GTAP Literature
2018-2019/Mrs. Fajardo
What is this course about?
In GTAP Literature and Composition, the course title spells it out for you: we read and we write. This course is designed to offer a college-level introduction to literary analysis. You can expect to read broadly and deeply, discuss and write about our readings, make meaningful connections within and beyond texts, and learn how literature helps us understand ourselves and the world around us.
Please see the titles below for summer reading. I strongly urge you to read them before school begins, as it will help you manage your reading and workload in the fall.
We begin our year with a deep study of The Road. I strongly encourage you to read this novel before school begins so your first few weeks won't be so overwhelming. As you read, consider how McCarthy presents issues of "goodness" and the struggle to find purpose in a seemingly purposeless existence. Look beyond the surface to see the moments of beauty. Ask yourself how McCarthy is revealing meaning through symbols and motifs. Annotate as you read, interacting with the text and marking meaningful sections and quotes.
This classic look at how literary readers use symbolic shortcuts is VERY helpful to new literary critics (like you!) Foster, a university professor, is very engaging and easy to understand. If you read this BEFORE you read The Road, you will notice many symbolic elements that you might otherwise miss.
This memoir is our Wylie High School common read for 2018-1019. In GTAP you will be expected to read it independently by the end of January. Understand that you will be quite busy this fall with school work and college applications, so you might consider reading it this summer. It explores the lives of two young men, both named Wes Moore, both growing up in similar circumstances at about the same time, but one ends up in prison, and the other became a Rhodes Scholar, a decorated veteran, and a respected business person.
Reading Suggestions?
If you want to broaden your reading foundation over the summer, try selecting titles from the AP Lit Open-Ended question list. Find the titles here!
Got Questions?
Email: susan.fajardo@apps.wylieisd.net
Twitter: @FajardoAPLit