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Our course in Advanced Placement Literature & Composition is a non-chronological, genre focused course that includes texts from both the British and American canons. We have selected works that represent social and philosophical movements and developments within the various genre. Additionally, we made a conscious effort to represent diverse literary voices in terms of race, class, and gender.
Our course begins by building an essential tool kit that includes:
- Knowledge of historical time periods, social, and philosophical concepts.
- Knowledge of critical approaches ranging from moral /intellectual to reader response.
- Knowledge of the structure and organization of an essay that analyzes a literary work.
- Knowledge of the process of researching critical sources and citing both primary and secondary source material.
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Additionally, a systematic study and application of the elements of short fiction, the novel, poetry, and drama provides students with an opportunity to synthesize strategic reading skills, composition skills, critical, analytic, and evaluative thinking skills to appreciate both the art and craft of literary masterworks.
Students must read five pre-course novels in addition to the material read during the course which includes epic poetry, a novel, two Shakespearean plays, two modern plays, and a variety of short stories and poems. Accountability for pre-course reading is embedded in the unit assessments and in-class seminar discussions.
Students will respond to literature through a variety of writing opportunities. Informal written responses may be part of daily class work or the required notebook. Written interpretations and/or comparative analyses of works will be assigned weekly. These products will receive the support of peer and teacher conferences as well as class discussion. Content material including socio-historical context, language use, critical perspective, conceits of the genre, stylistic, and thematic analysis must be demonstrated in these compositions. Additionally, each rating period contains a skill assessment. These are sustained written pieces that not only analyze and interpret multiple pieces of literature but demonstrate sound research in the literary criticism and independent application of analytic, synthetic, and evaluative skills. The skill assessments are weighted 25% of each quarter and are to be considered major papers.
Students are evaluated in four areas: process, product, content, and skill assessment. Process grades are derived from student participation in collaborative activities in class and drafting, revision, and conferencing during the writing process. Product grades are derived from completed compositions in response to reading or oral presentations. Content grades are derived from essay tests. Skill assessments represent the highest challenge for students in that these tasks are sustained, independent works of analysis of major course texts. Demonstration of reading, composition, analytic skill, and research skill is required. Student compositions are evaluated using an enriched version of the Pennsylvania State Domain Scoring Guide with the following domains: Focus, Content, Organization, Style, and Conventions. After reading about and discussing attributes of literary analyses, students provide input to shape the scoring guide.
Course Texts:
Anthologies
- Bowler, E. et al editors. Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes The British Tradition. NJ:
Prentice Hall. 1999.
- Harrison, G. et al editors. Major British Writers. NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, INC.
1967
- Perkins, G. and Perkins, B. The American Tradition in Literature. Eighth Edition. NY:
McGraw-Hill 1994.
- Roberts, E. and Jacobs, H. Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Eighth
Edition. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 2007.
Single titles
- Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations
- Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man
- Huxley, Aldus. Brave New World
- Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway
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Academics