2015 – 2016 AP Language and Composition
Summer Reading
**House on Mango Street
**Cry, the Beloved Country
Sandra Cisneros
Alan Paton
Summer Reading Assignments
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Assignment #1: After reading House on Mango Street, make a list of five quotations from
the novel. For each quotation, explain why you chose it, why it is important to the novel, and
what theme it would support.
Assignment #2: Write an essay in which you discuss the differences and similarities
between Esperanza’s neighborhood and your own. The essay is to be a minimum of 700
words. Follow MLA guidelines for in-text citations, works cited page information, and page
formatting. Be sure that your paper includes a clear thesis statement, body paragraphs
organized with topic sentences, examples, and explanations, and a solid, conclusive ending.
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Directions: Choose two questions from each of the following categories and answer in
complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper. This should be typed. Some answers will
be longer than others. Be thorough with your answers. You must also write the essay (see
below under Evaluation).
Paton’s Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
Define “style” as applied to a literary work?
Turn to Chapter 2. How does Paton punctuate dialogue?
What does that punctuation do for the story?
What does Paton’s use of actual place names and some Afrikaan and Zulu words
do for the story?
5. Go back to Chapter 1 to read paragraphs 1 and 2. Now turn to Chapter 18, the
beginning of Book II, to read paragraphs 1 and 2. What is obviously true of these
two passages?
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6. Read on in Chapter 18 to see who is viewing the scene this time. What does this
repetition with a new observer do for the novel?
7. Critics have at times noted the poetic qualities of the passages referred to
above.
8. List at least five images that could be considered poetic.
9. What might the author be saying by using such a poetic setting in contrast with
the novel’s events?
10. What mood do these passages create?
11. Even in those passages that are strictly prose, Paton writes with great
conciseness what he wishes to say. One example is found in Chapter 5 (page
52). It begins, “So they all talked of the sickness of the land.” List at least three
details about the African situation that you learn from this short summary
paragraph.
Man and Society in Conflict
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
The struggle against the forces of nature
The struggle against another person
The struggle against society as a force
The struggle of two elements for mastery within oneself
The struggle against fate or destiny
1. Which of these conflicts can be found in Book I? Within whom is each found? Which
conflict appears to be the most important?
2. Which of these conflicts can be found in Book II? Within whom is each found?
3. Why can one not say that the basic conflict is white vs. black?
4. What then is the dominant conflict? How are both black and white losers in the
struggle? Is there any victory?
5. What event in Book II becomes the climax, if you consider both the point of highest
emotional interest and the point at which one force wins out and then rising action
reverses itself and becomes the falling action?
6. Although Book III becomes the falling action, it also becomes the beginning of a
solution to society’s ills. What is the force that has overcome the fear that each race
has had for the other?
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Theme
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the theme to the novel?
Give examples from the book of the kind of treatment suggested by this theme.
What does the novel repeatedly show to be the cause of such treatment?
List actions by Stephen Kumalo that show him to be different from the people who fit
this theme.
5. What events cause James Jarvis to see the plight of the black people in Ndotsheni?
6. What events at the end of the novel imply a solution to the truth stated in the theme?
7. What is the one quality that can eliminate the cause spoken on in question 3 above?
8. What, if anything, has changed in the social structure between black and white in
Ndotsheni?
9. Of what significance is it that Jarvis’ grandson wants to learn the Zulu language?
Think beyond this as merely a device to get Jarvis to help Kumalo.
10. Note the guarded optimism of the final paragraph. Before a real dawn of
understanding can come to Africa, what are the specific changes that will liberate
white and black from “the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear?” What bondages
does each race fear today, and what fears hold each in bondage?
Characterization
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
In what ways are James Jarvis and Stephen Kumalo different?
What circumstances bring them together?
How are their lives parallel (alike)?
How are Arthur Jarvis and Absalom Kumalo contrasted?
Look up the Bible story of Absalom, King David’s son, in 2 Samuel 13-19. Why do you
think Alan Paton named Kumalo’s son Absalom?
6. Absalom is also called a “prodigal.” Look up that parable told by Jesus and recorded
in Luke 15:11-32. Why is this an apt term applied to him?
7. Instead of the protagonist-antagonist relationship, what framework has Paton used in
developing his characters?
8. Why is such a framework excellent for developing Paton’s theme?
Evaluation
Write an essay in which you discuss the universality of the novel’s theme and characters. In
your essay, do not deal with the social or racial problems as such; instead, decide what the
novel says about human experience and the motivation for human actions. Then use specific
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examples from your own experience or knowledge of human behavior to show that Paton’s
characters and theme have universality, that they are representative of people in other
situations. The essay is to be a minimum of three pages.
*Be sure to follow the “Top Ten” writing/revising tips and rubric.
Essay Rubric
Category:
Explanation:
Points:
Thesis / Main Claim
The essay expresses a clear, focused, and
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specific thesis statement related to the
assignment.
Thesis Support and
The essay body is connected to the thesis
Connection
and clearly supports the main claim.
Organization and
The organization of the essay is logical and
Transitions
supports its claims, including sentence to
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sentence and paragraph to paragraph
transitions.
Reflection
The essay’s ideas include evidence and
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reflection related to the thesis and claims
within the essay’s body.
Editing
The essay has been well edited and polished,
10
including punctuation and grammar.
MLA Format
The essay is MLA formatted, including
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headers, identifying information (name,
course, teacher’s name, date, title, page
numbers, margins, font, spacing), in-text
citations, and works cited page and entries.
*All assignments are to be printed and turned in on the first day of school, August 2015.
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