AP English Literature: Exam Format and Question Types
The AP Literature Exam is a three-hour exam that contains two sections. First is an hour-long,
55-question multiple choice section, and then a two hour, three question free-response
section. The exam tests your ability to analyze works and excerpts of literature and also
cogently communicate that analysis in essay form. Read on for a breakdown of the two
different sections and their question types.
Multiple Choice Section
The multiple-choice section, or Section I of the exam, is 60 minutes long and has 55
questions. You can expect to see 4-5 excerpts of prose and poetry. You will, in general, not be
given an author, date, or title for these works, although occasionally the title of a poem is given.
Unusual words are also sometimes defined for you.
The date ranges of works could fall from the 16th to the 21st century. Most works will be
originally written in English, although you may occasionally see a passage in translation.
There are, generally speaking, eight kinds of questions you can expect to see on the AP English
Literature and Composition test. I’ll break each of them down here and give you tips on how to
identify and approach them.
The 8 Multiple-Choice Question Types on the AP Literature Exam
Without further ado, here are the eight question types you can expect to see on the AP lit
exam. All questions are taken from the sample questions on the “AP Course and Exam
Description.”
Reading Comprehension
These are questions that test your ability to understand what the passage is saying on a pretty
basic level. They don’t require you to do a lot of interpretation—you just need to know what is
actually going on. You can identify these from words and phrases like “according to,”
“asserting,” “mentioned,” and so on. Basically, words that point to a fairly concrete register of
meaning. You can succeed on these questions by careful reading of the text. You may have to
go back and re-read parts to make sure you understand what the passage is saying.
Example:
Inference
These questions ask you to infer something—a character or narrator’s opinion, an author’s
intention, and so forth—based on what is said in the passage. It will be something that isn’t
stated directly or concretely, but that you can assume based on what is stated clearly in the
passage. You can identify these questions from words like “infer,” and “imply.”
The key to these questions is to not be tripped up by the fact that you are making an
inference—there will be a best answer, and it will be the choice that is best supported by what
is actually found in the passage. In many ways, inference questions are like second-level
reading comprehension questions—you need to know not just what a passage says, but what it
means.
Example:
Identifying and Interpreting Figurative Language
These are questions in which you have to either identify what word or phrase is figurative
language or provide the meaning of a figurative phrase. You can identify these as they will
either explicitly mention figurative language (or a figurative device like simile or metaphor) or
will include a figurative language phrase in the question itself. The meaning of figurative
language phrases can normally be determined by the phrase’s context in the passage—what is
said around it? What is the phrase referring to?
Example 1: Identifying
Example 2: Interpreting
Literary Technique
These questions involve identifying why an author does what they do: from using a particular
phrase to repeating certain words. Basically, what techniques is the author using to construct
the passage/poem and to what effect? You can identify these questions by words like “serves
chiefly to,” “effect,” “evoke,” and “in order to.” A good way to approach these questions is to
ask yourself, so what? Why did the author use these particular words or this particular
structure?
Example:
Character Analysis
These questions will ask you to describe something about a character. You can spot them
because they will refer directly to characters’ attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or relationships with
other characters. This is, in many ways, a special kind of inference question since you are
inferring the broader personality of the character based on the evidence in a passage. Also,
these crop up much more commonly for prose passages than poetry ones.
Example:
Overall Passage Questions
Some questions will ask you to identify or describe something about the passage/poem as a
whole: its purpose, tone, genre, etc. You can identify these by phrases like “in the passage,” and
“as a whole.” To answer these questions, you need to think about the excerpt with a bird’s-eye
view. What is the overall picture created by all the tiny details?
Example:
Structure
Some questions will ask you about specific structural elements of the passage—a shift in tone,
a digression, the specific form of a poem, etc. Often these questions will specify a part of the
passage/poem and ask you to identify what that part is accomplishing. Being able to identify
and understand the significance of any shifts—structural, tonal, in genre, etc—will be of key
importance for these questions.
