AP English Literature and Composition
Summer Assignment
Even when our trust is readily placed in them, reasoning and education cannot easily prove powerful enough to
bring us actually to do anything, unless in addition we train and form our Soul by experience for the course on
which we would set her; if we do not, when the time comes for action she will undoubtedly find herself impeded.
Michel De Montaigne (16th century philosopher, thinker and writer)
Given the above Montaigne quote, we recognize that the value of an exercise is not in the result, but in the process
of earning that result. The experience of gaining that knowledge trumps even the knowledge itself. Often, to our
detriment, we focus on completing an assignment for the sake of earning the end result with the least amount of
effort or work. This illusion of success crumbles eventually—and at your expense.
Attached you will find your summer reading; the goal is to have you read, struggle, read, and understand and be
able to engage the text intellectually. To this end, the summer assignment asks not for a polished, absolute, s***k
n**es (spark notes) interpretation of the novels, but for interpretations of the novels borne from your commitment
to reading, analyzing, and interpreting the text (some sections more than once).
The Summer Assignment
Read the following:
*Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (176 pages)-a novel
*Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (170 pages)-a novel
*Read one Paris Review: Art of Fiction Interview (30-45 minutes)-an interview
Assignments to Turn In
Done during summer:
*PART I: Thorough, well composed answers to discussion questions for BOTH Brave New World and Things Fall
Apart (while there is no sentence limit, a good suggestion is no less than 8-10 sentences (about ½ page)submitted to turnitin.com)
*PART II: Paris Review: Art of Fiction Interview reflection/interpretation
Once school has started:
*In class discussion/socratic seminar (once school has started)
*AP Open Ended Essay (date to be decided—within the first 2 weeks of school)
Final Word
Throughout AP English Literature, we will be stressing the process—the process of becoming a great writer
(emerges from committed, focused work), the process of becoming ready for college (not taking shortcuts), the
process of becoming a great reader (an everyday thing), and the process of becoming a great thinker (one must be
willing to think). You will all improve and be ready by the end of the year. Trust in the process. One last word
from a great American 20th century philosopher and thinker, Joseph Campbell: “A bit of advice given to a young
Native American at the time of his initiation:
‘As you go the way of life,
You will see a great chasm. Jump.
It is not as wide as you think.’”
**Plagiarism or academic dishonesty of any kind is not tolerated. Doing so will earn a “0” on the assignment and
jeopardize your standing in this class.
Summer Assignment: Part I
Brave New World and Things Fall Apart Discussion Questions
The following questions are to be answered on BOTH novels (you will answer each question twice on separate
word documents—once for Brave New World and once for Things Fall Apart). While some questions can be
answered as you complete sections of the novel, others will require that you finish the novel before answering
them. While completing a dialectical journal as you read is not mandatory, it is suggested so that you can keep
track of characters, events, and complexities(a sample is attached). For each of the below questions it is expected
that your answers are well composed, textually supported insights into the text. Besides the thesis statement, each
answer should have *integrated quotes*.
Remember, you answer each question for Brave New World AND Things Fall Apart (on separate
documents—while there is no sentence limit, a good suggestion is no less than 8-10 sentences—about ½
page—no fluff)
Question 1:
Each novel immerses us, instantly, into a world that simultaneously is foreign and familiar. Establish the
characteristics of the society that the author creates and analyze the intricacies (complexities) of the society being
presented. In what ways is it like and unlike our own society?
Question 2:
Throughout a novel, some characters will evolve (change) and some will stay the same. Choose one character that
has either changed or stayed static (unchanged) and analyze how their quality affects the message the author is
conveying. What are we supposed to learn from this character’s change or his/her inability/unwillingness to
change?
Question 3:
In what way do technological and cultural “advancements” play a role in each novel? What is each author saying
about these advancements? Do they lead to liberation and freedom or to corruption and disintegration? Choose a
passage (no less than three sentences) that most supports your position and analyze it to prove your argument.
Provide text and page number in your response.
Question 4:
The choice of a title by an author is deliberate and purposeful. How does the title of each novel help us understand
the message that the author is communicating? Use evidence from the text to support your position.
