AP English Literature and Composition
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Learn how to understand and evaluate works of fiction, poetry, and drama from various periods and cultures. You’ll read literary works and write essays to explain and support your analysis of them.
Read a text closely and draw conclusions from details
Identify the techniques used by an author and their effects
Develop an interpretation of a text
Present your interpretation and make an argument for it in writing
An introductory college-level literature course
None
Wed, May 3, 2023,
8 AM Local
This is the regularly scheduled date for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam.
The course content outlined below is organized into commonly taught units of study that provide one possible sequence for the course. Your teacher may choose to organize the course content differently based on local priorities and preferences.
You’ll learn critical reading skills to help you critically read, interpret, and analyze prose.
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You’ll continue your critical reading exploration in poetry and learn to analyze similar elements within a wide variety of poems.
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You’ll observe how the literary techniques you’ve explored in prior units unfold over the course of longer works and analyze how characters develop and interact over the course of a narrative.
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You’ll delve deeper into the roles of character and conflict in fiction and explore how a narrator’s perspective can color storytelling.
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You’ll study different forms of poetry and examine how structure and figurative language can create and impact meaning.
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You’ll analyze how various literary techniques play out and shift over the course of longer works, charting how characters change (or don’t) as they’re affected by developments in the plot.
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You’ll examine how works of fiction interact with and comment on the world around them and the society their authors live or lived in.
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You’ll develop your interpretation of poetry further by examining how contrasts, ambiguous language, and various other techniques can add layers of meaning to a poetic work.
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You’ll consider longer narratives in the context of the various techniques and interpretations you’ve learned in prior units and build a nuanced analysis of each complex work as a whole.
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AP English Literature and Composition Reading Study Skills
Advice to keep up with the reading workload in your AP class.
AP English Literature and Composition Writing Study Skills
Learn to craft your writing process.
AP English Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description
This is the core document for the course. It clearly lays out the course content and describes the exam and AP Program in general.
AP English Literature and Composition can lead to a wide range of careers and college majors