AP Literature & Composition 2022-2023

The Same
by Sadie Berry

You were me:
a perfectly-mirrored reflection
hoping to break free. 

Your extravagant sorrows were heavy,
a translucent stream fell from eyes in a downward direction:
you were me.

That look on your face reflected a bully:
pointing out every possible imperfection,
hoping to break free.

You wanted to be anything but me.
But there was a connection:
you were me.

I would rather do anything but be
part of this world, I sit with disaffection:
hoping to break free.

Someday I know your tears will slow, maybe give a glimpse of glee;
for now there is no misconception.
You were me,
hoping to break free.

Tranquil Festivity
     by Leo Gelardi

Peaceful grand Pacific sea,
sparkling waves of green.
We calmly drift at early rise,
gazing: soft, serene.

The boat is wrapped in gentle steam,
swaying side to side.
There is no sun to be seen,
grey clouds; no divide.

Patiently jigging, cast and retrieve,
bait out; worries gone.
Then it bites, I hooked it sound,
that’s how we fish at dawn.

That grey fish just stared back at me,
with its white bulging eyes,
Gasping for breath, as it is now,
it begs to avoid demise.

I grab the club to beat the fish,
and brutally attack its head.
It stares at me with bleeding eyes,
joylessly: it is dead.

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Student Resources: AP Literature

Check every piece for THESE SKILLS before turning anything in for an edit.
Check ALL CITATIONS (quotes) with these formatting rules before turning anything in for an edit.

Click HERE for directions for email editing

Summer reading list for High School students

Access AP Literature class writing archives to see what our readings and assignments are for this year, and to read sample pieces written by previous English II students.

GRADING:

Participation = 30% (purely subjective, based on my perceptions of your initiative, interest, self-motivation, & tenacity)

Assignments (two parts of grade)

1st Semester EFFORT = 20%; CONTENT = 10%
2nd Semester EFFORT = 10%; CONTENT = 20%

Vocab/Multiple Choice tests= 15%
AP Portfolio essay grades= 15%
Exams = 10%<

"One of the ridiculous aspects of being a poet is the gulf between how seriously we take ourselves and how generally we are ignored by everybody else." — Billy Collins

Unfinished Pieces: Semester II
(updated 6/26/23)

Sadie

Assignments: 86%[E]/81%[C]
AP essays = 58%
Vocab/Mult. Choice practice = 55%
AP exams = 3

FINISHED!

Leo

Assignments: 83%E]/85%[C]
AP essays = 59%
Vocab/Mult. Choice practice = 54%
AP exams = 3

Memory essay: Beloved, Glass Menagerie, Dubliners, Slaughterhouse Five