Harding University High School
Summer Reading for Aspiring Advanced Placement Language Students 2011 – 2012
(Advance Placement English III)
Welcome to the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class. To help you
prepare for our rigorous and stimulating sessions coming up in the fall, we’ve prepared what we regard as a well balanced literary feast for you and given you some choices. First, read the entire summer reading assignment so you know what to look for as you read. Take notes as you read, thorough enough to serve in August/September as a review for a test and enable you to discuss the books readily; but not so detailed as to spoil the pleasure of reading. You also have some other assignments to complete, so please read this entire assignment sheet. You do have two books to read by August – the second day of school. Enjoy!
A. Read Black Boy by Richard Wright
o While reading Black Boy, you will collect a minimum of at least six (6) annotated passages/quotes from the novel. Then you will write a REFLECTIVE LETTER about Black Boy and your reactions to both it and the annotated passages that you assembled. (See the next page for the procedure).
B. Read one of the following non-fiction books.
• Bissinger, H. G. Friday Night Lights
• Bryson, Bill, Mother Tongue
• Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickled and Dimed in America
• Friedman, Thomas L, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
• Gladwell, Malcolm, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
• Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth
• Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics
• Lewis, Michael, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (baseball)
• Loewen, James, Lies My Teacher Told Me
• Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace
• Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope
• Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation
• Steinberg, The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College
• Wills, George. Lincoln at Gettysburg
Black Boy Quotation Project
While reading Black Boy, you will collect a minimum of at least six (6) annotated passages/quotations from the novel. Then you will write a REFLECTIVE LETTER about the novel that you read and your reactions to both it and the annotated passages that you assembled.
Procedure
o Use post-its to note/mark passages as you read. Every time you encounter a particularly important, provocative, dramatic, surprising, even disturbing passage, mark it with a post-it note. Only when you have completed the novel will you look at all those passages and decide which to toss out and which to keep.
o Copy the chosen passages down (including page numbers) and then write about each passage in the following ways:
a. First, in a well-written paragraph explain how the passage "fits" into the novel (does the passage add to the character development, the plot line, the details of setting, and so forth). Discuss the importance of the passage to the book’s message or meaning or theme.
b. Then, in another well-written paragraph react to the passage as a reader. Make us understand WHY you have selected this passage. To generate responses, you can consider the following as suggested prompts or questions:
i. Why does the passage impress, intrigue, horrify, or puzzle you?
ii. Do you find the author’s use of language appealing or powerful? Does the
iii. Is it particularly meaningful? Is it a high point in the book?
iv. Do you find yourself in agreement/disagreement with the ideas expressed?
v. Does the passage remind you of a situation you have lived as well?
vi. Does the passage make you laugh out loud or make you melancholy or make you something else?
vii. Does the author or the character raise intriguing questions or issues?
viii. Does the passage challenge or expand your thinking?
o Lastly, you need to write us a REFLECTIVE LETTER about reading this novel and creating your quotations paper. Write about the thoughts and feelings and observations and new insights you experienced while reading your novel. Some things to think about for your letter may include, but are not exclusive to:
a. Tell us what you worked on the hardest or struggled with in doing this assignment.
b. Share with us what you think you did well: what worked, really worked.
c. Show where you were drawn into the novel and where you were pulled away from the novel.
d. Identify in your opinion the author’s – or the story’s – greatest strength and weakness.
e. Discuss in what ways the novel is similar to your life.
f. Explore what value, besides entertainment, this book has.
g. Share your overall impressions of the novel.
h. Discuss if you found yourself changing your mind about the book and/or the assignment.
i. Tell us what you as a reader and as a student need to focus on for the next assignment.