High School English Department
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
Overview:
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, an intensive college-level course taught to students in their senior year, prepares students to read and write analytically and to take the Advanced Placement examination in may. A satisfactory score (3, 4, or 5) on the AP examination may qualify a student for college credit and/or advanced standing in college. Without exception, all students who are enrolled in this course must take the AP examination.
Student Expectations:
As a college-level class, AP Literature and Composition clearly is not for every high school senior; it is for those students who are ready to participate and thrive in a college-level environment. The program exists for those students who enjoy and appreciate reading-and who do so independently; who write thoughtfully and articulately; and who strive to become discriminating, life-long analysts of literature. The Lake Braddock AP English Literature program expects its students to have the motivation and the discipline required to comprehend, analyze, and interpret college-level literature. Similarly, students must demonstrate advanced analytical writing skills.
The College Board, responsible for administering AP examinations, describes the potential AP English student in this way:
[T]hey read great literature and become discerning readers. When they write about their reading, they are able to pick out details of text and subtleties of authorship that have stimulated their intellect and rattled their sensibilities. Perhaps their understanding of literature transcends the usual expectations of high school students; perhaps they read and write at the level of college sophomores.
Perhaps most important, successful AP English students must be open to new ideas and interpretations of what they are reading, and be willing to share new insights and opinions with their classmates. At its core the class is a community of learners and, as such, must be discussion-oriented. Thus, active participation is essential to students' success in the course.
AP English students cannot be afraid of hard work. Students should expect to devote significant time to outside-class reading, writing, and other projects. In the first semester, it is not unusual to read 150-200 pages in a text, draft and revise a piece of original writing and read and discuss a work of drama aloud in class-all in one week. In the second semester, students should, in addition, expect an average of one or two timed writings per week in preparation for the AP examination.
As is characteristic of college courses, the AP English Literature course focuses seniors on in-depth attention to fewer assignments; therefore, the grades for individual assignments bear more weight in final averages. Knowing they will be assessed on a college grading system, students with heavy course loads (especially those with other AP courses) should realize the serious, long-term commitment they are making when they enroll in an AP English Literature and Composition class. Success in Lake Braddock's AP English Language and Composition course (offered at the 11th grade level) is usually, but not always, an indicator of a student's chances for success at the 12 AP level. Motivated and highly successful students coming out of non-AP 11 classes may also be successful at the AP level, but should carefully consider whether they possess the requisite background and motivation to take on this challenge as seniors.
Curriculum Design:
The curriculum of the AP English Literature and Composition course provides students with the opportunity to develop their skills in critical thinking and analytical writing. The course, as do all English classes at Lake Braddock, also offers students the unique challenges and academic experiences that can foster more thoughtful, tolerant, and compassionate responses from the students as they interact with literature and one another.
Literature
By design of the College Board, the literature studied at the AP 12 level will vary somewhat from teacher to teacher. Shakespeare, Donne, Hemingway, Achebe, Woolf, Heller, Kafka, Ellison, Dostoyevsky, Conrad, Ibsen, Austen, and Chopin are among the authors included in our AP reading lists-as are more contemporary writers whose work has been critically acclaimed. In response to the College Board's directives, the examination requires students to respond to works of "high literary merit" which challenge students to read, scrutinize, revisit, and analyze the works they read. Each AP teachers offers literaty works that enlighten, entertain, and evoke powerful emotional and intellectual responses from those students ready for the challenge of the course. Students at the AP level are expected to love reading and the depth of experience it provides.
Writing
Writing in the AP course is primarily designed to hone the analytical skills necessary to score high on the AP test's three essay questions. Although the course is broad enough to allow some time for students to write creatively (an undertaking that fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation for the writer's craft), the focus is on developing cogent, in-depth analyses, practicing strong organizational skills and using detailed, specific evidence drawn from the text to support general ideas. In addition to being able to write about a given author's style, students are encouraged to develop their own "mature" style. Students are expected to write with a precise vocabulary, use a variety of sentence structures, and employ rhetorical structures that bolster meaning without sacrificing individual voice. It is presumed that students enrolling in the AP course will be far beyond working out basic mechanical flaws in their writing so that the focus in writing instruction can be on the development of this mature style.
Summary:
For qualified, dedicated, and talented twelfth grade students, the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition course at Lake Braddock offers both a formidable challenge and, hopefully, an enriching, lively and rigorous educational environment. The standards and expectations are very high, as are the potential rewards. Students with individual questions about the program should contact Department Chair Sandra Baney, AP English Programs Coordinator Bill McCabe, or AP Literature teachers Kathy D'Elosua or Dirk Schulze for more information.