The Course

AP Spanish Literature and Culture

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Course Overview

AP Spanish Literature is equivalent to a college level introductory survey course of literature written in Spanish. Students continue to develop their interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills in Spanish language as well as critical reading and analytical writing as they explore short stories, novels, plays, essays, and poetry from Spain, Latin America, and U.S. Hispanic authors along with other non-required texts.

Scoring Guidelines Updated for 2023-24

We’ve updated the AP Spanish Literature and Culture scoring guidelines for the 2023-24 school year.

This change only affects the free-response question scoring, with no change to the course or the exam: the exam format, course framework, and skills assessed on the exam all remain unchanged.

The course and exam description (CED) has been updated with the revised scoring guidelines.

Course and Exam Description

Course Resources

Article

AP Spanish Literature and Culture Course and Exam Description Audio Files

Companion audio files to the course and exam description.

Course Content

The course framework provides a clear and detailed description of the course requirements necessary for student success. It specifies what students must know, be able to do, and understand, with a focus on course skills, required texts, and themes that encompass core principles and theories of the discipline. The framework also encourages instruction that prepares students for advanced literature courses in Spanish and other college/university humanities courses by building skills in critical reading and literary analysis and contextualizing literary works within historical, geopolitical, sociocultural, and cultural contexts.

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture framework is organized into eight commonly taught units of study that provide one possible sequence for the course. As always, you have the flexibility to organize the course content as you like.

Unit

Unit 1: La época medieval

Unit 2: El siglo XVI

Unit 3: El siglo XVII

Unit 4: La literatura romántica, realista y naturalista

Unit 5: La Generación del 98 y el Modernismo

Unit 6: Teatro y poesía del siglo XX

Unit 7: El Boom latinoamericano

Unit 8: Escritores contemporáneos de Estados Unidos, y España

Course Skills

The AP Spanish Language and Culture framework included in the course and exam description outlines distinct skills that students should practice throughout the year—skills that will help them learn to think and act like speakers of Spanish.

Skill

Description

1. Analysis

Analyze and/or interpret literary texts and audio sources in the target language

2. Cultural Context and Connections

Make connections between a literary text and a non-literary text or an aspect of culture

3. Comparing Literary Texts

Compare literary texts

4. Comparing Texts and Art

Compare a how a theme is developed in a text and in a work of art

5. Argumentation

Develop an effective argument when writing a literary analysis

6. Language and Conventions

Use accurate language for literary analysis, and apply appropriate conventions of written language

7. Literary Discussions and Presentations

Engage in discussions about literary texts in the target language

AP and Higher Education

Higher education professionals play a key role in developing AP courses and exams, setting credit and placement policies, and scoring student work. The AP Higher Education section features information on recruitment and admission, advising and placement, and more.

This chart shows recommended scores for granting credit, and how much credit should be awarded, for each AP course. Your students can look up credit and placement policies for colleges and universities on the AP Credit Policy Search.

Meet the Development Committee for AP Spanish Literature and Culture

The AP Program is unique in its reliance on Development Committees. These committees, made up of an equal number of college faculty and experienced secondary AP teachers from across the country, are essential to the preparation of AP course curricula and exams.