A.P. Literature and Composition Course
Summer Assignment 2015
Dear A.P. Scholars:
In order to prepare for the rigor of the A.P. Literature and Composition course, you will
complete a variety of summer reading and writing assignments. For your summer texts, I have
selected How to Read Literature Like a Professor, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and The
Great Gatsby. And while you might have read both The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and The
Great Gatsby in previous courses, it is my intent for you to reread these texts in order to develop
a deeper analysis of the texts as a means to better prepare you for the AP Literature and
Composition exam. Please do not rely on your previous readings of the text since this course is
not about being able to relay plot details, but rather to develop your ability to thoroughly analyze
specific characters, scenes, themes, symbols, etc. Throughout the summer, you can reach me via
email with any questions or issues that arise: Monique.Mora@wuhsd.org. You will need to
obtain the following texts for the summer assignment:
1. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading
Between the Lines written by Thomas C. Foster
***The book can be purchased online through Amazon, or you can email me and I will email
you the PDF form of the text.
2. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet-Folger Edition by William Shakespeare***The text
can be purchased online through Amazon, or through a local bookstore. You can also
print out a copy from http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org. Please ensure you read the Folger
edition.
3. The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
***The novel can be purchased online through Amazon or at a local bookstore. Or you
can check out a copy from Ms. Olga Diaz in J2(Learning Materials).
How to Read Literature Like a Professor AssignmentWriting Assignments for How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining
Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster
Summer Reading for Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
Mrs. Hudak (assignment adapted from Donna Anglin)
Directions: As you read How to Read Literature Like a Professor this summer, you will
complete the following writing assignments (Please pay special attention to the assignments
listed next to each group letter). Please type your responses in MLA Format: size 12, Times New
Roman font, black ink, one inch margins and double-space. You are allowed to hand-draw any
of the charts.
GROUP A: MUST complete all the assignments for ALL Chapter 1, 2 & 4.
Chapter 1 “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)”
List the five aspects of the quest and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in
the form used on pages 3-5.
Chapter 2 “Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion”
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
Chapter 4 “If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet”
Analyze Romeo and Juliet’s sonnet from Act I scene v of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
Discuss what type of sonnet is used along with analyzing how Shakespeare demonstrates sonnet
characteristics.
GROUP B: Select ONE from Chapter 8, 10 OR 13 to complete
Chapter 8 “Hanseldee and Greteldum”
Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony
or deepen appreciation?
Chapter 10 “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow”
Discuss the importance of weather in The Great Gatsby(Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting) and
Romeo and Juliet(Mercutio and Tybalt’s fight). Analyze how weather demonstrates the scenes
actions along with serving as a symbol of the characters’ actions.
Chapter 13 “It’s All Political”
Assume that Foster is right and “it is all political.” Use his criteria to show that one of the major
works assigned to you so far in high school is political.
GROUP C: EVERYONE must complete this Chapter 14 exercise.
Chapter 14 “Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too”
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose
character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film—for
example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, and Gladiator, to
name a few.
GROUP D: SELECT ONE from Chapters 15 OR 21 to complete
Chapter 15 “Flights of Fancy”
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom.
Interlude—One Story
Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a
literary work with which you are familiar.
Chapter 21 “Marked for Greatness”
Figure out Harry Potter’s scar. If you aren’t familiar with Harry Potter, select another character
with a physical imperfection and analysis its implications for characterization.
GROUP E: EVERYONE must complete this exercise.
Chapter 27 “A Test Case”
Read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245.
Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your
writing with the three examples. How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing
Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of Mansfield’s story?
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Assignment
Quotation/Passage Project
(Created by Anne Arvidson and presented at Atlanta NCTE Convention)
While reading The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, you will collect a minimum of at least ten
(10) annotated passages/quotes from the play along with "The Quote of the Play" (so, this is a
minimum total of eleven [11] quotes).
Part ONE: Gathering Quotes/Passages
Use post-its to note/mark passages as you read, or highlight and write in the text if you purchased
the text. Every time you encounter a particularly important, provocative, dramatic, surprising,
even disturbing passage, mark it with a post-it note or highlight/annotate. Only when you have
completed the text will you look at all those passages and decide which to toss out and which to
keep. Therefore, when you finish reading the text, you will select at least ten (10) passages PLUS
the “Quote of the Play” from throughout the play. Copy the passages down, including both
author’s last name and the page numbers-MLA format, (Lahiri #). Your quotations/passages
MUST be typed!
You MUST complete ALL three parts for each quote. For EACH quote complete each of the
following:
 In a well-written paragraph explain how each quote/passage "fits" into the book (does the
passage add to the character development, the plot line, the details of setting, and so
forth).
 THEN discuss the importance of the quote/passage to the book’s message, meaning,
theme and/or tone. SO WHAT? Why does the quote matter?
 FINALLY, in a well-written paragraph react to each quote/ passage. Help me, Ms. Mora,
understand WHY you have selected the specific quote/passage.
To generate responses, you can consider the following questions. These questions are just to
help you think in order to complete the above three steps for each quote:
 Why does the passage/quote impress, intrigue, horrify, or puzzle you?
 Do you find the author’s use of language appealing or powerful? Does the passage
jump off the page as a great descriptive passage?
 Does quote/passage prompt a strong response from you as you read it? Does it present
itself as so well crafted that you just love the sound of it? Is the language beautiful,
descriptive, and graphic? How? Be specific/
 Is the quotation/passage particularly meaningful? Is it a high point in the book? How so?
 Do you find yourself in agreement/disagreement with the ideas expressed? Why?
 Does the passage remind you of a situation you have lived as well? How? So what?
 Does the passage make you laugh aloud, make you melancholy, or make you
something else? Why?
