Advanced Placement English Language and Composition- G 11
2012- 2013 Summer Reading
SMIC Private School
Welcome to the adventure of AP English Language and Composition! This class is intended to
sharpen your skills in reading, writing, thinking, and speaking at a college level while still in high
school. Choosing to take this course means that you are ready to face the challenge, to begin your
journey to prepare for future success at the university level, and to become a lifelong learner. I
look forward to working with you next year!
We will begin with disparate summer reading assignments. The assignments for your
summer projects are meant to introduce you to the world of nonfiction, the focus of AP English
Language and Composition, as well as provide you with a basis for some of the emphasis of the
first quarter’s units.
Be aware that all parts of this assignment are due on the FIRST day of school, September 3rd.
Failure to do any part of this on time may result in your being dropped from AP Lang class and
placed into the regular class.
If you have any questions throughout the summer, I will be available at
2008sharonma@gmail.com. However, I plan to play, swim, and read with my kids this summer, so
be patient in waiting for my response. 
Assignment 1: Syndicated Columnists – Analyzing a Writer’s Style
A. Over the summer read SIX editorials or commentaries from a Syndicated Columnist or
Editorialist (not news articles or informational features) from reputable newspapers or issuesbased magazines. (You should mix-and-match, using at least three to four different columnists). A
great source for over 700 columnists is http://www.blueagle.com/ OR the page emailed to you in
the test email for the AP class.
B. Print out the articles. Then write a rhetorical précis for each column using the guide provided
on the attached page. Comment on the aspects of each editorial that made you think and your
thoughts about the editorial or the issues. Please be sure to follow the guidelines in Appendix 1 for
length & format. No credit will be given to assignments that do not follow the rhetorical précis
guidelines. Print out the précis for each article and include in a notebook or folder along with
the articles.
Note: Examples of newspapers/magazines that are not recommended: USA Today (newspaper)
Fashion, lifestyle, or popular culture/entertainment magazines OR anything like this online – such
as, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, etc.
Project Points Scoring Criteria
Each précis will be graded out of 5 points for clarity, content, and conventions [did you notice that
alliteration??!! ] _________/30 points
“If you cannot write well, you cannot think well; and if you cannot think well, others will do your
thinking for you.” ☼ George Orwell
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Advanced Placement English Language and Composition- G 11
2012- 2013 Summer Reading
SMIC Private School
Assignment 2: The Joy Luck Club –
Annotation: Read with a pen or pencil! As an active reader, you should make note of
many different things as you read. Have a conversation with the text in which you record
your reactions to events and phrases. Write questions in the margins you would like to ask
about in class. Record connections to your own life. Read with a dictionary, and look up
significant words you don’t know.
You are expected to annotate the novel as you read by making notes in the book by marking in the
actual book or a PDF copy OR on Post-it-notes put onto the pages [Be sure to buy a CLEAN copy of
the book – no one else’s notes accepted!]. Annotating includes:
 Drawing a square around vocabulary words unfamiliar to you (AND LOOK
THEM UP, write the definitions in the margins, AND LEARN THEM!)
 Circling characters’ names and remarking on relationships
 Underlining key details of the plot.
 Writing notes in the margins (regarding anything that confuses you,
anything you like, anything that seems significant, predictions you are
making, thoughts you are having, etc.)
 Writing a one-sentence summary at the end of each chapter
 Writing “Q” in the margins for memorable quotes, ** for striking lines, and
!! for greater human truths
Your annotated novel is due the FIRST day of school.
JLC Project Points Scoring Criteria
10 points-- accuracy of ideas and understanding of the literary work thoroughness/development
10 points-- adherence to instructions/completion of all parts
_________/20 points
“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself
to self-chosen ignorance.” ☼ Confucius
Assignment 3: Memoir –
Read a memoir of your choice and design a PowerPoint presentation that includes a maximum of 8
slides- including the title slide introducing the book title and author and your name. The title of
each of the remaining slides should be a single word that in some way typifies an event, memory,
conflict, or feeling from the memoir. Explain how that word is illustrated in the memoir or
exemplifies the certain aspect of the memoir.
Be sure to select a Memoir! A Memoir is a narrative composed from a personal experience that
focuses on the significance of the relationship between the writer and another individual (or thing)
and is supported by memories of specific experiences. This means it is not a biography written by
someone else, and at times it is NOT an autobiography.
The first week of class, students will present their PowerPoint presentations. Appendix 2 offers a
list of selected memoirs. You may choose from the list or select another memoir. See Appendix 3
for Guidelines for Good PPT Presentations.
Memoir Project Points Scoring Criteria
30 points-- adherence to instructions & presentation. Rubric posted on mrsmasmic.weebly.com.
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Advanced Placement English Language and Composition- G 11
2012- 2013 Summer Reading
SMIC Private School
Appendix 1: Rhetorical Précis (borrowed from Trista Czapski)
The précis is a highly structured four-sentence paragraph that records the essential elements of a unit of spoken or
written discourse, including the name of the speaker/writer, the context of the delivery, the major assertion, the
mode of development and/or support, the stated and/or apparent purpose, and the relationship established between
the speaker/writer and the audience (the last element is intended to identify the tone of the work). Each of the four
sentences requires specific information; students are also encouraged to integrate brief quotations to convey the
author’s sense of style and tone.
Format:
1. Name of author [optional: a phrase describing author], genre and title of work [date and additional publishing
information in parentheses]; a rhetorically accurate verb (such as "assert," "argue," “suggest," "imply," "claim,"
etc.); and a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) of the work.
2. An explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, usually in chronological order – always
identifying the rhetorical mode(s) employed.
3. A statement of the author's apparent purpose followed (introduce with the infinitive “to”).
4. A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience.
5. A short description of the author’s writing style and the devises used in the piece.
Further Details and Explanation of Purpose:
The first sentence is probably the most difficult. Students should be careful to employ a rhetorically accurate verb
followed by a THAT clause, avoiding the use of more general words such as "writes" and "states." The THAT
clause is designed to demand a complete statement: a grammatical subject (the topic of the essay) and predicate (the
claim that is made about that topic).
The second sentence is less structured. Sometimes it works best to report the order of development: "The author
develops this assertion first, by applying these techniques to two poems; second, by providing definitions; and third,
by explaining the history of each approach." A more general statement may also work in the second sentence: "The
author develops this idea by comparing and contrasting the lives of these two Civil War heroes." In works of
literature, the second sentence may provide a short plot summary: "Hemingway develops this idea through a sparse
narrative about the 'initiation' of a young boy who observes in one night both birth and death."
The third sentence sometimes inadvertently restates the thesis: "The author's purpose is to prove that..." Remember
that one’s purpose is always to put forward a thesis, but there are others as well. The infinitive “to" phrase should
transcend a phrase such as “Her purpose is to inform;" look beyond such a simplistic response to assess what the
author wants the audience to do or to feel as a result of reading the work.
In the fourth sentence, students need to ask how the language of the work excludes certain audiences (nonspecialists would not understand the terminology; children would not understand the irony) in order to see that the
author did make certain assumptions about the pre-existing knowledge of the audience. This sentence may also
report the author's tone.
Student Produced Example:
In her essay “Women Who Write too Much” from Remembered Rapture (1999), Bell Hooks suggests that all
dissident writers, particularly black female writers, face enormous time pressures: if they are not prodigious, they
are never noticed by mainstream publishers. She supports her position first by describing her early writing
experiences that taught her to “not be afraid of the writing process”; second, by explaining her motives for writing,
including “political activism”; and lastly, by affirming her argument, stressing that people must strategically
schedule their writing and “make much of that time.” Her two-pronged purpose is to respond to critics and to
encourage minority writers to develop their own voice. Although at times her writing seems almost didactic, Hooks
ultimately establishes a companionable relationship with her audience of both critics and women who seek to
improve the effectiveness of their own writing.