Example:
Grammar/Nuts & Bolts
Very occasionally you will be asked a specific grammar question, such as what word an
adjective is modifying. I would also include in this category very specific questions like the
meter of a poem (i.e. iambic pentameter). These questions are less about the literary artistry
and more about the fairly dry technique involved in having a fluent command of the English
language.
Example:
That covers the 8 question types!
The AP Literature Free-Response Section
Section II of the exam is two hours long and involves three free-response essay questions—so
you'll have roughly 40 minutes per essay. Note, though, that no one will prompt you to move
from essay to essay, so you can theoretically divide up the time how you want (but be sure to
leave enough time for each essay). The first two essays are literary analysis essays of specific
passages, with one poem and one prose excerpt—and the final is an analysis of a given theme
in a work selected by you, the student.
Essays One and Two - Literary Passage Analysis
For the first two essays, you’ll be presented with an excerpt and directed to analyze the
excerptfor a given theme, device, or development. One of the passages will be poetry, and one
will be prose. You will be provided with the author of the work, the approximate date, and
some orienting information (i.e. the plot context of an excerpt from a novel).
Sample Questions (from 2011 Free Response Questions)
Poetry:
Prose:
Essay Three - Thematic Analysis
For the third and final essay, you’ll be asked to discuss a particular theme in a work that you
select. You will be provided with a list of notable works that address the given theme below the
prompt, but you can also choose to discuss any “work of literary merit.”
So you DO have the power to choose which work you wish to write an essay about, but the
key word here is “literary merit.” So no genre fiction! Stick to safe bets like authors in the list on
pages 10-11 of the Course and Exam Description. (I know, I know—lots of ‘genre’ fiction works
DO have literary merit, and Shakespeare actually began as low culture, and so on and so forth.
You may well find academic designations of “literary merit” elitist and problematic, but the
time to rage against the literary establishment is not your AP lit test.)
Here’s a sample question (from 2011):
As you can see, the list of works provided spans many different time periods and
countries: there are ancient Greek plays (Antigone), modern literary works (like Margaret
Atwood’s The Blind Assassin or Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible), Shakespeare plays
(The Merchant of Venice), 19th-century Russian lit (Crime and Punishment), and so on.
How Is the AP Literature Test Graded?
The multiple-choice section of the exam comprises 45% of your exam score. The three essays
comprise the other 55%. Each essay, then, is worth about 18%.
As on other AP exams, your raw score will be converted to a score from 1-5. You don’t have to
get every point possible to get a 5 by any means—but the AP English Literature test does have
one of the lowest 5 rates of all APs, with only 5.6% of students receiving 5s in 2018.
But how do you get raw scores at all?
Multiple-Choice Scoring
For the multiple-choice section, you receive a point for each question you answer
correctly.There is no guessing penalty, so you should answer every question—but guess only
after eliminating any answer that you know is wrong to up your chances of choosing the correct
one.
Free-Response Scoring
Scoring for multiple choice is pretty straightforward. However, essay scoring is a little more
complicated. Each of your essays will receive a score from 0-9 based on the College Board
rubric. You can actually find question-specific rubrics for all of the released free-response
questions for AP English lit (see “scoring guidelines”).
While all of the rubrics are broadly similar, there are some minor differences between each of
them. I’ll go over the rubrics now—both what they say and what they mean for you.
Poetry Passage Analysis Rubric
Score
What the College Board Says
What it Means
9-8
These essays persuasively address the assigned
task. These essays offer a range of interpretations;
they provide a convincing reading and analysis of
the poem. They demonstrate consistent and
effective control over the elements of
composition appropriate to the analysis of poetry.
Their textual references are apt and specific.
Though they may not be error-free, these essays
are perceptive in their analysis and demonstrate
writing that is clear and sophisticated, and in the
case of a 9 essay, especially persuasive.
Your argument is convincing and it addresses
all elements of the prompt. You interpret the
language of the poem in a variety of ways (i.e.
your analysis of the poem is thorough). Your
essay is particularly well-written and wellorganized. You appropriately reference
specific moments in the poem to support your
argument. A 9 essay is particularly
persuasive.
7-6
These essays reasonably address the assigned
task. They are less thorough or less precise in the
way they address the task, and their analysis is
less convincing. These essays demonstrate an
ability to express ideas clearly, making references
to the text, although they do not exhibit the same
level of effective writing as the 9-8 papers. Essays
scored a 7 present better-developed analysis and
more consistent command of the elements of
effective composition than do essays scored a 6.
You address all elements of the prompt, but
your analysis is not as complete or convincing
as a 9-8 essay. You do make specific
references to the poem and your writing is
clear and effective, but not necessarily
masterful.
5
These essays respond plausibly to the assigned
task, but they tend to be superficial in their
analysis. They often rely on paraphrase, which
may contain some analysis, implicit or explicit.
Their analysis may be vague, formulaic, or
minimally supported by references to the text.
There may be minor misinterpretations of the
poem. These essays demonstrate some control of
language, but they may be marred by surface
errors. These essays are not as well conceived,
organized, or developed as 7-6 essays.
You answer the prompt in a way that is not
implausible or unreasonable, but your analysis
of the poem is surface-level. You may
paraphrase the poem instead of making
specific references to its language. You may
not adequately support your analysis of the
poem, or you may misinterpret it slightly. Your
essay is not a total mess, but not necessarily
particularly well-organized or argued.
These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate
analysis of the poem. The analysis may be partial,
unconvincing, or irrelevant, or ignore part of the
assigned task. Evidence from the poem may be
You do not adequately address the prompt.
Your analysis of the poem is incomplete or
incorrect, or you do not reference any specific
language of the poem. Your essay is
4-3
slight or misconstrued, or the essays may rely on
paraphrase only. The essays often demonstrate a
lack of control over the conventions of
composition: inadequate development of ideas,
accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear,
inconsistent, or repetitive. Essays scored a 3 may
contain significant misreading, demonstrate inept
writing, or do both.
undeveloped, unclear, or poorly organized. A 3
essay either significantly misinterprets the
poem or is particularly poorly written.
These essays compound the weaknesses of the
papers in the 4–3 range. Although some attempt
has been made to respond to the prompt, the
student’s assertions are presented with little
clarity, organization, or support from the poem.
These essays may contain serious errors in
grammar and mechanics. They may offer a
complete misreading or be unacceptably brief.
Essays scored a 1 contain little coherent
discussion of the poem.
Only minimal attempt is made to respond to
the prompt. Essay is disorganized or not
supported by evidence from the poem. May
contain numerous grammar and mechanics
errors. May completely misinterpret the poem
or be too short. A 1 essay barely mentions the
poem.
0
These essays give a response that is completely off
topic or inadequate; there may be some mark or a
drawing or a brief reference to the task.
No real attempt is made to respond to the
prompt.
-
These essays are entirely blank
You didn’t write anything!
2-1
Prose Passage Analysis Rubric
Score
9-8
What the College Board Says
What it Means
These essays persuasively address the assigned
task. These essays make a strong case for the
student’s interpretation. They may consider a
variety of literary devices, and they engage the
text through apt and specific references.
Although these essays may not be error-free,
their perceptive analysis is apparent in writing
that is clear and effectively organized. Essays
scored a 9 reveal more sophisticated analysis
Your argument is convincing and addresses all
parts of the prompt. You discuss a number of
literary devices in your analysis and use specific
and appropriate excerpts from the text as
evidence in your argument. Your writing is
clear, focused, and well-organized. A 9 essay
has a particularly well-developed interpretation
of the text and is better-written than an 8.
and more effective control of language than do
essays scored an 8.
7-6
These essays reasonably address the task at
hand. The writers provide a sustained,
competent reading of the passage, with
attention to a variety of literary devices.
