AP English 11 Summer Reading Assignment

for sophomores planning to take AP English 11

The AP curriculum requires that students read a specified number of pages every quarter, but we will deviate from that slightly – I require that you read 2 books per quarter. Books must come off one of the AP reading lists (one generated by the AP exam and one a list of significant non-fiction). You cannot read and report on a book you have already read. More about this in August.

Summer reading this year includes In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Native Son by Richard Wright.

In Cold Bloodtells the true story of the brutal murder of a family of four in a small Kansas town in the 1950s, the nationwide manhunt for their killers, and their trial and execution. Truman Capote began a new genre with this book: the nonfiction novel –it is nonfiction, but reads like a novel. While the killing was brutal, Capote does not detail the brutality of it; by today’s standards this is not a graphic or brutal book.

We will use this book to learn some essential rhetorical elements: modes or patterns of rhetoric, syntax, argumentation, rhetorical triangle, and rhetorical appeals. Because we will begin using this book immediately we come back in August, you will need to complete In Cold Blood over the summer. You will also have a dialectic journal assignment. See the next page for the dialectic journal assignment. You can also count on a test at the beginning of the school year over the both books.

Our first major writing assignment will be an argumentative essay: was the death sentence justified in this case? Strong arguments and evidence exist for both sides of this question, and you will use your dialectic journal to collect evidence for your essay.

You will need your own copy of the book: You can likely find a copy of it on Amazon or maybe the used bookstore in town. You do need a credit or debit card to purchase from Amazon. If you want a new book from Amazon, do it with a friend; you will save on shipping and handling. (If you cannot get your own copy, contact me as I have a few extra copies.)

For Native Son, you will write an essay. This essay will be submitted to Turn It In for plagiarism check. Any match to sites such as Endnotes, Sparknotes, Cliff Notes, or anything like them will result in a zero for the assignment.

The essay topics are on an attached page.

Please note that I DO NOT accept late work, so make sure you have the assignments ready and with you on the first day of school. Your Native Son essay will be due a couple of weeks into the semester because we will not have the computers until then.

These books are by significant American authors of various ethnicities and have been used multiple times on the AP exam.

I hope you enjoy these books – they are challenging, but they are about significant issues in American history, culture, and literature.

Laura Lucero-Carrillo ()

Native Son essay

Choose one of the following topics and write an essay over it. Be sure to use facts from the book and related historical events in your essay. Cite your sources using MLA. You can find MLA help on this site:

You must include a works cited page. Use the OWL Purdue site (above) to see how to format this. You may also contact me with questions.

It is vital you understand that plagiarism will not be tolerated! Do your own work; Turn It In will tell me if you plagiarized. You will turn this in within the first three weeks of school, but your test will be on Day 1.

Topics:

  1. The author of this novel, Richard Wright, used actual historical events in the novel to bring more life to the story and to aid in his plot. In particular he mentioned the Scottsboro Boys and the Leob and Leopold Case. Write an essay about these cases and how they fit into the novel. Add any additional points used that were from real historical events.
  2. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore a political or social issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
  3. Alienation is a very important theme in Richard Wright’s novel. One definition of alienation is that it is the condition in which all human beings are the creators of wealth and culture of a society, but few are allowed to participate in the fruit of their creation. The majority are denied that enjoyment. Instead of controlling society, they are controlled by it. Instead of being or feeling included, they are excluded, or alienated. Discuss how Bigger’s life is a life alienated from American society.
  4. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Native Son is a novel in which such a character plays a significant role. Show how Bigger’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions or moral values.

Remember: DO NOT SUMMARIZE!!! I read the book…I’m not interested in knowing what happened in the book except the way it relates to your essay topic!

In Cold Blood

Double-entry Journal (aka dialectic journal)

In Cold Blood is divided into 4 sections; each is approximately 90 pages long. For each of the four sections I want you to find 4 significant quotes that will help you write your essay (this will be due in Sept.).

The essay question is: Was the death sentence in this case justified? In considering whether it was justified, you might want to consider some sub-questions? There is no question about the defendants’ guilt, but that still might not mean the sentence is justified. (I have a definite opinion on this, but I could argue with convincing evidence either way.) Consider some of these questions:

1)What options other than the death penalty were available, and were they good options?

2)Were these men a threat to others if they were ever let loose?

3)Was their trial a fair trial (consider the competence of the attorneys, the venue (location) of the trial, the defendants’ access to psychologists, etc., and you may think of other good questions)?

4)Were there mitigating circumstances? (You might need to look up mitigating – I believe that today these men might not have been executed because of some background issues.)

5)Were the men mentally competent to stand trial? Did they know the murder was wrong?

6)There might be other questions you think of – do not rely on my list alone.

Procedure for creating a double-entry journal:

  1. Divide paper in half; this will actually give you 3 columns. The outside left margin (to the left of the red margin line) is the first column and contains the page number of your quote.
  2. Write your quote in the second column; this doesn’t need to be long and might not even be a whole sentence though it usually is.
  3. The third column contains your commentary (explanation) – a minimum of two carefully thought out sentences.
  4. You may type this if you prefer (and I prefer that you do).

Example (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

QuoteCommentary

“You don’t know me without you have Twain uses an informal conversational style; it feels

read a book by the name of The Adventuresrelaxed and comfortable. The way the narrator speaks

of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter.about Twain and the use of “me” and “you” gives the

That book was made by Mr. Mark Twainfeeling of two people just sitting and talking. It involves the he told the truth mainly.” reader with Huck. The novel’s mentioning the author is very unusual. (Your commentary might be shorter than this.)

I fold the dialectic journal paper in half lengthwise and use it for my bookmark, so I always have it handy. It is much easier to write your quotes as you go along. And if you find and write down more than 16 quotes, that’s great – it gives you more possible material when it comes to writing the essay.

Be sure all quotes go back to the essay prompt!!! Page numbers are vital! This is due on the first day of school!!