Ms. C. North
[email protected]
11th Grade AP Language and Composition Summer Assignment
2016
Required Text: Why We Can’t Wait by Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior- NO ELECTRONIC
DOWNLOADS ACCEPTED! You must purchase or download and print A PHYSICAL
COPY OF THE TEXT.
Carefully follow the directions for completing each of the following components of your
Summer Assignments.
I. Rhetorical Terms Booklet
II. Why We Can’t Wait Annotations
III. Why We Can’t Wait Rhetorical Strategies Chart
IV. Why We Can’t Wait
DUE: WEDNESDAY, AUG 10TH BY 3:30 PM
Late work will receive a 50% deduction
I. RHETORICAL TERMS BOOKLET
Use the AP Language Terms document to create a booklet that includes each of the terms.
Within the booklet you MUST:
 The terms should all be numbered and in alphabetical order.
 Each entry should include
1. the numbered term
2. the definition of the term
3. an example of the term
 Please put spaces between the term/definition and the example, or put them in different
colors or fonts. (Anything to make them easy to locate and read)
 Leave space between each term in order to add examples throughout the year.
 You may cut/copy and paste terms, BUT NOT examples
 No more than 4 terms per page
 Place in a three prong folder NOT a binder.
This booklet will serve as a reference for you to use during the year; therefore, take your time
and make this project as neat as possible.
Ms. C. North
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II. Read and Annotate Why We Can’t WaitWhen you are reading a passage, article, essay or excerpt, you need to read actively and
visually. Don’t sit passively and merely let your eyes move across the page. Scientific studies
support the idea that active readers gain higher retention than do passive readers.
Active reading means that you should underline key words, phrases, sentences and ideas
and then make connections with them by writing notes in the margin of the actual text.
Visual reading means that you should picture any action of the text; create a movie in
your head. Visual reading is a most valuable tool for eliminating distractions while reading. It
gives your brain a task to perform and helps keep your mind on the content of the text. Most
people are visual learners; they remember more after they have “seen” something, even if it’s in
their imagination.
Annotating helps us to become active readers and gain a deeper understanding of the text.
As you work with your text, consider all of the ways that you can connect with what you are
reading.
The following steps will help you with your annotations:
1. Paraphrase and identify the MAIN IDEA and PURPOSE of main idea of each
paragraph or section. Do this in the left- hand margin. You should do this EVERY time
you read.
2. Identify and comment on examples of rhetorical strategies the author uses. Do this AT
LEAST once for every paragraph EVERY time you read.
3. Using context clues, define words or slang that you did not work with before you read.
Make the words real with examples from your experiences; explore why the author
would have used a particular word or phrase.
4. Make connections to other parts of the text.*
5. Make connections to other texts you have seen or read, including books, stories, songs
or poems; films; news events, historical events.*
6. Make meaningful connections to your own life experiences.*
7. Ask questions about parts of the text you are having trouble understanding.
8. Answer questions you have raised if they are answered later in the text.
9. Make comments in response to the author’s ideas (I like/don’t like this because, I
agree/disagree with this because). ALWAYS include a “because” clause.
10. At the end of each chapter write a reflection/reaction statement (8-12 sentences)
****PLEASE SEE ATTACHED ANNOTATION RUBRIC****
Ms. C. North
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III. Why We Can’t Wait Rhetorical Strategy Chart
For each chapter you will complete a rhetorical strategies chart and answer corresponding
questions for analysis
 Charts must be TYPED in 12 point font, Times New Roman
Rhetorical Strategies Chart
Identify three rhetorical strategies per chapter that King uses. Create a four-column chart that
lists:
1. The name of the rhetorical strategy
2. The quote and page number in which the strategy is used
3. A brief explanation of how the quote demonstrates the strategy and
4. A description of how the use of the strategy affects the meaning of the text.
You may not use a rhetorical strategy more than once (8 essays X 3 strategies = 24
strategies). An example is provided below.
Rhetorical Strategies Chart Example
Rhetorical Strategy
Chapter #, Quote,,
page #
How the strategy is
demonstrated
Effect of the strategy
on meaning
Ch. 1, Strategy 1
“Like Paul, I must
constantly respond
to the Macedonian
call for aid” (86)
“Macedonian call” is
a quotation by Paul
from The Biblical
Book of Acts in the
New Testament
It serves to justify
King’s presence in
Birmingham as a
“civil rights
missionary”
Allusion
Ms. C. North
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IV. Questions for Analysis
Answer the Why We Can’t Wait Critical Reading Handout using the CER format. See an
example below
C- Claim: your answer with the restated question
E- Evidence: SUFFICIENT (more than 1 example when available) evidence from the text to
support your claim
R- Reason: how your evidence supports your claim
Example:
QuestionHow does Angelou’s use of nonstandard English contribute to her narrative?
