Prerequisite:
AP English III ( AP Language and Composition) – preferred, English III (American Literature)
Course Focus
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. 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.
From: “English Literature and Composition Course Description” http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/descriptions/index.html
Students are expected to sit for the AP Literature and Composition exam.
Works for study 2019-2020
Pride and Prejudice
King Lear
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Brave New World
Student choice novel from list
A Thousand Splendid Suns
