Summer Reading 2013-2014

Advanced Placement

English Language and Composition

Summer Reading Program 2013-2014

School of the Arts



OVERVIEW:

This summer, you will read a novel from the RCSD Reading List. For AP LANG
students, you should read one of the following:

The Madonnas of Leningrad Debra Dean

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd

For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway

A Lesson Before Dying Ernest Gaines



In addition, you will need to read the following reading selections in preparation for
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition this fall semester. Your first
compositions in class will be based on one or more of these readings, and we will study
them further during the first unit; therefore, you should make sure that you have a
thorough understanding of these works.



1. Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynn Truss (for grammar review, available in library)

2. The Elements of Style Strunk and White (for style review, some available in library?)

3. In addition to the books above, read at least five essays from among the following
essayists (many of these writers have essays online):

Joseph Addison, Margaret Atwood, Francis Bacon, James Baldwin, Wayne C. Booth,

Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, W.E.B. Dubois, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ellen Goodman,

Nadine Gordimer, William Hazlitt, bell hooks, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King,

Charles Lamb, Barry Lopez, Norman Mailer, Nancy Mairs, Toni Morrison, George

Orwell, Carl Sagan, Richard Steele, Henry David Thoreau, James Thurber, Alice Walker,

Eudora Welty, E.B. White, or Virginia Woolf.



Here is a website to find more essays:

http://grammar.about.com/od/60essays/a/classicessays.htm


In your essay, try to answer the following questions for EACH essay:

· What is the author’s SUBJECT?

· What is the OCCASION?

· Who is the AUDIENCE?

· What is the PURPOSE of the essay?

· Who is the SPEAKER (what kind of person is the author based on and how he/she
writes the essay)?

· What is the TONE of the essay?

• How does the essay begin? (i.e. with an anecdote, or question or description, etc.)

· How does the essay end? You will need to turn in your essays on the first day of
class.


The SOAPSTone Analysis Strategy

SOAPSTone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, Tone) is an acronym for a
series of questions that we must first ask themselves, and then answer, as we begin to plan
our compositions, or if we’re analyzing others’ essays and writings.



Who is the Speaker?
The voice that tells the story. Before we begin to write, they must decide whose voice is going
to be heard. Whether this voice belongs to a fictional character or to the writers themselves,
students should determine how to insert and develop those attributes of the speaker that will
influence the perceived meaning of the piece.

When analyzing others’ writing, we ask ourselves who is speaking? Is it the writer? A persona?
How can we tell? What does the writing say about the speaker?
What is the Occasion?
The time and the place of the piece; the context 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 emotions 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.

Why are we writing? What am I concerned with? Or, when analyzing others’ writing, what are
they writing in response to? What’s happening in the larger world? What is the specific reason
the person is writing (or speaking)?


Who is the Audience?
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. As we begin to write, we must determine
who the audience is that we intend to address. It may be one person or a specific group. This
choice of audience will affect how and why we write a particular text.

When analyzing others’ writing, we have to determine who the writer had in mind, as well, and
why.

Questions to keep in mind: Is the writing intended to challenge a predicted point of view? To
build on a predicted shared point of view? Is the audience a peer group? Superiors? Other? Are
there both intended and unintended audiences?


What is the Purpose?
The reason behind the text. We need to consider the purpose of the text in order to develop the
thesis or the argument and its logic. We should ask ourselves, "What do I want my audience to
think or do as a result of reading my text?"

When analyzing others’ writing, we need to determine this same answer in regard to the purpose.
What am we, as readers, supposed to think or do as a result of this person’s writing?



What is the Subject?
We should be able to state the subject in a few words or phrases. This step helps us to focus
on the intended task throughout the writing process.

As well, when reading others’ writings, we should be able to state the subject in a few words or
phrases, as well, especially if the writing is done well.
What is the Tone?
The attitude of the author, often toward his or her writing and/or topic. The spoken word
can convey the speaker's attitude and thus help to impart meaning through tone of voice. With the
written word, it is tone that extends meaning beyond the literal, and we must learn to convey this
tone in our diction (choice of words), syntax (sentence construction), and imagery (metaphors,
similes, and other types of figurative language). The ability to manage tone is one of the best
indicators of a sophisticated writer.

Additionally, we should read others’ writings carefully to understand tone, because this meaning
is central to understanding. We look for clues that help us “hear” the writer, and thus make
judgments about his or her tone.

