To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
Welcome to the next stage of your high school English AP odyssey! The junior year is a year which
you will hone the necessary skills and knowledge you acquired in the PRE-AP English classes so that
you can be successful in the AP program, particularly if you plan to take the AP English Language
and Composition test next May.
Summer reading is a requirement on all AP levels. Literature chosen on each level is chosen for
grade-appropriate readability as well as the parallels that can be made with other curriculum on that
level. This summer you will be reading a nonfiction book from a provided list and a book that
contains a collection of essays, Twenty-five Great Essays (3 Edition). Most of the AP English
Language and Composition curriculum is based on non-fiction works by renowned American
authors. The essays in this book will provide you with a solid basis for understanding upper-level
writing as exhibited by the authors; it will stimulate your thinking and your views of the issues
presented in the essays; it will also give you the background you will need to prepare for the AP test.
rd
You may check out a copy of Twenty-five Great Essays from me, or you may purchase your own
copy. I know that Amazon.com has them, and you might find them in book stores. They are
approximately $15-25 a copy. If you plan to check out a book from me, you must do so by the
end of the day Wednesday, May 27. Please do NOT interrupt my classes in your effort to see me to
get a book. Please note that I do have a limited number of books to check out, so don't wait until the
last minute to come see me.
Although it is not a grade, it is highly recommended that you annotate the essays to increase your
understanding of what you are reading. For your annotations, you may use small Post-it-Notes,
writing your notes on these and placing them on the pages within the book as you read. (If you
purchase your own copy, then, of course, you may simply write your notes in your book.) This is not
a novel. You will not find typical characters and plot structure as you would within a novel, so your
annotations will probably veer more toward your understanding of the essays, vocabulary, and other
issues as presented in the essays. Please note that the AP contract requires you to complete the
summer reading by the start of school, August 25, 2015. Failure to do so will result in your
removal from the course. Graded in-class discussions and quizzes will comprise additional grades
the first weeks of school. Be prepared to participate. You will also be given AP-style essay
assignments, which will be a graded, in-class, timed essay. The more familiar you are with the
essays, the easier the writing assignments will be.
I am excited about the upcoming year and the contributions I know you will make to your class and
to this program. If you need to contact me, you can email me at chubbard@canyonisd.net. Don’t
procrastinate on your reading, and I hope you have a FANTASTIC summer!
To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
AP Language and Composition – Summer Reading Assignment
Part One: Twenty-five Great Essays
Read all the essays from Twenty-five Great Essays edited by Robert Diyanni (make sure you
get a 3rd edition book). During the first week of school you will have a test and essay(s) that will
challenge your understanding of what you have read. You will also need to be able to identify
quotes and main ideas from each essay and be able to match them with the correct author. You
will not have your book available to use on the test.
Part Two: Nonfiction book.
Pick one book to read from the list of attached nonfiction books. You are responsible for
purchasing a copy of the book you choose, and you should be finished reading the book before
school starts in August. As you read it will be helpful to note any examples of the vocabulary
terms from part three you come across; this will help save you time with an assignment you will
complete next fall.
Part Three: Vocabulary
Learn the 55 terms below. These are some of the most common terms that show up on the AP
English test.
You need to master these words before you come into class next August. You need to know the
definitions and be able to pick out examples of their use as you come across them (you can
practice this when you read your nonfiction book and the essays). I recommend you create
either paper note cards, or virtual note cards on an app. There will be a test over these terms
within the first few weeks of the semester.
Part Four: Test Preparation
You will need to purchase an AP Language and Composition study guide before school starts
(be sure to get a Language and Composition guide and NOT a Literature and Composition
guide). It is up to you what company you get it from; I like the 5 Steps to a 5 series.
Part Five: Supplies
Dark blue or black pens
Pencils
Highlighters (4+ colors)
Lots of loose-leaf paper
Composition book or spiral
1”+ Binder with 5 dividers
Vinyl folder
Sticky notes
AP Language Study Guide
Nonfiction book
Flash/thumb drive
Willingness to work and try
Good attitude
Remember, all reading needs to be completed by the first day of school.
Have a great summer, and I look forward to learning with you next year.
Mr. Craig Hubbard
To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
Nonfiction novel: Pick one of these to read before the start of school in August.
As you read it will be helpful to note any examples of the vocabulary terms from
part three you come across.
Overviews taken from Barnesandnobel.com
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken
without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine,
cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown,
and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision
between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about
the mother she never knew.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
In 2001, Fast Food Nation was published to critical acclaim and became an international bestseller. Eric Schlosser’s exposé
revealed how the fast food industry has altered the landscape of America, widened the gap between rich and poor, fueled an
epidemic of obesity, and transformed food production throughout the world. The book changed the way millions of people think
about what they eat and helped to launch today’s food movement. *The movie is quite a bit different from the book.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
"One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year....Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting."—Entertainment
Weekly Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand
years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings.
