AP English IV Syllabus

Course Description

Writing

Students in AP English Literature and Composition will practice a series of writing techniques designed to develop their individual styles and voices. Students will improve their skills in appropriate diction, imagery, detail, manipulation of point of view, and sentence structures.
Revision is the key to this writing program. Thus student writers will re-work their pieces through multiple drafts in order to produce maximum clarity, to achieve full the writer’s purpose, and to develop the writer’s skill in using language effectively.

Close Reading

Our class will focus on reading for more than plot, detail, incidents or characters. Student readers will learn to look for motifs, archetypes, tone and tone shifts, symbolism and meaning in literature, film, and music. This reading will enable young readers to not only analyze literature but will grant them the ability “read”, analyze, and interpret experiences outside the literary world.

AP Test Preparation
The curriculum for this course is a college level reading, writing, and language program designed to help the serious student gain the skills outlined above so that he will be ready to bypass the first year of college English in order to pursue more advanced studies in literature. To meet this goal, students will prepare to pass the AP Literature and Composition test given by the College Board in May. To this end, students will practice advanced placement multiple choice and essay questions throughout the school year. This course is designed to comply with the curricular requirements described in the AP English Literature and Composition Course Description.

Expectations

Writing Practice

· Medium-length essays in all writing modes (expository, narrative, persuasive and descriptive)
· Revision, editing, and redrafting of process essays
· In-class, single-draft, impromptu writing assignments once a week
· Timed writing assignments based on past AP prompts, at least every other week
· At least one literary analysis essay with a research component
· Other short writing assignments as time and circumstances allow
· One-on-one writing conferences with the teacher

Close Reading

Reflective, Solitary Reading

You will have reading assignments most evenings and sometimes over a weekend. They will be manageable in length. I do ask that you highlight your texts as you read and use sticky notes to mark important passages and/or events. I will show you what kinds of things you are to mark. Highlighting and annotating your texts will be part of you grade. It is vital that you read each assignment thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Seminar Participation

Your participation and active listening during class discussion is essential. Not only will you personally glean new insights and ideas about the texts we explore during seminar days, but you will sharpen your speaking and listening skills. I ask that you come to class each day with your book, your insights, and a questioning, receptive mind.

Each of these activities will play a part in my evaluation of your academic progress.

Grades

My evaluation of your work, both in and out of class, is less important than your own perception that you are making progress and becoming increasingly expert as a user and interpreter of language. I’m not the primary audience of your work—you, your peers, your parents and friends, and others in the world around you best serve that function. I can and will give you my assessment of your strengths and weaknesses as a reader and a writer at certain points in the year. My objective in assessing your work will be to appreciate what you have done well and to point out ways in which you might better achieve your reading and writing purposes. I will ask you to examine your own work in terms of both style and substance.

Classwork/Homework 40%
Tests 25%
Projects 20%
Six-week Test 15%

Materials
1 ½ inch three ring binder with five dividers labeled as follow: Notes, Classwork, Homework, Handouts, Tests/Quizzes
Blue or Black ink pens (no pencils allowed)
Notebook paper
1 Spiral Notebook
1 Bottle of hand sanitizer and a box of tissue
Pocket Folder with Brads