Course Syllabus

A.P. Literature and Composition Syllabus

Bret Andrews / Room 2506 / bandrews2@wcpss.net  / CANVAS: https://wcpss.instructure.com/courses/293588

Course Description: AP English Literature and Composition is a college-level study of fiction, drama, and poetry.  Throughout the course you will experience, interpret, evaluate, and analyze literature. You will do this through a careful study of the work’s structure, style, and theme while assessing the use of details, imagery, diction, syntax, and language. Writing is the second core component of the AP Lit. experience. The course emphasizes the development of your stylistic maturity.  Writings will include responses, explications, and literary analysis. You will also complete a research paper that incorporates all the skills you have used during your high school experience. Many writings will be done on a one-draft, timed basis; however, for out-of-class writings, I expect multiple-draft quality.

Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to earn college credit through the AP Literature and Composition Exam.  All students who complete the course are strongly encouraged to take the exam. Colleges and universities reserve the right to determine if students will be awarded  college credit for their performance on the examination. Students are responsible for knowing the acceptable score at the college of their choice.

Textbooks and Supplemental Titles: This is a reading- and writing-intensive course.  Students are required to read the following titles. This list does not include summer reading choices or the multiple poetic pieces students will also cover. Students are encouraged to acquire their own copies for annotations. Limited school copies are available.

1984 – George Orwell

The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien

Hamlet – William Shakespeare

One of (Victorian Literature Circle Novels): Frankenstein – Mary Shelley, Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte, Crime & Punishment- Dostoevsky, Dracula– Bram Stoker, Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

One of (Summer Assignment Novels): Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West  - Cormac McCarthy,

             Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell, Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez, Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides.

*Students have access to  textbook, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ninth Edition. Thomas and Wadsworth. 2006.  Copies are housed in the teacher’s classroom and may be checked out as needed.

Homework: Homework is assigned on a regular basis and must be completed prior to the beginning of class. Homework is graded on a 0-4 scale: 0=40, 1=69, 2=79, 3=89, 4=100. No late homework is accepted.

Grading Policy: AP English teachers count major tests and essays as 70%, quizzes as 20%, homework as 5%, and student engagement as 5% of a student’s grade. The final exam is worth 20% of a student’s final grade. Because AP Literature is not an NCFE course, students are able to exempt the exam assuming they meet the exemption criteria found in the Panther Creek Student Handbook.

Quarter 1 Assessments: 1984 Group Question 2 Essay, Solo Question 2 Essay, & Solo Question 3 Essay.

Quarter 2 Assessments: Solo Question 1 Essay, Hamlet Assessment, Literature Circle Project, Poetry Madness & Short Story Research Essay.

SMART Lunch: Students are expected to attend four SMART Lunch sessions each quarter. Students in AP English can replace their lowest quiz grade with a 100 by successfully completing four enrichment activities during the SMART Lunch tutorial. Students may only complete one enrichment activity per session  and may not work on enrichment activities until all make up work is complete. This incentive cannot replace a missing quiz grade. Tutorials are held on Wednesday and Friday.

Policy for Make-Up Work: Student attendance is critical for academic success. If a student misses class, (s)he should refer to the Wake County Student Handbook for the district’s make- up work policy.  Teachers will work with students to create a reasonable timeline to complete make-up work.

Late Work:  If a student is not absent but fails to turn in a major assignment on the day that it is due, the assignment will be graded when it is submitted, but ten points will be deducted from the score of the assignment for each day that the assignment is late (not to exceed 40 points deducted or 4 days late).  If a student fails to turn in a major assignment altogether, then no credit will be issued for that assignment.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is not permitted at Panther Creek High School.  Students and parents should read the student/parent handbook’s section on integrity found on the Panther Creek website (http://panthercreekhs.wcpss.net).  In addition, the English Department has the following consequences for cheating on major assignments:

1st Offense – Referral, ‘0’ on assignment with option to re-submit for a ’50,’ parent contact.

All Other Offenses – Referral, ‘0’ on assignment, parent contact.