Note: You must complete this application and be accepted to the course before submitting payment. Please fill out the application here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeusnm9kfTkFzxwVfHHwxYKNrP9JffW22pO7dOeaRil8vajyw/viewform?usp=dialog

Course Description: This section of AP® English Literature is designed to be highly interactive and engaging. My goal is not only to prepare you to excel on the AP® exam, but to give you writing, research, and analytical skills that will serve you into your college years and beyond.  

We will deeply explore multiple genres including novels, drama, poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism. In studying these different genres, we will practice a wide range of analytical tools and how to apply them. Our analytical approach will operate on multiple levels, encompassing both the “bird’s eye view” (conducting historical, political, and social research) as well as a more granular approach, examining sentence structure, diction, symbolism, imagery, and so much more.

Above all, I will teach you how to make an argument in the field of English literature. We will learn how to stake out a position, formulate a strong thesis statement, and structure an essay around supporting that central claim with textual evidence.

In addition, we will practice cultivating a rich, dynamic, and diverse academic community, and I hope that you will leave this course with a greater understanding of what it means to be a member of such a community…what it means to be a scholar. To that end, this course will introduce you to major enduring debates in literary analysis, touching questions of authorial intent, aesthetics, objectivity, and tradition. In exploring these issues, we will engage with seminal works of literary criticism and prominent scholars, initiating you into the wider literary conversation, so that you can situate yourself in these discussions and participate confidently.  

Ultimately, I hope that this course, through creative assignments, a multi-media approach, and a community orientation, gives students a sense of the fun and joy that comes with digging for meaning in a literary text and then articulating that meaning through structured argumentation. An AP® Lit alum myself, the course shaped how I read, how I write, and how I see the world.

Course Structure: This course will be primarily asynchronous. Each day, students will receive lessons from me in the form of written lectures. Students will respond to these messages and to each other, to create a virtual (but vibrant!) class discussion. Students will have weekly writing assignments, often taking the form of structured essays in preparation for the AP® exam, but also encompassing a wide range of creative assignments including short stories, poetry, and journal entries in response to our readings. Students will also form “book clubs” in which they will choose AP®-level works to read and discuss with their classmates, in addition to the readings assigned in class.

Every two weeks students will have the optional opportunity to attend live discussions via Google Meet. I will poll students at the beginning of class to try to identify a time that works for most students. Sessions will also be recorded.

Tuition: $775 Early Bird / $800 After July 1

Application Deadline: Applications will be accepted through August 10th or until the class is full. 

Who should take part in this class: This course is designed for 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders who love to read and write. I will also consider 9^th graders if they can present excellent academic credentials and demonstrate a keen interest in the course. More generally, this course will be well suited to highly self-motivated booklovers, students who want to hone their writing, and creative high schoolers who love storytelling in all its forms.

Tech needs: Students must have internet and web access, as well as a functioning word processor (preferably Microsoft) and the ability to read Adobe PDFs. I also encourage students to have access to a printer and a digital scanner. Students will need a Gmail account to access the bi-weekly Google Meet. 

Length of course:  Monday, August 31, 2026 to Friday, May 7, 2027 

Course Texts:

• Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense (preferably the 9^th edition, but students should be able to make other editions work with my guidance).
• Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Additional readings, including poetry, short stories, and essays, will be provided by me via PDF.

Breaks: No assignments will be due on U.S. National Holidays. Students will also have one week off for fall break, three days off for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks over late December-New Years, and one week for spring break. 

About Instructor:

Beatrice Crist graduated from Grinnell College with a BA in English Literature. With extensive experience in writing, editing, arts leadership, and communication, Beatrice has previously worked as a staff writer and arts editor for The Scarlet and Black, a publishing assistant at Horse and Buggy Press, and a grant-writer and research assistant for Duke University’s Professor Torry Bend. In the theatre and the arts, she has acted in over a dozen live performances, taught workshops, trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the American Shakespeare Center, and exhibited artwork at the Tainan Art Museum in Taiwan. She was homeschooled from first grade until college, and she is a proud PA Homeschoolers alum. She looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for language with her students.