AP Information Literature and Composition

An AP English course in Literature and Composition should engage students in the careful reading and
critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students should
deepen their understanding of the ways writers used language to provide both meaning and pleasure
for their readers. As they read, students should consider a wor!s structure, style, and themes as well as
such smaller"scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.
The course should include intensive study of representative words from various genres and
periods, concentration on wors of recogni#ed literary merit such as those by the authors listed on
pages $%"$$. The wors chosen should invite and gratify rereading, and not, lie ephemeral wors in
such popular genres as detective or romance fiction, yield all &or nearly all' of their pleasures of
thought and feeling the first time through. The AP English Committee agrees with (enry )avid
Thoreau that it is wisest to read the best boos first* the committee also believes that such reading
should be accompanied by thoughtful discussion and writing about those boos in the company of
one!s fellow students.
+eading in an AP course should be both wide and dep. This reading necessarily builds upon the
reading done in previous English courses. These courses should include the in"depth reading of texts
drawn from multiple genres, periods, and cultures. ,n the AP course, students should also read wors
from several genres and periods - from the sixteenth to the twentieth century - but, more importantly,
the should get to now a few wors well. They should read deliberately and thoughtfully, taing time
to understand a wor!s complexity, to absorb its richness of meaning, and to analy#e how that meaning
is embodied in literary form. ,n addition to considering a wor!s literary artistry, students should
consider the social and historical values it reflects and embodies. Careful attention to both textual
details and historical context should provide a foundation for interpretation, whatever critical
perspectives are brought to bear on the literary wors studied.
A generic method of the approach to such close reading involves the following elements. the
experiences of literature, the interpretation of literature, and the evaluation of literature. /y experience,
we mean the sub0ective dimension of reading and responding to literary wors, including precritical
impressions and emotional responses. /y interpretation, we mean the analysis of literary wors
through close reading to arrive at an understanding of their multiple meanings. /y evaluation, we mean
both an assessment of 1uality and artistic achievement of literary wors and a consideration of their
social and cultural values. All three of these aspects of reading are important for an AP course in
English Literature and Composition. 2oreover, each of the three aspects of reading corresponds to an
approach to writing about literary wors. 3riting to understand a literary wor may involve writing
response and reaction papers along with annotation, freewriting, and eeping some form of a reading
0ournal. 3riting to explain a literary wor involves maing and explaining 0udgments about its artistry
and exploring its underlying social and cultural values through analysis, interpretation, and argument.
,n short, students in an AP English Literature and Composition course should read actively. The
wors taught in the course should re1uire careful deliberative reading. And the approach to analy#ing
and interpreting them should involve students in learning how to mae careful observations of textual
detail, establish connections among their observations, and draw from those connections a series of
inferences leading to an interpretive conclusion about the wor!s meaning and value.
2ost of the wors studied in the course should have been written originally in English,
including wors by African, Australian, Canadian, ,ndian, and 3est ,ndian authors. 4ome wors in
translation may also be included &e.g. 5ree tragedies, +ussian or Latin American fiction'. The actual
choice of wors is the responsibility of the AP teacher, who should consider previous courses in the
school!s curriculum. ,n addition, the AP teacher should insure that by the end of the course, students
will have studied wors by both /ritish and American writers as well as wors written from the
sixteenth century to contemporary times. &4ee the Teachers Guide English Literature and
Composition for sample curricula'
Although neither linguistic nor literary history should be the principal focus in the AP course,
students should gain some awareness that the English language writers use has changed dramatically
through history and today it exists in many national and local varieties. They should also be aware of
literary tradition and the complex ways in which imaginative literature builds upon the ideas, wors,
and authors of earlier times.
3riting should be an integral part of the AP English Literature and Composition course, for the
AP Examination is weighted toward student writing about literature. 3riting assignments should focus
on the critical analysis of literature and should include expository, analytical, and argumentative
essays. Although critical analysis should mae up the bul of student writing for the course, well"
constructed creative writing assignments may help students see from the inside how literature is
written. 4uch experiences will sharpen their understanding of what writers have accomplished and
deepen their appreciation of literary artistry. The goal of both types of writing assignments is to
increase students! ability to explain clearly, cogently, even elegantly, what they understand about
literary wors and why they interpret them as they do.
