AP Language + Composition Summer Assignment 2018 Greetings, Old Sports! You have decided to take AP Language + Composition next year. This must mean that you are really intelligent and hardworking, and that you are up to the challenge of an intellectually rigorous, college-level course. In fact, we are so eager to see just how intelligent and hardworking you all are that we have created a summer assignment especially for you. J Directions: This is a two-part assignment that will require you to read two books. Part I: You will choose one of the works of American autobiography/memoir from LIST A, read it, keep a dialectical journal for it, and write an essay about it. Part II: You will choose one of the works of American non-fiction from LIST B, read it, keep a dialectical journal for it, and complete a creative project for it. LIST A: The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley John Barleycorn by Jack London Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog Black Boy by Richard Wright The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama LIST B: The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Devil s Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea 1
Dialectical Journals: As you read each book, keep a dialectical journal. Your journals will consist of quotations from each book, to which you will respond critically. Both journals should be contained in one notebook we recommend the classic black & white composition books. Do not type your journals! Select one quotation or passage for every 10 15 pages that you read (so, a 300-page book should have at least 20 journal entries). As you respond to the quotations, focus on the ways in which the author uses language to create an effect. What about the language in that passage makes it stand out to you and makes it distinctive? How does the passage reflect the author s style and reveal the larger themes of the work? Do not just write I like this part because Instead, make a connection between the passage and the rest of the work, another work you ve read, or the world at large, and compose a thorough, critical statement about its significance. You should choose your quotations carefully, and your responses should be both thoughtful and intellectual, and at least 60 words in length. The dialectical journals should be constructed in the following manner: Quote Write the quote from the book on the left side of the paper with the correct MLA citation. Do not paraphrase the quotation or abbreviate it; write down the entire passage exactly how it is written in the book (176). Response (Your response and analysis of the quotation should be written on the opposite side of the page.) For the response column, you have several options of how to respond to a text, but you only need to use one option for each individual journal entry: Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text Give your personal reactions to the passage; write about what it reminds you of, or how it impacts you Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or a character Connect it to another part of the book, a different book, or a different real-life situation Argue with, challenge, or speak directly to the author or characters 2
Essay: Authors, and especially authors of non-fiction, and especially authors of autobiographies, do not write for no reason; rather, they write with purpose, as they are trying send some kind of message through their writing. They are rarely just telling their life story for fun, or to make money from selling books. As you read your book from LIST A, think about a significant message (or two, or three) that the author hopes to convey to his or her readers, and then write an essay analyzing HOW the author conveys that message. Do not just tell what the message is or summarize the story; you must also analyze how the author uses language to get that message across. You should refer to your dialectical journal as you plan your essay, and you might consider such devices as character actions, character relationships, tone, setting, diction, imagery, figurative language, symbols, flashback, and other literary devices. Make inferences and read between the lines ; in other words, try to determine what the author is saying without actually saying it. Creative Project: Cover art what you see on the front of the book is more important than one can imagine. You know that old saying Don t judge a book by its cover? Well, people judge books by their covers all the time, so what goes on those covers is meticulously planned and crafted. Accordingly, for this project, you will create an original piece of art for the book you have chosen from LIST B. You can draw it, paint it, use construction paper on it, create a collage for it, design it on a computer, or take photographs for it, but it must accurately and creatively represent the book that you chose to read. You have lots of creative freedom here, so use that freedom to make something amazing that you can be proud of! Your cover must be crafted on an 11 x 14 piece of poster board paper (that s half the size of a typical poster board paper). There are no exceptions to this; if your cover is on something other than an 11 