AP English Literature: Hall
AP English Literature and Composition 12
Summer Assignment 2014
Welcome to AP English Literature and Composition. Mark Twain once said, “The man who does not
read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” If you have received this
packet you have selected AP Literature for next year; therefore I’d like to congratulate you on the
decision to challenge yourself with one of the most popular AP courses. As a student in an AP class
much is expected from you including, but not limited to, integrity, dedication and diligence. You will be
required to think outside the “norm” and set high expectations for yourself. You will explore a variety of
genres and literary periods and be expected to write clearly about the literature you encounter. You will
be asked to read critically, think clearly, and write concisely. Once you complete this class you will have
cultivated a rich understanding of literary works and acquired a set of analytical skills that you will use
throughout your life.
Introduction
AP Literature and Composition is a class that focuses on the proper and in-depth analysis of literature.
The summer reading assignment is designed to help you build the skills necessary for insightful analysis.
In addition, completion of these three assignments will demonstrate your dedication to the course since
AP Lit. and Comp. requires a great deal of work.
Required Text: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I expect you to purchase and read Pride and Prejudice. You must have your own personal copy of
the novel, because you will be writing in the book and annotating selected passages. Library
copies are not acceptable.
ASSIGNMENT PART I – Glossary of Literary terms:
Literary terms are labels for the precise language tools writers use to create meaning. Your
understanding and use of these writing tools is crucial to your success. While deconstructing a piece of
writing, identifying the tool or technique an author uses is also crucial. Knowing how and why they used
the tool is even more crucial.
These are the terms we will use to interpret what we read. Most of them are from past AP tests. Know
what they mean and how to recognize them – you’ll be tested the first week of school. The terms
should be defined in alphabetical order. You must interpret the definition for yourself. You must
internalize it. You will also use these terms when you analyze the summer reading. When you search,
use the literary/writing definitions. You will use these terms this year when you analyze the readings and
for many of the AP assignments, and the exam.
AP English Literature: Hall
Using the terms listed in this packet; create a glossary in a journal (not a binder). You will need a journal
for this class, so consider purchasing one now to keep your summer work organized. ** Please leave a
space after each term so that we can add information or examples throughout the year.
ASSIGNMENT PART II
Purchase and read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
As you are reading, annotate the novel by highlighting and writing directly in the book. This is an
important step many people forget when reading literature for a college-level course. If notes are not
taken while the book is read, you will often forget many of the brilliant insights you had while reading!
How do I annotate a passage?
You may use highlighters if you want, but I myself find it easier to use just a pen or pencil, allowing me
to make margin notes, add brackets/stars/question marks, etc., as I need them.
Annotation: Best Practices
o Pre read the text; develop an understanding of the text’s meaning.
o At the end of each paragraph, briefly summarize in the margin.
o Make a list of vocabulary words: author’s special jargon, new or unknown words, interesting words.
o Look for patterns and repetitions: recurring elements within the text include images, phrases, and
situations. Ask why the author may have used these repetitions.
o Circle words the author uses for their connotative meanings
o Circle words you need to define in the margin
o Underline sentences that stand out, develop an argument, or make a point
o Number related points
o Make connections with other things you’ve read
o Bracket important sections of text
o Connect important ideas, words, phrases
In the margins:
o Summarize and number each paragraph
o Define the unfamiliar terms
o Note any questions that come to mind
o Note possible connotative meanings of circled words
o Note any significant patterns
o Identify any outstanding language usage or devices you discover
o Identify points or arguments
On the following page you will find a copy of annotated passage.
AP English Literature: Hall
AP English Literature: Hall
ASSIGNMENT PART III
Pride & Prejudice Short Response Questions
Directions: Answer each of the following questions in a short response with a pen on loose-leaf paper.
Please note that your responses should be paragraphs not pages! This assignment will
allow you to practice your literary analysis. As you compose each written response, number
and re-phrase the question as part of your answer. In other words, the teacher should be
clear which question you are answering without referring back to it.
