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AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE (11TH)
PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS ON PAGES 1-8 CAREFULLY.
MONTHLY ASSIGNMENTS:
 While school is in session, each month AP English students are required to read a novel/ play.

There will be a 20 point quiz every week on Friday on the assigned portion of the monthly novel/
play they are reading.

At the end of the month, there will be either a test or an in-class essay worth 100 points.

If students are absent for a quiz, test, or essay, they will have one day to make up the quiz,
test, or essay. If they choose not to do so, they will receive 0 points.
Author
Title
Month
2. Sherman Alexie
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in
Heaven
August and
September
3. Mark Twain
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
October
4. Kate Chopin
The Awakening
November
5. Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God
December
6. Thornton Wilder
Our Town
January
7. Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire
February
8. Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman
March
9. Tim O’Brien
The Things They Carried
April
SUMMER AP READING ASSIGNMENT:
Author
1. Jon Krakauer



Title
Month
Into the Wild
Summer Reading for June and July
Pages 3-8 contain an explanation of the assignments connected with the summer reading.
ALL BOOKS CAN BE CHECKED OUT FROM THE SCHOOL LIBRARY.
If you have questions over the summer, you can e-mail me: pbrimhal@hemetusd.org.
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WRITING ASSIGNMENT on Summer Reading:
The First and Second Day of School (200 points)
On the second day of school, AP students will write an essay in-class on the summer reading novel
(Into the Wild). Two essay prompts are listed below: Prompt #1 and Prompt #2 (See page 5 and
page 7). On the second day of school, I will announce which of one of the prompts you will write
about in-class. Please look at the instructions below carefully. You must prepare an introductory
paragraph and find three quotes for each of the essay prompts that will add support as you answer
the two essay prompts = 2 intro paragraphs and 6 quotes total.

This essay will be written in-class on the second day of school and is part of the first triad
grade. Students will have 50 minutes to write the essay. It is worth 100 points.

DUE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL = Two pieces of paper with this information TYPED
on it:
(1) your 2 introductory paragraphs (one for Prompt #1 and one for Prompt #2) containing
your thesis statement about Into the Wild (See “Sample Introductory Paragraph” on p. 3).
(2) a list of the six quotes (3 quotes from Prompt #1 and 3 quotes from Prompt #2) that you
plan to use to support your thesis for Prompt #1 and Prompt #2.
The quotes must be cited correctly (See “MLA Citation Examples” on p. 3).
Students will be able to use this piece of paper to insert their quotes into the essay while it is
being written in class.
This piece of paper is worth 100 points and will be submitted alongside the in-class essay.
I will check to see that you used the selected quotes in the in-class essay. THIS MUST BE
TYPED.
(See “Sample List of Quotes” on page 4)
TEST on Summer Reading:
The Third Day of School (100 points)
Be prepared to take a test (multiple choice, true/false, matching, and short identification) on
the summer reading on the third day of school. I suggest taking notes on each chapter as
you read; focus on plot details, characters, setting, and themes.
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MLA CITATION EXAMPLES:
1. From a NOVEL (Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer):
(author’s last name
page number).
• Direct quotation.
Jon Krakauer says, “I had been granted unusual freedom and responsibility at an early age, for
which I should have been grateful in the extreme, but I wasn’t” (148).
• Paraphrase.
In Chapter 11 of Into the Wild, Walt, McCandless’s father, remembers an early hike with twelveyear-old Chris. They made it to 13,000feet before turning back from the 14,256-foot summit in
Colorado. Chris did not want to quit and complained all the way down (Krakauer 109).