x 14 piece of poster board paper, you will have to re-do it. Also, your cover must contain color, and it must be very neatly put together. (Anything sloppy or haphazard or that looks like it was created in thirty minutes will result in a failing grade.) When you turn in your cover project, you must also submit a typed 250-word statement that justifies your choices and explains in great detail why your cover looks the way it does. As you create your cover art, ask yourself the following questions: Which colors best represent this book? What type of lettering would best fit? Are there any major symbols in the book that I should include on this cover? Should my cover be more literal, or more abstract? What event from the book should I focus on? What will make it stand out? Lastly, and most importantly: Your cover art must. be. original. It must be from YOUR OWN CREATIVITY, and not that of some stranger who posted a drawing on the Internet. If you copy all or part of someone else s work, you are plagiarizing. Do not get lazy and fall into that trap. There are snakes in there. And gross bugs, too. 3
Below are some examples of excellent pieces of alternative cover art. Notice how they do not tell the entire stories of books that you might be familiar with; rather, they provide symbolic elements from the story. They are subtle, not obvious! (Note: these covers are supposed to have color, so just use your imagination or look them up online.) 4
Important Information: Ø Many of the books from both lists are in our school book room; however, some are not. You can find any of them at your local libraries, or very inexpensively on amazon.com Ø Your dialectical journal notebook will be due during the first week of school. Ø You will present your creative project to the class during the first week of school. Ø This creative project is in place of the other, school-wide creative project. Ø Your essay must be: a minimum of 1000 words and a maximum of 1250 words, typed according to MLA formatting guidelines, and submitted to www.turnitin.com during the first week of school. Check-In Dates: Regarding your summer assignment, you are all REQUIRED to check in with Mr. Smith and Ms. Tran on two separate occasions: Check-In #1: By Sunday, July 1 st, at 11:59pm, you must write and submit to www.turnitin.com a 200-word, MLA-formatted statement of progress that contains the following information: 1. The books you have chosen and the reason(s) you chose those books. 2. Where you located the books. 3. A general description of your progress so far on your assignments. à Go to turnitin.com and enroll with Class ID: 18170232 and Enrollment Key: APsummer. Check-In #2: On Monday, August 6 th, you must come to Mr. Smith s classroom (F- 103) or Ms. Tran s room (F- 203) any time between 9am and 2pm to check in with them and show them your progress. They will want to see your dialectical journal, speak with you individually about the work you ve completed so far, and answer any questions you may have for them. Failure to complete your summer assignments or check in with us on both July 1 st and August 6 th may jeopardize your place in this course! If you want to take AP Language and you want to succeed, take these assignments seriously, meet all of the listed requirements, and show us what you can do. A final note to our students-to-be: Because you will be asked to read, annotate, analyze, interpret, and explain the texts we will be reading over the course of the year, it is important that you do not substitute Cliffs Notes, Spark Notes, or other summaries or condensations for the real thing. You should also not rely on the movie versions of the books, as they are often quite different and do not suffice for a textual analysis. Take it from an expert: the very best way to be successful with this assignment and all of your assignments next year is to read the books carefully and thoughtfully. Do your own reading. Do your own work. Be confident about your own abilities and rely on your own intelligence. Do not cut corners, cheat, or plagiarize, and do not put off this assignment until August, because that is no way to start the most important year of your high school career. ~MR. SMITH & MS. TRAN 5
Checklist: There is quite a bit of information in this assignment packet, so use the checklist below to keep track of the most important points. (If you cannot check off every item on this list before the first day of school, you have not successfully completed every step of your AP Language summer assignment!) 1. I have read two books: one from LIST A, and one from LIST B. 2. I have completed a dialectical journal for both books. 3. I have typed an essay of at least 1000 words based on my book from LIST A. 4. I have completed my cover art project based on my book from LIST B. 5. My cover art project is on an 11 x 14 piece of poster board paper. 6. I submitted my statement of progress to turnitin.com on Sunday, July 1 st. 7. I checked in with Mr. Smith or Ms. Tran in person on Monday, August 6 th. 8. I will be ready to submit my dialectical journal, cover art project, and essay during the first week of school. 9. I am magnificent and I am going to excel in AP Language + Composition. 6