AP English Literature and Composition Summer Assignment
Course Information
AP English Literature and Composition will be a demanding college-level course and you will be expected to function at a higher level than you ever have before. The teacher will guide , support and coach you, but you must become an independent thinker and worker in many ways. As you begin to familiarize yourself with the general description and expectations for the AP English Literature and Composition course, I recommend that you visit the College Board Advanced Placement Program web site and then read specifically about the AP English Literature course. There, you will find study skills, reading tips, sample questions, and other information about the exam and course.
Course Materials
Binder with six dividers ( Keep your binder organized in a system that works for you).
Pens / Pencils/ Highlighters
Post-it-Notes ( for annotating school texts)
Books that must be purchased by the student - they will be used in class:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor– Thomas C. Foster
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Handmaid’s Tale- Margaret Atwood (We will read this in 2nd quarter.)
Summer Assignments
The summer assignments for the AP Literature and Composition consists of three parts:
Part 1- The College Essay
Part 2 – AP Vocabulary
Part 3 – Application of Foster’s Theories or Principals to The Awakening
Part 1- The College Essay
Due Date - First day of school
Select a topic from the list below or you may use a topic from a specific college application.
Write an essay of about 500-750 words on one of the topics listed below. This is a personal essay that helps colleges to become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from your courses, grades, test scores and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and ideas. This assignment should be typed.
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical
dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its
importance to you
- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that
influence.
- Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work ( as in art,
Music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
- A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds
much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
Tips for Writing the College Application Essay
- Be concise. Even though the Common Application’s main essay has only a
suggested minimum of 250 words, and no upper limit, every admissions officer has a big stack to read every day; he or she is expected to spend only a couple of minutes on the essay. If you go over 700 words, you are straining the patience of the reader, which no one should want to do.
- Be an individual. In writing the essay ask yourself, “How can I distinguish myself
from those thousands of others applying to College X whom I don’t know – an even ones I do know?” It’s not in your activities or interests. If you are going straight from high school to college, you’re just a teenager doing teenage things. It is your mind and how it works that are distinctive. How do you think? Sure, that’s hard to explain, but that’s the key to the whole exercise.
- Be coherent. Obviously, you don’t want to babble, but I mean write about one
subjectat a time. Don’t try to cover everything in an essay. Doing so can make you sound busy, but at the same time,scattered and superficial. The whole application is a series of snapshots of what you do. It is inevitably incomplete. The colleges expect this.
** Summer Assignments adapted from Summer Assignments by Katheryn Hans of Loudon County, Maryland.
- Be accurate. Don’t just use spell check T that goes without saying). Attend to the
other mechanics of good writing, including conventional punctuation in the use of commas, semi-colons, etc. Spell names of authors and their works correctly.
- Be vivid. A good essay is often compared to a story. In many cases, it’s an
anecdote of an important moment. Provide some details to help the reader see the setting. Use the names ( or invent them ) for the people in the story, including your brother, teacher, or coach. This makes it all the more human. It also shows the reader that you are thinking about his or her appreciation of your writing, which is something you’ll surely want to do.
- Be likable. Colleges see themselves as communities, where people have to
getalong with others, in dorms, classes etc. Are you someone they would like to have dinner with, or have in a discussion group? Think “ How can I communicate this without just standing up and saying it, which is corny. “Subtlety is good”
- Be cautious in your use of humor. You never know how someone you don’t
know is going to respond to you, especiallyif you offer something humorous. Be funny only if you think you have to.
9. Be controversial ( if you can). So many students write bland essays that don’t take
a stand on anything. It is fine to write about politics, religion, something serious ,
as long as you are balanced and thoughtful. Don’t pretend to have the final truth.
Don’t spout off on a sensitive subject, instead give reasons and arguments for
your view and consider other perspectives ( if appropriate). Colleges are places
for the discussion of ideas, and admissions officers look for diversity of mind.
- Be smart. Colleges are intellectual places, a fact that they almost always keep a
secretwhenthey talk about their dorms, climbing walls, and how many sports you can play. It is helpful to show your intellectual vitality. What matters is why that subject interests you. Copyright 2010 Professors’ Guide LLC. All rights reserved.
** Summer Assignments adapted from Summer Assignments by Katheryn Hans of Loudon County, Maryland.
Part 2 : Literary Analysis Review
Know these terms. This is not a conclusive list of literary terms for AP Literature; students should be familiar with these terms at the beginning of the year. Please review the terms and ensure that you know each definition and can identify an example
There will be a quiz during the second week of school and again the third week!
Narrative Poetry
Point of View Ode
First Person Narration Ballad
Third Person Narration Dramatic monologue
- Omniscient Narration Elegy
- Limited Omniscient Narration Lyric
- Free Indirect Discourse End Rhyme
Objective Narration Quatrain
Unreliable Narrator Tercet
Stream of Consciousness Enjambment
Iambic Pentameter
Character Sonnet
Drama
Protagonist Hubris
Antagonist Catharsis
Stock Character Dramatic Irony
Dynamic Character Soliloquy
Flat Character Reversal
Round Character Tragic Flaw
Foil
Confidant/ Confidante Literary Devices
Mentor Alliteration Motif
Assonance Symbol
Charatcterization Apostrophe Irony
Direct Characterization Cacophony Theme
Indirect Characterization Cliché Thesis
Metaphor Simile
Hyperbole Allusion
Metonymy Tone
Onomatopoeia Imagery
Oxymoron a.Visual
Paradox b. Olfactory
Personification c. Gustatory
Rhetorical Question d. Auditory
Synecdoche e. Tactile
Antithesis Syntax
Foreshadowing Euphony
Part 3: The Awakening and How to Read Like a Professor
Due Date - First day of school
Read these two books, simultaneously, one before the other, it doesn’t matter. Annotate as you will. When you are finished with both texts, apply 3 of Foster’s theories to your reading of The Awakening.(This means you will have three different 1-page TYPED response papers).
Claim Paper Guidelines (CPG)
Core Writing Skills:
Making an argumentative claim Integrating and citing evidence
Supporting your position with textual evidence Taking a risk in your analysis
Assessment:
Each response paper will be worth 10 points, and will be assessed using the standard 4-point rubric.
Formatting Requirements:
Each response paper should be one page, typed and double-spaced
Give each paper a standard MLA heading
Title each paper “The Awakening: [Foster’s chapter title]” (fill the brackets in with the appropriately title)
Label your “claim,” then analyze that claim in a well-developed paragraph
Your response cannot exceed one page in length, so make sure your analysis is concise and focused—NO FLUFF
Content Requirements:
Claim: The claim is a statement of argument that you will prove with evidence and analysis. Your claim should be argumentative, focused, and specific. Your claim in each response paper must address the assigned element of literary analysis.
Analysis: Support your claim with detailed analysis. Primarily, you’ll use textual evidence as support, and you must provide commentary on how the evidence proves your claim. You should include evidence from both texts.
The most important content requirement for these response papers: TAKEARISK. Push yourself to argue something new and expand your analysis skills.
Sample: