Pre-AP English II
2016 Summer Reading
Welcome to Pre-AP English II! This course will build upon what you learned as freshmen to sharpen your reading,
writing, speaking, listening, and thinking skills. In the class, you will hone your literary analysis skills as we read classic
pieces of fiction and drama written by notable authors like Ray Bradbury and William Shakespeare. The summer reading
assignment, on the other hand, will apply your skills as a reader to a nonfiction work. We will use the activities you
complete during the summer at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year in Socratic Seminars and formal writings.
Obtain a personal copy of Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Rom
Brafman. It’s important to have your own copy of the text, as part of the assignment is to mark up, or
annotate, portions of the text. If obtaining a personal copy of the book is a hardship for your family,
contact one of the teachers below as soon as possible.
Need Help with Your Assignment?
Email a Pre-AP English II teacher!
Attend the Optional Summer Help Session!
Mrs. Magaha ([email protected])
August 10, 2016
Mr. McEachen ([email protected])
5-7 p.m.
Ms. Powers ([email protected])
ONW Library
Mrs. Skoglund ([email protected])
The activities you will complete with Sway previews several essential skills that you will use regularly in Pre-AP English II,
bridging the close reading strategies between freshman & sophomore year and leading into evaluation of evidence. You
will also connect the book to your life and the world around you, as well as dig deeper into ideas of the book.
Step 1: View the Claims & Evidence tutorial video, which you can find at http://www.onwravens.net/ by clicking on AP
Summer Assignments under the Student Info tab! Take Cornell Notes over the terms. While these notes will not be
graded, they will help you be successful on the summer assignment.
Step 2: Read these assignment directions, including the academic integrity pledge and grading rubric. If the directions
overwhelm you all at once, don’t worry! These steps help you break down the assignment.
Step 3: As you read the book, answer the Focus Questions to help you understand the most important ideas.
Step 4: Revisit chapters 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8 and connect the ideas in each chapter to outside sources you find, using the
Evidence Connections directions.
Step 5: Reread chapters 4, 5, 6 and the Epilogue and mark them up, using the Claims/Evidence Annotations directions.
Step 6: Bring your annotated book, a printed copy of your responses to the Focus Questions, and your printed Evidence
Connections with Works Cited on Friday, August 19, 2016.
Step 7: Save all of the files from the summer assignment to multiple locations (i.e. on your computer and in Dropbox or
in Google Drive and on a flashdrive) as you will submit them to www.turnitin.com at the beginning of the school year.
What You Should Do For Each Chapter
Preface
Just Focus Question
Chapter 1: Anatomy of an
Accident
Chapter 2: The Swamp of
Commitment
Chapter 3: The Hobbit and
the Missing Link
Chapter 4: Michael Jordan
and the First-Date
Interview
Evidence Connections
& Focus Question
Evidence Connections
& Focus Question
Evidence Connections
& Focus Question
Claims/Evidence
Annotations & Focus
Question
Chapter 5: The Bipolar
Epidemic and the Chameleon
Effect
Chapter 6: In France, the Sun
Revolves Around the Earth
Chapter 7: Compensation and
Cocaine
Chapter 8: Dissenting Justice
Epilogue
Claims/Evidence Annotations
& Focus Question
Claims/Evidence Annotations
& Focus Question
Evidence Connections & Focus
Question
Evidence Connections & Focus
Question
Claims/Evidence Annotations
& Focus Question
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Focus Questions (All Chapters)
Use the questions below to focus your reading of the chapters. Respond to each question, using multiple examples from
the book to support your answers.
Preface
1. What other labels, like frequent flyer, exist in your surroundings (school, home, work, etc.) that create a bias as to how
we treat others? What are the consequences of labeling people?
Chapter 1
2. Define loss aversion. Explain how loss aversion connects to Captain Van Zanten or to Jordan Walters’ investment
client.
Chapter 2
3. Using the Florida Gator anecdote, describe the difference between “playing to win” and “playing not to lose.”
Connect this concept back to the idea of loss aversion.
Chapter 3
4. Describe value attribution. Use an example from the text or from your own life to illustrate this concept.
Chapter 4
5. What is diagnosis bias? Explain how a specific example of diagnosis bias relates to either loss aversion or value
attribution.
Chapter 5
6. Describe the chameleon effect. Explain this effect in the studies of the Israeli soldiers or the study about women
speaking to men on the telephone.
Chapter 6
7. What is procedural justice? How does the perception of fairness differ from culture to culture? List an example from
the text where two different cultures had varying responses to the same situation.
Chapter 7
8. How do the nucleus accumbens (pleasure center) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (altruism center) interact in
the brain? Cite an example from the text to explain how the effect of this interaction results in irrational behavior.
