Program planning is one of the most dreaded times of the year. Trying to figure out what classes to take (whether it be for enjoyment or because it seems like a good idea for their degree) can cause a lot of stress for students, especially since they might not know what to expect. They have to factor in time they’ll have outside of school, how long the classes run, what other classes they might want to take and what that workload will look like. And, to make matters worse, they have to do it all during finals season (aka one of the other most dreaded times of the year).

The added stress isn’t great, but one of the ways to alleviate that stress is by talking to people that have taken/are taking the class they’re interested in. Whether it be by asking an older sibling, or a friend that has older siblings, or a friend that’s taken the class before, it can be a great way to get a good idea of whether they should take certain classes (especially AP classes, like AP Literature and Composition, which many juniors might be thinking about taking).

Unlike social studies or science, there aren’t many AP English classes for students to take. So, it may be tedious for students to decide whether taking a course like AP lit is the right choice for them, so before you make the decision, it may be a good idea to get an idea of what the course is like.

AP Literature and Composition is a three-marking period course taught by Mr. Vogelsinger. While AP Language and Composition focuses on developing students’ writing skills, AP Lit puts more emphasis on reading and interpreting different texts from different time periods. This course exposes students to literature of all kinds whether it be poems, or plays, or novels, or short stories in preparation for the AP exam in May (so if you don’t like reading, then this probably isn’t the course for you).

Taking this class is (obviously) beneficial to those that want to pursue a career in English. AP Lit helps expose future English majors to some of what they may encounter in college when pursuing English whether it be in terms of the texts they’ll read, the pieces they’ll write, or the way said pieces will be graded. Students get to venture through a multitude of eras (before common era, the regency era, the Victorian era, etc.) and learn about the culture of that time via the works they read and how that culture impacted the author. They’ll then have to look at the works they’ve read and analyze them, figuring out what the author did and why, and articulate their analysis of the works into writing pieces, whether it be in a paper about a character or a paper about the themes of the work.

This course will also help improve their writing skills, preparing them for college level writing and the way their writing will be assessed by helping them learn to be more concise with their words, and spot and eliminate any and all passive voice from their pieces, and get better at catching any pieces of their writing that just don’t seem to flow well.

However, AP Lit isn’t only beneficial for students that want to go into English. It also proves to be beneficial for students aspiring to go into STEM.

Anushka Saha—a current AP Lit student pursuing a career in science—says that AP Lit is beneficial for future STEM majors because “literature exercises analysis in the realm of communication” which is an essential skill for STEM students whether it be because they will have to communicate with people that don’t understand the same terminology that they will, or whether it be because they’ll have to communicate with fellow researchers.

Anushka also says that this class “exposes [students] to multiple human perspectives,” which can help future STEM majors—especially those pursuing medicine—better understand the people they interact with as well as understand how the people they work with interpret the challenges they will face in the workplace.

Thankfully, the workload for AP Lit isn’t incredibly overwhelming. There are, of course, some weeks where there’s quite a bit of homework (often times it will be readings that are due throughout the week, of either the same text or different ones). AP Lit students have weekly notes taken on a video for homework, as well as some other assignments sprinkled in, but Mr. Vogelsinger provides a weekly overview of the assignments both in Canvas and on his whiteboard, so homework and due dates are rarely ever a surprise thrust on students the day before. And when it comes to bigger projects, like an essay, the deadline usually falls a few weeks after the assignment is introduced, so there’s plenty of time to get the work done without doing it all in the span of a night. In fact, one of the most stressful things about this course is attempting to figure out how to fit several books into your backpack.

Of course, AP Lit isn’t going to be the right class for everyone. If students have a hard time managing course work, and extracurriculars, and their social life, it’s probably not a good idea to take a class that often has weeks where the work can be overwhelming. But for anyone that loves reading and writing and exploring the world around them through different eras, AP Literature and Composition may end up being one of the best classes to take in their senior year.