AP ENGLISH LITERATURE-COMPOSITION SUMMERREADING LIST 2015

The purpose of summer reading is to sustain the powers of the imagination and to explore worlds of characters, settings, plots, and ideas we can visit only through literature. The summer reading list contains fiction and nonfiction writing; students will be using these books in-class. During the first week of the semester, your English teacher will evaluate your reading with various types of assessments. Although video versions are enjoyable, they may differ greatly from the written word; rely on the works themselves. Be advised some books may contain sexual references, or mature subject matter.You are encouraged to also read other books over the summer to increase your personal reading background. If there are any questions, contact Mrs. Coane at .

AS you read, all students are expected to annotate both texts (highlight/post-it notes/etc.). During class, students will be expected to reference their annotations to provide analysis/ explanation/verification of statements. We will have class discussions, assignments and assessments associated with these books when you return to school. As an AP student, you are required to read BOTH books, which are available from the local library or bookstores (don’t forget to check used book stores too), AND complete the attached assignments (due the first week of school). Both books will be needed in class the first weeks of school (How to Read LiteratureLike a Professor will be used all year), students should plan accordingly. Lexile scores are in parentheses.

REQUIRED READINGS:

1. Thomas C. Foster’s HowTo Read Literature Like a Professor (no lexile available): “What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface—a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character—and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. This text shows how easy andgratifying it is to unlock a writing’s hidden truths.” Rationale:This text has been calleda practical and interesting guide to truly understanding literature.

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter(Lexile 1340): “This 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical settingopens with a long preamble about how the book came to be written by a nameless narrator of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. In the customhouse’s attic, he discovered a number of documents, among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet, gold-embroidered patch of cloth in the shape of an “A.” The story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” on her breast. A man in the crowd tells an onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester’s husband, a scholar much older than she is, sent her ahead to America, but he never arrived in Boston. The consensus is that he has been lost at sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester has apparently had an affair, as she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover’s identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy.”Rationale: This text, the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language, fosters cross-curricular connections with US History. Its themes, from alienation and breaking society’s rules, to conformity and punishment, resonate with readers as universal themes.

over

REQUIRED SUMMER WORK (Due first week of school):

1.) Write a brief paper (2 page maximum; double spaced, MLA format) for EACH text. Paper must clearly answer/ address the following TWO areas:(1) Identify themain claim/argument put forth by this text. (2) Analyze/ discuss the claim and citespecific textualexamples and/or quotes from the text to PROVE your claims. Youmay do outside research or rely on your own thinking. If you use outside sources, you must cite those in your paper and have a Works Cited page.

2.) Complete a SOAPSTone Chartfor EACH of the texts. Students need to completetwo(2) copies of the following full-page chart– due first week of school. Review the small sample copy of this chart (immediately below) with explanations of the areas before beginning this part of the assignment. (The Summer Reading Chart is also on my school website, you can go there and make electronic copies of form and type on them –

S / Subject / General topic, content, and ideas contained in the text; be able to state the subject in a short phrase.
O / Occasion / The time and place of the piece; the context that encouraged the writing to happen. Writing does not occur in a vacuum. There is the larger occasion: an environment of ideas and emotions that swirl around a broad issue. Then there is the immediate occasion: an event or situation that catches the writer’s attention and triggers a response
A / Audience / Group of readers to whom the piece is directed; it may be one person, a small group, or a large group; it may be a certain person or a certain people; an understanding of the characteristics of the audience leads to a higher level of understanding.
P / Purpose / Reason behind the text; without a grasp of purpose, it is impossible to examine the argument or logic of the piece,
S / Speaker / The voice that tells the story. The author and the speaker are NOT necessarily the same. An author may choose to tell the story from any number of different points of view. In non-fiction consider important facts about speaker that will help assess his/her point of view / position.
Tone / Tone / The attitude of the author. The spoken word can convey the speaker’s attitude, and, thus, help to impart meaning, through tone of voice. With the written work, it is tone that extends meaning beyond the literal. Tone can be determined by examining the author’s diction (choice of words), syntax (sentence construction), and imagery (vivid descriptions that appeal to the senses).

Name: ______SOAPSTONE Period: ___ Day:___

Use the following form to help understand texts and to write evaluative/analytical prose. Rhetoric adapts the ideas, structure, and style of a piece of writing to the audience, occasion, and purpose for which the discourse is written. To analyzing text, consider at the elements listed on the chart.

S / Subject
O / Occasion
A / Audience
P / Purpose
S / Speaker
Tone / Tone

Form from Dr. Jon Kaiser, AP Consultant