[ ] = changing the text or adding words into quote from text.
Krakauer refers to a letter Chris wrote to Ron in which “[Chris wanted] to repeat the advice that
[he] gave [Ron] before [about] mak[ing] a radical change in [Ron’s] lifestyle” to demonstrate the
connection the two shared (44).
SAMPLE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH:
Into the Wild
There have been dozens of marginal characters who have ventured off into the world to
find their purpose in life. John Mallon Waterman and Carl McCunn are just a few of the many
who have taken part in this quest. Waterman was a mentally unstable hiker who died trying to
hike the mountains of Denali. McCunn was another soulful explorer who photographed wildlife,
but committed suicide after finding himself trapped in the depths of Brooks Range. But one man,
Chris McCandless, lies in the center of these two adventurists. McCandless was neither mentally
unstable, nor did he assume that someone would magically appear to save him. McCandless set
off into the Alaskan depths to test himself, to find himself, and to free himself from society’s
values. Because of Chris’s radical ideas and his purpose in life to push him into the unexplored,
he believed that life was not about the materialistic things, but constructing a life of happiness in
the great unknown. He was set on the idea that individuals should handle life with their hands
and their own head. He believed that rationality and reason was what destroyed life, and that
man’s spirit develops through his experiences. His unique ideas and wild adventures
demonstrate that Chris McCandless was a devoted, modern day transcendentalist.
↑ (Thesis Statement)
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SAMPLE LIST OF SIX QUOTES:
The first three sample quotes support the Thesis Statement in the Sample Introductory
paragraph on p. 3.
1. Jon Krakauer mentions that “Chris McCandless intended to invent a new life for himself,
one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience” (105).
2. Despite his fear of the water, Chris McCandless crosses the river because he believes it is
essential “to measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most
ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone with nothing to help you but
your hands and your own head” (Krakauer 44).
3. McCandless read the book Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy which inspires him to reach
this conclusion about life: “If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all
possibility of life is destroyed” ( Krakauer 87).
Even though there is only one sample paragraph, you will write two paragraphs—one
for each prompt--, so the other three quotes should support prompt #2.
1. Chris McCandless tells his good friend Ron Franz that “[i]f [he] want[s] to get more out
of life, [he] must lose [his] inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter
style of life that will at first appear to [him] to be crazy. But once [he] become[s]
accustomed to such a life [he] will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty”
(Krakauer 126).
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[ ] = changing the text or adding words into quote from text
When integrating quotes with your own words, a comma is not required
before the first quotation mark. (See #4)
2. “At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents
and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he
felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence” (Karakauer 90).
3. According to Mrs. Westerberged, Chris McCandless, “[u]nlike most of us,. . . was the
sort of person who insisted on living out his beliefs” (Krakauer 67).
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Into the Wild AP Essay Prompts
NOTE: Below each essay prompt are STRATEGIES that can help you in formulating what you
will write about and how to take notes while reading the novel so that you can find quotes that
support your thesis for both essays.
Timed Writing Assignment: PROMPT #1
What kind of person was Chris McCandless, and what was he trying to do? You will have 50
minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read
the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well organized and
carefully written as you can make it. Jon Krakauer writes,
McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush-casualty stereotype. Although
he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and incautious to the point of
foolhardiness, he wasn’t incompetent—he wouldn’t have lasted 113 days if he were. And
he wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was
something else—although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps. (85)
What was Chris McCandless seeking in the wilderness? Do you think he found it before he died?
Considering these questions and Krakauer’s statement, write an essay in which you define who
Chris McCandless was and explain what he was trying to do. Support your conclusions with
evidence from your notes and your reading of the text.
Strategies for Writing Under Pressure and Taking Notes While You Read the Novel:
1. Read and then reread the prompt. Underline the important verbs that tell you what action to
perform. For example, the verbs “define,” “explain,” and“ support” are in the above prompt.
2. Identify and explain the argument in the passage. This writer thinks that McCandless wasn’t
incompetent or crazy because he survived for 113 days.
3. Quickly jot down some ideas that come to mind. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s
basic position?
4. Figure out the topics and topic sentences of your body paragraphs, and put them in a brief
scratch outline.
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5. Don’t worry about a smooth introduction if nothing comes to mind; begin with your point,
your thesis. Example: I agree with the author that Chris McCandless wasn’t a crazy person, a
sociopath, or an outcast because he got along with many people very well, but he did seem
somewhat incompetent, even though he survived for a while. After you get your thesis statement
established, you can add more to the introductory paragraph.
6. What is the evidence that you will use to prove your position? Jot down in list form the
evidence that comes to mind. Fit these ideas into your paragraph outline under your topic
sentences. Having this brief outline will remind you of what you want to say, but it won’t mean
that you can’t change your mind.
Position: That Chris McCandless wasn’t crazy, but he was somewhat incompetent.
•Define my terms.
•He was very bright and made some good decisions
•He was worth admiring.
•He made friends easily, and he had a strong effect on people.
•Because he was so sensitive, he was affected by the romantic nature of some writers he read.
•He had as much right as anyone to travel and explore.
•He didn’t easily live in a capitalistic society, and many of his points made sense.
•He lived an honest life.
•He knew something about living in the wild, but not enough.
Conclusion: Chris McCandless thought about life deeply and lived accordingly, mostly without
harming others; that’s not being crazy. However, many local people would have survived the
conditions he was in. He needed to know more and have more skills.
7. Brainstorm your thoughts in response to the topic. Use your notes about the book to provide
more ideas and examples from the text and ways to speak about them to help you move as
smoothly as possible from reading to writing.
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Timed Writing Assignment: PROMPT #2
Is life on the road suited for everyone? A question implicit in this book is whether something is
fundamentally wrong with human society, which McCandless says poisons him, or if there is
simply a type of individual who desires the friendship of other humans but can’t abide in
society. Krakauer quotes Ken Sleight talking about Everett Ruess, another wanderer
like McCandless who disappeared in the wilderness. Sleight says that Ruess was a loner who
liked people too much to live in secret all his life. He says,
A lot of us are like that—I’m like that, Ed Abbey was like that, and it sounds like
this McCandless kid was like that: We like companionship, see, but we can’t stand to be
around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get
the hell out again. (96)
McCandless gives advice consistent with that view to Ron Franz, an 81-year-oldman. He writes
in a letter,
Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new
horizon. You are still going to live a long time, Ron, and it would be a shame if you did
not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of
experience. (57)
Ron Franz actually follows the advice and moves out of his home. Is this good advice for
everyone or only for a certain kind of person? What does McCandless experience on the road
that justifies the risks and discomforts of this kind of life? Considering the quotations and
questions above, write an essay in which you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of life on
the road. Who should follow this path? Support your views with examples from the text and your
own experience.
Strategies for Taking Notes While You Read the Novel:
Argument/ Claim/ Thesis Statement are all the same thing: They are your opinion about the
essay prompt that you are trying to prove with evidence, facts, and quotes from the novel. Now
think about your own stance on each of the essay topics. Here are some questions to help you:
•What is the gist of your argument/ claim / thesis statement in one or two sentences? Turn
these sentences into a working thesis statement.
•What would you say is your argument / claim /thesis statement at this point in time?
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•What arguments or ideas are you responding to in the prompt?
•What evidence from the novel best supports your argument/ claim/ thesis statement? What
evidence might you use in relation to what others say about your argument? How does it support
your claim?
•What background information does the reader need to understand your argument/ claim/ thesis
statement?
•What will those who disagree with you have to say about your argument/ claim/ thesis
statement? What evidence might they use to refute your ideas?
•How did your views change during the reading? What factors caused you to change? Could you
use these factors to change someone else’s views?
Gathering Evidence To Support Your Argument/Claim/Thesis Statement
You will be composing this essay in class, but you will need to know what you are writing about
and how you will organize it before you walk into class on the second day of school.
Maybe your thesis statement is that people who come from abusive homes, like Chris
McCandless, are more suited for the road than those from supportive homes. You want to look
for quotes that support your opinion of this. You also need to provide analysis of the quote. The
examples below provide examples of how to integrate the quotes into your own sentences.
•Early in the book, McCandless’s behavior toward his parents is confusing. It seems odd that he
wouldn’t accept a gift of a car from them (Krakauer 20-21). However, as more is revealed about
the McCandless home life, Chris’s motives to divorce himself from his family and set out on his
own become justifiably apparent. For instance, . . . . {ADD EVIDENCE FROM NOVEL AND
ANALYZE IT)
•In Chapter 11 it becomes clearer why Chris is so furious with his father, painting his father in a
negative light as a volatile and uncompromising. Mr. McCandless seems particularly rigid when
he states, “How is it . . . that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much
pain?”(Krakauer 130). Instead of admitting his own verbally abusive behavior, Chris’s father
adopts the role of the victim by blaming his son for leaving rather than making efforts to alter his
own behavior for the better. This is ironic because . . . (ADD MORE EVIDENCE FROM
NOVEL AND ANALYZE IT)
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