Dear Senior AP English students:
Welcome to senior AP Literature & Composition. I look forward to working with all of you next year. This class
is a college-level course, and you can earn credit in two ways: through the AP Literature and Composition test
or from College Now through JCCC. You will read primarily British literature as you work on college-level
reading and writing skills throughout the school year.
Your enrollment in the class implies that you are academically motivated students and as such are planning to
attend college. Many of you will be taking or re-taking SAT’s or ACT’s this year. One of the best ways to
prepare for the language portion of those tests and to prepare for college is to read extensively. There is no
substitute for extensive reading to prepare for college entrance exams, college work and your profession. The
only way to obtain proficiency in reading—which means analytical reading not just decoding words—is by
reading books, lots of them and all kinds. Nothing you can do academically will better prepare you for your
future than developing a daily reading habit—a habit that opens worlds of growth, satisfaction and enjoyment.
To prepare you for the class and to keep your reading skills developing, you have a summer reading assignment
as part of this elective class.
Sustain, revive or begin your reading habits. Please take the time this summer to read all you can.
And with that in mind, here is your summer reading assignment. Please read it carefully.
The Books to Be Read—
Book #1: Specified chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. You will
also read “The Portable Phonograph,” a short story by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, as part of this assignment.
This assignment is due before or by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1. Please take the assignment to Olathe South
and leave it with one of the secretaries in the office. (If you will be out of town then, please submit the
assignment the week prior to July 1—and the school will be closed on July 2.)
You will be asked to sign your name for verification. The school will be closed on Fridays this summer;
so, do not plan to submit your assignment on a Friday. The office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Also don’t wait until the last minute to hand in your assignment and chance your watch being off by 5 or 10
minutes.
Note: Make sure that you get How to Read Literature Like a Professor (either the 1st edition or
the revised edition); Foster has a similarly titled book, but your assignments are from How to
Read Literature Like a Professor.
Book #2: Select one of the following 3 novels—
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
All three novels are by contemporary writers.
I am including brief summaries/reviews of the novels to help you select which novel to read. Please read them
and carefully consider your choice. The summaries follow the sample journal entries in this packet.
(OVER)
For the novel you select, you will select a prompt and complete some structured and formal pre-writing. The
prompt selection and the introduction/thesis will be due Monday, August 3, and the additional work on the
prompt will be due by the second full day of class, Friday, August 14.
Please note:
 The reading guide on How to Read Literature… should be neatly written in ink.
 The prompt work on the novel you select of the 3 options should be typed.
 Since these are individual assignments, no two will be exactly alike. In other words, do not copy a peer’s
work or allow your work to be copied by another. Furthermore, I do not consider working with a peer as
individual work.
 If you do not follow the directions and do the work as specified, then you will receive a significant
deduction of 15%. So, be sure to follow the directions. Also failing to meet the deadlines will incur a
deduction of 30% of the assignment.
 You will not be revising the prompt work later to improve your grade; therefore, put your best effort into
the assignments.
 You need to submit printed copies of your assignments. I will not be responsible for printing your
work from e-mail. You can send a copy via e-mail to meet a deadline, but you are still responsible for
submitting a hard copy.
 You will be submitting your typed copies of the novel assignment to Turnitin.com after the school year
starts.
Note: If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to vkohlos@olatheschools.org. Although I may not
check my e-mail every day, I will get back to you. Please do not contact other teachers with your questions.
This assignment is also available on the Olathe South website at www.olathesouth.net. There will be a link on
the home page under Olathe South links.
Note: Additionally, for next school year, if you do not already own a copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, you will need to purchase a copy. If you purchase a copy, you should purchase the most
recent edition, the 7th edition. The 7th edition is the most up-to-date regarding the citation of electronic sources.
You will have assignments throughout the school year which will require you to reference the MLA Handbook;
you need to have a copy. The MLA Handbook will also be a reference book that you can use throughout your
college years also. I will check to see you have the books when the semester starts.
