Olathe South High School
1640 E. 151st Street, Olathe, KS 66062
May 2015
To Incoming AP Language and Composition (English III) Students:
You are now officially a college student! Why? Because this is a college-level course! You can earn
college credit by taking and passing the AP Language and Composition exam in May of 2016. We will
meld the American literature survey course with AP test preparation throughout the year. We have
enclosed a sample of the types of multiple choice and essay questions found on the exam to give you an
idea of what the actual test looks like. (You don’t have to complete these questions.)
Now, for the summer reading! During freshman and/or sophomore year, the work load was designed to
prepare you for this college class; we regard Pre-AP English II as a college prep course, so if you were
enrolled in Pre-AP, no doubt you are used to the challenging expectations of the AP program,
experiencing homework every night, including weekends and holidays. The summer reading keeps you
actively engaged in the learning and critical thinking processes that are part of our program. Moreover,
it is your opportunity to make a favorable first impression by thoroughly performing the tasks assigned.
All students will complete the following summer reading requirements:
 By June 24th, you will have compiled a list of literary terms and rhetorical devices, with a
definition and example for each; you must also add its use/function for those with an asterisk. An
example is provided. Keep these saved on your computer as we will be adding to this reference
guide throughout the year. Feel free to access online sources and cut and paste these—it’s a guide.
Hand this in to the office by NOON on June 24th. You will sign your name as evidence of the time
you dropped this off. Our secretaries are not available after noon; please don’t wait until the last
minute to hand in your assignment and chance your watch being off by five or ten minutes.
 By July 15th, you will have read one of the following: All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg,
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Color of Water by James McBride, or Stiff: The
Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. You must complete a dialectical journal for
your selection and hand this in to the office by NOON on July 15th. You will sign your name as
evidence of the time you dropped these off. Again, please don’t wait until the last minute to hand in
your assignment and chance your watch being off by five or ten minutes. We have included a
sample student journal entry in the packet, so there should be no confusion regarding expectations
and the proper format. N.B.: During 1st quarter, you will read one of the other four books as an
independent reading assignment.
As always, we expect you to work on these assignments individually; these are not
group projects unless you are willing to divide your grade with other students.
IF you were not enrolled in Pre-AP sophomore year, you must complete two
additional assignments in order to be able to participate in the discussion referring to the work Pre-AP
students completed during their sophomore year.


By July 1st, before noon, complete an allusion assignment that provides an introduction to
Greek/Roman mythology and Biblical references. Because literature abounds with these
allusions, your knowledge of these allusions is imperative. Detailed instructions and examples
are attached, as well as the required list of allusion topics.
By July 22nd, before noon, you must read and submit a dialectical journal for Charlotte Bronte’s
Jane Eyre, the novel read by Pre-AP students this past year. You will take an objective test over
the book the second week of school. Jane Eyre is a novel that applies to most of the openended questions on the AP Literature test.
(READ THE BACK)
Deadlines are never to be taken lightly. Do not depend on others to hand in your work for you;
remember, you are now a college student! If the workload transcends your expectations, we
would advise that you see a counselor immediately about an enrollment change (i.e.
before the end of the school year). If you come to this realization during the summer, please
contact the counselors by the third week of June. Know that our summer reading program is indicative
of the summer reading requirements of AP programs all over the United States; since the AP exam is a
global exam, you will be competing with students from all over the world. Therefore, it is important that
we maintain high standards. We have made every effort to provide you with models illustrating what
we expect your summer reading assignments to look like; therefore, we expect you to make the same
effort to meet those expectations.
If you have any questions about the assignment, please feel free to email us over the summer at
[email protected] or [email protected] . If you will be out of
town the days of the deadlines, attach your assignment to a file and email it to us before
the deadlines (isn’t technology wonderful!). If you lose this packet, this assignment is also
available on the Olathe South website www.olathesouth.net under Quick Links – AP Summer
Assignments.
We are looking forward to working with all of you! With a strong work ethic and sense of humor, we
shall meet the challenges of AP Language and Composition! Onward and upward!