In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our
bodies when we are no longer with them.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
Reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion, Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early
afternoon of May 10, 1996. He hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet
(roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the
sky had begun to roil with clouds.... "This is the terrifying story of what really happened that fateful day at the top of the world,
during what would be the deadliest season in the history of Everest. In this harrowing yet breathtaking narrative, Krakauer takes
the reader along with his ill-fated expedition, step by precarious step, from Katmandu to the mountain's pinnacle where, plagued
by a combination of hubris, greed, poor judgment, and plain bad luck, they would fall prey to the mountain's unpredictable fury.
A childhood dream of someday ascending Mount Everest, a lifelong love of climbing, and an expense account all propelled
writer Jon Krakauer to the top of the Himalayas last May. His powerful, cautionary tale of an adventure gone horribly wrong is a
must-read.
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy, one of America’s premier novelists, has penned a deeply affecting coming-of-age memoir about family, love, loss,
basketball—and life itself. During one unforgettable season as a Citadel cadet, Conroy becomes part of a basketball team that is
ultimately destined to fail. And yet for a military kid who grew up on the move, the Bulldogs provide a sanctuary from the cold,
abrasive father who dominates his life—and a crucible for becoming his own man.
With all the drama and incandescence of his bestselling fiction, Conroy re-creates his pivotal senior year as captain of the Citadel
Bulldogs. He chronicles the highs and lows of that fateful 1966–67 season, his tough disciplinarian coach, the joys of winning,
To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
and the hard-won lessons of losing. Most of all, he recounts how a group of boys came together as a team, playing a sport that
would become a metaphor for a man whose spirit could never be defeated.
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof
The headlines proclaimed the 1919 fix of the World Series and attempted cover-up as "the most gigantic sporting swindle in the
history of America!" First published in 1963, Eight Men Out has become a timeless classic. Eliot Asinof has reconstructed the
entire scene-by-scene story of the fantastic scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players arranged with the nation's leading
gamblers to throw the Series in Cincinnati. Mr. Asinof vividly describes the tense meetings, the hitches in the conniving, the
actual plays in which the Series was thrown, the Grand Jury indictment, and the famous 1921 trial. Moving behind the scenes, he
perceptively examines the motives and backgrounds of the players and the conditions that made the improbable fix all too
possible. Here, too, is a graphic picture of the American underworld that managed the fix, the deeply shocked newspapermen
who uncovered the story, and the war-exhausted nation that turned with relief and pride to the Series, only to be rocked by the
scandal. Far more than a superbly told baseball story, this is a compelling slice of American history in the aftermath of World
War I and at the cusp of the Roaring Twenties.
In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by
blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no
clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he
generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding
poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
The detached yet penetrating account of the savage and senseless murder of a family.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik
Larson
"Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized
America's rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and
the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in
Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his
"World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds - a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree
crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted,
Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the
attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the
more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake." The Devil in the White City draws
the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including
Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the
smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
In 1914, an expedition headed by Sir Ernest Shackleton set out to be the first to cross the continent of Antarctica. Shipwrecked
and marooned for months on end, their ill-fated voyage became a triumphant story of indomitable courage and faith in the face of
astounding obstacles.
A bestseller since it was first published in 1959, Alfred Lansing's Endurance now features a foreword and afterword from Dr.
James Dobson—inspiring every reader to persevere no matter how impossible the challenge.
*I’ve got student reviews in my room of most of these books if you want to see what they had to say about
them.
To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
AP English Terms to know.
You need to be able to define and pick out examples of each term. You should master these 55 words
before you walk into class next August.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
Ad hominem
Allegory
Alliteration
Allusion
Analogy
Anaphora
Anecdote
Antithesis
Aphorism
Apostrophe (not the punctuation)
Asyndeton
Chiasmus
Colloquialism
Conceit
Connotation
Denotation
Diction
Didactic
Ellipsis
Epiphany
Euphemism
Fallacy
Genre
Hyperbole
Imagery
Invective
Irony
Jargon
Litotes
Metaphor
Metonymy
Motif
Non sequitur
Onomatopeia
Oxymoron
Paradox
Parallelism
Parody
Pathos
Pedantic
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
Personification
Polysyndeton
Rhetorical Question
Sarcasm
Satire
Style
Syllepsis
Syllogism
Symbol
Synecdoche
Syntax
Tautology
Tone
Understatement
Zeugma
To: 2015 English III AP students
From: Mr. Hubbard
Re: Summer reading assignment
The following skills should be mastered before you start AP English in August. We will not spend class
time going over these items, and you will lose major points if these errors are present in your work.
1. Correct punctuation of simple, compound (with a comma and semicolon), complex (starting
with both dependent and independent clauses), and compound-complex sentences.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/02/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/604/1/
2. Proper punctuation of a book, movie, short story, poem, magazine, chapter, song, etc…
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Punctuating_Titles_chart.pdf
3. Proper MLA formatting. Most everything you do for me will be typed and MLA formatted.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
4. Comma usage and rules. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/
5. Identify and punctuating Independent and dependent clauses.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/01/