AP® Literature and Composition Syllabus 2016-2017

Course Description1

The AP® English Literature and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works.

Major Concepts/Content2

AP® English Literature and Composition is designed to be a college/university level course, thus the “AP” designation on a transcript. This course will provide you with the intellectual challenges and workload consistent with a typical undergraduate university English literature/ Humanities course. As a culmination of the course, you can take the AP English Literature and Composition Exam given in May. A grade of 4 or 5 on this exam is considered equivalent to a 3.3–4.0 for comparable courses at the college or university level. A student who earns a grade of 3 or above on the exam will be granted college credit at most colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Course Goals3

1. To carefully read and critically analyze imaginative literature.2. To understand the way writers use language to provide meaning and pleasure.3. To consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.4. To study representative works from various genres and periods (from the sixteenth to the twentieth century) and to know a few works extremely well.5. To understand a work’s complexity, to absorb richness of meaning, and to analyze how meaning is embodied in literary form.6. To consider the social and historical values a work reflects and embodies.7. To write, focusing on critical analysis of literature including expository, analytical, and argumentative essays as well as creative writing to sharpen understanding of writers’ accomplishments and deepen appreciation of literary artistry.8. To become aware of, through speaking, listening, reading, and, chiefly, writing, the resources of language: connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone.

Required texts:1. The Bedford Introduction to Literature Volume Nine

a. ISBN-10: 0-312-53921-5b. ISBN-13: 978-0-312-53921-4

2. Princeton review AP Literature Study Guidea. ISBN-10: 0804126178b. ISBN-13: 978-0804126175

3. Your two choice summer novels (see list attached)4. Your choice novel that may be outside of the AP reading list5. Choice of three books for book clubs to be read during the school year (see attached list)

1 Taken from AP Central course descriptions on the college board website2 Taken from AP Central syllabus descriptions on the college board website3 Taken from AP Central syllabus descriptions on the college board website

Genres:1. Novels2. Short stories3. Poetry4. Drama5. Essays6. Creative Non-fiction

Writing:All pieces of writing will be evaluated in some way. Some will be peer-reviewed, some will be given

feedback and returned, and some will be given feedback and then revised, culminating in a writers meeting with me once each semester about growth in regards to writing and vocabulary. Students will be required to use syntactic variety and this will be highlighted during peer reviews. Students must also demonstrate an ability to produce essays and written compositions that are clear, with revision, in their intention, well organized, and supported by evidence. Students will also learn how to use deductive reasoning in their essays- moving from the general to the particular- and inductive reasoning- moving from the particular to the general. Finally, students will work on their own voice in writing, experimenting with different tones in their essays.

AP Binders:Purpose: To collect essays, vocabulary, notes and other materials to prepare for the AP exam in May. Also to collect all work for use at college the next four years.

Supplies: 3 inch 3 ring binder with front pocket Set of dividers loose paper (at the back of the binder)

Layout:1. Put class syllabus in the front pocket2. Write your name on the binding of the binder and create a front cover so it is easy to identify3. Create tabs on dividers for all the units

a. Units: Fiction, Poetry, Dramai. As we complete assignments, you will place them behind the correct dividersii. All assignments, when placed under a divider, will also be listed on the divider it was

placed under. For example: “Discussion notes from Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”

b. Book club tabsi. You will have three book clubs this year, and will place notes and materials from

each book club under the correct tabc. AP Test tabs

i. Anytime we take a whole or partial AP exam in class, your answers and reflections will go in this tab

4. The last tab will be for loose paper

Where do I keep it? You may keep the binders in class in my cupboard, however you may need to take them home

sometimes. We will need these every day, so if you take your whole binder home be sure to bring it back to class!

