AP US History Reading Assignment
Mr. Healy
Summer 2006
In preparation for entrance into the Advanced Placement United History course
you will be required to demonstrate sufficient ability to both read a major literary work as
well as analyze it for major themes that will be studied in the coming year. As such you
will be required to read either one or two books this summer and provide two typed
pieces on these works.
Unless you choose to read The Grapes of Wrath, you will be required to read two
books this summer. The list below gives both the acceptable novels as well as their
themes explored. Only the The Grapes of Wrath can be provided to you from the school.
If you wish to use the other novels, you will have to seek them out at the library or
purchase them (all can be purchased on amazon.com used very cheaply). A further list
provides books which I believe to be valuable if you wish to be well-grounded in
historical fiction, but are by no means required to be read.
Following your reading, you will produce two written pieces on the novel(s) you
read. The first will be a combination summary/critique of the book. In this you will
provide a basic summary of the novel(s) and further provide personal reactions to the
stories. Your summary should be a discussion of the major features, trends, themes, and
characteristics of the novel(s). Use your own words and avoid copying language straight
from the text (all quotes should be bracketed). Your critique should consist of your
thoughts, responses, and reactions to what you have read.
Questions to respond to here might include:
-What is your overall opinion of the book, and why?
-How well has the author achieved his aims? Are these aims supported or
justified?
-Does the author seem fair and accurate? Is there any distortion, exaggeration or
diminishing of material? Is the author biased, slanted or objective?
-Is the book interesting or boring? Why?
-Is there enough information in the book? Is the subject treated thoroughly?
-What style is the book written in? Is this an effective method, and did you enjoy
it?
Secondly, I would like you to write a thoughtful analysis and commentary on the
work you read. Leaning heavily on the text, but also using the textbook and any outside
resources you choose I would like you to explore the historical significance of the texts.
In essence, you are being asked to make connections to the book and the era that it was
either written in or is depicting.
Possible questions to think about when completing this task include:
-How is the novel a product of its time?
-What impact might it have had in the era it was written?
-What relevance does it have for us today?
-What insights does the book give us on that era?
-What elements of US history are conveyed in the text? How?
Book choices
-The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck- Great Depression/Dust Bowl on the Great
Plains
-My Antonia and O Pioneers! By Willa Cather- life of pioneers who settled the Great
Plains in the late 1890’s
-Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain- pre-Civil War life in the South
-The Catcher in the Rye and On the Road by J.D. Salinger and Jack Kerouac respectiverebellion against the conformity of the 1950’s.
-The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and The Naked and the Dead by Norman
Mailer- war experiences, the Vietnam War and World War II.
-Beloved by Toni Morrison and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelouthe female African-American experience
The following is a list of books I recommend because I like them.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan, Bonfire of the Vanities by Thomas Wolfe, The Last of the Mohicans or The
Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper, Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, The
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe, Animal Farm or 1984 by George
Orwell, Ten Stories and Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, any book by Ernest
Hemingway, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by
Milan Kundera, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley,
A.P. U.S. History
Summer Assignment Checklist
1. Read The Grapes of Wrath, or two books
from the reading list.
2. Write two essays on the book(s) you read.
a. A summary and critique.
b. An analysis of historical themes.
3. Label and color the United States map (be
ready for a quiz on day one)
4. Fully define and explain the Unit 1 AP
terms.
5. Answer the AP questions on Unit 1.
Assignment should be turned into the Guidance
Office no later than August 30th.
The Colonial Period terms
Define each term. Each definition should be at least three sentences. Indicate what
sources were used.
The Virginia Company
Jamestown
St. Augustine (the town, not person)
John Smith
John Rolfe
“Brown gold”
Headright system
Indentured servitude
House of burgesses
Mayflower Compact
Royal Charter
Theocracy
Proprietary colonies
John Winthrope
Roger Williams
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Thomas Hooker
Halfway Covenant
Peter Stuyvesant
Society of Friends
Quakers
William Penn
Lord Baltimore
Benjamin Franklin
James Oglethorpe
Bacon’s Rebellion
Salutary Neglect
Navigation Acts
Molasses Act
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Quartering Act
Tea Act
John Peter Zenger
Mercantilism
Anne Hutchinson
“Holy Experiment”
Proclamation of 1763
The Great Awakening
Jonathon Edwards
Puritans
“City on a Hill”
Anglicans
William Pitt
New England town meetings
Albany Plan of the Union
United States map
The following should be labeled on your US map.
All states
Rivers
Cities
Colorado
Mississippi
Columbia
St. Lawrence
Hudson
Missouri
Washington DC
New York
Boston
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Richmond
Miami
New Orleans
Houston
St. Louis
Chicago
Detroit
Denver
San Francisco
Seattle
Los Angeles
Lakes
All Great Lakes
Lake Champlain
Great Salt Lake
Other
Louisiana Purchase
Mason-Dixon Line
Mexican Cession
Texas Annexation
13 Colonies line
Gadsden Purchase