Summer Reading Assignment- Advanced Placement Language and
Composition
Name________________________________________________
GENERAL INFORMATION: During this summer section of the course, you are
responsible for completing the following:
1. Completing study questions for the novel independently.
2. Independently composing a rhetorically analyzed essay on one of the choices
given
3. Independently completing the assigned chapter study guides
4. Reading the syllabus along with your parents and signing the attached
contract to return with you on the first day of class
5. Independently reading the entire novel
IMPORTANT NOTE: #1, 2, 3, and 4 are physically due on the FIRST DAY
of class when you return in the August! #5 should be completed to your
discretion as you complete your assignment during the summer.
ASSIGNMENT #1
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
AP Language/Composition Assignment
Study Questions & Essay Topics
Directions: Study Questions: You MUST computer format the following.
Answer each study question in sentence format. You must give AT LEAST 3
sentences for each question.
1. What is the significance of the opening scene of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
2. What is the significance of Maya’s confrontation with Mrs. Cullinan?
3. What is the significance of the sermon delivered at the annual revival?
4. How does friendship with Louise change Maya?
5. How did Maya’s relationships with Big Bailey and Daddy Clidell differ? How does her
relationship with Big Bailey compare with her relationship with Vivian?
ASSIGNMENT #2
Essay Topics and Requirements
Directions: You are to compose a 5 paragraph essay on ONE of the
following topics. It must be computer formatted with the following in the
upper left hand corner double spaced:
Your name
AP Lang/Comp
Pre-Class Essay #___ (You will give the number of the topic that you are addressing)
August 8, 2014
1. The essay must have a clear introduction with a catchy attention getter
and thesis statement.
2. It must have a clear middle with three body paragraphs; each body
paragraph should contain a topic sentence and supporting details that refer
to your thesis statement.
3. It must contain a clear conclusion that wraps up the entire essay.
4. The essay will also be assessed for correct grammar and mechanics.
5. The essay must be double spaced, and the title must be centered AFTER
the required information in the upper left hand corner. Your title should
be creative and original. DO NOT merely give the title of the book as the
title of your essay.
6. Your last name and page number should be in the upper right hand
corner of each page as a header.
7. Make sure you use one inch margins all around.
TOPIC CHOICES
1. What characters serve as positive role models for Maya? Specifically, how does Maya
come to her conclusions about the strength of black women?
2. Does Maya’s sense of displacement make her susceptible to Mr. Freeman’s sexual
advances? How does the rape and Mr. Freeman’s death influence her throughout the
rest of the book?
3. Trace Maya’s relationship with Bailey. Does it change significantly over the course of
the book? Why or why not?
4. What means of resistance against racism does Angelou depict? How did the
opportunities for resistance for rural southern blacks differ from those available to the
black people in San Francisco? How might they be attributed to a generational
difference?
5. Is Angelou a reliable narrator? To what extent does her own memory seem to distort
her narrative? How would the significance of the work be different if it were fictional
ASSIGNMENT #3 Study Guide
NAME______________________ DATE_____________ BLOCK___________
Directions: You are to complete this study guide as you read. You may
write your answers on here.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. calamitous
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. troubadours
3. inordinate
4. winced
Study Questions
1. What two characters are introduced in this chapter? Give their specific
names.
2. By what means of transportation are they traveling, and what is their
destination?
3. How long has the grandmother owned the store?
4. What is the grandmother’s name, and is she paternal or maternal?
Ch. II
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. abacuses
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. thwarted
3. rancor
Study Questions
1. With whom does the narrator fall in love with in this chapter?
2. What new male character is introduced?
3. What is wrong with this new male character?
Ch. III
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. rakishly
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
Ch. III
Study Questions
1. What is the narrator doing at the beginning of this chapter?
2. What are her two favorite items from the store?
3. Discuss the extended metaphor on pg. 16.
4. Who is Mr. Steward?
5. Who do you think is being referred to as “the boys”?
6. Discuss the allusion on pg. 18.
7. What sarcastic comment is made in reference to the sheriff?
Ch. IV
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. hamlet
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. bogey
3. chinaberry
Ch. IV
Study Questions
1. Who is Mr. McElroy?
2. What does the narrator discover about a man in this chapter?
Ch. V-X
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. impudent
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. droned
3. cynic
Ch. V-X
Study Questions
1. How did Momma react to the impudent children?
2. Why did the kids not want Reverend Thomas to come eat?
3. How many times was Momma married?
4. What caused Maya and Bailey to be upset at Christmas?
5. What was Grandmother Baxter known for?
Ch. 11-15
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. habitual
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. lurid
3. quandary
Ch. 11-15
Study Questions
1. What was the first secret that Maya kept from Bailey?
2. How old was Maya when Mr. Freeman raped her?
3. What did Maya’s mother find that gave away Mr. Freeman’s crime?
4. Who was the person who threw Maya her first lifeline?
5. How is the poem, “It was the best of times and the worst of times” relatable
to what is going on in Maya’s life?
Ch. 16-20
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. debutante
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. masochists
3. ecumenical
Ch. 16-20
Study Questions
1. Why does it irritate Maya that Mrs. Cullinan calls her Mary?
2. What does the writer accomplish by using personification in the opening of
Ch. 17?
3. What does Maya mean when she says, “assume the posture of a man”?
4. What literary device does the author use in the 2nd paragraph of Ch. 19?
5. Why does Maya act differently around Louise from the other kids?
Ch. 21-25
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. presentiment
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. gallantries
3. trammeled
Ch. 21-25
Study Questions
1. When Joyce leaves how does it affect Bailey?
2. What scared Maya when Brother Taylor come over?
3. What did Don Leavy say that disturbed the black community?
4. What two reasons did Dentist Lincoln give “Momma” for not treating Maya?
5. Why did Maya believe that arrangements had been made for her and Bailey
to move back to California?
Ch. 26-30
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Word
1. refutation
Pg. #/Context Clue
Dictionary Definition
2. recrimination
3. elocution
Ch. 26-30
Study Questions
1. Instead of going to church, what did Maya, Bailey, and Mother Dear do on
Sundays?
2. What simile represented the city in wartime on page 211?
3. Why did Maya admire Miss Kirwin?