Schrader/Zeman 2017-2018
English III-AP Summer Reading Assignment
For your summer reading, you will need to select a non-fiction book. While you may select anything of literary merit, students in the past have enjoyed the following:
Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai
Ghost Soldiers , by Hampton Sides
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson
The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, by Sarah Miller
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, by Stacy Schiff
On Writing, by Stephen King
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
Shaken, by Tim Tebow
1. After you read, you will need to write a 500 word (typed, double-spaced with an MLA heading) personal response essay in which you respond to an issue or point of interest.
A sample MLA heading and format is given below.
2. You will also need to complete a rhetorical précis for your book. A template to help you write the précis is on the back of this sheet. Précis must be typed in MLA format also, and should be on a separate document.
MLA format
Your name
Schrader/Zeman
English IIIAP
Due date
Summer Reading Response
The above is double-spaced (as shown) in the TOP LEFT CORNER OF YOUR ESSAY. DO NOT put it in the header. It should not reappear on the second page of your essay.
The second page of your essay should have a header with your last name only and the page number in the upper right-hand corner.
The title of the assignment should be centered on the line below the heading on the first page.
The Rhetorical Précis
Your précis should be made up of four sentences:
1. Name of author, (optional: a phrase describing author), category and title of work, date in parentheses; a rhetorically accurate verb (such as “asserts”, “argues”, “suggests”, “implies”, “claims”); and a THAT clause containing major assertion (thesis statement or “promise” sentence) of the work.
2. An explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, usually in chronological order. Think in terms of patterns of development (does the writer use narration? Description? Cause and effect reasoning? Definition? Comparison and contrast?, etc.), how the text is arranged , and the appeals to logic, emotion, and credibility.
3. A statement of the author’s apparent purpose.
4. A description of the intended audience and the relationship the author establishes with the audience.
In his/her ______(type/genre of writing), ______(title of piece), ______(author) observes (can substitute another rhetorically accurate verb) that ______(major assertion). S/he illustrates this by ______(indicate how the author develops his/her assertion—but don’t go into detailed explanation here). ______‘s (author’s name) purpose is to ______. S/he writes with ______(describe tone of writing) to ______(describe the intended audience) to ______(explain the relationship established with the audience and his purpose).