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AP Language and Composition
Summer Reading 2013
AP Language and Composition is an English class unlike any you
have taken so far. It is the study of rhetoric. The University of San
Diego provides a detailed definition of rhetoric that accurately
describes our focus of study:
“Rhetoric refers to the study and uses of written, spoken and visual
language. It investigates how language is used to organize and maintain
social groups, construct meanings and identities, coordinate behavior,
mediate power, produce change, and create knowledge…. Rhetorical study
and written literacy are understood to be essential to civic, professional and
academic life.”
The essential question that we will explore throughout the year will
be: How is language used as a vehicle of thought? To that end, we
will begin the year discussing the writing of George Orwell.
Required Text: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
As you read this dystopian novel, keep a journal on what the text says about
the following, with a particular focus on language and rhetoric, and how
Orwell’s message applies to our world today:
-
the importance of who controls the media and dissemination of information
propaganda
doublespeak/cognitive dissonance
language and class struggle
the mutability of the past
what is truth?
the nature of power
political rhetoric
language as a vehicle of thought
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Please annotate as you read. You also must have 10 journal entries in
the following format:
Quote: “The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc. Past
events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written
records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the
memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records,
and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the
past is whatever the Party chooses to make it” (219).
My thoughts: Much of what we do today - the decisions we make, the beliefs
we hold – are based upon our history. Orwell was right when he said that
whoever controls the past, controls the present as well as the future. This
makes me think of what is happening today in education in some southern
states. Text books that whitewash the horrors of slavery are being adopted.
In Louisiana, the Governor has been pushing textbooks that not only say
that slavery wasn’t so bad, but that the KKK was a decent organization, and
that humans once walked the Earth with dinosaurs! This begs the question:
Why? Clearly it serves a political agenda that prioritizes indoctrination over
education. I remember learning about Christopher Columbus in the 4th
grade. He was depicted as a hero. It wasn’t until I read Howard Zinn’s A
People’s History that I learned of the genocide, among other horrors, that he
inflicted upon people in the “New World.” Of course, 4th graders aren’t ready
for that side of the story, but did I ever encounter that side of the story until
I picked up a book myself? No. My Irish literature professor wants told my
class not to depend on professors to educate you; you must educate
yourself. In many respects, I think he’s right.
2nd Summer Reading Text: Please choose one of the following books
on language. You will be required to present what you learned from
this text during the first weeks of school, so be sure to annotate as
you read. If you find another book on language that you would
rather read, please email me at fatonej@ewsdonline.org with the
title, so I can make sure that the book you choose will benefit your
study of language this year.
Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can
Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion (Jay Heinrichs)
The Story of English in 100 Words (David Crystal)
The Stuff of Thought (Steven Pinker)
Key Words (Raymond Williams)
In Other Words (C.J. Moore)
I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears (Jag Bhalla)
Why You Say It (Webb Garrison)
Metaphors We Live By (George Lakoff, Mark Johnson)
Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World (Nick Ostler)
unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation (Brooks Jackson,
Kathleen Hall Jamieson)
You may wish to purchase your own copy of your summer reading
books in order to facilitate annotating. However, you can obtain a
copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four and/or unSpun in the English office. If
you borrow a book, please get post-it notes for annotations.
5/29/2013 10:50:00 AM