Ap Worthy Literature

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Good literature is hard to come by now-a-days; however, this depends on who one asks. Everyone has varying standards on what constitutes fantastic novels: one may think vampire romance works are better than Dostoevsky or vice versa; but this changes when asked “Is this book AP worthy?” AP standards in the English department are, to put it simply, intimidating; ranging from Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Conrad, to Kafka these authors and their works are no easy read when having to meticulously comb through the text looking for significance and “So what and why does that matter?” But that is what makes these novels “AP worthy” the depth and questions their stories take on; their texts are able to answer why this matters. In reading Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour …show more content…
So how can one create a list of requirements to determine Advanced Placement literature keeping in mind the quality of some books are subjective. Barry Gilmore, an AP Literature teacher, asked the same question and created a list of what AP uses to pick literature for their courses. The list is made up of 10 aspects the book should have in order to pass AP standards; if the novel lacks for one of the points the novel is then questioned if it truly should be apart of the curriculum. From providing entertainment, showing depth, to having an impact on society (Gilmore p. 7). (editor: do I need a citation after this sentence since I paraphrased? I cannot remember, please …show more content…
An example of this is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; the text is quite easy to read and understand, the characters are mostly flat or straightforward to understand. What distinguishes this text to be AP though shines through Achebe’s simple wording: answer to colonization and how it affects man and society. Compared to Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Sloan’s relatively flat characters and elementary diction/syntax do not reveal a big life altering solution to human nature; the only aspect of the novel that makes it noteworthy is the plot, “Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is hip and amusing but make no mistake; this book is all about plot, not character . . . they aren’t nearly as memorable as some of the settings and scenes — and ideas — themselves . . . many of the characters suffer from a little cartoonish flatness, and sometimes seem mere levers to help move the plot along” (Singal). The novel, without a question, deals with incredible questions that we deal with every day: where do we fit in a constantly changing world, will we be left behind or are we with the curve, “Sloan balances a strong plot with philosophical questions about technology and books and the power both contain” (Gay). Sloan’s approach to these philosophical questions hide beneath the
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