Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Gulfport High School
11th Grade
Mrs. Pam Gunkel (NBCT, M.Ed.)
pam.gunkel@gulfportschools.org
http://www.schoolrack.com/pam_gunkel (website with links)
Summer Reading:
AP English Language and Composition students will select ONE memoir from the list to read,
complete an analysis and create a Pecha Kucha-style presentation (see attachments). I highly
recommend viewing Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites to read book summaries in order to find a
favorite. I also recommend purchasing used copies of books to save money.
Memoirs
1. Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor
2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
3. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
4. Mom and Me and Mom by Maya Angelou
5. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas
6. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
7. If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O’Brien
8. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
9. True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Sulzman
10. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
11. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison
12. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time by Greg
Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
13. One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty
14. Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body by Not Looking at It for a Year by
Kjerstin Gruys
15. The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan
16. When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
17. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
18. Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright
19. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
20. The Know-It-All : One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J.
Jacobs
21. Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Dame Daphne Sheldrick
22. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
23. Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom by Ken Ilgunas
25. Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid into College by Andrew Ferguson
26. I’m Down by Mishna Wolff
27. Notebooks by Tennessee Williams
28. With and Without Her: A Memoir of Being and Losing a Twin by Dorothy Foltz-Gray
29. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson
30. Not Lost Forever: My Story of Survival by Carmina Salcido
Name_____________________________________
Date ___________________
Memoir Discussion Questions
Directions: In essay writing style, answer the following questions after you have read
your selected memoir.
1. What made you want to read this memoir? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?
2. What do you think motivated the author to share his or her life story? How did you respond to the
author’s “voice”?
3. Do you think the author is trying to elicit a certain response from the reader, such as sympathy?
4. Discuss the book’s structure and the author’s use of language and writing style. How does the
author draw the reader in and keep the reader engaged? Does the author convey his or her story with
comedy, self-pity, or something else?
5. Were there any instances in which you felt the author was not being truthful? How did you react to
these actions?
6. What is the author’s most admirable quality? Is this someone you would want to know or have
known? Why?
7. What did you like or dislike about the book? Were you glad you read this book? Would you
recommend it to a friend? Do you want to read more works by this author?
Pecha Kucha Presentation
Criteria:
*20 slides
*20 seconds per slide (6 minute and 40 second presentation) Slides should automatically
transition from one slide to the next
*One picture on a slide
OR
*No more than three (3) lines of text on a slide
(Do not have ALL pictures or ALL text. Try to even this out)
*Text no smaller than 30 point
*You can add your script on the notes pages of the slideshow and print it out to use in your
presentation.
Pecha Kucha PowerPoint Presentation Rubric
0
1
2
3
No slides
1-9 slides
10-19 slides
20 slides
No seconds per slide
1 -9 seconds per slide
10-19 seconds per
slide
20 seconds per slide
No presentation
Presentation shows
major lapses in timing
and delivery
Presentation shows
some lapses in timing
and delivery
Presentation is timed
and delivered well
No slides
Only a few slides
meet requirements
Most slides meet
requirements
All slides meet
requirement
(either one picture
per slide or no more
than three lines of
text)
No presentation
Overall presentation is Overall presentation is Overall presentation is
below average
satisfactory
exceptional
Total Score: ___________________
0-4 = F (50)
5-7 = D (70)
8-10 = C (80)
11-13 = B (90)
14-15 = A (100)
Pecha Kucha PowerPoint Presentation
What is it?
Pecha Kucha (pronounced “pe-chak-ka”) presentations started in Tokyo, Japan to keep presentations
concise and interesting. The word “pecha kucha” means “chit-chat” in Japnese. Pecha Kucha
presentations follow a STRICT format. Check out youtube.com and find “Pecha Kucha: Get to the
PowerPoint in 20 Slides” by Daniel Pink.
What is the format?
20 X 20 = 6 minutes and 40 seconds
THAT MEANS…
20 slides X 20 seconds per slide = a 6 minute and 40 second presentation (PowerPoint)
How do you create a pecha kucha presentation? Here are (appropriately) 6 steps:
1. Write your script and time it.
2. Create 20 slides that include a little text and large, striking images (ONE picture on a slide.
No more than THREE lines of text using 30 point font or higher. NO picture and added text on the
same slide. Balance out your pictures and text so that one is not too dominate. DO NOT animate your
text or pictures.)
3. Write your script in the note pane of each slide so that you know what you will say for each
slide. Recheck the timing.
4. Set the slides to advance after 20 seconds. Choose “VIEW”>”Slide Sorter”>and select all of
the slides. (Click the first one, press and hold “Shift” and click the last one.)
5. On the Slide Sorter toolbar, click the “Transition” button. (In 2007 choose “Animation”) In
the Advanced Slide section, uncheck the “On Mouse Click” box and check the “Automatically After”
box. In the “Automatically After” text box, enter 00:20.
6. PRACTICE your presentation until you can deliver it within the allotted time.
PowerPoint Tips and Tutorials
http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/powerpointtips/powerpoint_tip_stay_focused_pecha_kucha.html
What will you do with it?
You will create a pecha kucha presentation for the memoir that you choose to read over the summer.
This is your summer assignment. Presentations will be given the first full week we are back to school.
Through your presentation we, as the audience, should have a clear understanding of the author and the
story he or she tells. You can send your presentations to me via e-mail
(pam.gunkel@gulfportschools.org) or save them to a flash drive. Even if you do not have AP English
Language your first semester you are required to turn in your presentations! If you have any questions
over the summer feel free to e-mail.