 Does the author or the character raise intriguing questions or issues? How? Why? So
what?
 Does the passage challenge or expand your thinking? How? Why does this matter?
I am simply posing these questions as a means to help you think. You are not limited to the
above list, nor do I expect you to answer all of the above questions.
Part TWO: The Quotation/Passage that “Made” the Play
Then, select ANOTHER, DIFFERENT quote/passage as The Quotation/Passage that “Made” the
Play :
Select a passage or quote that captures the essence – the true meaning – of The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet for you, the reader. In a well-written paragraph, explain exactly HOW this
passage is the one perfect quotation from the play. So What? Why does the quotation/passage
matter to the play? How does the quotation/passage relate to the play as a whole?
The Great Gatsby Assignment
Quotation/Passage Project
(Created by Anne Arvidson and presented at Atlanta NCTE Convention)
While reading The Great Gatsby, you will collect a minimum of at least ten (10) annotated
passages/quotes from the play along with "The Quote of the Novel" (so, this is a minimum
total of eleven [11] quotes).
Part ONE: Gathering Quotes/Passages
Use post-its to note/mark passages as you read, or highlight and write in the text if you purchased
the text. Every time you encounter a particularly important, provocative, dramatic, surprising,
even disturbing passage, mark it with a post-it note or highlight/annotate. Only when you have
completed the text will you look at all those passages and decide which to toss out and which to
keep. Therefore, when you finish reading the text, you will select at least ten (10) passages PLUS
the “Quote of the Novel” from throughout the play. Copy the passages down, including both
author’s last name and the page numbers-MLA format, (Lahiri #). Your quotations/passages
MUST be typed!
You MUST complete ALL three parts for each quote. For EACH quote complete each of the
following:
 In a well-written paragraph explain how each quote/passage "fits" into the book (does the
passage add to the character development, the plot line, the details of setting, and so
forth).
 THEN discuss the importance of the quote/passage to the book’s message, meaning,
theme and/or tone. SO WHAT? Why does the quote matter?
 FINALLY, in a well-written paragraph react to each quote/ passage. Help me, Ms. Mora,
understand WHY you have selected the specific quote/passage.
To generate responses, you can consider the following questions. These questions are just to
help you think in order to complete the above three steps for each quote:
 Why does the passage/quote impress, intrigue, horrify, or puzzle you?
 Do you find the author’s use of language appealing or powerful? Does the passage
jump off the page as a great descriptive passage?
 Does quote/passage prompt a strong response from you as you read it? Does it present
itself as so well crafted that you just love the sound of it? Is the language beautiful,
descriptive, and graphic? How? Be specific/
 Is the quotation/passage particularly meaningful? Is it a high point in the book? How so?
 Do you find yourself in agreement/disagreement with the ideas expressed? Why?
 Does the passage remind you of a situation you have lived as well? How? So what?
 Does the passage make you laugh aloud, make you melancholy, or make you
something else? Why?
 Does the author or the character raise intriguing questions or issues? How? Why? So
what?
 Does the passage challenge or expand your thinking? How? Why does this matter?
I am simply posing these questions as a means to help you think. You are not limited to the
above list, nor do I expect you to answer all of the above questions.
Part TWO: The Quotation/Passage that “Made” the Novel
Then, select ANOTHER, DIFFERENT quote/passage as The Quotation/Passage that “Made” the
Novel:
Select a passage or quote that captures the essence – the true meaning – of The Great Gatsby
for you, the reader. In a well-written paragraph, explain exactly HOW this passage is the one
perfect quotation from the novel. So What? Why does the quotation/passage matter to the book?
How does the quotation/passage relate to the text as a whole?
Open Question Assignment: Question 3
Prompt: A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range
of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or
enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay
analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or
themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
You can write your essay about either The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet OR The Great
Gatsby. Your essay needs to be typed, double spaced, size 12 and Times New Roman font in
black ink. Your essay needs to be a minimum of four paragraphs and no longer than six
paragraphs.
Literary Term Note Cards
Finally, you will complete your literary term note cards. Attached is the literary terms list. You
may use your note cards from junior year, but you must add the new literary terms as well. Cards
need to be 4x6 white, lined index cards. On the blank side, please write the term and on the line
side, write the definition. Please ensure that you leave room, on the blank side, for examples that
we will add throughout the year.
Assignments and Due Dates:
 How to Read Literature Like a Professor typed responses-75 points
 The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Quotation/Passage Project typed-75 points
 The Great Gatsby Quotation/Passage Project typed-75 points
 Open Question Assignment: Question 3 typed essay on either The Tragedy of Romeo and
Juliet or The Great Gatsby- 75 points
 Completed Literary Term note cards(can be handwritten or typed)-75 points
 Total Points: 375
 All of the above summer assignments are due, printed out at the start of class on
Friday, August 14. If you are absent, late or do not have the assignments printed
out and ready by the start of class, the assignments will be considered late and
will receive half credit. Period.
 If all of the summer assignments are not submitted by the start of class on Friday,
August 14 you will have until Friday, August 21 to submit the assignments for
half credit. IF you have not submitted all your summer assignments by August
21 it will be my recommendation to both your counselor and parents that you
be moved out of the AP Literature/Composition course.
I am looking forward to working with each and every one of you in the AP
Literature/Composition course. I am extremely passionate about both literature and writing and I
truly believe that the courses’ texts, writing prompts and discussions will provide countless
opportunities for each of you to further develop your voices as writers. It is my expectation that
in your choosing to enter this course, you will be a serious scholar who will work hard in the
course. If you have any questions, please contact me via mail at Monique.Mora@wuhsd.org. I
hope you all have a wonderful summer that is further enriched through your readings and
writings for this course.
With Regard,
Ms. Mora