AP English

Term: Year

Prerequisites: Completion of English III

Credit: 1

Fee: Cost of required AP Exam and paperbacks

Grade: 11, 12

An AP English Literature and Composition course engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of

imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways

writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students consider a work’s

structure, style and themes, as well as such smaller-scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery,

symbolism and tone. Reading in an AP course is both wide and deep. This reading necessarily builds upon and

complements the reading done in previous English courses so that by the time students complete their AP course, they

will have read works from several genres and periods — from the 16th to the 21st century. More importantly, they will

have gotten to know a few works well. In the course, they read deliberately and thoroughly, taking time to understand a

work’s complexity, to absorb its richness of meaning, and to analyze how that meaning is embodied in literary form. In

addition to considering a work’s literary artistry, students reflect on the social and historical values it reflects and

embodies. Careful attention to both textual detail and historical context provides a foundation for interpretation, whatever

critical perspectives are brought to bear on the literary works studied. Writing is an integral part of the AP English

Literature and Composition course and exam. Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis of literature and include

expository, analytical and argumentative essays. Because the AP course depends on the development of interpretive

skills as students learn to write and read with increasing complexity and sophistication, the AP English Literature and

Composition course is intended to be a full-year course.