AP English 11 Summer Reading Assignments
Glenvar High School – 2015-2016
Instructor: Teddy Moberg
tmoberg@rcs.k12.va.us
Teddymoberg@gmail.com
Dear Students and Parents:
Roanoke County teachers believe that students should develop a love of reading and
assume the responsibility to pursue reading in order to become life-long learners.
Therefore, we encourage our students to continue to read during the summer. All
students who are enrolled in AP English courses are required to read at least two books
during the summer. Below are the guidelines and reading list for AP English 11:
Language and Composition. We hope that students will use the list as a starting point
and choose other selections to read during the summer as well. Reading is the single
most important factor attributed to school success.
Required summer reading and assignments must be completed before the first day of
school. Late work will result in a 10% penalty per day it is late. As a matter of academic
integrity, students are expected to generate their own ideas and reflections; use of
Sparknotes and other study aids is strictly prohibited. All work is expected to be the
student’s independent and original work. Assignments that reflect shared or borrowed
content will be subject to the GHS plagiarism policy.
Assignment I: Current Events (Due the first day of class)
To begin to create a foundation of examples and ideas to support the arguments you will
be asked to make this year, you need to read reputable newspaper, (or news magazine)
articles.
Read newspaper articles from The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Times
Magazine, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, or weekly newspapers/magazines of
similar quality. You may also access local and national newspapers for articles.
You will need to read a total of 10 articles (one-two a week through the end of the
summer). Please keep up with this assignment. The dates of the articles must be spread
out. In other words, do not read all 10 the week before you return to school. Choose
articles that relate to current, global, national and local events equally. Sports articles do
not count!
Attach each article (or print it out) to a piece of blank white paper and note the
publication title, title and author of the article and date published (see example below).
Title each paper Global, Nation, or Local.
-
Author. “Title of Article.” Newspaper Name. Date: page number. Type (Print
or Web).
Main points (list)
SOAPSTone
Your response
Here is an example on the topic of oil prices about the recent oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico.
- Begley, Sharon. “How Quickly We Forget.” Newsweek. 7 May 2010: NP. Web.
- Main point:
-
The author cited previous oil spills like the Exxon Valdez near Alaska in 1989,
but notes that after a period of public outrage, the public goes back to normal
life with no changes.
-
Previous public apathy is shown by the quick return to normalcy after pandemic
warnings about avian and swine flu.
- SPEAKER: Environmentalist author
- OCCASION: The recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico
- AUDIENCE: American public
- PURPOSE: To inform the public about the dangers of quickly forgetting issues and
maybe become less apathetic towards future issues, because it may affect other parts of
society.
- SUBJECT: Oil spills and their effects
- TONE: indignantly pessimistic: Oil spills have become far too common; American
citizens have been desensitized to the risks of energy production.
- RESPONSE: Your response should be a small paragraph dealing with the article and
how you feel about it. If you are able to, please respond to the author’s
rhetoric…potentially doing a mini rhetorical analysis.
What is a SOAPSTone?
Soapstone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone) is an acronym for a
series of questions that students must first ask themselves, and then answer, as they begin
to analyze texts and/or plan for their own writing assignments.
Speaker? The voice that tells the story. The voice that is going to be heard. Whether this
voice belongs to a fictional character or to the writer himself, students should determine
how a writer develops the personality/character/credibility of the speaker or narrator that
will influence the overall meaning of the text. Think about: What assumption can you
make about the speaker? (e.g. age, gender, emotional state, etc. What is the speaker’s
point of view?
Occasion? The context and circumstances of the piece that prompted the writing. Writing
does not occur in a vacuum. All writers are influenced by the larger occasion: an
environment of ideas, attitudes, and emotion that swirl around a broad issue. Then there
is the immediate occasion: an event or situation that catches the writer’s attention and
triggers a response. What is the rhetorical occasion of the text (to relate a memory, a
description, an observation, an argument, a critique?) Think about: What is the setting?
What is the intended emotional effect? What else was going on in the world when the
author was writing?
Audience? The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. Successful writers must
determine whom the audience is that they intend to address. It may be one person or a
specific group. This choice of audience will affect whom and why writers write a
particular text. Think about: Whom does the author want to be affected by the text?
Purpose? The reason behind the text. Writers need to clearly consider the purpose of
their text in order to develop the thesis or the argument and its logic, or in the case of
fiction, to develop a theme. Writers should ask themselves, “What do I want my audience
to think or do as a result of reading my text?” What is the writer’s message and how does
he convey it?
Subject? Students should be able to state the subject in a few words or phrases. This step
helps them to focus on the intended task throughout the writing process. Subject, or
topics, are then developed into full ideas, arguments, or themes. What is the speaker
literally saying?
Tone? The attitude of the author toward his/her subject. The spoken word can convey the
speaker’s attitude and thus help to impart meaning through tone of voice. With the
written word, tone is created by conscious choices in diction, syntax, figurative language,
imagery and selection of details to extend meaning beyond the literal. The ability to
engage tone is one of the best indicators of a sophisticated writer. Think about: Diction –
is the writing tight and efficient (economical) or elaborate and long-winded (expansive)?