To that end, writing instructions should include attention to developing and organi#ing ideas in
clear, coherent and persuasive language. ,t should include study of the elements of style. And it should
attend to matters of precision and correctness as necessary. Throughout the course, emphasis should be
placed on helping students develop stylistic maturity, which, for AP English, is characteri#ed by the
following.
A wide"ranging vocabulary used with denotative accuracy and connotative resourcefulness*
A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordinate and coordinate
constructions*
A logical organi#ation, enhanced by specific techni1ues of coherence such a repetition,
transitions, and emphasis*
A balance of generali#ation with specific illustrative detail* and
An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, maintaining a consistent voice, and
achieving emphasis through parallelism and antithesis.
The writing re1uired in AP English Literature and Composition course is thus more than a mere
ad0unct to the study of literature. The writing that students produce in the course reinforces their
reading. 4ince reading and writing stimulate and support one another, they should be taught
together in order to underscore both their common and their distinctive elements.
,t is important to distinguish among the different inds of writing produced in an AP English
Literature and Composition course. Any college"level course in which serious literature is read and
studied should include numerous opportunities for students to write and rewrite. 4ome of this
writing should be informal and exploratory, allowing students to discover what they thin in the
process of writing about their reading. 4ome of the course writing should involve research, perhaps
negotiating differing critical perspectives. 2uch writing should involve extended discourse in
which students can develop an argument of present and analysis at length. ,n addition, some
writing assignments should encourage students to write effectively under the time constraints they
encounter on essay examinations in college courses in many disciplines, including English.
The various AP English Free-Response Guides and the Students Guide to the AP English
Courses and Examinations provide sample student essay responses written under test conditions -
with an average time of $6 minutes for students to write an essay response. The sample student
essays in these publications were written in response to two different types of 1uestions. &7' an
analysis of a passage or poem in which students are re1uired to discuss how particular literary
elements of features contribute to meaning* and &8' an 9open: 1uestion in which students are ased
to select a literary wor and discuss its relevant features in relation to the 1uestion provided.
4tudents can be prepared for these essay 1uestions through exercises analy#ing short prose
passages and poems and through practicing with 9open: analytical 1uestions. 4uch exercises need
not always be timed* instead, they can form the basis for extended writing pro0ects.
/ecause the AP course depends on the development of interpretive sills 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. Teachers at schools that offer only a single
semester bloc for AP are encouraged to advise their AP English Literature and Composition
students to tae an addition semester of advanced English in which they continue to practice the
ind of writing and reading emphasi#ed in their AP class.
The following authors indicate the possible range and 1uality of reading in an AP English
Literature and Composition course.
