AP English Literature and Composition

311 Pages·2016·10.17 MB·English

by  Jerry Brown

James Madison High School, San Antonio, TX
Advanced Placement Summer Institute
July 25 – July 28, 2016
AP English Literature and Composition

Jerry Brown
[email protected]
AP© English Literature APSI 2016
Table of Contents

AP® Access and Equity 1 Edgar Allan Poe 113
AP® English Language and Composition 2 “The Tell-Tale Heart” 115
Murder He Wrote – How People Die in Poe’s stories 122
AP® English Literature and Composition 4
Sonnet – “To Science” (analysis) 123
AP® and the Cost of College 6 Question 2 – 1994 – Two poems about Helen 126
Levels of Reading and Questioning the text 7 Question 2 – 1994 – Student Samples – 9s 126
How to read difficult texts 8 Opening to the “House of Usher” 129
Tips for Students: Getting “Unstuck” 9 “The Conqueror Worm” 130
“Why We Should Read Poetry – Amy Lowell 10 Ending to “The Premature Burial” 132
“Why Teaching Poetry is So Important” – Simmons 11 Carl Sandburg Poetry 135
Some things to remember when reading poetry 14 38 definitions of poetry 135
Some things to remember when analyzing poetry 15 Comparison of “Polonius’s Advice” from Hamlet
“The Language of Literary Analysis” – Carol Jago 17 and “A Father To His Son” – Sandburg 144
BAT the prompt 19 “Batter my heart” – the (meta)physical poets 148
Question 1 – 2015 21 “Batter my heart” – John Donne 148
Question 1 – 2015 Student Samples (typed) 25 “The Collar” – Herbert with MC questions 150
Question 2 – 2015 31 “The Flea” – John Donne (sample assignment) 155
Question 2 – 2015 Student Samples (typed) 33 “To his Coy Mistress” – Marvell 156
Question 3 – 2015 41 “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” – Donne 159
Question 3 – 2015 Student Samples (typed) 43 “Death, be not proud”, “A Hymn To God The Father” -
Helping Students begin to improve their writing 50 Donne 161
1993 Poem: “The Centaur” – May Swenson 51 “The Retreat” – Vaughan 162
1993 Poem – Student Samples analyzed 52 Emily Dickinson – Two Poems 163
1996 – Judge Pyncheon – Hawthorne 58 William Butler Yeats – Two Poems 164
1996 – Judge Pyncheon – Student Samples (analyzed) 59 “Fooling with Words” - Selections from the PBS
1996 – Question 3 – “Happy Endings” 61 documentary with Bill Moyers 165
1996 – Question 3 – Student Samples (analyzed) 61 Twain and Vonnegut – Twin Writers 177
1997 – Question 3 – “Social Occasions” 66 “Long Walk to Forever – Vonnegut 177
1997 – Question 3 – Student Samples (analyzed) 66 Satire Chart 183
Reading Samples from Ursula Le Guin’s book “A Presidential Candidate – Twain 184
Steering the Craft 69 “Tom Edison’s Shaggy Dog” – Vonnegut 186
“How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin” (excerpt) – Kipling 70 “Luck” – Twain 190
Huckleberry Finn (excerpt) – Twain 71 “Differentiating Reality from a Hoax” – Twain 194
“Time Passes” – Virginia Woolf 72 Ray Bradbury Short Stories 196
Little Dorrit (excerpt) – Dickens 73 “There Will Come Soft Rains” 196
Lord of the Rings (excerpt) – Tolkien 74 Writing Assignment (sample) 202
Multiple-Choice Test Taking Strategies 75 Literary Analysis in Sentence Outline Form (Hilsabeck) 204
1982 MC Exam stems 76 Elements of Fiction 205
1987 MC Exam stems 77 “The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl” – Bradbury 207
1991 MC Exam stems 78 Why Re-Read? 215
1994 MC Exam stems 80 Why read fiction in the first place? 215
1999 MC Exam stems 81 The value of rereading 218
2004 MC Exam stems 82 Ways to “maybe” get students to reread 219
2009 MC Exam stems 84 Analyzing “Nursery Rhymes” 221
2012 MC Exam stems 85 Dr. Seuss in the classroom 222
Prose and Poetry from 1982- 2012 exams 88 “What I thought then and what I think now” lesson 224
Multiple Choice Devices 1982-2009 89 Reading For Signposts – Beers and Probst 230
MC Vocabulary – 1982-2009 94 Comedic Criticism: Tracking and Taming Irony and
Types of Questions 97 Satire 232
Projecting your score 98 Satire Chart Repeat 233
The Important of Tone 99 “The Chimney Sweeper” – Two Poems – Blake 234
“Theme music” game 99 “I’m Nobody” – Emily Dickinson 236
Tone Words 100 “The History Teacher” – Collins 237
Using art to teach tone in Literature 101 Just in Time for Spring - Weiner 238
Movie Clips game – Tone and Mood 103 11 Scientifically Proven Reasons You Should Go Outside
Carol Jago article on tone 104 239
Interpreting Figurative Language 105 “Baby Cakes” – Neil Gaiman” 242
Short examples for Figurative Language 106 Murder in the Cathedral – T.S. Eliot 245
A Humument (A Human Document) 108 Close Reading excerpts from the play 247
Poetry Comparisons 110 Reading Questions for Students 258
The Christmas Morning Sermon 262
Tartuffe, Earnest, and The Bald Soprano – a study
in Comedy and Hypocrisy 264
Questions concerning character and/or characterization
from previous exams 264
Characteristics of Tragedy and Comedy 265
Tartuffe Character Profiles 268
Hypocrisy in Tartuffe 272
Orgon speaks of Tartuffe 274
