AICE LITERATURE and AP LITERATURE 12th Grade
AICE LIT and AP LIT Summer Reading Assignment
Each student must acquire and read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas
C. Foster. The text will be an integral part of the curriculum during the student’s senior
year in the AICE Literature course. Being able to “unlock” the “hidden meaning” in
fictional works for poetry and prose is an essential skill that allows students to perform
the tasks required on the AICE Lit exam.
After reading the text and learning “how to read literature like a professor,” each student
must complete a literary analysis of James Joyce’s short story, “A Painful Case.” The
story can be found online at the following address:
www.gutenberg.org
Search author James Joyce. After selecting Joyce, choose Dubliners, which is a collection
of his short stories. After opening Dubliners, select to receive the text in the format of
your choice. You should see “A Painful Case” listed in the table of contents.
The instructions for the analysis of “A Painful Case” have been modified from the
chapter in How to Read Literature Like a Professor entitled “A Test Case.” Students will
have to use the interpretive strategies they have learned from the text and analyze Joyce’s
short story by answering two questions:
1. What does the story signify?
2. How does it signify?
The “ground rules” for the analysis are as follows:
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Read carefully
Employ no outside sources about the story.
Type the analysis using double-spacing, standard 1” margins, and 12-point Times
New Roman font.
Do your own work. Do not consult other AP students. You will never learn “how
to read literature like a professor” unless you try to do it yourself!
On the first day of class, you must bring the Foster text, a copy of “A Painful
Case,” and your typed analysis.
Your analytical response should resemble the one done by “Diane” in the chapter
entitled “A Test Case.” Perhaps your response will not be as sophisticated as
Diane’s, but your interpretation should show evidence that you have recognized
potential symbols and other literary devices and that you have attempted to
explain how the author manages to communicate a deeper meaning through his
use of the conventions of literature.