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Advanced Placement English Language and Composition- G 11
2012- 2013 Summer Reading
SMIC Private School
Appendix 1: A suggested list of Memoirs:
*Be aware: some books may contain profanity and/or delicate subject matter
A Girl Named Zippy – Haven Kimmel
A River Runs Through It – Norman
MacLean
A Walker in the City - Alfred Kazin
An American Childhood – Annie Dillard
A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya
Angelou
Coming of Age in Mississippi—Anne
Angela’s Ashes OR Tis: A Memoir - Frank
Moody
McCourt
Firebird: A Memoir - Mark Doty
Colors of the Mountain - Da Chen *
Growing Up—Richard Baker
Names: A Memoir - N. Scott Momaday
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents— Bound Feet & Western Dress: A Memoir Julia Alvarez
Pang-Mei Chang
Hunger of Memory: The Education of
Three Cups of Tea- Greg Mortenson &
Richard Rodriguez - Richard Rodriguez
David Oliver Relin
It’s All Over But the Shoutin’—Rick
Infidel Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Bragg
Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane
The Bookseller of Kabul- Asne Seierstad
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Memoirs of a Catholic Girlhood -Mary
David Eggers
McCarthy
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in
The Woman Who Watches over the World: A
Books—Azar Nafisi
Native Memoir - Linda Hogan
Rocket Boys: A Memoir—Homer
This Boy's Life: A Memoir - Tobias Wolff
Hickam
The Glass Castle: A Memoir—Jeannette
Up from Slavery - Booker T. Washington
Walls
The Road from Coorain--Jill Ker Conway Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and
Inheritance - Barak Obama
Wait Til Next Year—Doris Kearns
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen
Goodwin
King
Warriors Don’t Cry - Melba Pattillo
The Color of Water James McBride
Beals
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Soldier
Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a
Boy Ishmael Beah
Puerto Rican Childhood Judith Cofer
**NOTE: This lists is about 3 years old now. So many good memoirs have been released.
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Advanced Placement English Language and Composition- G 11
2012- 2013 Summer Reading
SMIC Private School
Appendix 3: Guidelines for Presenting Your PPTs
We will spend the first full week presenting PPTs. With nearly 20 in class, that means each
person gets less than 7 minutes to do the whole presentation. Since I don't want to use
more than one week, I'll hold you to the time limit pretty harshly [sorry].
That means that - YES - only the 7 titles/words and some graphics or small explanation
should be in the PPT. No large blocks of text. In fact, aim for less than about 20 words
explanation on each slide.
Since one of the objectives of this project is to begin forcing you to write with
least-amount-and-yet-most-impact words, you have to choose ONE word for the slide’s
title and defend your choice. No phrases, that’s cheating.  Choose your 7 words
carefully. SO, do I need to hear all about the plot of the novel?! NO, I want a holistic
impression of the novel and the author’s style; in fact, I prefer not to have a chronological
overview of the plot.
Things you should remember:
Your presentation will be evaluated on the following elements in Bold; helpful hints are
listed below each. 
Time:
 Should be 7 minutes long – MAX!
Content:
 8 slides – MAX! (This gives you one slide for opening your presentation & to tell title
and author name of book you will discuss. Remember YOUR name!)
 7 titles/words. No more than 20 words explanation per page.
 Use bullet points to keep things brief when you can & use pictures for variety.
 Fonts should be in no smaller than @32 point font. Items should be easily read.
 Save your document as an older version of PowerPoint…not pptx
 Don’t use entrance effects that make words take a long time to develop.
 Use simple fonts that are easy to read & that won’t be changed by using an older
operating system (Try Times New Roman, Arial, etc.).
 Practice what you are going to say; you shouldn’t mispronounce words.
 You should speak in full sentences but the Power Point can show simply phrases.
 Background should not interfere with the ability to read the slide.
Presentation Style:
 Face your audience!
 Make eye contact with audience, NOT with the screen.
 Make notes if you feel you need them (since you will not be looking at the screen!)
 Have pleasing facial expressions, gestures, & posture.
 Speak loudly and clearly with enthusiasm for your topic. (If you sound bored, we
might be bored too.)
 SHOW US, DON’T JUST TELL US!
 Be honest in your evaluation of the book, but we really don’t want to hear a gripe
session. (at least I don’t, do you?)
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