2021 Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

SYLLABUS DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

English Literature

and Composition

The guide contains the following information:

Curricular Requirements

The curricular requirements are the core elements of the course. A syllabus must

provide explicit evidence of each requirement based on the required evidence

statement(s).

The Unit Guides and the “Instructional Approaches” section of the AP English

Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description (CED) may be useful in

providing evidence for satisfying these Curricular Requirements.

Required Evidence

These statements describe the type of evidence and level of detail required in the

syllabus to demonstrate how the curricular requirement is met in the course.

Note: Curricular requirements may have more than one required evidence statement.

Each statement must be addressed to fulll the requirement.

Clarifying Terms

These statements dene terms in the scoring guide that may have multiple meanings.

Samples of Evidence

For each curricular requirement, three separate samples of evidence are provided.

These samples provide either verbatim evidence or clear descriptions of what

acceptable evidence could look like in a syllabus.

Curricular Requirements

CR1

The course is structured by unit, theme, genre, or other organizational

approach that provides opportunities to engage with the big ideas throughout

the course: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Figurative Language,

Literary Argumentation.

See page:

CR2

The course includes works of short ction, poetry, and longer ction or drama

from the range of literary periods (pre-20th century and 20th/21st centuries).

See page:

CR3

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 1: Explain the function of character.

See page:

CR4

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 2: Explain the function of setting.

See page:

CR5

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 3: Explain the function of plot and structure.

See page:

CR6

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 4: Explain the function of the narrator or speaker.

See page:

CR7

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 5: Explain the function of word choice, imagery, and symbols.

See page:

CR8

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 6: Explain the function of comparison.

See page:

CR9

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in Skill

Category 7: Develop textually substantiated arguments about interpretations

of a portion or whole text.

See page:

CR10

The course provides opportunities for students to write essays that proceed

through multiple stages or drafts, including opportunities for conferring and

collaborating with teacher and/or peers.

See page:

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 1

The course is structured by unit, theme, genre, or other organizational

approach that provides opportunities to engage with the big ideas

throughout the course: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration,

Figurative Language, and Literary Argumentation.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include an outline of course content by unit, theme, genre, or other

organizational approach that also demonstrates the inclusion of the big ideas. The big

ideas must be explicitly stated in the syllabus.

Samples of Evidence

1. The syllabus follows the unit-based model established in the AP

course framework

and allows students to evenly examine short ction, poetry, and extended literary

works and to develop enduring understandings by spiraling the big ideas throughout

the course.

Unit 1: Short Fiction I

(Big Ideas: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Figurative Literary Argumentation)

Unit 2: Poetry I

(Big Ideas: Character, Structure, Figurative Language, Literary Argumentation)

Unit 3: Longer Works of Fiction or Drama I

(Big Ideas: Character, Setting, Structure)

Unit 4: Short Fiction II

(Big Ideas: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Figurative Language,

Literary Argumentation)

Unit 5: Poetry II

(Big Ideas: Structure, Figurative Language, Literary Argumentation)

Unit 6: Longer Works of Fiction or Drama II

(Big Ideas: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Literary Argumentation)

Unit 7: Short Fiction III

(Big Ideas: Character, Setting, Structure, Narration, Figurative Language,

Literary Argumentation)

Unit 8: Poetry III

(Big Ideas: Structure, Figurative Language, Literary Argumentation)

Unit 9: Longer Works of Fiction or Drama III

(Big Ideas: Character, Structure, Narration, Literary Argumentation)

2. The syllabus is organized by themes such as: engaging “the other,” family relations,

death, coming of age, courage, love, and good vs. evil.

Within each theme, readings are organized by the big ideas in the Course and Exam

Description. Collectively, the themes, readings, and assignments engage students in

each of the big ideas throughout the course.

For example:

Theme: Family Relations

Big Ideas: Setting, Structure, Narration

Readings: “Barn Burning” (Faulkner), “Digging” (Heaney), Glass Menagerie (Williams)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Theme: Courage

Big Ideas: Character, Figurative Language, Literary Argumentation

Readings: Henry V, “If” (Kipling), etc.

3. The syllabus is organized to explore literary concepts and develop literary analysis

skills through a survey of literature from a variety of authors and time periods

to examine literary movements. Short ction, poetry, and longer works of ction

or drama are included in the study of various literary movements throughout the

syllabus, and the big ideas emphasized within each are specied.

