American Literature and Rhetoric

Robin Dissin Aufses was the Director of English Studies atLycée Français de New York, where she also taught AP® English Language and eighth-grade English. Before her foray into international education, she was the chair of the English department at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, New York, and, prior to that, an English teacher at Schreiber High School in Port Washington, New York. She has taught every grade and every level of English. She is a co-author of The Language of Composition, Conversations in American Literature, Connections in Language & Literature, and American Literature & Rhetoric, published by BFW. Robin continues her work in the world of education, teaching English part time at Be’er Hagolah Institutes in Brooklyn and serving on the board of Equality Charter School, a K–12 school in the Bronx.

Renée H. Shea was professor of English and Modern Languages and director of freshman composition at Bowie State University in Maryland, where she taught graduate seminars in rhetoric. A College Board faculty consultant for more than thirty years in AP® Language and Literature, and Pre-AP® English, she has been a reader and question leader for both AP® English exams. Renée served as a member on many committees for the College Board, including the AP® Language and Composition Development Committee, the English Academic Advisory Committee, and the SAT Critical Reading Test Development Committee. She is co-author of The Language of Composition, American Literature & Rhetoric, Advanced Language & Literature, Connections in Language & Literature, and Foundations of Language & Literature, as well as volumes on Amy Tan and Zora Neale Hurston for the NCTE High School Literature Series. Renée continues to write about contemporary authors for publications such as World Literature Today, Poets & Writers, and Kenyon Review. She is doing a series of interviews for American Book Review entitled “The Laureates.”

Katherine E. Cordes is a National Board Certified English teacher with a BA in English, psychology, and medieval studies; an MEd in curriculum and instruction; and an MFA in poetry. She has more than twenty-four years of experience in the secondary English Language Arts classroom and has taught AP® Seminar/Honors English 10, AP® English Literature, AP® English Language, and dual enrollment college writing. As part of the College Board’s Instructional Design Team, Katherine contributed to the development, review, and dissemination of the 2019 AP® English Literature Course and Exam Description, and she has been an AP® Reader for the AP® English Literature Exam and a Question Leader for the AP® Seminar Exam. She is a co-author of Bedford, Freeman & Worth’s The Language of Composition, Connections in Language & Literature,and American Literature & Rhetoric.

Lawrence Scanlon taught at Brewster High School for more than thirty years and then for another ten years at Iona College in New York. For twenty-five years he was a Reader and Question Leader for the AP® Language and Composition Exam. Over that same period of time, he has conducted AP® workshops and institutes in both AP® English Language and AP® English Literature throughout the United States and also in South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East as a College Board consultant. He has served as a private consultant for many school districts. In addition, he also served on the AP® English Language Test Development Committee. Larry is co-author of American Literature & Rhetoric, The Language of Composition, and Conversations in American Literature and has published articles on curriculum and method for the College Board, Business Insider, and other publications.