AP English Literature
Avon Lake City Schools
Curriculum Framework
Advanced Placement Literature & Composition
Course Overview:
This course will provide students with the practice of in-depth reading and critical analysis of literature. This course is also an intensive writing course focusing on poetry, drama and fiction. Students will read a variety of genres and time periods concentrating on literary classics and works of literary merit. Students will gain a greater understanding of the importance of authors and their time period and also learn to appreciate the literary craftsmanship of the authors studied. Students will improve their skills in reading and analyzing written texts and improve their written and oral communication skills. AP students will participate with maturity and insight in discussion of a literary piece, period, or genre and will be required to complete numerous writing prompts.
Textbook (Title and Publishing Company):
Novel titles depend upon the teacher Below is a list of possible titles:
- Textbook: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Ninth Edition, Roberts, Edgar and Henry E. Jacobs (provided) and Essential Literary Terms, Hamilton, Sharon (provided)
- The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (fall)
- A dystopian book: several choices TBD (spring)
- Your choice(s) of literary fiction (once each semester)
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
- The Doll House, Henrik Ibsen
- A Doll’s House, Part 2, Lucas Hnath
- Beloved, Toni Morrison
- Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
- Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
- 1984, George Orwell
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee
- Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
Summer reading choices:
- The Passenger, No Country for Old Men, The Road, or All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Hamnet
orThe Marriage Portraitby Maggie O’Farrell
- Kindred or Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- Independent Reading Choices may also be assigned
Online/Supplemental Materials:
AP Classroom
Assessments:
- Timed Writing Prompts
- Comprehensive Novel Tests
- Midterm
- AP Literature and Composition test (May)
Content/Topics/Learning Goals
Subject to Pacing and Schedules
First Quarter
Short Stories, Poetry, Drama, Novel
- Various discussions, writings, and creative projects
Second Quarter
Drama, Short Stories, Poetry, Novel
- Various discussions, writings, and creative projects
Third Quarter
Drama, Poetry, Novel
- Various discussions, writings, and creative projects
Fourth Quarter
Short stories, Poetry, Independent Reading, Test Review and Preparation
- Various discussions, writings, and creative projects
AP English Literature and Composition Course and Exam Description. The College Board, 2020.
Updated: September, 2023