Shayd Fuller

In 2024, 72.4% of AP Literature students scored a three or higher on the exam.

AP English Literature and Composition, made famous by the one and only College Board in 1956 when the AP Program was rolled out to the public, featured fictional texts from the earliest eras of writing to capture students’ knowledge of imaginative literature and depiction of themes, characterization, and to find meaning in every single I, and, and the. 

Much like any other English class ever, students are expected to be able to connect their textual findings to another piece of literature, hence the year-long program of required reading. 

In preparation for the exam, it is key to resonate with mass-produced fiction that can be applied to almost every prompt ever. Lucky for me, I have had access to six novels with complex characters, developed plots, and relatable elements to cite to determine whether or not the sleepless nights keeping up with Paul D or Ruth May were worth it. 

6. The Great Gatsby

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby was anything but great. Maybe it is because we read this novel in smaller, in-class ‘book clubs’, or that I couldn’t connect with the text, or that I only chose to read this because all my friends did, I could not get through this book without looking forward to reading the SparkNotes after every chapter. I think the plot was insanely well developed and relatable… I mean, who doesn’t follow around and stalk their crush from years ago to the point where you move across the street from their cousin? The motifs were easy to follow, and the overarching theme of the “American Dream” was extremely prevalent. Because the narrative of the plot was so good, the characters felt underdeveloped and mysterious the entire time. I would’ve liked to see Fitzgerald spend more time describing the characters and building them up over time, as opposed to talking about eggs for 256 pages. 

My biggest takeaway from my short time reading this novel was to skip it and watch the movie. Who doesn’t love Leonardo DiCaprio?

5. Hamlet 

If you have ever read Shakespeare, you have probably felt the headache and heartache for your poetry career after every “thou”, “art”, and “aught” included in the text. I pitied myself so badly while reading this book because why after 409 years are we still reading the old English version of Shakespeare? Thankfully, we were given the old English PDF and the new English translation of the gibberish that made it much easier to understand once you got past the first two acts. This falls so low on my list, not because of its awfully written plot or its boring and melancholic pace, but instead, the difficulty of which it was to read. I think the play moved at breakneck speed and contained lots of interesting action and familiar feuds that would have intrigued Steve Harvey himself. When you condense the most important scenes in the play, there’s no reason it should have five acts and take two months to read. 

Albeit fascinating, I would only cite this book if the AP Lit exam prompted me to talk about an unhealthy family dynamic and a text where the main character is soaked in their own self-loathing.  

4. Frankenstein 

When it was first introduced that this was going to be our second required reading, I was so excited. It was just in time for Halloween, we had just finished our first “unit,” and I was ready for the change in pace that would make for a spooky but fun book. I had always heard great things about it, and there are so many Frankenstein movies out there, I thought for sure this was going to be peak literature. 

If Frankenstein were a family member, it would be the one at Thanksgiving dinner who opens the conversation with a story that is actually the story of another story that is the story of another story. If that didn’t make any sense, neither will the first couple of pages of Frankenstein. Despite its confusing nature, this is probably the book that I knew well enough to use on question three of the AP Literature test.

3. Their Eyes Were Watching God 

Any ranking between one and three gets blurry because at that point, they’re all my favorites. Their Eyes Were Watching God is no exception to this. Unlike any other novel we read, except The Great Gatsby, this novel was about finding love and following your dreams. When reading, I found myself forgetting it was a book and actually thinking I was sitting there, listening to Janie’s story. Much like Frankenstein, TEWWG is a frame narrative. Maybe it’s because I was already familiar with a similar structure and point of view, but the frame made a lot of sense to me. I was able to picture Janie sitting down with her friend from back home, beginning to tell her story. 

Contrary to the rest of the novels we read this year, this one made me shed tears. I know it is a fictional story, but it felt so real. Janie powered through uphill battles during times of slavery in the racially segregated South and abusive relationships in a time when that was the norm. The men in the book were envious of Janie’s husband’s power over her. 

Seeing Janie crave her youth and innocence after years and years of betrayal pulled my heartstrings and made the entire plot super applicable to me. I was able to feel how she was feeling and relate to her relationship woes, even if in the slightest way. 

Zora Neale Hurston connected and carried the same motifs throughout, weaving them into every single page. Seeing the parallels between Janie and the pear tree was my favorite part. This novel left a lasting impression on me and it is something I think everyone should read.

2. Beloved

Where do I even begin? 

This was my final book I read for our second round of book clubs, and I have never been happier to defeat peer pressure and read what I was actually interested in. 

I’ve always heard good things about Toni Morrison, from The Bluest Eye to Sula, but I didn’t know what to truly expect. Our teacher gave us a glaring warning that Beloved is emotional, heavy, and possibly very triggering. He also said that there’s a ghost baby. I was all in. 

The words of love and admiration I have for Beloved seem to leave my mouth the second I try to open it. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, and this novel left me speechless. 

Beginning the book, having no idea Morrison switched periods and perspectives without any line breaks, new chapters, or really any sign of such, it was confusing. I would take an hour and a half to read 30 pages, and by the end, I didn’t know what I had read. After having the opportunity to pause and break down the beginning with my book club peers, the pieces started coming together, and I began to understand.

This is where the whole entire reading experience changed for me. Beloved is the kind of literature I’d expect to read in an AP English class. Every single night I would come home with pages to read and look forward to it. 

Much like becoming obsessed with a TV show or movie, I started referencing Beloved in my everyday life. Only those who have read the book understood my niche jokes, but I made them nonetheless. 

I have never read anything like Beloved. It is unique and different from any other book on the market. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read about love or obsession or slavery, but what I can tell you is that this book is different. There’s so much foreshadowing and dynamic characterization that it was one of those reads that I didn’t feel like I was reading, but instead I was watching a movie in my mind.

The only negative critique I can give about Beloved is that it was so powerful and peculiar that I can’t tell you a single theme. In prompting me to do so, I want to say the theme is the whole entire plot of the book. I can’t boil it down to just mother-daughter relationships or the devastation brought by slavery.

Beloved is one of the most page-turning, thought-inflicting books I have ever read. I wish every single person on this planet would read it, so I could analyze it for the rest of my life with others.

1. The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible was the first book introduced in our AP Lit class this year, and it is safe to say it was a fan favorite.  

Although it is super long and took us about a month and a half to read, there was not a point where I wished I were reading something else. The thing I loved most about this book was how it took us through every single character. There was not a single first-person point of view, but instead the whole Price family’s perspective. I think this made it easier to understand the character’s development and fully resonate with the plot. 

There is enough textual substance in this book to make it decently helpful on the AP exam as well, which isn’t monumental but important if this is your favorite. 

Being able to understand the themes of cultural arrogance, guilt, greed was much easier when seeing it through five different pairs of eyes and how even the littlest daughter views the biggest problems.

Barbara Kingsolver did a prolific job balancing the complexity of the period and history of the Congo with the survival of the soul and human suffering. 

If you ever want to read any book with symbolism, The Poisonwood Bible should be at the top of your list. From their pet parrot to the B7 AP Lit infamous, green mamba, this book is nothing short of a good motif.