Also, the first independently-read novel you will read for your senior year will be a choice from the
following: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley, 1984 by George Orwell, or The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. True readers could
select one and get started on that novel this summer. The Brontë and Hardy novels are novels in the 19th/early
20th century tradition; the Huxley, Orwell and Atwood novels are set in the future—they are post-apocalyptic
and/or dystopian.
Sincerely,
Ms. Vicki Kohl
Senior AP Literature & Composition Instructor
The Tasks to Complete for Each Reading Assignment:
I. How to Read Literature like a Professor
A. Complete the accompanying reading guide for the specified chapters (at the end of this packet) and
the application of the concepts to “The Portable Phonograph” as specified. The reading/application guide is due
Wednesday, July 1. So, you must have completed the reading/application guide and dropped it off at
South’s main office by 3 p.m. by Wednesday, July 1. You will need to sign your name as evidence of the time
you dropped off the assignment. (Note: The office may be closed from noon to 1 p.m. for people to go to lunch
so plan to get to the school by 11:55 a.m. at least. And, as stated earlier, the school will be closed on Fridays.)
B. You will not have to complete a reading guide for all of the book’s chapters this summer; you will
likely continue to read this book throughout the school year. Therefore, you could go ahead and read the rest of
the book
II. For The Piano Tuner, The Road or The Cellist of Sarajevo
For the novel you select, you are to complete the following tasks as specified.
A. After having read your novel, select one of the following prompts. You will be applying the prompt to your
novel, so choose one that you believe that you can fairly easily apply to your novel.
1. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that
confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence, in a well-written essay; explain
how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.
2. The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths
take place. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write a well-organized essay in which you
show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere
plot summary.
3. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play
of literary merit and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central
question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s
treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot
summary. (Note from Ms. Kohl: a central question and its answer means you need to address a big
issue/theme of the novel. Your question and answer should not reference plot or specific characters;
think “big picture.”)
4. In many works of literature, a physical journey—the literal movement from one place to another—
plays a central role. Choose a novel, play or epic poem in which a physical journey is an important
element and discuss how the journey contributes to the meaning of the work as whole. Avoid mere
plot summary.
5. In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present actions,
attitudes, of values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with
some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the
character’s relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely
summarize plot.
B. Then, using your novel, write an introduction and thesis that responds to all aspects of the prompt. Identify
your prompt selection by typing the prompt # at the start of your introduction/thesis. Use the format
illustrated in the sample. (The sample follows “D.”) Your introduction and thesis are due Monday,
August 3. You need to read the novel before you write this; you won’t truly know what the “meaning of
the work as a whole” is until you finish the novel.
For the above prompts, you will need to identify something specific from the novel in your
introduction/thesis. For example, a specific scene of violence, a specific line/scene, a specific death, a
central question and its answer, a journey from where to where, and an aspect of the past.
And, all of the prompts require that you address the meaning of the novel/play; think a
message, a life lesson, the novel conveys. When referring to the meaning of the work, you must
reference the ideas the novel illustrates, not what happens to characters. What happens to the
characters proves the ideas. For example, a meaning (or theme) of Shakespeare’s play King Lear is
that a person’s ego can blind him from seeing the reality of those around him/her, not that Lear is a
foolish person who cannot see who truly loves him. Lear’s actions contribute to proving that meaning.
Your thesis should not be about a character, but about an idea in the novel.
C. Next, copy the introduction/thesis to the top of the paper that will contain the first T-chart (explained below
in D). Again, identify your prompt selection by typing the prompt # at the start of your introduction/thesis.
Then, locate 4 passages/sections/incidents—one from each quarter of the novel—which you could use
to develop an essay on the selected prompt. (You must select evidence from all 4 quarters of the novel. I
will use page numbers to determine the quarters of each novel.)
All of the prompts ask you to address the work as whole; thus, even if you select #3 on a specific
death or deaths, you need to connect that death to other things that occur/that are considered in the entire
novel. You would not just write about that one death, that one scene, etc. The point is to connect that
specific to the novel as a whole.
