AP LITERATURE & COMPOSITION: UNDERSTANDINGS & SKILLS

CHARACTER

Characters in literature allow readers to study and explore a range of values, beliefs, assumptions,

biases, and cultural norms represented by those characters.

1.A Identify and describe what specific textual details reveal about a character, that character’s

perspective, and that character’s motives.

1.B Explain the function of a character changing or remaining unchanged.

1.C Explain the function of contrasting characters.

1.D Describe how textual details reveal nuances and complexities in characters’ relationships with one

another.

1.E Explain how a character’s own choices, actions, and speech reveal complexities in that character,

and explain the function of those complexities.

SETTING

Setting and the details associated with it not only depict a time and place, but also convey values

associated with that setting.

2.A Identify and describe specific textual details that convey or reveal a setting.

2.B Explain the function of setting in a narrative.

2.C Describe the relationship between a character and a setting.

STRUCTURE

The arrangement of the parts and sections of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the

sequence in which the text reveals information are all structural choices made by a writer that contribute

to the reader’s interpretation of a text.

3.A Identify and describe how plot orders events in a narrative.

3.B Explain the function of a particular sequence of events in a plot

3.C Explain the function of structure in a text.

3.D Explain the function of contrasts within a text.

3.E Explain the function of a significant event or related set of significant events in a plot.

3.F Explain the function of conflict in a text.

NARRATION

A narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers

experience and interpret a text.

4.A Identify and describe the narrator or speaker of a text.

4.B Identify and explain the function of point of view in a narrative.

4.C Identify and describe details, diction, or syntax in a text that reveal a narrator’s or speaker’s

perspective.

4.D Explain how a narrator’s reliability affects a narrative.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative and invite

readers to interpret a text.

Function of word choice, imagery, and symbols

5.A Distinguish between the literal and figurative meanings of words and phrases.

5.B Explain the function of specific words and phrases in a text.

5.C Identify and explain the function of a symbol.

5.D Identify and explain the function of an image or imagery.

Function of comparison

6.A Identify and explain the function of a simile.

6.B Identify and explain the function of a metaphor

6.C Identify and explain the function of personification

6.D Identify and explain the function of an allusion.

LITERARY ANALYSIS ARGUMENTATION

Readers establish and communicate their interpretations of literature through arguments supported by

textual evidence.

7.A Develop a paragraph that includes 1) a claim that requires defense with evidence from the text and

2) the evidence itself.

7.B Develop a thesis statement that conveys a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and

that may establish a line of reasoning.

7.C Develop commentary that establishes and explains relationships among textual evidence, the line of

reasoning, and the thesis.

7.D Select and use relevant and sufficient evidence to both develop and support a line of reasoning.

7.E Demonstrate control over the elements of composition to communicate clearly.