Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Summer Reading 2013 Mr. Keith Hollowell Henrico High School EMAIL: kthollowell@henrico.k12.va.us Congratulations! You have taken the first step towards success in college by accepting the challenge of Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. You are about to begin a great adventure that will broaden your horizons. The work begins now, as you plan to complete summer readings and assignments prior to the start of next school year. I am looking forward to a terrific year and you are a talented group. Thus, we can t lose! Remember, this course offers rewards far beyond the ordinary class so please don't be daunted by the work. Have fun completing the summer readings and assignments! See you in August for the beginning of our great adventure Why read during the summer? Researchers have proven that reading increases vocabulary and that reading and writing skills are inextricably connected to each other Good writers are good readers. Written and oral communication is most effective when you have a command of language and a broad vocabulary; reading gives you exposure to descriptive and rich vocabulary used in well-written and powerful phrases and sentences. The accuracy and effectiveness of your communication is determined by your ability to read critically. Reading can be one of the most satisfying and personal life-long habits you will ever develop. Reading gives you knowledge and knowledge is power. Henrico County Public Schools strongly encourages parents/guardians to work with their children as they read their summer reading books." Tips for Reading Critically These reading assignments require that you read to remember as you will be completing the reading over the summer months and you will be required to complete both a written and creative assignment in response to the reading. This assessment takes place during the week of September 20 th of the school year. To that end you may want to: Complete the reading throughout the summer If possible, purchase a copy of the books so that you can annotate in them
Mark the text so that you remember key elements Take notes on the plot, literary devices, etc Although study guides such as Spark Notes and Grade Saver can further assist in understanding a novel, the student should refrain from relying solely on these tools as a means for mastering the material While reading, you are required to look for the following elements and mark them in your book: Underline important terms Circle unknown words Write key words and definitions in the margin Signal where important information can be found with key words or symbols in the margin (such as!.?, or any other symbol you wish) Write short summaries in the margin at the end of sub-units or chapters Write any questions you have regarding a text in the margin Required Summer Reading Assignment for AP Literature Student Purpose: The AP examination in English Literature and Composition requires extensive preparation and reading. Your summer reading is an important part of that preparation to help you grow as a reader and thinker. The AP English Exam always has three essay questions and about sixty multiple-choice questions. One of the essay questions is openended and allows you to choose the work of literature for response. Some of the best essays have come from works read over the summer. Completion of this assignment is non-negotiable. Students who choose not to submit this assignment will earn grades representative of that choice. Everyone is required to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C Foster. You are also required to choose one Summer Reading selection and complete the following assignments on that novel selected. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C Foster What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun. The text is a fun and practical introduction to literature and
literary basics symbols, themes, and contexts shows how to make everyday reading experiences more rewarding and enjoyable. (Powell s) The Road by Cormac McCarthy: The Road follows a father and son, journeying together for many months across a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape, some years after a great, unexplained disaster. Civilization has been destroyed, and most species have become extinct. The sun is obscured by deep, dark clouds and plants don t grow. Humanity consists largely of groups of cannibals, their food-source captives, and refugee-travelers who scavenge for food. Ash covers everything; it is in the atmosphere, it obscures the sun and moon, and the two travelers breathe through improvised masks. The boy s mother was overwhelmed by the desperate and hopeless situation and has committed suicide some time before the story begins. Her explanation, offered was that they all would be raped, killed and eaten, and that there was no hope left for a different fate. The father is skilled with firearms and knowledgeable about machinery, woodcraft, and human biology. He is alert, attentive and aware, and applies all he knows to anticipating and overcoming the challenges he knows are ever-present. He realizes that he and his young son can t survive another winter where they are, so the two set out across the road. The father coughs blood every morning and knows he is dying. He struggles to protect his son from the constant threats of attack and starvation. They carry a pistol with two bullets, meant for suicide should it become necessary; the father has told the son to kill himself rather than be captured. The father struggles in times of extreme danger with the fear that he will have to kill his son to prevent him from suffering a more horrific fate, examples of which include: the discovery of captives locked in a basement, their limbs gradually harvested by their captors for meat; and a decapitated human infant being roasted on a spit. In the face of all of these obstacles, the man and the boy have only each other. They repeatedly assure one another that they are among the good guys, who are carrying the fire. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: The Kite runner is an epic tale about friendship, fathers, sons, betrayal, tribute and redemption. The novel is based on two boys, Amir and Hassan living in Afghanistan. The narrator Amir begins the story by recalling his childhood memories. Mocked and teased for his background, Hassan doesn t have many friends except Amir, they spend their days together Kite flying and so Amir enters a local kite runner tournament hoping to win his father s praise. During the tournament Assef, a violent bully at school attacks Amir for being friends with Hazara but Hassan bravely stands up to him and threatens to shoot out his left eye. In response Assef backs of but seeks for revenge. During the contest he attacks and rapes Hassan and Amir turns a blind eye to this, to me this is the key event to the book as this event leaves Amir distressed, upset, hurt and guilty and leads him into the following events to occur in
