AP Language and Composition 11
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS
Mrs. Murdock/2011
Titles and Authors
You will need to obtain your own copy of the following articles and books:
 Newspaper/Magazine Editorials (your choice)
 The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
 All the Pretty Horses
Cormac McCarthy
 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell
1. Choose a contemporary weekly editorial writer (Maureen Dowd, Leonard Pitts, David Brooks,
etc.) and begin reading that writer’s columns (online or print). Choose at least 4 of this writer’s
columns to create your journal. Print, cut out, or photocopy each of these columns and put
them in your journal. Then, do a written response for each using the SOAPS method: Subject,
Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker. Look online for more explanation of this method.
Make sure your responses are written in complete sentences.
JOURNAL IS DUE JULY 8, 2011.
2. Read The Glass Castle and write an essay responding to the following prompt from the
2003 AP Exam (2-4 typed pages, MLA format):
Literary works often depict characters caught between colliding cultures—national, regional, ethnic,
religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Choose
such a character from The Glass Castle and write a well-organized essay in which you describe the
character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole. Use specific examples (quotes)
from the book to support your argument.
ESSAY IS DUE JULY 8, 2011.
3. Read All the Pretty Horses and be prepared to take a test and/or do a timed writing on
the book during the first week of school.
TEST WILL BE GIVEN THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL.
4. Read The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and prepare a
Most Important Points Sheet on which you identify, describe, and rank the most important
points that Gladwell makes. You can do this in a chart.
(1) Rank them 1 to 10 (one being the most significant) and give the page number.
(2) Identify and quote with page numbers 2 text references that are crucial to each of Gladwell’s points.
(3) Explain in 2-5 complete sentences the significance of each point to Gladwell’s overall purpose.
MOST IMPORTANT POINTS SHEET IS DUE THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS ARE REQUIRED; IF YOU DO NOT COMPLETE THESE
ASSIGNMENTS, YOU MUST CONTACT MR. ASADORIAN BY JULY 8, 2011, TO DROP THE COURSE.
See me if you have any questions. If you need to contact me over the summer, email me at
Rmurdock@dps.k12.oh.us or call me at 643-1981. Have a great summer!