Although these essays may not be error-free and
are less perceptive or less convincing than 9–8
essays, they present ideas with clarity and
control and refer to the text for support. Essays
scored a 7 present better developed analysis and
more consistent command of the elements of
effective composition than do essays scored a
6.
You address all elements of the prompt. Your
interpretation is coherent and you reference
multiple literary devices in your analysis. You do
reference specific moments in the text for
support. Your essay is adequately organized and
focused. However, your argument may be less
convincing or insightful (i.e. more obvious) than
a 9-8 essay.
5
These essays respond to the assigned task with a
plausible reading of the passage but tend to be
superficial or thin. While containing some
analysis of the passage, implicit or explicit, the
way the assigned task is addressed may be slight,
and support from the passage may tend toward
summary or paraphrase. While these essays
demonstrate adequate control of language, they
may be marred by surface errors. These essays
are not as well conceived, organized, or
developed as 7–6 essays.
You address the prompt, but your argument
may be surface-level. You rely too much on
summary or paraphrase of the text in your
argument instead of using specific moments in
the text. Your essay does have some elements
of organization and focus but has some
distracting errors.
4-3
These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate
analysis of the passage. The analysis may be
partial, unconvincing, or irrelevant; the writers
may ignore part of the assigned task. These
essays may be characterized by an unfocused or
repetitive presentation of ideas, an absence of
textual support, or an accumulation of errors.
Essays scored a 3 may contain significant
misreading, demonstrate inept writing, or do
both.
You do not adequately address the prompt,
whether because your argument is partly
unrelated to the task at hand or simply ignores
elements of the prompt. Your essay is poorly
focused and/or repetitive and has little textual
support. A 3 essay significantly misinterprets
the passage and/or is very poorly written.
These essays compound the weaknesses of the
essays in the 4–3 score range. They may feature
persistent misreading of the passage or be
unacceptably brief. They may contain pervasive
Essay does not adequately address the assigned
task. It may be very short or repeatedly
misinterpret the passage. May be poorly
written enough that it is hard to understand.
2-1
errors that interfere with understanding.
Although some attempt has been made to
respond to the prompt, the student’s ideas are
presented with little clarity, organization, or
support from the passage. Essays scored a 1
contain little coherent discussion of the passage.
These essays may be unfocused, unclear, or
disorganized.
0
These essays give a response that is completely
off topic or inadequate; there may be some mark
or a drawing or a brief reference to the task.
No real attempt is made to respond to the
prompt.
-
These essays are entirely blank
You didn’t write anything!
Student Choice Rubric
Score
9-8
7-6
What the College Board Says
What it Means
These essays offer a well-focused and
persuasive analysis of the assigned theme and
how it relates to the work as a whole. Using
apt and specific textual support, these essays
address all parts of the prompt. Although
these essays may not be error-free, they make
a strong case for their interpretation and
discuss the literary work with significant
insight and understanding. Essays scored a 9
reveal more sophisticated analysis and more
effective control of language than do essays
scored 8.
Your essay convincingly addresses the task in a
way that is clear and focused. You reference many
specific moments in the text in support of your
argument. You build a strong case—with lots of
evidence—in support of your interpretation of the
text. Your argument shows a deep understanding
of the text. A 9 essay has more complex analysis
and is better-written than an 8.
These essays offer a reasonable analysis of the
work of the assigned theme and how it relates
to the work as a whole. These essays address
all parts of the prompt. While these essays
show insight and understanding, their analysis
is less thorough, less perceptive, and/or less
specific in supporting detail than that of the 9–
8 essays. Essays scored a 7 present better
developed analysis and more consistent
Your essay addresses the task adequately. Your
interpretation of the text is apt and shows that
you generally understood it, although your
analysis may be more conventional or include less
specific textual evidence than a 9-8 essay.
command of the elements of effective
composition than do essays scored a 6.
5
These essays respond to the assigned task with
a plausible reading, but they tend to be
superficial or thinly developed in analysis.
