April 29, 2016
Dear Prospective Student:
Welcome to AP English Language and Composition! Your enrollment in this course indicates your
commitment to growth and preparation for college level reading and writing. All universities require a
freshmen composition/English course, and your enrollment in this AP class creates an opportunity to
prepare and possibly earn the credit while attending high school.
Reading and writing occur daily in AP Lang. To prepare for our first unit of learning, you will need to
read one fiction book OR play and two selected speeches. The book or play must be written by an
author from the provided list, and the two speeches are listed in this document (see the section below
this paragraph for authors and titles). You may find your fiction book or play script at the library, or you
may purchase a copy through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, among other stores. The speeches are
available on the web site http://www.americanrhetoric.com/ in both written form and as video or audio
recordings.
Read One Fiction Book or Play - Fiction and Drama for Summer Reading 2016
Sherman Alexie, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Willa Cather, Edwidge Danticat,
Louise Erdrich, David Guterson, Khaled Hosseini, John Irving, Barbara Kingsolver,
Jhumpa Lahiri, Chang-rae Lee, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison, John Updike, John Edgar
Wideman
Playwrights for Summer Reading 2016: Lorraine Hansberry or Arthur Miller
Read Both Speeches:
“The Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel and “The Future of Early Cancer Detection” by Jorge
Soto
After reading the book or play and the speeches, please read and complete the attached writing
assignments. For immediate help with the assignment, or if you have questions about the course, I am
available before and after school in room A109. You are always welcome to stop by or email. I also
hope to meet with you during class time on May 19, if the scheduling allows. If you have questions or
concerns between May 25 and August 11, please feel free to contact me via the district e-mail at
[email protected]. I am out of town with AP activities in June and then family events in July,
which may cause a delayed response, but I will respond in a timely manner.
I look forward to seeing you in August! Have a great summer and keep reading!
Sincerely,
Anita Gilliland
Mrs. Anita Gilliland
AP English Language and Composition
Holt High School
Encl.
AP English Language and Composition
2016 Summer Reading Assignment
1. Read one fiction book or play (from the eligible authors) and the speeches by Wiesel and Soto.
2. Complete the following assignments, using the reading selections to collect supporting evidence.
A. Reading Notes (annotations) for the fiction or drama piece: During your reading,
please take notes or mark the text (if you own it) to indicate examples of these rhetorical
devices: figurative language, narration, description, exposition, flashback, conflict, theme,
and irony. You must have notes or marked text for the book or play.
i. If you are taking notes, provide quotations directly from the text with MLA
parenthetical citations. Do NOT summarize or paraphrase. If you are marking
text, underline or highlight and write in the margins.
ii. You should have 2-3 examples for at least five of the rhetorical devices (10
minimum). Figurative language examples might be similes, metaphors,
hyperboles, or personification. Conflict examples might be internal or external.
Irony examples might be situational, dramatic, or verbal.
iii. Your examples should span the entire text, to indicate a thorough reading and to
support a developed essay to be written after August 15.
B. Audience and Context Notes for the speeches:
i. Write 3-5 sentences explaining the intended audience for each speech. Consider
age, education levels, socio-economic levels, gender, nationality, etc. If you
cannot identify a specific audience from the text clues, or find information in the
accompanying materials, then use your own understanding of the text and topic to
make an inference.
ii. Write 2-4 sentences explaining the context of the piece. What is the time period
of the writing or publication? What significant events occurred during that time
period and could be directly related to the passage?
C. Critical Reading Notes for the speeches: While you are reading, take notes or mark the
text to identify (and later analyze) these items: main ideas; evidence such as facts,
statistics, anecdotes, expert opinions, examples, and quotations; connecting information or
information that restates/develops a point made earlier; and questions you have for the
passage or the author.
3. Bring your notes the second day of school for a special reward. We will use your notes in class,
during the first two weeks of school, to complete activities, write an essay, and create a project.
**What if something happens during the summer and you don’t have everything finished by August
11? Should you change your schedule and drop the class? The answer is NO. While unfinished work
can create stress, the summer readings should not eliminate your chance to get college credit the
following spring, so stay in the class and work hard. Emergencies happen, people make mistakes, and
life is unpredictable, but you deserve the chance to succeed and need to persevere when faced with
challenges.