For example:

Time Period/Literary Movement: 17th-Century Metaphysical Poetry

Big Ideas: Setting, Structure, Narration

Readings: Poetry by John Donne, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell

Time Period/Literary Movement: 19th-Century Romanticism

Big Ideas: Character, Figurative Language, Literary Argumentation

Readings: Shelley’s Frankenstein, poetry by Byron, Coleridge, and Wordsworth

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 2

The course includes works of short ction, poetry, and longer ction

or drama from the range of literary periods (pre-20th century and

20th/21st centuries).

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include the titles and authors of the works of short ction, poetry,

and longer ction or drama studied in the course from the range of literary periods

(pre-20th century and 20th/21st centuries).

Note: If literature from the range of literary periods (pre-20th century and 20th/21st

centuries) is not included in the AP syllabus, the syllabus must include an explicit

statement that works from the range of time periods are studied in prerequisite courses.

Samples of Evidence

1. The syllabus includes authors and titles in each genre from a range of historical

periods, such as:

Short ction: Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin; “The Interpreter of Maladies,” Jhumpa

Lahiri; “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Gabriel García Márquez; “A Hunger

Artist,” Franz Kafka; “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin; “Cathedral,” Raymond

Carver; “Shiloh,” Bobbie Ann Mason; “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins

Gilman; “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner; “The Garden Party,” Katherine Manseld.

Poetry: Paradise Lost (excerpts), Milton; “The Wasteland,” Eliot; Song of Myself

(excerpts), Whitman; Sonnets 18, 24, 29, 104, 116, 130, and 134, Shakespeare; studies

in the poetry of Claudia Rankine, Derek Walcott, and Martín Espada.

Novels: Frankenstein, Shelley; Heart of Darkness, Conrad; The Bluest Eye, Toni

Morrison, and Exit West, Mohsin Hamid.

Drama: Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles; Hamlet, Shakespeare; Fences, August Wilson.

2. The syllabus includes a variety of authors’ works representing dierent genres across

time periods, such as:

Euripides – Medea

William Shakespeare – The Taming

of the Shrew

Henry James – The Turn of the

Screw

Henrik Ibsen – A Doll’s House

Gabriel García Márquez –

selections from Strange

Pilgrims

Katherine Ann Porter – “The Jilting

of Granny Weatherall”

Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man

Julia Alvarez – How the Garcia Girls

Lost Their Accents

Anthony Doerr – All the Light We

Cannot See

Tom Stoppard – Arcadia

Viet Thanh Nguyen – The

Sympathizer

Li-Young Lee – various poems

Tracy K Smith – various poems

Jimmy Santiago Baca – various

poems

Elizabeth Acevedo – various poems

3. The syllabus emphasizes literature from the 20th century to the present and includes

a list of works in each genre (short ction, poetry, novels, and drama). The syllabus

also includes a statement that literature from earlier time periods is studied in the

prerequisite course(s).

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 3

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in

Skill Category 1: Explain the function of character.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity, series

of activities, or project in which students explain the function of character in a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. J.D. Salinger: Catcher in the Rye

Students will complete a reading guide for the novel and conduct a character study

on Holden Cauleld in which they track his discoveries/epiphanies using a dialectical

journal. Finally, using the dialectical journal, students will write an essay exploring

how Holden Cauleld works to conrm and/or confront the social/cultural values of

his day. (1.A, 1.B, 1.E)

2. In small groups, students create a graphic organizer to explain the function of

character in activities, such as:

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s character changes as her relationships with

other people in her life—both men and women—change. Consider in what ways Janie

has changed and in what ways she has stayed the same. Label the graphic organizer

with specic textual details to support your claims as to how she changes and how

she remains consistent. (1.B, 1.D, 1.E)

Analyze the role of Aminadab in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark.” What

function(s) does this character serve? How does he advance plot and theme? What

signicance does the narrator assign to him, especially in comparison to Aylmer?

(1.A, 1.C)

3. Students respond to the following reading questions for Shaw’s Major Barbara prior to

a class discussion:

Analysis of character. What is Barbara’s philosophy? Undershaft’s philosophy? What

do the various characters at the shelter tell you about the successes and failures of

the Salvation Army? In act 3, is Perivale St. Andrews the utopia it seems? How is this

possible? (1.A, 1.D, 1.E)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 4

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in

Skill Category 2: Explain the function of setting.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity, series

of activities, or project in which students explain the function of setting in a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. After students have read the Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy

Evening,” they list the various details of the physical environment (cold, snow, dark,

etc.).Then, having generated this list, students explain how each of those details

relates to the ve senses.Given that the poem is full of the sensations that a human

observer would feel in that setting, the poem ends oddly with the doubling of the line

“And miles to go before I sleep.”Students write about this poem by exploring why a

poem full of sensations ends with two references to sleep, which is in some ways the

opposite of sensation. (2.B, 2.C)

2. While participating in literature circles, students do the following:



Identify and describe multiple aspects of a setting in a text.



