AP English Language and Composition
Summer 2016 Assignment
You must complete the following assignments over summer as both assignments are due on the first
BLOCK day of class. No exceptions.
Assignment 1: Read – Annotate – Test: The Grapes of Wrath
In stark and moving detail, John Steinbeck depicts the lives of ordinary people striving to preserve their
humanity in the face of social and economic desperation. When the Joads lose their tenant farm in
Oklahoma, they join thousands of others, traveling the narrow concrete highways toward California and
the dream of a piece of land to call their own. Each night on the road, they and their fellow migrants
recreate society: leaders are chosen, unspoken codes of privacy and generosity evolve, and lust, violence,
and murderous rage erupt. A portrait of the bitter conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one
man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of a woman’s quiet, stoical strength, The Grapes of Wrath is a
landmark of American literature, one that captures the horrors of the Great Depression as it probes into
the very nature of equality and justice in America.
Read the book The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Annotate as you read**. This book is available
for purchase from an online retailer (such as Amazon), Barnes and Noble, or Yesterday’s Used Books. On
the first day of school, you will take a test on this novel (50 points). You will also turn in your book to
show your annotations (50 points).
*Read the handout “A Guide to Active Reading” for more information about annotating.
The assignment is due on the first BLOCK day of class and is worth a total of 100 points. No late or
incomplete assignments will be accepted.
Assignment 2: Essay
Prompt: Analyze Tom Joad’s growth throughout the novel. Despite the fact that Tom is not a young boy,
does the novel have the characteristics of a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story?
You must cite concrete details from the text to support your analysis. Your typed essay should be 3-5
pages in length, double-spaced, MLA format.
The assignment is due on the first BLOCK day of class and is worth a total of 100 points. No late or
incomplete assignments will be accepted.
A Guide to Active Reading
To get the most out of reading, we must invest something of ourselves in the process, applying our own
ideas and emotions and attending not just to the substance but also the writer’s interpretation of it. This kind of
reading is critical because it looks beneath the surface of a piece of writing. (The common meaning of critical
as “negative” does not apply here: critical reading may result in positive, negative, or even neutral reactions.)
Critical reading can be enormously rewarding, but of course, it takes care and time. A good method for
developing your own skill in critical reading is to prepare yourself beforehand and then read the work at least
twice to uncover what it has to offer. Preparation can involve just a few minutes as you form some ideas about
the author, the work, and your likely response to the work.
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What is the author’s background, what qualifications does he or she bring to the subject, and what
approach is he or she likely to take?
What does the title convey about the subject and the author’s attitude toward it? Note, for instance, the
quite different attitudes conveyed by these three titles on the same subject: “Safe Hunting,” “In Touch
with Ancient Spirits,” and “Killing Animals for Fun and Profit.”
What can you predict about your own response to the work? What might you already know about the
subject? Based on the title and other clues, are you likely to agree or disagree with the author’s views?
After developing some expectations about the piece of writing, read it through carefully to acquaint
yourself with the subject, the author’s reason for writing about it, and the way the author presents it. Try not to
read passively, letting the words wash over you, but instead interact directly with the work to discover its
meaning, the author’s intentions, and your own responses.
One of the best aids to active reading is to make notes in your book on the pages themselves. As you
practice making notes, you will probably develop a personal code meaningful only to you. As a start, however,
try this system:
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Underline or bracket passages that you find particularly effective or that seem especially important to
the author’s purpose.
Circle words you don’t understand so that you can look them up when you finish.
Put question marks in the margins next to unclear passages.
Jot down associations that occur to you, such as examples from your own experience or disagreements
with the author’s assumptions or arguments.
After your initial reading, try to answer your own questions by looking up unfamiliar words and figuring
out the meaning of unclear passages. Then let the text you have just read rest in your mind for at least an hour
or two before approaching it again.
After you read the text a second time, aim to answer the following questions:
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Why did the author write about this subject?
What impression did the author wish to make on readers?
How do the many parts of the work – for instance, the sequencing of information, the tone, the
evidence – contribute to the author’s purpose?
How effective was the piece, and why?
Course Information Sheet
Advanced Placement English Language & Composition
2016-2017
Gregori High School
TEXTBOOKS/NOVELS
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Summer Reading)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
COURSE PREMISE:
AP Language & Composition is a course in rhetoric threaded with
literature; its emphasis is nonfiction. Most of the reading assignments
will be nonliterary pieces that force students to consider the linguistic
power and expository effectiveness of various nonliterary writers. Most
writing assignments will require students to emulate rhetorical modes
emphasized in the course as well as complete timed writings based on
former AP Language & Composition prompts.
GRADING POLICY:
Approximately 50% of grade is from writing assignments. The other
50% is from tests, quizzes, and homework.
90-100%
80-89%
70-79%
60-69%
below 60%
EXAMS:
=A
=B
=C
=D
=F
Fall Semester: There will be a practice AP exam that will include both
multiple choice and essay responses.
Spring Semester: There will be a second practice AP exam prior to the
AP test in May. During finals week, students will present a crosscurricular project.
HOMEWORK:
Homework can be expected nearly every night. Long-term assignments
require careful budgeting. No late homework will be accepted without an
excused readmit slip.
NOVEL WORK:
Students will be assigned specific novels to read throughout the year.
These readings are mostly independent of class work and may not be
discussed as a group. It is the student’s responsibility to budget
appropriate time to read and report on the novels. Point value ranges
from 100 to 200 for each novel.
TESTS/QUIZZES:
If a student is absent on the day of a test or quiz, it is his/her
responsibility to schedule a make-up test or quiz within 2 days of the
original test or quiz date. Failure to do this will result in a zero grade.
If a student knows he is to be absent the day of a test or quiz (e.g.
planned sporting event or ASB activity), it is his responsibility to
schedule a make-up test or quiz before the event has occurred.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Extra credit is infrequently offered.
ATTENDANCE:
Attendance and successful achievement in class are closely connected.
Obviously, students who regularly attend class learn more and
experience a higher success rate than do those students who are
frequently absent. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to ask me
for the missing work immediately upon your return.
CELL PHONES:
Cell phones and all other electronic devices are to be placed on silent and
out of sight. Cell phones are not to be placed on students’ desks or on
students’ laps. If student does not comply with these simple procedures,
the teacher will send the student to the office with the phone and a
referral. The phone then may be subject to parental pick up. Two of these
types of offenses will result in an unsatisfactory citizenship grade.
SCHOOLOGY:
Some assignments will be handed in as a hard copy; others will be turned
in through Schoology. Activate your Schoology account if you have not
used it this past schoolyear.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
To ensure success in this course and on the AP exam, students are
expected to study outside of the class as well as participate during class.
Recommended outside study sources include any 2015 or newer AP
English Language & Composition test preparation book.