AP Literature and Composition
Monday:
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Hard_Travelin.htm
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This_Land.htm
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Going_Down_The_Road.htm
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Better_World.htm
Woody is just Woody. Thousands of people do not know he had any other name. He is just a voice and a guitar. He sings the songs of a people and I suspect that he is, in a way, that people. Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.
- John Steinbeck
5/18:
Th:
Read and discuss "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America"
HW: 1 page essay on Fitzgerald's commentary on the American dream
Fri: Begin The Great Gatsby essay (topics to be posted on Friday): Final Gatsby Essay.doc
HW: Begin planning your essay/thesis statement
looking ahead....
5.25-5/29: ESSAY WORK TIME
5/29: Begin exam review
6/1-6/2: Exam review and BIG EXAM QUESTION introduced
Week of 5.11:
Mon:
1. Journal: By this point in the novel, Fitzgerald has developed several characters to help support the ideas of his novel (a novel that was originally titled The Great Red, White, and Blue). Analyze the characters Tom and Gatsby. Specifically, I want you to consider them as symbols for the 1920s in America. What commentary might Fitzgerald be offering about ideas or trends present in the roaring 20s. What personality traits or behaviors support this characterization? Does the narrator have judgments about these characters? As necessary, please reference specific events from the 1920s to support your answer.
2. Read the short story
3. Journal: Write a discussion question about the text (consider relating it to the novel), and briefly respond to the question. You will pose your question and discuss your answer on Tuesday.
HW: read Chapter 4
Tues: Character charts and understanding the narrative voice in Gatsby
Wed: Elements of the 1920s in The Great Gatsby: The big list
Th: Discuss the thematic, symbolic, and moral imprtance of Chapter 5
Review AP
Scene writing exercise
Week of 5.4:
Monday:
Heart of Darkness Final group discussion
HW: AP essay on HOD due Wednesday
Wednesday: self-editing your esssay
Final preparations for the AP (10 keys)
Th: AP Test and bring The Great Gatsby
An introduction to The Great Gatsby and a look ahead to the remainder of the year.
HW: Gatsby
Fri: in-class reading and
Jazz film
HW: Read Gatsby Chapter 2,3
Week of 4.27:
Mon:
Student led discussion (compose questions, write them on the board, and discuss all 9 questions)
Take notes in journal on the discussion
HW: Finish Book Two
Tuesday:
Student led discussion part two
HW: read 10 pages
Th:
Journal and discuss Kurtz's last words
Review for Literary Terms test
HW: Finish HOD by Mon; study for test
FRi: TEST
HW: Finish
Week of 4.20
Intro to Heart of Darkness
share "Invisibility" short stories
HW: H.O.D. 1-10
Tues: Literary terms dictionary
brief HOD discussion....the introduction to the narrator: you're first perspective of Marlow
HW: to page 20
Wed:
5 question response (in brief)
Where does the story begin?
Who is Marlow?
Who is Kurtz?
What is Marlow's reaction to Africa and African people?
What do tohers (like the doctor) warn about Africa?
HW: to page 31
Th:
HOD discussion
HW: Finish Book 1
Friday:
Shakespeare Day
HW: Read to paragraph beginning: "The two pilgrims"
Wed:
Literary dictionary (last session)!
