AP English Literature and Composition
Summer Reading Assignment 2014
Welcome to AP English Literature and Composition. The summer reading assignments will introduce you
to the pace and rigor of the AP Literature course and the depth and breadth of the literature. Moreover, the
summer readings will increase and strengthen your choices for the essay questions on the AP exam.
Reading with rigor this summer will enable you to maintain the critical thinking and analytical skills that
you have developed throughout your academic career; so it is imperative that you construct a timetable to
complete the readings and the accompanying assignments before the upcoming school year. Enjoy the
readings. Talk to them. Engage them. Argue with them. Dance with them. If you do all these things,
you’ll emerge a better person for it. So let the reading begin!
Assignment One: Write Your Reader Profile
Due: July 1, 2014
Craft a well-written profile of yourself as a reader. What are your strengths and weaknesses in reading?
What purposes does reading serve for you? What are you passions and peeves? What classic literature
have you read? What are your reading habits? Be as honest and forthcoming as you possibly can be.
This portion of the assignment should be between 200-300 words. Please email your response to
[email protected] by the due date.
Assignment Two:
Reading Assignment
Due: First Day of Class
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Thomas C. Foster
According to Google, “What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a
sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface—a
symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character—and there's that sneaking suspicion that
the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas
C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road
leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just
rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a
Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.”
Please right click and copy the How to Read Literature Like a Professor Study Guide Link below to
the address bar.
http://teacherweb.com/CA/VanNuysHighSchool/TovarsEnglishClass/Study-guide-how-to-readliterature-like-a-professor-1.pdf
You are to type the questions out and respond using complete sentences and evidence from
the book. Please be sure to include your name and the title “AP Summer Reading.”
Assignment Three:
Due: First Day of Class
Read the following three novels.
Essential Question: “How do these novels embody ‘The Quest’ referred to in Foster’s How to Read
Literature Like a Professor”?
A.
Novel One: Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain-- According to Schmoop, “Aside from the novel’s
new style of writing, Twain’s decision to use thirteen-year-old Huck as the narrator allowed him to include
certain content that a more civilized narrator probably would have left out. At first, Twain’s novel was
labeled crass by some readers. The book was even banned in schools for its use of the n-word which is
ironic, given that the novel is up in arms over slavery. Even today, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
makes "Banned Books" lists.Twain’s novel jumped head first into one of the biggest issues of its day:
racism. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed over two decades before Huckleberry
Finn’s original publication date, African-Americans everywhere were still victims of oppression and
racism. They were technically "free," but often by name only in Reconstruction-era America. Many
southerners were bitter about the outcome of the Civil War. By guiding his characters through several states
of the Confederacy, Twain was able to reveal the hypocrisy of many pre-war southern communities. As a
southerner himself, Twain had first-hand experiences to draw on, and he was able to walk the fine line
between realistic depiction and ironic farce. Not to mention, Twain created the now-iconic character of Jim,
a runaway slave who convinces Huck that African-Americans are deserving of freedom, and that equality is
a goal for which we all should be fighting.”
B.
Novel Two: Their Eyes Were Watching, Zora Neale Hurston According to Schmoop, “Zora
Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God over seven weeks in Haiti. The novel was published
in 1937. Though the novel was written while abroad, Hurston’s home base was actually New York, where
she played a prominent role in what we now call the Harlem Renaissance – a time of immense literary,
musical, and artistic creativity in the black community of Harlem. Their Eyes Were Watching God is
Hurston’s most famous novel. The storyline follows the life of Janie Crawford, a black woman in search of
true love and her true self. Both the novel and Hurston were not very well known until 1975, when another
African American female writer, Alice Walker, wrote an article entitled "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston."
This piece resulted in a renewed interest in Hurston and her writing.”
C.
Novel Three: Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko According to Barnes and Noble, “Thirty years
since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native
American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed
ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of
the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing
himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written,
filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power.”
Assignment Four: Journal Entries
Due: First Day of Class
You are to write thoughtful, insightful journal entries as you read each novel. Each entry
should include the following:
1. Huckleberry Finn: Eight journal entries (one for every five chapters). Each journal entry
will include the following components:
a. A personal and/or analytical response (an analytical response examines a particular literary
component i.e. symbols, character, imagery, etc. and relates it to the meaning of the text as a
whole).
b. A discussion of Huckleberry Finn as a quest (Use Foster’s book as the reference and cite
evidence to support your claim)
c. A discussion of Huckleberry Finn in relation to other categories found in Foster’s work.
d. A discussion of the significance of one passage and/or quote
e. A Comparison/Contrast of Huckleberry Finn to yourself, the world, or other texts.
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God: Five journal entries (one for every four chapters). Each
journal entry should include the following components:
a. Personal/analytical response
b. Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God as representative of a quest (Use Foster’s
book as the reference and use evidence to support your claim)
c. Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God in relation to other points in Foster’s book
d. Discussion of the significance of one passage and/or quote
e. Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God in relation to Huckleberry Finn, yourself,
the world, and any other additional novels or plays. (Compare and Contrast various
literary devices and themes)
3. Ceremony: Seven journal entries (one for every thirty-five pages or so). Each journal entry
should include the following components:
a. Personal/analytical response
b. Discussion of Ceremony as representative of a quest (Use Foster’s book as the
reference and use evidence to support your claim)
c. Discussion of Ceremony in relation to other points in Foster’s book
d. Discussion of the significance of one passage and/or quote
e. Discussion of Ceremony in relation to Huckleberry Finn, Their Eyes Were Watching
God, to yourself, the world, and any other additional novels or plays. (Compare and
Contrast various literary devices and themes)
Journal Format:
a. Typed one-page journal entries (you may write more but no more than two pages)
b. Number each journal entry and follow the sample format listed below
c. Place all journal entries inside binder. You may use sheet protectors, or if you are using a
three-hole puncher, you are to buy the reinforcement to place over the holes
d. Write entries using present tense verbs and write lively, interesting prose and adhering to
the conventions of Standard English spelling, grammar, and writing.
Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
June 15, 2014
Journal Entry # 1
One-page entry comprising the points outlined
To summarize:
1. Write Reader Profile and email it to me by July 1st
2. Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor and complete the Study Guide.
3. Read the three novels and complete the journal entries for each one. There are a total of
twenty journal entries.
If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].
Enjoy your Summer Reading Quest!
See you the first day of class!