To:
Members of AP English Language and Composition
From: Mr. Goudreau, AP English Language and Composition Instructor
Date: June 10, 2015
Re:
Summer Reading for 2015
Students in AP English Language and Composition must complete four major reading and writing assignments
during summer vacation. This work is particularly intense in order to ensure their commitment to the challenge
and rigor of the course. It is also designed to demonstrate that they possess the prerequisite reading and writing
skills for success in the course. Additionally, the summer reading allows students to experience a wider range of
texts and genres than might otherwise be possible during the school year. The course opens with a follow-up on
one of the summer assignments – the memoir. Specific assignments are outlined below:
PART I:
THE ESSAY AS A LITERARY GENRE
Read the following essays and complete the assignment described.
Twenty-Five Great Essays – Robert DiYanni, editor
This text is a short anthology containing twenty-five contemporary and classical essays by writers ranging from
Amy Tan to E. B. White, N. Scott Momaday to Henry Thoreau, and George Orwell to Virginia Woolf. The
book also contains an introduction that discusses the essay as genre and provides guidelines for reading and
writing essays.
(This book is very expensive, so I suggest that you search for the individual essays online. Find a PDF
version of the essay and read from that)
Assignment: Writer’s Notebook
For this assignment, you are to read the following essays from the text:
Marrying Absurd by Joan Didion
Living Like Weasels by Annie Dillard
About Men by Gretel Ehrlich
The Colonel by Michael Hogan
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
For each essay write a summary of each paragraph of the essay. (Summary should be a paraphrase of the
paragraph showing your comprehension of the text. Then write an analysis of the essay discussing the context,
purpose, and tone of the text. (Clearly note the title and author of the work before each entry.)
Context – what you can find out about the author, the time period, and/or the type of audience that would read the text
Purpose – what the author wants the reader to think or do after reading the text
Tone – the attitude that the author takes toward the topic of the essay (see attached list)
Also, tone can change throughout a work
Summary and analysis must be typed (Use MLA heading double spaced but type the rest of the paper single
spaced). This assignment must be attached as a word file or GoogleDocs, (Save as Lastname 1), and
submitted via e-mail by Friday, July 3, 2014. (Be sure to include your name and assignment name in the
e-mail subject box.)
1
USE YOUR BHS EMAIL PLEASE!!!
PART II:
AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY
Read the following biography. Then complete the assignment described.
Team of Rivals – Doris Kearns Goodwin
Every new biographer of Abraham Lincoln must confront a century-old question: Why write a new book about
the most exhaustively chronicled person in American history? Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Doris Kearns
Goodwin provides a persuasive answer to that challenge with this impressive life of the Great Emancipator.
With a deep understanding of how power works, this former confidante of Lyndon Johnson couples the story of
Lincoln's rise to the presidency with the stories of Lincoln's "team of rivals," the remarkable men he defeated
and then drafted into his cabinet. Utilizing thousands of primary documents, Goodwin masterfully reveals the
growth of Lincoln's political genius within the context of his times. This meticulously researched ten-year labor
of love is a joy to read (www.bn.com)..
Assignment: Critical Analysis Paper
As you read the text, take notes including page numbers of examples or quotes about important aspects of the
character of Abraham Lincoln. Write a seven page critical essay in which you analyze him as a man, a
politician, and a president. Use quotations from the text (taken from your notes) as evidence to support your
ideas. Your essay should be typed using MLA format and include in-text citation and works cited page.
This assignment must be attached as a word file or googledocs, (Save as Lastname 2), and submitted via e-mail
by Friday, July 24, 2014. (Be sure to include your name and assignment name in the e-mail subject box.)
USE YOUR BHS EMAIL PLEASE!!!
PART III:
American Drama
Read the following play and complete the assignment described.
Our Town – Thornton Wilder
“Our Town was first produced and published in 1938 to wide acclaim. This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life
in the town of Grover’s Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become a classic. Thornton
Wilder’s most renowned and most frequently performed play,” [the work traces the lives of two families – the
Gibbs and the Webbs while exploring universal issues of life] (www.bn.com).
Assignment: Literary Analysis Essay
Write a five page literary analysis essay in which you analyze and interpret the theme of the play. Explain how
the author uses literary elements (setting, plot, character) and dramatic techniques (e.g., dialogue, scenery,
props, costumes, etc.) to develop and reinforce the theme. Use evidence from the play to support your ideas.
Evidence can be quotes and/or paraphrasing of the text, but you must use in-text citation for each reference.
Your essay should be typed using MLA format, including in-text citation and works cited page.
This assignment must be attached as a word file or GoogleDocs, (Save as Lastname 3), and submitted via email by Friday, August 14, 2015. (Be sure to include your name and assignment name in the e-mail
subject box.) USE YOUR BHS EMAIL PLEASE!!!
2
PART IV:
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN MEMOIR
Read the following memoir and complete the assignment described.
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez – Richard Rodriguez
“Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in
Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately
quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a ‘minority student’ who pays
the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation — from his past, his parents,
his culture — and so describes the high price of ‘making it’ in middle-class America. Provocative in its
positions on affirmative action and bilingual education, Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a
profound study of the importance of language ... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become
a man (www.amazon.com/).
Assignment: Double Entry Journal
As you read the text, keep a double entry journal filled with responses to your reading. (Journals must be hand
written.) See the attached description of double entry journals. Be sure to identify and write about specific
passages/quotations that capture important ideas you encounter in the work. Draw connections to your own
experiences, other texts, and/or the wider world. On Friday, September 4, 2015, you will be asked to write an
essay in class based upon this book. Your journal entries will be your prewriting and reference material. You
will be allowed to use the journal during the assessment.
This assignment must be handed in on Tuesday, September 2, 2015.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
All students must word process their papers using Microsoft Word or GoogleDocs. All work for these
assignments must be original. You are not expected, nor are you encouraged, to consult reference
materials The instructor wishes to evaluate your ability to read, interpret, analyze, and write about the
literature. He does not wish to evaluate the work of a professional literary critic or study aids such as
gradesaver.com or sparknotes.com.
Essays require students to be able to write more than a five paragraph essay! Essays should be typed using
MLA format and include in-text citation and works cited page. (See enclosed)
The entire summer reading project will constitute two test grades on the first quarter. Late assignments will
not be accepted without contact to the instructor before the due date. Failure to hand in assignments on
time will result in dismissal from the AP Language and Composition class. Assignments will be evaluated
based on reading and writing skills displayed, quality of content, time and effort invested, and ability to follow
directions.
Questions and submissions of work should be sent to goudreaur@bsd-ri.net. I will respond to your
submission with a received notice. If you do not receive a response within two days, please check the address
and resend your work.
3
Double-Entry Journals
Purpose
The purpose of a double-entry journal is to give students an opportunity to express their thoughts and become
more involved with the material they encounter. This is important as we move to the close reading required by
the Common Core Standards beginning in 2012
Format
Students will divide their pages into two with a vertical line down the center. On the left side, they will copy
down information from the original text that they find interesting in some way. In the right column, they will
write their personal responses to the information on the left. Students should use 8½ by 11 inch size paper
and fill up each page (both sides). (Do not use spiral notebook; just staple top left hand side of packet)
Content
On the left side of the page, students will write words, quotes, short passages, or short summaries of events,
conversations or character descriptions. On the right side of the page, students will write their reactions to the
information that they chose. Their reactions should include: their own opinions, disagreements, or
interpretations; connections to other text, events in their lives, or the world in general; and comments or
questions about grammar and/or the meaning of new words. Double-entry journals help students to pick out
important parts of a work, ask questions about or analyze those parts, and improve their comprehension and
vocabulary. (Entries should be written from every one or two pages of text.)
Model
Information
Reaction
“air-propelled train” (p.3)
The setting of the story is in the future.
“Her face was slender and milk-white, …
Her dress was white and it whispered. He almost
thought he heard the motion of her hands as she
walked, and the infinitely small sound now, the
white stir of her face turning… (pp.5-6)
Why does Bradbury always use white to describe
Clarisse? What does it say about her? Is it the
usual white for innocence?
Clarisse and Montag have a conversation as he
walks home from work. She asks him a lot of
questions. (p.8)
It is clear through her questions that Clarisse is
very different form Montag and everyone in
society. She likes to be outside in nature. She
wants to know things. She gets in trouble in
school because likes to think and the other students
do not. She questions why most kids just drive
fast and kill other kids. She is a free spirit and a
Romanticist. She is a lot like Luna Lovegood in the
Harry Potter books. She asks Montag if he is happy
and it seems like he has to think for the first time.
"We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many,
starting a few years ago, we had the special machines
built.” (p10)
The pumped Mildred’s stomach and replaced her
blood after she overdosed on sleeping pills. It
seems like many people are doing the same thing.
What is Bradbury saying about society? They all
seem numb. Does it have anything to do with the
burning of books on page one?
Reaction entries should be longer than the information entries. That is where the thinking occurs!!
4