1. 'I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.'
(Charlotte Brontë). How is confinement explored in Pride and Prejudice?
Why do you like Miss Austen so very much? I am puzzled on that point ... I had not
seen Pride and Prejudice till I read that sentence of yours, and then I got the book.
And what did I find? An accurate daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face; a
carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but
no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill,
no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their
elegant but confined houses. Source: Letter from Charlotte Bronte to G.H. Lewes
written in 1848
Charlotte Brontë did not appreciate Pride and Prejudice. She felt that Jane Austen didn't write
about her characters' hearts. Do you think Brontë's criticism is accurate? Is Austen's treatment
of her characters' feelings superficial? Do they feel and/or express deep emotion?
2. 'In Pride and Prejudice the plot is secondary, both in importance and interest, to character and
dialogue.' Discuss.
3. 'The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants shade, it wants to be stretched
out here and there with a long chapter of sense... ' Discuss Austen's own assessment of Pride
and Prejudice.
4. Consider the kinds of marriages that appear throughout Pride and Prejudice, including the
marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy. What kinds of relationships between a man and a woman did
Jane Austen idealize?
5. Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Austen makes many statements about personal relationships.
What are these statements? Are they still valid today? Why or why not?
AP English Literature: Hall
6. The members of British society in Pride and Prejudice are very class conscious. Debate whether
class consciousness is a part of our society. If not, do you think that affects our enjoyment and
understanding of Austen's novel? Why or why not?
7. Identify the main characters in the novel and discuss what you feel is Austen's attitude toward
each of them. Are the verbal portraits she paints flattering or otherwise?
8. Debate whether Elizabeth Bennet would still be considered a remarkable woman in the modernday United States.
9. An earlier version of Pride and Prejudice was entitled "First Impressions." What role do first
impressions play in the story? In which cases do first impressions turn out to be inaccurate, in
which cases correct?
10. After Jane becomes engaged to Bingley, she says she wishes Elizabeth could be as happy as she
is. Elizabeth replies, "If you were to give me forty such men, I never could be so happy as you.
Till I have your disposition, your goodness, I never can have your happiness." Do you think
Elizabeth's statement is true? Is it better to be good, to think the best of people, and be happy?
Or is it better to see the world accurately, and feel less happiness?
11. Mr. Bennet's honesty and wry humor make him one of the most appealing characters in the
book. Yet, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that he has failed as a father. In what ways does
Mr. Bennet let his children down? How does his action, or inaction, affect the behavior of his
daughters? His wife? The course of the story?
12. Charlotte doesn't marry Mr. Collins for love. Why does she marry him? Are her reasons valid?
Are they fair to Mr. Collins? Do you think marrying for similar reasons is appropriate today?
13. Both Elizabeth and Darcy undergo transformations over the course of the book. How does each
change and how is the transformation brought about? Could Elizabeth's transformation have
happened without Darcy's? Or vice versa?
14. Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh are famously comic characters. What
makes them so funny? How does Elizabeth's perception of them affect your trust in Elizabeth's
views of other people in the book, particularly of Wickham and Darcy?
15. For most of the book, pride prevents Darcy from having what he most desires. Why is he so
proud? How is his pride displayed? Is Elizabeth proud? Which characters are not proud? Are
they better off?
AP English Literature: Hall
16. Although its setting and characters are certainly “dated,” Pride and Prejudice has remained a
popular novel for almost 200 years. Why do you think this is the case?
17. Editor Tony Tanner points out in the Notes to the Penguin Classics Edition that Austen did not
mention topical events nor use precise descriptions of actual places in Pride and Prejudice, so
that the larger historical events of the time did not detract attention from the private drama of
her characters. "This perhaps contributes to the element of timelessness in the novel," he
concludes, "even though it unmistakably reflects a certain kind of society at a certain historical
moment." In what ways are the themes and concerns of Pride and Prejudice timeless? In what
ways are they particular to the times in which Austen wrote the book?