Source: This handout adapted from AP Central for Teachers

Last class

I've enjoyed teaching all of you this year.  I hope it's been a good year for you.  Thanks for all of your hard work!

Wishing you all the best on your exams...

Have a great relaxing summer!

Regents Comprehensive English

http://www.nysedregents.org/comprehensiveenglish/

Act V, Sc. 2 Hamlet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLO5IdAl-q8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9VZp7IFfXQ 

http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/hamlet 

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2009/09/02/theater/1247464359186/jude-law-in-hamlet.html

Novels and other works for Regents Comprehensive

KNOW AT LEAST TWO OF THE FOLLOWING THOROUGHLY (Characters, plot, literary terms, etc.) for the Critical Lens Essay

FOR TAG
T (Title and Theme)
A (Author)
G (genre--novel, play, short story, etc.)


11th grade
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
essays by Emerson, "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

10th grade
The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Night by Elie Weisel
Much Ado About Nothing byWilliam Shakespeare
Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Animal Farm by George Orwell

9th grade
Of Mice and Men and The Pearl by John Steinbeck
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Othello by William Shakespeare

(Contemporary Writers)
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Hours by Michael Cunningham

(Drama students and Playwrights)
Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov,  Samuel Beckett, Henrik Ibsen,
August Wilson

Final Reflective Essay

DUE: Mon. June 10
Course Reflective Essay
(counts as a project grade, so make it special)
3-4 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font (preferably Times New Roman)

Consider all the marking periods this year and write a reflective essay about your work in AP English Language and Composition.

What is a reflective essay?

A reflective essay is a form of writing that examines and observes the progress of the writer’s individual experience. While reflective essays explain and analyze the development of the writer, they also discuss future goals. Reflective essays are often associated with academic portfolios and especially writing portfolios. As part of a writing portfolio, reflective essays will critically analyze your development as a student. This should include a discussion of the strengths you have developed as a writer as well as your weaknesses. Closely related to these weaknesses, writers could also discuss how they plan to improve in the future. When writing a reflective essay, it is important to use descriptive language. In doing so, your reader will understand that you are familiar with the subject matter and that you have thought critically about your development as a student. Reflective essays are based upon your own experiences, so it is expected that you write about yourself, your ideas, and your opinions. As a result, it is completely acceptable to use first person pronouns such as “I” or “me” in these essays. Since the reflective essay is built upon personal experience, the writer has the liberty of being as creative as necessary. At the same time, do not let a focus on creativity take precedence over the important task of proving to your reader how you have grown as a student.

Structure

The structure of a reflective essay is very similar to the structure of most academic writing. Unless you are trying to argue a point, position, or perspective through your reflection, it is not required that your essay contain a thesis statement. Reflective essays can be formatted in all writing styles, including MLA, APA, and Chicago Style. A common structure for reflective essays is as follows:

Introduction

Introductions to reflective essays do not need to be longer than one paragraph in length. When writing an introduction, present the purpose of your reflection without giving your reader too much detail about the body of your paper. In the introduction, it is also helpful to tell your reader if you met your goals or the goals of the class/project. Later, in the body of the reflection, you can explain how these goals were or were not met in greater detail. Think of the introduction as a brief preview to the rest of your reflection.

Body

The body should discuss in detail your development as a student. For instance, if writing a reflective essay at the end of the quarter for a certain class:

KEY QUESTIONS FOR THE ESSAY:

How did you grow over the course of the class?
What have you learned?
What readings and assignments were particularly helpful to you?Can you apply what you have learned to your future academic or life pursuits? How did you or did you not meet your goals or the goals of the class/project you were involved in? 

This is slightly different from what you should discuss in your introduction. Do not just tell the reader whether or not you met these goals. Rather, show the reader by using illustrations from class or other relevant experiences.

Are there any skills you can improve on? If so, how do you plan on doing so in the future?

Conclusion

In the conclusion of a reflective essay, you should remind the reader of the ways in which you have developed as a student. This may seem redundant since you already discussed these things in detail in your essay’s body, but remember that the conclusion is the last thing your audience will read. As a result, leave no doubt in the reader’s mind that your essay clearly demonstrates how you have grown.

Act IV, sc. 5

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI3SMQ4iMRE


Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la4XiB1dZq0