11th Grade AP English Language and Composition

Since AP English Language is devoted to the study of non-fiction prose styles (autobiography, biography, essays, letters, speeches, journals, articles), you need to familiarize yourself with these types of writing. The following selections will get you started, and selections from some of these works will be studied in class. Many of these selections (including magazines and newspapers) are available at your local library.

It is important to note that, since this is a college-level course, the reading lists for AP Language and Composition contain works that include mature content. It is also imperative that you do not procrastinate on this reading since you need time to think about these serious works in order to understand all the levels of meaning and to do your assignment on Walden.

Expect to be tested on BOTH selections during the first week of school.

11th Grade AP Required Reading

• Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau ISBN-13: 9781593082086

Summer Assignment

Purpose of Assignment: English 11 AP emphasizes the analysis of style and rhetoric, particularly of non-fiction. Annotating will be the basis for our study on how to do close readings. YOU WILL NEED TO BRING YOUR ANNOTATED COPY TO SCHOOL. This assignment will be due upon entering the classroom on the first day of school. As English 11 AP also focuses on the development of writing skills, we want to have an idea of your writing skill level as you enter English 11 AP. You will be writing an essay based on this book during the first week of school.

Please allow yourself plenty of time to complete this assignment

ASSIGNMENT:

  • Read and annotate the first three sections of Walden (“Economics”, “’Where I Lived and What I Lived For”, and “Reading”), by David Thoreau.
  • Find examples of the following rhetorical devices as you annotate:
  • Simile
  • Paradox
  • Antithesis
  • Euphemism
  • Litote
  • Rhetorical Question
  • Extended Metaphor
  • Analogy

11th Grade AP Option Reading List: Choose one of the novelsfrom the list below to read.

  • Outliersby Malcolm Gladwell ISBN: 9780316017930
  • Woman in the Mists: The Story of Diane Fossey and the Mountain Gorillas ofAfrica – byFarley MowatISBN-13:9780618083602
  • The Bell Jar– Sylvia PlathISBN-13: 9780061148514
  • A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League- Ron Suskind ISBN-13: 978-0767901260 ISBN-10: 0767901266 Edition: Reprint
  • Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin ISBN-13:9780451234216

Book Study Guide Questions

These questions highlight information you should know about the books that you read over the summer. You are not required to write answers to these questions; they are designed to help you focus on the important points of any book that you read.

  1. Know the main characters and what sort of people they are. What do they do and what happens to them?
  2. Have in mind the sequence of events. In what conflicts are the characters involved?
  3. Be able to describe the time period and location of the story. If the culture described is different from your own, try to understand how these cultural differences affect the feelings and decisions made by the characters. Is the setting important to the plot? In what way?
  4. Think about the author’s purpose in writing the book. What point or theme is the writer trying to get across to the reader?
  5. Consider how this book relates to you personally. How does it relate to what you have read and studied in the past? Why do you think this book continues to be recommended as reading?

If you chose to read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, these are your study questions:

1. How does Gladwell explain the importance of practice in order to achieve greatness? How much practice is needed and what examples does he provide to illustrate this?

2. Explain how, according to Gladwell, language plays a role in learning mathematics. How else might one’s language affect his or her knowledge acquisition and learning experiences?

3. Gladwell argues that while talent is an important element of success, circumstance and opportunity are just as important and necessary. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

4. According to Gladwell, what factors would restrict someone from reaching his or her fullest potential?

5. After reading Outliers, study the experiences of an extraordinarily successful person in modern America. Do this person’s experiences in life align with the factors that Gladwell highlights in his book? Explain.