Summer Assignments. Name. Check List: Please be sure that all parts of this assignment are attached and completed.

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1 Mrs. Kleinle AP Language & Composition Welcome to AP Language & Composition! Summer Assignments I have attached your summer assignments to this document. This first paper, however, will serve as your cover page to your summer assignment packet. On the first day of school, please be prepared to hand in this packet, printed in Times New Roman font (size 12), and stapled together with this sheet on the top. It will act as a checklist so that you can ensure that you have turned everything in. Additionally, both assignments offer you, the student, an element of choice. Each comes with a list of novels for you to choose from in completing your projects. Please choose books that you feel comfortable reading. Many novels deal with mature issues, so it is your responsibility to research the book and decide the best fit for you. Name Check List: Please be sure that all parts of this assignment are attached and completed. o o o o Quotes Assignment Part II: 8 Quotes from the book with responses Quotes Assignment Part III: 1 Quote of the Book with response Quotes Assignment Part IV: Reflective Letter Print outs of slides for PowerPoint/Prezi if applicable

2 Assignment #1: Quotes Project (Source: Hilary Bickerton & Stacey Hallet) Goal: Using the accompanying list compiled from The College Board List of Recommended Reading for AP Language and Composition, please select a nonfiction book to read for this project. Part I: Use post-it notes to mark passages as you read. Every time you encounter a particularly important, provocative, dramatic, surprising, or even disturbing passage, mark it with a post-it note. Only when you have completed the novel will you look at all those passages (and the sticky notes!) and decide which to analyze. When you are done reading your book, you will select 8 passages from the novel (please pull from the beginning, middle and end). Copy the passage down (including the page number) and then write about the passage in the following ways (See Part II). Bring your book with sticky notes on the first day of school. Part II: First, in a well-written paragraph, explain how each passage fits into the novel. Discuss the importance of the passage to the book s message, meaning, or theme. Also, react to the passage as a reader. Help me to understand WHY you have selected this passage. Incorporate text support into your analysis. To generate responses, you can consider the following as suggested prompts or questions: Why does the passage impress, intrigue, horrify, or puzzle you? Do you find the author s use of language appealing or powerful? Does the passage jump off the page as a great descriptive passage? Does it prompt a strong response from you as you read it? Does it present itself as something that you just love the sound of? Is the language beautiful, descriptive, or graphic? Is it particularly meaningful? Is it a high point in the book? Do you find yourself in agreement/disagreement with the ideas expressed? Does the passage remind you of a situation you have lived as well? Does the passage make you laugh our loud or make you melancholy or make you something else? Does the author raise intriguing questions or issues? Does the passage challenge or expand your thinking? What is the effect of the quote in relation to the book s overall purpose? You get the idea... You are not limited to the above list, nor do I expect you to answer all of the above. However, your responses to the passages should clearly explain to me WHY these passages mean something to you, WHY these passages caught your attention, and HOW these passages propel the author s overall purpose of the novel. Also, be reasonably concise. Find a balance between quantity and quality in your writing. Part III: Then, select ANOTHER passage as The Quote of the Book. This should be that one passage that captures the essence- the true meaning- of the novel for you, the reader. In a well-written paragraph, explain exactly HOW this passage is the one perfect

3 quote from the book. Think of this as the one passage that you would absolutely want saved should your book ever be lost or destroyed. Part IV: Lastly, you need to write a REFELCTIVE LETTER (no more than one paragraph) about reading this novel and creating your quotes paper. Write to me about the thoughts, feelings, observations, and new insights you experienced while reading your novel. Some ideas to think about for your letter may include, but are not limited to: Tell me what you worked on the hardest or struggled with in doing this assignment. Share with me what you think you did well: what worked, really worked. Show me where you were drawn into the novel and where you were pulled away from the novel. Identify in your opinion the author s- or the story s- greatest strength and weaknesses. Discuss in what ways the novel is similar to your life Explore what value, beyond entertainment, this book has Share your overall impressions of the novel Discuss if you found yourself changing your mind about the book and/or the author Your REFLECTIVE LETTER is your chance to talk with me about your book, your project, and your experiences in completing the assignment. With your letter, make me see your work- and your learning- through your eyes. Important Details: o Please read the Sample Assignment that has been uploaded as a supplement to your summer reading packet. This is an excellent example of the advanced sentence structure, vocabulary analysis, text support and commentary that is required in this course. It is also a good representation of the appropriate length for this this assignment. o All aspects of this assignment must be typed. o Passages/quotes must be at least two (2) sentences long. Many of your passages should- and will be- longer than two sentences. When you type your quotes, put them in italics. o Passages/quotes must be from throughout the entire novel. Your project will be marked incomplete if you only have quotes from the first half of the novel. o All passages must be in quotation marks- and be sure to copy the passage exactly as it appears in your novel. o All passages must include the page number from which they are taken. Cite page numbers as (235), or (16), or (105).

