AP ENGLISH LITERATURE SUMMER READING 2010
(Class of 2011)
In addition to the Colonels Book Club free-choice book you are reading this summer,
you will also be completing an assignment to prepare you for the rigors of AP English.
Please read carefully and follow the directions exactly as given.
1.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
You may borrow Frankenstein from the school before or during the summer. Stop by room C238 or
the main office to sign out a copy, which you will be responsible for returning after the school year starts.
As you read, please pay careful attention to the author’s use of symbolism and structure.
2.
Richard III by William Shakespeare
There are several ways to access the Shakespeare play. The entire play is available online at
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/index.html as well as at all local libraries. You are also permitted to
acquire your own copy so as to develop the habit of writing in your books—underlining, highlighting, and
annotating to your heart’s content.
WARNING!! WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOLLOWS!!!
After you read the play and the novel over the summer, you must submit—to both Mr. Ornstein
and Ms. Jackson—an essay of approximately 3-5 typed pages in formal MLA format. You will choose ONE
(1) of the questions below and submit your essay response as an email attachment NO LATER THAN
August 18, 2010, at 4:00 pm. Be sure to email your essay to both teachers. This will be our first
impression of you as a writer and reader, so try to do your best. You may use outside sources for some
support, but remember to use parenthetical documentation of all sources as well as including a page of
works cited (all formats can be found in the MLA Guide, which is available online). WIKIPEDIA IS NOT
AN ACCEPTED SOURCE FOR CITATIONS.
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CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
ABOUT FRANKENSTEIN or RICHARD III:
Choose a complex and important character in the novel or play who might on the basis of the
character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how
and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we
otherwise might. AVOID PLOT SUMMARY.
In both the novel and the play, the authors examine the politics of relationships through the characters’
actions and language in order to make telling observations on human behavior. In a well-organized
essay, explain how the author uses devices such as language, setting, tone, and/or irony to create and
express their observations on the human behaviors the politics of relationships bring out in the open.
AVOID PLOT SUMMARY.
In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. The novel and the play confront the
reader or audience with many scenes of violence as well as many different kinds of violence. Choose
one of the texts, and in a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the
meaning of the work as a whole. AVOID PLOT SUMMARY.
Teacher Email Addresses for Essay Submission: Ana_I_Jackson@mcpsmd.org
Mitchell_Ornstein@mcpsmd.org