Explain the symbolic meaning of a setting.



Explain the function of dierent or changing settings within a text. (2.A, 2.B)

Students work collaboratively to enhance their learning of new material by examining

the following essential questions:



In what ways does the environment/setting inuence a character’s or a

society’s development?



As you observe how characters interact with the setting(s) provided in the novel,

explain the degree to which people are in control of their destiny.



To what extent do the mores of a particular time period dene the tragic condition?



If it is possible and/or necessary, what does it take to escape the inuence of

one’s setting? (2.A, 2.B, 2.C)

3. Students respond to the following in a written assignment:

“Setting” in literature can mean more than physical space. John Updike’s short story

“A&P” is set in the 1950s in a supermarket in a seaside town on a summer’s day.

How do each of these details contribute to the story? (Think about whether the story

would work, for example, in the 2010s in an urban setting). (2.A, 2.B)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 5

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in

Skill Category 3: Explain the function of plot and structure.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity, series

of activities, or project in which students explain the function of plot and structure in

a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. After reading Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, students are asked to discuss,

in small groups, the function of important events that are implied but not depicted in

the play and then engage in a class discussion about why they are not depicted in the

play and what eect that has on the plot. (3.A, 3.E)

2. As part of a visual and oral presentation on King Lear, students explore the

Aristotelian plot structure in the play and examine how the sequence of the plot

aects the narrative and relates to the conict. (3.A, 3.B, 3.E, 3.F)

3. Either in an essay or journal assignment, students will respond to the following:

“How does the structure of W.B. Yeats’ poem, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,”

contribute to the meaning of the poem? Specically, how does this structure aect

how the poem deals with complexities and contrasts?” (3.C, 3.D)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 6

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in

Skill Category 4: Explain the function of the narrator or speaker.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity, series

of activities, or project in which students explain the function of the narrator or

speaker in a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. Students respond to the following prompt:

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway functions as the

prism that gives color to all the major characters.He tells us that he tends to reserve

judgment against people, the fact of which entices all of the major players to conde

in him.How does Fitzgerald use this universal condante to give shape to the tragedy

of Jay Gatsby? (4.A, 4.B, 4.C)

2. For a month, students keep a journal purporting to be written by a “silent” or silenced

character from that character’s point of view. For example, what kind of journal might

Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman keep? Paul MacLean from A River Runs Through It?

Students are responsible for six entries over the month, one typed double-spaced

page each.

Follow up essay assignment: How do you view the function of the original main

narrator in the piece you chose? How does changing the point of view change the

focus of the piece of literature? (4.B, 4.C)

3. After reading John Edgar Wideman’s Sent for You Yesterday and Henry James’ Turn of

the Screw, students discuss in small groups how the reliability of the narrators aects

the narrative. (4.B, 4.D)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 7

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills

in Skill Category 5: Explain the function of word choice, imagery, and

symbols.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity,

series of activities, or project in which students explain the function of word choice,

imagery, or symbols in a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. Students write an essay in which they discuss poetic diction, imagery, and symbolism

of a Shakespearean sonnet. (5.B, 5.C, 5.D)

2. Group discussion: Explain the layers of meaning in the symbols in Martin Espada’s

“Latin Night at the Pawnshop.” Be sure to include the obvious (Why “Latin Night?”)

as well as the implicit symbolism (What do you know about the community from the

setting? Why instruments?). (5.A, 5.C)

3. The syllabus includes an essay assignment in which students interpret how Yusef

Komunyakaa uses the language, imagery, and symbolism of jazz in his poetry.

(5.B, 5.C, 5.D)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 8

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills in

Skill Category 6: Explain the function of comparison.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least one description of an instructional activity, series

of activities, or projects in which students explain the function of comparison through

simile, metaphor, personication, or allusion in a text.

