English Literature and Composition

AP Annual Conference Submission

489 - More Than Fun: Creative Writing in the AP Literature Classroom

Lead Presenter(s)

• AF

  Anne Lutz Fernandez

  English Teacher
  Darien High School

Co-Presenter(s)

• Jv

  Jen von Wahlde

  English Teacher
  Darien High School

Creative writing is too often treated as an afterthought in the AP Literature classroom. Although it is enjoyable to teach and learn, AP teachers can be discouraged from devoting time to this genre of student writing by the demands of teaching the close reading, literary analysis, and analytical writing that form the heart of the course. In this session, teachers will share and practice a variety of creative writing activities and learn about various methods to engage students in creative writing, with an important focus on how building these skills translates to a deeper understanding of author purpose, craft, narrative and poetic structure, and style. A variety of assignments and rubrics will be shared, designed to develop and assess student learning and easily adaptable to the texts teachers are already using.