Course schedule and major assignments4

Summer homework:1. Students will choose two books off of the AP list attached.2. They will read these two books over the summer, and annotate two key passages (about two pages

or so, use your best judgement).3. Students will photo copy these annotated pages to turn in.4. Students will also complete an essay prompt on each book.5. Students will choose any one book (AP or not) to read over the summer. They need to come to

class the first day prepared to share about their choice. Do not annotate this, just read and enjoy!6. Choose a song that represents you somehow. Print out the lyrics (clean) and annotate them as to

how they connect to you. Also write a short (about one page) statement that uses evidence from the song to describe how it represents you. Be prepared to share this!

7. Optional (seriously!) We will have bi-weekly vocabulary quizzes and board work. I have provided lists of the words we will study this year within the syllabus. Do what you wish with these words over your time off this summer, and be prepared for the first quiz during the first full week of school. Vocabulary quizzes will be a class effort, so study wisely.

Vocabulary:The words we will cover are the entire glossaries of The Bedford Introduction to Literature Volume Nine and the Princeton review AP Literature Study Guide. We will start with the Bedford Introduction, then move on to the AP study guide.

Unit 1: Fiction: During this unit we will have journal entries and short writes evaluating and analyzing specific elements of the different short stories artistry and/or quality. Students will also write about the work's social, historical and/or cultural values in their short writing assignments.

Week*

Topic and readings Assignments

1 Reading fictionKate Chopin, The Story of an HourKaren van der Zee, from A Secret SorrowGail Goodwin, A Sorrowful WomanGene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese

Perspectives: Kay Mussel, Are Feminism and Romance Novels Mutually Exclusive?Thomas Jefferson, On the Dangers of Reading Fiction

Annotate the chapterConsiderations for reading and writing, page 29Considerations for reading and writing, page 43Considerations for reading and writing, page 46

2 Writing about fictionSample student essays

Annotate the chapterAnswer the questions for responsive reading and

4 Readings and assignments may come from Bedford Introduction to Literature: volume nine

writingWrite an essay comparing and contrasting the treatment of marriage in the excerpt from “A Sorrowful Woman,” and “A Secret Sorrow.”Table grading, looking at both exemplars and your peers work prior to and after completing timed writes.Board work Wednesday #1- vocabulary terms

3 PlotEdgar Rice Burroughs, From Tarzan of the ApesAlice Walker, The FlowersJoyce Carol Oates, Three GirlsWilliam Faulkner, A Rose For EmilyAndre Dubus, KillingsEdward Gorrey, From The Hapless Child

Perspectives:William Faulker, On A Rose For EmilyA.L. Bader, Nothing Happens in Modern Short Stories

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and Connections, page 83Considerations and Connections, page 90Considerations and Connections, page 97Considerations, page 99Considerations, page 115Considerations, page 120One page essay on one of the short readings, applying a critical perspective (student choice)

4 CharacterCharles Dickens, From Hard TimesMay-lee Chai, Saving SourdiHerman Melville, Bartleby, The ScrivenerJunot Diaz, Fiesta, 1980Lynda Barry, Spelling

Perspectives:Nathaniel Hawthorne, On Herman Melville’s Philosophic StanceDan McCall, On The Lawyers Character in “Bartleby, The Scrivener

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and Connections, page 141Considerations and Connections, page 167Considerations, page 168Considerations, page 170Considerations and connections, page 180One page essay on character using a reading from any chapter previously studiedBoard work Wednesday #2- vocabulary terms

5 SettingErnest Hemmingway, Soldier’s HomeAndrea Lee, Anthropology Fay Weldon, Ind Aff, or out of Love in Sarjevo

Perspectives:Ernest Hemmingway, On What Every Writer NeedsFay Weldon, On the Importance of Place in “Ind Aff”

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, page 192Considerations and connections, page 193Considerations and connections, page 201-202Considerations and connections, page 208-209One page essay on the significance of setting in one of the three stories in this chapter

6 Point of ViewRobert Olen Butler, Jealous Husband

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, page 222

Returns in Form of ParrotAnton Chekov, The Lady with the Pet DogJoyce Carol Oates, The Lady with the Pet DogAlice Walker, RoselilyMarjane Satrapi, The Trip

Perspectives:Anton Chekov, On Morality in FictionMatthew Brennan, Point of View and Plotting in Chekov’s and Oates’s Lady with the Pet Dog

Considerations 234Considerations 236Considerations 249-251Considerations and connections 256-257One page essay on the importance of point of view in Chekov and Oates storiesBoard work Wednesday #3

7 SymbolismChitra Banerjee Divakarumi, ClothesColette, The HandRalph Ellison, Battle RoyalMichael Oppenheimer, The Paring Knife

Perspective:Mordecai Marcus, What Is an Initiation Story?

