INCLUDES
Course framework
Instructional
section
Sample exam
questions
AP English
®
Language and
Composition
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION
Effective
Fall 2024
,This course and exam description, designed with extensive
feedback from teachers, features the following AP English
Language and Composition resources.
§ It details the required AP English Language and Composition course content clearly
and succinctly.
§ It offers optional pacing information and teaching resources that AP English
Language and Composition teachers can adapt or modify rather than having to
build from scratch.
§ It includes an exam information section with details about the structure of the
AP English Language and Composition Exam along with a collection of sample
AP questions.
§ It provides a variety of instructional approaches with a range of useful teaching
strategies that teachers may draw upon throughout the year.
Teachers can visit AP Classroom to access additional resources including
Personal Progress Checks for each unit and the progress dashboard,
which lets them easily see how students are performing and which areas
they need to focus on.
,AP English
®
Language and
Composition
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION
Effective
Fall 2024
AP COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTIONS ARE UPDATED PERIODICALLY
Please visit AP Central (apcentral.collegeboard.org) to determine whether
a more recent course and exam description is available.
, What AP® Stands For
Thousands of Advanced Placement teachers have contributed to the principles
articulated here. These principles are not new; they are, rather, a reminder of how AP
already works in classrooms nationwide. The following principles are designed to ensure
that teachers’ expertise is respected, required course content is understood, and that
students are academically challenged and free to make up their own minds.
1. AP stands for clarity and transparency. Teachers and students deserve clear
expectations. The Advanced Placement Program makes public its course
frameworks and sample assessments. Confusion about what is permitted in the
classroom disrupts teachers and students as they navigate demanding work.
2. AP is an unflinching encounter with evidence. AP courses enable students to develop
as independent thinkers and to draw their own conclusions. Evidence and the
scientific method are the starting place for conversations in AP courses.
3. AP opposes censorship. AP is animated by a deep respect for the intellectual
freedom of teachers and students alike. If a school bans required topics from their
AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and
its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities. For
example, the concepts of evolution are at the heart of college biology, and a course
that neglects such concepts does not pass muster as AP Biology.
4. AP opposes indoctrination. AP students are expected to analyze different
perspectives from their own, and no points on an AP Exam are awarded for
agreement with any specific viewpoint. AP students are not required to feel
certain ways about themselves or the course content. AP courses instead develop
students’ abilities to assess the credibility of sources, draw conclusions, and make
up their own minds.
As the AP English Literature course description states: “AP students are not
expected or asked to subscribe to any one specific set of cultural or political values,
but are expected to have the maturity to analyze perspectives different from their
own and to question the meaning, purpose, or effect of such content within the
literary work as a whole.”
5. AP courses foster an open-minded approach to the histories and cultures of
different peoples. The study of different nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and
ethnicities is essential within a variety of academic disciplines. AP courses ground
such studies in primary sources so that students can evaluate experiences and
evidence for themselves.
6. Every AP student who engages with evidence is listened to and respected.
Students are encouraged to evaluate arguments but not one another. AP
classrooms respect diversity in backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. The
perspectives and contributions of the full range of AP students are sought and
considered. Respectful debate of ideas is cultivated and protected; personal
attacks have no place in AP.
7. AP is a choice for parents and students. Parents and students freely choose to
enroll in AP courses. Course descriptions are available online for parents and
students to inform their choice. Parents do not define which college-level topics
are suitable within AP courses; AP course and exam materials are crafted by
committees of professors and other expert educators in each field. AP courses and
exams are then further validated by the American Council on Education and studies
that confirm the use of AP scores for college credits by thousands of colleges and
universities nationwide.
The AP Program encourages educators to review these principles with parents and
students so they know what to expect in an AP course. Advanced Placement is always
a choice, and it should be an informed one. AP teachers should be given the confidence
and clarity that once parents have enrolled their child in an AP course, they have agreed
to a classroom experience that embodies these principles.
