AP Literature Summer Reading Assignment 2015
Students enrolled in AP Literature and Composition for the 2015-2016 school year will
read two novels during the summer, as listed below. To prepare for the “Open Question”
on the essay portion of the AP Exam, students also will complete a Major Work
Datasheet (described below) for each book, as well as for one previous work studied in
9th or 10th grade. Major Work Data Sheets (MWDS) are due the first day class meets in
August. Beginning class discussions and writing assignments will be based on this
reading assignment.
1. A Separate Peace by John Knowles (ISBN # 9780743253970)
(description from Barnes and Noble website)
Set at a boys' school in New England during the early years of World War II, A
Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of
adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome,
taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer,
like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.
Knowles's classic story of two friends at boarding school during World War II is
one of the most starkly moving parables ever written about the dark forces that
brood over the tortured world of adolescence.
As you read and annotate the novel, be mindful of the following:





Characterization (of Gene, Finny, and Leper especially)
Symbolism
o Winter vs. Summer Sessions
o Naguamsett vs. Devon Rivers
o The Winter Carnival
Setting
o How does WWII as a backdrop affect the story?
Allusions
o Genesis and The Fall
o Cain and Abel
Themes
o War and Peace (both externally and internally)
o Coming of age and Loss of Innocence
o The corrupt nature of man
o Friendship
 Loyalty vs. rivalry
 Consequences of jealousy
AND 
2. Your choice of a Victorian novel:
a. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
b. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
c. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
d. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
e. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Regency period)
*Notes on what to be mindful of while reading and annotating the Victorian
novels will be forthcoming and based specifically on your selection.
*Next week (April 27-May 1), I will have sign- up sheets in my room for the Victorian
novels. You must sign up by the end of the week, and the choices will be first come, first
served. I advise you to take the time between now and then to peruse such websites as
Barnes and Noble and Amazon for summaries of the novels to aid in your decision. It
would be ideal for you to read a work that interests you! Also, be mindful that these are
lengthy novels, so you will need to plan your reading schedule accordingly.
*Note: Annotation is strongly recommended but will not be graded directly;
however, understand that annotation is considered an integral part of a successful,
meaningful reading process. Annotate naturally as you read by documenting questions,
reactions, observations, and/or discoveries that help you to clarify your ideas and gain a
better understanding of the text. These annotations will be essential as you prepare to
discuss and write about the novels later. Students should also be prepared to participate
in graded discussions as well as take an objective and/or in-class timed writing
essay exam over the novels at the beginning of the school year.
*Students are responsible for completing one MWDS over each novel read throughout
the course, including those from the summer and one studied in 9th or 10th grade (i.e.
Julius Caesar, Animal Farm, The Scarlet Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc.).
Information should be concise, yet thorough. The MWDS will consist of the following
information, in the following order (write out the labels):
MWDS FORMAT (follow MLA guidelines; 12 pt. Times New Roman font)
 Title and Author
 Protagonist
 Major characters (excluding protagonist)
 Point of view (be specific) /OR the type of drama (for a play)
 Setting (specific time and place)
 Tone ( 3 adjectives that reflect the overall effect of the work)
 Irony (2 examples, with brief explanation)
 Symbols (cite 2, with brief explanation)




Themes—write 2 (not a moral; write as a statement; no second person)
Explanation of title
Memorable quotation (relating to character or theme), include page number
Plot--Record the key elements (i.e. initial incident, rising action, major conflict,
climax, resolution). This objective paragraph summary (no commentary)
should be about 175+ words -- record enough specific concrete details that
reading the card will refresh your memory of a work six months later.
*You will be uploading these MWDS to turnitin.com. Plagiarism will result in a
zero on the assignment.
I am sincerely looking forward to teaching you all next year! In order to achieve
maximum success in the class, you must do your part by completing the reading and
being prepared each day. I believe you will find the benefits and derived enjoyment to be
well worth your efforts. Please contact me at any time if you have questions. When I
need to contact the class, I will be using your student e-mail accounts!
Callie Ferguson
callie.ferguson@littlerockchristian.com
Student Sample of MWDS:
A Doll's House Data Sheet
Title and Author: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Protagonist: Nora Helmer
Major Characters: Torvald, Ms. Linde, Krogstad, Dr. Rank
Type of Drama: a well-made play (*Notice this is a play. Novels will have POV)
Setting: Norway, particularly the Helmers’ house; late 1800s
Tone: Brooding, Suspenseful, Melancholy
Irony: 1. Torvald says he could not hire Krogstad because of his cheating, lying past and that he
could not bear the thought of having him around because of this. The reader knows that Nora is
guilty of the same sins as Krogstad; however, Torvald does not realize this and condemns
Krogstad for the same things that his wife has been doing behind his back. (Dramatic Irony)
2. Readers know that Nora is in trouble with Krogstad concerning her loan, but Torvald is
unaware (Dramatic Irony).
Symbols: The locked letterbox is a symbol of Nora’s helplessness/ lack of control in her and Torvald’s
marriage (45). He is the only one who holds the key to the letterbox which he can open as he pleases, but
she cannot. The Christmas tree is a symbol for how the Helmers decorate their life to look pretty but it
isn’t sustainable. At the very beginning of act two on page 29, Nora is thinking about what Helmer said
about forgers corrupting children and being a bad influence. Like the crumbling marriage, the stage
directions describe the tree as “stripped of its ornaments and with burned-down candle ends on its
disheveled branches.”
Themes: Healthy relationships cannot be maintained without mutual respect; A woman has
obligations to herself that are just as strong as, if not stronger than, her obligations to her husband and
children.
Explanation of Title: "A Doll's House" is meant to convey the setting in which Nora is found;
she has no function other than that of her husband's needs, and her actions are dictated by her
husband.
Memorable Quotation: "Seven hours till midnight; and then four-and twenty-hours till the next
midnight. Then the tarantella will be over...Thirty-one hours to live" (60).
Plot: Nora Helmer is a young housewife, who is married to a bank manager, Torvald Helmer.
Together, they have three children. Nora is a happy, little housewife because she has a secret: she
took out a loan, which is unheard of for a woman, that saved her husband's life, and she did so
under a forged signature. With this secret she feels powerful and determined, but she has trouble
paying back the loan, and Krogstad becomes irritated with her delay. He threatens her with the
secrecy of her action in return for the security of his job at the bank. Nora must convince Torvald
to keep Krogstad, but she fails, and Krogstad writes a letter to Torvald revealing Nora's secret.
However, Nora distracts Torvald while her friend Ms. Linde is recruited to intercept the letter
from Torvald's letterbox. Nora and Torvald attend a dance, but when they return home, Ms.
Linde has not been able to get he letter from the letterbox. But, she has reached to Krogstad for
help, someone she knows she can count on, and he writes another letter that forgives Nora of her
debt. Torvald reads the first letter and is furious, but the second letter calms him down. However,
in the midst of his anger, he tells Nora things that he later takes back, straining and breaking
Nora's trust and even like of him. So she leaves him to become her own person and hopefully not
cause him anymore grief.