Capital City PCS Summer Reading for AP ENGLISH III
Dear Rising 11th Grade AP English Students,
This summer, you will be required to read two books to prepare for your AP English class next year. Both books
must be completed by September 2, 2014, and you must bring the completed packet with you the first day of
class to remain in AP English. Of the two books you read, one of them must be Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison;
you can check out this book at our library. The second book must be selected from the list of titles below.
When reading these two books, you are required to be an active reader.
 Ask questions about the text and try to answer those questions.
 Identify and trace the major and minor conflicts throughout the text.
 Consider the role each character plays in propelling the events of the text forward.
 Who are the major characters and why? Who are the minor characters and why?
 Which characters evolve during the piece (round characters) and which characters stay the same (flat
characters)?
 What is the author’s attitude toward the subject (tone)? What mood is created?
 Make predictions throughout the piece; comment on your predictions as you read.
You are expected to engage with the text throughout the reading. That means, don’t read the whole novel and
then write some thoughts down. Write as you read! Keep a journal.
Your second book must come from this list:
 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain
 The Awakening-Kate Chopin
 Autobiography and Other Writings Benjamin Franklin
 The Autobiography of Malcolm X-Malcolm X
 Before We Were Free-Julia Alvarez
 Black Boy or Native Son-Richard Wright
 The Bluest Eye-Toni Morrison
 Soul Enchilada- David M. Gill
 Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
 For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest
Hemingway
 Go Tell It on the Mountain-James Baldwin
 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
 1984-George Orwell
 My Antonia - Willa Cather
 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass













Animal Farm-George
Notes of a Native Son-James Baldwin
Brave New World-Aldous Huxley
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
Raisin in the Sun-Lorraine Hansberry
The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Their Eyes were Watching God-Zora Neale
Hurston
Walden - Henry David Thoreau
The Yellow Wallpaper-Charlotte Perkins
Gilman
Me Talk Pretty One Day-David Sedaris
The Help-Kathryn Stockett
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings-Maya
Angelou
We hope you read several books this summer! Enjoy your summer of relaxed reading with the goal of
loving what you read! Check out Amazon.com to see book summaries before you choose your second book.
We wish you the best of summers and look forward to seeing you in August for the start of our year together.
Warmest regards,
CCPCS English Department
Name: __________________________________________________ Date: ___________________________
CAPITAL CITY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
SUMMER ASSIGNMENT: INVISIBLE MAN by RALPH ELLISON
Note: Both the reading and this assignment are mandatory. It will be easiest to complete this assignment as you are
reading. You will submit it the first day of class for your first grade in AP English.
Learning Target: I can do a close reading of a literary text.
I.
Character Descriptions: Match the description with the character. (1 point each)
___The Narrator
___Brother Jack
___Tod Clifton
___Ras the Exhorter
___Mr. Norton
___Mary
___Sybil
___Bledsoe
II.
III.
1. A kind black woman who often lets the narrator stay for free at her house
2. The woman whom the narrator attempts to seduce
3. A trustee whom the narrator drives around
4. The main character of the story who sees himself as being invisible
5. The leader of the Brotherhood
6. Black member of the Brotherhood who eventually leaves the Brotherhood
7. A Black Nationalist who calls for the death of the narrator
8. The President of the college who expels the narrator
Plot Sequencing: Number the following events from 1-7 in the correct chronological order.
___ The narrator attempts to seduce Sybil.
___The narrator is invited to give a speech to important white men.
___The narrator joins the Brotherhood.
___ The narrator falls into his underground lair.
___Clifton is shot dead.
___ The unattended paint tank explodes.
___ The narrator is expelled from college.
Short Answer: Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. From what perspective does Ralph Ellison write the book (first person, second person etc.) and what is
the significance of this choice?
2. What allows the narrator to go to college?
3. Why is the narrator expelled from college?
IV.
Why does Ras the Exhorter not agree with the Brotherhood?
5. Why is the narrator’s grandfather an important figure to the narrator?
6. What event leads to the narrator joining the Brotherhood?
7. What are 3 major themes throughout the book? Explain each.
V.
Analyzing Quotations: Analyze the following 3 quotations. Then find TWO more of your own to anzlyze
in the last two rows of the chart. Include the page number where the quotes can be found.
Quote and Page #
Who Said it?
What is the
Why is it significant in the novel?
situation/occasion?
