AP English Literature

Spring 2006 Syllabus

Instructor
Gregory Greenleaf
Email

English Department Mission Statement:

The English Department will communicate student progress clearly and consistently to students and parents through a variety of means, choosing from progress reports, conferences, Blackboard, Back-to-School Night phone and email lists, detailed rubrics, and feedback on student work. All English Department course syllabi, to be distributed via classes and posted on the B-CC website, will reflect specific grading procedures and outline ways for students, parents, and teachers to communicate about student progress and assignments.

Course Description:

Our primary focus this semester will be to further refine your capability to analyze poetry. The poems, written by a wide range of authors, are AP appropriate in that they are challenging, encourage students to explore meaning, and are chock-full of impressive poetic devices. In addition to poetry, we will also read some prose.

Objectives:

• Sudents will become familiar with a variety of poetry terms
• Students will study the ways poetic devices enhance meaning, create structure, and give pleasure
• Students will write their own poetry and will use poetry devices in their own writing
• Students will write essays that not only explore a poem’s meaning but also analyze the use and effect of certain poetic devices
• Students will develop strategies for finding their “voice” in their writing
• Students will improve their skills in answering multiple-choice questions based on poetry and prose texts
• Each student will create a presentation and will lead class discussion on a poem of significant literary merit
• Students will prepare for the open-essay question
• Students will read and analyze significant works of literature and use these works to prepare for the open-essay question.

Texts:

Selected poetry
A Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Crime and Punishment
Heart of Darkness
Prose and poetry practice texts from released AP exams

Assignments:

Presentations, in-class and take-home essays, tests, quizzes, study guides over homework--these are the main evaluative tools I will use to determine grades for students.

Grading Policy and Weight of Assignments:

Final marking period grades in this course will be determined on a percentage basis.

A =  90-100% (7,8,9)
B =  80-89%    (5,6)
C =  70-79%    (3,4)
D =  60-69%    (2)
E =  50-59%    (1)

Timed writings will be scored using a 9-point rubric similar to the rubric used in scoring AP exam essays. These scores will then be converted to letter grades, as noted above. Essays will receive letter grades.

Weight of Assignments
35% Test and Projects
35% Writing
20% Quizzes
10% homework

The overall average in each assignment category and its weight determine quarter grade. Students who achieve a minimum standard of work will receive a 50 for that particular assignment. However, students who fail to complete an assignment will receive a zero.

Blackboard:

I post daily assignments and course documents on Blackboard (http://blackboard.mcps.k12.md.us). Students are encouraged to enroll in my course and utilize Blackboard.

Absences:

As the student handbook notes, "you are responsible for finding out what work was missed and making arrangements with the teacher for its completion." I have a day for day make-up policy. Thus, if you missed school on Monday but return on Tuesday, the work you missed will be due on Wednesday. However, assignments, tests, or quizzes known in advance of the absence will be taken or passed in upon the day you return. Please see me before school, during lunch, or after school to discuss when tests or quizzes will be made up.

Late Papers and Deadlines:

An assignment will be penalized one letter grade if it is overdue. For example, if a paper earns a B but is passed in two days late, the final grade for the paper will be a C. A paper is considered late if I do not receive it by 2:40 pm.

Eventually, a student who fails to turn in an assignment will receive a deadline for when the assignment must be turned in. A student will receive a zero for an assignment not turned in after the deadline.

Culminating Activity:

Students who take the AP exam in May will not need to sit for a final exam for the class but will complete a culminating activity. The grade for this culminating activity will be substituted for the final exam grade, which counts for 25% of fourth quarter grade.

Getting in touch:

I am available in C202 during lunch and on most days am free after school. Please come in and see me in C202 if you have any concerns, would like me to read rough drafts, or have questions about the AP test.

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The following B–CC policies are consistent with the new MCPS Grading and Reporting Policy as outlined in Learning, Grading and Reporting Guidelines (MCPS, 2004). These will apply in all courses offered at B–CC.

• Teachers will assign grades to reflect individual achievement on course objectives.
• Teachers will determine grades based on a variety of assessment methods.
• Teachers will issue progress reports at the 4½ week mark in each quarter.
• Teachers will establish clear due dates and deadlines. The maximum penalty for work submitted after the due date but before the deadline is one letter grade on an A-E scale or 10% on a 100% scale.
• Teachers will record 50% as the lowest possible grade if percentages are used except in cases of academic dishonesty.

Academic Dishonesty

This applies to both written work and oral presentations. Examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following: the willful giving or receiving of an unauthorized text, unfair, dishonest, or unscrupulous advantage in academic work over other students using fraud, duress, deception, theft, trickery, talking, signs, gestures, copying, or any other methodology.

Plagiarism:

• Submitting or presenting another person's work as your own without proper documentation, including downloaded information from the Internet and lab data.
• Using another student's material without prior approval.

Cheating:

• Giving or receiving information during a test, quiz, and/or class work assignment without teacher authorization.
• Using hand signals, gestures, and the like during tests or quizzes to obtain/give information.
• Using unauthorized materials during a test or quiz.

AP Scoring Model