AnswerAngelou’s use of nonstandard English contributes to her narrative by making the people gathered
in the store come alive for us. While listening to the fight Uncle Willie says, “He gone whip him
till that white boy call him Momma.” Dialogue such as this helps the reader imagine the
excitement the characters felt as they prepared to listen to the fight.
WHY WE CAN’T WAIT
CRITICAL READING/ANALYSIS QUESTIONS
Directions: Answer EACH PART of the questions below. Use the CER format explained above.
Questions with multiple parts should be answered by starting a new paragraph.
Introduction and Chapter 1
1. Consider the title of this opening chapter. How does the title connect to the book as a whole
and provide insight into King’s purpose?
2. Describe the irony in King’s weather imagery at the top of page 2.
3. Explain the paradox in “civil turmoil”.
4. When King details demonstrator actions, he uses actual names, such as “Sarah Turner,” “John
Wilkins,” and “Bill Griggs”. What is his intended effect?
5. Evaluate the use of the pendulum metaphor used to illustrate the “deep disillusion of the
Negro in 1963”. Is this an effective comparison? Explain.
6. Why does MLK evoke an image of a boy and a girl when he talks about racial disparities?
What effect does this have on the reader? Why doesn't he talk about men and women instead?
Ms. C. North
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7. What is the mood that MLK creates in the beginning of this chapter when he talks about the
summer? How does he contrast the pleasantness of the summer to the Negro Revolution?
8. How does MLK build suspense and tension in this chapter? What words do you find
particularly powerful? Why?
9. Consider how MLK contrasts personal life-threatening injury to national violence. Are his
comparisons more powerful because they are more personal? Why or why not?
10. Describe MLK's outlook at the end of this chapter. Is he reluctant? Hesitant? What does his
outlook suggest about the struggle ahead?
CHAPTER 2
1. Why does King shift to second person point of view for one paragraph on page 21?
2. Summarize King’s view of “tokenism” as it relates to the Pupil Placement Law (22).
3. Consider King’s explanations on pages 25-26 and write a comparison/contrast statement
illustrating the primary differences in the philosophies of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du
Bois, and Marcus Garvey.
4. King describes the N.A.A.C.P.’s philosophy as “not a doctrine that made their followers yearn
for revenge but one that called upon them to champion change” (28). Explain the distinction he
is making between “revenge” and “change.” Why is this distinction important to King?
5. Discuss the paradox in the chapter’s title, “The Sword that Heals.” Why does King choose this
metaphor and what does it show about his thinking?
6. Explain how police brutality functioned as a threat to African Americans. How did African
American youth subvert police intentions? What was the message these young people delivered
with their actions?
CHAPTER 3
1. Analyze King’s use of the Rip Van Winkle allusion in the first paragraph. Is this an accurate
portrayal of 1963 Birmingham? Or is there another allusion you might choose? Explain.
2. Read “between the lines” in King’s assessment of white Christian churches at the bottom of
page 45. What has King left unsaid? What is he implying?
3. King starts the last paragraph on page 46 with “If you believed your history books . . .”What is
he really saying here? What other diction in this paragraph supports this implication?
Ms. C. North
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4. The idea of “silence” is repeated in various forms on page 48. Why does King repeat this
word? What does he see as its effects?
5. As MLK details the inequalities in Birmingham, he focuses on the plight of children. Why do
you think he makes children the focus of his appeal?
6. Discuss the role of fear. What effect did it have on action (i.e. what did fear do to influence
how White and Black citizens advocated for change in Birmingham?) and what effect did fear
have on shaping citizens' response to segregation?
7. King describes the role of the protest movement on the Birmingham business community.
What in his discussion is new to you? How does considering the impact on business and
economics change or add to your view of the civil rights movement?
CHAPTER 4
1. Explain what King means when he characterizes Birmingham’s new mayor as “just a dignified
Bull Connor” (61). Contrast King’s characterization of Boutwell and the caption he quoted from
the Birmingham News.