They often rely upon plot summary that
contains some analysis, implicit or explicit.
Although these essays display an attempt to
address the prompt, they may demonstrate a
rather simplistic understanding and support
from the text may be too general. While these
essays demonstrate adequate control of
language, they may be marred by surface
errors. These essays are not as well conceived,
organized, or developed as 7–6 essays.
Your essay addresses the prompt, but your
argument may be very basic and/or rely too much
on plot summary instead of true analysis of the
text. Your essay may reveal that you do not
thoroughly understand the text. Your essay may
have some grammar/linguistic errors. Your essay
is not especially well-organized or focused.
4-3
These lower-half essays fail to adequately
address the assigned task. The analysis may be
partial, unsupported, or irrelevant, and the
essays may reflect an incomplete or
oversimplified understanding of how a given
theme functions in the text, or they may rely
on plot summary alone. These essays may be
characterized by an unfocused or repetitive
presentation of ideas, an absence of textual
support, or an accumulation of errors; they
may lack control over the elements of collegelevel composition. Essays scored a 3 may
contain significant misreading and/or
demonstrate inept writing.
Your essay does not address the prompt. Your
analysis shows that you either do not understand
how to address the prompt, cannot build support
for your interpretation, or do not understand the
text. Your essay may be poorly organized, poorly
written and/or repetitive. A 3 essay significantly
misinterprets the chosen work and/or is very
poorly written.
2-1
Although these essays make some attempt to
respond to the prompt, they compound the
weaknesses of the papers in the 4–3 score
range. Often, they are unacceptably brief or
incoherent in presenting their ideas. They may
be poorly written on several counts and
contain distracting errors in grammar and
mechanics. Remarks may be presented with
little clarity, organization, or supporting
Your essay does not address the prompt. It may
be too short or make little sense. These essays
may be unfocused, poorly organized, completely
unsupported, and/or riddled with grammatical
errors
evidence. Essays scored a 1 contain little
coherent discussion of the text.
0
These essays give a response that is
completely off topic or inadequate; there may
be some mark or a drawing or a brief
reference to the task.
No real attempt is made to respond to the
prompt.
-
These essays are entirely blank
You didn’t write anything!
As you can see, the rubric for the poetry essay is focused more on poetic devices, and the rubric
for the prose essay is focused more on literary devices and techniques. Both of those essays are
very specifically focused on the analysis of the poem/prose excerpt. By contrast, the student
choice essay is focused on how your analysis fits into the work as a whole.
To get a high-scoring essay in the 9-8 range, you need to not only come up with an original and
intriguing argument that you thoroughly support with textual evidence, your essay needs to be
focused, organized, clear, and well-written. And all in 40 minutes per essay! If getting a high
score sounds like a tall order, that’s because it is. The mean scores on each of the essays last
year was around a 4 out of 9. That means, most essays were scored lower than a 5. So even
getting a 7 on these essays is an accomplishment.
Skill-Building for Success on the AP Literature Exam
There are several things you can do to hone your skills and best prepare for the AP Lit exam.
Read Some Books, Maybe More Than Once
One of the most important things you can do to prepare yourself for the AP Literature and
Composition exam is to read a lot, and read well. You’ll be reading a wide variety of notable
literary works in your AP English Literature course, but additional reading will help you further
develop your analytical reading skills. You might check out the College Board’s list of “notable
authors” on pages 10-11 of the “Course and Exam Description.”
In addition to reading broadly, you’ll want to become especially familiar with the details of 4-5
books with different themes so that you’ll be sure to be prepared to write a strong student
choice essay. You should know the plot, themes, characters, and structural details of these 4-5
books inside and out. See my AP English Literature Reading List for more guidance.
Read (and Interpret) Poetry
One thing students may not do very much on their own time, but that will help a lot with exam
prep, is to read poetry. Try to read poems from a lot of eras and authors to get familiar with
the language. When you think you have a grip on basic comprehension, move on to closereading (see below).