HW: read to paragraph beginning with "I let him run on, this paper mache Mephistopheles"
Week of 4.13
AP Review
Mon:
Literary Terms update
AP Practice test
HW: Complete Question #1 (30-40 minutes)
Tues:
Review AP Answers and Scores for Q #1
Lit. dictionary updates
HW; AP Question 2 (30-40 minutes)
Wed:
Review Ap answers for Q #2
self-evaluation
literary terms updates
HW:
AP Q #3
Th:
group evaluation for AP Q #3
literary terms update
multiple choice corrections
HW: go over mistakes on multiple choice test
Week of 3.30:
Monday:
Dickinson biography and a look at "Because I could not stop for death"
HW: selected Dickinson poems
Tuesday:
Sonnet recitation, poetry portfolios due (add shared)
Discuss "Becasue..." and "Much madness is divinest sense"
HW:
Selected poetry of Whitman
Wednesday:
Discuss Whitman bio and workshop
"A Noiseless patient spider" and "When I heard a learn'd astronomer"
HW: Frost, Sanburg, and William Carlos Williams
Friday:
"The Red Wheelbarrow" "Fire and Ice" and "Chicago"
HW: Poetry portfolio #2
Week of 3.23:
Monday:
Begin work on Poetry Portfolio, part 1.doc
Tues:
Poerty portfolio work cont'd
read and annotate "Ode To A Nightingale"
discuss
HW: re-read "ode" for a REAL discussion tomorrow. Continue work on "poetry portfolio"
Wed:
Ode to A Nightingale cont'd (audio recording and stanza by stanza discussion
Consider: Mind travel!
HW;
30 minutes of project work
Th:
Project check-up/ work time
Sonett performance rough draft.
Look at examples of mind travel and Odes in Chinese literature
HW: Continue project work and read selected poetry
Archives
Week of 3.9:
Monday:
Student updates with W writing and Their Eyes essay
Please be prepared to work on your Eyes essay for the first 12 minutes of class all week long. I will do a progress check on Friday.
Begin poetry unit: Read excerpt form Helen Vendler's Poems, Poets, Poetry
What is the role of the poet?
Consider: "The text is like a lazy machine that needs to be activated" Discuss: How to prepare to activate the text
HW: Wordsworth, "The World Is Too Much With Us"; Keats, "To Autumn"
Write a 1/2 page response to "The World"
Tuesday:
Essay work
Group research on William Wordsworth
Discussion of "The World"
how do the final six lines respond to the opening 8; what is the form of the poem; can you put yourself as the subject in the poem
HW: read Wordsworth "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" and "What is a poet?" essays
Wednesday:
Essay work
Continue Wordsworth, wrap up discussion of "The World" with attention to the Petrarchan sonnet form and the use of allusion. What are the messages of the poem's two parts (first 8 lines, last 6 lines)? How do the ideas in the poem refelct the ideas from "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"?
In-class reading of "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey"
Recitation of a sonnet due next Thursday (choose by tomorrow)
HW: re-read "Lines" and prepare to respond to it in 1 page (focussing on form, meaning, tone, organization), at the beginning of class
Thursday:
"Lines" workshop.
Remember: "The text is like a lazy machine that needs to be activated" Prepare to activate the text
HW: Read Coleridge: "To Wordsworth"
Week of 3.3
Eyes Critical Essay work (due 3.18)
Week of 2.23:
Monday:
Exam Review
11th tri 2 exam outline.doc
HW: Read Critical Essay
Tuesday:
Begin TEWWG essay
Week of 2.17:
Tuesday:
J: what is the symbolic significance of the Hurricane
Discussion:
Consider the role of Nature/God in Janie's journey; consider the destructive forces that exist in her journey
HW: Finish the novel
Wednesday:
Discuss Eyes within the hero quest archetype (7 elements)
Th:
In-class essay
Fri:
Exam Review
Eyes project introduced
Week of 2.9:
see
printed schedule
Week of 1.26:
Bless Me Ultima final student led discussion and essay work
Essay draft due on Monday
Week of 1.12
Monday:
AP practice test part 3
HW: Read chaper nueve
Tuesday:
Student led discussion of Bless Me, Ultima
Journal wrap-up
In-class reading
HW: Read Chapter diez
Wednesday:
Week of 1.5
Monday:
Introduction to Rudalfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima
Read Anaya's introduction
Biographical research on Anaya (form a collaborative biography
HW: Chapter uno
Tuesday:
handouts on New Mexican Catholicism and New Mexican history.
J: What do Antonio's dreams inform you about the character?
D: What does the llano symbolize?
Why does the narrative start where it does?
HW: Chapter Dos
Wednesday:
Group project: Create an image map showing all of the conflicting ideas in Antonio's world/brain.
What/who is at the "center" in his life?
Discuss the bildugsroman....what forces Antonio's coming-of-age? how is his bildugsroman unique?
HW: Tres
Thursday:
Practice AP essay
HW: 4,5
Friday:
Practice AP essay
HW: 6,7,8
Week of 12.15
Monday and Tuesday:
Question based discussion. Each sudent must write three comprehensive questions on the board. We will have a two day discussion that navigates each of the questions fully.
HW: Monday: journal on the character development of Jim and the land. Tues: prepare for in-class essay by reviewing your notes from class discussion.
Wednesday: In-class essay
Thursday: Film
Friday: Field Trip
Week of 12.1
Mon."
Read introductions to My Antonia
Midwestern expansion/immigration timeline
Read the "author's introduction" and discuss
HW: Chapters 1,2,3
Tues:
Re-read character desciptions and analyze Cather's prose
do you believe Jim's happiness or is it nostalgia?
Discuss life as a Shimerda
Read Chapters 4-8
Wed:
Web quest for info on 19th and early 20th century Bohemia: geography, culture, music, lifestyle...
Discuss
Read through chapter 12
Th:
Week of 11.17:
Monday:
Exam review
HW: (project and essay)
Tuesday:
Native Son essay workshop and work time
HW: (project and essay)
Wednesday:
Monologue project work time
HW: (project and essay)
Week of 11.10
Mon:
Introduction of Monologue project (due 11.20...2 hours)
review "O what a rogue and peasant slave" monologue
What is the root of Hamlet's disgust?
What is the plan he conjures up?
Short story workshop (due Thursday)
HW: Read Act 3, scenes 1 and 2 (25 minutes)
Tuesday:
Monologue packet hand-out and review
"To be or not to be" analysis
How is Hamlet different from when he delivered "Rogue" monologue?
"O What a Noble mind" analyisis
HW: Act 3, scene 3 (8 minutes)
Wednesday:
Hamlet film excerpts (Mel Gibson film)...monologues 1-4
HW: re-read Act 3, scene 4 (12 minutes)
Thursday:
Short story due
Native Son essay workshop
HW: essays, monologue work project
Thursday:
Hamlet film excerpts (Kenneth Branaugh film...monologues 5-8
Tuesday:
Monologue packet review
Week of 11.2
Monday
Intro to Hamlet
Line Catch game
Read Act 3 scene 4 and uncover the climax
HW: Read Act 1, scenes 1 and 2
www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/hamlet/ (20 minutes)
Tuesday:
discuss Hamlet's crisis
what is his relationship with his uncle like?
examine "too, too solid flesh" monologue
in-class read Act 1 scenes 3, 4
HW: Read Act 1, scene 5 (10 minutes)
Wednesday:
Discuss Hamlet's meeting with the ghost
What is the ghosts's mandate? How does Hamlet react?
Discuss the antic disposition.
HW: Read Act 2, scene 1 (10 minutes)
Thursday:
Read (in-class) Act 2, scene 2
Finish Act 2, scene 2 for HW (15 minutes, plus essay work!)
Week of 10.27
Monday:
See Friday last week: group story writing
Short story assigned
HW: Finish the story (5-10 minutes)
Tues:
Short Story work period (due 11.14...2 hours)
Wed:
Short Story Work period
TH:
Native Son historical-biographical criticism introduction and preliminary research Due: 11.20...but get cracking (3-4 hours)
IN ADDITION TO THE SHORT STORY UNIT, RE-READ "HOW BIGGER WAS BORN" FOR MONDAY 10.27
Read out loud Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper “
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you think the sniper feels about what he is doing? What in the story makes you think this?
2. Does the sniper have any choice in killing the gunman or the old woman?
3. How does O’Flaherty create suspense?
4. One critic has suggested that O’Flaherty’s characters are “marked by wild mood swings and often by bizarre, contradictory behavior.” Do you think the protagonist in “The Sniper” exhibits these qualities? Explain.