this life. From this we see Amir, Hassan and Aseef s characters and true identities shine through. The whole novel is based around how Amir commits a terrible sin against his friend and half-brother, Hassan. The journey he travels, what he does and where he goes to seek and find atonement shows he wants to be good again and the how far he s willing to go to succeed. The novel is filled with despair but uplifting at times and travels through a journey of different emotions and relationships. The whole theme of the book links into identity and self discovery, The kite runner demonstrates both internal conflict within individuals and external conflicts that affect them. The novel Kite Runner links to Identity through past events, race, discrimination, relationships and emotions. Amir the key character, makes everything around him form his identity, he forms his identity based on others and his relationships with others. Amir s identity was mainly formed by the obsession he had with pleasing his father and doing everything for him, he changed things about him just for his father s acceptation. The events in the novel lead up to Amir forming his identity, where at the end his true character shines through for what he s done and his childhood dream becomes reality when he accepts Sozara as his son and redeems his At the beginning of the novel Hassan and his father are mocked and teased about their status, money income, race and religion. In the streets people tease Hassan about his mogal descendants and flat nosed features, even the whole fight between Aseef and Amir had was due to the fact that Hassan was a different race and Assef didn t want them being friends, he believed their race was superior. This shows that class and race are both important factors to form your identity through them people base their opinions on you and both appearance and religion play a big role in identity. The book begins with an emotional phrase to summarize his thoughts on the devastating makes he was about to make- I became what I am today at the age of twelve. This quote revels all the devastation regret and sin he feels from the mistake that he has to learn from through this novel, but through this Amir finds self discovery and his true identity. This quote shows that your past events can affect your identity because it completely changed him and caused his jealously and obsession with pleasing his father to become a big part of his life. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart is the story of a West African man called Okonkwo. He is renowned for his strength in wrestling and as a warrior. He has three wives and a large family with many children, and is influential in his village, Umuofia. However, when he accidentally kills a fellow member of his clan, he is exiled for seven years to a neighboring village. During this time Christian missionaries arrive to convert the people of the clan from their tribal religion. Okonkwo is disgusted by the English pastor, and even more so by those clansmen who decide to convert, one of whom is Okonkwo s son, Nwoye. He is promptly disowned by Okonkwo. When the family returns to Umuofia after their exile, they discover that many things have changed- the Christian missionaries exert much influence, and many clansmen have converted.
Oknokwo and a group of other men destroy the church which has been built in Umuofia, and are jailed for a ransom. When the non- Christian tribesmen hold a meeting, it is interrupted by some converts demanding that they disperse. Okonkwo murders one of these, and then hangs himself from a tree. Summer Required Assignments for the one novel you selected: 1. Read and thoroughly annotate the text following Mr. Hollowell s annotating guide listed below: 2. Complete a detailed Summer Reading Journal Activity Binder I. Reading & Annotating Directions: Annotate the book thoroughly (either make notes or mark your personal copy of the book to identify important events, characters, stylistic devices, recurring themes, etc.) because we will work extensively with specific details and passages. You may use your annotations as a resource on the timed summer reading test, and a personal copy of the book that is annotated will allow you to quickly locate important information without having to painstakingly search for details. Methods of annotation include the use of post-it notes, notes in margins, symbols and abbreviations used to mark common elements and ideas, and highlighting of important passages (highlighting does not work a well without explanations in the margins). 1. Look for examples of the following stylistic elements and address how these elements contribute to the effect of your various marked passages? a. tone/attitude/mood the attitude of the author toward his/her subject or audience; the emotion evoked in the reader by the text. b. diction the author s choice of words that impact meaning; e.g., formal vs. informal, ornate vs. plain/matter of fact, simple vs. complex, etc. With diction, discuss the connotation of the words and how each word adds to meaning. c. figurative language/figures of speech language that describes one thing in terms of something else (e.g. metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.). d. detail concrete elements of the text relating to such matters as setting, plot, character. Items would be details that contribute significantly to such elements as revealing character, establishing tone, and communicating meaning. e. imagery language that creates a mental picture of some sensory experience. f. point of view the vantage point from which a story or poem is told g. organization how an author groups and orders his/her ideas. h. irony a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant (verbal), between what a character thinks and what we as an audience know (dramatic), or between what a character and we as an audience expect and what actually happens (situational). i. syntax/sentence structure/phrasing the way a writer orders his/her words; patterns in grammar (including the use of repetition of words, images, phrases, and the use of parallel structure), ideas, punctuation, etc.
