AP English Language/Honors American Literature

Pre-Course Reading

The purpose of pre-course reading is to sustain the powers of the imagination and to explore worlds of characters, settings, plots, and ideas we can visit only through literature.

As an AP student, you are required to read two books for the fall semester and one for the spring semester.

During the first week of the semester, your English teacher will evaluate your reading with various types of assessment. AP Language focuses on nonfiction writings; therefore, it is crucial that you read these books to acquaint yourself with writing as a craft. We will have class discussions and assignments associated with these books when you return to school as well as reference them throughout the year.

Materials** needed:

  • copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (2nd edition) (Lexile 1150)
  • copy of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (Lexile 1270-print only)
  • copy of “Death of an Innocent” by Jon Krakauer ()

ASSIGNMENTS for FALL Semester:

  1. Annotate it everything you read. What does that mean? mark important details and make notes in the margins: questions, connections, etc.
  1. Read and annotate the following chapters from How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster: Ch. 11, 13, 19, 20 and 26.
  1. Read and annotate Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Complete SOAPSTone and DIDS on the first page of the book. You will need to do this TYPED ON the attached pages and turn it in the first week of school. Continue to annotate the rest of the book with your own comments, questions, connections, etc.
  1. Respond to ONE of the following prompts (Due the second week of school). Each response should be a ONE typed page essay (use MLA format), citing specific evdidence/quotes from the work to support your analysis. The evidence from the work is your proof that you read the nonfiction piece.

Prompt A: Choose a passage from the work that you feel delineates the author’s purpose for writing this piece of nonfiction. Quote it; then explain both the passage and the reason you feel it represents the purpose. Remember to ask yourself: Why did the author write this book? What is the author hoping that I, the reader, get out of this work? How does this passage reflect that message?

Prompt B: Choose a passage from the work that best reflects the author’s style. Quote it; then discuss the style, being sure to consider the following: Diction, sentence structure, and tone.

  1. Read and annotate “Death of an Innocent” by Jon Krakauer.

ASSIGNMENTS for SPRING Semester:

ReadONE work from the following list and be prepared to write an in-class essay on it. We will spend some time preparing for this essay.

  • Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle (1010)The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. Author Jeanette Walls is the voice of the story, which begins with her unconventional childhood (starting at the age of three) and culminating in her adult success as an editor, journalist, and writer. Rationale: This is a compelling memoir which raises excellent questions about family, prioritization, dreams, reality, and the power of perseverance to overcome whatever challenges a person faces. Walls’ writing style merits analysis.
  • Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers (no lexile available)

Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. He also introduces us to his “10,000 hour rule.” Rationale: We use this nonfiction piece to introduce students to the argumentation unit, one essay on the AP Exam.

**Be advised some books may contain somewhat explicit language, sexual references, or mature subject matter. If there are any questions, contact the English Department Chair at

Speaker
The author and the speaker are NOT necessarily the same. An author may choose to tell the story from any number of different points of view. In non-fiction consider important facts about speaker that will help assess his/her point of view / position.
Occasion
The time and place of the piece; the context that encouraged the writing to happen. Writing does not occur in a vacuum. There is the larger occasion: an environment of ideas and emotions that swirl around a broad issue. Then there is the immediate occasion: an event or situation that catches the writer’s attention and triggers a response.
Audience
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. The audience may be one person, a small group, or a large group; it may be a certain person or a certain people.
Purpose
The reason behind the text. Consider the purpose of the text in order to examine the argument and its logic. You should ask yourself, “What does the speaker want the audience to think or do as a result of reading this text?”
Subject
The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. You should be able to state the subject in a few words or a phrase.
Tone
The attitude of the author. With the written work, it is tone that extends meaning beyond the literal. Tone can be determined by examining the author’s diction (choice of words), syntax (sentence construction), and imagery (vivid descriptions that appeal to the senses).

DIDS

Diction: Jot down words that seem to have strong effects, or jump out at you. Then make a claim about the effect these words have on the reader, or on the text in general.
Claim:
Imagery: Jot down words/phrases that are vivid, or appeal to a specific sense. Then make a claim about the effect these words have on the reader, or on the text in general.
Claim:
Details: List any details, or facts that are mentioned (or those which are left out). Then make a claim about what these details seem to indicate about the author’s tone.
Claim:
Syntax: What kinds of sentences are used? (See handout for help). How do these structures affect the reader? What do they indicate about the author’s tone?
Claim: