Merry Jennings, Abingdon High School, Fall 2010
AP English 12 (English Literature and Composition)
andEnglish 111 Dual Enrollment
Syllabus
MAJOR OBJECTIVES FOR THIS CLASS
--To write skillfully composed essays showing proficiency in a variety of rhetorical modes
(narration, description, comparison, classification, analysis and persuasion)
--To develop information literacy and awareness of the conventions of writing for an academic audience
--To edit and revise skillfully
--To write appropriately for different occasions, audiences, and purposes (persuading, explaining, describing, interpreting) and to maintain a consistent tone and appeal (emotional, logical, or ethical) through precise syntax, phrasing and diction
--To develop a personal style and voice
--To develop critical thinking skills
--To analyze literature by the characteristics of that genre
--To research and document sources correctly
--To write plays, short stories and poems which reveal an understanding of style, voice, and literary form
--To develop criteria for enjoyment of literature and film
AP EXAM
There are two parts to the exam--60 minutes of objective questions (which require critical thinking skills) and 120 minutes of writing 3 essays (one analyzes a prose passage and one a poem, and one discusses a theme or term-related question for which students choose the work to discuss). The essays are graded holistically, and the results of the exam are given on a scale of 1 to 5.
During the year students practice close reading, responding to the prompts of AP exam essays, and holistic evaluation while doing peer editing of other students' papers. They take tests with "critical-thinking" multiple choice questions and with timed essays.
TEXTS
Anthologies
Arp, Thomas and Greg Johnson, eds. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense. 9thed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. (Includes short stories, poetry, and texts of Oedipus Rex, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie)
Holt Elements of Literature: British Literature.Sixth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
2005.
Reinert, Otto and Peter Arnott, eds. Twenty-three Plays. Boston: Little, Brown, 1978.
(Includes Oedipus Rex, etc. with critical afterwords for other plays.)
Supplementary Novels and Plays Jennings 2
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism.Ed. Ross Murfin. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman.
Sophocles. Oedipus.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie.
Grammar Handbook
The Everyday Writer(preferably 4th edition)
CULTURAL EVENTS
VHCC has established a policy which requires all English 111 students to attend a minimum of 5 cultural events each semester and critically write about them. The rationale for this requirement is that, in an increasingly global community, students should learn about differing ideas, art forms, and cultural reflections than they are normally exposed to. The College Board expects students to “make and explain judgments about a work’s artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values.”
Evaluation is a cumulative skill which utilizes the thinking processes of comparison, analysis and synthesis.
These events are especially appropriate for this class:
The Battle of King’s Mountain series on Thursdays in September
William King Museum Tour (Sept. 14)
Winter’s Bone (Sept. 27-28)
Second City (Oct. 11)
Where Trouble Sleeps (Oct.13)
Barter Young Playwrights Festival (Oct?)
MicMacs (Nov. 1-2)
Footworks (Nov. 4-7) required
Rattlesnake (Nov. 15-16)
The Kids Are All Right (Nov. 15-16)
INFORMATION LITERACY
The following statement is from the “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education” from the Association of College and Research Libraries:
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. Because of the escalating complexity of this environment, individuals are faced with diverse, abundant information choices--in their academic studies, in the workplace, and in their personal lives. Information is available through libraries, community resources, special interest organizations, media, and the Internet--and increasingly, information comes to individuals in unfiltered formats, raising questions about its authenticity, validity, and reliability. In addition, information is available through multiple media, including graphical, aural, and textual, and these pose new challenges for individuals in evaluating and understanding it. The uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information pose large challenges for society. The sheer abundance of information will not in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively.
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control
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over their own learning. An information literate individual is able to:
- Determine the extent of information needed
- Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
- Evaluate information and its sources critically
- Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
- Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
- Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the appropriation of passages, either word for word or in substance, from the writings of another and the incorporation of those passages as one's own in written work offered for credit. It is always assumed that the written work offered for credit is the student's own unless proper credit is given the original author by the use of quotation marks and footnotes or other explanatory inserts. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and its consequences are serious. These consequences include failure in the course and possible dismissal from the college.
Collaboration with another person in the preparation or editing of notes, themes, reports, or other written work offered for credit is prohibited unless such collaboration has been specifically approved or assigned by the instructor. Examples of collaboration include extensive use of another's ideas for preparing a creative assignment and receiving undue assistance in the preparation or editing of written materials.
VHCC GRADING CRITERIA
"A" writing is excellent, exceptional. It has the same qualities as "B" writing, but with some special concentration or intensity. It is more efficient, tighter in its logic, packed with meaning, and aware of the magic of language.
"B" means good. "B" writing is clear, and it has enough supporting details and examples to satisfy a reader's curiosity, and to develop the main idea. It seems to come from the writer's true thoughts and feelings, though sincerity is hard to judge. Finally, it seems to be worked out, to move from beginning to end without blips and glitches.
"C" is average. It is not an insult. The average writer in a beginning composition course can write coherent sentences, which is an important achievement. A frequent mark of the "C" is lack of development, not going far enough or deep enough, not providing reasons or details or examples or whatever the topic needs. Frequently, the writer of the "C" paper says, after receiving the grade, "If I'd put more into it, I could've done better." Frequently, that's true. A "C" paper often has minor problems that are distracting. A word is repeated seven times in one paragraph, or a paragraph may include sentences that don't work well together, or there may be an occasional verb problem.
Most "D" papers seem careless, though sometimes they seem that way only because the writer is following rules which are different from the rules of standard English. "I seen him" and "He don't know" are examples. Often "D" papers are not divided into paragraphs. The appetizer, the salad, the meat, and the pie are all on the plate at the same time. Many "D" papers are extremely short, and sometimes they seem to be based on an incomplete understanding of the assignment.
“F” papers in no way meet the standards of college writing.
OVERVIEW OF THE YEARJennings4
A Southern writer said, “We create our world in the act of perceiving it.” How have previous societies defined what it is to be human? What does this definition (as recorded in literature) tell us about the society’s values? How are those values like and unlike ours?
The syllabus looks at literature from a genre perspective in the fall and a chronological/historical period thematic perspective in the spring semester. Works selected are compared and contrasted throughout the year on the general themes of fate (versus free will), the role of women, the definition of the hero, attitudes toward nature, and the role of community/ society.
Composition assignments move from the goal of providing sufficient support for one’s thesis to effective use of secondary materials and documentation and to creative writing which allows students to use their understanding of technical elements in a personally fulfilling way.