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Chiz Web > AP English > Background Notes, Etc. > GeneralAPInfo > CourseOutline  

Some Course Background

Course Policies and Outline

AP English Literature and Composition is one of two kinds of AP English out there.  (The other AP exam in English is called AP English Language and Composition, writing/rhetoric with heavy emphasis in grammar and persuasive essays.)  Make no mistake:  you will receive plenty of training in both writing and literature analysis and you will earn ½ credit in Reading and ½ credit in Writing for the year.   

            The AP Exam (currently scheduled for early May) is not a requirement of the course though I will encourage you to take it.  Through a solid score on the AP Exam you may become eligible to earn college credit as well for AP English.  As you might suspect, then, we will spend a fair amount of time discussing the kinds of approaches that work for the exam.  (More info on the test later.)

            However, AP English is not about the exam primarily.  AP English is taught as closely to a university-level course as we can make it.  The expectations for the course are both higher and different from most courses you have taken in high school, both in quantity and quality of work.  If you have found easy success in English classes in the past, this may at last be your challenge!  Wow, will this ever be fun!

What can you expect the class to be doing, then?  Well, here is a quick list:

  •   Reading imaginative literature written between 1600 and the present.  This includes poetry (lots of it), drama, short fiction, some essay, and novels.  While AP stresses works written originally in English, there are exceptions (particularly in Hispanic and Russian writers).   I will be promoting several texts from different cultures in addition to some canonical works.  (Ooh, your first vocabulary word!)

  •  Analyzing literature for theme and style.  This means knowing what the author does which makes the work enduring, important. 

  • Writing short essays (some impromptu) and one research paper on the readings.   These will discuss themes, styles, and strategies of the authors, pushing you to explore many interpretative possibilities, arguments which provoke thought. 

  •  Revising writing.  We emphasize the re-seeing of writing as important to testing a writer’s limits.  Expect to revise some (but not all) of your work.

  • Discussion.  Class discussion is the best place to test ideas and demonstrate your understanding of text.  Part of your class grade will depend upon your contributions to class.

  • Vocabulary and Grammar.  Necessary, especially where it fits into your analyses and discussions of what authors do.   How can you describe a writer’s use of synecdoche if you don’t know what it means? 

  • Fiendish and Fun Assignments along the way. Internet projects, performance, teaching, group panels, and some special lessons I’ll keep to myself for now . . .