Summer Assignment: Senior AP English Language and Comp.
AP English Language and Composition is a course in generating and analyzing literary
nonfiction. It is a rhetoric course that examines the reasoning process and the modes of
discourse. It is also a composition course in the construction of various types of essays.
From your list of four books you will be responsible for writing two essays during the summer.
These are not essays that analyze the material; they are essays that imitate the writers you are
reading in subject matter and style. This basically means they are thoughtful literary essays
written in clear, expository prose. Each essay you write will be from two to four pages long.
They must be original and contain your own thoughts and experiences. Choose two of the
following:
1. Secrets of the Universe: Scenes from the Journey Home, by Scott Russell Sanders
Sanders is one of the greatest living essayists. “The Singular First Person” is widely anthologized
and is a good place to begin considering the personal essay genre. Sanders reflects on seemingly
insignificant aspects of life such as “Yard Birds” and “Dust” to more pressing matters such as
“Looking at Women.” Pick a specific subject or topic of your personal interests (involving
simple explanation and observation) and write a personal essay around the subject. This can
include anything from baseball to mowing the lawn to social networking. Highlight what insights
Sanders makes and attempt to draw your own.
2. Manhood for Amateurs, by Michael Chabon
In these insightful, provocative, interlinked essays, collected from a column in Details magazine,
this Pulitzer Prize winning writer presents scenic meditations of being a devoted son, husband,
and father. Write your own account of a memorable experience playing sports, working a
summer job, moving out of your first home (“The Loser’s Club”), or even about your favorite
player (“On Canseco”). Structure your personal narrative as Chabon does his – narrative,
dialogue, description, characterization etc…
3. The Best American Essays 2013, guest edited by Cheryl Strayed
This annual series consists of some of the absolute best essays published each year. They
consider hundreds of really good stand-alone works of creative nonfiction from really small
literary magazines you’ve never heard of, to the more elite publications such as The New Yorker
or The Atlantic. I encourage you to read what series editor, Robert Atwan says in his forward, as
well as what Cheryl Strayed articulates about what a personal essay can/should do in her
introduction. Are there any essays that stand out to you? Is there any one piece in this anthology
you could try to emulate?
4. A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson
Bryson’s narrative nonfiction are reflections of his journey while hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Write an essay about your own experience of nature (in the city or the suburbs or the great wild
spaces of America). Describe, reflect and define nature (and yourself) in the process.
ALL FOUR BOOKS WILL BE ANALYZED IN DETAIL DURING THE COMING SCHOOL
YEAR.