AP English Language and Composition – Grade 11
Summer Reading and Writing Assignments
The purpose of AP English Language and Composition, a college-level elective exploring the uses and
power of language, is to challenge students to develop habits of analytical reading, critical thinking and
persuasive writing. Two courses for the price of one, the journey we take toward becoming, as the College
Board intends, “effective citizen rhetoricians,” travels along the road of American literature, and everything we
study in some way touches on the two overarching Essential Questions: 1) “How and why do writers do what
they do?" and 2) "What is “American?" Your summer assignments will introduce you to the fundamental
reading and writing processes we will continue to develop throughout the course, as preparation both for the
AP Exam next May, as well as for rich and rewarding lives using and enjoying the power of language. The
following tasks are due on Wednesday September 3.
1. J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye – Read and enjoy the novel, and be prepared to answer the enclosed
questions for discussion when we return, noting especially questions 8, 11 and 12 (you do not need to write
answers to these questions) and paying close attention to Salinger’s style/Holden’s voice. You will be quizzed
on the reading when we return.
2. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter – Read and enjoy the entire novel (you do not need to read the
introduction, “The Custom House.” Start at Chapter 1 – “The Prison Door”), and be prepared to discuss the
enclosed study questions when you return to school (again, you need not write answers to the study questions,
but they will certainly help you). You will be quizzed on the reading when we return. Please note well: We
know this is a “difficult” book and that’s why we’re assigning it. Our real challenge this year is to widen the
scope of what we don’t write off as “too hard” or “boring,” and this will certainly not be the last time we
challenge you with a text of this difficulty or complexity. It’s your job to be patient so as to discover the
meaning and value in any text.
3. As we will explore this year, and as both Catcher and Scarlet exemplify, much of our study of American
literature and rhetoric revolves around the idea that America is itself an argument, both an idea as well as a
tension arising from the conflict between competing ideas. Such polarities we will explore include the tensions
between reality and appearance, between the real and the ideal, and between the individual and society.
Choose two of the following tasks to explore these tensions:
a. In one or two well written paragraphs, document your view on what you think is the most important
tension in American culture right now.
b. Analyze a single image (photograph, editorial cartoon, advertisement, etc.) that “makes an argument”
about some aspect of America and briefly type up what the argument is and what is most effective in
the design of the image that conveys that argument.
c. Write one thick analytical paragraph in which you articulate the central argument either Catcher or
Scarlet make about these tensions, and analyze the most effective element the author employed to
convey that argument.
4. Go to the Farmington website (www.fpsct.org) and follow links to the FHS staff page and click on Ms.
Andrew’s, Mr. Carter’s or Mr. Dunn’s websites. Under the AP Course tab, click the Resources tab and
download, print, read and carefully mark Nancy Maier’s essay “On Being a Cripple.” Then type an informal
(not to exceed one page) response on the following questions: A) What argument does Maier make about
language (think beyond the obvious here)? B) How does Maier’s own use of language help her make this
argument? and C) To what degree do you support, refute or qualify Maier’s claims?
5. Obviously, since you enrolled in this course, you already love language and ideas. In addition to the above,
we know you will also read books of your own choosing for pleasure anyway this summer (which we strongly
encourage you to do). When we meet in September, anyone who can “sell” a book to their classmates that they
loved reading this summer can score mad Dum Dums and Smarties.
Discussion questions for J.D Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
1. What are your initial reactions to this book? What do you find you like, dislike, identify with, question? If you've
read it previously, to what extent has your opinion of the book been affected by your life experiences since your
first reading?
2. What's up with Holden? How would you describe him? What character traits does he possess? If you are the
analyst/counselor to whom he relates his story, how would you assess/diagnose him?
3. Can we find anything meaningful in the things and people Holden reports he likes and dislikes?
4. How would you articulate what Holden means by phoniness?
5. Throughout the novel, what are the things Holden tells us about his experiences over those three days and prior
which might serve as "bricks in the wall" (a la Pink Floyd) that have contributed to whatever diagnosis you gave
him in question #2?
6. What is the significance of the title? What does it mean to be a "Catcher"? To whom in the novel does it refer?
What do you think Salinger thinks of Holden's desire to be a Catcher?