Sincerely,
Marci Gibbens
Marci Gibbens
AP Language and Composition
Catherine Smith
Catherine Smith
AP Language and Composition
OSHS English Department Co-Chair
Assignments:
1. Dialectical Journals. While reading the book you have selected, identify a passage every 1/4 of
the book that exemplifies elements of style or rhetoric. (If you have a 300-page book, you need a
passage every 75 pages; for a 250-page book, every 60 pages, etc.) Set your margins at 1” all the way
around; your font should be Times New Roman, no larger than 12 point. Double-space both the passage
and your analysis. Using a two-column entry format, type a full-column passage into the left
column, followed by the page number on which the passage was found. At the top of the passage, label
the elements of style or rhetoric the passage exemplifies. In the right column, analyze the elements
used by the writer to convey his/her purpose and explain how these elements prove the writer’s point or
enhance the writer’s message, characterization, etc. Your analysis must fill the entire right
column (the length of the page). We would suggest you format these by inserting a table. Format all
margins to 1” (top, bottom, left, right). SEE SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS AND MODEL ATTACHED!
Note: You must select lengthy passages that illustrate a combination of two or three
elements, thus assuring a full-page analysis/commentary in the right hand column.
Elements:
a. diction – involves the particular words the author uses to make his point; usually these are words
with a significant emotional connotation
b. details—think of details as phrases that are more factual and unemotional
c. figurative language – not to be interpreted literally (similes, metaphors, personification,
analogies, conceits, etc.); used to aid the author in creating characterization, mood, etc.
d. imagery – the author’s use of sensory words to create emotions, mood, characterization
e. irony – verbal/situational/dramatic; the expectation contrasts with the reality to emphasize/
convey a specific point
f. sentence structure – use of repetition, parallelisms, length to emphasize ideas, heighten the
drama, etc.
g. tone – the author’s opinion of his subjects and audience as expressed through the character’s
actions and speech. Tone is implied and revealed through diction; it is subject to change throughout the
novel. Do not discuss tone alone—you must also discuss the elements that REVEAL tone. Do not
confuse AUTHOR tone with a character’s tone of voice or with MOOD.
2. Literary Terms/Rhetorical Devices Reference Guide. Insert a table of three columns—one
for the term and definition, one for an example, and one for its use/function (use/function column
completed only for those terms asterisked):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
ad hominem attack*
alliteration*
allusion*
amplification*
analogy*
anaphora*
antithesis*
aphorism
apostrophe (the lit term,
NOT the punctuation)
10. appositive
11. asyndeton*
12.
13.
14.
15.
bandwagon appeal*
chiasmus*
colloquialism*
ellipsis (the lit term, not
the punctuation)*
16. ethos*
17. euphemism*
18. hasty generalization*
19. hyperbole*
20. juxtaposition*
21. litotes*
22. logos*
23. metonymy
24. mixed metaphor*
25. oxymoron*
26. parallelism*
27. paradox*
28. pathos*
29. personification*
30. polysyndeton*
31. rhetorical question*
32. synecdoche
33. verbal irony*
Dialectical Journal/Reference Guide Samples
N.B.: You will be held closely accountable this year for your ability to follow directions.
Especially when teachers provide specific directions and VISUAL EXAMPLES, it is imperative
that you demonstrate close attention to detail.
You will read one of the following: All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg, The Glass Castle by
Jeannette Walls, The Color of Water by James McBride, or Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach.
1. Set margins 1” all around (top, bottom, left, right). Insert Table. 2 columns, 2 rows.
2. As you read, look for passages in which the writer is trying to make a point through the use of
two or more rhetorical devices.
3. Each passage in the lefthand column should be the full length of the column, double
spaced. Use 12-point typeface in Times Roman font. LABEL ALL ELEMENTS TO BE DISCUSSED.
4. One passage for each ¼ of the book. If your book has 200 pages, one passage for every 50
pages. Put the page # at the bottom of the lefthand column.
