Advanced Placement English and Social Studies (European History)

In Advanced Placement English, highly motivated students are exposed to great literature, and become discerning readers and writers.  Students learn to critically read and comprehend some of the finest poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays written at various times in mostly British, American, and Canadian cultures.  They learn how to discover meaning in literature by being attentive to various techniques and strategies authors use to evoke emotional responses from readers.  Students are expected to justify their interpretations by reference to details and patterns found in the text.    Although knowledge of literary history is not a main goal of AP courses, students should learn about the times in which some texts were written.  For example, at the 20-1 AP level, students will study the Romantic and Victorian eras.  This enables students to see a historical work in its original context as well as in the context of human experience today. 

Students at Bishop Grandin High School begin the Advanced Placement curriculum in English 10-1 AP.  Archetypes found in literature will be the main basis for the course.    Students will be given opportunities to write creatively and critically through journals, poetry, stories, personal essays, letters, and literary responses.   In addition to the regular program, 20-1 AP students will learn to recognize prominent characteristics of style. This is a major component of the English 30-1 AP course as well.   Students not only analyze various writers’ styles, but they themselves must learn to develop a mature style of writing.   Students are expected to read several classics from an extensive list provided by the AP board that further develop student abilities as exemplary readers and writers.   English 30-1 AP is a refining year for students.  Students begin preparation for both the AP Exam and the Provincial Diploma Exam.  In essence, when students successfully complete the AP examination in May, they can qualify for up to one year’s credit in English at select colleges and universities. 

Advanced Placement Social Studies

AP European History places attention upon understandings equivalent to those gained in a university level introductory course; emphasis is on the general narrative of European history from 1450 to the present time.  The study also includes an examination of the political and diplomatic, intellectual and cultural, and social and economic history of Europe.  Students will evaluate historical materials to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented by historical research, describe the social, intellectual and political modernization of Europe’s changing position in the world, and analyze themes in modern European history.  Through such resources as primary source analysis, maps, statistical tables, visual-media, computer-assisted research, lectures, oral presentations, discussions, and debates, students develop an appreciation for the rich cultural contributions made by those who created our Western heritage.

Students begin the Advanced Placement program at Bishop Grandin High School in Social 10AP where they prepare for Social 20AP with a pre-A.P. program.  In Grade 11, during the first semester students take Social Studies 20AP where they begin the European history curriculum. Second semester of their grade 11 year, students will complete their Social Studies 30AP. Their AP exam will be written in May, and their Alberta Diploma exam will be written in June.

The U of C equivalent of Social 20AP and 30AP is both History 201 and History 203.