D. For each of the 4 passages/sections/incidents, complete a T-chart on a separate piece of paper; thus, you
will have 4 pieces of paper to turn in for this assignment. Even though you may have room for more on
each sheet of paper, using 4 sheets of paper ensures that your work and its adherence to the directions are
clearly evident.
The typed passage/incident explanation with the page number of its location should be placed in
the left column, and in the right column, you should explain the relevance/significance of the incident
to developing the essay on the prompt. Label the columns as indicated on the sample T-chart. You
should write at least 4 sentences on each incident. Don’t oversimplify; don’t skimp. The work
described in C & D is due the 2nd full day of class, Friday, Aug. 14.
Format of sample thesis/introduction due Monday, August 3:
AP Lit & Comp
Summer reading
Suzy Student
Thesis/introduction for Prompt #2: The concluding scene of King Lear by William Shakespeare, in
which Lear dies while clutching the lifeless body of his youngest daughter, Cordelia, serves to
illuminate the greater meaning of the work. Lear had previously banished Cordelia, the only daughter
who truly loved him, from his kingdom. It is not until this final scene that Lear realizes Cordelia’s love
after the treachery of his other daughters, Regan and Goneril, and overcomes his earlier blindness.
Lear’s conflict is finally and tragically resolved, and with it all his preceding torment. Shakespeare uses
Lear’s too-late realization to convey that vanity can blind a person from seeing reality, that vanity can
destroy a person. (The last sentence is the thesis; it’s about an idea in the play.)
Another sample intro/thesis on prompt on scene(s) of violence:
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is about war and its dehumanizing effects. As such, Heller naturally includes
violence in the story, but it is not in the novel for violence’s sake. The violence, in particular the scene of
Snowden’s death, reveals Heller’s belief that man has an incredible capacity for inhumanity. (Again, the last
sentence is the thesis; it’s about an idea in the novel. Its main point is not about a character.)
(Sample of T-chart portion is on next page.)
Format of sample thesis/introduction and T-chart (for 1st incident) due 2nd full day of
class, Friday, Aug. 14:
AP Lit & Comp
Summer Reading
Suzy Student
Thesis/introduction for Prompt #2: In the concluding scene of King Lear by William Shakespeare, Lear dies while
clutching the lifeless body of his youngest daughter, Cordelia, who has just been hanged. This death serves to illuminate
the greater meaning of the work. Lear had previously banished Cordelia, the only daughter who truly loved him, from his
kingdom. It is not until this final scene that Lear realizes Cordelia’s love after the treachery of his other daughters, Regan
and Goneril, and overcomes his earlier blindness. Lear’s conflict is finally and tragically resolved, and with it all his
preceding torment. Shakespeare uses Lear’s too-late realization to convey that vanity can blind a person from seeing
reality, that vanity can destroy a person.
Incident #1 in support of prompt &
pg. #
Explanation of significance/relevance
After Cordelia does not answer the question
“which of you doth love [him] most” to
Lear satisfaction, he banishes Cordelia her,
and he also then banishes one of his best
men, the Duke of Kent, because he dares to
criticize Lear’s “rashness” in casting off
Cordielia. Even his other daughters, who
only give him empty “love” declarations,
admit his actions have been foolish. Regan
comments, “He hath ever but slenderly
known himself” (1.1.293-94)
The destructiveness of Lear’s vanity is seen early in the play. It is
clear from Cordelia that she loves her father, “according to my bond,
no more, no less,” but even so he disowns her when he doesn’t hear
what he wants to hear. His “love” test to determine which daughter
should inherit the best portion of the kingdom is foolish and seems
principally intended for Lear to have his daughters declare their love
for him in front of the court. Even his method of how to distribute
the kingdom shows a man who is not thinking clearly.
Despite his mistreatment of her, Cordelia still fears for his
well-being. She doubts the “love” expressed by her two sisters,
saying to them as she leaves, “I know you what you are/…./I would
prefer him to a better place.”
[A Shakespeare play is referenced by act,
scene and line numbers, but the quotations
occur on p. 1306.)
There will be additional class work on these novels, including a test and/or essay. You will also be applying the
ideas from How to Read Literature Like a Professor to the novel you read. Read the novel; don’t read about
it. Don’t rely on secondary sources.
Note: Completing these assignments the nights before they are due is not recommended. To complete them well
would be a daunting task in so little time; it would be far easier and less stressful to do a little at a time.
Although there are copies of these works in the local libraries, I would recommend obtaining personal copies.
That way you can mark/highlight quotations and/or passages while you read. Then when you are finished with
the novel, you can go back and do the journal entries.
Local bookstores typically have the specified books in stock, but you may have to order the books if they are
not. Remember also that Amazon.com sells used books at reduced prices.
If you are unsure about what you are to do, please come by Room 503 (Hrs. 2-6) or Room 907 (Hrs. 1
& 7) and ask. Don’t leave for summer confused and end up doing something not assigned.
As stated earlier, you can also contact me by e-mail at vkohlos@olatheschools.org. I will not likely be checking
this every day, but I will get back to you.
The Piano Tuner
by Daniel Mason
In 1886, piano tuner Edgar Drake leaves London for the jungles of Burma, where he has been asked to repair a grand
piano belonging to a British army officer who uses the piano and music to help keep the peace among warring local Burmese
princes. New York: Knopf, 2002, 336 p.
London piano tuner Edgar Drake's uneventful life is radically altered when the British War Office approaches him with a
particularly delicate -- and bizarre -- mission: Edgar's skills are needed to tune an Erard grand piano in a remote region of Burma.
The situation in Burma in 1886 is volatile, particularly since the annexation of Mandalay and Upper Burma. British forces are
threatened by the consolidation of French forces along the Mekong River in Indo-China and by local insurgents and bandits. At
the center of this unstable situation are Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll and his isolated outpost of Mae Lwin, which lies deep
within the rebellious Shan States. Incredibly, Carroll has accomplished what no other British officer has been able to do and has
successfully negotiated with the Shan princes and other tribal leaders, but his mission is now in jeopardy. Carroll insists that
unassuming, mild-mannered Edgar Drake's safe arrival at Mae Lwin to tune the Erard is necessary or else Carroll's efforts to
maintain British control of the region will fail.
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
Guest Reviewer: Dennis Lehane, master of the hard-boiled thriller, generated a cult following with his series
about private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, wowed readers with the intense and gut-wrenching
Mystic River, blew fans all away with the mind-bending Shutter Island, and switches gears with Coronado, his new
collection of gritty short stories (and one play). Note from Ms. KOHL: This novel is set in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world.
Don’t read it if you do not like such works.
Cormac McCarthy sets his new novel, The Road, in a post-apocalyptic blight of gray skies that drizzle ash, a world in
which all matter of wildlife is extinct, starvation is not only prevalent but nearly all-encompassing, and marauding bands of
cannibals roam the environment with pieces of human flesh stuck between their teeth. If this sounds oppressive and dispiriting, it
is. McCarthy may have just set to paper the definitive vision of the world after nuclear war, and in this recent age of relentless
saber-rattling by the global powers, it's not much of a leap to feel his vision could be not far off the mark nor, sadly, right around
the corner. Stealing across this horrific (and that's the only word for it) landscape are an unnamed man and his emaciated son, a
boy probably around the age of ten. It is the love the father feels for his son, a love as deep and acute as his grief, that could
surprise readers of McCarthy's previous work. McCarthy's Gnostic impressions of mankind have left very little place for love. . . .
But here the love of a desperate father for his sickly son transcends all else. McCarthy has always written about the battle between
light and darkness; the darkness usually comprises 99.9% of the world, while any illumination is the weak shaft thrown by a
penlight running low on batteries. In The Road, those batteries are almost out--the entire world is, quite literally, dying--so the
final affirmation of hope in the novel's closing pages is all the more shocking and maybe all the more enduring as the boy takes all
of his father's (and McCarthy's) rage at the hopeless folly of man and lays it down, lifting up, in its place, the oddest of all things:
faith.
The Cellist of Sarajevo
by Steven Galloway
From The Washington Post—
In this elegiac novel inspired by an actual event during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992, Steven Galloway explores the brutality of
war and the redemptive power of music. Crafted with unforgettable imagery and heartbreaking simplicity, his small book speaks
forcefully to the triumph of the spirit in the face of overwhelming despair.
"He can't believe he will stop the war," thinks Arrow, the young female sniper assigned to protect a cellist who has
vowed to play 22 concerts outside the bakery where 22 people were recently gunned down. "He can't believe he will save lives. . .
. Perhaps he has gone insane." As Serb and Yugoslav soldiers battle, innocent citizens venture out of their homes to find simple
necessities, risking death from snipers in the hills surrounding the city. "One moment the people are walking or running through
the street, and then they drop abruptly as though they were marionettes and their puppeteer had fainted."
This tale of peril and protest is told through the eyes of four people -- Arrow, who has taken that name because she has
become a killing machine; Kenan, a man who must navigate the perilous streets to find water for his family and for a quarrelsome
neighbor; Dragan, an older man who works at one of the few operating bakeries in the city; and the fearless cellist. Based on the
true story of Vedran Smailovic, who played Albinoni's "Adagio" daily in honor of the dead, Galloway's fictional cellist is more
than a symbol of resistance. As Arrow listens to him play, "she leans back into the wall. She's no longer there. Her mother is
lifting her up, spinning her around and laughing. The warm tongue of a dog licks her arm."
When the moment comes for Arrow to shoot a gunman who she knows is stalking the cellist, she has him in her sights,
but she sees that "his finger isn't on the trigger." Realizing that he's enjoying the music, too, she is "sure of two things. The first is
that she does not want to kill this man, and the second is that she must."
What happens to our humanity in the midst of violence and hatred? How do we maintain dignity and kindness in the face
of atrocities? How do we reclaim ourselves? Listening to the cellist, Arrow "let the slow pulse of the vibrating strings flood into
her. She felt the lament raise a lump in her throat. . . . Her eyes watered, and the notes ascended the scale. The men on the hills
didn't have to be murderers. . . . She didn't have to be filled with hatred. The music demanded that she remember this, that she
know to a certainty that the world still held the capacity for goodness. The notes were proof of that."
AP Literature & Composition
Name:
Reading guide: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
Because there are 2 editions to this book—the 1st in 2003 and the “Revised edition” in 2014—you will need to pay
attention to the headings and other notes to know what is what for the book that you have. The revised edition
says “Revised edition” on the cover.
(Any time something is in quotations in the question, it is a reference to a specific quotation in the book or the
name of literary work. You should find the quotation to answer the question correctly.)
Introduction —same for both editions
1. What is the essence of the Faust
legend?
2. Why is Raisin in the Sun a
version of the Faust legend?
Ch. 1: Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) —same for both editions
1. Specify the 5 elements of a
1.
4.
quest.
2.
5.
3.
2. A. The real reason for a quest is always what?
A.
B. Because of the answer to A, questers are often
what?
B.
3. Provide an example of the 5
quest elements from some
fictional work you’ve read or
seen—not from one of the works
in the chapter. Label each
element as specified in the book
and explain each element.
Do not use non-fiction works
like those you read for your junior
summer reading.
Name of the work:
Author of the work:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Kohl 1
Ch. 2: Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion —same for both editions
1. A. Complete the sentence in the A. “Whenever people eat or drink together,
adjoining space—it’s in the book.
B. “Here’s the thing to remember
about communions of all kinds:
.”
B. What is that “thing to remember”?
2. In literature, what does Foster
assert is the “compelling reason”
to include a meal scene in a story?
3. Explain what Foster says about
the meal and smoking scene in
Raymond Carver’s story
“Cathedral.”
4. What’s the point if the “dinner
turns ugly or doesn’t happen”?
Ch. 3: Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires —same for both editions
1. Foster contends that examining the
“whole Count Dracula saga has an agenda”
beyond scaring readers. What is it? It “has
something to do with” what?
