AP Language and Composition: Summer Reading Assignment CBE Summer 2017
Welcome to AP Language and Composition! This is an exciting class that will ask you to look closely and question the world around you as you make your way through a variety of nonfiction readings. We have designed this summer reading assignment to give you an introduction to the type of reading you will experience and the degree of close reading you will do in the course.
Please make careful selections and get your parents’ approval, as some books do contain mature and/or sensitive material. We selected the following books based on their artistic merit and the author’s experience and research. These books represent only the authors’ opinions and are not necessarily those of your teachers or the Central Bucks School District. Choose ONE from list A and ONE from list B, and follow directions to complete the assignment. We recommend that you first read a text from the narrative nonfiction list as a segue from the literature you have been used to reading into the realm of nonfiction.
*The assignment for both books is due on the first day of school. Even if your class is scheduled for the second semester, you still must turn in your work to your teacher on the first day of the school year. Seek out your teacher to submit your work. Make sure that your name is on the outside or inside cover of the book.
LIST A: NARRATIVE NONFICTION
q Liar Temptress Soldier Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbot: With a narrative structure switching among two Union spies and two Confederate ones, the novel chronicles the risks these women took in a divided nation to advance their causes. Defying gender stereotypes, the women were instrumental in war efforts, both on and behind front lines.
q Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson: An engagingly readable and deeply researched history of the 1915 sinking of a luxury ocean liner, the Lusitania, by the German submarine U-20, leading to the deaths of almost 1200 travelers and crew. Larson narrates the story from divergent perspectives, drawing from historical records, letters, and journal entries to tell the story of a disaster leading up to WWI, when Germany, France, and England were already locked in combat while America, vastly underestimating the German threat, remained neutral.
q Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario: This Pulitzer Prize winner follows the journey of young Enrique from poverty-ridden and crime-stricken Honduras to a better life in the United States. With immigration issues featuring prominently in the current election, this book puts a human face on the debate.
q The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore: Two boys with the same name living blocks apart in Baltimore grew up to take vastly different paths; one became a Rhodes Scholar, the other a convicted criminal. The author tries to understand how this happened in this book, which is a popular college freshmen required reading title.
q Five Days at Memorial-Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. Last summer marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast. Fink’s book explores the before, during, and after as every possible system and support—electricity, transportation, medical emergency procedure, ethics—broke down in one of the area’s major hospitals.
List B: TRADITIONAL NONFICTION
q Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice by Adam Benforado: Written by a University of Pennsylvania professor, this book examines factors (personal history, angles of camera footage, eyewitness testimony) that often inadvertently create bias in the legal system. Students who were interested in the recent Making a Murderer documentary as well as issues of legal injustice will find this particularly compelling.
q Where I’m Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Timmerman (be sure to use the revised/updated edition): Wondering about the manufacturing of his clothes, including his favorite tee shirt and boxers, Timmerman embarks on a global trek to visit the factories and workers that produce America’s apparel. One of the complicated questions he ponders as he details working conditions, economics, and personal lives is whether boycotts help or hurt the workers that are supposedly in need of American activism and calls for change.
q Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Ebola to Cholera and Beyond by Sonia Shah: Scientists agree that a pathogen is likely to cause a global pandemic in the near future. But which one? And how? Shah explores the origins of contagions, drawing parallels between cholera, one of history’s most deadly and disruptive pandemic-causing pathogens, and the new diseases that stalk humankind today. By delving into the convoluted science, strange politics, and checkered history of one of the world’s deadliest diseases, Pandemic reveals what the next global contagion might look like― and what we can do to prevent it.
q Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities by Claudia Kalb: Was Andy Warhol a hoarder? Did Einstein have autism? This meticulously researched look at the evolution of mental health gives readers a glimpse into the lives of high-profile historic figures through the lens of modern psychology. From Marilyn Monroe's borderline personality disorder to Charles Darwin's anxiety, Kalb provides compelling insight into a broad range of maladies, using historical records and interviews with leading mental health experts, biographers, sociologists, and other specialists.
q Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes: The average American produces 102 tons of garbage across a lifetime and $50 billion in squandered riches are rolled to the curb each year. In Garbology, Edward Humes investigates trash—what’s in it; how much we pay for it; how we manage to create so much of it; and how some families, communities, and even nations are finding a way back from waste to discover a new kind of prosperity. Humes reveals not just what we throw away, but who we are and where our society is headed.