j. motif a recurrent allusion, image, symbol, or theme. k. symbol a person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself, but has a broader meaning as well; that is, something that has both a literal and a figurative meaning. l. allusion a reference to a past historical person, place, event, or literary work used for the purpose of both comparing and enhancing the idea discussed. m. theme a life insight, issue, or lesson. 2. Look also for potentially symbolic objects and events, and how they add to the meaning of the story. 3. Characterization is essential in understanding the motivations of the major and minor characters of the novel; make special note of the physical and psychological traits of these characters try to understand why they say what they do, why they act the way that they do (understanding conflict is vital to understanding characterization, and conflicts are prevalent in this novel). II. Summer Reading Response Journal Directions: This journal is due on the first FRIDAY of class and will be scored as a major grades. It will seriously affect your grade if you do not put much thought into it, if you do not complete it, or if you fail to turn it in. A. Materials 1-Inch Binder 6 dividers 2 for each book B. Process 1. First Divider Label Interesting/Valuable Quotes and Reading Response Journal Find at least 5 (five) significant quotes (no more than 1 in any chapter). Quotes can be phrases, clauses, sentences, or passages that you feel represent some universal or important statement that the novel makes. Include page numbers for all quotes and explain WHY you find the quotes interesting or valuable (give extended commentary analysis of at least 1 developed paragraph in length for each quote, as opposed to a few hastily written sentences). What should I do as I read to make me a better reader and writer? A reading response journal is a notebook to explore your thoughts and feelings about what you are reading. It also allows teachers to see how you think when you read and how you approach the story. What are the requirements of a reading response journal? (1) Stop every 25-40 pages and write a response to what you have read. (see suggestions below to help you think about your responses)
(2) Before each entry, write the date and the page number where you stopped to respond. (3) Your response journal will NOT be graded for grammar or writing skills, but you should make connections to specific aspects of the book. (4) Entries should be ¾ to 1 full page of writing (5) The responses should be free writing not free of thought, but do not revise or write final drafts your initial response is what I want to see. (6) There should be a minimum of 5 responses to the reading AND a FINAL response (7) The FINAL response is a reflection on the book as a whole and its effect on you -- not a thumbs-up or thumbs-down! What you are expected to write about in your journal? First always write about anything you feel strongly about. Here are some other prompts to think about or finish, but we encourage you to create original responses you would like to write about. If I were the main character right now What is really happening here is.. I like/don t like/ (any personal reaction to the story or characters).. This character has changed (how) because This phrase or quote is interesting or cool because. I wonder what this means... I don t understand. This reminds me of someone or something because This part is very believable (or unbelievable) because This character or situation reminds me of a similar situation in my life. This sections makes me question or think about This character reminds me of another character in (book or movie) because. This scene/event made me think of I love the way. I wonder why I noticed I wish It seems like It reminds me of a picture of. If I were My best friend in the book would be. Why in the world... I agree (or disagree) with because 2. Second Divider Label Author Research Provide a brief research write-up on the author and his attitudes/concerns. The one page write-up must follow MLA format, and you must cite at least 2 sources (internet/books/periodicals preferred). Include a proper Works Cited page that includes all of your sources used, again, in MLA format. Student Sample: Heart of Darkness Journal Response
Pages #1 - #50: Honestly, at the beginning of this section, I was a little uninterested. Marlow describes everything in such a grand way; it was like listening to that guy who tells long-winded elaborate stories that you really could not care less about (as demonstrated by the sailors response). Also, Conrad s writing style was difficult to read (I suppose due to the translation), which made it difficult for me to connect with the story. However, as the story progressed, this became my favorite quality of Conrad s style of writing. It makes the reader slow down and really think about what he is trying to get across. In fact, it essentially requires a second reading. I found myself catching very subtle nuances that I had missed during my first precursory reading. I also enjoyed the constant light and darkness imagery. It really sets up the Europeans and the Africans in a good vs. evil kind of struggle. At the end, though, I liked how Conrad portrayed Marlow in a very ironic light. Marlow judges the Eldorado Expedition Company rather harshly for only being in Africa for resources, but all he talks about involving the station is the export of ivory, not the evangelization of the indigenous people. This is very important because it forces the reader to question Marlow s point of view, and it helps to remind the reader that Marlow s views cannot always be regarded as fact. The most prevalent theme in this section was the concept of sanity. When the station doctor asks Marlow if his family has a history of insanity, it foreshadows that either Marlow will become insane later on his voyage into Africa or that perhaps Kurtz himself may be insane. This latter idea is reiterated when Marlow describes the painting that
Kurtz has made, of the lady with a blindfold carrying a torch that is surrounded by darkness Book Descriptions are credited to AGGS-Literature "Novels Which Explore the Struggle for Modern Identity «." I Love English Literature. Web. 12 May 2010. <http://aggsliterature.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/novels-which-explore-thestruggle-for-modern-identity/>. "Powell's Books - How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster." Powell's Books - Used, New, and Out of Print - We Buy and Sell. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780060009427-5>. Summer Reading Requirements and Assignments are adapted with permission from Dr. Melody Spruell