AP English Literature and Composition English | Grade 12 | Fulfills 12th Grade English Requirement | AP Course AP English Literature and Composition focuses on reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature — fiction, poetry, and drama — from various periods. Students engage in close reading and critical analysis to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism. Students are encouraged to share their reactions, interpretations, and insights in regular discussions and debates, and then compose clear, original writing that explores ideas gleaned from both reading and class discourse. By the end of the year, students will have acquired a sense of the scope and power of literature and will have developed mastery of the skills necessary to achieve success on the AP Literature Exam.
Visions of the Future: An Introduction to Dystopian Literature | English | Fulfills one- third 12th Grade English Requirement (Offered in Winter Term). Where does the dream of a perfect society end and the nightmare begin? In this course, students trace the arc of dystopian literature from its roots in early twentieth-century utopian writing through its explosive revival in contemporary fiction. Reading landmark works including Orwell’s 1984 , Huxley’s Brave New World , and Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange , students will examine how these imagined futures function as pointed critiques of the real world — and ask how well their warnings have held up. Through close reading, analytical writing, and discussion of the social, political, and ethical questions these texts raise, students will develop the critical tools to evaluate literature not just as story, but as argument. The Winter trimester culminates in a collaborative capstone project in which student teams research, plan, and draft their own fictional utopia or dystopia — putting their ideas about power, freedom, and human nature to the ultimate test.
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