Book Review: The Norton Guide to AP Literature: Writing & Skills by Susan G. Barber and Melissa Alter Smith

I don’t teach AP, but I wanted to read this because some of my juniors choose to take AP, and I want to make sure I’m getting them ready. I also know that the authors are pretty amazing, and I figured reading this would be extremely helpful for the classes I’m currently teaching. I was more than correct. This text is primarily for students preparing to take the exam, so the explanations of how to analyze literary texts and the examples provided are extremely clear and will serve as good models for me as I teach literary analysis and writing about texts. Also valuable was the chapter on close reading skills because my students struggle when it comes to reading and analyzing fiction and poetry. My district focuses most of our close reading requirements on nonfiction texts, and fiction and poetry require different close reading skills. I’m looking forward to revamping my literary analysis lessons with this book by my side! This will help me help my students become stronger readers and writers!

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