5. The analysis in the righthand column should be the full length of the column. Highlight your
analysis using the following methods:
Italicize and bold-face the point the writer is trying to make in the passage; review what you have
italicized/bold-faced—Is it a complete sentence? Does it make a clear POINT?
Bold-face any elements
Underline all chunks within IMBEDDED QUOTATIONS (Remember that effectively imbedded
quotations, when read aloud, sound like one long, fluent sentence. 3-4 “chunks” per CD).
Italicize all commentary that
analyzes the EFFECT of the elements (answers why the writer used these elements or what
s/he was trying to achieve/convey through their use)
analyzes whether the use of these elements is effective (explains why they
strengthened/weakened his/her point)
6. Never refer to the writer by his/her first name, only the last name.
7. Commentary is NOT personal opinion (e.g. “The writer uses great word choice.”).
8. Commentary is NOT redundant; it does not define the elements (e.g. “His use of imagery helped me
picture the setting” or “He used personification to give sunlight human characteristics.”).
9. Evaluation: Correct formatting = 15 points per log; Content = 35 points per log. (If you ignore
the correct formatting, you cannot earn higher than a C-!)
Dialectical Journal Student Sample
Figurative Language/Syntax
Commentary
“Self-restraint becomes more of a
This passage contains both a metaphor and
challenge when the owner of a million-
parallel structure to illustrate that the
dollar condo (that’s my guess anyway,
lower class in America has to work to
because it has three floors and a wide-
keep people who have all the luxuries in
angle view of the fabled rockbound coast)
life happy. Ehrenreich compares “bleeding”
who is (according to a framed photograph
bathroom walls metaphorically to the
on the wall) an acquaintance of the real
bleeding the “worldwide working class” goes
Barbara Bush takes me into the master
through just to make this one person (and
bathroom to explain the difficulties she’s
other wealthy citizens) happy. This
been having with the show stall. Seems its
metaphor emphasizes the exhausting work
marble walls have been “bleeding” onto
people go through for little pay, while the
the brass fixtures, and can I scrub the
wealthier class sits back in their daily
grouting extra hard? That’s not your
luxuries, taking advantage of the manual
marble bleeding I want to tell her, it’s the
laborers. The parallel structure describing
worldwide working class—the people who
those people who “quarried the marble, wove
quarried the marble, wove your Persian
[her] Persian rugs until they went blind” and
rugs until they went blind, harvested the
“smelted the steel for the nails” also highlights
apples in your lovely fall-themed dining
the hard work of the common laborers and
room centerpiece, smelted the steel for the
their physical sacrifices to demonstrate what
nails, drove the trucks, put up this
they experienced (and continue to experience)
building, and now bend and squat and
every day just to provide for their families.
sweat to clean it.” (90)
Allusion Workshop (ONLY COMPLETE IF YOU WERE NOT ENROLLED IN PRE-AP ENGLISH II LAST
YEAR)
Allusion – A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth,
place or work of art. Allusions can be historical (like referring to Hitler), literary (like referring to Kurtz in Heart of
Darkness), religious (like referring to Noah and the flood), or mythical (like referring to Atlas). There are, of course, many
more possibilities, and a work may simultaneously use multiple layers of allusion.
Writers often draw allusions that are biblical, classical, and literary. Biblical allusions refer to characters and stories from the
Bible. Classical allusions mainly refer to characters and stories from Greek and Roman mythology. Other allusions come
from various works of literature.
Suggested sources: You may want to use a translation of the Bible, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Joseph Campbell’s Power of
Myth, the library and also the Internet. When referencing the Bible, please include book, chapter, and verse(s). Example:
Genesis 3:1-14
Provide for each biblical/mythological allusion (see example on next page):
(Use an easy to read 12-point type)
 Name of story
 Source
 Paraphrased summary of story (about 50- 75 words)
 Modern interpretation (If someone used this allusion today, what would he mean by it?)
