AP Language and Composition Summer Assignment 2015
The summer assignment is designed to engage students in reading and analyzing one seminal piece of
fiction and one relevant piece of non-fiction. In preparation for class discussion during the first week
of school, choose and read one of the following non-fiction titles and answer the provided questions.
In addition, read The Awakening by Kate Chopin and complete the same assigned prompts.
Responses for both works will be considered according to the quality, sophistication, and depth of
ideas. Due September 2nd/3rd.
Non-Fiction Titles
[All book descriptions provided by Amazon.com]
Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)
Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most
famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay
too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their
culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the
secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made
the Beatles the greatest rock band.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan)
Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating
disorder. Will it be fast food tonight, or something organic? Or perhaps something we grew ourselves? The question of
what to have for dinner has confronted us since man discovered fire. But as Michael Pollan explains in this revolutionary
book, how we answer it now, as the dawn of the twenty-first century, may determine our survival as a species. Packed
with profound surprises, The Omnivore's Dilemma is changing the way Americans thing about the politics, perils, and
pleasures of eating.
The Devil’s Highway (Luis Alberto Urrea)
In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the
deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened
to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a
work proclaimed as a modern American classic.
Columbine (Dave Cullen)
On April 20, 1999, two boys left an indelible stamp on the American psyche. Their goal was simple: to blow up their
school, Oklahoma-City style, and to leave "a lasting impression on the world." Their bombs failed, but the ensuing
shooting defined a new era of school violence-irrevocably branding every subsequent shooting "another Columbine."
When we think of Columbine, we think of the Trench Coat Mafia; we think of Cassie Bernall, the girl we thought professed
her faith before she was shot; and we think of the boy pulling himself out of a school window -- the whole world was
watching him. Now, in a riveting piece of journalism nearly ten years in the making, comes the story none of us knew.
Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson)
A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—
from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded
the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the
wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his
first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he
didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and
transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
Missoula (Jon Krakauer)
A stark, powerful, meticulously reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University of Montana — stories
that illuminate the human drama behind the national plague of campus rape. Missoula, Montana, is a typical college
town, with a highly regarded state university, bucolic surroundings, a lively social scene, and an excellent football team —
the Grizzlies — with a rabid fan base. The Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the
Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012. Few of these assaults were properly handled by either the
university or local authorities. In this, Missoula is also typical.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Katherine Boo)
A bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human through the dramatic story of families striving toward a
better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. As India starts to
prosper, the residents of Annawadi are electric with hope. Abdul, an enterprising teenager, sees “a fortune beyond
counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Meanwhile Asha, a woman of formidable ambition,
has identified a shadier route to the middle class. With a little luck, her beautiful daughter, Annawadi’s “most-everything
girl,” might become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest children, like the young thief Kalu, feel
themselves inching closer to their dreams. But then Abdul is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and global
recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power, and economic envy turn brutal. based on
years of uncompromising reporting, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first
century’s hidden worlds—and into the hearts of families impossible to forget.
Assignment Prompts
[Complete the provided assignment prompts for both the selected non-fiction text and the assigned fiction text.]
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing this book?
2. Choose three events/passages/chapters/anecdotes, etc. from the book that you found particularly
powerful or compelling. Briefly describe them and explain their significance to the author’s purpose.
3. Comment on the structure or organization of the book. How does the structure/organization support
the author’s purpose?
AP Language and Composition Teachers
Paige.Cox@lcps.org
Patricia.Kelly@lcps.org
Heather.Olis@lcps.org