Summer Assignment, 2016
Ms. Nizer & Mr. Curet
“What I like best is a book
that’s at least funny once in
a while.... What really knocks
me out is a book that, when
you’re all done reading it,
you wish the author that
wrote it was a terrific friend
of yours and you could call
him up on the phone
whenever you felt like it.
That doesn’t happen much,
though.”
--J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Advanced Placement English Literature is a unique opportunity in that students are afforded the chance to work with other highly motivated and capable students for the purpose of analyzing literature. Through group interaction and discussion, students will gain a deeper appreciation of literature and see, firsthand, the importance of truly listening to diverse opinions. Although you will learn and apply practical strategies for dealing with A.P. style test questions in preparation for the exam in May, you will also experience the “essence” of a college course. It is our goal to prepare you for the challenges that you will face as a college freshman. We want you to be equipped with some of the basic skills needed to succeed, not just in a Literature course, but in other courses as well. We want you to gain confidence in your analytical abilities, feel comfortable contributing to seminar discussions and be able to analyze a work in-depth. We also want you to become better at examining and analyzing your own writing. In the end, you will, of course, take the A.P. test, but you will also be able to say that you survived a rigorous college-level course.
On a more personal note, I am looking forward to this class becoming a collaborative effort between you, your classmates, and me. We will function as a community of learners. If you are committed to and focused on the work as well as to listening and learning from each other, this class will ultimately become one in which we are all teachers and students. Each of us will have a voice. We have a lot to offer each other and we can’t wait to get started.
Now, something to consider before we discuss the specifics of the summer assignment...
In today’s television/movie saturated society, many of us have become dependent on others to provide us with images and ideas. Because we are used to passively sitting back while someone else feeds us explicit images and plays us dynamic music, reading a book sometimes becomes problematic. How do we know what to see and/or feel while looking at a black & white printed page? Due to lack of practice, many people are losing the capacity to visualize and emotionally respond to the written word. In Advanced Placement English Literature, we’d like you to work on reclaiming and/or expanding that capacity. As you read in this class, we would like you to work on becoming an ACTIVE READER— a reader who actively engages and interacts with the text. Instead of just reading the words, we would like you to always consider the following:
•Look at the title of the work and try to guess what it may be about. As you read, look for direct references to the title or clues to its origin or meaning.
•As you read try to visualize each scene and character. Fill in the gaps.
•Try to hear the dialogue--the pitch, tone and volume of various voices.
•Become aware of your response to the setting. What dominant impression do you get from the description of the setting? What words or phrases create that impression?
•What are your impressions of the various characters? How do you judge the characters and their behavior? What in the text leads you to this judgment? What experiences in your life may be influencing your judgments?
•What are your responses to the various events in the text? Did you laugh, smile, worry, get scared, get angry, feel a thrill, learn a great deal, feel proud, find a lot to think about? What? What in the text caused these reactions? What in your own experience might be affecting your reactions?
•How does the narrator feel about the characters and events? How do you feel about the narrator? Do you trust his/her point of view? What in the text leads you to feel this way?
•Relate the characters and events to people you know and experiences you’ve had.
•Ask questions about things that confuse you and formulate possible answers.
•At various points in your reading, make predictions about what might happen next in the story and try to pinpoint what in the text or in your own experience made you make that prediction.
•Think about what might have happened if a character had made a different choice or if a certain event hadn’t taken place.
•Write down or mark important passages--passages that seem to jump out at you and demand your attention. Also write down any profound revelations that you had as your read.
•Try to see patterns developing. Pay attention to images, phrases, words or figures of speech that are repeated--and try to make some sort of connection.
•Pay attention to how conflicts develop and how they are resolved.
•Relate events, characters, ideas, etc to those in other works you’ve read.
•Pay attention to the various themes the work addresses. Try to determine the author’s point of view on these subjects--and express this in a thematic statement. Is there a connection between the work’s theme(s) and its title?
•Ask yourself how the cultural issues of your own time might influence your reading of the text. Think about how cultural issues in the writer’s time may have influenced what he/she wrote.
Instead of just reading the words of a piece of literature, I would like you to become aware of what happens to you as you read them. Then I would like you to consider why you think or feel as you do--What in the text or in your experience caused your reaction? As a reader you bring to a text certain ideas you have developed from your own experiences, from other books/essays and articles you’ve read, from things other people have told you and from things you’ve seen and heard on television, films, etc. This “excess baggage” can be both beneficial and obtrusive. Recognizing that each of us has particularideologies or prejudices that contribute to our emotional and intellectual responses to any given text is the first step toward understanding our own personal response.
It is important for you to identify which of your responses can be supported by information/details from the text and which ones cannot. You need to see that you may have a point of view about a certain subject or personal reaction to a certain character that comes from an outside experience unrelated to the text— and that may lead you to an erroneous interpretation of the characters and events. It is possible to misunderstand the author’s intent and to totally misread a text if you are not careful. Although a text can be interpreted in a variety of ways, it cannot mean anything you want it to mean. You must be able to support your interpretation with evidence from the text.Thus, as you read, work on becoming aware of how you are responding and on figuring out why you are responding that way. Become aware of your thinking processes (metacognition).
“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe
shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish”
--John Jakes
PART 1 of the assignment...
Choose, read and annotate ONE of the following texts in its unabridged edition:
- Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
- Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
- Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
- Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre
- Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
Also consider reading appropriate background material so that you have a feel for the time period either novel was produced in. “Researching” the works may help you make your choice as well as giving you background information pertinent to your choice.
