AP Language and Composition Independent Summer Reading/Vocabulary & Writing Assignment 2013 Welcome to AP Language! I’m excited that you’ve all chosen to challenge yourself, and I hope that we’ll all have a fantastic year together. The first key to a successful year is to ensure you all keep practicing your critical reading skills over the summer. I would hate for your brains to turn into mush! It is vital that you complete all parts of this summer assignment as 10% of your first semester grade will based on the completion of this assignment. You’ve all earned a welldeserved break, and I sincerely hope you enjoy your summer. Just do yourself a favor and don’t put this all off until August. You’ll be frustrated if you have to spend the last two weeks of break doing homework instead of enjoying your last summer fun. Why are we doing this assignment? This work is one sample of excellent, award winning non-fiction writing. This is a great introduction to the types of texts we’ll be reading, discussing, and writing about next year. These assignments will provide you with some review and the language of the text provides enough depth and complexity to get you thinking about key themes and the elements used to express them. They begin/add to your literary storehouse of knowledge which you’ll need to pull from when you take the AP exam next spring. Reading Assignment Read the work below and take notes while you read in the book about characters, plot, vocabulary, questions, and observations. While you read, mark particularly important quotes and events and vocabulary that is unfamiliar. This will help you complete the vocabulary log and critical reading components of summer reading. Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence by Geoffrey Canada I am providing the text so that you can write in the book. Please mark the margins of your book with your comments, observations, and questions. * Please see the note on plagiarism and academic integrity at the end of this document! _________________________________________________________________________ Part I: Vocabulary Building Assignment You will complete a vocabulary log while you read. Vocabulary Log Complete a vocabulary log as you read the book. You will need to complete 20 vocabulary entries and we have about ten weeks of summer. **You should complete two vocabulary word entries per week to stay on track for the summer. Assignment Explanation: Building our vocabulary is absolutely essential to ultimately succeeding in school, scoring well on the ACT, and nailing the AP Language exam. Most importantly, building vocabulary improves your reading skills and allows you to access more and more advanced texts. What is the Vocabulary Log? Complete the following process for EACH of your 20 words: A. Copy down the sentence containing the word--be accurate! Underline your word. Use quotation marks and correctly document your source. B. Write the definition of your word AS THIS WORD IS USED IN YOUR SOURCE. Give the part of speech. C. Write an original sentence using the word. You may change the form of the word (from adjective to adverb, for example) as long as you spell and use the word correctly in your sentence. Your sentence must clarify the meaning of the word. Example A. "His drinking was becoming intolerable, his financial support sporadic at best…"(3) B. sporadic: occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated (adj.) C. Mrs. Stepanski’s interest in my education is anything but sporadic; she’s constantly checking in with me about my grades and wanting to know what more she can do to support me. Part II: Critical Reading Assignment You will complete a dialectic journal while you read. Dialectic Journal Complete a double-entry journal as you read the book. You must do one dialectic structured journal entry for each chapter. There are 25 chapters and we have about ten weeks of summer. **You should read approximately two-three chapters and complete two-three journal entries a week to stay on track. PLEASE NOTE: most chapters are only 3-6 pages each. Assignment Explanation: Reading is too often a passive experience for many of us. We sit down with a book or article, pass our eyes over the words, and say that we have done the reading assignment. One way to get us involved is through the use of the dialectical journal. The term indicates the conversation that should occur between the text and the reader as the reader analyzes the text. What is it? The journal is a double- entry, note-taking process done while reading any genre of literature. It is an attempt to transfer a reader’s interior monologue (conversation/voice) on paper by providing two columns which are talking with one another, not only developing a method of critical reading but also encouraging habits of reflective questioning/thinking. Why is it important? In the right-hand column, the reader “comments” on important text that has been identified. The dialectical journal helps readers critically think about the text they are reading. By keeping a dialectical journal, students are brought to think “for themselves” about a text and offer their own interpretations. How is it done? Draw a line down the middle of a piece of notebook paper (or create a table with two columns in a computer document, thereby making two columns. The left column, labeled “text” or “note taking” is used for traditional note forms of direct quotations and citations or summaries. Thus, when you finish you have a summary of the material you have read. The right column is used for commenting on the left-column notes. Here you record your questions, comments, and ideas next to the text that has drawn your interest. As you take notes, regularly re-read previous pages of notes and comments, drawing any new connections in a right column summary before starting another page of note-taking/note-making. Format for Dialectical Journal DIALECTIC JOURNAL- Sample Mrs. Stepanski Fist Stick Knife Gun (FSKG), Preface TEXT/NOTE TAKING In this column, answer the following for each chapter you read. Please follow the numbering and format shown below in each entry. PERSONAL RESPONSE/ANALYSIS This is where you document your personal response and meaning making as a reader. In this column, answer the following using the number and letter format shown here: 1. What happened in this reading section overall? Summarize the main plot changes and actions of the characters. 