Hone Your Close Reading and Analysis Skills
Your AP class will likely focus heavily on close reading and analysis of prose and poetry, but
extra practice won’t hurt you. Close-reading is the ability to identify which techniques the
author is using and why they are using them. You’ll need to be able to do this both to gather
evidence for original arguments on the free-response questions and to answer analytical
multiple-choice questions.
Here are some helpful close-reading resources for prose:



The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s writing center has a guide to close-reading.
You can also check out this close-reading guide from the Harvard College Writing
Center.
The Purdue OWL has an article on steering clear of close-reading “pitfalls.”
And here are some for poetry:


The University of Wisconsin-Madison also has a poetry-reading guide.
There’s also an excellent guide to reading poetry at Poets.org, complete with two poetry
close-readings.
Learn Literary and Poetic Devices
You’ll want to be familiar with literary terms so that any questions that ask about them will
make sense to you. Again, you’ll probably learn most of these in class, but it doesn’t hurt to
brush up on them.
Here are some comprehensive lists of literary terms with definitions:


About.com Literary Glossary
Literary-Devices.Com list, which even has examples!
Practice Writing Essays
The majority of your grade on the AP English Lit exam comes from essays, so it’s critical that
you practice your timed essay-writing skills. You of course should use the College Board’s
released free-response questions to practice writing complete timed essays of each type, but
you can also practice quickly outlining thorough essays that are well-supported with textual
evidence.
#6: Manage your time on essays closely. One strategy is to start with the essay you think will
be the easiest to answer. This way you’ll be able to get through it while thinking about the
other essays.
Here are some things you can do to prepare for the exam:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Read books, and be particularly familiar with 4-5 works for the student-choice essays
Read poetry
Work on your close-reading and analysis skills
Learn literary devices
Practice writing essays
Take practice tests!
On test day, be sure to really look closely at all of the passages and closely interact with them
by marking the text in a way that makes sense to you. This will help on multiple-choice
questions and the free-response essays. Be sure also to outline your essays before you write
them!
Ancient Works
Title
Author
Genre
Date
Euripides
play
431 BC
Homer
epic poem
(no date)
Antigone
Sophocles
play
441 BC
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
play
429 BC
Medea
The Odyssey
1500-1799
Title
Author
Genre
Date
Miguel de Cervantes
novel
1605
Tom Jones
Henry Fielding
novel
1749
As You Like It
Shakespeare
play
1623
Julius Caesar
Shakespeare
play
1599
King Lear
Shakespeare
play
1606
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare
play
1605
The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare
play
1605
Othello
Shakespeare
play
1604
The Tempest
Shakespeare
play
1611
Voltaire
novel
1759
Author
Genre
Date
Jane Austen
novel
1815
Don Quixote
Candide
1800-1899
Title
Emma
Mansfield Park
Jane Austen
novel
1814
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
novel
1813
Charlotte Bronte
novel
1847
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
novel
1847
The Awakening
Kate Chopin
novel
1899
The Red Badge of Courage
Stephen Crane
novel
1895
Bleak House
Charles Dickens
novel
1853
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens
novel
1850
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
novel
1861
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
novel
1837
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
novel
1859
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
novel
1866
Gustave Flaubert
novel
1856
Jude the Obscure
Thomas Hardy
novel
1895
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Thomas Hardy
novel
1886
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy
novel
1891
Nathaniel Hawthorne
novel
1850
A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen
play
1879
The American
Henry James
novel
1877
The Portrait of a Lady
Henry James
novel
1881
Herman Melville
novel
1851
Mary Shelley
novel
1818
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
novel
1877
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
novel
1885
Jane Eyre
Crime and Punishment
Madame Bovary
The Scarlet Letter
Moby-Dick
Frankenstein
The Queen of AP Literature surveys her kingdom.
