Course Description:
This workshop is designed for those teaching AP English Literature & Composition for the first time and for those seeking refresher training.  We will examine methodology and content, share ideas, develop strategies, and review samples from the 2007 AP Exam. The purpose of the workshop is to further acquaint you with the AP program and its demands and to help you continue to grow and serve students better.

Course Syllabus:
The AP English Literature and Composition summer institute will focus on developing all of the following concerns and concepts:

This interactive institute presents materials and strategies for both beginning and experienced AP English teachers.  The beginners learn and practice the basics necessary for developing and implementing an AP English Literature course.   The experienced teachers refresh their programs and share their AP experiences with the beginners.

The Institute initially explores the philosophy, structure, and grading of the AP English Literature examination.  It details the myriad resources available from the College Board, including the Board’s emphasis and recommendations on expanding enrollment in AP classes and on English Vertical Teams.

The institute spends a substantial amount of time on the analytical processes that drive AP English Literature, focusing on these five elements or rhetorical devices/strategies: tone, irony, point of view, poetry analysis in all its variety, and “Syntaxwhatsthat.”  Other elements that receive emphasis are symbol/allegory, prose analysis, and figures of speech.  These elements “keep it simple” and provide a framework for teachers to develop a curriculum and for students to learn to analyze AP style. 

The institute also examines composition strategies appropriate for an AP English classroom.   The primary resources here are students’ essays from recent AP English examinations.

The institute also suggests options for course content, including: textbooks, classroom content, parallel content, summer reading, the place of the research paper in AP English, teaching vocabulary, creative writing, journal writing, and what to do after the AP exam.

Finally, the institute provides strategies for teaching and taking the multiple-choice section of the AP exam.  It draws correlations between the multiple-choice section and the critical reading section of the SAT.

Instructor: Bill Pell, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Bill Pell is a 37-year veteran teacher.  At Spartanburg (SC) High School from 1973-2006, he taught AP English Literature, chaired the Language Arts Department, and served as the school-wide curriculum specialist.  He has been active in many College Board programs: he served as the endorsed consultant in 2007 for the Auburn University APSI, the Reading, AP half-day and full-day workshops, English Vertical Teams, and Summer Institutes.  He also works with the Board’s online events program, presenting a full-day workshop for new AP teachers and workshops on A Raisin in the Sun and Othello.   For 15 years, he taught the South Carolina AP certification course in English Literature at the University of South Carolina Upstate.  He was also an Adjunct Instructor of English at USC Upstate for many years.  He currently teaches AP English Literature and senior English at Spartanburg Day School.