AP Language & Composition 2017 Summer Reading

Welcome to AP Language and Composition! We are so pleased that you have made the decision to take on new challenges and experiences in advanced English for your junior year. The goal of the summer reading assignment is to continue building skill in reading complex texts, analyzing rhetoric, and writing thoughtfully about what you read. Please follow all directions as outlined below, and be prepared to submit your original work to Turnitin.com at the beginning of the school year.

For additional information regarding AP Language, and to stay updated regarding summer tutorials and events, please join the online AP Language & Composition Summer Classroomusing the instructions provided:

  1. Go to classroom.google.com and click Sign Inusing your AISD student login information.
  2. At the top, click Add + and then Join Class.
  3. Enter the class code,21fva66, and click Join.

Part I - AP Language and Composition Analysis Term Flash Cards

Argument and literary analysis are important aspects of the AP Language Composition curriculum. To prepare to analyze, there aresome common terms all AP Language students should know. Be prepared for a quiz over these terms during the first few weeks of school.

  • Look up and record the definitions for each of the following terms. Write the definition and an original example of each term.
  • Please hand-write the term, definition, and example for the following words on index cards.
  • Be sure to use rhetoric-related definitions.
  • You should be looking for these terms, or the use of the terms, in your reading.

1. Diction 16. Fallacy

2. Tone 17. Epistrophe

3. Syntax 18. Parallelism

4. Rhetoric 19. Figurative language

5. Argument 20. Analogy

6. Rhetorical mode21. Allusion

7. Informal language 22. Allegory

8. Persona 23. Anaphora

9. Rhetorical triangle 24. Voice

10. Ethos 25. Hyperbole

11. Understatement 26. Invective

12. Logos 27. Antithesis

13. Pathos 28. Paradox

14. Juxtaposition 29. Irony – verbal and situational

15. Connotation30. Colloquial

Part II – Reading Assignment

Your assigned reading this summer is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. You aren’t required to buy a copy, as an electronic version is available online, but we recommend that you get your own so that you can mark it up as you read. Frederick Douglass published this work in 1845, seven years after he had escaped from slavery in Maryland. By his own account, Douglass resolved to attain freedom after teaching himself, and other slaves, to read. Disobeying their masters and risking painful punishments, these slaves came together to educate themselves. This inspirational memoir will prepare you for the type of reading we will be doing in class. We will be using Douglass’ work in class during the first few weeks, so please get started early, and be thorough in your analysis.

The Book:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave with Introduction by Robert G. O'Meally

ISBN # 13:978-1-59308-041-9

* An electronic pdf is also available in the online AP Language and Composition Summer Classroom.*

  • Read and annotate the autobiography, including the introduction. If using an electronic copy, take notes. The questions below primarily relate to O/Meally’s introduction.
  • As you read the book, select ten terms from the terms list and identify an example of each in the reading, as well as an explanation of what effect the use of these terms has on the reader.
  • Answer the questions regarding Robert O’Meally’s Introduction. Each question should be answered in at least one well-developed paragraph containing textual evidence and a page number on which this evidence was found.This should result in a minimum of 5 lengthy paragraphs.

*Your answers should be typed in Google Docs or Word.*

  • For assistance in completing the assignment, please see the online AP Language and Composition Summer Classroom for an example, rubrics, and list of sentence stems.

1.What is O'Meally's purpose? To inform, to convince, to support, to refute, to provoke, or to arouse, and how can you tell?

2. Who is O'Meally's targeted audience?

3. What is Douglass's quest?

4. Explain the connection made between Douglass and the dual role of tricksters and the Brer Rabbitt.

5. Ponder on the quote "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave

was made a man." Then explain Douglass's use of chiasmus and his reversal of fortunes.

Use a minimum of three examples from the text to support your explanation.