AP English – Literature and Composition - Summer Reading
Mr. Trainor
e-mail:
wiki page: http://mrtrainor-classroom.wikispaces.com/
Required Reading and Writing Assignments:
1) Mythology – Edith Hamilton - Provided
Understanding Mythological allusions is important in the analysis of many pieces of classical literature. Instead of teaching allusions as they arise, I would like for you to read the Hamilton’s Mythology.
You will be responsible for taking a Test (50 Points – Take Notes!!!!) and completing a Mythology Tabloid Project (100 Points - reference Appendix A) when you return to school. In addition to demonstrating your knowledge of the text, you will gain an understanding of how a particular style (both visual and written) is used to suit a particular purpose.
2) Biblical Allusions (reference chart) – Read online (http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/)
Understanding Biblical allusions is important in the analysis of many pieces of classical literature. Instead of teaching allusions as they arise, I would like for you to read the biblical passages listed below. (Note: the purpose and design of this assignment is in no way religious; it is designed to provide students with the background necessary to identify and interpret references to the Bible in literature).
You will have a test on these allusions upon your return to school in September. Take NOTES to use as a study tool!!!! (Test 1st week of school – 100 points)
ALLUSION / LOCATIONOLD TESTAMENT ALLUSIONS
Creation Story; Fall of Man / Genesis 1, 2, and 3Cain and Abel / Genesis 4: 1-16
The Flood / Genesis 6: 9-25
Golden Calf / Exodus 32
Jepthah’s Oath / Judges 11
Samson and Delilah / Judges 16:16
King Solomon’s Wisdom / I Kings 3
Patience of Job / Job 1, 2, 3; 40, 41, 42
Shadow of Death / Psalm 23
Seven Deadly Sins / Proverbs 6: 6-19
NEW TESTAMENT ALLUSIONS
The Beatitudes / Matthew 5:1-12Fall of a Sparrow / Matthew 10: 27-31
John The Baptist Head on a Platter / Matthew 14: 1-12
Rich man/camel / Matthew 19: 16-26
Judas/silver coins / Matthew 26: 14-16
Golgotha / Matthew 27: 29-34
Gethsemane/ Temptation of Christ / Mark 14: 32-42
Blind leading blind / Luke 6:39-42
Two Foundations / Luke 6:46-49
Parable of the soils / Luke 8:4-15
The Good Samaritan / Luke 11:29-38
Parable of the Lost Sheep / Luke 15:1-7
The Prodigal Son / Luke 15:11-22
Render Unto Caesar / Luke 20:19-26
Lazarus / John 11
Revelation / The Book of Revelation
(Chart and concept borrowed from East Greenwich High School AP Summer reading requirement)
3) Self-Selected Novel or Drama – Purchase or obtain from a library
Students must read one novel or drama from the AP Book List below. Students must complete a Critical Reading Journal (50 Points) (reference Appendix B) and write a 3-4 page essay (100 Points) in response to one of the open ended AP prompts listed below:
2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of the minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil to a main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.
2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
The Critical Reading Journal (50 Points) and the essay (100 Points) are due on the first day of school. The essay must be handed in on turnitin.com (enrollment password: Hamlet course ID: 654976 ). Late assignments lose 10% per day; after 3 days, no late work is accepted.
AP Summer Reading Book List
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte / Crime and Punishment – Fyodor DostoyevskyKing Lear – William Shakespeare / A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austin
Light in August – William Faulkner
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway / The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
An Enemy of the People – Henrik Ibsen
Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Tennessee Williams
A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne / A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen
Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison / The Handmaid’s Tale –Margaret Atwood
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neal Hurston
Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut / Billy Budd – Herman Melville
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Wise Blood – Flannery O’Conner
All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
Appendix A
Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Tabloid Project
Purpose: Students will use their knowledge of Greek mythology to create a tabloid newspaper. By completing this project, they will gain an understanding of how a particular style (both visual and written) is used to suit a particular purpose. Students will also gain skills in using Adobe PhotoShop and either PageMaker or QuarkExpress or other design software.
Materials: Copies of recently published tabloids (The Star, The National Enquirer, etc.), books and Internet sites with illustrations of mythological characters, computers with Adobe PhotoShop and PageMaker or QuarkExpress software (students can use Microsoft Word if these other programs are not available), a document/photo scanner, copies of Hamilton’s book, a large envelope containing slips of paper, each slip with the name of mythological figure written on it.
Pre-Activities: Students will have read the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton and been assessed/evaluated for their reading.
Activities: Students will first complete the group activities shown on the next page. Then in small groups students will assign individual tasks for completing the tabloids. After gathering photos and writing articles, students will use design software to make a finished, full-colour, eight-page tabloid.
Inquiring Minds: Mythology Makes the Tabloids
Anyone who has spent time in his local supermarket has seen the latest tabloid headlines: "Rabbit-Faced Baby Born to Buck-Toothed Mom" or "Aliens Abduct Man and Return Him to Earth 100 Years Later."
