Students will learn how to become stronger critical thinkers and analytical writers, while also being prepared to take the USA-based AP Literature and Composition exam in May.

Here is a note that I have in my College Board-approved syllabus for AP Lit:

A NOTE ON SELECTED LITERATURE. PLEASE READ. THIS IS DIRECTLY FROM AP.

In an ongoing effort to recognize the widening cultural horizons of literary works written in English, the AP English Literature Development Committee will include diverse authors in the representative reading lists. Issues that might, from a specific cultural viewpoint, be considered controversial, including references to real-world cultural issues, ethnicities, nationalities, religions, races, dialects, gender or class, adult situations, are often represented artistically in works of literature. The Development Committee is committed to careful review of such potentially controversial material. Still, recognizing the universal value of literary art that probes difficult and harsh life experiences and so deepens understanding, the committee emphasizes that fair representation of issues and peoples may occasionally include controversial material.

Since AP students have chosen a program that directly involves them in college-level work, the AP English Literature and Composition Exam depends on a level of maturity consistent with the age of 12th-grade students (and beyond) who have engaged in thoughtful analysis of difficult literary texts. The best response to a controversial detail or idea in a literary work might well be a question about the larger meaning, purpose, or overall effect of the detail or idea in context. AP students should have the maturity, the skill, and the will to seek the larger meaning through thoughtful consideration of many different viewpoints. Such thoughtfulness is both fair and owed to the art and to the author.

You are never asked to adopt a specific viewpoint as your own, but only to consider the author’s viewpoint from a literary and historical perspective, and to consider the larger cultural reasons the author may have included such material in his/her work. Each selection was carefully made because it has appeared or is likely to appear on the AP Literature and Composition examination. Controversial selections have been included not to shock or offend the reader, but because such works have traditionally been viewed as having substantial literary merit.

Homework Offered
Students will be expected to read each week and will typically have multiple choice practice at least once a week.

Since this is an introductory, freshman-level course, students can expect upwards of 30-50 pages of reading a week, especially with the longer works, although this will not always be the case.

Lastly, students will complete 4 majors essays/projects in this course, so students will have homework assignments related to completing said essays/projects.
2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
To help students see their progress and growth through the course, I will give point-based grades (see breakdown of grade above) Additionally, I will assign one major essay/project per unit.
Grades Offered

See the outline in the course description for a list of the texts we will read in this class.