The Importance of Being Earnest (excerpt) 275
Mr. and Mrs. Martin scene from The Bald Soprano 278
Useful information about Tartuffe 282
Glossary for The Importance of Being Earnest 283
Quiet The Power of Introverts in World That
Can’t Stop Talking – Susan Cain 286
AP Literature Action Plan for the year 304
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 1
Achieving Equity
College Board's Equity and Access Policy Statement
The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their
AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the opportunity to participate in
AP. We encourage educators to:
• Eliminate barriers that restrict access to AP for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic
groups that have been traditionally underserved.
• Make every effort to ensure their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.
• Provide all students with access to academically challenging coursework before they enroll in AP
classes
Only through a commitment to equitable preparation and access can true equity and excellence be
achieved.
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 2
AP® English lAnguAgE
About the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®)
The Advanced Placement Program® enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies — with the opportunity
to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both — while still in high school. AP Exams are given each year in May. Students who earn a
qualifying score on an AP Exam are typically eligible to receive college credit and/or placement into advanced courses in college. Every aspect
of AP course and exam development is the result of collaboration between AP teachers and college faculty. They work together to develop AP
courses and exams, set scoring standards, and score the exams. College faculty review every AP teacher’s course syllabus.
AP English Program AP English Language and Composition Course Content
The AP English Language and Composition course is designed
The AP Program offers two courses in English studies, each to help students become skilled readers and writers through
designed to provide high school students the opportunity to engage engagement with the following course requirements:
with a typical introductory-level college English curriculum.
• Composing in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository,
The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects
the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and
• Writing that proceeds through several stages or drafts, with
argumentative writing and the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts.
revision aided by teacher and peers
The AP English Literature and Composition course focuses on
reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction, • Writing informally (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping,
poetry, drama) from various periods. collaborative writing), which helps students become aware of
themselves as writers and the techniques employed by other
There is no prescribed sequence of study, and a school may offer
writers
one or both courses.
• Writing expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions
AP English Language and Composition Course Overview based on readings representing a variety of prose styles
and genres
The AP English Language and Composition course aligns to • Reading nonfiction (e.g., essays, journalism, science
an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, writing, autobiographies, criticism) selected to give students
which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and opportunities to identify and explain an author’s use of
argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. rhetorical strategies and techniques1
Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their • Analyzing graphics and visual images both in relation to
arguments. Throughout the course, students develop a personal written texts and as alternative forms of text themselves
style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally,
students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects • Developing research skills and the ability to evaluate, use, and
in non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from cite primary and secondary sources
many disciplines and historical periods. • Conducting research and writing argument papers in which
students present an argument of their own that includes the
PrErEquisitE analysis and synthesis of ideas from an array of sources
There are no prerequisite courses for AP English Language
• Citing sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g.,
and Composition.
Modern Language Association, The Chicago Manual of Style)
Students should be able to read and comprehend college-level
• Revising their work to develop
texts and apply the conventions of Standard Written English in

o A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and
their writing.