Does the writer use proper and formal language? Tone – What is the speaker’s attitude
about the subject? About the audience? Does the speaker seem sarcastic, aggressive,
wistful, pessimistic, hopeful, bitter, reflective, skeptical, etc.?
Assignment 2: Black Boy by Richard Wright (Due the first day
of class)
RHETORICAL JOURNAL: As you are reading Black Boy, pay close attention to the
questions listed on the rhetorical analysis reading guide. These questions will prepare you
for the close reading and analysis we will be doing this year.
While you read, you must complete a rhetorical journal, each journal can be typed or
you may hand write each entry. Each entry must have a minimum header—name, date,
journal title—if typed, no extra spacing between header and journal. Your rhetorical
journal must answer each of the questions listed on the critical reading guide.
For each question, rewrite the numbered question and write a brief answer, which
includes at least one specific, relevant quotation from the text with page number. Be
sure to explain how the quotation you selected to include supports the way you answered
the question. You DO NOT have to answer the questions in order. Rather, when you
notice an element of the book that fits into a critical reading question, do that
question next. Just be sure to number the questions.
NOTE: you are to complete these journals as you read the text. It is much easier if you
do it this way. Do NOT spend the entire night before the first day of school
completing this assignment. This is summer reading, not night before school starts
reading. The objective of this assignment is to assess your understanding of rhetorical
analysis at the beginning of the school.
When you are asked to do a “rhetorical analysis” of a text, you are being asked to apply
critical reading skills to break down the text into its “parts.” You determine what the
writer is trying to achieve, and what writing techniques he/she is using to achieve it.
Rhetorical Analysis Reading Guide
Reading critically means more than just being moved, informed, influenced, or persuaded
by a piece of writing. Reading critically also means analyzing and understanding how the
work has achieved its effect. Below is a list of questions to ask when you analyze a piece
of prose.
1. What is the thesis (the overall point)? How does the thesis comment on the
subject?
2. What is the tone of the text? What specific words contribute to that tone?
3. What is the writer’s purpose? (To explain? To inform? To persuade? To
motivate? To amuse?) Is there more than one purpose? Does the purpose shift all
throughout the text?
4. How does the writer arrange his/her ideas? What are the patterns of arrangement?
General to specific? Specific to general? Spatial? Chronological?
5. What is the sentence structure like in the text? Does the writer use fragments or
run-ons? Declarative? Imperative? Interrogative? Exclamatory? Are they simple?
Compound? Complex? Compound-complex? Short? Long? Periodic? Loose?
Parallel? Are there any patterns in the sentence structure? Can you make any
connections between the patterns and the writer’s purpose?
6. How does the writer use diction? Is it formal? Informal? Technical? Jargon?
Slang? Does the language change throughout the piece? How does the language
contribute to the writer’s purpose?
7. Is there anything unusual in the writer’s use of punctuation? What punctuation or
other techniques of emphasis (italics, capitals, underlining, ellipses, parentheses)
does the writer use? Is punctuation over or under used? Which marks does the
writer use? When? And for what effects? (Dashes to create a hasty
breathlessness? Semi-colons for balance or contrast?)
8. Are important terms repeated throughout the text? Why?
9. Are there any particularly vivid images that stand out? What effect do these
images have on the writer’s purpose?
10. Are devices used to enhance meaning? Which devices (similes, metaphors,
personification, hyperbole, etc.) does the writer use? When does he use them?
Why?
11. Does the writer use devices of humor? Puns? Irony? Sarcasm? Understatement? Is
the effect pleasure? Ridicule? Comic relief?
Assignment 3: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Due the
first day of class)

Read Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and be prepared to discuss and have a
test within the first couple weeks of school. After reading the play, students will
complete an essay in response to the following:
America has long been known as a land of opportunity. Out of that thinking
comes the “American Dream,” an idea that anyone can ultimately achieve
success, even if he or she began with nothing. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a
Salesman, we follow Willy Loman as he reviews a life in desperate pursuit of a
dream of success. The playwright suggests to his audience both what is truthful
and what is illusory in the American Dream and, hence, in the lives of millions of
Americans. Write an argumentative essay in which you explore the notion of the
American Dream and argue whether this dream is an illusion or a reality (or a
combination of both) based on your own opinions and your understanding of the
play and what it suggests.
Your paper should be two to three pages typed, double-spaced, with 12 point font. You
will be graded on the development and support of your ideas, your organization,
adherence to standard rules of writing (grammar and mechanics), and the extent to which
you incorporate evidence from the play into your argument.
Checklist for what is due on the last page…
What is due the first day of school?
Current events – 10 completed
Richard Wright Black Boy – Rhetorical Journals
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman – 2-3 page response paper
100 points
100 points
100 points
Books will be distributed through English classes the last week of school. Any
questions please email Mr. Moberg.