4 Book Options for Assignment #1 These books have been selected from the College Board List of Recommended Texts for AP Language and Composition. You must select a book from this list. Barry, John M. The Great Influenza. A detailed description of the scourge of the "Spanish flu" of 1918 with interesting elements of the practice of medicine and medical school in those days. Especially appealing for students who are science oriented. Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. Truman Capote reconstructs the 1959 murder of a Kansas far family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers the story of the lives and deaths of these six people, the victims and the murderers. Ground breaking journalism that reads like fiction. Collins, Larry and Dominique Lapierre. Is Paris Burning: How Paris Miraculously Escaped Adolf Hitler s Sentence of Death in August, The dramatic story of the liberation of Paris exciting, emotionally charged history, impeccably researched and written. Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World. Soccer is much more than a game, or even a way of life. It is a perfect window into the cross-currents of today s world, with all its joys and sorrows a wide-ranging work of reportage a surprising tour through the world of soccer, shining a spotlight on the clash of civilizations, the international economy, and just about everything in between an utterly original book that makes sense of our troubled times. Gladwell, Malcolm. Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Explores the tipping point phenomenon what causes a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. Gladwell, Malcom. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. A book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant...that aren t as simple as they seem cutting edge neuroscience and psychology Gladwell, Malcom. Outliers: The Story of Success. Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier. And while we have a very good understanding of why summer days in Paris are warm or hot, we know a good deal less about why a summer day in Paris might be freezing cold. In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August. Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea. Back cover description: In 1991, as Halloween nears, a cold front moves south from Canada, a

5 hurricane swirls over Bermuda, and an intense storm builds over the Great Lakes forces converge to create a 100-year tempest that catches the North Atlantic fishing fleet off guard and unprotected. Readers weigh anchor with sailors struggling against the elements; they follow meteorologists, who watch helplessly as the storm builds; and, by helicopter and boat, they navigate 100-foot seas and 120-mph winds to attempt rescue against harrowing odds. Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Highly acclaimed, this book won numerous, highly prestigious prizes considered readable, interesting, ground-breaking, and dazzling by critics. Read, Piers Paul. Alive. Sixteen Men, Seventy-two Days, and Insurmountable Odds The Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes. Stanton, Doug. Into Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors. Best selling account of WW II naval disaster, (Japanese submarine torpedo s US ship in 1945) a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage. Twenge, Jean M. Generation Me: Why Today s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive,Entitled And More Miserable Than Ever Before (2007). Twenge, Jean M. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement (2009) Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit. Sports biography of a great American race horse in Depression era America. Sheff, David. Beautiful Boy. A memoir about a father s struggle with his son s meth addiction. Gives insight into the lack of treatment and options for this kind of addiction. Includes research and personal narration. Frankl, Viktor E. Man s Search for Meaning. Psychiatrist s memoir of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Has sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages listed in a Library of Congress survey as among the ten most influential books in America as a book that made a difference in your life. May be of special interest to students who liked Elie Wiesel s Night.

6 Assignment #2: Memior of Your Choice You will choose one nonfiction memoir, autobiography, or biography to read. Pick a book written by an author who inspires you, or one that discusses a topic that interests and excites you. I have enclosed a list of possible books, but please don t feel limited to these books. Book Options for Assignment 2 Feel free to choose a book that is NOT on this list. Possible Memoirs/Biographies Include (but are NOT limited to): All Creatures Great and Small- James Herriot Angela s Ashes- Frank McCourt Autobiography of a Face- Lucy Grealy Bossypants- Tina Fey Boy: Tales of Childhood- Roald Dahl Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert Fighting Fire- Caroline Paul Go For the Goal: A Champion s Guide to Winning, Soccer, & Life- Mia Hamm Into The Wild- Jon Krakaur Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave- Fredrick Douglass Popular: Vintage Wisdom for the Modern Geek- Maya Von Wagenen This Star Won t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl- Esther Earl We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story- Josh Sundquist When I Was A Soldier- Valarie Zenatti Zlata s Diary: A Child s Life in Sarajevo- Zlata Filipovic ***Please do not read I Am Malala, as we will be reading it in class. Assignment: You will be responsible for preparing and delivering a 5-minute oral and visual presentation of your book to the class the first week of school. Necessary information: Provide the class with a brief summary of the book. Include any author background information or historical information that is essential to your understanding of the book. Discuss the major theme or idea of the book and how it is presented through the story the author tells. Include some explanation of why you chose this particular book. What drew you to the author or his/her story?

7 Incorporate at least one visual representations of the book. This can be a poster, a powerpoint, a prezi, or anything else you choose. Be creative! Most of all have fun!!!!

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