effectively;
o A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate
use of subordination and coordination;
o Logical organization, enhanced by techniques such as
repetition, transitions, and emphasis;
o A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative
detail; and
o An effective use of rhetoric, including tone, voice, diction,
and sentence structure.
1. The College Board does not mandate any particular authors or reading list, but representative authors are cited in the AP English Language Course
Description.
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 3
AP English Language and Composition Exam structure
AP English lAnguAgE And ComPosition ExAm: Format of Assessment
3 hours 15 minutEs
section i: Multiple Choice: 52–55 Questions | 60 Minutes | 45% of Exam Score
Assessment Overview
The AP English Language and Composition Exam employs • Includes excerpts from several non-fiction texts
multiple-choice questions to test students’ skills in rhetorical
• Each excerpt is accompanied by several multiple-choice
analysis of prose passages. Students are also required to write
questions
three essays that demonstrate their skill in rhetorical analysis,
argumentation, and synthesis of information from multiple sources
section ii: Free Response: 3 Prompts | 2 Hours 15 Minutes | 55% of Exam Score
to support the student’s own argument. Although the skills tested on
the exam remain essentially the same from year to year, there may • 15 minutes for reading source materials for the synthesis
be some variation in format of the free-response (essay) questions. prompt (in the free-response section)
• 120 minutes to write essay responses to the three
free-response prompts
Prompt types
Synthesis: Students read several texts about a topic and create an
argument that synthesizes at least three of the sources to support
their thesis.
Rhetorical Analysis: Students read a non-fiction text and analyze
how the writer’s language choices contribute to his or her purpose
and intended meaning for the text.
Argument: Students create an evidence-based argument that
responds to a given topic.
AP EngLish LAnguAgE And COmPOsitiOn sAmPLE ExAm quEstiOns
sample multiple-Choice question
Students are given a passage of writing and asked to respond to a set of prompts and questions based on the passage.
Below is one example.
The primary rhetorical function of lines 14–22 is to
(A) provide support for a thesis supplied in lines 1–2
(B) provide evidence to contrast with that supplied in the first paragraph
(C) present a thesis that will be challenged in paragraph three
(D) introduce a series of generalizations that are supported in the last two paragraphs
(E) anticipate objections raised by the ideas presented in lines 12–14
sample Free-response question
The following passage is from Rights of Man, a book written by the pamphleteer Thomas Paine in 1791. Born in England,
Paine was an intellectual, a revolutionary, and a supporter of American independence from England. Read the passage
carefully. Then write an essay that examines the extent to which Paine’s characterization of America holds true today.
Use appropriate evidence to support your argument.
If there is a country in the world, where concord, according to common calculation, would be least expected,
it is America. Made up, as it is, of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of
government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship, it would appear that the
union of such a people was impracticable; but by the simple operation of constructing government on the principles
of society and the rights of man, every difficulty retires, and all the parts are brought into cordial unison. There, the
poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged.... Their taxes are few, because their government is just; and as
there is nothing to render them wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults.
Educators: apcentral.collegeboard.org/apenglishlanguage
Students: apstudent.collegeboard.org/apenglishlanguage
© 2014 The College Board. 13b-7589 (Updated June 2014)
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 4
AP® English litErAturE And
ComPosition
About the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®)
The Advanced Placement Program® enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies — with the opportunity
to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both — while still in high school. AP Exams are given each year in May. Students who earn a
qualifying score on an AP Exam are typically eligible to receive college credit and/or placement into advanced courses in college. Every aspect
of AP course and exam development is the result of collaboration between AP teachers and college faculty. They work together to develop AP
courses and exams, set scoring standards, and score the exams. College faculty review every AP teacher’s course syllabus.
AP English Program AP English Literature and Composition Course Content
The course is designed to help students become skilled readers
The AP Program offers two courses in English studies, each and writers through engagement with the following course
designed to provide high school students the opportunity to engage requirements:
with a typical introductory-level college English curriculum.
• Reading complex imaginative literature (fiction, drama, and
The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on poetry) appropriate for college-level study1
the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and
argumentative writing and the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts. • Writing an interpretation of a piece of literature that is based
on a careful observation of textual details, considering the
The AP English Literature and Composition course focuses on
work’s structure, style, and themes; the social and historical
reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction,
values it reflects and embodies; and such elements as the use
poetry, drama) from various periods.
of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone
There is no prescribed sequence of study, and a school may offer
• Composing in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository,
one or both courses.
analytical, and argumentative essays) based on students’
analyses of literary texts
AP English Literature and Composition Course Overview
• Writing that proceeds through several stages or drafts, with
revision aided by teacher and peers
The AP English Literature and Composition course aligns to an
introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course • Writing informally (e.g., response journals, textual annotations,
engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of collaborative writing), which helps students better understand
imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways the texts they are reading
writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As • Revising their work to develop
they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes,
as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, o A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately
and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and and effectively;
argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret o A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate
literary works. use of subordination and coordination;
o Logical organization, enhanced by techniques such as
PrErEquisitE
repetition, transitions, and emphasis;
There are no prerequisite courses for AP English Literature
o A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative
and Composition.
detail; and
Students should be able to read and comprehend college-level

