Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Literature and Culture (also known as AP Spanish Literature, AP Spanish Lit or AP SpLit) is a high school course and examination offered by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program.
This course is based on improving skills in written Spanish and critical reading of advanced Spanish and Latin American literature. [1] [2] It is typically taught as a Spanish V or VI course. The AP Spanish Literature course is designed to be comparable to a third-year college/university introductory Hispanic literature course. Students concentrate on developing proficiency in reading and writing in preparation for the AP Spanish Literature examination. In addition, this course emphasizes mastery of linguistic competencies at a very high level of proficiency.
The course has a required reading list that draws from a variety of sources, including such well-known authors and poets as Federico García Lorca, Miguel de Cervantes, Tirso de Molina, Gabriel García Márquez, Alfonsina Storni, Juan Rulfo, Isabel Allende, and Miguel de Unamuno, as well as a miscellany of lesser-known short stories, poems, and novels. A complete list of the readings is regulated annually by the College Board. The course is meant to be taught entirely in Spanish, though English translations of the stories are often common resources for students. [3]
Each AP Theme has several contexts. The theme of Societies in Contact has five contexts: Assimilation and Marginalization, Diversity, Socioeconomic Divisions, Imperialism, and Nationalism and Regionalism. Time and Space has six contexts: Carpe Diem and Memento Mori, The Individual in Their Environment, Nature and the Environment, The Relationship Between Time and Space, Linear Time and Circular Time, and Trajectory and Transformation. The Duality of Being has four contexts: Construction of Reality, Spirituality and Religion, Public and Private Image, and Introspection. The Construction of Gender has five contexts: Male Chauvinism (Machismo), Social Relations, Patriarchal System, Sexualization, and Tradition and Rupture. Interpersonal Relationships has six contexts: Friendship and Hostility, Love and Contempt, Communication or Lack of Communication, The Individual and the Community, Power Relations, and Family Relations. Finally, Literary Creation has four contexts: Intertextuality, Self-conscious Literature, The Creative Process, and Text and Its Contexts.
The exam is divided into two sections with several parts. Section I, consisting of 65 multiple-choice questions, is split into two parts. Part A (15 questions) is the listening component, which includes a twice-recited poem, a recording of an interview with an author, and a presentation concerning a topic that relates to the course. Part B (50 questions) is reading comprehension based on a wide variety of works, including a literary criticism and selections from works that are not on the required reading list. Eighty minutes are given for the entire section. [4]
Section II is free-response, containing two short-answer questions and two longer essays. The first question is based on an excerpt from a work on the required reading list, and students must name the author, identify the time period, and, most importantly, elaborate on the theme presented in the passage (15 minutes). The second question asks students to read an excerpt from a work on the required reading list and compare the theme presented to that of an accompanying piece of artwork (15 minutes). The third question tests students' ability to link a piece of literature on the required reading list to the greater genre or movement to which it belongs (35 minutes). Finally, the fourth question directs students to analyze the literary techniques in two excerpts, one of which is from a work on the required reading list, that are used to convey a shared theme (35 minutes). One hundred minutes are allotted for this section. [5] [6]
In all, the test is 180 minutes (3 hours) in duration.
The grade distributions since 2010 were:
| Score | 2010 [7] | 2011 [8] | 2012 [9] | 2013 [10] | 2014 [11] | 2015 [12] | 2016 [13] | 2017 [14] | 2018 [15] | 2019 [16] | 2020 [17] | 2021 [18] | 2022 [19] | 2023 [20] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 11.5% | 11.6% | 11.5% | 10.8% | 9.9% | 10% | 8.8% | 9.4% | 9.2% | 9.1% | 17.6% | 7.8% | 8.1% | 8% |
| 4 | 20.5% | 20.7% | 21.5% | 28.2% | 25.5% | 24.9% | 24.3% | 26.0% | 24.1% | 24.4% | 18.6% | 20.8% | 22.9% | 22% |
| 3 | 28.6% | 28.9% | 28.9% | 37.6% | 39.1% | 38.1% | 36.9% | 37.9% | 36.8% | 38.4% | 38.8% | 36.3% | 33.4% | 37% |
| 2 | 16.6% | 15.9% | 16.5% | 18.2% | 19.5% | 20.6% | 22.5% | 20.3% | 22.1% | 21.9% | 20.7% | 25.5% | 23.8% | 23% |
| 1 | 22.7% | 22.8% | 21.6% | 5.2% | 6.0% | 6.4% | 7.6% | 6.4% | 7.8% | 6.2% | 4.3% | 9.6% | 11.9% | 10% |
| % of Scores 3 or Higher | 60.6% | 61.2% | 61.9% | 76.6% | 74.5% | 73.0% | 70.0% | 73.3% | 70.1% | 71.9% | 75.1% | 64.9% | 64.2% | 67% |
| Mean | 2.81 | 2.82 | 2.85 | 3.21 | 3.14 | 3.12 | 3.05 | 3.12 | 3.05 | 3.08 | 3.25 | 2.92 | 2.91 | |
| Standard Deviation | 1.31 | 1.31 | 1.30 | 1.03 | 1.03 | 1.05 | 1.06 | 1.04 | 1.07 | 1.03 | 1.10 | 1.07 | 1.12 | |
| Number of Students | 17,136 | 18,103 | 17,919 | 18,785 | 20,118 | 21,755 | 24,061 | 25,834 | 29,345 | 27,451 | 24,137 | 21,796 | 23,009 | |
Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and earn college-level credit. AP Chemistry has the lowest test participation rate, with around half of AP Chemistry students taking the exam.
Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science A is an AP Computer Science course and examination offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn college credit for a college-level computer science course. AP Computer Science A is meant to be the equivalent of a first-semester course in computer science. The AP exam currently tests students on their knowledge of Java.
Advanced Placement (AP) European History, is a course and examination offered by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program. This course is for high school students who are interested in a first year university level course in European history. The course surveys European history from between 1300-1450 CE to the present, focusing on religious, social, economic, and political themes.
Advanced Placement (AP) Biology is an Advanced Placement biology course and exam offered by the College Board in the United States. For the 2012–2013 school year, the College Board unveiled a new curriculum with a greater focus on "scientific practices".
Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United States.
Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography is an Advanced Placement social studies course in human geography for high school, usually freshmen students in the US, culminating in an exam administered by the College Board.
Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics is a course offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program for high school students interested in college-level coursework in microeconomics and/or gaining advanced standing in college. The course begins with a study of fundamental economic concepts such as scarcity, opportunity costs, production possibilities, specialization, and comparative advantage. Major topics include the nature and functions of product markets; factor markets; and efficiency, equity, and the role of government. AP Microeconomics is often taken in conjunction with or after AP Macroeconomics.
Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language and Culture is a course and examination offered by the College Board in the United States education system as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics is a college-level high school statistics course offered in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program. This course is equivalent to a one semester, non-calculus-based introductory college statistics course and is normally offered to sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school.
Advanced Placement (AP) United States History is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
Advanced Placement (AP) World History: Modern is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program designed to help students develop a greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts as well as interactions between different human societies. The course advances this understanding through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills.
Advanced Placement (AP) Chinese Language and Culture is a course and exam offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United States. It requires proficiencies throughout the Intermediate range as described in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines. The course interweaves language and culture learning and is conducted mostly in Mandarin Chinese. The first AP Chinese courses were offered worldwide in the fall of 2006, followed by the exam in May of 2007.
Advanced Placement (AP) Comparative Government and Politics is an Advanced Placement comparative politics course and exam offered by the College Board. It was first administered in 1987.
Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science is a course and exam offered by the American College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school students interested in the environmental and natural sciences. AP Environmental Science was first offered in the 1997–1998 school year.
Advanced Placement (AP) Japanese Language and Culture is a course offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United States. It is intended to give students a thorough background in the Japanese language and Japanese social customs. The class was first given as a certified College Board program in the 2006–07 school year. Preparations for the corresponding test were made, but the complex computer and internet requirements were not fully sorted out by administration time, and the exam was not given in some areas.
Advanced Placement (AP) Physics C: Mechanics is an introductory physics course administered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program. It is intended to proxy a one-semester calculus-based university course in mechanics. The content of Physics C: Mechanics overlaps with that of AP Physics 1, but Physics 1 is algebra-based, while Physics C is calculus-based. Physics C: Mechanics may be combined with its electricity and magnetism counterpart to form a year-long course that prepares for both exams.
Advanced Placement (AP) German Language and Culture is a course and examination provided by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program. This course is designed to give high school students the opportunity to receive credit in a college-level German language course. It is generally taken in the fourth year of high school German study.
Advanced Placement (AP) Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is an introductory physics course administered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program. It is intended to proxy a second-semester calculus-based university course in electricity and magnetism. The content of Physics C: E&M overlaps with that of AP Physics 2, but Physics 2 is algebra-based and covers other topics outside of electromagnetism, while Physics C is calculus-based and only covers electromagnetism. Physics C: E&M may be combined with its mechanics counterpart to form a year-long course that prepares for both exams.
Advanced Placement (AP) Latin, formerly Advanced Placement (AP) Latin: Vergil, is an examination in Latin literature offered to American high school students by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. Prior to the 2012–2013 academic year, the course focused on poetry selections from the Aeneid, written by Augustan author Publius Vergilius Maro, also known as Vergil or Virgil. However, in the 2012–2013 year, the College Board changed the content of the course to include not only poetry, but also prose. The modified course consists of both selections from Vergil and selections from Commentaries on the Gallic War, written by prose author Gaius Julius Caesar. Also included in the new curriculum is an increased focus on sight reading. The student taking the exam will not necessarily have been exposed to the specific reading passage that appears on this portion of the exam. The College Board suggests that a curriculum include practice with sight reading. The exam is administered in May and is three hours long, consisting of a one-hour multiple-choice section and a two-hour free-response section.