<p>DS has taken 3 years of honors literature (intro, world lit, and British lit) in HS and taken one of the AP English exams. Next year he is planning on American Literature instead of AP English. It seems un-American to take world lit and British lit, and then not take a sequence of American literature. Besides, who gets to graduate without some Hemingway, or Hawthorne, or Baldwin, or Twain in there somewhere? (He may still be able to take the second AP English exam.)</p>
<p>He expressed his concern that it is the less serious students who take the regular courses, which would mean less interesting classroom discussions, projects, etc. He is accustomed to being in with the brainiacs.</p>
<p>In my high school our senior English class was AP English but the curriculum was American Literature, so we studied Hawthorne and others but with AP English level rigor and with an AP test at the end. Have you asked at all what texts the AP English class is going to be studying? They may be covering major American literature staples, especially if the school does world lit and british lit in the previous years (that’s a pretty standard sequence: World, British, American). Just because it’s called AP English doesn’t mean they won’t read books by American authors. </p>
<p>I would definitely check on the curriculum before making up his mind. He’s probably right -the more serious students tend to be in the more rigorous courses, though it’s not a universal rule. If he wants to have a really rigorous experience he should take hte more rigourous course. He can always study American literature in greater depth in college.</p>
<p>I would go with the class that has the best teacher and the best students, regardless of subject matter. It pains me to say that, because I dislike the AP curriculum, and like all of the authors you name. But anyone can read them. Anyone can’t just walk into a class with a good teacher and good peers, if that’s available to you.</p>
<p>(NB: My mom taught American Lit at my high school, and I went abroad rather than take her class. So I graduated without having read Hawthorne, Baldwin, or Twain in school – and without having read Hawthorne at all. It didn’t cripple me much – and I was very much a lit person in my youth. A lit person who STILL hasn’t read more than a few pages of Hawthorne, ever.)</p>
<p>“He expressed his concern that it is the less serious students who take the regular courses, which would mean less interesting classroom discussions, projects, etc. He is accustomed to being in with the brainiacs.”</p>
<p>To me, this is a way more important consideration than what the readings are. I’d choose a course on the works of Kitty Kelley if it had more motivated students than the Shakespeare class.</p>
<p>Cross-posted with JHS – we’re on the same page.</p>
<p>I agree that the best teacher should win out. I ended up reading the entire Norton Anthology of American literature on a cross country road trip the year after I graduated from college, because I’d read so little American literature over the course of my education. The literature is not going away!</p>
<p>That said, neither of my kids opted to take AP English as seniors. The course is notorious for being more work than it needs to be, and full of the kind of high school type literature analysis they despised. My older son took “Folklore and Mythology” and my younger son took “Mysteries” which were offered as senior electives, but were not honors courses. My younger son in particular enjoyed being in a class with kids he’d barely seen since elementary school - nice kids just not scholars. There was another bright kid and good friend in the class with him - and they became the teacher’s pets a new experience for them. My kid had never read many mysteries and he got introduced to a bunch of classics (and also a bunch of classic movie and TV mysteries). He had a great time. Our AP Euro teacher is famous for teaching kids to write, so he felt he’d get the writing piece from him - which he did in spades. It’s the first year he’s ever enjoyed English - and both kids got into top ranked colleges without any AP English at all even though our school offers AP Lang to 11th graders, and AP Lit to 12th.</p>
<p>JHS, you should at least read The Marble Faun, which I thought was great fun.</p>
<p>Take AP, will not need to take English at college if he gets “5” on exam.</p>
<p>That would depend on the school, & the dept. What sort of college would not require a student to take an english class in college for a diploma?</p>
<p>Regardless of ability of scores on an exam- a high school class does not replace college level learning.
