AP Literature

Calendars

Syllabus & Scoring

Deepening Assignments

Deepening Assignments: These assignments were created to allow students to self-select which aspects of the class are of highest interest to them and deepen their knowledge of that area through project-based work. Students select and complete one per semester but are encouraged to complete as many of the assignments that are of interest to them. The assignments are assessed using modified AP Scoring Guidelines.
This is student data based on first round of implementation. My goal is to move more students into the turquoise.

Book Club

Starting early in the first semester, students select a Book Club book to read with a small group. They work together to plan their reading schedule and discuss their book choice in relation to AP Prompts which vary from first to second semester. Throughout the year, students have 4 different book club books, selecting from any title which meets our class definition of Literary Merit with some guidance from my Quick Rich Reads as well as students advertisements. Even though there are some guidelines to their selection, the purpose of this assignment is for students to select books based on their own interest in an effort to continue to support their desire to be(come) life-long readers. Although in-class requirements for each Book Club may change, every book for class needs to have a completed My Essential Literature brochure or packet.

Class Presentations & Handouts

The following prezis will be presented in this order throughout the course of APLit. to help students delve into and deepen their understanding of the works presented.
Class Handouts: The corresponding handouts here are referenced in the description of each presentation if a student is missing work or has misplaced work.
SEMESTER 1:

AP Book Club, Writer’s Workshop, and Critical Lens: Students will be introduced to the methodology of the teacher (see page 1 of handouts) and the course through reading and completing sample AP prompts from previous year’s tests. Students will also have the opportunity to read and score student examples as well as work in their own writer’s groups. They will also be introduced to the importance of “owning the texts” they read and choose the book(s) they want to read independently to create their own Essential Literature portfolio (see page 2-4 of handouts). This presentation also includes the book club prompts for discussion as well as the writer’s workshop tasks (see page 9 of handouts). As we move forward into the 16th c., students are (re)introduced to reading through a critical lens (see page 21-25 of handouts) and how this gives them a deeper understanding of the texts we read as a required component of the syllabus.
Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages: Students will be introduced to the life and times of the father of English poetry and have an accurate understanding of his impact on literature as a whole. First, students will apply what they learn about the times to Bosch’s painting “Death and the Miser” through this interactive to help them read through the eyes of the times. Then, students will read “The Pardoner’s Tale” and investigate the same literary terms in the reading as they were seen in the work of art. See page 5-8 of handouts for notes.
Sonnets: Students will compare the Shakespearean sonnet with a Petrarchan sonnet as well as more contemporary versions while creating their sonnet book for their journal. Students will also try their own hand, with the help of a partner, and composing a Shakespearean sonnet on a topic of their choice to garner more respect for his craft through delving into its complexities. See page 11-17 of handouts for notes on this prezi.
Shakespeare: Students will make connections between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as well as be reintroduced to Shakespeare and his life and works including his comedies, tragedies, and histories. On the picture provided (page 10 of handouts), students should take notes about facts from his life—throughout the presentation there are “facts” presented which are in question, as an optional assignment, students can create, with a partner a poster that reveals the truth about these facts and how researching them tells us more about his life and times. If chosen to complete, it is due by the time we finish Hamlet.
An Exploration of Critical Theory: Students are introduced to Critical Theory through art and music to help them see how our perspectives are easily influenced. After viewing and listening, students are shown the Critical Theory Lens overview (see pages 86-88) handout to begin to understand the scope of critical theory. Then, for our reading of Hamlet, students are introduced to more details of the psychoanalytical and archetypal lenses and on the second day of the presentation, view a painting and read a poem to narrow down their selection to the lens they prefer using the lens at a glance handouts (see pages 21-24).
Satire and Parody: Students are (re)introduced to the elements of satire through investigating a well-known satire of fairy tales. Through this students will understand the elements of exaggeration, incongruity, reversal, and parody which will help them to identify satires throughout their reading experience. Students will look for these elements in seven different satires and be able to reveal the satirical comment in each. Next, students will look more closely at the difference between a satire and a parody to avoid this common confusion among texts. Our work with parodies will take us deeper into our exploration of poetry as we move into the second quarter of the first semester. Students should take notes in their journal as shown throughout the prezi. Copies of the texts mentioned are available online, and the poetic devices are available on Quizlet. See page 7 of handouts for how to sign up for Quizlet and page 26 for poetry assignment. A poetry smattering follows with an introduction to TP-CASTT (available online) and practice with poetry prompts from previous year’s tests (see me for prompts).
Romanticism: Students will be introduced to Romanticism in the Victorian era through exploring poets of the period and read a full novel from the time personally selecting and creating their second book club with Pride and Prejudice*, Jane Eyre, or Frankenstein. Students will explore the time period and author of their book with the book club group, and examine the motivations of the characters through their reading with an emphasis on how the literary period impacted the outcome of the book. Students should take notes in their journal as shown throughout the prezi. Copies of the poems mentioned are available online; they should all be cut and paste into students’ journals. Students should designate 5 pages of their journal for answering the questions for the books provided in class. All other documents are available on pages 27-49 of handouts.

