Course Syllabus – 2018/2019

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition

Mrs. Jessica Osterhout-Koch – Instructor

Phone: (517) 524-8384 X1113/E-mail: Jessica.osterhout@concordschools.net
Class Weebly:​ ​http://mrsokaplit.weebly.com/

Course Description:
AP English Literature and Composition is a college level course, and students can, by good
performance on the AP Exam in May, obtain up to one year of college credit in College English.
The course requires of its students careful, deliberate reading of at least twelve works (read
both as a class and individually), various short stories, and an intensive study of poetry. All of
these texts, which are approved by the College Board, address mature topics. Writing, as an
integral part of this course, will require several compositions per marking period, which will
reinforce the critical reading skills taught across the spectrum of literary genres. The purpose of
this course is to prepare you for reading and writing at the college level, therefore the workload
will be college level. This will include practice AP examinations throughout the year.

Essential Concepts:
● Literature provides a mirror to help us understand ourselves and others.
● Literature deals with universal themes that help us understand truths about the world in
which we live.
● Writing is a form of communication across the ages.

Course Goals:
● To engage in close analytical reading of works of literature.
● To consider a work’s structure, style and themes.
● To understand how authors use diction, figurative language, syntax, imagery,
symbolism, and tone to communicate meaning.
● To study representative works from various genres and periods.
● To focus on a few major works in depth in order to understand the work’s complexities.
● To write analytical, argumentative essays in which students draw upon textual details to
make and explain judgments about a work’s artistry and quality.
● To write analytical, argumentative essays in which students draw upon textual details to
make and explain judgments about a work’s social, historical and/or cultural values.

Required Materials:
● Three Ring Binder
● Spiral or composition notebook
● Highlighter, Pen, and Pencil
● Post-it Notes
Course Reading List:
● Required
○ How to Read Literature as a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (Textbook)
○ The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
○ 1984 by George Orwell
○ Hamlet by William Shakespeare
○ The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
○ Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
○ Various poems and short stories
● Choice Reading
○ One Per Marking Period + three over summer break = 7 total
○ to be chosen from the recommended reading list for AP Literature and
Composition

Instructional Pedagogy:
The course readings are both wide and deep necessitating close, deliberate, and thoughtful
attention to detail and complexity. Students are encouraged to embrace nuance, ambiguity, and
complexity. The works range from various genres and periods – 16​th​ century to the 21​st​ century.
Close consideration through class discussions will also focus on the literary, historical, and
social implications of such works.
Students will be introduced and work with different lenses (critical approaches) in their study of
the literature. While the pedagogy of this course depends heavily on the discourse among peers
in different venues, for instance, the reading and writing will include a heavy emphasis on
analysis based upon textual support. Personal response and reaction as well as interpretive
conclusions will be explored through multiple opportunities, including annotation exercises and
reading journals.
Writing, of course, is an integral focus of AP Literature and Composition. While critical analysis
is the focus of most writing assignments, students also have the opportunity to respond to the
literature in well-constructed creative writing assignments to offer students a deep
understanding of such artistry. Attention in any writing assignment will be based upon six traits
plus 1: ideas and content, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions, and
performance. Cogent, clear, and fluent writing to develop stylistic maturity is the goal. Stylistic
maturity is characterized by the following:
● a strong, wide-ranging vocabulary used with both denotative and connotative accuracy;
● a variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of both subordination and
coordination to create fluency;
● a logical organization which is enhanced by the facile use of specific techniques of
coherence such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis;
● a balance of generalization with specific illustrative detail; and
● an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, a consistent voice, and achieving
emphasis through parallelism and antithesis.
Class time will be available where students engage in the practice of writing, revising, and
editing through writer’s workshop, small group conferencing, and one on one conferencing
between the instructor and student. This college-level course will include numerous
opportunities for students to write and rewrite informal, exploratory, extended discourse, and
timed essays with instructor feedback both before and after students revise their work. Writing
on demand will also be practiced through a variety exercises so students are well prepared for
the written portion of the exam.

Course Requirements
Students will be assessed in their knowledge of course concepts and skills in a variety
of ways during the year. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Three ringed Notebook: all handouts, essays, tests, and reductions
2. Reductions must be completed for all texts read in and outside of class.
3. Summer reading assignment (3 novels, reader response, and thematic essay)
4. Consistent, appropriate and insightful participation and daily preparedness
for class are required. Failure to meet these requirements will be reflected
in each nine-week grade.
5. AP timed writing prompts and multiple choice practice
6. ​A choice text (list provided) read outside of class—one per quarter
7. 5-7 formal literary analysis essays which will be both argumentative, and
interpretive in nature
a. Types of writing assignments required throughout the year on various
readings:
i. Reader Response Essay​ in which you bring in your own personal
experience to the analysis of the text.
ii. Evaluation​ of the story’s artistry, quality, and social and cultural
values using evidence from both the text and at least one outside
source.
iii. Argumentative Essay ​in which students will draw upon textual
evidence and details in order to explain judgments about a work’s
artistry and quality.
iv. Expository Essay​ in which the student will be required to write an
extended interpretation of a work using both textual evidence and
potentially outside sources.
8. Tests on literary allusions and terms
9. First and Second Semester Final Exams
10. The AP exam in May, although not required by the district, it is strongly
suggested.