AP English Literature and Composition, Semester 2

Students will engage in an intensive study of several texts written by authors who represent various cultures of the world. This study will include analytical readings of these texts based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the works structure, style, and themes as well as the social and historical values they reflect and embody. These interpretations will analyze how authors use imagery, symbolism, tone, diction, and syntax. Students will practice writing to understand by completing informal, exploratory writing activities that enable students to discover what they think in the process of writing about their reading. Students will practice writing to explain by completing expository, analytical essays that draw upon textual details to develop an extended explanation/interpretation of the meanings of a literary text. Students will practice writing to evaluate by completing analytical, argumentative essays that upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values. A focus of the semester will be on dramatic works.