AP LIT Summer Reading:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
In order to avoid plagiarism, avoid Sparknotes. Read these on your own! Do the following to each book:
(For a slight example of this, see my website):
1. Title, Author, Date.
2. List of Characters. Write a brief character sketch for three major characters explaining their significances / list
7-10 minor characters with just one sentence each explaining their importance.
3. List of 3 Place Names. Explain each one’s significance.
4. Provide information (significance) about the time period in which it was written (literary, historical,
philosophical). No more than 5 sentences…just a small slice please.
5. List of 3-6 (want a better grade, hedge toward the 6) major events, scenes, speeches/conversations. Give page
numbers for quick reference. Mark these passages in your book if you have your own copy. In many cases this list
will be chronological. In some cases (As I Lay Dying, or Slaughterhouse Five) you will need to have two lists: the
order of appearance in the structure of the book—including the flashbacks; and the order of appearance in time.
EXPLAIN their significances.
6. Social/political/philosophical agenda(s) of the author. Why was the book written? What insight into society or
human nature (the human condition) does the book offer? (Any essay you will eventually write must hook into the
larger perspective/understanding of the book). Cite a few passages that illustrate the core of the author’s ideas.
You will need to do some serious thinking about this, distilling what you learned from your own reading.
ONCE AGAIN!!!DO NOT USE SPARK NOTES!
(you must learn to rely on your own thinking / perceptive ability…that’s what the AP test is all about…and you’ll be
turning this in to TURNITIN.com)
7. List some technical, structural, and stylistic strategies and achievements of the author in this book. You should
be able to write about HOW the novel or play is written, as well as what it is REALLY about. Address: use of
language, figurative language, sentence structure, point of view, irony, diction, symbols, novel’s structure, and use
of detail. (This should be a 6-10 sentence paragraph)
8. Describe the opening and closing scenes…explain how they connect to the author’s purpose.
Revised and adapted from Idris Anderson (and Ruth Yip). AP Workshop, Pinnacle High School, December 6, 2003
Note on the novels/plays: One or both of these works may or may not deal with mature themes, diction, or
syntax. We do not acknowledge or condone these instances, if any; rather we will simply investigate as if we were
doctors examining a patient…and then we learn from it, becoming improved practitioners of thought. This AP
literature class is intended to serve as a surrogate to or for a college literature class where writings are judged
upon merit without regard for social norms. Therefore your mature perspective is required and necessary.
Miscellaneous:
Two year-long guiding questions (Be ready to answer these in class the first week and then every week
after):
How is the writing in question a story of us?
What choices are we (humanity) obligated / free to make?
Another note: Just like a college class, you are expected to access your own reading. Therefore it is
recommended you purchase a copy (Amazon.com / Barnes and Noble / used bookstores) for you to
underline in, annotate, and continue the writing with your own thoughts. I am fine with eReaders if you
can take notes while you read. Otherwise, borrow from the library or friends. But make sure you do so
sooner than later.
Here is a list required readings:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Stranger by Albert Camus (a class set)
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (in our textbook)
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (Free online)
Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (in our textbook)
Othello by William Shakespeare (in our textbook)
{You will choose only one of the following so wait until school starts before you obtain this:
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams}
*Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
***Bold=Fall Semester