7. Does Holden "fall", as Mr. Antolini suggests? If so, does he keep falling, or does he "hit bottom" and begin to
climb? How is the theme of falling played out in the novel?
8. If traditional plot lines center around the resolution of a conflict, does Catcher have one? In other words, does
Holden change/grow at all during the course of the novel? If so, how?
9. What is the significance of the following people: Phoebe, Jane Gallagher, Holden's parents, Allie, Mr. Antolini,
James Castle? Who else plays a significant role?
10. Could the following be symbolic, and if so, of what?: the ducks, the red hunting hat, the gold ring, the museum?
What else could shed light on Salinger's intentions?
11. While some critics might say Catcher lacks a point, others feel it's point is profound, yet subtle. While some
critique the novel as the repetitive and even offensive rambling of a spoiled, rich whiner who needs to grow up,
others hold that it is a classic exploration of growing up, of the struggle to carve meaning and identity amidst the
pressures to conform to a seemingly meaningless world. What do you think?
12. What commentary does Catcher make on American cultural and/or societal values?
13. Does Catcher deserve the positive and/or negative attention it has earned? Should it deserve to be one of the most
widely taught "classics" in high schools over the world, or does it deserve its spot at the top of the list of the most
banned books? Both? Neither? Why all the hype?
14. Holden said he wished after reading a book he could call up the author and talk. Ironically, Salinger has lived in
almost complete seclusion from society since the 1960s, so Holden wouldn't get far with him. If you could talk to
Salinger, what would you want to ask him?
15. It's been said that Salinger crafted this book very carefully, cutting enough in his revisions to make another novel.
What do you think he intended to express? What was his overall purpose? Why do you think did he make the
decisions he did in crafting this novel, and how do these choices relate to his purpose?
Discussion Questions on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
1. What is your reaction to the book as a whole? What struck you as interesting, true, provocative, realistic or not,
etc.? What do you think were the most important ideas, quotations, scenes?
2. Structurally the scaffold is at the beginning, smack in the middle, and at the end of the book, and the book has been
said to be 8 confrontations connected by psychological description. Why did Hawthorne set it up this way, and how
did this structure affect your reading of the novel?
3. Hawthorne wrote this as “moral allegory” in that characters represent “truths of the human heart”. What truths do
you find in this book, and who represents them? How do Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale incarnate
aspects of human nature or moral truth? What relevance to these “truths” have today, and what parallels could be
made between the events and characters in the book and those of our society”? What is Hawthorne’s message about
guilt, sin, forgiveness, redemption, revenge, etc.?
4. Discuss the important changes the characters undergo, and how these changes reflect Hawthorne’s purposes.
5. Compare and contrast the descriptions of the Puritan women in Chapter 2 with the description of Hester
immediately following. How does Hawthorne’s language and style reveal his attitudes?
6. Analyze the description of Chillingworth at the beginning of Chapter 15. How does Hawthorne’s language and
style reveal his intentions here?
7. Discuss Hawthorne’s use of symbolism in the book (the rose bush, the scarlet letter itself, the scaffold, the forest,
the characters)
8. In the movie version, Hester (played by Demi Moore) and Dimmesdale ride off into the sunset together with Pearl
after Chillingworth hangs himself. (This is also after a bunch of Indians prevent the hanging of a covey of witches).
The director said that Hawthorne would have approved of the changes Hollywood made. What do you think of
Hawthorne’s ending?
9. Discuss the significance of Pearl, her behaviors and her eventual fate.
10. Where do you find “sin” in this book?
11. Where do you find “strength” in this book?
12. What “scarlet letters” do we use in our society today? What would our letters be for ourselves?
13. Hawthorne added the ‘w’ to his name to distance himself from an ancestor, the “hanging” Judge Hathorne of Salem.
To what extent do you find this relevant in your interpretation of the novel?
14. Is this book about the Puritanism with which Hawthorne was fascinated, or is it about contemporary society?
15. What is the view of women in this book?
16. What do you make of Hawthorne’s comment about Hester in Chapter 13 “It is remarkable that persons who
speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society.”?
What is Hawthorne’s opinion about freedom of thought.
17. This book is on a lot of lists of American literary classics? In your opinion, what is American about it? What is
“classic” about it?