Summer Reading for AP English 2015
Language & Composition
Mrs. Arnold
One Hundred Great Essays, 4th Edition By Robert J. DiYanni
ISBN-10: 0-205-70680-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-205-70680-8
http://www.mypearsonstore.com/about/isbn-13.asp
Your summer reading assignment is One Hundred Great Essays edited by Robert DiYanni. You
are responsible for purchasing this book on your own. Be sure you get the right edition and
follow these instructions carefully.
As you read, make notes in your book. This is called annotation. It is a critical habit for you to
form. Remember those 7th grade reader-response journals? How does this make you feel? What
does this remind you of? What makes this interesting? This is what you should annotate in your
book as you read.
You will also need a small spiral notebook (8 x 11 pages) in which to write responses to the
prompts I am giving you. I will collect this notebook on the first day of class. Each response
must be at least one full page per prompt. Put the date on the top of the page and write neatly
in blue or black ink. Start each new response on a new sheet of paper in the spiral notebook.
You must write in complete sentences and paragraphs. Do not be timid—now is the time to
elaborate and make a good impression on me! SKIMPY ANSWERS ARE NOT ALLOWED.
Our AP class motto is Luke 12:48: Unto whom much has been given, much is required. You have
been given the blessing of an intelligent mind, so don’t be lazy! I have very high expectations of
you; don’t disappoint me. Start reading these essays and writing about them as early in the
summer as possible.
Here are the essays you are to read, annotate, and write about:
#3
Francis Bacon
“Of Studies”
Changing Bacon’s focus a bit, write an essay for modern audiences titled “On Reading.” In it
consider different types of reading, purposes for reading, benefits of reading, difficulties
involved in reading, and so forth. Your essay may be quite personal, focusing on your own
experiences as a reader, or, like Bacon’s, more formal.
#22
Frederick Douglass “Learning to Read and Write”
How do you respond to Douglass’s situation and to the portrait he presents of himself across the
distance of more than a hundred and fifty years? Do you find that you can apply any of what he
says to the world you live in today? Explain why you feel as you do.
#95
Eudora Welty
from “Listening”
What specific details does Welty use to characterize her first-grade teacher, Miss Duling? What
qualities of character does Welty emphasize about Miss Duling? And what effect did Miss
Duling have on Welty in both the short and the long term?
#88
Amy Tan
“Mother Tongue”
How does your language and that of your peers differ from that of a different generation of
speakers—your parents, say, or your grandparents? How does the language you use in formal
situations differ from that you use in less formal ones? In an essay, describe the different sorts of
“Englishes” you encounter.
#1 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than June 11 and comment on these four
essays; let me know you actually read the essays by including “quotes” from the essays you
discuss. Write about your own feelings and impressions concerning learning. What have been
your best learning experiences so far? If time, money, and grades were not a factor, what new
thing would you like to learn? What advice can you share with me about how to make learning a
better experience this coming school year?
#4
Russell Baker
“Growing Up”
Baker makes several generalizations about children and their relationships to their parents—and
vice versa. How do you respond to these generalization? To what extent do they tend to reflect
your own experience?
#5
Joan Didion
“Marrying Absurd”
Pick a setting where you think people engage in “absurd” behavior. Either spend some time
observing what happens there, or recreate these activities in detail from memory. Then write an
essay, as Didion does, in which you describe this setting and these activities in an ironic light.
Be as specific as possible.
#35
Ellen Goodman
“The Company Man”
Goodman wrote this essay in the early 1970s. What values and social constructs does it suggest
were common at the time? Using evidence from your own experience, would you say things
today are different or pretty much the same?
#96
E.B. White
“Once More to the Lake”
Describe a place that holds a personal sense of history for you. It may be a place you have
returned to after a long absence, as the lake is for White, or a place that simply holds many
memories. Focus on your responses to and feelings about the place, both in the past and from
your present perspective.
#2 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than June 23 and comment on these four
essays; let me know you actually read the essays by including “quotes” from the essays you
discuss. Write about your own feelings and impressions concerning family; what does family
mean to you personally? What is your favorite childhood memory and why? Consider how the
entertainment industry portrays the American family. Name your favorite movie or television
show about family and explain what makes it your favorite.
#90
Henry David Thoreau
“Why I Went to the Woods”
Analyze the recommendations that Thoreau is making here. What are his general
recommendations? What are his specific recommendations? How might these recommendations
be applied to life as it is lived in the twenty-first century?
#99
Virginia Woolf
“The Death of the Moth”
In order to explore your feelings about an abstract concept—love, courage, greed, humility, loss,
or another of your choice—construct an essay, as Woolf does, around a central symbol.
Describe your symbol in primarily concrete terms so that the concept itself becomes concrete.
#20
Annie Dillard
“Heaven and Earth in Jest”
Dillard organizes “Jest and Earnest” by presenting three scenes: the waterbug and frog, the
mockingbird, and the sharks. Explain what Dillard conveys in each scene and why each scene is
important for the overall meaning about nature that she conveys in this piece.
#3 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than July 2 and comment on these three
essays; let me know you actually read the essays by including “quotes” from the essays you
discuss. Write about your own feelings and impressions concerning nature. What activities do
you enjoy in “the great outdoors?” Where is your favorite place in nature and why do you like
this particular place? Describe the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of your favorite place in
nature; use details to create a vicarious experience for me.
Here are the essays you are to read, annotate, and write about:
#44
Thomas Jefferson “The Declaration of Independence”
The opening sentence of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence in its final
version (“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”) is perhaps the most famous statement of the
fundamental ideals of the United States as a nation. How do you respond to this statement? To
what extent do you feel that our country has succeeded in embodying these ideals?
