AP English Language/ Honors American Literature – Composition(11th Grade)

Summer Reading Assignment 2014

AP Language students read two (2) texts for Summer Reading, one from each section below. Be ready to BRING TEXS to class during the first weeks of class – plan ahead! Students are to annotate (highlight, make notes in margin or on post-its, write questions, circle important words/ ideas, underline significant parts, etc.) for both texts. Texts will be discussed in class – students will need to bring their annotated texts to class many times during the first weeks of school. (Please don’t forget the many used book stores in our area when getting your summer reading assignment books. Call and ask if they have the text(s) you are looking for – it will be much cheaper – and you can always sell the books back to the store after this assignment is completed.)

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” ~ Blair

PART I: Read ONE of the following non-fiction texts

(1.) Tuesdays With Morrie (Albom):“Mitch Albom earned his BA from Brandeis University, where he studied with professor Morrie Schwartz. One night in 1995, Mitch is flipping the channels on his television and recognizes Morrie's voice on the tv program ‘Nightline.’ Albom began gathering notes for his book, Tuesdays With Morrie, which documents his and Morrie's discussions on the meaning of life which they hold each Tuesday of every week in Morrie's home. Morrie was dying from ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.” (from Spark Notes)

(2.) Profiles In Courage (Kennedy):

“Profiles in Courage is a 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by John F. Kennedy, des-cribing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators from throughout the Senate's history. The profiled senators cross party lines and/or defied the public opinion of their constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity because of their actions. Kennedy wrote the book during 1954 and 1955 while on leave from the Senate to recover from surgery to treat his back.” (from Wikipedia) There is an excellent Writing Contest that deals with this text. Students are strongly encouraged to enter the contest.

(3.)Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed AmericaForever

(O'Reilly and

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Dugard): “A riveting historical narrative of the heart-stopping events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the first work of history from mega-bestselling author Bill O'Reilly. The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history—how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.” (from amazon.com) (Published in 2011 – this text may not be available in paperback yet.)

Any copying of work (plagiarism!) will result in a ZERO for all students involved at any level. Late summer reading work will lose – 20% per day. Students should be ready for tests on texts at any time after the first week of class. Students will need to have a copy of the book read in class in August – check out the many used book stores in the area for a copy – you need to be able to mark in the book. IF you read on an electronic device, use the free App so you can accurately give the page number for required examples. IF you cannot get a personal copy, you’ll need to use post-its to annotate the text examples – make sure you have page numbers on each post-it in case they fall off.

ASSESSMENT for Part I: While reading one of the above texts, students are to complete the following chart (the chart given is the exact format you are to follow – do NOT make up your own chart). The chart must be completed by HANDWRITING – not typed. Be aware that you are being asked to focus on the author’s use of specific rhetorical writing techniques throughout the text – you should be able to explain in writing how the use of ”X” technique helped the reader better understand the text and/or helped prove the author’s thesis (yes, the writer must specifically identify what the thesis is in the text); AP Language does NOT focus on summary. The chart you write will be the basis of the in-class writing test over the non-fiction summer reading text. Be thorough, be careful, follow all directions exactly. This will be due the 3rd day of class.

As you read, identify 20examples of specific Writing Techniques/ Strategies used (lines, phrases, sentences – do not identify “the whole book” for any example) from your text; you may identify two examples of the same term, but no more the two examples of the same term. The same words may NOT be used asexamples more than once. Examples are to come from throughout the text, not just the first few chapters. The ONLY Writing Techniques/ Strategies that may be identified for this section are from the following 44terms:

1.) personification 2.) pun 3.) satire 4.) flashback 5.) cacophony

6.) euphony 7.) symbolism 8.) foreshadowing 9.) allusion 10.) imagery

11.) rhetorical question 12.) simile 13.) metaphor 14.) Local color 15.) red herring fallacy

16.) glittering generality 17.) assonance 18.) alliteration 19.) hyperbole 20.)straw man fallacy

21.) understatement 22.) pathos 23.) logos 24.) Freudian slip 25.)juxtaposition

26.) oxymoron 27.) irony 28.) parallel structure 29.) onomatopoeia 30.) paradox

31.) periodic structure 32.) jargon 33.) chiasmus 34.) ethos 35.) Bandwagon

36.) parallel structure 37.) loaded language 38.) epiphany 39.) Opinion Stated as Fact

40.) Didactic literature 41.) metonymy 42.) Bildungsroman 43.) Card Stacking 44.) Testimonial

YOU will be required to write about the examples that you identify. Be very careful in your selection of examples. Make sure that every example you identify is an example that you can explain specifically how the words are an example of the technique/strategy (yes, to properly do this you will need to define each term), and specifically why the term was important to making something clear/ better understood in the text. Just because two words both begin with the same letter and thus those two words are an example of an alliteration, does not mean that you want to use that phrase as one of your 20 examples – if YOU can’t explain how the use of that specific alliteration at that point in the text helps the reader understand the text, then don’t put that example as one of your 20. Remember, an author carefully writes using various techniques/ strategies to be able to impart to the reader “secret information” IF THE READER UNDERSTANDS the technique/strategy.

Complete the Attached Chart (you will need to print off the chart – I suggest you leave more space for your writing than the chart shows. Any writing that is unreadable, receives a zero).Remember: the chart must be completed in handwriting, NOT typed.

