Mrs. Podgorski
AP Language and Composition
2012-2013 Summer Reading Assignment
Welcome to AP English Language and Composition! I’m looking forward to working with you
as you prepare for the AP exam in May 2013, and for college.
According to The College Board, the AP English Language and Composition course “requires
expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments that are based on readings
representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres.” Starting this summer and continuing
throughout the school year, we will read a range of nonfiction prose works in order to deepen our
awareness of rhetoric (look it up if you don’t know the meaning) and how language works.
This summer reading assignment should give you an introduction to the type of reading you will
experience and the degree of close reading you will do in the course. This class requires you to
delve deeply into the readings, to question the writer’s intent, audience, and purpose, and to
grapple with the issues the writer presents. With this in mind, choose TWO of the following
books to read this summer. Do not wait until the last minute to read these books. You will not
be able to read on the intense level the assignment requires if you wait until August to read them.
Start early and give yourself enough time to fully analyze the readings. Read the ENTIRE book,
including the preface and afterword, if applicable.
Please make careful selections and get your parents’ approval. I’ve selected the following books
based on their artistic merit, their mention on The College Board website, and/or the author’s
experience and research. These books represent only their authors’ opinions and are not
necessarily those of your teacher or the Mat-Su Borough School District.
The assignments below are due the first day of school (August 16, 2012). If you cannot be in
school for the first class, email your assignments to me prior to August 16, 2012. No work will
be accepted late. Please note that the successful completion of your summer reading and
writing assignments is a prerequisite for continued work in this course. This means I will
recommend a different English class for you if you do not turn in your summer reading
assignment on the first day of class. AP Language is a college-level class.
First Assignment for all incoming students:
Choose two memoirs from the following list:
127 Hours: Between a Rock and A Hard Place, by Aron Ralston
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals (do not read the abridged version!)
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Assignment 1: Annotate one book as you read. You can do this in a separate notebook, on sticky
notes, or directly on the pages if you have purchased the book. The following list will help you with
this task:
1.Reader Response: Be able to trace your reactions, to ask questions in class, to remind yourself when you find
answers to earlier questions. This should help note the writer’s effectiveness.
MAKE NOTE OF:
tension/suspense, disgust, criticism, disagreement, confusion)
evelations: when "things" become clear to you, when you make links
- passages that strike you artistically/aesthetically and why
2. Speaker: Think about how who the writer is and what he/she knows is communicated. This should help you
decide the author’s credibility.
MAKE NOTE OF:
- how the author establishes credibility and character on the given topic
ment
3. Occasion: Think about what caused the author to write about this topic and whether or not it is a valid reason.
MAKE NOTE OF:
- what is the motivation?
e topic
eotypes, etc.
4. Audience: Think about what kind of person or people the author intended as the audience and whether or not the
author is able to connect with that audience effectively.
MAKE NOTE OF:
(and it can be more than one) the author is trying to reach.
- where the author appeals to your sense of emotion through anecdotes and figurative language
5. Purpose: Think about the author’s purpose in writing this book and whether or not they are effective in that
purpose.
MAKE NOTE OF:
futing, exemplifying- but make sure you note
specifics.
6. Subject: Think about what the book is discussing and whether or not the author shows why this subject is
important.
MAKE NOTE OF:
, the nation, the
world, etc.
7. Tone: Tone is the writer’s attitude toward his/her subject.
MAKE NOTE OF:
Word choices (diction) the writer uses to convey his/her attitude toward the subject.
Changes in tone
8. Authorial Devices and Structures in the Argument: Think about the author’s techniques in delivery and how
effective author’s methods are for rhetorical purposes - the use of subtleties, patterns, style, structure, etc.
MAKE NOTE OF:
t of view/emphasis
- not just a word that you don’t understand, but one that seems crucial to
understanding the argument- look these up.
metaphors and other notable literary and rhetorical devices
o the subject, audience and
purpose
Prior to completing the summer reading/writing assignments, please have a clear understanding
of the following terms: logos, pathos, and ethos. Many articles and websites are devoted to these
types of appeals, and here are several you may find helpful as you study and learn these terms:
http://www.apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap06_englang_
roskelly_50098.pdf
http://www.public.asu.edu/~macalla/logosethospathos.html
Assignment 2:
For your second book, you will select passages that exemplify the rhetorical style elements listed
below. Each passage you choose should be around 500 words (approximately one page). Choose at
least three style elements listed below and find examples of each in the book.