2. Vampirism in literature is
“about things other than literal
vampirism.” What are they? List
the 3 Foster specifies.
1.
2.
3.
3. Why does Foster think the
Victorians wrote so much about
vampires, ghosts, and
doppelgangers?
4. What are the 5 “essentials of
the vampire story”?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5. Foster asserts that the vampire,
or “the figure of the cannibal”
comes down to exploitation “in its
many forms.” Foster elaborates
that “exploitation” is essentially
what 3 things?
a.
b.
c.
Kohl 2
Ch. 5 (2003 ed.) Ch. 4 (2014 ed.): Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
1. What does Foster mean when
he claims “there’s no such thing
as a wholly original work of
literature”?
2. “About halfway through the
novel,” what 2 clues in Tim
O’Brien’s Going after Cacciato
reveal that he is borrowing from
Alice in Wonderland?
3. To whom does the character
Sarkin Aung Wan allude? And
why so?
A.
B.
A. She alludes to:
B. Why so:
4. A. What term is given to the “dialogue
between old texts and new”?
B. Which is what?
5. Provide an example of
intertextuality from your own
reading/viewing of fictional
works. Please explain it.
The work must refer in some
specific way to another fictional
work, not to a genre.
A.
B.
Name of the work:
Author of the work:
Example of intertextuality and explanation:
(Do not use works already
discussed by Foster in Ch. 5,
don’t use the Bible as your
intertextual reference and don’t
use non-fiction works read in 11th
grade.)
Ch. 6 (2003 ed.) or Ch. 5 (2014 ed.): When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare. . .
1. What does Foster say that “every age
and every writer” does to Shakespeare?
2. Foster says writers turn to
Shakespeare not to sound smart,
but that they quote “what they’ve
read or heard” and that
Shakespeare is “stuck in their
heads.” Therefore, his words
have become a kind of sacred text
that confers authority.
A ___________________ makes Shakespeare’s work like a sacred text: “he’s
______________________________________________. But he’s there because of
___________________________________________________________________.
There is a kind of authority lent by _______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Kohl 3
3. Few writers just copy bits of
Shakespeare into their work.
“The new writer” has or does what?
4. Athol Fugard’s Master Harold .
. . and the boys refers to
Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II.
What does Fugard ask us to re-evaluate through this intertextuality?
Ch. 7 (2003 ed.) or Ch. 6 (2014 ed.): . . . Or the Bible
1. Explain the Biblical allusions in 1.
2 of the following 4 stories:
Beloved, “Araby,” or The Sun
Also Rises or “Why I Live at the
P.O.”
2.
2. What does Foster say he thinks
recognition of the Biblical
allusion in “Sonny’s Blues”
provides a reader?
Ch. 8 (2003 ed.) or Ch. 7 (2014 ed.): Hanseldee and Greteldum
1. Because “modern writers can’t assume a common body of
knowledge on the part of their readers,” what can they use for
parallels, analogies, plot structures, etc.?
2. Which fairy tale seems to have
the most drawing power lately?
And why, according to Foster?
A. The fairy tale:
B. The why:
C. This why has appeal now because we live in an “age of
”
3. When writers use fairy tales,
they aren’t “trying to re-create the
fairy tale.” What are they trying to
do?
4. “Whenever fairy tales and their simplistic worldview crop up in
connection with our complicated and morally ambiguous world,
you can almost certainly plan on” what?
Ch. 9 (2003 ed.) or Ch. 8 (2014 ed.): It’s Greek to Me
1. How does Foster define
“myth”? Be clear.
Kohl 4
2. Why does Foster think that the
story of Icarus “remains a source
of enduring fascination for us”?
What do we see in it? Specify at
least 3 things.
1.
2.
3.
3. Derek Walcott has his
characters in Omeros “acting out
some of the most basic, most
primal patterns known to
humans.” What are the patterns
associated with the specified
Greek characters?
Homer:
Achilles:
Penelope:
Odysseus:
4. What 4 “great struggles of the
human being” does Homer give
us? Find the quoted phrase in the
text to get this right.
1.
3.
2.