SEMESTER 2:

Gender through the Ages: Students create their perfect partner and perfect self then use this prezi to understand the drastic differences between gender expectations of the Victorian Era and our own. Through "crossing out" the aspects of their perfect partner and self that they could not have if our expectations of gender had not changed over time due to significant historical and societal movements like feminism.
Kate Chopin: Students will examine two women and their different responses to asserting their worth in their two different societies in the 19th century starting with Kate Chopin’s The Awakening as explained in the prezi. Students should take notes on the author, Realism, and Naturalism while exploring how their understanding of these impact their reading of a poem by Sylvia Plath (page 50 of handouts) and one of Kate Chopin’s short stories, Desiree’s Baby (available online). Students need to get their own copy of the book which is free online as a PDF as well as on both Kindle and iBooks.
Feminism: Students will be introduced to feminist theory through exploring its implications in our own lives and society, around the world, and use this to explore the motivations of the characters throughout the novel and play to have a deeper understanding of their characterizations through voice and tone as well as the symbolism and imagery in each. As we read The Awakening and listen to A Doll’s House students will make comparisons but also have multiple opportunities to discuss the ideas presented. Materials for discussion are pages 51-59. Handouts for readings are pages 59-74.
Henrik Ibsen: Students will be introduced to Henrik Ibsen and his work A Doll’s House and make comparisons to the novel The Awakening. The notes page for this prezi is page 75 of the handouts. We are listening to the play in class and discussing in comparison with the novel. Discuss questions are pages 76-77 of the handouts.
Music and Poetry: Students will review TP-CASTT from semester 1 by analyzing the lyrics to their favorite song. Then, the will make comparisons to AP prompt poems from 1970-Present day, using TP-CASTT as their guide. Lastly, they will share their comparison with the class and review yet another set of poems in this way. Journal entries are pages 78-79 of handouts and all of the poems can be found in our Google Classroom. Students have access to the classroom through their student email address. Peer presentation reviews are pages 80-81.
Cultural Perspective: As a wrap up to their exploration of literature through the centuries, students will be exploring their choice (p. 82-85 of handouts) of The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Students will select a critical lens (p. 86-88) for their personal reading question, and they will create groups in which multiple readers are reading the same book from different perspectives. Group discussions will include specific questions regarding the reading that they will share with their group to have a profound understanding of the text. Whole class discussion will include questions about themes that appear in both books (p. 96-100 of handouts). Throughout the unit information will be presented regarding ethnicities, timeline, refugees, and resettlement to give a thorough understanding of what the characters of these books and the real-life people who they represent experience in the situations presented. Students will work in groups to create “Welcome Home” kits for refugees who resettle in our area. Finally, students will explore a final AP prompt on “Home”, outlining (p. 101 of handouts) their ideas to reinforce the deep analysis needed for the test in May.