#53
Abraham Lincoln “The Gettysburg Address”
The Gettysburg Address was composed for a very specific occasion, yet it has come to be
considered one of the most profound statements in American political history. What in the
speech gives it weight beyond simply honoring those who were killed during the battle of
Gettysburg? In what ways does it capture elements essential to the American ideal?
#36
Mary Gordon
“More Than Just a Shrine—Ellis Island”
Gordon’s visit to Ellis Island evokes in her a variety of negative impressions, yet the overall
experience does not seem to be a negative one for her. Analyze the essay to explore the apparent
contradiction. What does she gain from the experience?
#4 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than July 9 and comment on these three
essays; let me know you actually read the essays by including “quotes” from the essays you
discuss. Write about your own feelings concerning the United States of America. Are we the
greatest country in the world? How have we changed since the time of our founding fathers and
first-generation immigrant ancestors? Relate the events of one recent news story that back up
your opinion; give the details of the news story and how they prove your point.
Here are the essays you are to read, annotate, and write about:
#42
Zora Neale Hurston “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”
Write an essay in which you explore your identity in terms of gender, race, class, or ethnicity.
Try to account for times when you feel acutely this aspect of your identify, and times when it
seems to disappear or fade into near insignificance.
#84
Brent Staples
“Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Spaces”
Write about any times you have made strangers uncomfortable because of the way you “altered
public space.” How did you respond? Alternatively, write about any times you have judged
others as threatening solely because of their appearance. Were your responses justified? Do you
think people tend to mistrust one another based too much on appearance?
#81
Leslie Marmon Silko “Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination”
Consider Silko’s final story about the slaughter of her own ancestors. In what ways does this
story explain, elaborate on, and summarize the central points she makes throughout the essay?
#60
N. Scott Momaday “The Way to Rainy Mountain”
Momaday traces the migration of the Kiowa from Montana to the Great Plains in terms of both
physical landscape and of spiritual development. For him, how are the two related in the rise and
fall of Kiowa history and culture? What is the significance of his ending the story of his journey
at his grandmother’s grave?
#5 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than July 21 and comment
on these four essays; let me know you actually read the essays by including
“quotes” from the essays you discuss. Write about your own feelings
concerning minorities. How do you relate to the experiences minority
Americans have faced? How might you be considered a minority based on
your ethnicity, your gender, your religion, your wealth, your education,
your height/weight, or your region/residence? Why do so many authors
seem to focus on racial issues?
Here are the essays you are to read, annotate, and write about:
#46
Jamaica Kincaid
“On Seeing England for the First Time”
Throughout the essay, Kincaid presents concrete objects as having a larger symbolic
significance—her father’s felt hat, to name one of the many examples. Find as many of these as
you can; then, choose several that you think are particularly important to analyze in detail. What
does this technique contribute to the overall meaning of the essay?
#65
George Orwell
“Shooting an Elephant”
Orwell describes acting against his better judgment “solely to avoid looking like a fool.” Have
you ever done anything you believed to be wrong in order to save face, to avoid looking like a
fool? Describe such an experience and what it led you to understand about yourself and about
the pressure to save face.
#59
Horace Miner
“The Body Language of the Nacirema”
Try your hand at writing an essay that describes some familiar contemporary customs from the
standpoint of an anthropologist from another culture or world. You may wish to write about
physical behavior and customs; social customs such as weddings; musical events such as rock
concerts; or athletic contests such as the Super Bowl, the World Series, or the World Cup.
#6
Dave Barry
“Road Warrior”
Write a comic essay about other sorts of behavior that can spark irritation or “rage.” Don’t be
afraid to use exaggeration, as Barry does, but do so in ways that the reader will find amusing
rather than offensive.
#28
Ralph Ellison
“Living with Music”
Write an essay of your own about “living with music,” focusing the music you grew up with,
were taught in school, learned to play yourself, listen to now, and so forth. Try to draw some
larger conclusions, as Ellison does, about your relationship with music.
#31
Benjamin Franklin “Arriving at Perfection”
Revise, reorder, and supplement Franklin’s list of practical virtues as a guide for contemporary
students. Why do you make any changes that you do?
#40
Barbara Holland
“Naps”
What does “nap prejudice” represent for Holland? What does she see as its source? Why does
she think allowing for naps would be a good thing more generally? Do you tend to agree or
disagree with her? Why?
#6 Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than July 30 and comment
about the Nacirema. Do a quick google search and find out more about this
culture, then write to me about what other things you learned about them
(other than what the essay told you) and what things about the Nacirema
surprised you. Write and comment on the other essays as well; let me know
you actually read the essays by including “quotes” from the essays you
discuss.
Additionally, you must choose five essays from this book that have
not been specifically assigned to you for summer reading and write
one full page about your impressions and reactions to each of the five
essays. Be sure to put the date at the top of the page, the title or the
essay, and the author’s name. Write one essay per page.
#7
Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com no later than August 6 and
comment about these five essays; let me know you actually read the essays
by including “quotes” from the essays you discuss. Why did you choose
these essays? Would you recommend them to your fellow classmates? Why
or why not? How has your opinion of non-fiction changed over the course
of this summer? End your email to me with a list of fiction you read this
summer; include one or two sentences that summarize the books you read
strictly for fun.
Finally, choose the ONE essayist you liked the best and find another
essay he or she has written. That choice will not be from this book.
Read it and comment on it as you have done on the other assigned
selections. Conclude by writing about why you chose this author as
your favorite.
If
you
have
questions,
here’s
information. See you August 12th!
my
• Email me at mrsbdarnold@gmail.com
• Call or text me at 501-425-2189
contact