English with Mrs. Lamp

AP Lit teachers,

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of the most frequently referenced novels and plays for the AP Lit exam’s Q3 open essay? Here are FIVE reasons that very list can help you!

1. 🌟Time-tested selections: Use this list to make curriculum choices if you can. These works have consistently appeared on the exam, so we can be sure they have enduring value and relevance.
2. 🌟Strategic preparation: Study these high-impact texts to get an idea of the types of works (and subjects/themes) that come up again and again. Try to ensure your choices are similarly rigorous & cover similar common themes. Notice that the list encompasses classics and contemporary works, and it spans diverse periods, styles, and themes. This should give you a sense for the freedom and latitude you have in choosing texts for your own course.
3. 🌟Boost student confidence: Show them that your texts meet AP expectations and are frequent fliers on the Q3 exam. This helps ease their nerves & make them feel prepared.
4. 🌟Efficient planning: Streamline your syllabus by prioritizing proven selections.
5. 🌟Deep analysis opportunities: Teaching from this list of frequently cited works will ensure you’re offering rich material for in-depth literary exploration and critical thinking.

By incorporating these texts or choices like them, you can be sure you are creating a rigorous, purposeful learning environment that prepares students for AP Literature & Composition exam success while also fostering real appreciation for literature. Don’t just teach – teach the BEST!

Want my “How to teach the Q3 essay” mini packet?

Want a SUPER detailed course guide with my FULL curriculum plan (including activities and essays) for AP Lit?

Novels

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (80, 82, 85, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 99, 05, 06, 07, 08, 11, 13)

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (95, 96, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 13)

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (80, 91, 99, 03, 04, 06, 08, 09)

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (78, 89, 90, 94, 01, 04, 06, 07, 09)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (90, 99, 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 10, 11)

Billy Budd by Herman Melville (79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 99, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08)

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (82, 85, 87, 89, 94, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 11)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 05, 08, 09, 12, 13)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (79, 80, 88, 89, 92, 95, 96, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 10, 12, 13)

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (71, 76, 91, 94, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (76, 77, 78, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (78, 79, 80, 88, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 00, 05, 07, 08, 10, 13)

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (71, 76, 80, 85, 87, 95, 04, 09, 10)

Native Son by Richard Wright (79, 82, 85, 87, 95, 01, 04, 09, 11, 12)

Portrait of a Lady by Henry James ( 88, 92, 96, 03, 05, 07, 11)

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (76, 77, 80, 86, 88, 96, 99, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 11, 13)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (77, 86, 97, 01, 07, 08, 13)

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (85, 91, 95, 96, 04, 05, 12)

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (82, 91, 03, 06, 07, 12)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (71,77, 78, 79, 83, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97, 99, 01, 06, 07, 08, 10, 12)

Plays

Antigone by Sophocles (79, 80, 90, 94, 99, 03, 05, 09, 11)

The Crucible by Arthur Miller (71, 83, 86, 89, 04, 05, 09)

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (86, 88, 94, 03, 04, 05, 07, 12)

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (71, 90, 94, 97, 99, 02, 08, 09, 10, 12)

King Lear by William Shakespeare (77, 78, 82, 88, 89, 90, 96, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 10, 11, 12)

Othello by William Shakespeare (79, 85, 88, 92, 95, 03, 04, 07, 11)

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (87, 90, 94, 96, 99, 07, 09, 12)