East High School
AP English Language and Composition
Summer Reading and Assignments
Summer 2015
Welcome to your first experiences with AP English Language and Composition! Due to the rigorous
and exciting nature of this course, we will be getting an early start. Amid your (hopefully) relaxing
summer, you will be completing summer reading assignments as well as creating written assignments
of your own. These assignments will appear on your first term grade. If you have any questions
between now and June 5th, you will find me in room D208. Thereafter I will be available via email at
brooke.ipson@slcschools.org. I look forward to a great upcoming school year!
Good Luck!
Ms. Ipson
Please take careful note of the following:
 If, for whatever legitimate reason, you transfer from my course to
Language Arts 11 Honors at the onset of the school year, you WILL be
held accountable for the summer reading assignments required by that
course.
Assignments & Readings
Readings:
Good readers think about what they read. Great readers communicate with what they read. Practice with
annotation is mandatory: get used to reading with a pen in your hand. First, take notes on purpose. What
purposes are these authors writing to achieve? How do they manipulate language in order to achieve these
purposes? Who, exactly, are they writing to (e.g. who is their ideal audience or reader)? Find several specific
examples. Next, pay attention to vocabulary and bring at least two words that stump, confuse, and/or delight
you. Be ready to define and discuss. Scribble thoughts while you’re reading and note passages, ideas, questions
to bring up when we discuss these books in class. Look at not only what these authors are writing about, but
how they are writing it. These annotations are due in August. A thorough annotated reading will include the
highlighting of important passages, notation of significant words and words to look up later, tracking of
characters in the narrative, and the writing of descriptive notes, questions, connections (text-to-self, text-to-text,
text-to-world), and ideas in the margins of what you read. In order to annotate, it is imperative you own your
own copy of each book. Again, it is best if you purchase your book. This summer, you will need to read the
following:
 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
OR
 This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff *
* Some mature content
We’ll begin in late August studying nonfiction and personal narrative, specifically how authors use language to
make meaning of the events that shape their lives and their worlds, and how they shape their experiences to
affect readers. With that in mind, please obtain and read an additional memoir of your choice for the EHS
Summer Reading choice (you should have received a brochure). I’ve provided a list of suggestions below. (If
your desired book isn’t on the list, but it’s still a memoir, you’re probably okay. Not sure if it’s a memoir?
Google was invented for a reason, my friend.) Feel free to contact me for guidance or to ask about others you
may find. Choosing books to read together with friends is encouraged and often makes reading experiences
even richer.
Look for all these books in new or used bookstores, libraries, or online. Furthermore, I highly recommend
reading My Ántonia by Willa Cather over the summer. This will be only one of two novels we’ll include in
our study of American literature. Come October, you’ll be happy to be ahead of the game.
Memoir, a list to get your search started:
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt
Liars’ Club Mary Karr
An American Childhood Annie Dillard
Sister Salty, Sister Sweet Shannon & Natalie Kring
Love in the Driest Season Neely Tucker
A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah
A Girl Named Zippy Haven Kimmel
JesusLand Julia Scheeres
Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison
Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom
Running with Scissors Augusten Burroughs
Naked David Sedaris
Jarhead Anthony Swafford
Lucky Alice Sebold
The Night of the Gun David Carr
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life Amy Krouse
Rosenthal
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother Amy Chua
How to be Black Baratunde Thurston
The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness Brianna Karp
Rat Girl Kristin Hersh
Waiting to be Heard Amanda Knox
Relish Lucy Knisley
The Spark Kristine Barnett
Attempting Normal Marc Moran
Shakespeare Saved My Life Laura Bates
i can barely take care of myself Jen Kirkman
The Potty Mouth at the Table Laurie Notaro
Too Cool for School Elizabeth Collins
Memoirs of a Geisha Nope, fiction!!!
Writing Assignment:
1. The Glass Castle Personal Trial & Growth Essay:
“....he said it was interesting. He used the word 'textured'. He said 'smooth' is boring but 'textured' was interesting,
and the scar meant that I was stronger than whatever had tried to hurt me”
~ Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle


Due Date: Monday, August 24, 2015
Assignment in a Nutshell: A memoir piece focusing on a challenging experience or occasion
during childhood which, while difficult and possibly painful, helped you learn a lesson, become
stronger, grow as a person, or develop a characteristic or quality you might not otherwise
possess.
 Details: This assignment should be written in first person NARRATIVE format. Narratives tend
to include dialogue, imagery, and detailed descriptions while also answering the question “so
what?” In other words: scene, summary, and musing.
Official Prompt:
We often hear clichés like “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Trite, of course, but clichés exist for a
reason; sometimes clichés can be true. In Walls’ narration of the story of her devastating childhood, a time which
stands out in stark contrast to her successful adulthood, it seems this old adage is downright prophetic. While your
experiences are (hopefully) not as painful as Walls’, you still have moments that have brought you to where you are
today. In this essay you will return to an experience that “didn’t kill you” but instead “made you stronger.” What did
this experience teach you? How would you say you are stronger for having experienced that time today? Create a
memoir of a slice-of-life experience in which you explore a time when you were challenged, tested, rejected or
emotionally devastated. Your piece should be in narrative format while including the elements of both reflection
and retrospect.
~OR~
2. This Boy’s Life Identity Essay:
Identity is such a crucial affair that one shouldn’t rush into it. (David Quammen)
“When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights…and that falling and
dying are for quitters. We live on the innocent and monstrous assurance that we…have a special
arrangement whereby we will be allowed to stay green forever…” ~Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life


Due Date: Monday, August 24, 2015
Assignment in a Nutshell: A memoir piece written in narrative format focusing on the creation
of one element or quality of your identity.
 Details: This assignment should be written in first person NARRATIVE format. Narratives tend
to include dialogue, imagery, and detailed descriptions while also answering the question “so
what?” In other words: scene, summary, and musing.
Official Prompt:
In This Boy’s Life there is dishonesty existing between Jack’s true identity—his actions and behaviors—and who it is
that he imagines or wishes himself to be. Like many adolescents, his identity is still in formation. This prompt is
about true identity and perceived identity. How is it that you formed one aspect of your identity? Was it in a
moment or over the course of your life thus far? Do you think, at this point in time, that your identity is more what
you imagine it to be, or is it a thing fully formed? Create a memoir of a slice-of-life experience in which you explore
a time when one facet of your identity was formed or of how it is still forming. Your piece should be in narrative
format while including the elements of both reflection and retrospect.
Expectations for Walls / Wolff Essays:
 Due August 24, 2015
 First Person Narrative Essay
 Title header (title, name, class, date) with unique, original title
 Please do not title this “Summer Essay” or something similar
 Times New Roman, 12 point font (or equivalent)
 Double spaced
 750-1000 words
Expectations for Free Choice Summer Reading:
 Read and annotate a MEMOIR of your choice
o Fiction, novels, biographies, and full-length autobiographies do not
qualify as memoir
o A memoir is a personal historical narrative covering a particular period of
the writer’s life
o Please use Walls and Wolff and any other titles on my suggestion list as
examples of what actually qualifies as memoir
 Complete the “One Pager” assignment included in this year’s summer assignment