Brennan High School Summer Reading
English III AP and AP/Dual Credit
AP English Language and Composition 2016-2017
Required Texts: Choose one nonfiction text from the list on back.
It is highly recommended you buy your own copy of this text for annotation
and reference purposes. You will be using the nonfiction book the first few
weeks of school for various assignments and projects.
Required Assignment:
 Choice Text—You will read and annotate this book according to the
following rhetorical situation questions. We fully expect that you will have
applied these and any additional annotations to your reading of the book
before you arrive in August. Expect a variety of assignments and written
components to be completed the first weeks of school to include timed
writings, quizzes, and graded discussions.
 Rhetorical Situation Questions:
a. How does the author present him/herself to the reader?
b. What is his/her intention/purpose in writing this book?
c. How would you describe the genre? **Novels are fiction, so your
book cannot be a novel.
d. What is the subject of this book? Be specific. What kinds of evidence
are used to support the author’s ideas?
e. Who is the intended audience for this book? What kinds of beliefs,
attitudes, ideas, knowledge base and interests does the audience bring
to the text?
f. What do we need to know about the context (time period, setting,
political or social climate) of when the book was written or when the
book takes place? Be thorough and specific.
The Brennan English Department would like to welcome you to the AP English program.
We look forward to enhancing your knowledge of literature, rhetoric, good writing, critical
thinking, and all aspects of the written word.
Choose one nonfiction text from the following list. We have included a variety of subjects,
topics, and ideas. Because a book or author appears on the list does not mean we endorse
any of the language, views or actions contained in these books. Students and parents should
look over the list carefully and choose a book that is both appropriate and rigorous.
Autobiography/Memoir/Biography
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel Anthony Bourdain, A Cook’s Tour Firoozeh Dumas, Funny in Farsi Alex
Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs Barack Obama, The
Audacity of Hope Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory Art Speigelman, Maus I and II Sarah
Vowell, Take the Cannoli Richard Wright, Black Boy
Science and Technology
Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains Jonathan Foer, Eating
Animals Homer Hickham, The Rocket Boys Sherwin Newland, The Soul of Medicine Rebecca
Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Holly Tucker, Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and
Murder in the Scientific Revolution Michael Pollan,The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Current Events
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink; Outliers: The Story of Success Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace,
Savage Inequalties Gayle Lemmon, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana Azar Nafisi, Reading
Lolita in Tehran Diane Ravitch, The Life and Death of the American Public School System Ron
Suskind, Hope in the Unseen Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the
Twenty-First Century
Sports and Games
Jim Boutin, Ball Four Stefan Fatsis, Word Freak Ethan Gilsdorf, Fantasy, Freaks, and Gaming
Geeks Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit, An American Legend Jon Krakauer, Where Men Win
Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman W.K. Stratton, Chasing the Rodeo
History/Military
Paul Fussell, The Boys’ Crusade S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon Ken Jennings,
Mapheads: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks Robert Kurson, Shadow
Divers Erik Larson, Devil in the White City Tim O’Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone Sarah
Vowell, Assassination Vacation Jay Wink, April 1865 Daniel Wolff, How Lincoln Learned to
Read: Twelve Great Americans and the Educations That Made Them
Caveat: Many students feel the temptation to turn to Cliff’s Notes Wikipedia or Sparknotes.com
or even movie versions of their books when faced with the prospect of summer reading. If you
feel tempted to use a “study aide” or to take shortcuts like watching a video instead of reading,
ask yourself why. If you are not a strong reader, writer or thinker, or if you do not like reading
and writing, perhaps AP is not for you. If you decide to accept the challenges of college-level
work, then you accept the challenge of reading this summer.