Samples of Evidence

1. Students study the metaphorical language of John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding

Mourning.” Students work in small groups to identify the multiple ways Donne uses

the compass as a metaphor and how this extended metaphor contributes to the

meaning of the poem. (6.A, 6.B, 6.C)

2. As a class, students develop a list of allusions in a text they studied. Then they work

in small groups to consult online reference websites to gather further background

information for each allusion. After discussing their ndings, they examine the

signicance of the allusions in the text. (6.D)

3. Students analyze Hughes’s “Theme for English B,” focusing their attention on the

personication of Harlem and New York. Students examine the following lines: “I

feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you. / hear you, hear me—we two—you, me,

talk on this page” and engage in a close reading to identify and explain how the

personication in these lines conveys meaning. (6.C)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 9

The course provides opportunities for students to develop the skills

in Skill Category 7: Develop textually substantiated arguments about

interpretations of a portion or whole text.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must include at least three activities (including two essays) in which

students develop textually substantiated arguments about interpretations of a portion

or whole text.

Samples of Evidence

1. Example Activity: Using Frankenstein, students create a claim that argues whether

Victor or the Creature is the villain of the novel. They then develop a thesis statement

that includes their claim and a clause or phrase that argues the meaning conveyed in

their chosen character being the villain rather than the other character. (7.A, 7.B)

Example Essays: The syllabus includes multiple essay assignments that are evaluated

by the quality of argument, including a clearly stated thesis and supporting evidence

(i.e., quotations), and clear, persuasive, elegant connection of this evidence to the

overall argument. The essays are also evaluated based on demonstrated control over

the elements of composition such as word choice, transitional elements, syntax, etc.

(7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E)

2. Example Activity: Using “The Hollow Men,” students create an evidentiary outline of

their body paragraphs for a literary analysis argument. The evidentiary outline should

present their thesis statements and the evidence to be used in each body paragraph.

(7.A, 7.B, 7.D)

Example Essay: In an argumentative essay, students respond to the following: “As

we have discussed, the metaphysical poets stretched their images to lengths that

might be called excessive. In ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,’ first explain

the many images that Donne uses to express his emotion on parting from his wife.

Then assess whether you feel the multiplicity of metaphors adds or detracts from

the overall artistry of the poem and justify your response with specific examples.”

(7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D)

Example Essay: Students will write an essay about The Bluest Eye in response to

Question 3 on the 2019 AP English Literature and Composition Exam. The prompt

reads as follows. “In his 2004 novel, Magic Seeds, V. S. Naipaul writes: ‘It is wrong

to have an ideal view of the world. That’s where the mischief starts. That’s where

everything starts unraveling.’ Either from your own reading or from the list below,

choose a work of ction in which a character holds an ‘ideal view of the world.’ Then,

in a well-written essay, analyze how the author’s portrayal of this idealism and its

positive or negative consequences contributes to an interpretation of the work as a

whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.” The depth of thought, logical reasoning,

organization, and control over grammar and mechanics in the essays will be assessed.

(7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E)

3. Example Activity: After reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, students engage in a text-

based debate regarding the validity of Briony’s atonement. (7.A, 7.C, 7.D)

Example Essay: The syllabus includes an argumentative essay in which the students

analyze Heller’s Catch-22 to determine how the text promotes or protests the

involvement of a country, government, or people in World War II. (7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Example Essay: Students will select one poem from the poetry unit, and write a three-

page literary analysis of the poem, drawing on the poet’s use of particular literary

devices to convey complexity and/or meaning within the poem. The essays will be

evaluated according to the AP English Literature and Composition rubric for

Question 1, Poetry Analysis. (7.A, 7.B, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E)

Syllabus Development Guide: AP English Literature and Composition

Curricular Requirement 10

The course provides opportunities for students to write essays that

proceed through multiple stages or drafts, including opportunities for

conferring and collaborating with their teachers and/or peers.

Required Evidence

¨ The syllabus must provide a description of at least one essay assignment that

requires more than one draft and includes evidence of collaboration with and

feedback from teachers and/or peers.

Samples of Evidence

1. The syllabus includes the following statement: “Students will submit drafts to the

instructor for comments, as well as participate in peer review. Extended papers will

be revised at least once, and the nal poetry paper must be revised at least twice.”

Specic prompts for the essay assignments are included.

2. The syllabus includes students using the AP English Literature rubric(s) and/or

list of essay expectations to peer review one another’s essays before revising and

then turning in a nal draft to the teacher or a review committee for at least one

essay assignment.

3. The syllabus includes a schedule for at least one essay assignment that describes and

identies time allotted for the stages of the writing process, including multiple drafts

and opportunities for peer collaboration and revision.

For example:

Stage 1: Planning

Stage 2: Drafting

Stage 3: Writing Workshop

Stage 4: Revision

Stage 5: Conference

Stage 6: Final Revision

Stage 7: Editing and Proofreading