1223 North Noland Road
Independence, Missouri 64050
Phone 816.521.5355
Fax 816.521.5606
www.indep.k12.mo.us/chrisman
Principal Mike Becker, Ed.S.
May, 2014
Dear AP Lang Student,
Congratulations on choosing to take AP Language and Composition for 2013-2014! I am excited you
have chosen to take this class and look forward to meeting you in the fall. This will be an exciting,
challenging, and rewarding experience for you. The course is designed to improve your critical reading,
writing, and analytical skills to better help you in your academic career and prepare you to take the AP
Language and Composition exam in May.
The AP Language and Composition exam consists of multiple choice questions and three essays that
test a student’s ability to read critically, to analyze primarily non-fiction texts as well as to recognize and
to apply good writing and argumentation.
For the purpose of summer reading, you will read 1 book from the provided required list along with
completing the accompanying assignments. (Sweet! Something to fill those long, boring afternoons!)
These are excellent contemporary books. Go online to amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com and review
the books. Take time to read the reviews posted about the books in order to assist you in your
selections. The options provided you are consistent, common readings which appear on multiple AP
reading lists throughout the country. Some of these books, due to their contemporary and realistic
nature, have language that some of you may find offensive. If you happen to fall in that category,
please stop by room 106 and discuss the book selections with Mr. Dial.
You must focus on analysis of the texts that you are reading. This will require you to read closely and
carefully. Yes, you need to read for literal meaning, but you will also need to read “between the lines.”
To analyze is to break a complicated item into its component parts, examine those parts individually,
and explain how they work together to create the larger, more complex entity you are studying.
Please come to school in August ready for a new experience in English class. The public library has
copies of these books or you can purchase them at many local book stores or used book stores for
reduces prices. Amazon.com also sells used books online for greatly reduced prices plus shipping if this
is an option for you. It would be better if you can purchase your own copies of the texts to refer back to
in August.
This is a rigorous class which will require your dedication and focus ; it will require a lot of time and
work on your part. So, I hope you have a relaxed summer, and I encourage you to get started now
while you still have the time! Do not wait until the last minute to start this – I promise you will regret it!
Summer reading assignments will be due Monday, August 18
and there will be NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED.
Please see the following pages for further information regarding your summer reading assignments. I
look forward to a great year! If you have any questions over the summer, please email me at the email
address below. I will be unavailable via email from June 30-July 14.
Mr. Tim Dial
tim_dial@isdschools.org
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS 2014-2015
MR. TIM DIAL
WCHS
Supply List:
Novels
Internet Access
Computer w/ Word Program & Printer Access
3x5 Note Cards (100)
ASSIGNMENT 1 (A):
Choose ONE novel from the following two selections and complete the accompanying text annotations
and quote writing assignment over the novel selected.
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that 'food could be a way of making
sense of the world. If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who
they were.' Her deliciously crafted memoir is the story of a life determined,
enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable
people and the love of tales well told. Beginning with Reichl's mother, the
notorious food poisoner known as the Queen of the Mold, Reichl introduces us
to the fascinating characters that shaped her world and her tastes. Spiced with
Reichl's infectious humor and sprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the
Bone is a witty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist's coming-ofage.
A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
This is a powerful depiction of racial tensions arising over the
death of a Cajun farmer at the hands of a black man. A sheriff
is summoned to a sugarcane plantation, where he finds one
young white woman, about 18 old black men, and one dead
Cajun farmer.
ASSIGNMENT 1 (B): Read the following novel and complete the accompanying text
annotations and quote writing assignment. It’s a long text, so you’ll want to get started soon!
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, the fierce,
evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo
in 1959. What follows is a suspense epic of one family’s tragic undoing
and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in
postcolonial Africa.
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS 2014-2015
MR. TIM DIAL
WCHS
Reading Assignments throughout the School Year
In addition to the novels we will read as a class, you will be required to read 5 AP Worthy texts throughout the
school year. 2 in the Fall semester, 1 over Winter vacation, and 2 in the Spring semester. Begin thinking and
selecting novels now! These texts may be any of the following novels listed below and on the next page.
Assigned Summer Reading in Previous AP Lang & Comp Classes:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael
Beah
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by
Joseph Ellis
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden
Side of Everything by Steven Levitt
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Paula by Isabel Allende
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White
Mother by James McBride
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace by
Greg Mortenson
Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Other AP-worthy texts to consider:
1776 by David McCullough
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
A Light in August by William Faulkner
A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
A Painted House by John Grisham
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James
Weldon Johnson
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Bury My Heart at Bended Knee by Dee Brown
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
First Person Singular by Joyce Carol Oates
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
House Made of Dawn by M. Scott Momaday
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
She's Come Undoneby Wally Lamb
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Snow by Rahan Pamuk
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
Straight Man by Richard Russo
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gains
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoi
The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
The Fellowship of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Hours by Michael Cunnigham
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS 2014-2015
MR. TIM DIAL
WCHS
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jazz by Toni Morrison
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
July, July Tim O’Brien
Life of Pi Uann Martel
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez
Lovely Bonesby Alice Sebold
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
My Antonia by Willa Cather
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Narrative Life of an American Slave by Frederick
Douglass
Nickeled & Dimed in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
No Great Mischief, Alister McLeod
O Pioneers! By Willa Cather
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez
Our Town by Thorton Wilder
Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Measure of A Man by Sidney Poitier
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lakri
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Road by Cormack McCarthy
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos R. Zahon
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Time Traveler’s Wife by Andre Niffenegger
Timeline by Michael Crichton
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Wolfe
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Water for Elephants by Susan Gruen
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
There are other AP worthy texts located in the library and in the classroom; however, before selecting one as
your novel, you need to speak with Mr. Dial and get it approved if not on this list.
ASSIGNMENT #1 (A & B) – you will complete this for BOTH books read this summer.
Annotations – in pencil
If you do not own the copy of the book you use, please complete annotations using sticky notes.
However, I do encourage you to buy your own copy if possible so you can reference it for in-class use in
August. YOU WILL NEED THE TEXTS WITH YOU IN AUGUST FOR CLASS.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Write comments outside of paragraphs/sections of importance; especially places where you ask
questions that relate to characters, what you think of/connect to your own life, etc.
Circle words which are unfamiliar.
Underline any sentences that really make you think or really appeal to you.
[ ] Bracket areas that confuse you or you do not fully understand.
Star any passages that are very important: events, decisions, cause/effect relationships, etc.
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS 2014-2015
MR. TIM DIAL
WCHS
Annotations – sticky notes
Every time you encounter a particularly important, provocative, dramatic, surprising, even disturbing
passage, mark it with a post-it note. Only when you have completed the novel will you look at all those
passages (& sticky notes!) and decide which to analyze.
Writings - typed
When you are done reading the novel, select 8 passages from the entire novel (be sure to select from the
entire novel - beginning, middle, and end). Copy the passages down, including page numbers, and then
write about each as detailed below.
1. In a well-written paragraph, explain how each passage ‘fits’ into the novel. Discuss the
importance of the passage to the book’s message, meaning, or theme. Also, react to the passage
as a reader – help me understand WHY you have selected the passage. Incorporate and cite text
support into your analysis. To generate responses, you can consider the following as suggested
prompts or questions:








Why does the passage impress, intrigue, horrify, or puzzle you?
Do you find the author’s use of language appealing or powerful? Does the passage jump off the page as a
great descriptive passage?
Does it prompt a strong response from you as you read it? Does it present itself as so well-crafted you just
love the sound of it? Is the language beautiful, descriptive, or graphic?
Is it particularly meaningful? Is it a high point in the book?
Do you find yourself in agreement/disagreement with the ideas expressed?
Does the passage remind you of a situation you have lived as well?
Do you recognize this quote as an AP rhetorical device? (see list)
What is the effect of this quote in relation to the book’s overall purpose?
You are not limited to the above list (nor do I expect you to answer all of the above). However, your
responses to the passages should clearly explain WHY these passages mean something to you. WHY
these passages caught your attention and HOW these passages propel the author’s overall purpose of the
novel. Also, be reasonably CONCISE. Find a balance between quantity and quality in your writing.
Remember – it is only a paragraph! 
