AP Lang and Comp. Independent Reading Assignment

Second Quarter
For this quarter, you will be choosing a book that is a biography or nonfiction. The purpose of this assignment is for you to become a well-read student with a strong understanding of language, discourse, and literary techniques. Additionally, the purpose is to broaden your background in the reading of different styles of writing from different eras. For this quarter’s reading, you will create response notes on 5 distinct sections of the book, an overall SOAPSTone analysis, and a 1-2 page Rhetorical Analysis.

DUE: 12-03-2013

Directions: Complete these sections and type your responses.

I. MLA Works Cited for your book.

II. Response Notes:

  • Break your book up into 5 sections.
  • Choose a passage or quote from each section and discuss the stylistic elements used by the author.
  • Be sure you discuss the structure and techniques the author uses to convey his/her message.

Remember things such as tone, mood, imagery (concrete or not), syntax, sentence structure, word choice, dialogue, connotation, audience, and purpose. THIS IS NOT A SUMMARY!

III. SOAPSTone analysis:

  • Complete 1 SOAPSTone chart for your book
  • Answer the Rhetorical analysis questions that go with the chart

IV. 1-2 page Rhetorical Analysis Write a one page (single spaced) analysis paper – an overview of the

author’spurpose (theme), writing, style, effectiveness, and your overall impression of the book.

Biographies/Autobiographies/ Non-fiction (pick a book from the list)

Angelou, MayaGather Together in my Name

Baker, Russell Growing Up

Butler, JohnThe Quest for Becket’s Bones

Carnegie, Dale How to Win Friends and Influence People

Carson, Rachel Silent Springs

D’Antonio, MichaelHershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams

Frankel, Victor Man’s Search for Meaning

Franklin, BenThe Autobiography and Other Writings

Gandhi, Mohandas Gandhi An Autobiography:The Story of My Experiments With Truth

Josephson, MatthewEdison: A Biography

Keller, HelenThe Story of My Life

Kermode, FrankShakespeare’s Language

Kipling, RudyardSomething of Myself

Le Shan, LawerenceThe Psychology of War

McCullough, David John Adams/ or others

McPhee, JohnBasin and Range (or others)

Schlosser, Eric Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

Tannen, DeborahTalking from 9 To 5 or You Just Don’t Understand

Wall, Jeannette The Glass Castle

Wolf, Naomi Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

ZakariaFareedThe Post American World

S.O.A.P.S. Tone Document Analysis

Speaker

Who is the speaker who produced this piece? What is the their background and why are they

making the points they are making? Is there a bias in what was written? You must be able to cite

evidence from the text that supports your answer. You must “prove” your answer based on the text.

Occasion

What is the Occasion? In other words, the time and place of the piece. What promoted the author

to write this piece? How do you know from the text? What event led to its publication or

development? It is particularly important t to understand the context that encouraged

the writing to happen.

Audience

Who is the Audience? This refers to the group of readers to whom this piece is directed. The

audience may be one person, a small group or a large group; it may be a certain person or a

certain people. What assumptions can you make about the audience? Is it mixed racial/sex

group? What social class? What political party? Who was the document created for and how do

you know? Are there any words or phrases that are unusual or different? Does the speaker use

language the specific for a unique audience? Does the speaker evoke God? Nation? Liberty?

History? Hell? How do you know? Why is the speaker using this type of language?

Purpose

What is the purpose? Meaning, the reason behind the text. In what ways does he convey this

message? How would you perceive the speaker giving this speech? What is the document

saying? What is the emotional state of the speaker? How is the speaker trying to spark a reaction

in the audience? What words or phrases show the speaker’s tone? How is the document supposed

to make you feel? This helps you examine the argument or it's logic.

Subject

What is the subject of the document? The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text.

How do you know this? How has the subject been selected and presented? And presented by the

author?

Tone

What is the attitude of the speaker based on the text? What is the attitude a writer takes towards

this subject or character: is it serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek,

solemn, objective. How do you know? Where in the text does it support your answer?