© 2024 The Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks
of the College Board. All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit
College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Course framework
Instructional
section
Sample exam
questions
AP English
®
Language and
Composition
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION
Effective
Fall 2024
,This course and exam description, designed with extensive
feedback from teachers, features the following AP English
Language and Composition resources.
§ It details the required AP English Language and Composition course content clearly
and succinctly.
§ It offers optional pacing information and teaching resources that AP English
Language and Composition teachers can adapt or modify rather than having to
build from scratch.
§ It includes an exam information section with details about the structure of the
AP English Language and Composition Exam along with a collection of sample
AP questions.
§ It provides a variety of instructional approaches with a range of useful teaching
strategies that teachers may draw upon throughout the year.
Teachers can visit AP Classroom to access additional resources including
Personal Progress Checks for each unit and the progress dashboard,
which lets them easily see how students are performing and which areas
they need to focus on.
,AP English
®
Language and
Composition
COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION
Effective
Fall 2024
AP COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTIONS ARE UPDATED PERIODICALLY
Please visit AP Central (apcentral.collegeboard.org) to determine whether
a more recent course and exam description is available.
, What AP® Stands For
Thousands of Advanced Placement teachers have contributed to the principles
articulated here. These principles are not new; they are, rather, a reminder of how AP
already works in classrooms nationwide. The following principles are designed to ensure
that teachers’ expertise is respected, required course content is understood, and that
students are academically challenged and free to make up their own minds.
1. AP stands for clarity and transparency. Teachers and students deserve clear
expectations. The Advanced Placement Program makes public its course
frameworks and sample assessments. Confusion about what is permitted in the
classroom disrupts teachers and students as they navigate demanding work.
2. AP is an unflinching encounter with evidence. AP courses enable students to develop
as independent thinkers and to draw their own conclusions. Evidence and the
scientific method are the starting place for conversations in AP courses.
3. AP opposes censorship. AP is animated by a deep respect for the intellectual
freedom of teachers and students alike. If a school bans required topics from their
AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and
its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities. For
example, the concepts of evolution are at the heart of college biology, and a course
that neglects such concepts does not pass muster as AP Biology.
4. AP opposes indoctrination. AP students are expected to analyze different
perspectives from their own, and no points on an AP Exam are awarded for
agreement with any specific viewpoint. AP students are not required to feel
certain ways about themselves or the course content. AP courses instead develop
students’ abilities to assess the credibility of sources, draw conclusions, and make
up their own minds.
As the AP English Literature course description states: “AP students are not
expected or asked to subscribe to any one specific set of cultural or political values,
but are expected to have the maturity to analyze perspectives different from their
own and to question the meaning, purpose, or effect of such content within the
literary work as a whole.”
5. AP courses foster an open-minded approach to the histories and cultures of
different peoples. The study of different nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and
ethnicities is essential within a variety of academic disciplines. AP courses ground
such studies in primary sources so that students can evaluate experiences and
evidence for themselves.
6. Every AP student who engages with evidence is listened to and respected.
Students are encouraged to evaluate arguments but not one another. AP
classrooms respect diversity in backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. The
perspectives and contributions of the full range of AP students are sought and
considered. Respectful debate of ideas is cultivated and protected; personal
attacks have no place in AP.
7. AP is a choice for parents and students. Parents and students freely choose to
enroll in AP courses. Course descriptions are available online for parents and
students to inform their choice. Parents do not define which college-level topics
are suitable within AP courses; AP course and exam materials are crafted by
committees of professors and other expert educators in each field. AP courses and
exams are then further validated by the American Council on Education and studies
that confirm the use of AP scores for college credits by thousands of colleges and
universities nationwide.
The AP Program encourages educators to review these principles with parents and
students so they know what to expect in an AP course. Advanced Placement is always
a choice, and it should be an informed one. AP teachers should be given the confidence
and clarity that once parents have enrolled their child in an AP course, they have agreed
to a classroom experience that embodies these principles.
© 2024 The Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks
of the College Board. All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit
College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
