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Middletown Township Public Schools High School North & High School South AP Literature and Composition Summer 2015 Reading Assignment

Students are expected to read the titles listed below and to choose one of the writing prompts that follow to complete a focused literary analysis.

Read the following:

, by Mary Shelley (any unabridged edition)

• How to Read Literature Like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, by Thomas C. Foster

Choose one of the following prompts to which to respond in a 4 to 6 page essay.

1. In Chapter/ “Book” 2 of his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke argues that a child is a “blank slate”; the education, thinking and observations of whom are formed only through experience. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile, or On Education, argues that a child’s upbringing is responsible for his education. Mary Shelley was well acquainted with both of these works.

• Explore how both Locke’s and Rousseau’s philosophies are manifested in Shelley’s work. • Make a case for the one you believe to be the more valid argument, using textual evidence from Frankenstein to support your claims. To get you started, below are condensations and analyses of both works.

Locke: http://www3.nd.edu/~twang6/guides/LockeNotes.pdf http://www.philosophypages.com/locke/g01.htm http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/#LimHumUnd

Rousseau: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1289405.files/emileselections.pdf http://infed.org/mobi/jean-jacques-rousseau-on-nature-wholeness-and-education/

2. Choose five symbols or motifs (other than lightening, about which a great deal has already been written) from the and explain how they can be better understood. Be sure to reference and analyze the various allusions and inferences ascribed to them, through the application of Foster’s insights outlined in How to Read Literature Like a College Professor.

3. Frankenstein has had a profound impact on our imaginations, literary history and popular culture. The character of Frankenstein’s (obviously frequently incorrectly identified as “Frankenstein”) has appeared in more than 100 films. Numerous television shows have been influenced by the novel and its place in our culture. Song lyrics, radio shows, , comic books, plays and even board games and cereal boxes have drawn inspiration from the novel. In a well- developed study of this cultural phenomenon, explore what you believe to be the reasons for the widespread use of the image and idea of the monster. Be sure to include the specific aspects of the character and themes that you believe this influence is derived from, using five to eight examples from at least two formats (e.g., lyrics and plays).

4. Literary theory often serves as a lens through which one can critically view a work of literature. Countless volumes have been written about literary theory and applied to various works of literature. While engaging in analysis via literary theory is largely an academic pursuit, it does offer readers valuable insights to their study of a given work.

Write an analysis of Frankenstein through the lens of one of the theories listed below: each is followed by a URL to Purdue Online Writing Lab outlining the theory and its application.

• Psychoanalytic https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/04/ • Marxist https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/03/ • New Historicism https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/09/ • Feminist https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/

Another useful website, especially for its links to further research: http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm