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Annotating/Highlighting/Note-taking Tips:
Each of you will develop your own individualized style and process for annotation and highlighting. Some students like to use a variety of colors to follow specific thematic strands through the novel. Some students use different colors for characters, setting, symbols, and notable/significant quotes. Other students choose to use one color of highlighter, and then underline, circle, or asterisk specific items within the highlighted areas. Whichever method or combination of methods you use for highlighting, remember that annotation must accompany your underlining/highlighting to demonstrate your interaction with the text.
Annotation will indicate evidence of thoughtful, relevant comments and questions written in margins as you interact with the text. As you probably already know, good readers have an internal voice that constantly converses with the text. The notes you take in the margins should be those kinds of “conversational” comments as you notice things, question the author, react to characters, and become aware of patterns with symbols and in the setting. You should make notes about topics that you feel would be great for discussions and debates in class. Formulate questions that you would like to share with others, and we’ll use these to generate discussions.
The idea is not for you to “coat” the pages with highlighting, but for you to really focus on sorting significant passages and literary devices you see the authors employ throughout their writing. The keys here are "sorting" and "significant" indications of thought. Ultimately the value of annotation is three-fold:
(1) Comprehension: Thoughtful interaction with the text not only increases comprehension, but allows for re-reading a second time in a meaningful, skimming manner. After all, the first time you read a piece of literature, you are reading for plot - to see what happens. The second time you read is when you can focus on rhetorical devices and sub-text.
(2) Re-entry into the Text: Once you have read a piece and you are ready to analyze and write about what you have read, effective annotation allows you to re-enter the piece and find evidence to support your analysis.
(3) Analysis: And speaking of analysis, annotation is a skill which encompasses the sorting that is integral to the sorting and logic processing which is key to effective analysis.
Master this skill of marking text and you will find your reading becomes much more effective.
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How to use How to Read Literature Like a Professor:
You will use this book in conjunction with our studies for the year - I do not expect you to read the book as a whole, but in sections by chapter to augment your other reading. This book has a great, humorous voice that I am sure you will enjoy – below I have listed some specifics for your use of the book with Huck and Kindred.
A few caveats though – as you consider this supplemental book… “[this] is not a textbook but an engaging companion for readers to discover the possibilities of modern and classical literature.” Consider also the author’s words in the “Envoi.” In this chapter (278-281), Foster discusses the limitations of his book and his goals with it.
Now here are some chapters which you should use in conjunction with Huck and Kindred. Included in the information below are even specific pages that refer to Huck, but of course I would recommend reading the whole chapters that are listed. They are short and have elements of humor in his outlook on analyzing literature. Enjoy!
Chapter 1, “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)” (1-6): This could be considered a mantra for the year, since we will be observing how Joseph Campbell’s hero’s quest motif does serve as an underlying base for much of what we will be reading this year. Huck and Kindred are no exception. Check out the hero’s quest information at the bottom of this page.
Chapter 10, “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” (74-81): Weather plays a significant role in Huck and Kindred.
Chapter 11, “…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence” (87-96): Violence plays a part in both Kindred and Huck. The metaphoric aspects as well as the thematic significance of the violent acts bear a second look.
Chapter 12, “Is That a Symbol?” (103-105): Heh, heh. As you know, we English teachers love finding symbols in the novels we teach. Huck and Kindred are chock full of symbolism; this chapter in Lit Professor is a humorous look at how to find and deal with symbolism. Pages 103-105 even deal specifically with Huck. Once you read the opening few pages of Kindred, you’ll know that symbolism is not only fully present, but also compelling in its presentation by Butler.
Chapter 18, “If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism” (153-162): You’ll find Huck mentioned specifically. The Mississippi is certainly more than geography (next chapter); the water also plays a role as a character. Water is also significant from the beginning in Kindred.
Chapter 19, “Geography Matters” (163-174): Setting is like the sixth man for basketball; in Huck the setting is like an additional character with the significance that Twain places on it. Specifically pages 164-166 deal with Huck, but gaining insights into the importance of setting from the rest of the chapter is quite helpful for both Huck and Kindred.
Chapter 22, “He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know” (201-206): This chapter has specific significance for Kindred, but overarches to both novels.
Index: Isn’t it nice when authors provide an index for us? Side Note: Remember that even though we refer to our book as Huck, the real title begins with The Adventures of… so references to Huck are listed in the “a” section of the index.