While D1s college didn’t have " freshman " english per se, they do require " Hum 110" of every freshman which demands a great deal of reading and writing across the curriculum & gives the student body a common ground.</p>
<p>Schools can use an AP score to place out of an entry level course- but to use a test score to get out of taking the subject altogether seems short sighted.</p>
<p>I agree with taking the best instructor at his school- for the curriculum- whatever the title of course.</p>
<p>D2 took senior yr AP Lit-Western ( American was 11th gd AP)- but it easily could have been reversed- ( She read more Dickens and Hardy in school. & mostly by choice than I have to date, quite an accomplishment IMO, especially considering her dyslexia)</p>
<p>A friend and I decided to take Brit Lit senior year instead of AP Lit, which most of our friends were taking, and we both decided it was perhaps an error on our parts. </p>
<p>To put our situation in context, seniors had the choice of, in ascending order of difficulty, Expository Writing, World Lit, Brit Lit, and AP Lit. We, and especially my friend (who is currently an English major), both had an interest in British Literature and it looked like the course covered many important works (Canterbury Tales, Hamlet, Romantic poetry, Jane Eyre etc.) and demanded a certain level of effort. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the pace and level of discussion in the class were not what we were used to coming from AP Language, and though we had different teachers, we were both bored/frustrated for the majority of the course. Neither of us had required at-home readings for the first month (and 2 months in her case!), which I’m sure many students enjoyed. Nevertheless, we both felt reading aloud and inadequate/lackluster discussion periods were wastes of our time. </p>
<p>On the other hand, AP Lit was taught by an experienced teacher with a PhD in English, and we felt that our friends were getting a lot more out of their classroom experiences than we were, even if they did have considerably more work than we did.</p>
<p>Ultimately, looking back, my friend and I would definitely have chosen AP Lit if given a second chance, credit or no credit. As always, YMMV.</p>
<p>I actually think everyone should take AP Language before graduating. In my opinion, all students need to learn how to write and punctuate correctly, and this is a class where they will learn that and more. Yes, it can be a lot of work but it’s worth it. Everything learned in that class will be used later in life. It doesn’t matter what one does after college. Everyone needs to learn how to best convey their thoughts via the written word. As for literature, that is something that can be done outside of class. That’s the beauty of literature. You don’t need instruction to appreciate it.</p>
<p>Your son is the one who has to do all the work. Let him take which classes he wants to take. If you have any concerns about his schedule, e-mail his guidance counselor to seek advice about course schedule.</p>
<p>As far as AP credit goes it’s very common for colleges to just give credit for one of the English exams - Lit or Lang. Sounds like he’s already taken the Lang exam? And scored well? That takes the AP credit part out of the decision.
My son opted to take regular Grade 12 English instead of AP Lit after taking AP Lang as a junior - he didn’t want the reading load his senior year. It did lighten his load but the class was sort of a blow-off one for him - easy A without much effort. He did seem to actually enjoy the class more than he ever did with an of his APs. I did hear many comments about the lack of writing skills of many of his classmates but he attended an International school where many kids speak other languages at home.</p>
<p>emerald,
“That would depend on the school, & the dept. What sort of college would not require a student to take an english class in college for a diploma?”</p>
<p>-My D. had to take one semester on Honors English at college because, she had “4” on AP exam, not “5”. She said it was time consuming (had to read lots of literature that she did not care much about) and waste of her time, complete joke, but very easy “A”. She was happy not to take any more college English. She is very fast and strong writer, always has been naturally, starting with elementary school. Surprisingly so, since she does not read and never liked to read literature. Does not care about discussing books either. She likes music and devotes a lot of her time to this interest outside of her major, having Minor in Music, learning new instrument, recording her music in studio…
It probably depends on major. Pre-meds do not require to have more than 2 semesters to apply to Med. School.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have him take an American Lit class just because he hasn’t taken one yet. Does he want the rigor of having the AP class on his transcript? Which AP English test did he take? It’s too early to know how he scored if he took it this year.</p>
<p>He could always take the other AP English test, even if he didn’t take the class. My HS didn’t offer any AP classes, yet I took the AP Lit test and tested out of the only English class required by my college - English Composition for engineers.</p>
<p>I would say if he wants the easier class, take it. If he wants to be with the more serious students, take AP.</p>
<p>^There are reguirements attached to any major or future goals entering Grad. School. Kids are not free to take whatever they desire. If they are OK completing requirements and still have time, then they can choose classes of their personal interests.</p>
<p>It sort of turns my stomach that “AP English Language” even exists. What college course is that supposed to correspond to? The college courses that are effectively remedial high school? No one should be getting college credit for knowing how to use punctuation correctly.</p>
<p>AP English in HS has been tremendous help for my D, while college English has been just an easy “A”. AP English was one of two hardest classes in HS. D. constantly was re-writing her papers, the most time consuming class with huge benefits for her future in all her college classes, application essays, getting grants for Research Lab… numerous occasions. She has always been very strong writer and the only junior in her HS class to receive writing award. I would say that AP English was the most useful HS class of them all.</p>