Chapter 8
9. Describe the four roles Kantor outlines in his research. Which role do you think is most important to group dynamics?
Support your answer with a specific example from the text.
Epilogue
10. Define personal construct theory in your own words. How might this phenomenon help you in your everyday life?
How might it hurt you? Support your answer with specific examples.
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Format of Focus Questions
The responses to your Focus Questions, like all formal written work you will submit in PreAP English II, must be in MLA
format.
Last Name #
Your Name
Teacher Name
Insert the page number and your last
name in the header of the document.
The heading should appear only at the
top of the first page.
Pre-AP English II
Date Month Year
Title should be centered!
Sway Focus Questions
1. Type question number 1 here.
Respond to the question in paragraph form, indenting each
paragraph of your response. Be sure to respond to each
question thoroughly, using evidence from the text that is
summarized, paraphrased, or quoted correctly (put page
numbers of evidence in parenthesis at the end of the
sentence).
2. Type question number 2 here.
Respond to the next question, using paragraph form.
All responses to focus questions
should include specific examples
from the book. All of these
examples must include an in-text
citation at the end of the
sentence. Note that you should
include page number(s) only in
parenthesis—no “p.” or “pg.” or
“page.” The period for the
sentence goes AFTER the end
parenthesis.
Some responses may require more than one paragraph.
Other MLA Format Requirements:





One-inch margins
Double space the entire document evenly
Use Times New Roman or Arial 12 font only
Left-align your questions and responses
Indent the first line of each paragraph
MLA Basics from Purdue University: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Video Tutorial: https://youtu.be/24Y31UrG2q4?list=PL4917D9E21FA6EDFF
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Evidence Connections (Chapters 1-3 and 7-8)
As you read these five chapters, explore the connections between the ideas in the book and outside sources (article, book,
video, online source, music, etc.). Each source must contain at least one type of evidence (statistics, quotations/ testimonials,
anecdotes/examples, and definitions) that you can relate to the ideas in the book. You will write five Evidence Connection
paragraphs, one for each assigned chapter/source.
Below is a template you can use to help you write your Evidence Connections paragraph. You do not have to follow it exactly;
however, each paragraph should include the following elements: 1) Identify the title of the chapter with correct capitalization
and quotation marks, the title of the source that connects to the chapter, and the type(s) of evidence the source contains 2)
Summarize the specific ideas from the chapter that relate to the source with in-text citation 3) Paraphrase or quote the
evidence from the source that relates to the chapter 4) Explain how the ideas from the chapter and evidence from the source
connect.
Evidence Connection Template: 1) Sway’s “Title of Chapter” connects to [type of evidence] from [source]. 2) In this chapter,
the authors explain [summarize specific idea from chapter in your own words] (page number/s). 3) In comparison, [source]
reminds me of this idea because [summarize idea from source]. Specifically, [cite the evidence you are connecting to in this
journal entry]. 4) This [type of evidence] relates back to “Title of Chapter” because [explain how the two connect beyond just
identifying the main idea of irrational behavior].
Last Name #
Your Name
Teacher Name
Pre-AP English II
Date Month Year
Evidence Connections
Sway’s “Preface” connects to a quotation from the article “How Swapping Poop Has Helped One
Doctor Cure Disease.” In this chapter, the authors explain that doctors behaved irrationally using the
example of treating heart ailments with asbestos, even though patients died soon after (3). In comparison,
the article reminds me of this idea because its author, Kyle Smith, discusses another example of irrational
behavior in the medical field. Specifically, Smith explains how in “the last thirty years, if you had an ulcer,
your doctor told you it was your own fault, for being too stressed out and eating too much spicy food.”
However, Dr. Barry Marshall, who is quoted in the article, “noticed something other doctors ignored: that
cells taken from ulcer patients were covered with bacteria.” These quotations relate back to the “Preface”
because they both show how people irrationally prefer conventional medical ideas to scientific data.
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Works Cited for Evidence Connections
In academics, you must cite your sources! Therefore, the five Evidence Connections sources (one per chapter as
described on previous page) must be cited. Use the information below to guide you.
If your source is online, follow the MLA guidelines below for citing. The information to include is color coded to show
where it was found on the example website at the bottom of the page:
Information to Include
1. Name of the author.
2. “Title of the Work.”
How to Include in Citation
List the author(s) in the order in which they
appear on the website. The first (or only)
author should be listed last name, first name.
“Title of the Work in Quotations Marks and
Ending A Period.”
3. Title of Overall Website.
Italicized – Name of the Website (NOT A
URL).
4. Publisher or sponsor of
site,
5. Date of publication.
After name of publisher or sponsor: comma.
If not available, use: n.p.
Day, month, and year, as available; if nothing
is available use n.d.
Use: Web.
Day, month, and year you found it online.
6. Medium of publication.
7. Date of access.
Where to Look on Website
Author is not always listed, but if it is
included, it’s usually at the top or
bottom.
Generally, this is the title of the article
on a larger website, usually at the top of
the article. Do not use “Google” as the
title.
Sometimes, the name of the website is
included in the URL, but it’s also
included at the top or bottom of page.
Do not use Google as the title.
This is the company or group who made
the website. Usually at bottom!
Usually included at top or bottom of
article OR use most recent date listed.
Online Source MLA Citation Template:
Author's Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of the Work.” Title of the Overall Website. Publisher/Sponsor, Date of
publication. Medium of Publication [Web]. Date of Access.
Online Source Example: http://nypost.com/2014/05/17/how-swapping-poop-has-helped-one-doctor-cure-disease/
The above screenshot was taken from the top of
the article used for the example Evidence
Connections paragraph. It is included to help you
locate information on most websites.
The screenshot to the right was taken from the
bottom of the same article. Note that you may
need to look at the small print to find publisher,
copyright date, etc.
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Online Source Example Citation:
Last Name #
Your Name
Teacher Name
Pre-AP English II
Date Month Year
Works Cited
Smith, Kyle. “How Swapping Poop Has Helped One Doctor Cure Disease.” New York Post. NYP Holdings,
17 May 2014. Web. 21 March 2016.
Next citation here, alphabetized by authors’ last names (or article titles if not authors listed).
If your outside source is something other than an online text source, use the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
website to help you cite your sources: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Note that this website includes many options in the menu at the left that might be helpful to you:
Click here to learn more about formatting your page
of citations.
Click here to learn how to cite a print book.
Click here to learn more about how to cite print
newspapers, magazines, and journals.
While this packet shows you how to cite most
electronic (online sources), click here and scroll down
to see how to cite an image, YouTube video, or Tweet.
Click here to learn how to cite sources
like films or sound recordings.
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Claims/Evidence Annotations (Only Chapters 4, 5, 6 and Epilogue)
1. Underline at least 5 of the authors’ claims in each of the chapters. Number each underlined claim in the order they
occur by chapter.
2. Box at least 10 examples of evidence in each of the chapters. Label the type of evidence in the margins (statistics,
quotations/testimonials, anecdotes, definitions), as well as the number of the underlined claim(s) the evidence supports.
1
2
This is an excerpt from chapter 2 of
Sway that illustrates what #1 and
#2 should look like in your book.


2 stats
2 quotation
2 definition





Note that there are two claims
underlined and numbered.
Underlined claims should be clear
statements of beliefs that the
authors are “owning,” not the just
the opinions of others.
All of boxed evidence on in this
excerpt supports claim #2 (that
commitment and aversion to loss
together explain why students
lose money in Bazerman’s
auction).
The first boxed evidence is a
definition in that it “defines” the
rules of the auction.
The second boxed evidence is a
quotation that illustrates
students’ reaction to the auction.
The last boxed evidence includes
numerical data from a sample,
which makes it a statistic. The fact
that all of the numbers are more
than $20 proves claim #2.
No evidence in this excerpt
supports claim #1, as its evidence
is included in previous pages.
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Claims/Evidence Annotations Continued
3. Write a central claim statement in the white space at the end of each of the chapters. Use the following template to
write your claim statement: _________ (author/s), in this chapter, _________ (power verb like claims/argues/asserts)
that _____________________________________________ (what do the authors claim?).
Pictured below is the end of chapter 2 of Sway that illustrates what #3 should look like in your book:



Central claims should not focus on the evidence, but the overarching claim(s) of the chapter.
Effective claim statements often include the “because” or reasons for the central claim(s).
Ineffective central claim statements for this chapter:
o Ori and Ram Brafman, in this chapter, claim that the Florida Gators were able to win because of
other teams’ commitments to losing strategies. (too specific)
o Ori and Ram Brafman, in this chapter, claim that commitment combined with loss aversion is
influential. (too general)
Ori and Ram Brafman, in this
chapter, claim that commitment
combined with loss aversion can
result in an influential
psychological sway; people are more
likely to persist in irrational
decision-making if they have been
devoted to a decision and if
changing that decision could result
in a potential loss.
Having trouble with claims and evidence?
You can access a video tutorial on claims and evidence by visiting
http://www.onwravens.net/, and clicking on AP Summer
Assignments under the Student Info tab!
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Name: ___________________________
9.5
Focus Questions
(Ideas & Content)
Focus Questions
(Writing/Conventions)
Evidence
Connections
Paragraphs
7.5
6.5
5.5
All responses show an indepth understanding of the
summer reading book. It is
very evident that the student
read the entire book closely.
Most responses show a basic
understanding of the book.
Some responses are limited to
generalizations, but for the
most part they indicate the
student read the entire book.
Some responses indicate
some understanding of the
book. The responses are
mostly generalizations that
could be found in a summary
of the book.
About half of the responses
indicate little to no
understanding of the book
and/or the responses use
very vague and limited
language which indicate that
the student read very little of
the book.
The overall lack of and/or
incompleteness and/or
inaccuracy of responses
indicates that the student
did not read the summer
reading book.
No focus
questions
answered.
Student writing demonstrates
an ability to control a wide
range of the elements of
effective writing but is not
necessarily flawless.
The writing may contain
lapses in word choice or
sentence structure, but
generally the writing is clear
and it conveys the student’s
ideas.
Six or seven claims and at
least ten pieces of evidence
are marked with few errors.
There are some errors in
grammar and mechanics
which detract from the
overall stance and quality of
the entries.
There are many distracting
errors in grammar and
mechanics which detract
from the overall stance and
quality of the entries.
Not enough writing was
submitted to assess its
quality and/or the quality
of the writing is so poor
that meaning is obscured.
No focus
questions
answered.
Five claims and ten pieces of
evidence are marked in each
chapter with few errors.
Fewer than five claims and
ten evidence examples are
marked in each chapter
and/or frequent errors.
Fewer than five claims and
ten evidence examples are
marked in each chapter
with frequent errors.
No claims /
evidence
marked.
The numbering shows a solid
understanding of which
evidence supports which
claims.
The numbering shows some
understanding of which
evidence supports which
claims.
The numbering shows little
understanding of which
evidence supports which
claims.
All central claim statements
are accurately summarized
and concisely worded.
All central claim statements
are present, and most are
accurately summarized per
chapter.
All central claim statements
are present, but some
inaccurately reflect the
authors’ true claim.
The numbering may be
attempted but fails to
show an understanding of
which evidence supports
which claims.
The student has five
connections paragraphs that
use specific examples from
Sway and effectively show the
connections to the specific
examples of evidence from
the outside source.
The student has five
connections paragraphs that
use specific examples from
Sway and show the
connections to the specific
examples of evidence from
the outside source.
The student has five
connections paragraphs that
use specific examples from
Sway, but the connections to
the outside source may be
too vague or general.
The student has five
connections paragraphs that
simply summarize the
chapter or source articles but
fail to connect the two.
Student creates a Works
Cited page with four sources.
Student creates a Works
Cited page with three
sources.
The numbering shows a clear
understanding of what
evidence supports which
claims.
One or two central claim
statements may be missing,
and/or many inaccurately
reflect the authors’ true
claim.
Difference between 9.5 and 8.5: The student explains the
evidence from the source clearly enough that a reader would be
able to understand the connection without reading the source.
Student creates a Works Cited
page with five sources.
Works Cited
Period: ____________
8.5
At least eight claims and more
than ten pieces of evidence
are marked accurately and
numbered.
Claims/Evidence
Annotations
Pre-AP English II: 2015 Summer Assignment Rubric
More than two central
claim statements are
missing and/or
inaccurately reflect the
authors’ true claim.
The student has fewer
than five connections
paragraphs. Paragraphs
may simply summarize the
chapter or source articles
but fail to connect the
two. There may not be
enough written material to
evaluate.
Student creates a Works
Cited page with only two
sources.
0
No connections
included.
No Works Cited
page included.
9
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity refers to honesty and responsibility when completing and turning in work. Honest work builds self-esteem, knowledge, and skills. Use
academic integrity when completing your summer assignment!
For this assignment, academic integrity means:




Reading the entire book
o While using sites with book summaries are helpful in clarifying the reading when you don’t understand, reading a summary of the book is not an
acceptable substitute for actually reading the book.
Asking a Pre-AP English II teacher if you are struggling
Ensuring that your annotations and written work reflect your ideas and skills
o While collaboration between students is encouraged, what you mark in your book should not be the same as another student. In addition, the
ideas and examples you use in your focus question responses should be in your own words or quoted appropriately from the text.
Not allowing your work to be copied or used by another student
o You should never email or electronically transfer the file for your responses to the focus questions to another student OR let another student
borrow your annotated book.
Consequences for Academic Dishonesty on the Pre-AP English II Summer Reading Assignment are as follows:
 A parent phone call
 A written office referral to be included in your permanent disciplinary file
 A zero for the assignment
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY STUDENT PLEDGE
My signature below constitutes my pledge that I have read my entire summer reading book and that all of the writing / annotations for my summer
assignment are my own work. I have read the entire academic integrity statement on my summer assignment handout and understand the definition of
academic integrity for this assignment and the consequences for academic dishonesty.
Signature of Student: _________________________________________________________________
Date: ______________
Print Name: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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