Keyser 3AP
English 3 AP Language and Composition Summer Reading
The AP® English Language and Composition course summer reading assignment consists of two projects requiring the reading and analysis of a novel, a novella, and five nonfiction articles.
Literary Analysis Project Over the course of the summer, you will read the following texts:
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Complete the following tasks for each work:
1. As you read, annotate the text. Your annotations should emphasize the key elements of the writer’s craft, such as theme, character, language, setting, and symbol. If you do not wish to write in the actual book, use post-it/sticky notes. I have included the editions that I will be reading, should you feel compelled to seek them out. It is not required that you use the same edition. a. Their Eyes Were Watching God: ISBN 0-06-091650-8 (I have copies that I can lend to you over the summer; see me in room 607). b. Ethan Frome: ISBN 978-0-14-243780-3 2. Select ten quotations from each text that you believe develop a character, explain a theme, describe the setting, or explicate a dominant symbol. Write out each quotation in full and include a citation. Then, compose a robust paragraph for each quote in which you discuss its relevance to theme, character, language, setting, or symbol, depending on the reason you selected that quotation. Maintain an academic tone; while your annotations may be based on subjective opinion, aim to craft responses that are based on an analytical interpretation of the text. Between the two texts, you will complete twenty responses.
This assignment is due on September 7. Your responses must be typed, as they will be submitted to turnitin.com. To that end, please ensure that your work is your own; do not copy material from outside sources, borrow the work of other students, or share you work with others. Please note that you will be expected to bring the annotated text to class each day.
Columnist Project In addition to reading Their Eyes Were Watching God and Ethan Frome, you are also expected to complete a project involving reading, critiquing, and evaluating the writing of selected columnists. The College Board that administers the AP® program requires that the dominant focus of the AP® English Language and Composition course be based in nonfiction. Thus, it is important that you begin to understand and study how columnists send their message to their reading public. AP® essays often require students to be cognizant of and respond to issues of national and global importance. This year, you will be studying such issues in terms of the author’s tone and attitude toward his/her subject, the author’s use of diction and detail to convey tone, and the writer’s point of view on an issue of current importance or relevance. For this Keyser 3AP assignment, you will read and respond to five opinion pieces by the same columnist or five opinion pieces by different authors on the same current topic. Do some searching before you settle on your columnist(s) so that you can select a writer or writers that you will enjoy reading and analyzing. Consider choosing a columnist that writes regularly for a paper in our area; alternatively, you might select a columnist from a major paper in other regional areas (such as The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times).
Once you have identified your columnist(s), please complete the following:
1. Select and read five articles by your columnist or five articles by different columnists about the same topic. 2. Print a physical copy of each article. 3. Write a response (no more than two pages, double spaced) for each article that you read. These responses should focus on the following: a. What message does the author wish to convey? b. What are the most important arguments and pieces of evidence the author provides to support his/her point of view? c. What is the author’s tone towards the subject? What words or phrases does he/she use to convey that tone? d. To what extent do you agree with the piece? Why did the author succeed or fail in swaying your opinion? You may use first person in this segment.
This assignment is due on September 21. You must bring printed copies of each of your five articles to class. Your responses must be typed, as they will be submitted to turnitin.com. To that end, please ensure that your work is your own; do not copy material from outside sources, borrow the work of other students, or share you work with others.
You might consider using www.blueagle.com, a site containing links to a large selection of columnists. Alternatively, the sites for several periodicals are listed below. • The New York Times: www.nytimes.com - Click on “Opinion” to find a regular opinion contributor. • The Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com - Click on “Opinions” and then look for “Featured Columns” to find a regular opinion contributor. • The Washington Times: www.washingtontimes.com - Click on “Opinion” and then look for “Featured Columns” to find a regular opinion contributor. • The Boston Globe: www.boston.com/globe - Click on “Opinion” and look for the “OP- ED Columnists” link. • The Los Angeles Times: www.losangelestimes.com - Click on “Opinion” and look for the “OP-ED Columnists” link. • The Chicago Tribune: www.chicagotribune.com - Click on “Opinion” and then find a columnist in the list on the left. • The Chicago Sun Times: www.suntimes.com - Click on “Opinions” and then look for a columnist.