So You’re Teaching AP English Next Year? Don’t Panic. Start Here.

Congratulations—or maybe condolences? You just found out you are teaching an Advanced Placement^® (AP) English class next year. Whether it’s AP Language and Composition or AP Literature and Composition, the news likely came with a mix of excitement, dread, and the overwhelming question: What do I...

Reflections from the 2023 AP Literature Reading

This summer, I had the privilege of scoring Question 2 at the AP Literature Reading. I had not been to the reading in a few years, taking off the summer of 2021 and serving on the standard setting panel in 2022. I was reenergized by seeing all of our collective efforts in motion. After my hiatus,...

AP Literature: Character Layers Analysis Activity

We are all constantly practicing the skill of character analysis. I remind my often insecure students of this fact before we dive into a difficult text. We are constantly asking ourselves questions like—Why did I just say that to my mom? What motivated my friend to get back with her jerk boyfriend?...

Author Q&A: Dr. Brandon Abdon

Author Q&A with Timm Freitas

Want to learn more about author and Garden of English creator Timm Freitas? Tune into our new Author Q&A series! Learn who inspired to become a teacher, play a game of "this or that" and find out what his REAL favorite subject is (spoiler alert: it's not English!)

Scholar Talks: Drs. Brandon Abdon and David Miller Discuss Frankenstein

Love literature? Our new Scholar Talks series is for you! Hosted by AP^® English coursebooks author Dr. Brandon Abdon, dive into important pieces of literature with experienced scholars. Brandon's first guest is Dr. David Miller, Professor of Composition & Rhetoric at Mississippi College. Join in as...

Prepping Your Students for the AP® English Exams

It’s a month before the AP exam and you’re freaking out- You're trying to think about what you need to review with your students, what you should ask them to do, how you can best support them. What do you do? How do you set them up for success? How can you encourage them to review what they have...

AP® English: Sophistication & Complexity Webinar

The sophistication point on the essay rubrics often meets with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Students want to know how to write it. Teachers want to know how to teach it. Readers want to know how to reward it. Consultants and trainers want to know how to advise it. 

“Where in the…?" — A Conversation on Literature & Setting

Everything happens somewhere.

Hester and Pearl live on the outskirts of town; George and Lennie start off in the wilderness but then live on a farm; Sethe has to live in Cincinnati with her flashbacks across the river in Kentucky; and while Garcin, Inez, and Estelle suffer in their single room in...