colleges/universities you would like to attend.
Photocopy or print that information, highlight the AP information, and make sure the name of
the school appears at the top of each page (note: do not copy and paste information from a
website – use the Print Preview feature to choose the relevant page/pages. It should be clear from
the printout that the information is official and authentic). All information is due the first day of
class.

To find this information, you should start with the college/university web site. You may even
need to call their admissions or testing office to obtain the information. If you can only get the
information verbally through a phone call or visit, you must write down the name and telephone
number of the person who gave you the information, as well as which office/department of the
college/university they work in.

Requirement Points
Information from three schools – should be schools you are of 10
seriously considering attending, but there must be three even
if you have already decided where you are going. School
name should be highlighted.

Complete information – must include specific information on of 10

what score is needed to earn credit (on 5 point scale), how
much credit is given for each score, and which specific classes
this credit corresponds to. Must be clear that this is official,
authentic information.

Relevant information is highlighted correctly – be sure you of 10

are highlighting information for the English LITERATURE
exam, NOT the English Language exam.

Include only the pages necessary to show school name and of 10

English Literature and Composition exam information. All
information is handed in the first day of class with this rubric
on top.

TOTAL and COMMENTS of 40