Student Name: ______Period: _____

Title of Text:______Author: ______Date published: _____

Name of
Technique Used: / Page
Number: / The exact words (all of the words) that make-up this example:
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PART II: Read the following fiction text:

The Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper): “It is the late 1750s, and the French and Indian War grips the wild forest frontier of western New York. The French army is attacking Fort William Henry, a British outpost commanded by Colonel Munro. Munro’s daughters Alice and Cora set out from Fort Edward to visit their father, escorted through the dangerous forest by Major Duncan Heyward and guided by an Indian named Magua. Soon they are joined by David Gamut, a singing master and religious follower of Calvinism. Traveling cautiously, the group encounters the white scout Natty Bumppo, who goes by the name Hawkeye, and his two Indian companions, Chingachgook and Uncas, Chingachgook’s son, the only surviving members of the once great Mohican tribe. Hawkeye says that Magua, a Huron, has betrayed the group by leading them in the wrong direction. The Mohicans attempt to capture the traitorous Huron, but he escapes. Hawkeye and the Mohicans lead the group to safety in a cave near a waterfall, but Huron allies of Magua attack early the next morning . . .” (Spark Notes)

DO NOT READ AN ABRIDGED VERSION. You will need the book during the first weeks of class – you should annotate (highlight, write yourself notes, underline to remember, etc. as you read). Work is due the 4th day of class.Warning: ALL assessments / discussion grades will be based on the written text . Watching a video version of this text before the class discussion/assessments could result in a lower grade for incorrect information.

ASSESSMENT for Part II: While reading, complete the following study questions. Make sure you indicate specific pages where you read the information – you will need to find these exact spots in the text during class. You can use post-its too. Print off the Study Questions and complete them by writing byhand – DO NOT TYPE your responses. When you print the Study/Discussion Questions, make sure you leave enough room to answer completely the question asked. Remember, if your handwriting cannot be read, no credit is earned. Don’t try to crowd your writing into a tiny space. Many questions contain several parts. Answer EACH part of the question fully – always supplying specifics – quote phrases/ lines/etc.

“Advancement only comes with habitually doing more than you are asked.”

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Name:______AP English Language/ Honors American Lit – Comp.

Period:______2014 Summer Reading: Assessment#2

1. The opening two chapters establish the historical and physical setting for the first half of the novel. What do we learn about both? (Be specific) – make sure you indicate page numbers where you found information

2. How does Cooper present Major Heyward and the two Munro sisters? How (be very specific – quote phrases/ lines/etc.) can we tell they are out of place in the environment they must traverse? Why does Cooper add David Gamut to their party? How does he first appear?

3. Magua also makes his first appearance in the opening chapters. What do we learn about him? What aspects of his behavior foreshadow his emergence as the major antagonist of the narrative?

4. In Ch. 3 and 4, Cooper introduces Natty Bumppo, known in this novel as Hawk-eye, and his friends Chingachgook and Uncas. What qualities distinguish them? How to they relate to the environment that surrounds them? How do they “read” that environment in ways that Heyward cannot?

5. In these early chapters, how does Cooper introduce the theme of the decline of Native American culture? How does he continue to build on this theme as the novel continues?

6. Why does Cooper use the episode of the Indians attacks and the first captivity of the English party? How does this help the reader?

7. During this first captivity, Magua offers to free Heyward, Alice, and Gamut if Cora will agree to be his wife. Why does he ask this? What does taking Cora as a wife represent to him? What does it represent to her?

8. Hawk-eye, Chingachgook and Uncas save the captives and manage to get them safely to Fort William Henry. How does Cooper use this portion of their journey to develop more of the background on the conflict between the French and English for control of portions of North America?

9. Chapter 16 provides a respite from the journey and the tension that surrounds the fort. What does Heyward learn in this chapter? How does Cooper use the conversation between Heyward and Munro to tell the reader more about the differences between Cora and Alice? Why are these differences significant? Do they introduce problematic elements into Cooper’s narrative?

10. Chapter 17 presents the bloody siege upon the surrendered British troops and civilians. How does Cooper make use of language from captivity narratives? Why is he doing this? How does this chapter also continue to build the picture of the French-British conflict?

11. In Chapter 18, Cooper tells the reader that he is now about to leave the historical record for the rest of his narrative. Why does he do this? How does he begin to develop the elements of an American myth in the second half of the novel?

12. The second half of the book presents the extended captivity of Cora and Alice. In this instance, however, it is Uncas who steps forward to lead the quest for their return. What are the implications of this shift away from Heyward?

13. During the second half of the narrative, Cooper uses a number of scenes that seem to stretch the credulity of the reader, even if we agree that fiction involves the “willing suspension of disbelief.” What are the effects of the scenes of Natty dressed as a bear? Of Heyward as a medicine man?

14. Uncas is captured by the Delawares and Magua discovers that he now has his arch rival in a position to demand his death. How are his plans frustrated?

15. In Chapter 30, Uncas reveals his true identity. What is the effect of his revelation? How does Tamenund respond?

16. All of Magua’s prisoners are released, except for Cora, who must follow him into the wilderness. In the climax of the pursuit that follows, Cooper structures a symbolic drama that involves Magua, Cora and Uncas. What happens in this scene? What are the implications of what has occurred?

17. The last chapter presents the funeral for Uncas and Cora, and introduces once again what Cooper sees as the problematic issue of miscegenation for American culture. What is this so problematic for Hawk-eye?

18. In the last Chapter, Tamenund also delivers a lament for the fate of Native Americans. What does his lament reveal? Is it an appropriate closing to this novel? How do you interpret the implications of the ending for the American culture that will emerge a few decades after the novel takes place?

Electronic Readers: Use the appropriate App that allows a reader to cite specific pages in the written text that correspond to the “pages” read electronically.