AP English

10th Grade AP English Curriculum

Each week we cover a different writing concept or technique, including analysis of a reading as an example or as a basis for a writing exercise, lecture and/or writing workshop. The midterm and final exams include sentence corrections on the SAT model, identifications based on class readings, and short essay questions.

The AP English class is based on a seminar model where student and teacher work together closely and consistently to identify and rectify the problems of the individual student in preparation for the SAT and AP exams and to facilitate learning and performance at a college level. This model entails a flexible approach that eschews lecture and quizzing in favor of close reading, discussion and guided writing, frequently punctuated by practice testing and follow-up evaluations of performance to identify problem areas. We will also focus on increasing cultural fluency in order better to prepare the students to write naturally and intelligently on a variety of subjects by including articles and essays on current events, social issues and intellectual topics.
Assigned Readings
Novel [Fall-Spring]
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Jack London, The Sea Wolf

Poetry [Spring]
Countee Cullen, "From the Dark Tower"
Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck"
Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
William Blake, "The Tyger"
Percy Shelley, "Ode to the West Wind"
John Keats, "Autumn"
Langston Hughes, "I, Too"
Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Non-fiction [various]
Various essays/articles
Assignments
The AP English class will write an essay every two weeks: about half of these will be AP practice essays provided by the College Board or test prep sites/textbooks, while the other half will be text-based and directed towards topics of a general nature that will aid in preparation for the AP test and contribute to the intellectual development of the student. The students will also write a 5-page literary analysis term paper each semester on a novel.

AP Practice essays (at least three of each type - analysis, synthesis, argument)
Reading-driven essays
Choice of topic (dynamic character development, the Nietzchean superman archetype, man vs. nature) on The Sea Wolf [TERM PAPER]
Choice of topic (internal conflict, theme: alienation) on Crime and Punishment [TERM PAPER]