Name ______
Belle Chasse High School
AP English Literature and CompositionSummer Reading Assignment –DUE AUGUST 2017
Please note: All in-class and out-of-class assignments are mandatory. The DUE DATE for this assignment is the first day of class after the summer break – August 2017. Any assignment turned in after the stated due date will be subject to the LATE POLICY of a reduction of 20% after one day and 50% after two days. An assignment will not receive credit following the second day. Failure to meet the requirements of the assignment will result in a recommendation that the student be reassigned.
ASSIGNMENT:
Writing assignments for How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, published by HarperCollins, 2003, ISBN 00600942X, 9780060009427 (assignments adapted from Donna Anglin).
Read HTRLLAP in its entirety before responding to Group A, B, C, and D. Then, wait to read Chapter 27 for the Group E response, and follow the directions exactly. Use ink, loose-leaf paper, and your best writing style or, PREFERABLY, type in Times Roman or Ariel 11-point. Respond with 2-3 paragraphs minimum, where applicable, (use common sense) and MORE for the Group E assignment. Refer to HTRLLAP (How to Read Literature Like a Professor) and any other novels you use, properly citing those references. This assignment is worth a major grade.
GROUP A: Select ONE to complete
Chapter 1 “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)”
- List the five aspects of the quest and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5.
Chapter 2“Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion”
- Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
Chapter 3“Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires”
- What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or viewed.
Chapter 4“If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet”
- Select three sonnets (easily found online) and show which form (Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or Spenserian) they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form. (Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis).
Chapter 5“Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?”
- Define intertextuality. Discuss at least ONE example that has helped you in reading specific works.
Chapter 6“When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare. . .”
- Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster show how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on THEME.
Chapter 7“. . .Or the Bible”
- Read “Araby” by James Joyce (available online). Discuss the Biblical allusions that Foster does NOT mention. Look at the example of the “two great jars.” Be creative and imaginative in these connections.
GROUP B: Select ONE to complete
Chapter 8“Hanseldee and Greteldum”
- Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony or deepen appreciation?
Chapter 10“It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow”
- Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Chapter 12 “Is That a Symbol?”
- Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism of the fence (Mangan’s sister stands behind it) in “Araby” by James Joyce (short story you can find online).
Chapter 13“It’s All Political”
- Assume that Foster is right and “it is all political.” Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned to you so far in high school is political.
Chapter 14“Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too”
- Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film – for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, The Matrix, Malcolm X, Braveheart, and Gladiator, to name a few.
GROUP C: Select ONE to complete
Chapter 15“Flights of Fancy”
- Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom.
Chapter 16 – It’s All About Sex. . . .
Chapter 17 – . . . Except the Sex
- The key idea from these chapters is that “scenes in which sex is coded rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense than literal depictions” (141). In other words, sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is described, and, if the author is doing his job, it reflects and creates theme or character. Choose a novel or movie in which sex is suggested, but not described, and discuss how the relationship is suggested and how this implication affects the theme or develops characterization.
Chapter 18“If She Comes Up, it’s Baptism”
- Think of a “baptism scene” from a significant literary work that Foster would classify under “geography.”
Chapter 20“. . .So Does the Season”
- Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. Submit a copy of the poem (with your markings and annotations) with your analysis.
Interlude – One Story
- Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a literary work with which you are familiar.
Chapter 21“Marked for Greatness”
- Figure out Harry Potter’s scar. If you aren’t familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical imperfection and analysis its implications for characterization.
Chapter 22“He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know”
Chapter 23“It’s Never Just Heart Disease”
Chapter 24“. . .And Rarely Just Illness”
- Recall at least one character who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how this death reflects the “principles governing the use of disease in literature” (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.
GROUP D: CHOOSE another entry of your choice from either GROUP A, B, or C.
GROUP E: EVERYONE must complete this exercise.
Chapter 27“A Test Case”
- Read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your writing with the three examples. As you compare your writing with the three examples, answer the following: How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of Mansfield’s story?
English/AP Literature and Composition - Summer Reading AssignmentChoice selection from novel list attached
The out-of-class reading assignment is designed as a reading-writing-learning experience that will allow students to read at any time during the summer and complete the required journal entries. Journals will be taken up on the first day of class,AUGUST 2017, and will count as a major writing assignment/TEST GRADE. They will be read for the quality of content, quotation choices, and analysis. The novel(s) will be discussed in class, and may also function as the topic for a major paper or exam essay. It is imperative for you to complete the assignment, since this novel is an integral part of the course. You may NOT use SparkNotes, CliffsNotes or any comparable truncated version of the novel.
*Please note: All in-class and out-of-class assignments are mandatory. The DUE DATE for this assignment is the first day of class after the summer break – August 2017. Any assignment turned in after the stated due date will be subject to the LATE POLICY of a reduction of 20% after one day and 50% after two days. An assignment will not receive credit following the second day. Failure to meet the requirements of the assignment will result in a recommendation that the student be reassigned.
As you read your choice novel from the attached list, you need to note your thoughts, reactions, etc. in a dialectical journal. This can be handwritten in a composition book or notebook.
Dialectical Journals
dialectical (die-uh-LEKT-i-cul), n. : the art or practice of arriving at the truth through logical arguments.
journal (JUHR-nul), n. : a personal record of events, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary
Format: (If you aren't using the template available)
- Write your Name, My Name, English IV or AP Literature and Composition, and the Date in the upper left corner
- Divide the paper in half
- Label the left side “Text” and the right side “Comments.”
- Use the “Text” side for reading notes, direct quotations, summaries, characters, lists, images, etc., always accompanied by page numbers.
- Use the “Comments” side to record your corresponding comments. Record your reactions, ideas, comments, inferences, questions, using the language of literary analysis (simile, metaphor, allusion, imagery, etc.) when appropriate.
You will have a love/hate relationship with your DJ. On the one hand, you will hate it because it slows you down (the hidden purpose) and is just more work. On the other hand, you are creating an invaluable resource that you will love when it comes time to write papers. The purpose of a Dialectical Journal is to connect with the literature. The DJ is designed to require students to interact with the text by providing analysis with quoted support. Do not worry about being 100% “right” in all cases; just do your best to interact with the text. Your quotations, notes, summaries, etc. must come equally from the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. Do not use external sources to enhance your notes…this is about what you can gather from the text.
Find relevant quotations, and provide a small discussion that explains how the quotations illustrate each category throughout the dialectical journal response entries. THESE ARE NOT INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES but are to be addressed in addition to your interaction with the text.
- Conflict: Find quotations that support/explain a conflict of the book. Explain if the conflict is human vs. human, society, nature, and/or self.
- Literary Techniques: Find quotations that support/explain the author’s literary techniques of the book. Consider irony, foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, etc.
- Reader Response: For these entries, you may choose quotations that illustrate ideas, concepts, or issues that interest you. They do not have to fit any category or criteria. Choose quotations/ideas you especially like, dislike, relate to, or find interesting, and say WHY. You may even pose a question regarding an idea that you don’t understand.
- Characterization: Find quotations that support/explain traits of characters in the book, and explain what they say about the character.
- Connection to Literature: Explain how the play or novel connects to another piece of literature you have studied in your high school English classes.
Reading choices. Tess of the D’urbervilles,Dracula, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Huck Finn, Catch 22