AP Literature: A deep dive into a book club assignment

AP Literature is a senior class offered at MHS taught by Mr. Guerra, that provides a deep dive into different forms of literature. One assignment that these seniors worked on is their literature book clubs. These book clubs consist of seniors picking a novel out of multiple classic choices, and collaborating with the other students who chose the same book.

The main form of collaboration used is podcasting. Podcasting is a relatively new concept that has exploded in recent years. It involves students communicating with each other more informally without formal editing to capture the students’ thoughts and collaboration.

The students had a choice between several books and had their opinions on the literature. Here are a few of the many options, and some noteworthy student comments.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon: This book follows 12-year-old Christopher with Autism, in a long-winded mystery that starts with a dead dog.

Student comments:

“I felt a little sad at the end of the book but also satisfied with its ending. Christopher achieved an A level in his maths which he made clear was super important to him which I liked. I love a happy ending, and lively discussions after a long day of reading” Said Rachel Kurz 12″

Nothing to See Here – Kevin Wilson: A comedy novel that follows unlikely roommates Lillian and Madison during and after a fight and tragedy.

Student comments:

“This book was really different but I really liked it. I liked the podcast way more though because at times it was really funny and brought a new perspective, I got frustrated at times but the project was worth it,” said Alyssa Moore 12″.

Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng: A novel based in 1977  in Shaker Heights, a planned neighborhood where a house fire with suspicion occurs.

Student comments:

“My book was very interesting. It was very slow at first then it sped up. As a Whole I loved the book. The podcast made the book even more fun because we got to have fun introducing ourselves as well as talking about the book. The book itself made it easy to do the podcast as we had a lot to talk about I loved doing this,” said Zara Stoltzfus 12″.

Overall, the students’ reaction to the project was overwhelmingly positive. The chance to collaborate with other students was a change of pace from a usual English class environment. For anyone looking to take AP lit, take it! You will have experiences like this and really learn about literature. If you are taking AP Lit, what did you think of your book?