For example, three different students might make the following selections:
Student A
Passage 1: Figurative Language
Passage 2: Figurative Language
Passage 3: Details
Passage 4: Imagery
Passage 5: Figurative Language
Student B
Passage 1: Diction
Passage 2: Diction
Passage 3: Syntax
Passage 4: Figurative Language
Passage 5: Imagery
Student C
Passage 1: Diction
Passage 2: Details
Passage 3: Syntax
Passage 4: Figurative Language
Passage 5: Imagery
Identify each passage by marking it with a sticky note on which you note the following:
 The purpose of the passage in terms of a phrase that begins with an infinitive verb (i.e. to describe
the scene in the operating room, to illustrate the effects of addiction on the family, to explain how
anxiety is beneficial from an evolutionary perspective, to compare type A personalities to type B
personalities).
 The dominant rhetorical element from the list below.
Be able to explain why you chose each passage to your classmates during the first week of
school.
Style Elements
Diction: Diction refers to word choice. The vocabulary of the English language is the most
extensive of any language on Earth, offering shades of nuance and connotation that help authors
create definite mood and tone in their writing. Consider, for instance, the word ask. Other words
can be substituted for the word ask to emotionally color or create tone in the writing: plead, beg,
implore, request, demand, order. Look for passages that contain words that are particularly
emotional or specific in their meanings. You will especially notice these passages because of
their strong verbs and modifiers (adjectives and adverbs).
Imagery: Imagery refers to the creation of sensory experience for the reader. Whenever a writer
appeals to the reader’s senses of smell, taste, sight, touch, or hearing, the writer is creating a
sensory experience. Consider the following passage from Mary Roach’s book Stiff:
Out behind the University of Tennessee Medical center is a lovely, forested grove with squirrels leaping in
the branches of hickory trees and birds calling and patches of green grass.
Roach uses visual and auditory imagery to describe the scene. Look for details of the scene or
specific words (especially verbs) that appeal strongly to your senses.
Details: In this case, the word details refers to the level of specificity a writer offers about the
situation. This is different from imagery in that it does not necessarily appeal to the senses to
make its point. Consider the following passage from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers:
Of the 75 names, an astonishing 14 are Americans born within nine years of each other in the mid 19th
century. Think about that for a moment. Historians start with Cleopatra and the Pharaohs and comb through
every year in human history ever since, looking in every corner of the world for evidence of extraordinary
wealth, and almost 20 percent of the names they end up with come from a single generation in a single
country.
Here's the list:
01. John Rockefeller, 1839. 02. Andrew Carnegie, 1835. 28.Frederick Weyerhaeuser, 1834. 33. Jay Gould,
1836. 34. Marshall Field, 1834. 35. George Baker, 1840. 36. Hetty Green, 1834. 44. James G. Fair, 1831.
54. Henry H. Rogers, 1840. 57. J.P. Morgan, 1837. 58. Oliver Payne, 1839.
In this passage, Gladwell includes overwhelming detail to support his idea. Though this detail
does not appeal directly to the senses, it is integral to his explanation.
Figurative Language: Figurative language refers to figures of speech. The most familiar to you
at this time are simile, metaphor, personification, analogy, paradox, and hyperbole. Look for
passages that repeatedly use figures of speech to achieve a purpose. Consider the relevance of the
comparisons they make. For instance, the similes soft as downy mouse fur and soft as dead
mouse fur suggest two entirely different sensations.
Syntax: Syntax refers to sentence structure. Consider how the length and structure of sentences
help to achieve the writer’s purpose. Look for sentence fragments or short sentences, extra-long
sentences, lists, sentences that reserve the main clause until the end, or sentences that are
structured to reveal comparisons, like the following from A Tale of Two Cities (not one of your
choices – here to illustrate the point):
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it
was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had
nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the
period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Notice how Dickens uses the structure of the sentence to show the scope of this moment of
history and overwhelm the reader. Also, he reserves the main idea of the sentence until the very
end, showing us that the period to which he refers is no different from any other time.
Tone: Tone is the writer’s attitude toward his/her subject as evidenced by his/her diction. In the
following excerpt from The Sea Around Us, identify Rachel Carson’s attitude toward the tide:
There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and
respond to the mysterious forces that create the tide. No other force that affects the sea is so strong.
Compared with the tide the wind-created waves are surface movements felt, at most, no more than a
hundred fathoms below the surface.
Enjoy this summer and your preparations for AP Language and Composition!
Please direct all questions to me at: Nancy.Podgorski@matsuk12.us