AP Literature

Course Description

According to the guidelines set forth by The College Board, Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition is a course that engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature.  Through reading and writing, students will glean deep meaning from multiple genres of world literature by making judgments about the use of figurative language, tone, imagery, symbolism, and other literary devices.

The AP Literature and Composition course is a challenging and stimulating experience that requires substantial effort, gives greater opportunity for individual accomplishment, and penetrates deeper into both the content of literature and the analysis of that content.  This course focuses on literature and writing.  The literature centers on drama, the novel, short fiction, and poetry.  The composition portion of the course will stress that the student demands of herself a mastery of the skills of synthesis and analysis; namely, ordering ideas into a logical pattern, developing them with pertinent and valid detail, and effectively communicating them to the reader with clarity, fluency, and tact.  Further, students will take the AP exam in May where they will be asked to demonstrate a complete understanding of the skills emphasized and outlined in the AP course and curriculum.  The overlying purpose of the course is to help develop the analytical and critical writer and reader for the collegiate classroom and beyond.