AP English Literature and Composition

Course Duration: Full Year

Category: Advanced Placement, Electives, High School, Reading/Language Arts

Prerequisite: English I, English II

Assessment: Pre-Test, Lesson Practice, Unit Exams, Mid-Term Exam, Final Exam

Language: English

Course Overview

AP English Literature and Composition, taught by Acellus Instructor Jairus Tapp, is designed for students who have mastered the basic English curriculum and wish to be challenged by higher-level reading and analysis. It engages students in becoming skilled readers and writers of prose from a variety of rhetorical contexts. The course also includes AP Exam prep. Acellus AP English Literature and Composition has been audited and approved by College Board. Acellus AP English Literature and Composition is A-G Approved through the University of California.

This course was developed by the International Academy of Science. Learn More

Scope and Sequence

Unit 1Students begin this unit with an introduction to reading fiction responsively. They next discuss vocabulary, practicing syntax and diction. They explore plot through reading “Three Girls” by Joyce Carol Oates. They expand their vocabulary and read and analyze “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. They explore characterization, and then read and analyze “Saving Sourdi“ by May-Lee Chai. With further vocabulary development, students then read and analyze “A&P” by John Updike.Unit 2In this unit students explore setting. They work on vocabulary through reading “Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway. Next, they discuss and analyze “Christmas 1910” by Robert Butler. They revisit "A Rose for Emily," discussing setting and exploring point of view. Finally they review vocabulary and analyze “The Lady with the Pet Dog” by Anton Chekhov and “Roselily” by Alice Walker.Unit 3In this unit students explore symbolism, and read and discuss “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and “The Hand” by Colette. They explore literary theme as they revisit “A&P.” They explore style, tone, and irony, and study “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver. They discuss vocabulary and analyze “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. The read “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, and use it to learn how to put the elements of a story together.Unit 4In this unit students discuss strategies for answering questions about fiction on the AP Exam. They study prompt diagnosis and element selection. They explore how to write a fiction analysis, including the introduction, body paragraph, and conclusions. They explore chronological and topical organization, and read and analyze "The Street" by Ann Petry, "Kiss of the Fur Queen" by Tomson Highway, and "The Other Paris" by Mavis Gallant.Unit 5In this unit students learn to read poetry responsibly and study poetry terms they need to know. They learn the device for poetry analysis known as TP-CASTT, and explore word choice, word order, and tone. They read and practice TP-CASTT on “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “Mountain Graveyard” by Robert Morgan, and “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson.Unit 6Students begin this unit by reading and analyzing “To the Virgins” by Robert Herrick and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell. They read and analyze “London” by William Blake, “Root Cellar” by Theodore Roethke, “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” by Walt Whitman, and “To Autumn” by John Keats.Unit 7In this unit students start with an exploration of inferring literary devices such as figurative language, and then read and analyze “You Fit into Me” by Margaret Atwood, and “The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet. They discover symbolism, allegory, and irony, and read and analyze “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, “The Haunted Palace” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson. They learn to identify and interpret rhyme scheme and types of meter, revisiting “Richard Cory” and “Acquainted with the night” as examples.Unit 8In this unit students learn about poetic forms, and discuss and analyze the sonnets “The World is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth, and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Dark Night” by Dylan Thomas. They study the epigram “Theology” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the elegy, “Elegy for my Father” by Andrew Hudgins. They learn about the ode by revisiting “To Autumn" and by reading and analyzing ”Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by William Shakespeare, and “Traveling Through the Dark” by William Stafford. This unit is followed by the mid-term exam.Unit 9In this unit students discuss strategies for answering the poetry questions they will encounter on the AP Exam. They learn about prompt diagnosis and element selection, then move on to writing poetry analyses, including the introduction, the body paragraph, and the conclusion. They discuss chronological and topical organization of poetry, and learn to compare and contrast poetry organization. They review examples of comparing and contrasting poetry using the “block” and the “point-by-point” methods. They read and analyze "Century Quilt" and "An Echo Sonnet," and learn about comparing and contrasting reading in poetry analysis.Unit 10In this unit students study the drama “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. They begin with a thorough study of drama analysis and continue with an introduction to the three acts of the play. They systematically analyze the play, gaining an in-depth understanding of setting, plot, characters, symbols, and theme.Unit 11In this unit students study the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. They begin by reading and interpreting of the play’s five acts, and go on to analyze its plot, setting, characters, symbols, and theme.Unit 12In this unit students explore the novel “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner. They begin with a discussion of what to look for as they read three sections of the novel, and then analyze the elements of the book, including characters, symbols, setting, plot, and theme.Unit 13In this unit students continue their study of analyzing symbols , plot, setting, characters, and theme, while investigating the classic novel “Huck Finn,” by Mark Twain. They begin the unit with an in-depth review the book, discussed in six sections, after which they delve into the elements of the story.Unit 14In this unit students study how to answer an open response question, which they will be required to do on the AP Exam. They discuss how to diagnose the prompt they will receive, as well as selecting works, organizing their answer, and writing the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. In addition, they discus the order of writing an essay response.Unit 15In this unit students discuss the Multiple Choice section of the AP Exam. They review different types of questions and develop strategies for answering them well. Typical topics of questions include main idea, inference, rhetorical questions, diction, and language, as well as grammar, structure, and meter. Students also discuss general strategies for passing this section, as well as how to determine the best order in which to complete the various passages of the exam. This unit is followed by the final exam.