Poetry
3.(. Auden, Eli#abeth /ishop, 3illiam /lae, Anne /radstreet, E.;. /rathwaite, 5wendolyn
/roos, +obert /rowning, Lord /yron, Lorna )ee Cervantes, 5eoffrey Chaucer, 4amuel Taylor
Coleridge, (.)., Emily )icinson, <ohn )onne, +ita )ove, T.4. Eliot, +obert =rost, <oy (ar0o,
4eamus (eaney, 5eorge (erbert, 5arrett (ongo, 5erard 2anley (opins, Langston (ughes, /en
<onson, <ohn ;eats, Philip Larin, +obert Lowell, Andrew 2arvell, <ohn 2ilton, 2arianne 2oore,
4ylvia Plath, Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander Pope, Adrienne +ich, 3illiam 4haeaspeare, Percy
/ysshe 4helley, Leslie 2armon 4ilo, Cathy 4ong, Alfred Lord Tennyson, )ere 3alcott, 3alt
3hitman, +ichard 3ilbur, 3illiam Carlos 3illiams, 3illiam 3ordsworth, 3illiam /utler >eats
Drama
Aeschylus, Edward Albee, Amiri /araa, 4amuel /ecett, Anton Chehov, 3illiam Congreve,
?liver 5oldsmith, Lorraine (ansberry, Lillian (ellman, )avid (enry (wang, (enri ,bsen, /en
<onson, Arthur 2iller, 2oliere, 4ean ?!Casey, Eugene ?!@eil, (arold Pinter, Luigi Pirandello,
3illiam 4haespeare, 5eorge /ernard 4haw, 4am 4hepard, +ichard /rinsley 4heridan, 4ophocles,
Tom 4toppard, Luis Aalde#, ?scar 3ilde, Tennessee 3illiams, August 3ilson
Fiction (Novel and Short Story)
Chinua Achebe, ;ingsley Amis, +udolfo Anaya, 2argret Atwood, <ane Austen, <ames /aldwin,
4aul /ellow, Charlotte and Emily /ronte, +aymond Carver, 3illa Cather, 4andra Cisneros, <ohn
Cheever, ;ate Chopin, Colette, <oseph Conrad, 4tephen Crane, Anita )esai, Charles )icens,
5eorge Eliot, +alph Ellison, Louise Erdrich, 3illiam =aulner, (enry =ielding, =. 4cott =it#gerald,
=ord 2adox =ord, E.2. =orster, Thomas (ardy, @athaniel (awthorne, Ernest (emingway, Bora
@eale (urston, ;a#uo ,shiguro, (enry <ames, <ames <oyce, 2axine (ong ;ingston, <oy ;ogawa,
2argaret Laurence, ). (. Lawrence, /ernard 2alamud, ;atherine 2ansfield, 5abriel 5arcia
2ar1ue#, /obbie Ann 2ason, Carson 2cCullers, (erman 2elville, Toni 2orrison, /harati
2uher0ee, Aladimir @aboov, =lannery ?!Connor, Cynthia ?#ic, ;atherine Anne Porter, <ean
+hys, <onathan 4wift, Leo Tolstoy, 2ar Twain, <ohn Cpdie, Luisa Aalen#uela, Alice 3aler,
Evelyn 3augh, Eudora 3elty, Edith 3harton, <ohn Edgar 3ideman, Airginia 3oolf, +ichard
3right
!pository Prose
<oseph Addison, 5loria An#aldua, 2atthew Arnold, <ames /aldwin, <ames /oswell, Thomas
Carlyle, <esus Colon, +alph 3aldo Emerson, 3illiam (a#litt, 4amuel <ohnson, Charles Lamb,
@orman 2ailer, 2ary 2cCarthy, (. L. 2encen, <ohn 4tuart 2ill, 5eorge ?rwell, +ichard 4teele,
Lewis Thomas, (enry )avid Thoreau, /arbara Tuchman, Airginia 3oolf
"he !amination
>early, the )evelopment Committee in English prepares a three"hour examination that gives
students the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the sills and abilities previously
described. The AP Examination in English Literature and Composition employs multiple"choice
1uestions that test the student!s critical reading of selected passages. /ut the examination also
re1uires writing as a direct measure of the student!s ability to read and interpret literature and to
use other forms of discourse effectively. Although the sills tested in the examination remain
essentially the same for year to year, each year!s examination is composed of new 1uestions. The
essay part of the examination is scored under standardi#ed procedures by college and AP English
teachers.
?rdinarily, the examination consists of D6 minutes for multiple"choice 1uestions followed by
786 minutes for essay 1uestions. &three $6 minute essays - 7 poem, 7 prose, 7 open 1uestions'.
Performance on the essay section of the examination counts for EE percent of the total grade*
performance on the multiple"choice section, $E percent. Examples of multiple"choice and essay
1uestions from previous examinations are presented below and are intended to represent the scope
and difficulty of the examination. ,n the 1uestions reproduced here, the authors of the passages and
poems on which the multiple"choice 1uestions are based on (enry =ielding, Eli#abeth /ishop,
Charlotte /ronte, 5erard 2anley (opins.