o An effective use of rhetoric, including tone, voice, diction,
texts and apply the conventions of Standard Written English in

and sentence structure.
their writing.

1. The selection of literature for the course should consider texts used in students’ previous high school ELA courses, so that by the time students finish
the AP course, they will have read texts from 16th- to 21st-century American and British literature, along with other literature written in or translated
to English. The College Board does not mandate the use of any particular authors or reading list, but representative authors are cited in the AP English
Course Description.
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 5
AP English Literature and Composition Exam structure
AP English litErAturE And ComPosition ExAm: 3 hours Format of Assessment
Assessment Overview
section i: Multiple Choice | 60 Minutes | 55 Questions | 45% of Exam Score
The AP English Literature and Composition Exam employs
multiple-choice questions and free-response prompts to test • Includes excerpts from several published works of drama, poetry,
students’ skills in literary analysis of passages from prose and or prose fiction
poetry texts.
• Each excerpt is accompanied by several multiple-choice questions
or prompts
section ii: Free Response | 120 Minutes | 3 Questions | 55% of Exam Score
• Students have 120 minutes to write essay responses to three
free-response prompts from the following categories:
o A literary analysis of a given poem
o A literary analysis of a given passage of prose fiction
o An analysis that examines a specific concept, issue, or
element in a work of literary merit selected by the student
AP EngLish LitErAturE And COmPOsitiOn sAmPLE ExAm quEstiOns
sample multiple-Choice question
Students are given a passage of writing and asked to respond to a set of prompts and questions based on the
passage. Below is one example.
The chief effect of the first paragraph is to
(A) foreshadow the outcome of Papa’s meeting
(B) signal that change in the family’s life is overdue
(C) convey the women’s attachment to the house
(D) emphasize the deteriorating condition of the house
(E) echo the fragmented conversation of the three women
sample Free-response Prompt
Read carefully the following poem by the colonial American poet, Anne Bradstreet. Then write a well-organized essay
in which you discuss how the poem’s controlling metaphor expresses the complex attitude of the speaker.
“The Author to Her Book” I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain, And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.
Who after birth did’st by my side remain, I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Til snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
Who thee abroad exposed to public view; In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
Made thee in rags, halting, to the press to trudge, But nought save homespun cloth in the house I find.
Where errors were not lessened, all may judge. In this array, ’mongst vulgars may’st thou roam;
At thy return my blushing was not small, In critics’ hands beware thou dost not come;
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call, And take thy way where yet thou are not known.
I cast thee by as one unfit for light, If for thy Father asked, say thou had’st none;
Thy visage was so irksome in my sight; And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Yet being mine own, at length affection would Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could. (1678)
Educators: apcentral.collegeboard.org/apenglishliterature
Students: apstudent.collegeboard.org/apenglishliterature
© 2014 The College Board. 13b-7589 (Updated June 2014)
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
AP® jearry@njerrydwbro wtn.hcome Cost of College 6
Recent research is available on the cost of college and how a student’s participation in AP® relates to college success.

The following information summarizes key findings and may be helpful to students as they plan their transition to higher education.