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, pages 273-274Considerations and connections, pages 276-277Considerations and connections, pages 287-288Considerations and connections, page 293One page essay on symbolism in one of the four stories in chapter

8 ThemeStephen Crane, The Bride Comes to the Yellow SkyKatherine Mansfield, Miss BrillDagoberto Gilb, Love in L.A.Daly Walker, I Am The Grass

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, pages 305-306Considerations and connections, page 310Considerations and connections, page 313Considerations and connections, page 328One page essay on an original theme in one of the four stories in the chapterBoard work Wednesday #4

9 Style, Tone, IronyRaymond Carver, Popular MechanicsSusan Minot, LustTim O’Brien, How to Tell a True War StoryZ.Z. Packer, BrowniesRick Moody, BoysMatt Groening, Life in HellPerspective:John Barth, On Minimalist Form

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, page 355Considerations and connections, pages 345-346Considerations and connections, pages 355-356Considerations and connections, pages 370-371Considerations and connections, 375Board work Wednesday #5

10 Combining the Elements of Fiction: A Writing ProcessDavid Updike, Summer

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, page 384Questions for writing, page 385Create your own prompt for Updike’s SummerTable grade using an AP scaleFinal essay

11 Approaches to fiction project #1Students will be grouped into seven different groups, each will be assigned an approach to fiction to study and present to the classOptions:Nathaniel HawthorneFlannery O’ConnorWilliam FaulknerJames JoyceThe Literature of the SouthHumor and SatireRemarkably Short Stories

Annotate your approaches sectionComplete the readings in assigned sectionConsiderations and connections from assigned sectionGroup essay: Analyze your author’s works and write an argumentative essay in which you draw upon textual details of the authors work to make and explain judgments about a work's artistry and quality.

12 Book club #1Get into your chosen book club groups using book #1

Annotate two key passages from your bookWrite short one page statements on each key passage, using different elements of the fiction sectionRespond to an open question timed write in classPrepare and have a group discussion on the chosen bookComplete a data sheet for your book to share with the classPresent your book to the class

13 Full AP Practice test #2 Take full practice testAnalysis of multiple choice answersAnalysis/group scoring of essay responses Reflection on test 1 vs. test 2, goals for the next practice test

Unit 2: Poetry

Week*

Topic and readings Assignments

14 Reading poetryMarge Piercy, The Secretary ChantRobert Hayden, Those Winter SundaysJohn Updike, Dog’s DeathWilliam Hathaway, Oh, OhRobert Francis, CatchElizabeth Bishop, The FishPhilip Larkin, A Study of Reading HabitsRobert Morgan, Mountain GraveyardE.E. Cummings, 1(aRegina Barreca, Nighttime FiresHelen Farries, Magic of LoveJohn Frederick Nims, Love PoemBruce Springsteen, You’re Missing

Annotate the chapterConsiderations for reading and writing, page 756-789 (with all poems)Compose an original poem

S. Pearl Sharp, It’s the Law: A Rap Poem

15 Writing about PoetryElizabeth Bishop, MannersSample student essays

Annotate the chapterAnswer the questions for responsive reading and writingClose read a poem, then write a short essay, focusing on how the individual components of the poem contribute to its overall effectTable grading, looking at both exemplars and your peers work prior to and after completing timed writesBoard work Wednesday #6- vocabulary terms

