AP English Language And Composition - OAK PARK USD

Syllabus: English IIIAP English Language and CompositionKathleen J. Schultheis, Ph.D.Oak Park High SchoolOak Park, CaliforniaTheme of Course: The Search for SelfGoals of the Course:1. to enlarge ourselves by extending our acquaintance with the variety of humancharacter and experience represented in literature -- poems, novels and works ofnonfiction that present dramatic and concrete images of complex human beingsconfronting universal problems, such as the problem of evil and the problem of freewill2. to improve our ability to write a well-organized, concise, persuasive essay, onethat states and proves a thesis, an original idea refined through careful reading.Course OverviewThis course is organized chronologically. The first segment (approximately 6-8weeks per segment) is dedicated to the Native American and Puritan period of Americanliterature. The second segment concentrates on the colonial period. The third segmentis devoted to the American Renaissance. The fourth segment focuses on the Civil Warand post-Civil War era. The last segment is devoted to the post-World War I modernistera and the Harlem Renaissance.Although the approach is chronological, we are not tethered to chronology.Modern pieces of literature are woven into the curriculum at every point along the way.For instance, when we study The Scarlet Letter, we also read The Crucible The centralcourse text is The American Experience published by Prentice Hall, 1989. In addition toreadings in the anthology, students read the following core works:The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, Walden, Moby Dick, The Adventures of HuckleberryFinn, Ethan Frome, The Great Gatsby, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. In additionto these major works, the following texts will be utilized for supplemental reading:Everyday Use (Roskelly and Jolliffe, 2005), Everything’s an Argument (Lunsford,Ruszkiewicz, Walters 2004), The Norton Sampler (Cooley 2003), The Genre ofArgument (Clark 1998), Picturing Texts (Faigley, George, Palchik, Selfe, 2004 ), The Artof the Personal Essay (Lopate, 1995), Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History(Safire, 1997).All formal essays are assessed using the standard 1-9 scale. As a reader last yearfor the College Board, I became very comfortable with this assessment device and findthat it works well in my classes.Throughout the course, students will keep a journal. They will be encouraged torespond to the literature in their journals, which will be collected every five weeks.

Course PlannerUnit I: Native American and Puritan Literature (From the beginnings to 1750)Focus on Rhetorical StrategiesI. Introduction to Myths of Origin (C4 and C7)Writing Assignment #1:Students will discuss American literature as a continuous search for self. Students willread The Walam Olum in light of the creation of an identity of a people. They willcompare The Walam Olum with The Navaho Origin Legend in this context. Students willimitate the series of pictographs in The Walam Olum and create a myth of their ownorigin. They will compose the myth and create a visual which utilizes the pictographiclanguage of The Walam Olum.Follow-up: (C2, C6)Writing Assignment #2: Students will read the two Native American selections from the1986 English Language and Composition Exam. These selections are bycontemporary Native American writers, N. Scot Momaday and D. Brown. Students willexplore the two different landscapes that are revealed in the two passages. There will bean emphasis on close reading and annotation in the approach to these two passages.Students will write a paper comparing the patterns of imagery in the two selections.II. Puritan LiteratureA. Anne BradstreetWith an awareness of the hallmarks of Puritan literature, students will read “Upon theBurning of Our House,” “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild,” and “Before the Birth ofOne of Her Children.”Writing Assignment #3 (C4)Students will read Joan Didion’s “Why I Write.” They will compare Didion’s conceptionof writing with Bradstreet’s (as it is revealed in her poetry). Students will then composea series of three journal entries, writing in the “voice” of Anne Bradstreet. Each journalentry will serve as a background or back-story to one of the poems.B. Jonathan EdwardsWith guided assistance from teacher, students will read and annotate “Sinners in theHands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. Students will read the discussion of therhetorical triangle in Jolliffe’s Everyday Use. Students will then read the selection fromthis text on the subject of logos, ethos, and pathos.Writing Assignment #4 (C10)Workshop Week: Students will write a first draft of an essay exploring how Edwardsuses logos, ethos, and pathos to: A)inspire fear in his congregation and B) engender a