Sample Responses
To #1--The observance of class boundaries confines the characters within realms of custom and behaviour
deemed appropriate to their rank. Austen distinguishes between the gentry and trade: Consider the character of
Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Her arrogance and cultural ignorance show how ridiculous it is to give someone respect
simply because of their rank. Miss Bingley is disdainful towards Jane Bennett when she finds out that part of her
family lives in Cheapside; when first proposing to Elizabeth, Darcy cannot avoid mentioning Elizabeth's perceived
inferiority. But the apparent inflexibility of class barriers is undercut by the fact that the Bingleys fortune derives
from trade. And class distinctions are blurred towards the novel's end when the Gardiners and Darcy convene to
marry Lydia and Wickham.
Look at the confinement imposed on women through gender roles. Elizabeth's statement - 'He is a gentleman; I am
a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal' - is an expression of how Austen uses the character of Lizzie to
challenge the confinement imposed by both class and gender restrictions. Elizabeth is not prepared to indulge in
the small talk expected of her sex, and her wit and vivacity show that intelligence is not merely confined to men.
That this attracts the prejudiced Darcy challenges the wisdom of these edicts.
Also examine how psychological confinement is reflected topographically. Elizabeth's home and its surroundings
are suffocating - she continually goes out for walks to escape. And she only sees Darcy's good nature when away
from Longbourn, within the grounds of Pemberley. Is narrowness of mind a consequence of physical restriction?
Think of limited social circles and how encountering different sets of people leads to an open mind. Also consider
how Austen has been berated for 'only' depicting confined domestic worlds. Why would she choose to depict the
'larger' issues covertly? And how does her treatment of physical and psychological confinement fit into this?
To #2-- Whether you agree with this statement or not, consider how such a view might be qualified. Consider the
small domestic society Austen depicts - does this restricted world-view result in a greater emphasis on character?
However, is this valid statement in line when a plot development such as Lydia's elopement is vital to the novel's
purpose?
Secondly, extend this to a discussion of whether it is possible to separate 'plot' from 'character and dialogue'. The
relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth is the main plot of Pride and Prejudice - yet this depends on their
characters and is conducted mainly through dialogue. Does question the very usefulness of the statement?
AP English Literature: Hall
Literary Terms to Define:
allegory
alliteration
allusion
ambiguity
anachronism
analogy
antecedent
apostrophe
assonance
blank verse
cacophony
digression
euphony
caricature
colloquial
conceit (no, it’s not a big
ego)
consonance
dissonance
catharsis
connotation
denotation
dialogue
diction (no it’s not how
you speak)
enjambment/enjambed line
eulogy
elegy
elegiac
euphemism
figurative language
hubris
hyperbole
understatement
iambic pentameter
imagery
irony
metaphor
metonymy/synecdoche
oxymoron
onomatopoeia
paradox
parody
parallelism (or parallel s
structure)
parable
pathos
bathos
persona
rhetoric
rhetorical question
syntax
inverted syntax
simile
suspension of disbelief
theme
tone
Please be sure that all work you submit is your own. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be
tolerated in this course, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Teacher’s Note: If you have any questions, feel free to contact us throughout the summer:
Tiffany.Hall@pgcps.org
Special Note: Essays and writing responses must be submitted via Edmodo for summer work. Please
join the Edmodo site for this class. It is
Edmodo Code: Dh8qmb
You must sign up by Thursday, June 12, 2014 or you will be locked out of the Edmodo site. During the
summer, I will be available for questions and assistance Monday-Thursday during June and July only. I
will not be able to assist during August. If you have any questions, contact Ms. Hall.
I’m excited about the course and I hope you are too! Enjoy your summer and take care.
Ms. Hall
Tiffany.Hall@pgcps.org
AP English Literature: Hall