AP English Literature Research Paper Assignment

This is the research paper assignment that I give my AP English Literature students, though it could be used for any upper level high school English class. The assignments asks students to make a literary argument about the short fiction of a writer of world literature.

The assignment requires students to blend their own analysis of literature with several published works of literary criticism. It requires students to synthesize close readings of two or more short stories by their writer with published criticism of that writer’s work. They may also choose to draw on their writer’s biography, critical analysis of the literary movement to which their writer belongs, and/or other material relevant to making a literary argument about their writer’s short fiction.

This product includes:

1. The research paper assignment
2. A list of possible topics
2. Instructions for the outline and annotated bibliography
3. A sample annotated bibliography produced by an AP student
4. A rubric that can be used for grading