Welcome to A.P. English!

Mission and Philosophy: 

We will be creating a literary community through reading, writing, and blogging; discovering classic literature from the past and present through voices from around the world.  I want you to learn how literature makes us know that we are not alone; we are spiritually connected and can feel safe.

How will we do this?

Advanced Placement English Literature & Composition has traditionally been a preparatory course, culminating in an exam to be taken in the spring for college credit. However, to those of us who teach language arts, this course is more about teaching students to read and write with greater insight, as well as a chance to help students develop a genuine sense of empathy through literature.

This course hopes to re-examine the entire idea of “A.P.” by implementing global citizenship into every aspect of the curriculum, making it a richer experience and creating a model for curriculum at Andover High School.  Each section of the unit will have three components:

1) Global Citizenship

2) Well-chosen literary selections which connect to the former and an element of fiction

3) Experiences where students find connections in literature to themselves and the world.

The framework of the course will consist of a series of existential questions from Dr. William Gaudelli’s research.  Each question, piece of literature, and overall learning experience will build on the next. Toward the end of term two, students will be having experiences where they combine all these elements and have direct contact with students from another country, students from an adjoining city, and share their work in a public forum.

In addition, I hope to rethink “grading” this year. I will reimaging my grading system focusing on the big picture, the student’s personal growth, enthusiasm, participation, authenticity, and passion for the ideas we discuss. 

I hope you enjoy the course, and I look forward to sharing in this journey with all of you.

Beginnings:  The Art of Fiction

·       “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood

·       “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

·       Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

·       In a Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien      

·       The Hours by Michael Cunningham        

·       “The Danger of the Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie

·       Unity (2015)

·       “Killing the Animals” by Weslet McNair

·       “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins

·       “Poetry” by Marianne Moore

·       “Reading Gatsby” by Eric Pellerin

·       “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare

·       "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarch, translated by Anthony Mortimer

Plot:  Telling a Story

·       “Social Security” by Terrence Winch

·       “Lines” by Martha Collins

·       “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin

·       “On the Death of a Colleague” by Stephen Dunn                            

·       “Only Goodness” by Jhumpa Lahiri, Only Goodness

·       “Going to Meet the Man” by James Baldwin

·       “The Student Theme” by Ronald Wallace

·       ​“A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur

·       “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins

·       I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

·       “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison

·       “Numbers” by Mary Cornish

·       “Beautiful Black Men” by Nikki Giovanni

·       “Mathematics” by Mos Def

·       “Where I’m From” by Jay Z

·       “White People Can’t Dance” by Eric Pellerin

·       13th (2016)

·       “Fifth Grade Autobiography” by Rita Dove

·       “The First White President” by Te-Nehisi Coates

·       “Plagiarism” by Eric Pellerin

·       Beloved Toni Morrison

·       “Margaret Garner: Defying the Fugitive Slave Act” by Levi Coffin

​ Narration:  Who is Telling the Story?

·       “First Hour” by Sharon Olds

·       “Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, Ask me Where I’m Local?” by Taiye Selasi

·       “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway

·       “The House of Kronenstrasse” by Shira Nayman

·       “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri,

·       The Stranger Albert Camus

·       Won’t You Be My Neighbor (2018)

·       “Death of a Moth” by Virginia Woolf

·       “Animals” by Miller Williams

·       “Holy Sonnet X: Death be not proud” by John Donne

·       “Unholy Sonnets” by Mark Jarman

·       “God Says Yes to Me” by Kaylin Haught

·       “The Bell” by Richard Jones

·       The Cord” by Leanne O’Sullivan

·       “The Summer I was Sixteen” by Geraldie Connolly

·       Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

·       “The Poem of Chaulk” by Philip Levine

·       “Sax’s and Selves” by Mark Halliday

·       “Praise Song” by Lucille Clifton

·       “Advice from the Experts” by Bill Knott

·       The Hours (2002)

·       “It’s a Woman’s World” by Eavan Boland

·       “Barbie’s Ferrari” by Lynne McMahon

·       “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold

·       “My Life” by Joe Wenderoth

·       “Where is She” by Peter Cherches

Characterization:  Who am I?

             

·       “Autobiographia” by G.E Patterson                                                   

·       “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol,                         

·       “Gogol” by Jhumpa Lahiri,         

·       “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth                          

·       The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri,

·       “Loud Music” by Stephen Dobyns

·       “Goodbye to the Old Life” by Wesley McNair

·       “My Two Lives” by Jhumpa Lahiri,

·       “Mid-term Break” by Seamus Heaney

·       “Acting” by Suzanne Cleary

·       A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

·       “The Space Heater” by Sharon Olds

·       “No Return” by William Matthews

·       “The Panic Bird” by Robert Phillips

·       “Happy Marriage” by Taslima Nasrin

·       The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

·       “I Finally Managed to Speak to Her” by Hal Sirowitz

·       “Coffee in the Afternoon” by Alberto Rios

·       “Sonnet 94: A woman’s face” by William Shakespeare

·       “Sonnet 53: What is your substance” by William Shakespeare

·       The Decay of Lying: An Observation by Oscar Wilde

·       “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young” by Oscar Wilde

·       “A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated” by Oscar Wilde

·       “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde

·       “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde

·       “A Dialogue Between the Body and Soul” by Andrew Marvell

·       “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S, Eliot

Setting:  Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

·       “A Choice of Accommodations” by Jhumpa Lahiri

·       “Ladies and Gentlemen in Outer Space” by Ron Padgett               

·       Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. 

·       Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

·       “What He Thought” by Heather McHugh

·       “Church Going” by Philip Levine

·       “Golden Retrievals” by Mark Doty

·       “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

·       “The Green One Over There” by Katia Kapovich

·       “The History of Poetry” by Peter Cooley

·       Amadeus Peter Shaffer

·       “The Farewell” by Edward Field

·       “The Fathers” by Elizabeth Holmes

·       “Hawk Roosting” by Ted Hughes

·       In a Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien

·       “The Old Liberators” by Robert Hedin

·       “Lesson” by Forrest Hamer

Symbol: What Do You See? What Do Others See?

·       “A Wreath to the Fish” by Nancy Willard

·       “A Metaphor Crosses the Road” by Martha McFerren

·       “Ballplayer” by Evie Shockley

·       The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

·       “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka          

·       “Nipple Jesus” by Nick Hornby

·       “Hell-Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri

·       “Mrs. Midas” by Carol Ann Duffy

·       Ghosts Henrik Ibsen

·       “Beyond Recall” by Sharon Bryan

·       “Grammar” by Tony Hoagland

·       “Alzheimer’s” by Bob Hicok

·       “Message: Bottle #32” by J. Allyn Rosser

·       “Not Bad Dad, Not Bad” by Jan Heller Levi

·       “Little Father” by Li-Young Lee

·       Hamlet William Shakespeare

·       Selections from: Henry V, Titus Andronicus, and Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

·       “Beyond Recall” by Sharon Bryan

·        “What I Would Do” by Marc Pattersen

·       “The Meadow” by Kate Knapp Johnson

·       “Only One of My Deaths” by Dean Young

·       “May” by Bruce Weigel

·       “The Death of a Toad” by Richard Wilbur

·       “Hamlet Off-Stage: Laertes Cool” by D.C. Berry

·       “The Dead” by Susan Mitchell

Assessments:

Class Participation, Blogs, and Homework 70%:  Every night you will read a selection from the works above and compose a blog response. If you are absent, please view the blog and respond when you are able. Criteria and rubrics for the above will be made available. 

Writing & Major Assignments 30%:  This category includes all major writing assignments, in-class essays, and final projects.  Criteria and rubrics for the above will be made available.

Aspen:  Grades and progress reports will be consistently posted on Aspen.  It is your responsibility to track your progress.

Classroom Behavior:

Students must adhere to the rules of conduct outlined in the Andover High School Student Handbook 2018-2019 edition.   If you act like an authentic adult, you will be treated in kind.