Biblical
Mythological
1. Tower of Babel
2. Job
3. The Prodigal Son
4. The Good Samaritan
5. Joseph and the Coat of Many
Colors
6. Moses and the Bulrushes
7. Nebuchadnezzar/Shadrach
8. Abraham and Isaac
9. David and Goliath
10. King Solomon and his tests
1. Castor and Pollux
2. Pandora
3. Prometheus
4. Adonis
5. Echo and Narcissus
6. Perseus
7. Jason and Medea
8. Icarus and Daedalus
9. Helen of Troy
10. Midas
11. Antigone
12. Medusa
13. Harpies
14. Cassandra
15. Athena and Arachne
Historical/Literary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Don Quixote
Pilgrim’s Progress
John Bunyan
Paul of Tarsus
Martin Luther
You do not need a “modern
interpretation” of these five allusions.
Classical Mythology Example (Use this same format for the Biblical allusions)
Name: Zeus
Source: Greek: Joel Skidmore. Mythweb. http://www.mythweb.com
Paraphrased summary: Zeus resided on Mount Olympus and was considered to be the god of gods. His parents were
Cronus and Rhea. Cronus was told a son would take his power, so he swallowed his children to avoid the event. Rhea was
displeased and decided to give birth to Zeus in a cave. She hid Zeus from his father and tricked him by wrapping rocks in
cloth, which Cronus swallowed thinking the package was the infant.
When Zeus was older, he did take power from his father and forced Cronus to regurgitate his siblings Poseidon, Hades,
Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. Each child had control of the world and Zeus was the “supreme authority.”
As a god, Zeus was known to be very severe in his punishment and very kind in his rewards. He had many children, some
with other gods and some with mortals.
Modern Interpretation: If someone referred to a character as being similar to Zeus, he would be implying that the character
was powerful, authoritative, or promiscuous.
Reference Guide: Format/Sample
Term/Definition
Example
Euphemism. The
substitution of a mild or
less negative word or
phrase for a harsh or blunt
one
My mother passed away
recently, leaving a void in my
life that can never be
replace.
Use/Function
(Think: Why does a writer choose to use
this element?) THIS IS COMMENTARY
(CM)!
The writer’s euphemism “passed away” softens
the devastation experienced when losing a parent.
Use the formula: The writer’s (device) +
VERB +______________.
(This is the formula we will want you to use
when writing commentary in your
Dialectical Journals in July)
Anadiplosis. The
repetition of the last word
of one line or clause to
begin the next.
"The general who became a
slave. The slave who became
a gladiator. The gladiator
who defied an emperor.
Striking story!"
(Commodus in the movie
Gladiator, 2000)
Antimetabole. The
repetition of words in
successive clauses, but in
inverted order (e.g., "I
know what I like, and I like
what I know"). It is similar
to chiasmus although
chiasmus does not use
repetition of the same
words or phrases.
"Ask not what your country
can do for you; ask what you
can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy
The character’s anadiplosis emphasizes
climactically the dramatic way in which the main
character’s life came full circle.
The writer’s antimetabole highlights the
importance of individual responsibility by
contrasting most people’s expectations that
government should serve them with his suggestion
that a person should ask to serve his government
through public service.
PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE SEVERAL TERMS ON EACH PAGE!
Possible verbs to use when writing:






emphasize/highlights/accentuates/
demonstrates/conveys/illustrates/reveals
contrasts
compares/likens
portrays/characterizes/depicts
evokes/effects/elicits
Deadline Review:
 June 24 (by NOON): ALL STUDENTS to have turned in at OSHS or via email the
Reference Guide of Literary Terms/Rhetorical Devices
 July 1 (by NOON): Only those students NOT COMPLETING Sophomore PRE-AP
ENGLISH should turn in at OSHS or via email the Allusion Workshop (All ALLUSIONS
LISTED MUST BE COMPLETED)
 July 15 (by NOON): ALL STUDENTS to have turned in at OSHS or via email Dialectical
Journals for The Glass Castle, All Over but the Shoutin’, The Color of Water, or
Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers.
 July 22 (by NOON): Only those students NOT COMPLETING Sophomore PRE-AP
ENGLISH should turn in at OSHS or via email the Jane Eyre Dialectical Journals.