June 9, 2016
Dear Students,
Welcome to AP Language and Composition. In order to prepare for an English class that is a bit different from your prior two years, there is some summer work required. The goal is not to burden you with more to do during the vacation, but to help you shift the lens through which you read and, more importantly, write, as this is a writing intensive course!
The bulk of the reading you will do next year will be nonfiction, ranging from the Colonial era through the present. The work we are asking you to do this summer is based on contemporary nonfiction. There are two main components of the work:
Part 1
Read and take marginal notes (if you purchase the book) or sticky-note notes (if it’s borrowed) on one book from the list below. You are not just highlighting or underlining, you are interacting with the text—your thoughts become words in the margins, on the sticky-notes. (You will need to bring the physical book with you to class for the opening weeks of school.)
I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai
Quiet Susan Cain
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi
H is for Hawk Helen Macdonald
Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates
Half the Sky (also a documentary) Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson
One Summer Bill Bryson
The Price of Privilege Madeline Levine
Outliers Malcolm Galdwell
Columbine David Cullen
Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America Barbara Ehrenreich
The Professor and the Madman: a tale of murder, insanity and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary Simon Winchester
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver
The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls
Part 2
A. Watch and take notes on one of the following documentaries: (Bring your notes with you on day 1.)
Waiting for Superman (2010)
Fed Up (2014)
Why We Fight (2005)
Walmart: The high cost of low prices (2005)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Dive! (2010)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
Undefeated (2011)
Blackfish (2013)
Bully (2011)
Alive Inside (2013)
Farther Than the Eye Can See (2003)
Inside Job (2010)
Half the Sky (also a book) (2012)
B. Follow CURRENT news related to your documentary topic. You may read newspaper articles, watch television news, read blogs, websites, social media feeds, etc. Plan to bring in at least 5 samples of the ongoing conversation that exists regarding your topic. These should be marked up with marginal notes—again, not highlighting and underlining, but your thoughts in words, interacting with the text, literally on the text, making connections.
For success in this course (and in life), develop an awareness of the world around you; become a consumer of news in a variety of its forms and all perspectives. We hope this summer work will begin to make you part of that greater conversation.
Please let your teachers know, via email, which book and documentary you choose by June 30. In a short paragraph, explain why you are choosing those works.
Email addresses:
Unsure what to put in those marginal and sticky-notes? Here are a few questions to get you going!
· What is the subject?
· What is the author’s position on the subject. How can you tell?
· What is the specific message the author/speaker is trying to convey? To whom is he/she directing this message? (That’s the audience!)
· What is the author’s attitude towards the subject of the piece? How can you tell?
· Look for passages that stand out for you in some particular way. Mark them. What’s distinctive about them?
We hope you enjoy interacting with these texts and we look forward to sharing them with you in the fall!
Sincerely,
Your AP Language and Composition teachers
Mrs. Leveroni
Ms. Netto
Mrs. Styche