AP Language and Composition
Summer Reading Assignment
2016-2017
Hello, and welcome to the world of AP Language and Composition. We hope that you find the class both enjoyable
and enlightening. In preparation for the 2016-2017 school year, you will need to complete the following assignment
prior to school, and submit the written portions of the assignment, electronically. AP writing is a demanding process
and the best way for anyone to become better writers is to read more. Since AP Lang focuses, predominantly, on
Non-fiction, we have selected The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, by
Erik Larsen. (Hereafter known, simply, as The Devil in the White City.) It is strongly suggested that you purchase your
own copy. Used copies can be found on amazon.com for only a few dollars. New copies may cost as much as
$15.00.
If you find yourself lost or confused by the following assignment, please email one of the following:
Laura Webster: [email protected], or Susan Kearns: [email protected]
Please, whatever you do, DO NOT wait until late in the summer to begin this project. Summer 2016 is quite short
and students start on August 15, 2016.
Assignment 1:
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson.
Using 5 different color highlighters, complete the following annotations. This assignment is due 1 calendar week
after your first day of class.
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In GREEN- Highlight 20 examples of words and phrases that specifically develop
CHARACTERIZATION of Daniel Burnham.
In BLUE- Highlight 20 examples of words and phrases that specifically develop the
CHARACTERIZATION of H.H. Holmes.
In PINK- Highlight 20 examples of Rhetorical Devices- label the device in the margin (you may look up
rhetorical devices to assist you with this task)
In YELLOW- Highlight 20 examples of evocative Diction (specific word choice meant to create a specific
emotional response from the reader) Focus on those intended to build suspense.
In ORANGE- Highlight 20 examples of a variety of the following: simile, metaphor, imagery, hyperbole,
and personification, label the device in the margin.
Assignment 2:
Create a dual timeline in which you depict the increase in activities by the Architects and planners of the 1893
Columbian Exposition (Chicago World Fair) in one color, on the top of the timeline AND in another color, on the
bottom of the timeline delineate the chronology of the actions/violence of H. H. Holmes. Please place page
numbers in parentheses at each event on the timeline. This evidence will be necessary to complete an assignment
after you return to school, so accuracy is imperative.
Development of the “white city”
Increased activities by H.H. Holmes
Assignment 3:
You will be required to complete 10 dialectical journal entries from the text. Take the page count and divide by
10. (In the Random House/Vantage Books version, there are 447 pages, 447÷10=45). It is from these sections that
you will collect quotations/significant events to comment on in the Analysis section. Please create this in a 2 column
chart, labeled Passage/Analysis, or you may write it in paragraph form with each labeled clearly. Page numbers (in
parentheses) must be included in the passage section.
Passage (quotations)
Analysis
For each entry, you must select a full passage (a paragraph or more), identify the context of the passage, comment
on the author’s style and the content of the passage. For the analysis portion, you must identify the author’s
purpose for the inclusion of the passage [pacing, developing character, driving the plot line forward, creating setting,
creating an understanding of society/culture, to develop a specific effect (what is the specific desired effect?) in the
reader]. Please carefully label each part as directed above.
Use the following suggestion for the analysis section.
Format:
The (author) (rhetorical verbs) (subject of quote) with (writer’s tool) to (verb) (effect).
Example:
Larsen illustrates the pristine color of the white city with powerful images of white buildings upon
a background of blue sky in order to create a sense of grandeur and imply a connection to purity or
innocence.
Please see the attached list of AP Rhetorical verbs and examples.
FORMAT:
The book, itself, with highlighting, should be submitted in person by one calendar week after schools starts.
All written portions (Assignments 2 &3) should be submitted electronically via Google Docs with and invitation to
view sent to [email protected] or [email protected]. You may also save the
assignments to a flash drive dedicated to this assignment ONLY, and submit it by one calendar week after school
begins. You will get the flash drive back after assignments are scored. Please remember to include bibliographical
information on the last page of your document. Please assign (name) your flash drive as your first and last name.
All written portions should be in MLA format (12 point plain text font, 1 inch margins, last name and page numbers
in the headers). If you struggle with MLA formatting, the Purdue OWL is the premier source for formatting, citing
and documenting in MLA format. A Google search of Purdue OWL will generate the correct source at the top of
the list.
Note: if any terms are unfamiliar to you, take it upon yourself to look them up. Please remember that they are all
related to Rhetorical, Argumentative, or Organizational structures in non-fiction.
List of AP VERBS
Add
Address
Affects
Affirm
Alludes
Amplify
Ascertain
Balances
Builds
Cause
Certifies
Characterize
Combine
Communicate
Compare
Complement
Complicate
Comprehend
Conclude
Confuse
Connect
Consider
Continue
Contradict
Contrast
Contribute Convey
Correlate
Corroborate
Create
Define
Defy
Demonstrate
Deny
Describe
Detail
Deter
Develop
Diminish
Directs
Discover
Dismiss
Display
Distract
Draw
Effect
Enable
Enforce
Enhance
Entail
Envelop
Epitomize
Establish
Evoke
Evolve
Exemplify
Explain
Express
Foreshadow
Guide
Hint
Identify
Illustrate
Imply
Indicate
Infer
Introduce
Invalidate
Involve
Justify
Juxtapose
Lead
Legitimize
Link
Magnify
Marks
Maximize
Minimize
Mislead
Paint
Parallel
Point
Portend
Portray
Presents
Produce
Promote
Propose
Reaffirm
Reinforce
Refer
Reflect
Relate
Relay
Render
Reiterate
represent
Resemble
Reveal
Show
Signify
Simplify
Specify
State
Strengthen
Stem
Suggest
Support
Symbolize
Testify
Tint
Trace
Translate
transmit
Understand
Validate
Verify
View
Vouch
Weaken
Write
Using AP VERBS to Write Analysis Sentences
Authors convey meaning in texts through language, carefully choosing specific strategies to achieve a purpose or create
an effect. When you analyze texts, you are looking for these strategies (the tangibles, or things you can touch on the
paper), and discussing their purpose or affect (the intangibles, or things you cannot touch but know are there).
For example: “During the course of the narrative, Soto alludes to the Bible frequently to help describe the influence of
religion on his life and set the theme of guilt.”
Author or Narrator
Soto
AP VERB
alludes to
TANGIBLE
the Bible
The author…
Alters
Creates
Clarifies
Conjures
Connotes
Conveys
Creates
Delivers
Depicts
Demonstrates
Describes
Echoes
Elaborates
Elicits
Elucidates
Emphasizes
Enhances
Establishes
Evokes
Explains
Hints
Illustrates
Infers
Implores
Intimates
Juxtaposes
Parallels
Portrays
Refutes
Reiterates
Repudiates
Ridicules
Satirizes
Shifts
Suggests
Twists
Urges
History
Syntax
Plot devices
Imagery
Diction
Irony
Actions
Allusions
Figurative language
INTANGIBLE
describe the influence of religion/set the
theme of guilt
Connotation
Tone
Theme
Emotions
Reactions
Character elements
Shifts
Mood
Atmosphere
Purpose
Insight