16 Word Choice, Word Order, ToneRandall Jarrell, The Death of the Ball Turret GunnerJudith Ortiz Coffer, Common GroundColette Inez, Back When All Was Continuous ChucklesKatharyn Howd Machan, Hazel Tells LaverneMartin Espada, Latin Night at the PawnshopPaul Laurence Dunbar, To A Captious CriticRobert Herrick, To The Virgins, To Make Much of TimeAndrew Marvell, To His Coy MistressAnn Lauinger, Marvell NoirSharon Olds, Last NightSappho, Three Translations of a PoemPablo Neruda, Two Translations of a Poem

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and Connections, page 806-817Compose an original poemChoose one the poems we have studied this chapter and write a one page essay on word choice, order and tone in the poem

17 ImagesWilliam Carlos William, PoemJeannette Barnes, Battle-PieceWalt Whitman, Cavalry Crossing A FordDavid Solway, WindsurfingTheodore Roethke, Root CellarMatthew Arnold, Dover BeachJimmy Santiago Baca, Green Chile

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and Connections, pages 839-846Choose a “Poem for further study” that we have not examined in class and write a short essay, focusing specifically on its imageryBoard work Wednesday #7- vocabulary terms

18 Figures of SpeechWilliam Shakespeare, From MacbethSimile and metaphor: Margaret Atwood, You Fit Into MeEmily Dickinson, Presentiment- Is That Long Shadow- On The LawnAnne Bradstreet, The Author of her Book

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, page 869Choose two more “Poems for further study” to annotate and complete Considerations and connections forChoose one poem to identify metaphors and poetic devices in, identify them, and then compose an

Jay Rogoff, Death’s TheatreOther figures:Edmund Conti, PragmatistDylan Thomas, The Hand That Signed The PaperJanice Townley Moore, To A WaspJ. Patrick Lewis, The Unkindest Cut

essay on how and why the author uses these techniques.Respond to a poetry timed write prompt in class

19 Symbol, Allegory, and IronyRobert Frost, Acquainted With The NightEdgar Allen Poe, The Haunted PalaceEdwin Arlington Robinson, Richard CoryKenneth Fearing, ADE.E. Cummings, Next To Of Course God America IStephen Crane, A Man Said To The UniversePerspective: Ezra Pond, On Symbols

Annotate the chapterShort essay on Symbolism in Frost’s poemShort essay on Allegory in Poe’s poemShort essay on Irony in one of three poemsWrite three original poems, using symbol, allegory and ironyBoard work Wednesday #8

20 SoundsJohn Updike, Player PianoMay Swenson, A Nosty FrightEmily Dickinson, A Bird Came Down The WalkGalway Kinnell, Blackberry EatingRichard Armour, Going to ExtremesRobert Southey, From “The Cataract of Lodore”Gerard Manley Hopkins, God’s Grandeur

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and connections, pages 918-930Choose one poem from “Poems for further study” to write a short essay on, focusing on the sounds of the poem

21 Patterns of RhythmWalt Whitman, From Song Of The Open RoadWilliam Wordsworth, My Heart Leaps UpTimothy Steele, Waiting for the StormWilliam Butler Yeats, That The Night Come

Annotate the chapterWrite three original poems in different rhythmsChoose one of the poems we studied and write a one page response on the rhythm of the poem

22 Poetic forms/Open FormA.E. Houseman, Loveliest of the Trees, The Cherry NowRobert Herrick, Upon Julia’s Clothes Sonnet:John Keates, On First Looking Into Chapman’s HomerWilliam Wordsworth, The World Is Too Much With UsWilliam Shakespeare, Shall I Compare Thee

Annotate the chaptersRespond to an poetry analysis timed write prompt in classConsiderations and connections with all poems listed Write your own:SonnetVillanelleSestinaEpigram