« ASSIGNMENT for “A” selections on narrative nonfiction
For this summer reading choice, you will select passages (could be one paragraph to a full page) from the book that exemplifies one of the elements listed below. You should have at least 20 post its in your book (or typed notes that include page numbers/specifics/analysis), addressing a variety of these elements. As you complete notes, you may bullet point/fragment, but you must attach significance/meaning to the author’s stylistic choices. Mere identification is not acceptable. SEE THE EXAMPLE FOLLOWING THE ASSIGNMENT.
q TEXT FEATURES: Text features help a reader to navigate the text. Ex: bold, italics, caps, color, pictures, maps, charts, captions, titles, subtitles, etc. What does the feature achieve?
q TONE: How does the author reveal his/her opinion about or attitude toward the subject matter?
q DICTION: This refers to word choice. What kinds of words is the author employing (colloquial, sophisticated, strong verbs, vivid adjectives, concrete nouns, double-meaning words, slang). Why?
q SYNTAX: Syntax refers to sentence structure. Consider how the length and structure of sentences help to achieve a purpose. Look for sentence fragments or short sentences, extra-long sentences, or lists. Think, too, about declaratives (statements), interrogatives (questions), imperatives (commands), exclamatory (express emotion). Punctuation (or lack thereof) also conveys meaning. How/Why?
q IMAGERY: Imagery invokes any of the five senses (smell, taste, sight, touch, sound). To what effect?
q STRUCTURE: Where does the author employ a certain structure, like compare/contrast, definition, cause/effect, process analysis (explains how things are done), narrative (tells a story of who, what, where, when, why), description (tells story with sensory detail), classification (organizes items/ideas into categories). To what effect?
q RELIABILITY: What about the author seems credible? How do you know? Or, you could consider information presented that sounds valid—how/why? Conversely, where does the author or the material presented seem questionable or biased?
« ASSIGNMENT for “B” selections on traditional nonfiction
Annotate this book as well with sticky notes. The expectation of at least 20 post its/annotations through your reading is the minimum (or typed notes that include page numbers/specifics/analysis). While bullet points/fragments are acceptable, remember to attach a meaning/significance rather than just identifying an element. Utilize the areas/techniques below to construct your responses. SEE EXAMPLE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENT.
q READER RESPONSE: Consider insightful, sophisticated reactions:
o Your reactions/emotional responses (humor, surprise, sadness, anger, frustration, disappointment, tension/suspense, disgust, criticism, disagreement, confusion)
o Your questions or lack of understanding or doubts (ask “Why?”)
o Your revelations: when “things” become clear to you, when you make links
o Similarities to other works: “Reminds me of…”
o Writer’s craft—passages that strike you artistically/aesthetically and why
q SPEAKER: Think about who the writer is and how what he/she knows is communicated. This should help you decide the author’s credibility. Consider the author’s background (ethnicity, education, location, religion, personal experiences, etc.)
q OCCASION: Consider what has occurred historically, politically, socially, or even personally that may have prompted the writer to address this topic.
q AUDIENCE: Think about what kind of person or people the author intended as the audience and whether or not the author is able to connect with that audience effectively.
q PURPOSE: Think about the author’s purpose in writing this book and whether or not he/she is effective in that purpose. Did the writer want to: Inform? Persuade? Argue? Defend? Criticize? Entertain?
q SUBJECT: Think about what the book is discussing and whether or not the author demonstrates why this subject is important. Consider how the author develops the sides/complications of the issues.
q AUTHORIAL DEVICES and STRUCTURES in the ARGUMENT: Think about the author’s techniques in delivery and how effective the author’s methods are for rhetorical purposes. Consider such elements as word choice, organizational structure, syntax, irony, humor, repetition/patterns, metaphors, changes in point of view, claims, counterclaims, etc.
IF YOU ARE READING FROM AN E-READER (Kindle, Nook, or other similar tablets), that is perfectly acceptable. However, in order to complete this assignment successfully, you must type up your “post-its” for each of your two chosen texts. These write-ups should be typed up chronologically (meaning that your “post-its” should be typed up in the order in which they take place in each text) and should include either the direct quotation to which you are responding (followed by the write-up of your response), or, if you are referring to something more general in the text, should include a brief summary of what it is you are responding to (followed by the write-up of your response). Thus if you choose to use an e-reader for this assignment, you will be turning in these typed responses as opposed to a physical book filled with post-its.
Enjoy this summer and your preparations for AP Language and Composition! Remember that this assignment will mark the first impression you will make on your teacher. Give the assignment the attention and detail that it warrants, and be sure to have your work with you/deliver your work to your teacher on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
The AP Language Team
*Please direct any questions to Ms. Remar at or Mrs. Sebestyen at