CURRICULUM NIGHT Welcome to 12 AP Literature and Composition

Introduction to Me... Laura Fitch  –  Telephone – (440) x5398  Online calendar on solonschools.org website

Course Objective The objective of 12 th grade Advanced Placement Literature and Composition is to prepare students for the rigors of the AP Literature test and college as well. A score of 3, 4, or 5 could exempt your student from core requirements in college. Our focus will extend the critical reading, thinking, and writing skills that your senior has built throughout his or her years in Solon’s English Program.

Breakdown of the Lit & Comp Test  55 multiple choice questions spread over four to five passages. Students will have one hour for this section. Passages will be cut from pre-20 th Century literature and poetry and 20 th /21 st Century literature and poetry.  Questions focus on analysis and interpretation at the deepest level, requiring critical, close reading. Questions may draw on literary devices, thematic connections, speaker or author’s attitude, vocabulary in context, etc.

Sample MC Questions The speaker’s allusion to Hercules and Adonis serves primarily to (A) imply an undercurrent of aggressiveness in Mr. Jones’s personality (B) suggest the extremes of physical attractiveness represented in Mr. Jones’s appearance (C) assert the enduring significance of mythical beauty (D) symbolize the indescribable nature of Mr. Jones’s countenance (E) emphasize how clearly Mr. Jones’s features reflected his personality Which of the following is LEAST important to the theme of the poem? (A) “pale” (line 4) (B) “smile (line 8) (C) “vigour” (line9) (D) “well-wrought” (line 13) (E) “delight” (line 22) The tone throughout the poem is best described as one of (A) playful seriousness (B) ironic grimness (C) cheerful glee (D) somber melancholy (E) irreversible despair

Breakdown of the Lit & Comp Test con’t  Three essays over two hours that focus on literary and poetry analysis.  Prose Essay – Students are given a passage out of context from a novel, short story or play and must analyze how the author’s technique creates or affects an element of the passage.  Poetry Essay – Students are given a poem and must analyze how the poet’s technique creates or affects an element of the poem.  Free Response Essay – Students are given a theme based question and must quickly determine a novel they know well enough on which to base their responses. Students should draw focused, apt, detailed support from the novel to write their responses.

Sample Essay Questions  Prose Essay – Read carefully the passage from the beginning of a contemporary novel. Note the author’s use of devices such as diction, syntax, imagery, and figurative language. Write an essay in which you analyze how the author’s use of such devices creates a vivid characterization of Quoyle.  Poetry Essay – The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers' views of Helen.  Free Response Essay – A character's attempt to recapture the past is important in many plays, novels, and poems. Choose a literary work in which a character views the past with such feelings as reverence, bitterness, or longing. Show with clear evidence from the work how the character's view of the past is used to develop a theme in the work.

The Literature  Analysis of Canonical and Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction  The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver  The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë  Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys  Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison  Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen  Hamlet by William Shakespeare  Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard  Catch -22 by Joseph Heller  Various short stories, poems and literary criticism articles

Sound and Sense (Poetry Anthology)  14 th Edition – new for this year  One of the best preparatory anthologies for AP and college study  Now includes preparatory material for the whole test, not just poetry  Contains significant changes from previous editions  Actually less expensive than the previous editions