The Greek myths you have been reading provide bizarre stories for such journalistic license: "Three-headed Dog Guards Portal to Underworld," "Flying Horse Helps Hero." Your class is going to become a newspaper staff to produce a paper in the style of a tabloid.
Examine the tabloids and complete the following activities as a group.
1. List some of the ways the front page works to sell the paper.
2. Choose one article with an attention-getting headline. Once the article is read, discuss and record the differences in what the headline promises and what the article actually says.
3. Discuss the style and format of the tabloids and how mythology lends itself to this kind of journalism. Brainstorm a list of possible headlines and write them down. You should have one headline for each student in your group.
4. Brainstorm and write down a list of characters from mythology who would lend themselves to a "juicy" interview. You should have one name for each student.
Complete the following activities as individuals:
1. Each student should choose one of the headlines you brainstormed as a group. Each student must write about the headline for five minutes. This prewriting becomes the source of articles with headlines like "Mysterious Rocks Destroy Ships at Sea" or "Baby Strangles Snake with Bare Hands."
2. Each student should choose one of the characters you listed as a group. Pretend that you are a famous reporter and have been given an exclusive interview with your character. What juicy information would your readers want to know? Write down three interview questions.
3. Draw a mythological name from the envelope. Write as many direct quotes as possible for your character (at least 6). For example, the Cyclops might be overheard saying, "I've had my eye on Odysseus for a while."
MYTHOLOGY PROJECT
Create a tabloid newspaper.
It should be at least eight pages in length. One page--front and back--is equal to two pages.
You tabloid should include the following:
Front page with headlines.
Articles
Illustrations
You may also include obituaries, classified ads, an advice column, regular advertisements (not classified).
Your group's project will be graded for its
Meeting of minimum requirements 20 points
Visual Appeal 20 points
Content 40 points
Creativity and Scope 20 points
Each group member will turn in this sheet with your project.
Name
For this project, I was responsible for: ______
(examples: writing articles, classified ads, layout and design, artwork, etc.)
As compared to the other members in my group, my contribution to this project was
Very Significant Significant Somewhat Significant Minor Nil
I would give my group a grade of ______. If this project were assigned in the future, it could be made better by the teacher or the students doing the following:
Appendix B
The Reading Journal
The reading journal is a critical reading journal, not a personal response journal. This journal is designed to help you develop critical thinking and reading skills so that you can both develop and articulate legitimate readings of a text.
The goal of the reading journal is to make your reading and learning personal. By watching your own reading move from puzzlements through approximations and misreadings to more and more satisfying readings you will gradually develop a more realistic sense of what valid and legitimate readings of text are, and in class discussions you will more readily share your readings and build on each other’s perceptions.
Reading Journal Format – The right hand pages are for all of your reading notes; these are notes that you take as you are reading. These notes should include all aspects of the text including:
· Plot (significant events, conflicts, contradictions)
· Characterization
· Themes
· Imagery
· Figurative Language
· Tone
· Syntax
· Diction
Other things to record on the right hand pages:
· Questions, uncertainties, and areas of confusion that develop as you read
· Quotes from the text that you deem significant
· Times when your reading changes
· You see something that you did not see before
· You recognize a pattern – images start to overlap, gestures or phrases recur or get repeated, some details seem to be associated with each other or bring to mind other works
· The work suddenly seems to be about something different from what you thought
· You discover that you were misreading
· The writer introduces a new idea
· Times when you are surprised or puzzled
· Something just does not fit
· Things just do not make sense – pose explicitly the question or problem that occurs to you
· Details that seem important and make you look twice
· Your first impression of the ending
· What you think is the most important point in the work (and why)
When writing in your journal, use full sentences instead of phrases. The demands of the sentence will help you draw out your thoughts fully. Be explicit about the nature of your surprise or change or puzzlement – what caused it in the text? The journal will seem less of an intrusion into your reading if you follow the natural rhythms of reading. Sometimes we are carried along by the flow of a work, but the things that you have been asked to note on the right hand side are all signs that it is time to pause and reflect. No one reads a major work straight through or at a uniform speed. Only machines work that way. The journal is a device to help you make more of the moments of reflection and to preserve them for later reconsideration.
The left hand pages (facing pages) are for a completely different activity. While the right hand pages are your first gesture at making meaning out of the text, the left hand pages are for synthesizing the text after reflection, class discussion, and additional reading. After finishing a section of text, participating in a class discussion or Socratic seminar, go back and use the left hand pages and comment on your original thoughts and observations. Is there a pattern to the changes you experienced? Does the end of the work tie them together? Then reflect upon yourself as a reader – what do you focus on? What do you most care about? What do you disregard? When do you have the most trouble staying with a work? Finally, as you make these reflections on your reading experience, discuss your emerging sense of what the work is about.