2012/2013 IB/AP Literature Summer Assignments*
All students must complete the following assignments:
1. Write an essay in response to the UC personal statement prompts (from the 2010/2011
application, see below). If you are planning on applying to another school, you may
address that prompt instead. Also, over the summer, please check www.ucop.edu or
www.universityofcalifornia.edu to make sure the personal statement prompts have
not changed—this information will be available in July. If they have changed, please
respond to the new prompts. Each essay will be worth 20 points. Prompt #1 is due
8/27, and prompt #2 is due 9/7.
Remember that your personal statement is your opportunity to come alive on paper,
to demonstrate the meaningfulness of your experiences, to show your qualities
through meaningful examples. You should use vivid language and include narrative.
Do not list your qualities or restate what is on your application.
Instructions and Prompts:
•
•
Respond to both prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total.
You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one
prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words.
•
Stay within the word limit as closely as you can. A little over — 1,012 words, for
example — is fine.
Prompt #1 (freshman applicants): Describe the world you come from — for example,
your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams
and aspirations.
Prompt #2 (all applicants) Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment,
contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or
accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
Tips and Techniques:
Start early. Allow time for reflection, thoughtful preparation, and revision.
Choose a topic for each essay. Look critically at the information in your application:
your grades, awards, activities and work experience, family and income. Anticipate
questions an admissions evaluator will have after reading your application. The personal
statement is your opportunity to answer those questions.
Write in a natural style. Present your information and ideas in a focused, thoughtful and
meaningful manner. Support your ideas with specific examples. A personal statement that
is simply a list of qualities or accomplishments is usually not persuasive.
Proofread. In addition to checking your spelling, be sure your grammar is correct and
your essays read smoothly.
2. Assignment regarding Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace (ISBN: 978-0-670-02123-9).
• After reading Alias Grace, complete an annotated glossary (see attached) using the
term imagery. Using one lengthy example, consider how Atwood uses imagery to
develop setting, mood, characterization, and/or conflict within the novel. You must
submit your annotated glossary to turnitin.com by 8:00 a.m. on August 28th. I
will give you all the information on the first day of class. Although you are
uploading the assignment, you still must turn in a hard copy on the 30th. Please
read the annotated glossary examples so that your analysis is thorough. Use the
following definition:
Imagery: A general term covers the use of language to represent objects, actions,
feelings, thoughts, ideas, states of mind, and any sensory or –extra-sensory
experience. An ‘image’ does not necessarily mean a mental picture.
Source: The Penguin Diction of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
Please note: You should not discuss the literal imagery, like an object, but the
conceptual imagery. Consider the imagery associated with the noun (for example
character, setting, or conflict) that is the focus of your example.
3. Read and annotate Waniek’s “The Century Quilt” (see attached). You may find it at:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap10_frq_eng_lit.pdf
When annotating the poem, you should focus on how you would address the prompt.
Consider literary techniques such as imagery, figurative devices, syntax, tone, and mood.
Tuesday, 9/4. Worth 25 points.
Final notes for all students:
In addition to various poems and short stories, the following are the anticipated works that we
will study during the 2012/2013 School Year:
1. Macbeth, William Shakespeare
(Arden version recommended)
2. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
3. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
4. The Stranger, Albert Camus
5. Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett
6. Zoo Story, Edward Albee
7. The Collector, John Fowles
8. Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
9. The Sound and the Fury, William
Faulkner (Norton edition
recommended)
10. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
11. Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
(Norton edition recommended)
12. Disgrace, J.M. Coetzee
13. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
Please budget your time wisely; if you do not, you will struggle with the reading all year. Have a
nice summer!
Please note: If you drop this class, you will be held accountable for the senior college prep
assignment, which is due the first day of school. If you transfer to college prep during the
first week of school, be ready to turn in your assignment when you sign in to that class.
Annotated Glossary: Literary Terms
Complete annotated glossary entries according to the following format, selecting your illustrations from
course readings. Your analysis should focus on your example, explaining how the technique is used to
create and enhance meaning. While you may discuss the example’s significance in terms of the episode,
scene, or work as a whole, your function should focus mainly on the example. Each entry is worth 30
points.
Format:
Term: definition (see literary terms handbook)
Examples: quotations, followed by source, cited appropriately
Function: after giving context, explain the author’s purpose in employing this language
technique, comment on how it contributes to setting, mood, tone, character
development, theme etc. (Your analysis should be at least six sentences long, see
below).
Sample Student Glossary Annotations:
allusion:
a brief reference in literature, explicit or indirect, to a subject the writer
assumes his reader will recognize, such as: 1) mythology; 2) the Bible;
3) other works of literature; 4) historical events, figures; 5) places
example:
“Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell” (Shakespeare 4.3.22.).
function:
Malcolm’s line alludes to Lucifer, the “brightest angel,” who rebels against
God in the Bible. Even the name “Lucifer” suggests light (“luz”)
or brightness. Malcolm’s allusion to Lucifer serves to explain the nature of
grace to Macduff, and it helps to illuminate the character of Macbeth, who was
the “brightest” of Duncan’s nobles at the outset of the play and succumbs to
“the common enemy of mankind” in killing his king/guest/cousin. This is especially
important in that the play was written for James I, thus killing a king is considered an act
against God. The allusion stresses Macbeth’s depravity and compliments the light-dark
image pattern in Macbeth. Malcolm’s statement further reinforces the nature of the battle
over the kingdom; it is a good versus evil archetypal plot. (This entry is a strong
example, but the student should have included context for the line.)
alliteration:
the repetition at close intervals of the initial consonant sounds of accented
syllables or important words
example:
“Were they not forced with those that should be ours. / We might have met
them dareful, beard to beard. / And beat them backward home” (Shakespeare 5.5.5-7).
function:
“B” alliteration emphasizes the meaning and importance of Macbeth’s lines,
lines that precede the well-known (and alliterative) “Tomorrow and tomorrow
and tomorrow” soliloquy. The alliteration of the explosive consonant “b”
sound echoes the sound of battle, for which Macbeth is preparing. These “b”
sounds explode to accentuate Macbeth’s harshness, and his stressed, battleweary mind. This cacophonous alliteration appropriately mirrors Macbeth’s
situation in the play. (This entry needs development. Analyze diction/connotation
further. Clarify what is he battling, as situation is vague. Context of the lines?)