Question 5:
For the bolded prompt below, please write a thesis paragraph for each novel. No integrated quotes needed. A
thesis paragraph is the intro of an essay that has your thesis and everything you will argue. Be sure to address ALL
parts of the prompt.
The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or
deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific
death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Summer Assignment
Part II
Since the 1950’s the Paris Review has made it their mission to interview the important writers of the day providing
us a glimpse into the mind of these luminaries of long fiction and poetry. Below you will find the names of seven
famous writers with a link to their interview (the link will also be provided on Mr. Evans’s GVHS Webpage). All
that is asked of you is to read the entire transcript of ONE interview (could take 30-45 minutes) and answer the
following questions. Our aim and purpose is to give you a “behind the scenes” peek into the minds of these
writers…and turn you on to some really great writers, find out what they read, and maybe have YOU discover a
new favorite author!!
*Note: There will be references to other texts/authors that you have not read and may not have heard of. That is ok.
*Note: Authors, at times, use colorful and interesting language. Feel free to choose another author interview if the
language becomes overwhelming.
Authors: (choose one)
William Faulkner (American author who writes As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!,
Light in August, as well as being a prolific short story writer-Nobel Prize Winner)
Ernest Hemingway (American Author who write Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell
Tolls and other novels, as well as being a prolific short story writer-Nobel Prize Winner)
Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian writer)
Maya Angelou (American Author and Poet—writes I know Why the Caged Bird Sings in addition to other novels
and books of poetry)
Toni Morrison (American Author—writes Beloved, among other novels)
David Mitchell (American Author—wrote Cloud Atlas among others)
Seamus Heaney (Irish poet-Nobel Prize Winner)
Questions to answer…see next page
Paris Review: Author Interviews
Your Name: ______________
Name of Author:________________________
Year when interviewed: _______
Question
Provide a general
summary/overview of the
interview
What quotes or insights did the
author provide about the process
of writing? What struck you about
these?
What quotes or insights did the
author provide about the process
of reading? What struck you
about these?
What was the most powerful
message the author conveyed?
Provide the quote(s) and explain
what it means and why it is
powerful?
How does this writer make you
see literature in a different way?
Final thoughts:
Answer (complete sentences)
Introduction to Brave New World
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't! (Tempest, Shakespeare)
General Introduction: Utopia or dystopia? Ironically utopia means “no place” and a dystopia is an “antiutopia”; this begs the question, which is more realistic? Aldous Huxley, in his novel Brave New World, writes,
like Bradbury and Orwell, of a future in which a utopian society, at least to the characters in the novel, ostensibly
exists. Huxley’s utopia/dystopia mirrors many of the historical issues present at the time of the publication and
even those yet to come (issues that are pertinent to modern day society).
Brave New World: This “brave new world” is one in which members of society are put into groups at birth.
Some are treated with specific toxins to stunt their growth so that they can grow up in the lower caste. As a group
from the Central Hatchery in London visit a reservation in New Mexico, they realize the restraints of their
civilizations and the discrepancy between their World State and the savage reservation. Their trip initiates a self
reflexive survey of their society and their position within it.
Major Characters:
John-his entire worldview is based on the knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays
Bernard Marx- Although he is supposed to be an alpha male, his lack of size alienates him
Linda-John’s mother, and former wife to the Director of the Central Hatchery
Major themes:
-technology and society
-the danger of a totalitarian government
-happiness and truth
-consumer society
Symbols
-soma
-Shakespeare
-Ford
-Sex
Major Questions
How “brave” and “new” is this world?
Is it innocence or ignorance that leads to the belief in this society?
What are the ideal traits of a civilization and of people in a civilization?
Introduction to Things Fall Apart
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
W.B. Yeats
General Introduction:
It is from Yeats’ apocalyptic poem foreseeing savagery overtaking society that the
title of Achebe’s novel is taken. This novel, through its simplistic yet noble prose, addresses the nature of the
African countries that had previously been depicted as savage. Achebe reveals an ancient and important culture
based on tradition and ceremony. This is a somewhat primitive land, but there is a method and complicated set of
cultural customs behind it; it is not the voiceless forest as Conrad depicts in Heart of Darkness.
Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo, our protagonist, is the most physically powerful man in the surrounding villages.
