To: Students and Parents of AP English Literature 12 Students
From: Mrs. Amy Lohmann, AP English Literature 12 Teacher
Date: May 15, 2013
Re: Summer Reading Assignments
Dear Students and Parents or Guardian:
Your child has enrolled in Advanced Placement English Literature for the 2013-14 school year. As a
requirement of the class, he/she must complete summer reading assignments. The assignments are attached.
Please review the reading selections and the assignments that accompany them and sign the attached
permission form.
Parent involvement is crucial to student success in school, so I encourage you to read the books along with
your child so that you may engage with him/her in meaningful conversations about these works.
If you have any questions regarding either the reading selections or accompanying assignments, please feel
free to contact me at amylohmann@aol.com or Bridgeport High School.
Please return the permission form by May 27, 2013.
Sincerely,
Amy W. Lohmann
Parent/Student Form for AP English 12 Summer Reading
Parent Permission Statement:
I , _____________________________, parent of _____________________________,
give my son/daughter permission to read the AP summer reading selections: How to
Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster, and Serena, by Ron Rash.
Additionally, I understand my child may choose to read an approved selection from
the attached list during the summer. I also understand that my child will be
responsible for completing the summer assignments, which will be graded .
I understand that the individual literature selection does not have to be completed
until the beginning of the 2nd six weeks. Titles will be assigned based on who claims
them first, so it is beneficial to decide the title now (even if not planning to read the
work during the summer). This may not be a novel or play that has been read for a
past class and should be one that is entirely new to my son/daughter in order to
increase his/her preparation for the AP Literature Exam.
Parent Signature:
___________________________________________________Date:____________
Student Responsibility Statement:
I, _____________________________________, acknowledge that I am required to
read and complete the AP summer reading requirements, which will be graded
assignments.
Student Signature:
________________________________________________Date:______________
Additional Novel Choice See me by 5/27/13 for approval of the work.
Only two students are generally
granted permission to read the same title, so you may want to turn this form in as soon as possible.
1st Choice: Title/Author
_______________________________________________________________
2nd Choice: Title/Author
_______________________________________________________________
Student email/contact information:
2013-2014 AP ENGLISH 12 SUMMER READING
If you have questions, I may be reached at (304)842-0259 or amylohmann@aol.com.
AP Overview
If you are planning on taking the AP Literature exam, please be aware that the exam tests all
your years of English study; therefore, the more you have read and analyzed, the better. If you would
like to read beyond the required assignments, I recommend using the attached list of suggested
authors/works. Read for pleasure this summer!
Assignments for How to Read Literature Like a Professor and Serena are due the first day of
school and will be part of the 1st six weeks’ grade. In addition to the following, you will be
evaluated on other assignments related to the reading such as class discussion, additional
writings, group projects, quizzes, and tests.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
ISBN 978-0-06-000942-7
This text will prove to be an invaluable resource during the course of the school year and perhaps into
your collegiate career. While this isn’t fiction, it does not read like a textbook. It is cerebral, yet
completely approachable. The assignment for this book is attached to this packet.
Serena by Ron Rash
ISBN 978-0-06-147084-4
I am extremely excited about the study of Serena. It has garnered much literary acclaim; one critic
asserted, “Ron Rash’s Serena will stand as one of the major American novels of this century. It is a
flat-out masterpiece—mythic, terrifying, and beautiful.” This NY Times Bestseller is a relatively new
piece of fiction (published in 2008) and has been made into a major motion picture starring Jennifer
Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Release date for the movie is set for September 2013. If circumstances
work out as I hope they will, we will be attending the movie and incorporating this into our analysis of
the novel.
Serena will provide the basis for our first unit entitled “You Can Do Anything You Put Your Mind
To…But Should You?” This unit will examine ambition, both as a positive motivator and a fatal flaw,
throughout literature and history. The assignment for this novel is attached to this packet.
Individual Approved Choice—Due at the start of the 2nd 6 weeks, but you may turn it in early.
1. You will complete reader response logs for this novel. While there is no maximum number
of entries, you must have at least 30—and they must be well developed and show depth of
thought (if you choose a longer worker, you may obviously need more entries). These
should be done in the novel or on Post It Notes that you stick on the pages to which you
are responding. This will help you later in the year when we use these works for the basis
of individual literary analysis. Because you will work with this novel into the second
semester, I recommend having your own copy. Most of the approved titles can be
purchased for nominal cost at local bookstores or online sources.
2. Be prepared for an AP in-class writing and quizzes based on the work of your choice.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor:
A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
by Thomas C. Foster
As you read, complete the short writing assignments listed for each chapter. These writings
will be somewhat informal and you may use outside titles of novels, plays, poetry, and films
for your examples. If you would like some guidance on literature to look to for examples,
there is a Reading List in the back of the book. Keep in mind, though, you may do this
assignment using what you have already read and seen. Your answers may be handwritten
(legibly) or typewritten, and each should be paragraphs, not pages, in length. Each prompt
will make sense after you have read the corresponding chapter.
