ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH IV
Summer Reading Assignment
Advanced Placement English IV: Literature and Composition is a college course that engages students in the
careful reading and critical analysis of literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their
understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As students
read, they consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as the use of figurative language, imagery,
symbolism, and tone. This course, designed for students reading and writing two years above grade level, explores
fiction and nonfiction that may contain sophisticated concepts, themes, and language. AP English IV is
recommended for students with a strong interest in reading, discussion, and analysis of literature.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT:
The AP English IV summer reading program is an essential feature of the AP English class, and it serves two
functions: (1) to keep students active as readers and thinkers, and (2) to ease the reading load during the class year.
This assignment will ease the pressure and transition into the program for next year. Do not procrastinate. There
will be an assessment over these works during the second week of school. Please obtain the books as soon as you
can. If you wait until the summer to start, the books may be hard to find.
You will read three selections:
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster
(You will read the Introduction and the first 3 chapters during the
summer. Keep the book for later assignments during the school year.)
Vampire novel of your choice (see examples below)
These books may be purchased on-line or at one of the local bookstores, or if that is prohibitive, students may check
out a copy from the public library. The full text of the original novel Dracula exists online at the Project Gutenberg
website, www.gutenberg.org: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345
Students may also contact their school campus for additional help in locating copies of these books. We will begin
the school year with these pieces, so it is imperative to do the work before school begins. Associated writings and
tests will be given during the second week of school.
MISD policies regarding collaboration, collusion and plagiarism will be enforced. This is an assignment for
the individual student, not group work.
Due Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2014.
Dracula Activity: Analysis with a Vampire
What with Twilight and True Blood showing up on the scene, you may think this whole vampire thing is a recent
phenomenon. Don't be fooled; we have long had a morbid fascination with the vampire myth. Dracula isn't the only
vampire book worth talking about, and you are about to experience that fact firsthand.
In fact, one could argue that Dracula is at least partially responsible for a whole genre of literature around vampire
lore. All those Victorian values may seem out of date, but Bram Stoker was ahead of his time with this vampire
stuff, and this lesson is all about putting Dracula into that big picture context and understanding how this novel is
influencing pop culture even today.
You will complete an independent study on a non-Dracula vampire novel and write a comparative analysis of the
two books. You will consider how Dracula is used as source material for your novel and how the evolution of the
vampire myth reveals changing cultural attitudes. This is a good text-to-text study.
Step 1: Let's get warmed up, shall we? Begin by reading the Introduction and first three chapters of How to Read
Literature Like a Professor. Answer the following questions in complete sentences:
Introduction
1. What are the three “items that…separate the professorial reader from the rest of the crowd”?
Chapter 1: Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)
2. What five things does a quest consist of?
3. What is the real reason for a quest (always)?
Chapter 2: Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
4. For what reason does Foster suggest that authors often include meal scenes?
Chapter 3: Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
5. What is literal vampirism?
6. What is symbolic vampirism?
7. What are the “essentials of the vampire story” and what do they represent?
Step 2: Read Dracula and answer the following questions before and after you read.
8. What perceptions did you have about vampires and vampire stories before reading Bram Stoker's novel?
9. How did your perceptions about vampires affect your reading of Bram Stoker's novel? Were you
surprised by any aspects of Stoker's vampire?
Step 3: After you finish reading Dracula, you will select a vampire novel to read (pretend you're reading for
pleasure—wait—choose a novel you're interested in and you will be reading for pleasure). Lovevampires.com is a
great resource for a HUGE list of vampire titles. Here are just a few recommendations:
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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (True Blood is based on these
books)
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Fat Vampire: A Never Coming-of-Age Story by Adam Rex
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Vampire High by Douglas Rees
Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Insatiable by Meg Cabot
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
Step 4: The nuts and bolts: You will annotate your texts and take notes in preparation for writing an analysis that
compares your independent novel to Dracula. You should focus specifically on the lore of the vampire and how it
relates to the source material in Dracula. You should also compare the cultural attitudes in the two books, especially
as they relate to the major themes of Dracula, such as gender roles, sexuality, morality, the "Other," etc. (Check out
Shmoop.com's discussion of Dracula's themes for help here.) Your analysis, which will be written after school
starts, should be based on solid text evidence from both books. With that in mind, answer the following questions in
complete sentences:
10. What are the book's "rules" for humans turning into vampires?
11. What are the book's rules for killing or warding off vampires?
12. How are the vampires portrayed from a moral standpoint? Are they presented as villains, heroes,
or somewhere in the middle on the morality scale?
13. Are there characters in the book who are anti-vampire or who try to hunt vampires? How are they
portrayed?
14. Who is the villain or antagonist in the novel? Who is the protagonist? Do these roles follow the
typical good vs. evil structure?
15. How does the theme of religion play into the novel? Does religion play into the novel at all?
16. How is sexuality related to the vampires and/or to the perception of good vs. evil in the book?
17. How does foreignness or the idea of the "Other" play into the book? Is the vampire the Other, or is
it another character?
18. How is the idea of immortality dealt with in the book? Is it seen as a blessing, a curse, or an
abomination?
19. What aspects of the vampire lore in your book seem to draw on elements of Dracula? Where does
the author depart from the Dracula tradition?
20. Why do you think the author makes these choices? How does the portrayal of vampires relate to
the cultural values at the time the book was written?
Step 5: When school begins. You will turn in your answers to the 20 questions numbered on this assignment,
preferably typed. If you prefer to handwrite your paragraphs, please use blue or black ink.