To A Summers Day?William Shakespeare, My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The SunVillanelle:Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good NightWendy Cope, Lonely HeartsSestina:Alergernon Charles Swinburne, SestinaFlorence Cassen Mayers, All American SestinaEpigram:Samuel Taylor Coleridge, What Is An Epigram?A.R. Ammons, CowardDavid McCord, Epitaph On A WaiterPaul Laurence Dunbar, TheologyLimerick: Laurence Perrine, The Limerick’s Never AverseKeith Casto, She Don’t BopHaiku:Matsuo Basho, Under Cherry TreesElegy:Theodore Roethke, Elegy for JaneAndrew Hudgins, Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not DeadOde:Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode To The West WindBaron Wormser, LaborParody:Blanche Farley, The Lover Not TakenOpen:E.E. Cummings, In JustWalt Whitman, From “I Sing The Body Electric”Robert Haas, A Story About The BodyRichard Hague, Directions for Resisting the SAT

LimerickHaikuElegyOdeParodyOpen

23 Combining the Elements of Fiction: A Writing Process

Annotate the chapterChoose a poem that we have studied to write an explication paper on Create your prompt and thesisFinalize your essayTable grade using an AP scale

24 Approaches to fiction project #2Students will be grouped into ten different groups, each will be assigned an approach to fiction to study and present to the classOptions:Emily DickinsonRobert FrostLangston HughesBilly CollinsJulia AlvarezT.S. ElliotLove and LongingHumor and SatireMilestonesThe Natural World

Annotate your approaches sectionComplete the readings in assigned sectionConsiderations and connections from assigned sectionGroup essay on assigned section:Evaluating and analyzing the work's social, historical and/or social values present.Group presentation on assigned section

25 Book club #2Get into your chosen book club groups using book #2

Annotate two key passages from your bookWrite short one page statements on each key passage, using different elements of the fiction sectionRespond to an open prompt timed write in classPrepare and have a group discussion on the chosen bookComplete a data sheet for your book to share with the classPresent your book to the class

26 Full AP Practice test #3 Take full practice testAnalysis of multiple choice answersAnalysis/group scoring of essay responses Reflection on test 1 vs. test 2, goals for the next practice test

Unit 3: Drama

Week*

Topic and Readings Assignments

27 Reading Drama, Writing About DramaSusan Glaspell, TriflesMichael Hollinger, Naked LunchSharon E. Cooper, Mistaken IdentityLarry David, The Pitch: A Seinfeld Episode

Annotate the chapterConsiderations and Connections, pages 1375-1393Questions for responsive reading and writingBoard work #9

28 A Study of SophoclesOedipus the KingConventions of Greek Drama

Annotate the playConsiderations and Connections, pages 1464-1465Write an essay on a selected, annotated section of the play, highlighting an important aspect of the

play.Respond to an open prompt timed write in class

29 A Study of William ShakespeareHamlet, Prince of DenmarkPerspectives on Shakespeare: Multiple authors

Annotate the playConsiderations and Connections, pages 1682-1683Write an analytical, interpretive essay analyzing how two key pieces of dialogue highlight the central theme in Hamlet.

32 Death of a SalesmanArthur Miller

Annotate the playWrite an essay comparing and contrasting Willy Loman with Polonius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. To what extent is each character wise, foolish, deluded, and hypocritical? Explain why Loman can be seen as a tragic character while Polonius cannot be.

33 Book club #3Get into your book club groups using book #3

Annotate two key passages from your bookWrite short one page statements on each key passage, using different elements of the fiction sectionRespond to an open prompt timed write in classPrepare and have a group discussion on the chosen bookComplete a data sheet for your book to share with the classPresent your book to the class

*some weeks may be combined to fully cover all necessary materials before the AP test

Unit 4: AP test prep

1. Students will review vocabulary from the first three units, culminating in a test. Incorrect answers will be corrected via test corrections in the same format as quiz corrections.

2. Students will review multiple choice strategies.3. Students will review essay writing strategies.4. Students will sit for a full practice test at the end of the unit, close to the AP exam.5. Students will correct their full practice test and reflect on strategies to strengthen their score.

Unit 5: Personal Connections to English

1. Students will write a well-developed paper with a thesis and substantial body paragraphs, analyzing a piece of literature that we have explored this semester, but one that has not already been written deeply about. Students will choose to either write about the works artistry and quality or write an analytical, argumentative essay in which they draw upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's social, historical and/or cultural values.

2. Students will write a memoir about themselves after reading Tuesdays with Morrie.3. Students will write a graduation speech, summing up their time in high school, and using

techniques from our poetry unit.

Policies Point Scale:

o All work will be graded on a scale of INC-4 using a standards based grading model. 4 = Exceeds 3 = Meets 2 = Approaching 1 = Below INC = Incomplete

Late Work: o All work can be turned in during the unit. Once the unit has ended, no late work will be

accepted. Re-submission Policy:

o Since all work can be submitted during the unit, all resubmitted work also must be resubmitted within that unit.

Standards-based gradingThis year I will be using standards based grading in AP Literature and Composition. This means that all scores entered will be entered using a standards based rubric, instead of assignment titles. Students will work on all standards throughout the curriculum, and be tested through assessments on specific standards that are highlighted multiple times in a unit. These standards will be given to students in rubric format, the same as they are given in any other English course. At the end of the semester, your final grade will reflect your highest scores on each standard. We will also use the AP Literature rubric from College Board to grade our timed writes. While this grading style is new and can be confusing to grasp, it allows students to see directly what they do well and what they need to work on. It will also help students see the value in all assignments, and keep me accountable in giving truly valuable work that will help students grow in their practice towards the AP Literature exam in May. I will hold informational sessions on this new grading policy in class with the students and after school by request.

Student and Teacher Responsibilities1. Be Respectful. Learning is a vulnerable task. To create a learning community, EVERYONE must feel safe

to explore the subject matter. Think before you speak. Be polite and gracious to all who enter. 2. Be Responsible. Consistently come to class prepared. In addition to supplies, please mentally and

physically prepare yourself. Eat and sleep well. Do your homework and be on time to class. 3. Be Safe. Any action that jeopardizes the safety of oneself or of another student will not be tolerated.4. Be an Active Learner. Active involvement in the learning process is expected on a daily basis.

Participate! This will enhance the culture of our learning community.

SHS PoliciesStudents will review school policy in advisory. However, I will address some specific areas that effect class on a daily basis below.

Dress Code: Students are to observe modesty, appropriateness and neatness in clothing and personal appearance. School Dress code policy will be enforced. Lewd statements or allusions on clothing or personal items are not acceptable.

Electronic Devices: Turn off device and put in back pack on floor. “Off and away until I say.” Food and Drink: Please be respectful of our shared space and follow verbal or written directions.

Attendance and TardiesThe school-wide attendance policy will be discussed in class.

Semester and Quarter Grades

Although you will receive a quarter grade, there will be one continuous grade for the entire semester.A 94 -100% B 84-86% C 71-76%

A - 90-93% B- 80-83% C- 67-70%B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79% D 66-60%

Plagiarism The vast majority of students are honest and thoughtful but there are times when shortcuts seem appealing. Some do not really understand what plagiarism is. I want all students to enter class fully aware of what it is and how to avoid it. Whenever you use someone else’s unique ideas or words and pass it off as your own, you are plagiarizing. If you copy your friend’s work, you are plagiarizing. If you read an article and paraphrase it without citing the work you are plagiarizing. If you have any questions about plagiarism, always ask! It’s better to cite something when in doubt. All students at school will be instructed in the MLA style format for papers and we will learn how to properly cite resources as a class. If you are found cheating or plagiarizing in this class you will receive no credit for that piece of work for a first offense. For a second offense you will lose course credit and receive an F; as per the SHS student handbook

SPECIAL REQUESTS:

Please do not pack up your belongings and/or line up at the door before the bell rings. It is disrespectful and wastes valuable learning time. Wait for the instructor to dismiss you.

Please use your binder and keep ALL work until the semester/quarter grade is final unless you’re using it for review. We anticipate entering roughly 7,000 scores per semester. Please pay attention to your grades; you will have a personal access code to the online grading system. Even with a 99.9% accuracy rate, there will be mistakes. We will NOT revise your grade if you do not have the original graded assignment. Also, you will be required to keep work in your AP binders, so this should never be an issue.

Please review the discipline portion of the handbook. There are different consequences for behavior this year which progress in this manner: verbal warning, parent contact, lunch detention, after school detention, Friday school, short term suspension, long term suspension and expulsion. These will be reviewed in classes and advisory.

If seats are assigned, please respect this decision.

AP STUDENTS: This is to be signed and turned in June 2016, prior to starting summer homework.

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Please read over these expectations with your student and contact me if you have concerns or questions (bsuek@steilacoom.k12.wa.us). I am available when school is in session or by appointment. In order to help students succeed academically and socially this school year, I will be sending home progress reports and making phone calls home when necessary. I look forward to working with your student. Once you have read over the course expectations, please sign and fill out the necessary information. Your student will return the following portion of this document, and keep this syllabus to refer to during the year. I appreciate your time, and look forward to teaching your student this year.

Sincerely, Mrs. Suek

I have read and understand the policies contained within this document and agree to adhere to them for the duration of this course. I also understand how to contact teacher if I have any questions.

_________________________ _________________________ ______________Student name – printed Student signature date

_________________________ _________________________ ______________Parent name – printed Parent signature date

Contact phone number _____________________ Parent e-mail ____________________________________________

Comments:

Most Frequently Cited 1970-2015 1. Choose two of these titles to read over the summer2. Choose three of these titles and purchase them for your book clubs throughout the year3. If you have read any of these books in a prior course at SHS, please choose a new title. I

have a list of books taught in all classes from grade 9-11 and will not allow you to get credit for re-reading a title without talking to me and getting permission first.

27 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison21 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte19 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens17 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad16 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevski16 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte15 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 15 Moby Dick by Herman Melville14 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce14 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne13 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zorah Neale Hurston13 The Awakening by Kate Chopin13 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller12 Billy Budd by Herman Melville12 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 11 Beloved by Toni Morrison11 Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko11 Light in August by William Faulkner10 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner10 The Color Purple by Alice Walker10 The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams10 Native Son by Richard Wright10 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison9 A Passage to India by E. M. Forster9 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry8 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy8 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy8 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya8 Candide by Voltaire

8 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck8 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy 8 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair8 Portrait of a Lady by Henry James8 Sula by Toni Morrison8 Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy7 All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren7 Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton7 Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton7 Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad7 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert7 The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy7 Medea by Euripides7 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen7 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner7 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway6 Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton6 An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen6 Equus by Peter Shaffer6 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley6 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift6 Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen 6 Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw6 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe6 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf6 Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot 6 Obasan by Joy Kogawa6 The Piano Lesson by August Wilson6 The Turn of the Screw by Henry James5 Bleak House by Charles Dickens5 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chkhov5 Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe5 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin 5 Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw5 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser5 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens5 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys5 Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Choose one prompt for each summer read. You must choose two different prompts. Here are your twelve choices:

1. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

2. Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional or stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the author’s purpose.

3. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

4. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

5. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

6. The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy endings. “The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from their readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events—a marriage or a last minute rescue from death--but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole.

7. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify

each of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels or plays listed below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.

8. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama 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.

9. In many works of literature, a physical journey – the literal movement from one place to another – plays a central role. Choose a novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important element and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

10. Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters may likewise be guilty of treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel or play that includes such acts of betrayal. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal and show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

11. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

12. In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. Select a novel, play, or epic poem in which acts of cruelty are important to the theme. Then write a well-developed essay analyzing how cruelty functions in the work as a whole and what the cruelty reveals about the perpetrator and/or victim.