Home » AP Course Exam » AP® English Language vs. AP® English Literature | What Should You Choose?

AP® English Language vs. AP® English Literature | What Should You Choose?

If you plan to enroll in AP® English classes, you may be confused between AP Literature and Language. In this guide, we’ll discuss their differences, exam format, what you’ll learn, and how you’ll be assessed.

While the AP Literature and AP Language courses sound similar to each other, they are, in fact, vastly different in their content and end-of-course assessment. Most students usually take either AP Language in 11th grade or AP Literature in 12th grade, but you can also take both. Hence, it's crucial to understand the difference between AP English Language and Literature and how they'll help you with the course you plan to take in college.

AP English Language vs. AP English Literature

Selecting one AP English course over the other hinges on various factors, including course content, acquired skills, and, most importantly, your study habits and academic aptitude. To aid you in making an informed choice, let's examine AP Lang vs AP Lit in terms of their content, assessment methods, format, and scoring criteria.

1. Course Content and Objectives

In the AP English Literature course, you will delve into the world of fiction, including novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. Your exploration will involve in-depth study and analysis of elements such as plot, characterization, theme, and how the narrator or author constructs mise-en-scene. In addition, you’ll learn about literary devices like allegories, analogies, and metaphors to understand how they are used to convey deeper meaning in the text.

AP English Language, however, is a whole different story. This course aims to teach you the usage of grammar and rhetoric in standard written and oral English. You’ll study non-fictional texts like historical documents, biographies, memoirs, research articles, and speeches to analyze how language is used to argue or convey a point of view by the author. As you journey through the course, you’ll also learn about the author's strategies to persuade and inform their audience.

Get exam-ready with our AP Literature study guide and AP Language study guide designed to maximize your score. From analyzing passages to crafting high-quality essays, we cover everything you need for elevating your exam prep.

2. Skills Tested

The AP English Lit exam will test your analytical skills and critical interpretation of fictional literature. You'll be asked to demonstrate your understanding of how the author uses literary devices, characters, setting, plot, and narrative structure to establish a specific point of view and give the text a deeper meaning. Our page on the AP English Literature and Composition CED is here to help you learn about the course topics and skills.

The AP English Lang exam is similar to the AP Lit exam, but the former focuses on different things. The AP English Language and Composition exam assesses how well you can analyze and understand the techniques used in nonfiction writing. You'll need to use evidence and research to evaluate and explain your ideas and/or substantiate the claims made by the author. Check out this article to learn more about the AP Lang course skills and topics.

3. Exam Structure and Evaluation

The AP Language exam is slightly longer than the AP Literature exam. The AP Lang exam lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes, while the AP Lit exam lasts 3 hours. You will have one hour to finish the MCQ section of both exams. However, the difference comes in Section II, where you will get an extra 15 minutes to complete the FRQs on the AP Language exam as compared to the AP Lit exam.

The AP Literature exam also gives you less time per question in the MCQ section than the AP Lang exam. That's because the AP Lit exam requires you to answer 55 MCQs in 1 hour, compared to the 45 MCQs on the AP Lang exam.

The scoring structure for both exams is similar, with more weight given to the MCQ section of the AP Lang and AP Lit exams. Looking at the actual prompts from both exams can also help you understand how they differ. Check out AP English Lit's past FRQs and compare them with AP English Lang's past FRQs to gauge their exam format.

Did you know?
Unlike the AP Lit exam, the AP Language exam offers a 15-minute reading period before diving into your essays. This gives you ample time to gather your thoughts and formulate your argument for the synthesis question in Section II.

4. Difficulty Levels

You may wonder which of the two AP English courses is more difficult. While the answer to this question depends on a number of factors, you should be aware that any AP course is challenging because it is equivalent to college-level courses.

While you can consider the overall likelihood of scoring a 3 or higher on these two exams to understand their difficulty, these success rates are not the ultimate marker of an exam's difficulty. Whether you’ll do better in AP Lit or AP Lang depends on various factors. You should consider your career goals, study habits, and academic strengths and weaknesses before opting for either.