desire for repentance and renewal. Students will bring in rough drafts and work in groupsof four to read and peer edits their writing. Students will be given a rubric that highlightsappropriate vocabulary, variety of sentence structure, logical organization, andcontrolling tone. Students will evaluate their papers according to the rubric. Teacher willprovide feedback to each student on rough draft. After consulting with peers and teacher,students will write a separate paper indicating their revision strategies. They will thenrewrite the paper and submit a final draft to teacher.C. Cotton Mather (C6, C5)Writing Assignment #5: Students will read the trial of Martha Carrier in Mather’sWonders of the Invisible World.Working in groups of two, they will imagine themselves as modern-day defense attorneysdefending Mrs. Carrier from the charge of witchcraft. In a paper titled “ClosingArgument,” they will analyze the evidence against Martha Carrier and seek to poke holesin the evidence. T hey will identify fallacies in the arguments that have been used toconvict her. They will try to exonerate this woman from the charge of witchcraft byarguing her case before the class.D. William Bradford (C6)Students will read selection in anthology from Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation.Students will explore the journey theme in American literature and the struggle forsurvival during the first year. There will be an emphasis on Bradford’s providential viewof history.II. The Scarlet LetterAll the readings up to this point have been to prepare the students for Hawthorne’s novel.Writing Assignment #6Students will study the beginning of chapter 2 where the Puritan community is gatheredoutside the prison door waiting for Hester Prynne to make her entrance. Here the narratorof the novel introduces the reader to the Puritan community. Students will write an essayanalyzing how the narrator’s description of the Puritans and their community suggests hisattitude toward them. The students will be encouraged to focus on selection of detail, theuse of figurative language and tone.Writing Assignment #7 Focus on Characterization (C2)Students will do a close reading of Hawthorne’s chapter 7 “The Leech and HisPatient.” Students will practice identifying direct and indirect methods ofcharacterization. The prompt for this essay will read as follows: Hawthorne’sRoger Chillingworth is more than just the villain of The Scarlet Letter. He is notmerely the traditional scorned husband, who out of jealousy seeks to learn theidentity of his wife’s lover. Roger Chillingworth, as Hawthorne constructs hischaracter, is the personification of revenge. Write an essay tracing the

metamorphosis that occurs in Chillingworth’s character in this chapter. Pay carefulattention to Hawthorne’s use of imagery to delineate Chillingworth’s devolution.Writing Assignment #8 Argumentative Essay (C2)Students will respond to the following prompt: Why does Hester Prynne return to Bostonat the novel’s end?Begin with a sophisticated and subtle introductory paragraph which states your thesisclearly, precisely and fully. Your body paragraphs should make specific reference tochapters 5 and 13 as context for assessing Hester’s final decision. Devote one paragraphto chapter 24.Writing Assignment #9 Argumentative Essay (C2)In an article in Time Magazine on June 11, 200l, a Texas judge is described asforcing sex offenders to broadcast their crimes with house signs and bumperstickers. The title of the article is “A New Scarlet Letter.” Students will read thearticle and write a response. The key issue is public shaming. They will take astand either for or against this form of public punishment.Unit II Colonial Literature (1750-1800)IntroductionTeacher will review the philosophy of the Enlightenment, the intellectual awakeningof the Eighteenth Century.I. Benjamin FranklinWe will approach Franklin as a representative man of the Age of Reason.III. The CrucibleScape-goating, McCarthyism and The Crucible (C4)Writing Assignment #10: Teacher will review the McCarthy era. A line of connectionwill be drawn from Joseph McCarthy’s naming of Communists to Cotton Mather’ssentencing of Martha Carrier, through Hester on the scaffold, to John Proctor on trial,asked to name names. Students will be asked to imagine themselves in Salem in 1692.They will write a series of journal entries documenting the increasing hysteria in the townas one by one honorable members of the community will be cried out as witches. “Whatwould you do if you were asked to name names?” is a question that they will askthemselves in these journal entries.

Writing Assignment #11: (C2)In Act IV of The Crucible, Reverend Hale states that “Life is God’s most precious gift;no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.” In a well-organized essay,defend, challenge, or qualify the validity of this assertion. Use evidence from your ownreading, observation, and/or experience to support your position.Unit II Colonial Literature 1750-1800Introduction: Teacher will provide an overview of the era known as the Enlightenment orthe Age of Reason. In this unit, there will be an emphasis on the many genres that wereappearing on the scene -- pamphlets, almanacs, speeches, aphorisms.I. Benjamin Franklin -- Architect of the American Self, the beginnings of the “SelfMade Man”We will begin with Franklin as a representative man of the Eighteenth Century. We willconsider him as a chief figure in our theme of the Search for Self. To that end, we willread a selection from his Autobiography that lists his ideal virtues and his plan for moralperfection.Writing Assignment #1 (C6)Benjamin Franklin in his Autobiography lists 13 virtues that he strives to cultivate inorder to achieve moral perfection. He begins with Temperance (“Eat not to dullness;drink not to elevation”) and ends with Humility (“Imitate Jesus and Socrates”). He thensets up a schedule to achieve these virtues.Part IWorking with a partner, devise a list of three modern-day virtues that youBelieve every human being should practice. List the virtues and next to eachOf them provide an explanation as Franklin did.Part IIWrite up a schedule for a typical day. Show how these virtues are incorporated inyour day. For example, Franklin was trying to master the virtue of Order, so hehas a section of his daily planner devoted to “putting things in their places.”When this assignment is completed, students will read D.H. Lawrence’s chapter onFranklin in Studies in Classic American Literature.Writing Assignment #2(C4)Students will read the “Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout.” Students will imitateFranklin in choosing some ailment -- either physical or mental -- and proceed towrestle with this ailment in the form of a dialogue. Students will work with a partner onthis project. They will provide an accompanying visual that depicts their struggle.