1
Finding
Most students take five or six years, and sometimes even The Difference in Four-Year College Graduation
longer, to earn their bachelor’s degrees at public colleges Rates for Students Who…
a nd universities. Students who take AP courses and
exams are much more likely to graduate in four years.
Took the AP English
A 2008 study found that AP students had better four-year Literature course
graduation rates than those who did not take AP. For and exam in
example, graduation rates for AP English Literature high school Four-year graduation rate is 62% higher
students were 62 percent higher than graduation rates
for those who took other English courses in high school.1
Because more than 3,200 colleges and universities in the
United States offer credit and/or advanced placement for
Did NOT take an
qualifying AP scores, AP students have the flexibility to
AP English course and
double major or study abroad without putting at risk
exam in high school
graduation in four years.
2 3
Finding Finding

Students who take longer to graduate from a public Taking AP increases eligibility for scholarships and
college or university typically pay between $8,000 makes candidates more attractive to colleges.
and $19,000 for each additional year.
31 percent of colleges and universities consider a
The typical college cost per year for a four-year public student’s AP experience when making decisions
institution is $7,662 for in-state students and $18,529 about which students will receive scholarships.3
for out-of-state students.2
85 percent of selective colleges and universities report
$18,529 that a student’s AP experience favorably impacts
$20,000 per year admissions decisions.4
Students attending
$15,000 private institutions “We often observe a discernible difference between students without any
who take longer AP experience, who typically only devote a few hours to homework each
than four years to week, and AP students, who have had to develop the time management skills
$10,000 $7,662 graduate might and the discipline to do the type of time-consuming intellectual work that is
per year expect to incur required to be successful in college.”
$26,1972 for each ─ Spencer A. Benson
$5,000 additional year it Director, Center for Teaching Excellence
Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
takes to earn a
University of Maryland, College Park
bachelor’s degree.
$0
In-State Out-of-State
Student Student
“I took AP throughout high school because it was the most interesting
and well-taught program offered. When I reached college, I realized that
I had accumulated a year’s worth of credits. I graduated from Michigan’s 1 Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin, and Barbara Dodd, “College Outcomes Comparisons by AP and Non-AP High School
Experiences.” The College Board, 2008. To isolate the role of AP, researchers compared “matched” groups of students,
undergraduate business program a full year early, saving $30,000 and meaning the students had similar SAT® rank and family incomes, but different experiences with English course work
a year’s time.” (i.e., they either took the AP course and exam or they took other English courses).
─ Nikki Baker, student, University of Michigan 2 Costs include tuition, fees, and books only, and do not include room, board, and other living expenses. Average Estimated
Undergraduate Budgets, 2008-09 (Enrollment-Weighted). The College Board, ”Trends in College Pricing,” 2008.
3 Unpublished institutional research, Crux Research, Inc. March 2007.
4 Unpublished institutional research, Crux Research, Inc. March 2007. For the purpose of this study, selective institutions
were defined as those where less than 70 percent of applicants were admitted, the mean SAT score was 1025 or higher,
© 2009 The College Board. College Board, inspiring minds, AP, SAT and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. and mean ACT score was 22 or higher.
Jerry W. Brown 2016 University of Houston APSI
[email protected] 7
Level One – Literal – Factual
You can actually put your finger on the answer in the text. You are reading “on the” lines.

Level One questions can be answered explicitly by using the facts in the text.
You should be able to provide an accurate and complete summary of text because the
information is “in front of you”.
(The AP tests seldom ask level one questions. Why?)
Level Two – Interpretive – Inferential
You can put your finger on evidence in the text to support your answer. You are reading
“between” the lines.

Level Two questions are implied, requiring the reader to analyze and/or interpret specific parts
of the text. They are inference-based. You must read between the lines for the answers.
A good answer will probably lead to an identification of the significant patterns in the text.
Level Three – Experiential – Connecting – Abstract
You cannot put your finger on the answer in the text. You are reading “beyond” the lines.

Level Three questions are open-ended and go beyond the text. These questions will provoke
discussion of an abstract idea or issue. In addition to evidence from the text, you may bring
your own personal experience into the discussion if it has a connection and a bearing to the
abstract idea or issue.
Good answers lead to an appreciation of the text and further discussion.

(Adapted from Ayn Grubb, Broken Arrow Public Schools, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma)