English - Advanced Placement

AP English Language and Composition course cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement. The course guides students in becoming curious, critical, and responsive readers of diverse texts and becoming flexible, reflective writers of texts addressed to diverse audiences for diverse purposes. The reading and writing students do in the course should deepen and expand their understanding of how written language functions rhetorically: to communicate writers' intentions and elicit readers' responses in particular situations. This course includes nonfiction readings to give students opportunities to identify, explain, and emulate an author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. Fiction and poetry may also be assigned to help students understand how various effects are achieved by writers' rhetorical choices. This course satisfies all the objectives for English 11. In May, the students take an exam to qualify for advanced standing in college and/or college credit.

In the AP English Literature and Composition course, students study literary works written in (or translated into) English. Careful reading and critical analysis of such works of fiction, drama, and poetry provide rich opportunities for students to develop an appreciation of how literature reflects and comments on a range of experiences, institutions, and social structures. Students will examine the choices literary writers make and the techniques they utilize. Students develop the skills of literary analysis and composition as they practice analyzing poetry and prose, while composing arguments about their interpretation of a literary work. This course satisfies all the objectives for English 12. In May, the students take an exam to qualify for advanced standing in college and/or college credit.

The Capstone curriculum is designed to further develop inquiry and research skills as applied to topics of global relevance. The program helps foster communication, collaboration, and creative skills to improve college and career readiness and success. This course satisfies all the objectives for English 10. Students participating in this program have required tasks that include a team project, an individual presentation, and a written exam. After completing English 10: AP Seminar, students are eligible to enroll in the subsequent AP Research course and may be eligible for the AP Capstone Diploma.

**Check with your counselor to see if this course is offered at your school.