This article reviews some of the objections to the Advanced Placement Program in English, arguing that since that Program is the responsibility of school and college English teachers, it and the AP Examinations fairly accurately reflect and may sometimes influence the teaching of English composition and literature in the schools. It compares and contrasts the original test in Composition and Literature with the new test in Language and Composition, focusing on issues that arose in the development of the new test. It considers how some questions of both theoretical and practical consequence concerning the relationship between ordinary and literary language and between expository and critical writing are raised and tentatively answered by the Committee that develops the AP English Examinations and Course Descriptions.
Is George Orwell's 1984 Really Behind Us? (Bridging the Gap Between Composition and Literature)