2. Select ANOTHER passage (different from those used above) as the “Quote of the Book.” This
should be the one passage that captures the essence – the true meaning – of the novel for you, the
reader. In a well-written paragraph explain exactly HOW this passage is the one perfect quote
from the book and HOW it relates to the author’s purpose. Think of this as the one passage that
you would absolutely want saved should your book ever be lost or destroyed.
**This goes without saying, but do your own work. Do not rely on spark notes, novel guides, “best
quote” searches on Google, or anything else that will hinder you from developing your own original
thoughts. Do the work required. You will not find success in this class if you don’t put forth effort.**
ADDITION TO ASSIGNMENT #1 (B) – The Poisonwood Bible
Create a T-chart separated into themes, motifs, and symbols (including those listed below and others you
find) used in the novel and discuss their importance to the overall story – HOW are they effective?
WHY are they included? WHAT do they add to the novel’s effect & purpose? Use quotes and evidence
specific to the text to support your written discussion. DO NOT copy from sparknotes.com or another
search; develop your own thoughts & evidence to support them for the following items. (See note above)
Themes: Cultural Arrogance of Western World, Pantheism as Superior Religious Faith, Individuality of
Dealing with Guilt, Impossibility of Absolute/Unambiguous Justice on a Global Scale
Motifs: Vision, Light/Dark, Language as Revelatory
Symbols: Methuselah the Parrot, The Demonstration Garden, The Poisonwood Tree
AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS 2014-2015
MR. TIM DIAL
WCHS
ASSIGNMENT #2 – 3x5 note cards
Using the internet as your guide, define these words AND find examples of them. You will be
responsible for knowing the definitions of these terms and being able to identify their use in texts
immediately upon our return to school in August. For study purposes (which you need to be doing all
summer), you should put the term on one side of the card and the definition & examples on the other
side. Leave room for additional notes and examples as the year progresses. Knowledge of these terms
(and other rhetorical terms) is an important foundation for the course. Be sure you have a strong base
knowledge of these terms when you arrive to class in August. Bring remaining note cards for future class
discussions as we add more terms to this list.
Analogy
Alliteration
Allusion
Antithesis
Assonance
Asyndeton
Cacophony
Connotation
Denotation
Diction
Didactic
Ethos
Extended Metaphor
False Analogy
Generalization
Hyperbole
Independent Clause
Invective
Irony
Logical Fallacy
Logos
Metaphor
Metonymy
Mood
Oversimplification
Oxymoron
Paradox
Parallelism
Parody
Pathos
Pedantic
Personification
Polysyndeton
Prepositional Phrase
Pun
Red Herring
Rhetorical Question
Sarcasm
Satire
Simile
Schemes
Stereotype
Straw Man
Subordinate Clause
Syllogism
Synecdoche
Syntax
Tone
Tricolon
Tropes
Understatement
Zuegma
IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS:
 Passages/quotes must be at least 2 sentences long. Many of your passages should – and will – be
longer. However, do not copy down an excessively long quote. Use your best judgment.
 Passages/quotes must be from throughout the ENTIRE novel. Your assignments will be
considered incomplete and receive a zero if you only have quotes from the first ½ of the novel.
 All passages/quotes must be in quotation marks – and copied EXACTLY as it appears in novel.
 All passages/quotes must include page number from which they are taken. Cite page numbers as
this. (233)
 Assignment #1 (A&B) writings must be typed: Times New Roman, 12 point font, MLA
formatting
 You can find free access to computers & internet at the Mid-continent Public Library w/ your
library card.
 All Assignments are due Monday, August 18, 2014. No late work will be accepted.
 It is imperative you do this work on your own. Group work is NOT permitted for these
assignments. There should not be duplicates, matches, or mirror images of any other student’s
work in this course. Students who ignore or disregard this expectation WILL RECEIVE A
ZERO ON THE ASSIGNMENTS.
IN SUMMARY – You should complete the following by Monday, August 18, 2014:
1. Assignment 1 A & B – read two novels, complete annotations and selected quotes assignments
2. Assignment 1 B – T-chart on themes, motifs, and symbols
3. Assignment 2 – 3x5 note cards of rhetorical definitions & examples