However, that which makes him physically dominant is exactly what leads to his downfall. His inability to
mediate the rules and customs and society with the physical dominance he possesses relinquishes him to a position
of weakness. This reads almost like a Greek tragedy: simple, powerful, and emotional.
Major characters:
-Okonkwo-protagonist, son of Unoka (not physically gifted)
-Nwoye- son of Okonkwo, more like his grandfather (Unoka) than his fater
-Ezinma-daughter of Okonkwo, bold and strong for a woman
(There are many other characters, and the names are sometimes difficult to understand. Do not feel overwhelmed
by the names, the more they are repeated, the more familiar they become)
Major themes:
-change and tradition
-masculinity
-language as cultural difference
-impact of colonialism
-the impact of parentage
Symbols:
-locusts
-fire
-animals
Major questions
How are the Ibo cultural traditions both a help and a hindrance to the people of Umuofia? How are cultural
traditions of our society a help and a hindrance to us?
What presumptions are made about the reader? Are customs explained? If not, why?
What are Okonkwo virtues? What is his tragic flaw (hamartia)
How does the simplicity of the prose belie the complexity of the culture? .
Dialectical Journal
***Suggested, not Mandatory***
Dialectical Journal
As we read, you will want to write down certain quotes that seem important to the story and that particularly strike
your interest. This dialectical journal is intended to organize the important quotes from the story chronologically and
reveal your reflections about these quotations. This can be used for many of the assignments that we will be doing with
the book you are reading. Below are a few examples that reveal the type of responses I am looking for.
Page
Number
Quotation
Reflection/Analysis
page 1
EX: The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Only
from the yellow barrels of the microscopes did it
borrow a certain rich and living substance, lying
along the polished tubes like butter, streak after
luscious streak in long recession down the work
tables
__________________________________
EX: “Not philosophers but fretsawyers and stamp
collectors compose the backbone of society”
page 4
page 16
page 23
EX: “And that, “ put in the Director
sententiously, “that is the secret of happiness and
virtue—liking what you’ve got to do. All
conditioning aims at that: making people like
their unescapable social destiny”
EX: “A love of nature keeps no factories busy. It
was decided to abolish the love of nature, at any
rate among the lower classes; to abolish the love
of nature, but not the tendency to consume
transport” (23).
This is a wonderfully crafted sentence. The interplay
between death and living, static and fluid, and colorless
and colorful could be easily overlooked. The words
“frozen,” “dead,” and “ghost” communicate a feeling of
frigidity; interestingly, there is little interplay between
light and dark (something we usually attribute to life
and death). Instead it is movement vs. stationary. The
sentence gains momentum at the simile “lying along the
polished tubes like butter,” and seems to “streak” to its
end. It is ironic that the “frozen, dead, ghost-[like]”
light “borrows” a “living substance,” almost as if death,
personified, reawakes for this scene.
____________________________________
“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the
world” (Percy Bysshe Shelly-Romantic Poet).
When I read this quote from Brave New World I
couldn’t help but remember this quote by Shelly.
Interestingly, however, these quotes seem to contrast in
their ideals. Whereas Shelly, a Romantic who believed
he could achieve transcendence through poetry,
proposes that poets, those of the figurative realm,
legislate the world through their musings on nature and
society, the quote from BNW suggests that it is those
people, dealing with the minutiae of existence, dealing
with the tangible, that compose and hold up society.
TEIRESIAS: It is not your fate
to fall because of me. It’s up to Apollo to make
that happen. He will be enough. (Oedipus Rex).
This quote rings true even in the Greek play Oedipus Rex.
Much like Oedipus was a victim of an “unescapable
social destiny” so too are the preconditioned embryos.
The only difference is that Oedipus does not relish in his
destiny, but instead tries to fight it. I wonder if similar
things will happen to those members of society who are
relegated to a lower social class.
This is an amazingly calculated and thought out society.
However, it strikes me that in their attempt to be so
calculated, they are overlooking potential within human
nature. The candid confession that they want a certain
class to hate nature but love transport seems wrong. In
an attempt to create a perfect society, they are creating
the opposite. Would it be easier, though, if I were
conditioned to hate anything but work? Would I work
harder? Would I even know ?