1900-1939
Title
Author
Genre
Date
Willa Cather
novel
1918
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov
play
1904
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
novel
1902
Theodore Dreiser
novel
1900
T.S. Eliot
play
1935
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner
novel
1936
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner
novel
1930
Light in August
William Faulkner
novel
1932
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner
novel
1929
F. Scott Fitzgerald
novel
1925
My Ántonia
Sister Carrie
Murder in the Cathedral
The Great Gatsby
A Passage to India
E.M. Forster
novel
1924
Lillian Hellman
play
1939
Zora Neale Hurston
novel
1937
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
novel
1931
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
James Joyce
novel
1916
Herman Melville
novel
1924
George Bernard Shaw
play
1905
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
novel
1939
The Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton
novel
1920
Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton
novel
1911
The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
novel
1905
Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
novel
1925
Author
Genre
Date
Chinua Achebe
novel
1958
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Albee
play
1962
Another Country
James Baldwin
novel
1962
Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett
play
1953
The Plague
Albert Camus
novel
1947
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
novel
1952
William Golding
novel
1954
Lorraine Hansberry
play
1959
Joseph Heller
novel
1961
Ken Kesey
novel
1962
John Knowles
novel
1959
The Little Foxes
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Billy Budd
Major Barbara
1940-1969
Title
Things Fall Apart
Lord of the Flies
A Raisin in the Sun
Catch-22
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’ s Nest
A Separate Peace
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
novel
1960
The Crucible
Arthur Miller
play
1953
Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller
play
1949
House Made of Dawn
N. Scott Momaday
novel
1968
Wise Blood
Flannery O’Connor
novel
1952
George Orwell
novel
1949
Alan Paton
novel
1948
Robert Penn Warren
novel
1946
Chaim Potok
novel
1967
Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys
novel
1966
The Catcher in the Rye
JD Salinger
novel
1951
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Tom Stoppard
play
1966
Cat’s Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut
novel
1963
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams
play
1945
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
play
1947
Black Boy
Richard Wright
memoir
1945
Native Son
Richard Wright
novel
1940
1984
Cry, the Beloved Country
All the King’s Men
The Chosen
Don't get trapped in a literature vortex!
1970-1989
Title
Author
Genre
Date
Rudolfo Anaya
novel
1972
Sandra Cisneros
novel
1984
Athol Fugard
play
1982
David Henry Hwang
play
1988
John Irving
novel
1989
Maxine Hong Kingston
memoir
1976
Obasan
Joy Kogawa
novel
1981
Beloved
Toni Morrison
novel
1987
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
novel
1970
Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison
novel
1977
Sula
Toni Morrison
novel
1973
Bless Me, Ultima
The House on Mango Street
“Master Harold” . . . and the boys
M. Butterfly
A Prayer for Owen Meany
The Woman Warrior
Jasmine
Bharati Mukherjee
novel
1989
The Women of Brewster Place
Gloria Naylor
novel
1982
Going After Cacciato
Tim O’Brien
novel
1978
Peter Shaffer
play
1973
Leslie Marmon Silko
novel
1977
Sophie’s Choice
William Styron
novel
1979
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
novel
1982
Fences
August Wilson
play
1983
The Piano Lesson
August Wilson
play
1987
Author
Genre
Date
Reservation Blues
Sherman Alexie
novel
1995
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
novel
2000
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
novel
2003
Kim Edwards
novel
2005
Cold Mountain
Charles Frazier
novel
1997
Snow Falling on Cedars
David Guterson
novel
1994
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
novel
2003
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
novel
2007
Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
novel
2005
Barbara Kingsolver
novel
1998
Jumpa Lahiri
novel
2004
Cormac McCarthy
novel
1992
Ian McEwan
novel
2001
Chang Rae-Lee
novel
1995
Equus
Ceremony
1990-Present
Title
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
The Poisonwood Bible
The Namesake
All the Pretty Horses
Atonement
Native Speaker
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
novel
1997
Jane Smiley
novel
1991
The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Amy Tan
novel
2001
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wroblewski
novel
2008
A Thousand Acres