Session I: English Literature and Composition 

The institute examines the philosophy, structure, and grading of the AP exam and provides AP and pre-AP resources from the College Board. The institute explores strategies for teaching those elements important for AP success, including tone, irony, point of view, poetry analysis, syntax, symbols, prose analysis, and figures of speech, among others. It also explores composition strategies, provides suggestions for course content, and discusses ways to prepare students for the multiple-choice section of the AP exam.

Instructor: Bill Pell has taught English language arts for 46 years and currently teaches at Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg, SC. From 1973–2006, he taught AP English Literature, chaired the Language Arts Department, and served as the schoolwide curriculum specialist. He has been active in various College Board programs since the early 1980s, including the Reading, AP half-day and full-day workshops, English Vertical Teams, Pre-AP and AP summer institutes, and the national consultant and mentoring programs. He worked with the Board’s online events program, presenting a full-day workshop for new AP teachers and workshops on A Raisin in the Sun and Othello. Additionally, he taught the South Carolina AP certification course in English Literature at the University of South Carolina Upstate for many years.