1. Why are the events of this chapter important? What connections can I make to the rest of the text? What predictions do I have about what will happen next? 2. List one important quote from the reading. Follow the following format: a. Geoffrey says, “Sample quote” (page number). Please note the punctuation. This is MLA citation style (VERY IMPORTANT!). 2. For each quote you have chosen in the left column from the reading selection, answer the following: a. What is the context of this quote? (In other words, when in the story does this quote appear and under what circumstances?) b. What is the significance of this quote? (How does the quote affect the characters, plot, setting, or theme? In other words, why is this quote important? ) 3. Please include any other notes, lists, images, evaluations, judgments, comparisons and contrasts that you feel are important- not required for every entry. This is a great place to include any additional notes for your self. 3. What connections can you make to your own life in this selection? Is there a character or event that is like you or someone you know? What did you connect with while reading? Why? Here is an actual sample of a dialectic journal entry: Mrs. Stepanski FSKG, Preface TEXT/NOTE TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSE/ ANALYSIS 1. In the preface of FSKG, Geoffrey Canada begins by recounting the number of innocent victims of violence from a summer in New York City. Many of these victims were killed accidentally and during retaliation violence. He goes on to explain why America is so obsessed with violence. He elucidates on why most of the people in this country are either unaware or don’t care about how violent many parts of the country are, “…because most people in this country don’t have to think about their personal safety every day…”(viii). He consistently makes his own connections to violence growing up in one of the hardest neighborhoods in New York City. 1. These statements in the preface of FSKG give the reader real insight into Canada’s purpose in writing this book. Geoffrey Canada has a strong belief system about America and violence that developed from his experiences growing up on the streets of New York City. This belief system contributes to his many assumptions about poor urban neighborhoods, American history, American people, gun manufacturers, and violence. These assumptions are not exactly stereotypes because they arise from actual experiences and observations. 2. In the preface of FSKG, Geoffrey Canada states, “America has long had a love affair with violence and guns. It's our history, we teach it to all of our young. The Revolution, the "taming of the West," the Civil War, the world wars, and on and on. Guns, justice, righteousness, freedom, liberty--all tied to violence. Even when we try to teach about non-violence, we have to use the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., killed by the violent. I'm sorry, America, but once you get past the rhetoric what we really learn is that might does make right. Poor people have just never had any might. But they want it. Oh, how they want it.” (viii) 2. A. Context: These statements in the preface of FSKG give the reader real insight into Canada’s purpose in writing this book. Geoffrey Canada has a strong belief system about America and violence that developed from American history and his own encounters from violence growing up. B. Significance: Ultimately Canada wants the reader to understand that regardless of the history, regardless of how prevalent violence continues to be, violence is never the answer. Canada also reveals his own connection to being poor and growing up thinking, at least at first, that having power is the only way out of an undesirable situation. He believes that people living in poor urban sections of America equate violence to power and freedom. 3. I have a connection to this quote because as a teacher in an urban school, I’ve long seen the effects of violence on my students and how difficult it can make their lives and education when they’re constantly exposed to scary circumstances. Please make sure that you take CONSISTENT NOTES as you read. If it appears that you have been lazy or chosen to skip around to complete the assignment at the last minute, you will receive ONLY PARTIAL TO NO credit. __________________________________________________________________________ All assignments are due on the first day of class. There will be a test on the book within the first week of class. I look forward to working with you in this exciting and challenging experience. Best, Mrs. Stepanski * Note Regarding Academic Integrity and Plagiarism It is my expectation that you will not use outside sources, such as study guides (Internet or otherwise), to aid you in producing your summer assignments. However, if you do choose to visit such sources for help or to affirm your own thinking it is absolutely imperative that you properly document any sequence of ideas or direct quotations that you may take from them. Failure to do so is an act of plagiarism and a violation of SciHigh’s academic integrity policy. This violation will result in a permanent zero on the assignment!