AP Language and Composition 2012-2013 (AP 11) Summer Reading Project

AP Language and Composition 2012-2013 (AP 11)
Summer Reading Project
Congratulations on your decision to take Advanced Placement Language and Composition! This is a collegelevel class that will require commitment and hard work. You will take an AP exam at the end of the year that
could potentially grant you college English credit. Students study a variety of writers, some British and world,
but concentrate more on American literature, using the same textbook as Regular English 11 as well as other
supplementary nonfiction texts.
Teachers prepare students for the AP Exam administered in May by the College Board. A student earning
a passing grade on this exam may obtain college credit and/or higher placement in a college freshman
composition course. This course covers a broad range of materials usually associated with the reading analysis,
and writing expected in college freshman composition. Through frequent timed-writing practices, at least one
research paper, formal essays, and practice AP exams, students cultivate a mature use of effective writing and
college-level writing voice. The course includes organized study of the grammatical structure of sentences,
paragraphs and larger rhetorical structures such as style analysis and persuasive and synthesis writing. Summer
reading is required.
The books on the summer reading list are important books in literature, but do not let their designation as
classics frighten you. They were not written for English students to study but for people to read and enjoy. The
summer reading list is found on the next page. It is possible to buy Cliff’s or Spark Notes for each of these books
but not necessary. If you do decide to refer to Cliff or Spark Notes, please read the books in their entirety first.
The author needs to speak to you directly, not through an interpreter. If you must depend on these outside
sources for understanding, you are probably not going to do well in this class.
All of these books are available in local libraries and bookstores (I will give those in Penang a copy of The
Scarlet Letter. Be sure to bring the book back with you when you return in August!) If possible, I suggest you
purchase your own copies of the other books so you can highlight and make notes in them. Please note: I have
not read all of these books and therefore cannot vouch for their content—these books are suggested by other AP
high school teachers and have not been screened by me or anyone at Dalat International School.
There are two parts to the summer reading requirements. Be sure to read the instructions to these parts
carefully. I look forward to working with you next year. If you have any questions between now and the start of
school, you may e-mail me at <[email protected]>.
Additionally, two books you may want to purchase are On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Elements
of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. The first book is fairly self-explanatory: it is a common-sense guide
to—guess what?—writing well. It is very informative, yet fun to read (and it is a quick read). If there are any areas
of grammar or mechanics where you feel that you are on shaky ground, consult The Elements of Style. This is
really a reference handbook for writers and will help you in this course—as well as in your senior and college
courses.
Everyone must complete reading Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter before the semester begins (you may skip “The Customs House” introduction and begin reading on p. 55). In addition, each student will choose two other nonfiction books, one an autobiography or biography. (Total: 3 books).
You do not necessarily need to purchase these books; you may check them out of a library or even read some of
them on-line at <www.online-literature.com>.
PART 1: You will need to keep a vocabulary section in a notebook. For each book, you must find fifty words
that you are not familiar with the meaning. Write (i.e., using a PEN, not computer) the word and definition, the
sentence and page # where the word is found, and then make up your own original sentence using the word
correctly (Note: Don’t use any “to be” verbs in your made-up sentence—no “am, is, are, was, were, be, been,
being.” Your made-up sentence should make it clear the definition of the word.
For example, here’s an entry from The Poisonwood Bible; the new word is “calico.”
CALICO: cotton cloth imported from India
“I looked as he commanded: Mama Mwanza with her disfigured legs and her small, noble head both
wrapped in bright yellow calico” (230). My sentence: The wet calico T-shirt clung to his body in the downpour, he
knew he didn’t have to worry as the cotton cloth would dry quickly once the sun came out.
PART II: A “Book Talk.” You might want to keep some kind of reading journal or write some notes when you finish
reading the book as during the first few weeks of school, each student will have to give a 3-5 minute “Book Talk”
to the rest of the class. Here’s what you may include in this “Talk”:
• Introduce yourself as the author (for example, if you read Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, you will speak as if you are Barbara Kingsolver herself).
• Give some background information about yourself, including characteristics, personality traits, events, and personal relationships. Please be brief here!
• Why did you, the author, write this book? What was the “message” or “theme” you were trying to communi-
cate through your book?
• What rhetorical devices did you, the author, use to communicate your argument, values, or beliefs?
• Five Extra Credit points if you dress up as the author.
The purpose of this book talk is to recommend titles of good books for your peers to read and enjoy. It should be
a fun experience, hopefully not something that will burden you. (Note: The “Book Talk” will not be on The Scarlet
Letter. I will choose from your two books, the one you are going to do your talk on—so be sure you have read
both of them. This won’t be a “surprise,” spin-the-spinner moment—you will know a couple of days ahead of time
to finalize your thoughts.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION SUMMER READING
BOOK LIST, 2012-2013
Big Red Train Ride by Paul Theroux
Riding the Red Rooster by Paul Theroux
House of Glass by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Footsteps by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Child of All Nations by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
This is Paradise by Hyok Kang
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan
Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolfe
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Sister Carrie by Theodore Drieser
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Princess: True Story of Life Behind the Veil
by Jean Sasson
Where I Was From by Joan Didion
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Black Boy by Richard Wright
A Biography of John Sung by Leslie Lyall
Roots by Alex Haley
Papillon by Henri Charriere
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This Is Paradise: My North Korean Childhood
by Hyok Kang
Advise and Consent by Allen Dury
Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
Burmese Days by George Orwell
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
A Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass an
American Slave
The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelo
The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God
by David McCasland
Letters from Malaya 1951-1956 by Ted Miles
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun
In addition, these major works are taught in grades 9 and
10. You might want to make sure you have read them,
especially if you are going to take the AP Literataure
exam when you are a senior!!
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Animal Farm by George Orwell
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Miracle Worker by Helen Keller