McDonough High School
Summer Reading 2016
AP Language and Composition
You must read all three texts
and complete the accompanying formative assignment for each.
All formative assignments should be neatly written or typed
and ready to turn in on the first day of school.
1) Text 1: “Declaration of Independence“
Purpose: Close Reading / Vocabulary / Rhetorical Analysis
Assignment:
 Closely read the entire historical document.
 Annotate the text with as many rhetorical devices as you can find.
 You can easily Google search AP Language and Composition Rhetorical Devices / Vocabulary (diction,
syntax, rhetorical appeals are a good starting point).
Grade: The annotated document will be the first formative grade in the gradebook. Discussion will take place on
the annotated devises. Students will learn the basis of the rhetorical analysis essay. Students will write a
Rhetorical Analysis essay in class as a summative grade.
2) Text 2: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”
Purpose: Close Reading / Analogy Preparation / Argument Essay
Assignment:
 Create a Venn diagram on your own sheet of paper to compare and contrast “The Declaration of
Independence” with “Common Sense”. There should be 10 things in each column of Similarities /
Differences / Commonalities.
 Closely read the document noting Similarities / Differences / Commonalities between the texts. It
may be helpful to put citation with page numbers for referencing during discussion later.
Grade: The Venn diagram will be the second formative grade in the gradebook. Discussion will take place on the
Similarities / Differences / Commonalities. Students will learn the basis of the Argument Essay. Students will
write an Argument essay in class as a summative grade.
3) Text 3: Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis
Purpose: Close Reading / Analogy Preparation / Synthesis Essay
Assignment:
 Closely read each short text. On your own sheet of paper, create a Double Entry Journal. Follow the
guidelines (on the next page), in order to write six journal entries per chapter. See the example (on the
next page). Make sure to follow the examples guidelines as it will make the citations and discussion
much easier.
Grade: The Double Entry Journal will be the third formative grade in the gradebook. Discussion will take place
on each short text. Students will learn the basis of the Synthesis Essay. Students will write a Synthesis Essay in
class as a summative grade.
AP Language and Composition
Assignment #3 Examples and Support
for working with Founding Brothers
It is strongly suggested that all students purchase their own copy of the book.
Students are encouraged to mark the text and take notes as they read and
also avoid using “study aides,” such as SparkNotes or Shmoop.com.
It will be very helpful for students to have individual copies of the text when they return to school.
Assignment
Closely read each short text. On your own sheet of paper, create a Double Entry Journal. Write six journal entries per
each chapter. An example is provided. Make sure to follow the examples guidelines as it will make the citations and
discussion much easier.
Double Entry Journal
 For the double entry journal for each text, make a minimum of 6 entries into your journal.
 Each journal entry should contain a direct quote from the text followed by a page number reference in
parentheses (aka, MLA parenthetical citation) and your reflection on the quote. The reflection should
focus on making connections and predictions, as well as asking questions, summarizing and
synthesizing, and determining what’s important. (Use the questions/statement-starters on the next page
as a guide for creating your journal entries.)
 Each journal entry reflection is expected to be at least a paragraph in length, with correct grammar,
spelling, and punctuation. Note: For the purpose of this journal, a paragraph contains a minimum of
8 thorough sentences, but more may be written to prove your point.
Format your Double Entry Journals like this example.
NOTE: This example comes from another text. It demonstrates what is expected of you, though.
Title: Founding Brothers
Quotation (page #)
My Reflection
“This play is not a history
in the sense in which the
word is used by the
academic historian” (2).
Prior to the beginning of the novel, the author, Arthur Miller, gives a brief “Note on
the Historical Accuracy of This Play” to inform the audience that not much is
known about the actual events and causes of the Salem Witch trials, but Miller
gives the actual history with some dramatic choices. This explains the organization
of the text. This play is divided into two styles of writing. First, there is the history
of the actual events with characterization, setting, and other pieces of needed
information. Second, there is the dialogue, or the actual play, where the plot
unfolds. The structure is actually very helpful. The audience learns about the true
event in a narrative form that can be understood easily, and then rereads about
the event in the play. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Putnam are the first two to cry
witchcraft in the play – and it is learned in the narrative that Mr. Putnam had a
“vindictive nature” and that “it is not surprising to find that so many accusations
against people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam, or that his name is so
often found as a witness corroborating the supernatural testimony, or that his
daughter led the crying out at the most opportune junctures of the trials...” (1415).
DOUBLE ENTRY JOURNAL Questions/Statement-Starters
Making
Connections
Text to Text
Text to self
Text to world
Strategic readers
connect what they know
with what they are
reading.
remind me of something?
reminds me of . . .
me?
.

Am I like this character?
understand this text?
confirm or conflict
with other things I’ve read?
t makes me remember . . .
because . . .
genre (i.e. poetry, short story, drama,
essay, etc.) that influenced my reading?
events in the news or in history books?
Making
Predictions
Strategic readers think
about what’s going to
happen and make
predictions based on
what they know and
what they have read.
here?
will help me with this text?
happen.
appen, but
e prediction help me with
_____ happened instead.
this reading?
happen.
because . . .
Asking
Questions
Thin & Thick
Strategic readers ask
themselves questions
before, during, and
after reading to better
understand the author
and the meaning of the
text.
en?
this happening?
what I have already read?
else?
Summarizing
and
Synthesizing
Strategic readers
identify the most
important ideas and
restate them in their
own words.
Determining
What’s
Important
Strategic readers think
about the text’s big
idea or message and
why it’s important.
_.
information do I need to
know about the characters, plot, and setting in
order to understand the story?
were___.
evidence?
text?
___.
big idea?
meaning of
the text change as I read?
experiences in my own life?
because___.
at this means to me is . . .