Dear AP Language and Composition Students,
Congratulations on signing up for this class. I am so excited to have you in my classroom. This
summer the selections chosen are to introduce you to the rhetoric and strategies of this class.
AP English Language and Composition, a college-level class exploring the uses and power of
language, challenges students to develop habits of analytical reading, critical thinking, and
persuasive writing. It is actually two courses for the price of one, in that the journey we take
toward becoming “effective citizen rhetoricians,” as the College Board intends, travels along
the road of American literature. Everything we study in some way touches on the two Essential
Questions “How and why do writers do what they do to say what they say?" and "What is
“American?" Your summer assignments will introduce you to the fundamental reading and
writing processes we will continue to develop throughout the course, as preparation both for
the AP English Language and Composition Exam next May, as well as for rich and rewarding
lives using and enjoying the power of language. The following tasks are due the first Thursday
of the fall semester.
These books may be purchased through Amazon or you may want to ask last year’s AP
Language students for their copies. Regardless of how you obtain them, please have them
early in the summer so you have plenty of time to complete the assignments. Please feel free
to email me anytime during this summer if you have any questions or concerns. I have heard
so many wonderful things about you as students. I am anticipating a great year.
Blessings,
Mrs. Hogan
[email protected]
Assigned Reading:
1. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology editor Samuel Cohen
Read a minimum of seven of the selected essays and then use those essays to complete
the seven rhetorical strategies journal entries.
 Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
 George Orwell “Shooting an Elephant”
 Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving”
 Nancy Mairs “On Being a Cripple”
 Gloria Anzaludua “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
 Barbara Lazear Ascher “On Compassion”
 Alice Walker “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens”
 David Sedaris “A Plague of Tics”
 Plato “The Allegory of the Cave”
 William F. Buckley “Why Don’t We Complain?”
2. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Assignment 1:
In AP Language and Composition, we focus on rhetoric, or all the choices a writer, speaker,
reader, and listener make in a given situation to make a message meaningful, powerful, and
effective. In other words, rhetoric is all the different ways a message is conveyed. Your
assignment, while reading at least seven of the selected essays, is to identify and analyze the
use of rhetoric in each essay. As you read, take notes on the rhetorical strategies listed below.
When you finish reading, organize your thoughts into typed journal entries organized under the
following headings: diction, detail, imagery, tone, appeals, audience, and argument. Each entry
should be 100+ words (include a word count for each entry). Use the questions in each section
below to guide your analysis of the text.
.
Six Rhetorical Strategies / Journal Headings
1. Diction: The author’s choice of words and how such vocabulary choices contribute to
the texture of the selection. To evaluate diction, you must read the words and infer how
they reflect the writer’s vision. What words does the author choose to describe certain
experiences? What words emerge continually and how do they contribute to the tone of
the passage or work as a whole?
2. Detail: Facts, observations, and incidents used to develop the topic; they bring life,
color, and description, focusing the reader’s attention and drawing the reader in. What
details are used to describe events? Which ones add meaning and enrich the text?
3. Imagery: Sensory experience on paper. All five senses may be represented or
intermingled. Images evoke a vivid experience, convey emotion, and suggest ideas.
What images are used in each section? How does the author appeal to the senses?
What is implied by the use of imagery?
4. Tone: Expression of attitude toward subject and/or audience. Understanding tone is
key to understanding meaning. Describe the author’s attitude toward his experiences
during each section of the book. How does he communicate this feeling? How does his
tone change from one section to the next?
5. Appeals: Three appeals should be examined. Logos (logic), pathos (emotion), and ethos
(credibility/authority). How does the author employ these appeals in each section? How does
he appeal to the reader’s logical side? How does he try to evoke an emotional response? How
does he try to show himself an authority on issues?
6. Figurative Language: Identify three different examples of figurative language used in the
essay. Be sure to explain how the author’s use of this figurative language develops his
argument.
7. Argument: Identify the argument/ claim of the essay. Explain how the author develops it
and whether you agree, disagree, or would qualify the argument made. What type of support
does the author use to develop his argument? Analyze the effectiveness of the support
chosen.
Assignment #2: Summer Reading Assignment for Mere Christianity
Directions: Your assignment for Mere Christianity is two- fold.
One, you will answer the following nine answers in complete answers. Please type the answers
on a separate sheet of paper.
Two, Mere Christianity is a nonfiction work .This book’s focus is not primarily narration, but
definition, classification, and ultimately, persuasion. As a prelude to our study of rhetoric in
APLAC this year, choose one chapter of Mere Christianity that you believe is especially
convincing, effective, or persuasive. Identify the purpose of the chapter and analyze how Lewis
accomplishes it. Your focus should be --Why does the chapter “work”? You might choose to
examine word choice, sentence or paragraph structure, reasoning, organization, or any other
strategy that contributes to its effectiveness. Write approximately one page. This written part
should be typed and follow MLA format of a correct heading, title, double spaced, 12 point
Times Roman, and one inch margins.
Remember the following:
Do not
A.) summarize the chapter,
B.) write about what you personally connected with in the chapter,
C.) praise C.S. Lewis for his amazing writing skills,
Instead, you should objectively analyze what techniques contribute to the persuasive effect of
the chapter.
AP LANGUAGE Summer Reading Questions for Mere Christianity
1. After reading the Preface, characterize C.S. Lewis’s purpose in Mere Christianity. What is it,
and what is it not?
2., How did the context in which Mere Christianity was written affect C.S. Lewis’s approach? Find
an example from the text proper where Lewis makes this context explicit.
3.Describe Lewis’s persona as he establishes it in Book I, Chapter 1. How does he want the
reader to perceive him? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.
4.What does Lewis call “the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips”?
How does this affect the view of Christ as merely a moral teacher?
5.One of Lewis’s most striking rhetorical characteristics is his use of logic. Find three places in
Book I where he uses any type of logical reasoning to walk the reader through his arguments.
6. Explain Lewis’s analogies of the band and the ships. What points about morality does he make
by means of these analogies?
7.What is Lewis’s explanation for the unpopularity of chastity?
8.At the beginning of Book IV, Lewis predicts he will be criticized for introducing theology into a
work for the general public. By the end of Book IV, how would you characterize the purpose of
this section? Why does Lewis include this section if he feels it will draw criticism? Why does he
make a point of including his prediction of the criticism?
9.Cite one example in the book in which Lewis references his past as an atheist. How does it
contribute to his argument?