What do I want from AP Lit?

Once my shock at all the novels on the AP summer reading list settled I found myself really excited. For the most part, the novels and authors required and recommended to read I had never really heard of. Yes I knew who Graham Greene was and Oscar Wilde, but I had never heard of Zora Neale Hurston (and I wound up really enjoying Their Eyes Were Watching God).  I noticed my list of novels I want to read expanding way beyond what I had expected. Prior to AP Lit my books were always easy reads, and very plot driven (like young adult novels) but now it includes Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, which to be honest I never thought would happen.  Since AP Lit has started, my hopes of reading novels that are more challenging and valued literarily has been and continues to be fulfilled. In addition my ability to analyze novels improves with each class. For instance, working with theme, beyond one-word concepts like death or phrases like man v. man, allows me to fully develop major themes.  Another motive for signing up for AP Lit was my writing skills. Every in class writing assignment helps my writing evolve for the better.  Whether my score improves or not I learn more about my writing like what I do right, or wrong, or need to work on. Overall, I intend to use what I learn from AP Lit to enhance the way I choose, analyze, and write about novels.