2. Summarize King’s explanation of the role freedom songs played in the movement.
3. “Virtually all the coverage in the national press at first had been negative, picturing us as
irresponsible hotheads who had plunged into a situation just when Birmingham was getting
ready to change overnight into Paradise” (71). Characterize the tone of King’s portrayal here.
How does his tone contribute to his overall purpose in this chapter?
4. “We decided that Good Friday, because of its symbolic significance would be the day that
Ralph Abernathy and I would present our bodies as personal witnesses in this crusade” (78).
What is King implying about the significance of his arrest? How does King’s diction here
contribute to his purpose? Why does King portray himself with Christ-like imagery? Explain.
5. King uses light and dark imagery on the bottom of page 82. What is the effect of this strategy
on the passage’s overall meaning?
6. What is civil disobedience? Describe MLK's use of civil disobedience, his decision to employ
it, and the impact of his use of it.
Ms. C. North
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CHAPTER 5
1. After reading the salutation and opening paragraph of King’s letter, determine the writer’s
purpose. How does his tone contribute to this purpose?
2. King asserts, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment
of destiny” (87). Explain his point. Which of King’s words contribute most effectively to this
point?
3. King shifts his tone in the paragraph beginning “The purpose of our direct action program is
to…” (90). How might you describe this shift? Is King depending more on logic (logos) or
emotion (pathos) here? How does this shift contribute to his overall purpose?
4. In one sentence, summarize King’s distinction between just and unjust laws. Are there
examples of just and unjust laws in existence today?
5. King utilizes multiple historical and literary allusions in his letter. Which of these is the
most effective toward advancing his purpose? Why?
CHAPTER 6
1. King asserts that “the introduction of Birmingham’s children into the campaign was one of the
wisest moves we made” (115). Yet, according to King, the national press protested. Who was
right? Why?
2. King quotes a little girl who answered “F’eedom” to the policeman’s question, “What do you
want?” (115). What is his rhetorical purpose in citing this incident? What rhetorical strategy is
King making use of here? Does the strategy advance or impede his purpose? Explain.
3. Bull Connor’s order to “turn on the hoses” is defied in what King describes as “one of the
most fantastic events of the Birmingham story” (120). Evaluate the actions of the protestors and
of Bull Connor’s men. Why do the policemen defy orders? What is “fantastic” about this event?
Can non-violence be scarier than violence?
4. When King and his fellow leaders refused to recant their defiance of a civil injunction, the city
attorney “undoubtedly realized he would be sentencing [them] to martyrdom” if he imprisoned
them (121). What is King’s implication here? What does he leave unsaid about the connections
the public would make?
5. Describe the tone of this chapter’s last paragraph. Why does King shift his voice here? Cite
specific words and phrases that contribute to this tone.
Ms. C. North
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CHAPTER 7
1. The chapter opens with the story of a dying prisoner and a reference to boxer Joe Louis.
Analyze the purpose and effect of this extended metaphor.
2. King chooses to focus only one paragraph on the September church bombing that killed four
little girls. He speaks of the incident indirectly, not citing the date, the church, or the identities of
the victims. Why does King make this choice? Where does he want the focus to be? Why?
3. King says of the funeral, “More than children were buried that day; honor and decency were
also interred” (137). Discuss the impact of personification here. To whom is King referring? The
perpetrators of the violence? Or others, as well? Explain.
4. What would King rank as the most significant aspect of August 28, 1963? What evidence does
the text provide?
5. Discuss the literary strategy and significance in “It was a fighting army, but no one could
mistake that its most powerful weapon was love” (151). How does this language tie into King’s
broader themes and imagery?
CHAPTER 8
1. While addressing society’s tendency to make only small changes, King repeats the phrase “It
will not work” four times. Why the repetition? Where else have you seen King employ
repetition? What is the effect of the rhetorical device on King’s overall purpose in this essay?
2. In discussing the handicapping of Black Americans, King draws comparisons to the Marshall
Plan and the G.I. Bill of Rights. Explain his purpose in using these historic policies as evidence.
3. Discuss the dramatic irony in King’s comments about assassination (179).
4. Explain why King uses the word “default” instead of “fault” in “The unforgivable default of
our society has been its failure to apprehend the assassins” (180). What are the broader
connotations of “default?”
5. King asserts that direct-action has empowered Negroes with an awareness of their “political
potentiality” (185). What does he mean by this term? How might MLK describe the “political
potentiality” of African-Americans today?