As you look through this list, you may not be as excited about this assignment as I am when
you realize you are being asked to write at least twenty-seven paragraphs; however, the
work that you do on this will be individualized and hard to “get wrong.” Plus, the time you
spend with this book now will significantly cut down on preparation time throughout the
year. One of the most significant skills you can take away from this class, both for the AP
Literature Exam and all college classes, is the ability to read “closely” and truly
understand what you are reading.
In Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Red-Headed League,” Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson
both observe Jabez Wilson carefully, yet their differing interpretations of the same details reveal
the difference between a “Good Reader” and a “Bad Reader.” Watson can only describe what he
sees; Holmes has the knowledge to interpret what he sees, to draw conclusions, and to solve the
mystery.
Understanding literature need no longer be a mystery — Thomas Foster’s book will help
transform you from a naive, sometimes confused Watson to an insightful, literary Holmes.
Informed, experienced readers see symbols, archetypes, and patterns because those things are
there — if you have learned to look for them. As Foster says, you learn to recognize the literary
conventions the “same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice” (xiv).
Introduction: How’d He Do That?
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition
of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation
of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.
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 3: –Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or
viewed.
Chapter 4 — If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Select two sonnets and show which form they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form.
Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis.
Chapter 5 –Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works.
Chapter 6 — When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare…
Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the
author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster
shows how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus
on theme.
Chapter 7 — …Or the Bible
Discuss Biblical allusions/allegory in a work that Foster does not mention in this chapter,
including how they strengthen the work.
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 9 — It’s Greek to Me
Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology.
Obviously, you may research Greek mythology if you need to do so.
Chapter 10 — It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Interlude — Does He Mean That
Chapter 11 –…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are
different.
Chapter 12 — Is That a Symbol?
Choose a literary work whose effectiveness as a whole depends largely on a symbol found
within its pages or frames. Explain the symbol and how it impacts the work.
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 you’ve read or viewed is political.
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 a
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, Spartacus, Gladiator
and Ben-Hur.
Chapter 15 — Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Chapter 16 — It’s All About Sex…
Chapter 17 — …Except the Sex
OK ..the sex chapters. The key idea from these chapters is that “scenes in which sex is coded
rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense that literal
depictions” (141). In other words, sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is
described, and, if the author is doing his job, it reflects and creates theme or character. Choose a
novel or movie in which sex is suggested, but not described, and discuss how the relationship is
suggested and how this implication affects the theme or develops characterization.
Chapter 18 — If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism
Think of a “baptism scene” from a significant literary work. How was the character different
after the experience? Discuss.
Chapter 19 — Geography Matters…
Discuss at least four different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under
“geography.”
Chapter 20 — …So Does Season
Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a
meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.
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 analyze its implications for characterization.
Chapter 22 — He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
Chapter 23 — It’s Never Just Heart Disease…
Chapter 24 — …And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect
the “principles governing the use of disease in literature” (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of
the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.
Chapter 25 — Don’t Read with Your Eyes
After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before
the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first
century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions
that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century.
Chapter 26 — Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
Select an ironic literary work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.
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?
Envoi
Choose a motif not discussed in this book (as the horse reference on page 280) and note its
appearance in three or four different works. What does this idea seem to signify?
Serena Assignments
1. Before beginning your reading, you may wish to do some research on the logging
industry in Appalachia around the early 1900s. Also look into the controversy
surrounding the creation of the Smoky Mountain Park (including the roles played
by Roosevelt and Rockefeller).
2. Watch the YouTube video of author Ron Rash reading an excerpt of Serena for
the North Carolina Arts Council. This is approximately nine minutes long and
will provide you with an excellent sense of authentic author’s voice and passion.
3. Read the attached article “Why Ambition Could Make You Rich, but Not
Happy.” After reading, compose a one-page minimum typed personal response.
Do you agree or disagree? Can you provide personal or societal examples?
4. Consider the following essential questions as you read:
 How does society express gender expectations and how are they met or
challenged?
 What influences us more – our circumstances or our nature (instinct)?
 What is the purpose of intertextuality (shaping of a text meaning by another
text) in the novel? What are some examples of this intertextuality?
 What is the significance of mythological and Biblical allusions made in the
text?
 How do the characters in the novel seem to be driven by desire for power?
Some struggle to free themselves from the power of others while some seek to
gain power over others. What are their motivations?
For each chapter and the Coda, comment, analyze, question, or point out a
passage you enjoy. I would prefer you annotate in the text if it is your
personal book, but you may do this in RRL fashion if it is a borrowed book.
If you do RRLs, make sure to include the page and specific passage to which
you are responding. RRLs may be typed or written legibly. You may have
more comments than the number of chapters (38), but you must have AT
LEAST 1 for each.
Approved Titles for Individual Reading Assignment
Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Antigone by Sophocles
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevski
Candide by Voltaire
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevski
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnot
Dracula by Bram Stoker
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Emma by Jane Austen
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Medea by Euripides
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
Native Son by Richard Wright
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
1984 by George Orwell
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Othello by William Shakespeare
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
The Stranger by Albert Camus
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zorah Neale Hurston
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
***There are other titles that I will approve, so if you
have been yearning to read a specific title that you
don’t see on this list, ask me about it. I tried to create
a diverse list that includes works recommended by
the College Board that will also not cause you
difficultly when you begin to do research.***