“if they want to tell
the world a lie, they
can tell it so well
that it becomes the
truth; and if I tell
them that you’re
lying, they’ll tell the
world even if you
prove you’re telling
the truth. Because
it’s the kind of lie
they want to
hear…” (143)
“Look, lady,” he
said, more to the
rest of us than to
her, “I don’t want to
do this, I have to do
it. They sent me up
here to do it. If it
was left to me, you
could stay her till
hell freezes ove…”
(270)
“And my problem
was that I always
tried to go in
everyone’s way but
my own. I have also
been called one
thing and then
another while no
one really wished
to hear what I
called myself. So
after years of trying
to adopt the
opinions of others I
finally rebelled. I
am an invisible
man” (573)
VI. Write a two page, double-spaced, 12-pt font essay explaining how Ellison’s theme of invisibility is (a) portrayed
in the novel Invisible Man using textual references, and (b) how it is relevant to our society today using personal
experiences.
Name: ________________________________________________________________
Date: ________________
AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
2nd Summer Reading Assignment
Complete these questions for the second book you have selected for your summer reading. (The book must be
chosen from the list provided.) Your answers should be written in complete paragraphs. If you don’t know one of
the terms in the questions, look them up. You must complete these accurately and thoroughly in order to stay in
the AP English Language and Composition class.
1. Describe the time and place the story takes place. What effect does the setting have on the plot and the
theme of the story?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Describe five of the major characters in the novel by completing the chart below.
Character’s
Name
Brief Description
Important quote or action that
reveals personality (Include
quotation marks and page #)
Interpretation of the
quote (Why is it
important?)
3. Who tells the story? What point of view is the story told from? Does the writer use first person, third
person limited, or third person omniscient? Is the narrator reliable and trustworthy? Why did the writer
choose this point of view? What advantages did it provide in helping to tell the story effectively?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
4. Describe the writer’s style. What type of words does the writer use? What sentence structures does the
writer typically use? What literary techniques does the writer use a lot? How does the writer’s style fit
with the subject and theme?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What are some of the themes that the author explores in the book? What big philosophical questions is the
writer wrestling with? What is the author’s perspective on these topics?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What are five discussion questions that you have about the book? Discussion questions are: provocative,
open-ended, complex, and don’t have one single answer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5.
AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
2nd Summer Reading Assignment
Creating a Board Game
This resource is from the ReadWriteThink lesson “Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games,” located at
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/technical-reading-writing-using-123.html.
Complete this activity for the second book you have selected for your summer reading. (The book must be chosen
from the list provided.)
Assignment: You are a board game manufacturer, and you have been assigned the task of creating a board game
that will help students experience your book in a fun and interesting way!
Requirements:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Make your game board neat, colorful, interesting, and creative!
Create at least 25 questions and answers for your game that relate to the novel. The questions must
be somehow incorporated into playing the game.
Relate the format and purpose of your game to the novel.
Write directions for your game that would make it perfectly clear how to play the game. Type the
directions and include directions and all other necessary materials with the game.
Make sure the content and difficulty of your game are appropriate for your novel and for your
classmates’ abilities. *A rubric is included for this project that outlines specific areas of the
assignment.
Bring your game to class on Tuesday, September 2nd. Be prepared to play your game in class on
Friday, September 5th.
Rubric: Creating a Board Game
10 points
8 points
6 points
4 points
2 points
Design &
Creativity
Everything is neatly created
and directions were
followed completely.
Game board is excellent
but some parts are a little
sloppy.
Game board is complete
but 1 or 2 elements are
missing and it could be
neater.
Most of the directions were
ignored and the board is
sloppy.
There is a game board but
it is not colored and no
extra efforts were made at
creativity.
Questions
There are 25 questions and
answers, and they are well
incorporated into the game.
A couple of questions or
answers are missing or
incorrect.
Some questions are
missing OR one could play
the game with answering
most questions.
Half of the questions are
missing OR questions are
hardly used in the game.
Many questions are
incorrect or missing and
very few are required to
play the game.
Format &
Purpose
The purpose of the game
relates directly to the novel
and the game board
represents the theme.
The purpose closely relates
to the novel and the game
board somewhat
represents the theme.
The purpose partially
relates to the novel and
the game board doesn’t
clearly represent a theme.
The purpose slightly
relates to the novel but
does not represent a
theme.
Directions
Directions make it perfectly
clear how to play the game.
They are neatly typed with
minimal grammatical
errors.
Directions are typed but
have 2-3 minor
grammatical errors. They
are somewhat unclear or 1
step is missing.
There are more than 3
errors. Directions are
unclear and 2-3 steps
could be added to clarify.
Errors in grammar
interfere with
understanding of the
directions. Much revision is
needed.
Complete revision needed.
Many steps are missing or
incomplete and it is very
difficult to understand how
to play the game.
Questions and rules of play
are of an appropriate level-not too difficult and not too
easy.
Rules of play are age
appropriate but some
questions are too easy or
too difficult.
Game is a bit too simple
for the grade level and
some questions are too
easy.
Game is very simple and
most questions are too
easily answered.
Game is not appropriate for
the grade level and
questions are too easy or
too difficult.
Content &
Difficulty
It is unclear what the
purpose and theme of the
game are from the
appearance.