4.
Ch. 10 (2003 ed.) or Ch. 9 (2014 ed.): It’s More Than Just Rain and Snow
1. Foster asserts that in fiction “weather is
1. “Ever since we crawled up on land, the water” seems to be doing
never just weather. It’s never just rain.”
what?
What makes rain so special to us? How are
we connected to it psychologically?
2. “Rain prompts ancestral memories” because “drowning is one of our
biggest” what?
2. “If you want a character to be cleansed,
symbolically” an author can let him do what?
3. “Rain is also restorative.” Why? Complete
the sentence.
4. A. What is the “main function
of the image” of a rainbow? Why
so?
A.
B. What does fog typically signal?
B.
“Rain can bring
Kohl 5
Ch. 11: ...More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence —same for both editions
1. Identify the 2 “categories” of
1. Category:
violence that Foster asserts are
found in literature, and for each
category provide and explain an
Example & explanation (Name the work in your answer):
example from literature (fictional)
you have read.
2. Category:
Example & explanation (Name the work in your answer):
Ch. 12: Is That a Symbol? —same for both editions
Symbol:
1. What’s the difference
between symbol and allegory as
Foster explains it? What example
An example from A Passage to India :
does Foster cite for each? And,
provide specifics for each
example. Show that you
understand the example.
Allegory:
An example from Pilgrim’s Progress:
2. Explain the various symbolic
aspects of the rivers identified on
the right.
a.
How is the river in Huck Finn “both danger and safety”?
b.
How is the river in the Huck Finn “really a road”?
c.
What does the Thames symbolize in Eliot’s The Waste Land?
Ch. 13: It’s All Political —same for both editions
1. What type of political literature
does Foster “love”? What makes it
political?
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2. Explain the political significance
Foster sees in Dame Van Winkle’s
being dead in “Rip Van Winkle.”
Dame Van Winkle’s death represents what?
3. Political and social considerations
find their way onto the page in some
guise because writers are interested in
the work around them and that world
“contains the political reality of the
time—power structures, relations
among the classes, issues of justice
and rights, interactions between the
sexes and among various racial and
ethnic constituencies.”
Explain what Foster sees as the “political” aspect of Sophocles’ Oedipus at
Colonus. Be thorough.
Ch. 14: Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too —same for both editions
1. Apply the criteria from pp. 119-120 (2003 ed.) or p. 126 (2014 ed.) to a character from 1 of your AP or pre-AP novels—
do not use non-fiction works read in 11th grade. You should not use an antagonist, like Dimmesdale or Mordred; use a
protagonist—do not pursue irony for this question. Create a chart for the character in the spaces below. Specify the
novel/play’s name and the character’s name. For the character, you will need to use at least 4 of criteria that Foster
provides. Don’t just list; explain how each of the criteria applies to the character.
The criteria you select must prove a Christ parallel in the character. You must specify the criteria. The teacher
should not have to look them up to check your work.
Name of work:
Name of character:
Trait #1 & explanation:
Trait #2 & explanation:
Trait #3 & explanation:
Trait #4 & explanation:
Ch. 18: If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism —same for both editions
1. Heraclitus said that “one cannot step into the
same river twice” (154). What idea is he suggesting
about the “nature of time” and human experience?
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2. According to Foster, what is symbolically
happening to a character who goes into the water
and comes back out?
3. In literature, getting wet in the rain is
different than submersion.
“Rain can be restorative and cleansing, so there’s a certain overlap, but it
generally lacks” what?
4. Think of a symbolic “baptism”
scene from a novel or movie.
Specify the novel/movie and
explain how the character was
different after the experience. Do
not use works which Foster has
discussed.
You must read the chapter.
The baptisms all share a common
element that must appear in your
example.
Just writing about a character
who changes or re-evaluates
him/herself is not enough. Read the
chapter.
Ch. 19: Geography Matters —same for both editions
1. Foster asserts that “Geography
is setting, but it’s also” what else?
Provide the rest of the sentence in
the space at right.