The assignment: Teach an aspect of the book
The assignment is to come up with your own assignment and complete it. That’s right. You read this correctly. I want you to think about your novel and what makes it worthy of study. What effect did it have on you as a reader? What did you take away from the work? Then, get a little creative… or a lot. You can be traditional….write a paper, research a related topic, or, you can use your talents to create something totally unusual and extraordinary. It’s totally up to you!
Create an original visual to accompany your lesson; one that you create, is visible to everyone in the classroom, and furthers the understanding of your lesson.
Basically, I want you to enjoy what you read and deal with it on your own terms. I want to give you the freedom to be independent thinkers. This is, after all, an A.P. course and I am confident that you’ll come up with something that showcases your individual abilities and talents. Are you a painter? A poet? A sculptor? A playwright? An actor? A philosopher? A photographer? A singer? A combination of several of these things? This is what I am looking to discover…how you can synthesize what you’ve learned and turn it into a meaningful expression of that knowledge. It probably goes without saying, but just to be safe, let me clarify. Your project should reflect the fact that youhave read the novel or play and that you have put forth effort in both developing AND completing the assignment. I will assume that you will have dedicated approximately five hours to the development of this assignment. A scoring rubric is attached. I reserve the right to deduct points for any assignment that demonstrates minimal effort. Your project and presentation must prove that you have read the novel.
You are also required to submit a typed, (12 Font, Times New Roman, 1” margin all around, double spaced (check your formatting to make sure it does not a default oppose to these specifics). ONE FULL PAGE description of the assignment that you gave yourself and an explanation of why you chose the particular assignment.
PART 2 of the assignment...
With all of that in mind, I would like you to read the unabridged 1818 version ofFrankenstein, by Mary Shelley, and come to class the first day prepared to respond an AP Literature Free-Response Question. This type of essay, AP Lit Q3, is generic in that it will request that you discuss an aspect of the novel (character or plot development, the necessity for a specific type of character, etc.) and tie it into the theme. I suggest you read Frankenstein in August so that it is still fresh in your mind for the essay and seminars. You may use any notes you have taken and the novel during seminar.
Above all else, recognize that reading is a process--and that you can only improve your skill in this process by actively practicing it. Making a conscious and consistent effort to answer the questions and use multiple, active-reading strategies will help you become a better, more active reader.
You will be able to acquire copies of Frankensteinand your other novel choice in any of the local bookstores, online, or in the local libraries in order to complete the assignment.
Part 1 is due when you walk in the door the first class. If you have an electronic visual it must be sent to me 24 hours in advance of your class.
Part 2 of your summer assignment will be completed the 1st day of class, in class.
I also want to remind you to be prepared for a graded, seminar AND an additional FRQ on Frankenstein at the beginning of the third week of class.
That’sit.Ihope you have a GREAT summer. Should you have any questions about any part of this assignment, you may e-mail Ms. Nizer ()or Mr. Curet ().
Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
FRQ Rubric
9-8
Superior papers are persuasive in their argument, specific in their references, cogent in their definitions, and free of plot summary. These essays need not be without flaws, but they demonstrate the writer's ability to discuss a prompt with insight and understanding and to control a wide range of the elements of composition. At all times, they make a convincing case for their interpretation and stay focused on the question and the thesis. These papers reflect stylistic flair and in-depth and original analysis, with apt and specific concrete supporting details. This score is equivalent to an A.
7-6
These competent papers offer a reasonable analysis and refer to the text for support. They demonstrate the writer's ability to effectively express ideas clearly, and they provide a sustained argument; however, they reveal a more limited understanding than do the papers in the 9-8 range. Generally, 6 essays present a less sophisticated analysis and less consistent command of the elements of effective writing than essays scored 7. This score is equivalent to a B.
5
Offering a safe and plausible analysis, these essays tend to be superficial or underdeveloped. Discussion of meaning may be mechanical, or inadequately related to the chosen details, and the argument may be minimally supported. They may be formulaic and are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as the upper papers. On the other hand, the writing is adequate to convey the writer's ideas and stays focused on the prompt. This score is equivalent to a C.
4-3
These papers fail to offer an adequate analysis as discussion is likely to be unpersuasive, unfocused, undeveloped, or misguided. The meaning they deduce may be inaccurate or insubstantial and not clearly related to the question. Part of the question may be omitted altogether, or the presentation of ideas may be repetitive. The writing may convey the writer's ideas, but it reveals weaker control over such elements as diction, organization, syntax, or grammar. The 3 essays may contain significant misinterpretations of the question or the work they discuss; they may also contain little, if any, supporting evidence, and practice paraphrase and plot summary at the expense of analysis. This score is equivalent to a D/E.
2-1
These essays compound the weakness of essays in the 4-3 range and are frequently unacceptably brief. They may persistently misread, and usually offer little clarity, organization, or support. They may be poorly written on several counts, including many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics. Although the writer may have made some effort to answer the question, the views presented have little clarity or coherence. This score is equivalent to an E.
This rubric must be attached to your Catcher in the Ryeessay.
AP Literature –Part 1
The two Common Core Speaking and Listening standards below are your guiding goals for your presentation. Use them as a check list. You are teaching the class about your chosen novel and your lesson. Your visual(s) are meant to enhance your presentation, to allow the audience to follow the presentation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
AP Literature –Book 2
What is the purpose of your lesson? is the website address for the literacy/reading literature standards for grades 11 &12. You may also use a standard for grade 10. In your lesson explication, include which standard you are using. Though not inclusive of all the literary standards, the following standards are applicable to your presentation.
Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3: Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Craft and Structure:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5: Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.6: Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9: Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics