Senior Ap Literature & Composition Syllabus

Senior Ap Literature & Composition Syllabus

Dr. Thomas LeCarner, J.D., Ph.D.

Senior & AP Literature & Composition

Email:

Phone: 720-723-2100

Room#: 2-213

Office hours: 3:15-4:00pm Thursdays & by appointment

SENIOR AP LITERATURE & COMPOSITION SYLLABUS

2017-2018

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to Senior AP Literature and Composition. The first thing to understand about this class is that it is a not a “college prep” class. This is aCOLLEGE LEVEL class. As such, you will be expected to read, write, and engage with the course material at the college level. In exchange for all of your hard effort this year, I will make sure that you are exceptionally well prepared and ready to tackle not only the AP exam, but the challenges that await you in your first college English class, and beyond.

Over the course of this year, we will explore a wide variety of texts, from an array of genres and time periods, from diverse authors. We will read poetry, drama, short stories, and novelsin an effort to come to,not only a fuller understanding of the various meanings of the texts themselves, but also of the role that literary texts have played in the development and evolution of human culture. In addition to traditional literary texts, we will also be examining the ways in which literature has reflected and interacted with broader cultural trends in art, music, architecture, cinema, and philosophy.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1981)
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
  • “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula LeGuin
  • “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
  • “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
  • “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Other selected short stories, essays, and poetry handouts, as well as films & music pieces in class
  • One novel of your choosing for independent reading

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION POLICIES:

This is a college-level seminar course, which means that it is structured almost entirely around our discussions of the texts we read—I will rarely stand up in class to lecture, except as necessary to briefly introduce materials, genres, authors, historical periods, etc. As such, attendance in the course is absolutely essential to the success of the course overall, and to your grade individually. But attendance is more than simply showing up to class; in order for this class to be successful, you must ALL participate on a daily basis. As such, participation is worth 10% of your grade in this class. If you don’t come to class and engage and participate, your grade will suffer.

YOUR GRADE IN THIS COURSE

There are 100 points possible in this course. Your grade will be based on your performance in the following four areas:

  1. Class participation: 10%

*Note: Participation in class activities includes a wide range of assessments, including participation in our daily discussions, presentation of group work, in-class writing exercises, etc. You will always be notified when participation points are on the line.

Keep in mind that asking a thoughtful, well-articulated question is just as valuable as an insightful analysis of a text. If you have a question, chances are one of your classmates has the same question, or a similar one. We are a community of learners and we all benefit from your questions, insights, and contributions—so share your ideas and you’ll be rewarded. If you’re curious about your grade at any time, ask yourself how you fit into the following:

  • Contribute to class thoughtfully on a daily basis: A range
  • Contribute to class thoughtfully a majority of days:B range
  • Volunteer only occasionally: C range
  • Volunteer rarely; rarely answer questions: D range
  1. Major Essays (3—70%)
  2. College Admissions Essay15%
  3. Morality in Fiction Essay25%
  4. Critical Theory Essay 5-7 pages30%
  1. Vocab and Reading Quizzes10%
  1. Final Examination10%

CLASSROOM SUPPLIES NEEDED:

You will need to bring a spiral bound notebook with lined notebook paper every day to class, along with a pen or pencil. Post-it notes or Post-it flags will be necessary for annotation and remarks. If you elect to bring your own version of any of our texts, you can write in them and will not need the Post-its.

CLASSROOM AND EMAIL ETIQUETTE

This is a college-prep high school, you are SENIORS, and this is a college-level class. As such, I will treat you all as adults, with the respect you have earned and deserve. I expect the exact same treatment from you—both towards your fellow classmates and towards me. I will NOT tolerate disrespect to anyone at anytime in my classroom, period. This is a learning environment wherein we will discuss many sensitive and delicate issues about which we all have strong opinions and beliefs. I have a zero tolerance policy towards disrespecting the ideas and opinions of others in this class.

Classroom etiquette is essential to our success this year and it must be upheld at all times throughout the duration of this course. As such, I ask you all for the following courtesies:

  1. Be on time and turn off your phones when you arrive.
  2. THERE WILL BE NO CELL PHONES OUT IN CLASS. I do not want to see them, period.
  3. Unless cleared with me in advance, there will be no laptops out during class time. Please take notes in your paper notebook.
  4. Respect your fellow studentswhile they are speaking or asking questions, and be attentive during class time. If you have something to say RAISE YOUR HAND. When we have debates during class, we can have open, respectful discussions without raising hands.
  5. With regard to sending emails to me or to anyone else in the school, take as much care as you do with written assignments. Be sure to write clearly and to proofread your messages. Avoid abbreviations and other texting shortcuts. Never send an email in anger.

REMEMBER: When you compose an email to me or any teacher or professor, how you compose it says a lot about you—the respect you have for yourself, for your professor, for language, for decorum, and for etiquette in general, so please take your time and compose emails carefully.

Before you click “SEND,” ask yourself the following questions:

  • Did I address the teacher/professor properly with a salutation?
  • Am I asking something that is already on the syllabus?
  • Did the teacher or professor perhaps address my question while I was absent? If so, have I endeavored to discuss this with a classmate first?
  • Have I re-read my email for error-free writing?
  • Did I sign the email?
  • Did I include any attachments (where applicable)?

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

Academic dishonesty includes cheating, fabricating or falsifying information or sources, improper collaboration, submitting the same paper for different classes without permission, and plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs whenwritersdeliberatelyor unintentionallyuseanotherperson'slanguage, ideas, or materials and present them as their own without properly acknowledging and citing the source.Students who plagiarize or otherwise cheat on essays or tests in this course will fail the assignment or test on the first offense, and fail the entire course on the second.

Unfortunately, in my 15 years of teaching at the university level, I have caught at least one plagiarizer every semester (often more than one). This is among the most frustrating parts of my job as a teacher. If your life is falling apart and you are tempted to plagiarize to save time or get a good grade, please come talk to me instead—or send me an email. I would rather grant you an extension than fail you on an assignment or in the class.I would very much like to go an entire semester without a single incidence of cheating—will you all agree to help me make it THIS semester?

Tentative Unit Calendar for the fall semester.

UNIT ONE: Summer Reading. We will spend a few days at the beginning of the term discussing The Tiger’s Wife. There will be a vocabulary and reading quiz for this book during the second week of class.

UNIT TWO: The College Essay. Will spend XX weeks brainstorming, writing, revising, and editing your college admissions essays. Your final draft of this essay will be graded and you will have an opportunity to write and edit during class periods, as well as consult with me.

UNIT THREE: Morality in Fiction. During this unit, we will examine the relationship among law, morality, and fiction. We will discuss the origins of law and morality, and the role that fiction has played in shaping the way we think about and relate to both. There will be a summative essay at the end of the unit on the topic of civil disobedience.**

UNIT FOUR: Literary Criticism. In the analysis of literature, there are a variety of different lenses through which we can examine a given text. In this case, we will be reading the gothic classic Dracula by Bram Stoker, to learn about the various forms of literary criticism.There will be a summative essay at the end of the unit in which you will apply a critical lens of your choice to a text of your choice, subject to approval by me in advance. **

**More specific details regarding the essays will come as we begin the unit.

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Acknowledgement of Syllabus Policies

I, ______, (print name) acknowledge that I have read the syllabus for AP Literature & Composition and hereby agree to abide by all the policies and rules stated therein.

______

Student Signature Date

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