2. Explain what Foster means
when he states “geography can be
character.” Reference one of his
examples in your answer.
3. According to Foster, “when writers send
their characters south,” it’s for what reason?
Ch. 21: Marked for Greatness —same for both editions
1. What does Foster assert we
have come to understand about
“It has to do with ______________________________ really. .......difference…….is
physical imperfection? Why/how
is it used? What does it mean?
__________________________________________.”
2. a. What does Vladimir Propp
assert about the hero in his
Morphology of the Folktale?
a.
b. Provide & explain a specific
example that Foster provides
which supports Propp’s (&
Foster’s) assertion about the hero.
b.
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3. What does Foster assert about
the deformities of the monster in
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?
He “represents, among other things” what?
Ch. 22: He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know —same for both editions
1. What does the author want “to
emphasize” when he/she
introduces a blind character into a
work?
2. What is the “Indiana Jones
principle”?
Ch. 23: It’s Never Just Heart Disease & Ch. 24 . . . And Rarely Just Illness (2003 ed.) OR Ch. 23 It’s Never
Just Heart Disease . . . And Rarely Just Illness (2014 ed.)
1. Heart disease in a character can
be an “emblem” for what? Specify
at least 4.
2. What are the 4 “certain
principles governing the use of
disease in works of literature”?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ch. 26: Is He Serious? And Other Ironies —same for both editions
1. What is the first thing that Foster asserts about irony?
(Hint: it’s in bold and the first sentence of the chapter.)
2. Explain the irony of the rain in
Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.
3. After discussing irony in Mrs. Dalloway
& Unicorn, Foster asserts that what “kind
of double-hearing … is the hallmark of
irony”?
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4. A Clockwork Orange provides a
negative Christ figure in Alex.
According to Foster, of what does
Burgess want to remind us with this
negative model?
5. What is the “second ironic precept”
that Foster asserts about irony? And
provide the reason for the 2nd precept.
2nd ironic precept:
The reason:
A Test Case: Putting what you’ve read into practice
First, carefully read “The Portable Phonograph” by Walter Van Tilburg Clark and then apply the specified concepts from
Foster’s book to an interpretation of the story. Answer in complete sentences.
You need more than 1-2 sentences for these. Extend yourself; truly develop your answers.
1. Ch. 2: Nice to Eat with
You: Acts of Communion
Although the story does not
contain a literal shared meal,
there is a shared “meal” of a
different kind. What do the
men share and what is the
significance of this sharing?
A. What is shared:
2. Ch. 10: It’s More Than
Just Rain or Snow
A. What does the reference to
rain in ¶1 imply? You need
to actually find the
reference and read it in
context.
A.
B. Its significance:
B.
B. Music is referred to
figuratively as water in ¶45.
What is the effect? What is
implied?
3. Ch. 12: Is That a
Symbol?
Identify something that you
believe is a symbol in the
story.
Thoroughly explain the
symbolism of the item. (This
means that you need more
than a few sentences. Be
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impressive.)
4. Ch. 13: It’s All Political
Throughly explain the
political significance of the
story. Consider what seems
to have happened to the
world, how this has affected
relationships, attitudes, etc.
(This means that you need
more than a few sentences.
Be impressive.)
5. Ch. 19: Geography
Matters
Thoroughly explain the
significance of geography in
the story. Don’t oversimplify.
(Hint: consider what has
obviously happened to the
landscape. Does the
devastation have parallels in
the story?)
Re-read what Foster
says about geography and its
significance.
6. Chs. 23 & 24—The
chapters on the significance
of illness
There are 4 men in the story.
Doctor Jenkins is referred to
as an “old man,” and there
are 2 men referred to as
“middle-aged.” The musician
is described as “young”
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several times.
Consider the state of the
world in the story. Why is it
significant that the young
man is sick?
Spend some time
explaining the significance.
7. Ch. 26: Is He Serious?
And Other Ironies
Identify a significant irony in
the story and thoroughly
explain its significance to the
meaning of the story—
meaning is the message of the
story.
A. Significant irony:
B. Significance to the story’s meaning/theme:
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