Appendix Reading List: Mr. Foster provides us with a very nice book list in his Appendix. For great suggestions on other books you could read this summer for fun – and I assume that many of you do love to read as much as Mrs. Donovan and I do – check this list out for ideas and comments to give you information on which books would interest you. Also, I would suggest Their Eyes Were Watching God as a great supplemental book to read.
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Syllabus
AP English Language and Composition Course Description and Expectations:
AP English Language and Composition utilizes American literature in a chronological and thematic approach, but nonfiction text is the main vehicle for the study of language and rhetoric. The course provides an opportunity for advanced high school students to pursue and receive credit for college-level course work completed at the high school level. Accordingly, the rigors of the course are intended to be commensurate with introductory college-level rhetorical and composition courses.
Students are being trained to be excellent critical thinkers, readers, analysts of language, effective writers, and creative, cogent producers of argument. Students focus on the writing skills needed to be successful in the course and on the AP Language exam in May, as well as in their later college work. Students write effectively for a range of audiences and a variety of purposes, demonstrate mastery of the conventions of standard written language, and use the steps of the writing process as needed.
Basic Course Outline
Unit 1: Summer Reading plus Introduction to Rhetoric and AP Language – rhetorical analysis, close reading and on-demand writing. Begin year-long vocabulary and independent reading programs.
Unit 2: Everything’s An Argument – Revolutionary Era & the Literature of Persuasion
Unit 3: Documented Argument, Synthesis & Research
Unit 4: American Romanticism – Selected readings from Bryant, Poe, Melville, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, and others
Unit 5: Methods of Development – Modes of Writing – narration, description, process analysis, comparison and contrast, division and classification, definition, cause-effect, and argument
Unit 6: The Rise of Realism – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Unit 7: Modernism – Twentieth Century Fulfillment and Disillusionment – The Great Gatsby
Unit 8: Contemporary Times – Kite Runner
In addition to the above, the course includes three important strands:
1. Vocabulary Study: Done weekly, throughout the school year, this strand includes word acquisition appropriate for the SAT and other standardized testing, and the technical vocabulary of literary and rhetorical analysis for the AP Language test.
2. Independent Reading: Students read from six chronological eras in American literature. The titles are selected for their historical and literary significance. In addition to the six required selections, students have a free choice selection each semester, where they may read a book of their choice, written by an American author.
3. Junior Portfolio: Threaded through the second semester, assignments pertaining to the junior portfolio assignment give the students the opportunity to research colleges and careers, through both secondary and primary source research. Students will also write college application essays and create résumés as well as write a personal quest paper.
In keeping with the College Board’s recommendations, students in this class:
1. Engage in informal and formal writing with an emphasis on in-class, timed writing.
2. Keep a journal as a method of processing reading and generating ideas for writing.
3. Write collaboratively using the writing process.
4. Read pieces from many subject areas and time periods.
5. Develop a more mature prose style; one marked by:
a. Clarity and precision
b. Academically-mature vocabulary
c. Varied sentence structures
d. Organization and coherence based on repetition, transitions, and emphasis
e. Balance between generalizations and specifics
f. Control of tone and voice
6. Read not only broadly but also deeply.
7. Read non-fiction as the heart of the course, but also read key pieces of American literature in a range of genres.
8. Master terms and strategies to call on when analyzing or responding to texts.
9. Practice recognizing and using large-scale organizing strategies such as comparison/contrast as well as sentence-level techniques such as figurative language.
10. Practice recognizing and using rhetorical modes of development (essay types) such as narration, description, definition, comparison/contrast, cause-effect, argument, and persuasion.
11. Practice multiple-choice questions about the rhetoric of passages.
12. Practice essay prompts calling for:
a. Textual analysis of a passage
b. A position that supports, qualifies, or disputes an author’s point in a passage
c. Evaluation of an argument
d. Writing arguments that in clued concessions and effective evidence
e. Presenting multiple sides or positions of an issue and suggesting a compromise
f. Synthesis of multiple sources of research and data in support of a position
Side Notes:
Ÿ Timeliness: Students should make every effort to submit all work on time, even if they are ill or not on campus the day an assignment is due.
Ÿ Individual Help: The best time for students to get individual help is after school. In support of their academic achievement and success, students should be willing to rearrange their work, sports, and extra-curricular activities. I am usually available every day after school until 5:00. I am also often available during period A.
Ÿ Contact: The best way to contact me is via e-mail. I check this often.
* Thank you to Valerie Stevenson, AP by the Sea, for her training and her wording.