-Define situational irony
-Exercise: plotting the plot. On the board create a line graph to show the action of the story (introduction, specific moments of rising action, climax, resolution)
-Introduce on the board (for “class notes”) Poe’s definition of a short story:
1. Be complete by itself.
2. Be able to be read in one sitting.
3, Have every word used for an important effect.
4. Have a good opening sentence that remains important throughout the story.
5. End at its climax.
6. Have no more characters than is necessary for the action.
-Analyze “The Sniper” in terms of the above definition.
Journal/HW: Write a story in 100 words or less that follows Poe’s criteria (5-10 minutes)
Tues:
In small groups (3-4), read 100 word stories.
Read quietly Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of The Red Death “ and complete a journal
Analyze the setting of the story?
What is the effect? Describe how there is unity between the mood and the setting? What specific language does he use to create the mood? How different would the story be different if the castle was well lit and had windows?
Journal/HW: In 100 words or less, develop a setting that is appropriate the following story prompt.
A suspicious looking man lurks down a sidewalk; passer-bys are noticeably uncomfortable and disturbed by his presence.
Additional HW: Character building worksheet (10 minutes)
Wed:
Read aloud Eudora Welty’s “A Visit of Charity”
Group analysis of the protagonist
Make a list of all details or sentences that help us to understand the character. Review as a class.
How might Addie describe her?
Discuss the importance of good character development
You may want to read the notes on Character on page 23
What is the difference between a flat and a round character?
Journal: Using your character building worksheet, create a short (300 words or less) story involving your character. You must use a third person narrative voice. You may not use any of the specific information from the character building worksheet (except for the name). Focus on showing instead of telling. You should be able to develop your character through action.
HW: Finish the scene (10-30 minutes)
Thurs:
WRITING COURSE: ("SONG OF MYSELF" POEM IS DUE). Write one scene of dialogue between two characters using ONLY speech (i.e. as in the script of a play). Therefoe, any action, setting, character description that is necesasary to convey needs to be conveyed through speech. The dialogue can be about ANYTHING. Focus on giving each character a distinct voice. This is due in one week (1-2 pages double-spaced).
Class:
Sit a different table with different people. One person begins by reading the scene from last night’s homework. As he/she reads, the others in the group make notes and assumptions about the character. When the story is over, the group members should go over their notes and discuss differences. Is this a round character? Why/why not? What details and actions helped develop the characterization? What details are lacking? Then the next person reads….
Read the notes on “Point of View” on page 63
Read quietly Dorothy Parker’s “A Telephone Call” and complete a journal:
Analyze the point of view in this story? How would the story be different with a different point of view?
Discuss point of view and characterization in “A Telephone Call.”
In-class writing/HW: Write a scene (100 words) involving a 6-year old girl, her grandfather, a sandbox, a Labrador retriever, and a camera.
1st: from the perspective of the grandfather
2nd: from the perspective of the six-year old girl
They should focus on establish a “voice” that fits the point of view. (12 minutes)
Friday:
In small groups (of their own choosing), each person should choose one of the perspectives and read your scene aloud.
Discuss the importance of the opening sentence; remember Poe’s definition of a short story.
Each person should take 5 minutes to write a great opening sentence to a story.
Group stories:
Pass your story one person to the right. Each person will add one sentence to the story and then pass it again one to the right (they should have 1- 2 minutes max for each rotation, and they should be able to self-monitor this timeline).
HW: Finish the story (1-2 pages handwritten) (20 minutes)
WEEKS HOMEWORK TOTAL: 1 HOUR, 30 MINUTES
Week of 10.14
Read Book 3 of Native Son
Tues: Share "Bigger Blues"
Watch Civil Rights documentary
Slave song project
Week of 10.6
Read Book Two of Native Son (discussion Thursday)
Tuesday and Wednesday: Writing the Bigger Blues:
An introduction to the Blues form (video)
Analysis of lyrics (hand-out)
Listening exercise (CD)
Write two blues songs (full-length) mimicking hte lyrical structure of Lead Belly, BB King, or Robert Johnson
Th:
Book Two discussion (each student must compose three discussion questions and write them on the board at the start of class)
Week of 9.29:
Monday:
Poets of the Harlem Renaissance project introduced
Read poems from Countee Cullen, Claude Mckay, and Langston Hughes
Choose one poem from each author and perform a bullet-point exposition
How does the poem express details, themes, or emotions related to the "black" experience in America?
What are the poets concerns?
What is the tone of the poem?
What words in particular are important in developing the tone/mood of the poem?
HW: complete expositiions and prepare to discuss
Tuesday:
Project continued
Discuss selected poems
Choose poem/poet for project part 2
Research your poet (using the Norton's Anthology)
HW: Project work cont'd
W: Poetry exposition
Wednesday: Discuss Native Son Book 1
HW: Complete Native Son Book 2 for next Thursday
Thursday:
Film
HW: Journal reaction
Friday:
Film
HW: Film Reaction part two
Week of 9.22:
Discuss "Goodman Brown"
-review Cotton's Catechism
How does the Puritan minset/religious imagination inform this work?
Discuss story as an allegory: What does each character/setting symbolize?
HW: review "Birthmark" for discussion
Tuesday:
lecture on history of the short story
Discuss "Birthmark"
Is it an allegory? What is the moral? How does it relate to issues of the 19th century?
Connections to Frankenstein?
Discuss Wright's story "A Man Who Was Almost A Man"
HW: Read pages 1-10 in Native Son
Wednesday:
lecture on Richard Wright and Afircan-American writers of the 20th century.
What does it mean to be a Native Son?
Discuss the tone of the opening.
HW: Read 10-42
Thursday: Discuss characterization and point of view
Student led quotation analysis.
HW: Read 42-70
Week of 9.15:
Monday
"Call Of The Wild" review/discussion (test on Wed.)
Read: "The Law of Life"
Tuesday:
Discuss "Law"
introduction to Puritan literature
Read: selected Anne Bradstreet poetry
HW: Read Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" by Thursday
Wednesday: Test
Thursday:
Read Hawthorne's "Birthmark"
W: Write a flash fiction piece using the words: frying pan, monkey, teacher, Ernest Hugo, yacht, Tazewell, VA
HW: finish reading "Birthmark"
Friday:
In-class writing
HW: Read Wright's "The Man Who is Almost A Man"
consider: 1. symbolism 2. theme 3. style
Week of 9/8:
Monday:
J: Compare Seymour to Holden
Discuss "Bananafish"
Introduction to "The Call of The Wild"
-Biography of Jack London
HW: Read "Call" Chapters 1 and 2
Tuesday:
Discussion of chs 1 and 2
development or retrogression?
civilization vs. primitivism
survival of the fittest
atavism
J: discuss the atavism that occurs in chapters 1 and 2
HW: Read chapters 3 and 4
Wednesday:
Discuss the notion of the "Nature Faker"
Is London a "Nature Faker?" Cite examples.
Why does Buck want to be the leader? Does this offer commentary about human nature as well as dog nature?
J:
HW: Read ch. 5
Thursday:
W: Write "One epiosode in the life of (your pet)"
Strive for: no "nature faking," limited anthropomorphism.
Write a character guided by:
instinct, emotion, sensations, simple-reasoning
----------
HW: Read Ch. 6
What do Mercedes, Charles, and Hal represent in the story?
Friday:
Socratic Seminar
HW: Finish: "Call of the Wild"
Week of 9/1:
Tues:
Course expectations/overview
Catcher In The Rye review/discussion
Web Quest: 1940s NY and pop culture/Salinger Bio/Controversy behind book
HW: complete day one survey
Wed;
J: Compare Holden to the protagonist in "Bananafish"
present web quest info.
Discuss concept of the anti-hero
Discussion questions:
Does Holden grow or develop as a character through the novel?
What are some key symbols in the novel?
HW: Pick one quote from the novel and write one page explaining how it relates to/answers one of the above questions.
Th:
Present HW journals
Discuss:
What's the deal with the song?
Introduce "W" course and 1st prompt
Fri: Summer Reading Test
Read "Bananafish" short story
Bring to class Call Of The Wild
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.