Allison Danford
eSomethin Staff
Advanced Placement Language and Composition, more commonly known as AP Lang, is building a home at Perrysburg High school as an English course available to juniors. Sophomores going into their junior year can choose to take either English 311 or AP Lang.
The class combines reading and writing skills to analyze works of nonfiction literature. These works include speeches, memoirs, and news articles, among others. AP Lang is a friendly course for math-science based students and English-social studies based students alike.
Kate Reilly teaches AP Literature to seniors at PHS and also taught AP Lang at a previous school. She explained the differences between AP Lit and AP Lang.
“AP Lit itself is the appreciation of form and content. AP Lang is more about the structure of a text and the choices an author makes… It is hard, but it’s so rewarding because you end up developing skills that really are collegeant skills,” Reilly said.
Notable authors of writing that may be analyzed in AP Lang include Maya Angelou, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Stephen King, and many more.
Tim Kitson, who will teach AP Lang next year, shared answers to questions students might have about AP Lang.
“It looks great on a transcript; it’s on a 5.0 scale,” he said.
Kitson also emphasized the fears students may have going into a higher level class.
“I understand it’s an AP class and college credit, but we’re still teachers and we’ll help you to get to where you need to go… you don’t have to come in perfect.”
“I think for a lot of those students it will be their first AP class… I may be a team leader but we’ll all be a team,” Kitson said.
Sophie Gudgeon, a sophomore here at PHS, plans on taking AP Lang next year.
“I always love a good challenge. I’ve always taken honors English classes, so AP Lang would definitely be the next step for me,” Gudgeon said.
She also shared how she currently handles her class work, an inspirational choice for students taking AP Lang next year.
“I have a study hall, so that definitely helps me with my workload,” said Gudgeon. “To stay organized I have a planner that I keep all of my work in.”
2025-2026 class registration begins in early February. Registration advises students to have completed English 212 and/or have a teacher recommendation, but neither are required.
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