Bryan Station High School Summer Reading Assignment ­ AP Literature and Composition This assignment is for students who are enrolled in AP Literature and Composition for the 2016­17 school year. ​
This assignment is not for students who are enrolled in Dual Credit English or English IV. I.
Assignment Overview A. Students are required to complete both portions of the summer reading assignment prior to returning to school in August. B. Students are required to read the selections in the order in which they are listed. II.
Reading Selections A. How to Read Literature Like a Professor ​
by James C. Foster B. One novel of choice from the attached list III.
Assignment Details A. Read the selections in the order they are listed. B. While reading your choice novel, annotate the text. 1. You are welcome to complete these annotations by writing in the novel, by using post­it notes1, or by using the attached annotation worksheet. 2. Your annotations should reflect your comprehension of both the novel and ​
How to Read Literature Like a Professor.​
This means that your annotations reference specific ideas and concepts in both books. C. Bring your novel with annotations to the first day of class. They will be graded and may be used to complete your first essay. IV.
Annotation basics A. The most basic annotations include underlining, highlighting, or bracketing important developments in plot, characterization and theme. B. Summary annotations provide a detailed account of a section or part of the reading. They help with comprehension and recall of plot, characterization, and conflict, for example. C. Annotations may also include research you’ve done about people or places in the text. D. More advanced annotations ask questions about the author’s style, the purpose and meaning of devices used in the text, the effect of literary devices on mood, meaning, and tone, and what the text claims about social and cultural values. E. As you write critical questions, you should also be answering these questions. These analytical annotations use evidence from the text (specific references and/or quotes) to respond fully to the question you asked. 1
If you are using post­it notes, be sure that you keep the post­it notes on the appropriate pages. Reading Choices All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy Beloved by Toni Morrison Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul Billy Budd by Herman Melville Black Boy by Richard Wright The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Catch­22 by Joseph Heller Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood The Crucible by Arthur Miller Frankenstein by Mary Shelley A Gesture Life by Chang­Rae Lee Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper Lord of the Flies by William Golding Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Medea by Euripides The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare Night by Elie Weisel The Odyssey by Homer Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser Sophie’s Choice by William Styron Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? By Edward Albee Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Annotation Rubric Criteria Excellent (5 points) Good (3 points) Needs Improvement (1 point) Lacks AP quality (0 points) Number of annotations Consistency throughout text (not bunched together) Significance of commentary Variety of elements (e.g., plot, character, point of view, theme) Selections for style (diction, syntax, etc.) Reference specific passages and details Total Points Annotation Worksheet Author (Last Name, First Name) ___________________________________. Book Title ______________________________. Publication City: _____________________: Publisher _________________________, Year Published _______________. Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Page #: Quotation: Annotation #: Annotation: Print as many additional sheets as necessary