During the years 2023 and 2024, AP Lit's success rate averaged 74.8%. AP Lit is considered ideal for the senior year of high school. With fewer students taking it than AP Lang, this may indicate that students spend more time prepping for it and have a higher success rate than in AP Lang. On the other hand, AP Lang has an average success rate of 55.3% on the 2023 and 2024 AP exams.

But don’t worry! Turn stress into success with our extensive AP Language QBank and AP Literature QBank, offering hundreds of exam-level questions and detailed answer explanations. Learn how to approach MCQs, decode prompts, build strong arguments, and impress graders with polished essays.

What's Common for AP Language and AP Literature?

Deciding between AP Lang vs AP Lit? The difference between AP English Language and Literature can help you pick one course over the other, however you should also know what the two AP English courses have in common to make a better choice for yourself. Let's start with the exam format first and then move on to the AP class structure for each course:

The Exam
Both the AP English Language and AP English Literature exams share a similar format. The MCQ section of each exam carries 45% of the total exam score, and the FRQ section carries the rest of 55%. Section II (FRQ) of both exams consists of three questions, so you must budget your time, read, think, and write with solid arguments, irrespective of which course you choose.
The Class
Both AP Lit and AP Lang are offered as year-long classes in high school, and each course usually takes around 30 weeks to complete. Each course also consists of 9 units covered across 135 to 139 class periods.

What Should You Choose? Deciding Which AP English Class to Take

While learning the differences between AP English Language and AP Literature can help you choose between the two, you should also consider whether your career goals align with the course content and objectives. That will help you understand how each course can help you with your college degree. If you're planning a major in literature, reading, writing, or the humanities in general, taking the AP Lit course and exam will benefit you.

However, if you want to be flexible about your college major, you can opt for AP English Lang, as it will boost your proficiency in analyzing and interpreting documents, consolidating information, and drafting evidence-based arguments. These skills will help you succeed in almost any field, whether that’s the humanities, law, finance, or sciences.

While it's possible to choose between AP Lit and AP Lang, many students decide to take both courses. Generally, students take the AP Language course during their junior year and follow it up with the AP English Literature course in their senior year. For those intending to pursue English, literature, or humanities majors, opting for both AP Lit and Lang proves advantageous, as the skills acquired in AP English Language are highly applicable when tackling AP English Literature. Nevertheless, it's essential to remember that when enrolling in any rigorous AP course, it's wise to challenge yourself, but not to the point of overwhelming exhaustion.

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Key Takeaways - AP English Language vs AP Literature

AP English Language and AP English Literature are courses that can be taken separately but complement each other if taken together, and choosing one course over another can be difficult. Therefore, we've bulleted the most important takeaways you should consider when deciding whether to take one or both:

Do the courses match your existing skillset and learning aptitude?
Will they supplement and support your prospective college major?
Do you already have an AP schedule in place? If so, will you have enough time to study for AP Lit, AP Lang, or both?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I take both AP English courses simultaneously?

Yes, you can choose to take both courses in one year if permitted by your school. However, most students take AP Lang in their junior year and AP Lit in their senior year.

Should I take AP Lit if I took AP Lang?

It depends on what your career goals are. If you plan a career in literature, the humanities, or English, you can take AP Lit and AP Lang. However, if you want to keep yourself flexible about your major or plan to go for a career unrelated to literature, taking AP Lang can suffice for your introductory English course in college.

Do colleges prefer one course over the other?

This depends on the subject you wish to pursue in college and the college’s AP credit policies. Check with prospective colleges and AP coordinators to learn whether both AP English courses are given the same weight or if one is preferred over the other.

References

2024 AP Score Distributions. (2024). College Board. Retrieved January 16, 2025, from https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions
AP English Language and Composition Exam – AP Central | College Board. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2025, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-language-and-composition/exam
AP English Literature and Composition Course – AP Central | College Board. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2025, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition