AP English Literature Summer Reading PROMPTS FOR TOBIAS WOLFF’S OLD SCHOOL

1. In the opening of the novel (pp. 3-top of p. 6), Wolff gives us the values and motivations of the teachers, the headmaster, and the students at the school. For the most part, they are the values the school tries to inculcate in its students. What are these values, and how do we know?

2. One theme (or two related themes) Wolff develops throughout the novel is the importance of the “old school” virtues of honesty, integrity, authenticity, and the difficulty of attaining them, retaining them, and protecting ourselves from the effects of our loss of innocence, or our “Fall.” What details are in this first section entitled “Class Picture” that express these interrelated themes?

3. Look carefully at the last 3 paragraphs of “Class Picture.” What point is Wolff making?

4. What is Wolff doing with the character of Big Jeff? (What is his role in the novel?) (See pp. 33-35 and elsewhere.)

5. Another important theme in the novel, and one related to the honesty-authenticity theme, is the value and power of literature. At the end of “On Fire,” the narrator is moved to write a poem. What leads him to do so, and why doesn’t he submit it to the contest? How does this incident express this theme? How is it related to the honesty theme?

6. How is the character of Robert Frost as he is described in the novel and the poetry he’s written related to both themes? (honesty/authenticity and the value and power of literature)

7. How is the character of Ayn Rand as she is described in the novel related to both themes?

8. In his sickness, the narrator begins to reassess his ideas, values, and judgments. (See pp. 91-last full paragraph p.94) What new conclusions does he come to?

9. Discuss the narrator’s reassessment of Hemingway’s short stories from In Our Time. (See bottom of p. 94-last full paragraph p. 98)

10. Why does Wolff title a chapter “Forked Tongue”? What important change has the narrator undergone after reading Hemingway’s stories?

11. Why does Wolff title a chapter “When in Disgrace with Fortune”? (Google it.)

12. Look carefully at the long quotation which begins with the 4th paragraph on p. 131, “We’re not here to talk about essays . . .,” to p. 132 ending with “. . . superior piece of writing that is.” Discuss its meanings. Pay attention to the setting.

13. How does “Summer Dance” and its reception express both themes mentioned earlier?

14. Discuss the meaning of the last two full paragraphs on p. 156.

15. How does the narrator’s meeting with Susan Friedman emphasize the difference between their characters and their approaches to the meaning and purposes of writing? Each of them embodies certain ideals. What are they, and what is their essential difference?

16. The book’s final chapter departs from the narrator’s story and moves to Mr. Ramsey’s story about Dean Makepeace, who had allowed himself to be thought of as a friend of Hemingway. How does this story work as a coda to the novel? (In music, a coda brings the movement or piece to a formal close.) What is the effect of the shift in perspective?

17. Discuss the allusion made at the end of the novel and its relevance. One theme or topic these prompts have not focused on, and I’m sure there are others, is the importance of mentors, especially father-son type relationships. How is this brought out in the novel?

18. The novel certainly concerns itself with writing as a vocation, but it is also concerned with teaching as a vocation. What does Wolff have to say about teachers and teaching and how does this topic fit in thematically?

19. In what ways is humor expressed in this novel, and what kind of humor is it? What situations and descriptions are comical?

20 Explain the relevance of the epigraph from Mark Strand at the beginning.

INDEPENDENT READING FOR SENIOR AP ENGLISH Senior AP English students must read one work independently during the summer and one during each nine-week period, complete data sheets on each book, and be prepared to discuss the book in class. Each nine-week period, we concentrate on a particular theme, and the books are grouped according to that theme. Some books are long, some so short you must read two, some modern, and some not. Look up their descriptions and reviews on Amazon.com to get an idea of length, difficulty, and subject matter. You are welcome to read ahead and do these data sheets early. You may not report on any work you have previously read. While each work could be used on the open-ended essay question on the AP Literature Exam, those marked with an asterisk are frequently suggested. Those marked with two asterisks are worth 10 extra points due to their length. 1ST NINE WEEKS The Fall: The Tragic Flaw “I’m the reason it’s a no go.” William Golding - Lord of the Flies “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”- William Blake - “The Tyger” Agee - A Death in the Family Atwood - Cat’s Eye Camus - The Fall (counts as ½) The Plague Conrad - Lord Jim The Secret Agent Conroy - The Lords of Discipline Dickey - Deliverance Dickens - **Bleak House

Doctorow - Ragtime Dreiser - An American Tragedy Ellison - *Invisible Man Faulkner - *As I Lay Dying *Light in August Intruder in the Dust Flaubert - Madame Bovary Fowles - The French Lieutenant’s Woman Greene - The Heart of the Matter Hardy - The Mayor of Casterbridge **Tess of the d’Urbervilles Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises Hosseini - The Kite Runner A Thousand Splendid Suns Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day Malamud - The Fixer McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses The Road McEwan - Atonement Melville - Billy Budd (counts as ½) Ng- Everything I Never Told You O’Connor - Wise Blood Ondaatje - The English Patient Silko - Ceremony Sinclair - The Jungle Swift - Gulliver’s Travels Tsukiyama, The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel Tolstoy - **Anna Karenina Voltaire - Candide (counts as ½) Walker - The Color Purple Warren - All the King’s Men Wharton - The Age of Innocence The House of Mirth Williams - The Glass Menagerie (play- counts as ½) A Streetcar Named Desire (play-counts as ½) Wright - *Native Son 2ND NINE WEEKS Becoming Aware or Refusing Awareness “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” Carl Jung Atwood - A Handmaid’s Tale Alvarez - In the Time of Butterflies Anaya - Bless Me, Ultima Austen - Emma Persuasion Baldwin - Go Tell It on the Mountain Bronte, C. - **Jane Eyre Bulosan - America Is in the Heart Cao - Monkey Bridge Cather - My Antonia Chekhov - The Seagull (play- counts as ½) Chopin - *The Awakening Conrad - Under Western Eyes Desai - The Inheritance of Loss Divakaruni - Sister of the Heart Ellison - *Invisible Man Faulkner - As I Lay Dying Forster - Howards End A Room with a View Frayn - Copenhagen (a play - counts as ½) Garcia Marquez - Chronicle of a Death Foretold (counts as ½) Gutterson - Snow Falling on Cedars Hardy - **Tess of the d’Urbervilles Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls Hansberry - *A Raisin in the Sun (play-counts as ½) Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God Ibsen -An Enemy of the People (play - counts as ½) Ishiguro - The Other The Remains of the Day James - The American Washington Square Jin - A Free Life Kafka - Metamorphosis (counts as ½) Kallos - Broken for You Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible Lawrence - Sons and Lovers Lee - Native Speaker Malamud - The Fixer McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses McEwan - Atonement Mukherjee - Jasmine Ng- Everything I Never Told You O’Brien - Going After Cacciato O’Connor - Wise Blood Orwell - Animal Farm (counts as ½) 1984 Remarque- All Quiet on the Western Front Roy - The God of Small Things Sartre - No Exit (play-counts as ½) Shaw - Major Barbara (play-counts as ½) Silko - Ceremony Sinclair - The Jungle Solzhenitsyn - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (counts as ½) Stegner - Angle of Repose Tolstoy - The Death of Ivan Ilych (counts as ½) Tsukiyama- The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel Tyler - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Walker - The Color Purple Warren - All the King’s Men Wharton - *Ethan Frome (counts as ½) The House of Mirth Williams - *The Glass Menagerie (play - counts as ½) *A Streetcar Named Desire (play - counts as ½) Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway To the Lighthouse Wright - *Native Son 3RD NINE WEEKS Things fall apart: Disintegration/Alienation “And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.” “Dover Beach”- Matthew Arnold Achebe - Things Fall Apart Alvarez - In the Time of Butterflies Atwood - Cat’s Eye Baldwin - Native Son Bronte, C. - **Jane Eyre Camus - The Plague Cao - Monkey Bridge Conrad - The Secret Agent Under Western Eyes Desai - The Inheritance of Loss Dickens - **A Tale of Two Cities Doctorow - The March Ellison - *Invisible Man Ford - The Good Soldier Frazer - Cold Mountain Garcia Marquez - Chronicle of a Death Foretold (counts as ½) Goodman - Kaaterskill Falls Hansberry - A Raisin in the Sun (play-counts as ½) Hegi - Stones from the River Heller - *Catch-22 Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises Hosseini - The Kite Runner A Thousand Splendid Suns Ibsen - An Enemy of the People (play - counts as ½) Hedda Gabler (play - counts as ½) Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day Jen - Typical American Kafka - The Trial Metamorphosis (counts as ½) Koestler - Darkness at Noon Kogawa - Obasan Lee - A Gesture Life Native Speaker McCarthy - The Road Melville - **Moby Dick Momaday - House Made of Dawn Mukherjee - The Holder of the World Ng- Everything I Never Told You O’Brien - The Things They Carried Plath - The Bell Jar (counts as ½) Remarque- All Quiet on the Western Front Sartre - No Exit (play - counts as ½) Silko - Ceremony Smiley - A Thousand Acres Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath Tsukiyama- The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel Walker - the Color Purple Warren - All the King’s Men Williams - *The Glass Menagerie (play-counts as ½) *A Streetcar Named Desire (play-counts as ½) Wright - *Native Son 4TH NINE WEEKS Love, Marriage, Family Relationships “All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own fashion.” Leo Tolstoy- Anna Karenina Agee - A Death in the Family Allende - Daughter of Fortune Alvarez - In the Time of Butterflies Atwood - The Blind Assassin Austen - Emma Persuasion Sense and Sensibility Baldwin - Go Tell It on the Mountain Balzac - Père Goriot Byatt - Possession Bronte, C. - **Jane Eyre Cao - Monkey Bridge Cather - O Pioneers Chekhov - The Three Sisters (play - counts as ½) Uncle Vanya (play - counts as ½) Chopin - *The Awakening Desai - The Inheritance of Loss Dinesen - Out of Africa Divakaruni - Sister of My Heart: A Novel Dreiser - An American Tragedy Sister Carrie Edwards - The Memory Keeper’s Daughter Faulkner - Absalom, Absalom *As I Lay Dying *Light in August Flaubert - Madame Bovary Forster - Howards End Garcia - Dreaming in Cuban Guterson - Snow Falling on Cedars Hansberry - *A Raisin in the Sun (play - counts as ½) Hardy - Jude the Obscure The Mayor of Casterbridge **Tess of the d’Urbervilles Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls The Sun Also Rises Hosseini - The Kite Runner A Thousand Splendid Suns Ibsen - A Doll House (play - counts as ½)- if we do not cover this in class- Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day James - The American Portrait of a Lady *Joyce - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Kafka - Metamorphosis (counts as ½) Kahiri - The Namesake Kallos - Broken for You Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees Kingsolver - Animal Dreams Lawrence - Sons and Lovers Women in Love Lee - A Gesture Life Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude McEwan - Atonement Mukherjee - Jasmine Ng- Everything I Never Told You Ondaatje - The English Patient O’Neill - Desire Under the Elms (play - counts as ½) Pasternak - Dr. Zhivago Paton - Cry, The Beloved Country Potok - The Chosen Remarque- All Quiet on the Western Front Roy - The God of Small Things Smiley - A Thousand Acres Stegner - Angle of Repose Steinbeck - East of Eden *The Grapes of Wrath Tan - The Bonesetter’s Daughter The Joy Luck Club The Kitchen God’s Wife Tolstoy - **Anna Karenina Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces Tsukiyama- The Samurai’s Garden: A Novelg Tyler - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Walker - The Color Purple Wharton - The Age of Innocence *Ethan Frome (counts as ½) Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest (play) (counts as ½) Williams - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (play - counts as ½) *The Glass Menagerie (play - counts as ½) *A Streetcar Named Desire (play - counts as ½) Wolfe - Look Homeward, Angel Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway Name______Date______Period______

MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET (Fiction- AP 12 Lit) Title: Biographical information about the author and Author: relevant historical information about the period Date of Publication: of publication: (5) Did you read every page of this book? Yes:______No: ______% read: _____

Honor Pledge:

Source of information:

Plot (10) Summary

Describe the author’s style. (5) Examples that demonstrate style (Page numbers of quotes in parenthesis)

Memorable quotations- Choose 4 (10) Significance of quotations

Main (10) Descriptive words or phrases used by Complexity, ambiguity or Characters the author opposing characteristics in the character

Settings Quotation describing setting with page How setting functions as a (10) number means of developing character, creating mood, and/or expressing ideas

Identify signposts and explain their significance. (10)

Significance of the opening scene (5)

Significance of the closing scene (5)

Relationship of the opening and closing scenes (5)

Themes or basic thoughts of the work (5)

Choose another work that would agree with this work or disagree with it and explain why. (10)

Explore different paths. (10)

ADVICE ON COMPLETING DATA SHEETS FOR FULL CREDIT

Preliminary Advice Use pen or pencil. Do not type your responses. Stay within the spaces, if possible. The point is often to condense and refine what you have to say after you have thought about it.

Biographical Information about the Author and Relevant Historical Information

Record details about the author that are most compelling. Birth and death dates should appear, but look for what is most significant about the author’s life that led him or her to write this work. Don’t necessarily record the first facts you find.

Works are created in historical contexts. If, after research, you are unable to come up with any relevant details, look at the author’s life and try to approach the item from that direction. Resorting to biography should be a rare occurrence.

Plot Summary Try to keep your plot summary within the space provided. Record the major plot events. Try to look for the author’s structural plan.

Author’s Style and Example 1. Diction Are most of the words monosyllabic or polysyllabic? Are the words mainly colloquial (slang), informal (conversational), formal (literary), or archaic (old-fashioned)? Are the words mainly denotative (containing an exact meaning) or connotative (suggesting meanings)? Are the words mainly concrete (specific) or abstract (general)? Are the words mainly euphonious (pleasant sounding) or cacophonous (harsh sounding)? 2. Sentence Structure Are most of the sentences telegraphic (less than 5 words), medium (approx. 18 words), or long and involved (30 words or more)? Are many of the sentences simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex? Are many of the sentences loose (make sense before the end as in the following: “We reached Edmonton that morning after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences.” ? Are many of the sentences periodic (make sense only at the end, for example: “That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton”? Do most of the sentences follow the natural order of a sentence (subject precedes predicate) or do they follow an inverted order? Does the author use parallel structure (sentences or parts of sentence are similar in structure, for example: “He was walking, running, and jumping for joy.”? Does the author use repetition for rhythm or emphasis, for example: “. . . government for the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”? Does the author use figurative language?

For every description, you need an example that matches it with a page number.

Memorable Quotes Choose at least four substantial quotes that will lead to interesting commentary on the meaning of the work.

Characters Mention only major characters. Choose words or phrases used by the author. In interpretive works, main characters are often complex, not stereotypical and able to be described in one adjective. For example, a character may appear to be unemotional and aloof, but may actually be quite charitable and humane. Ambiguity in a character occurs when the reader is unsure what to make of a character and he can be interpreted in a variety of ways. A character may have opposing characteristics that reveal an inner conflict. Be suspicious of your initial judgments of a character.

Settings

Reflect on how the author portrays places and times. Often the description of setting delineates one or more of the characters. Think of Miss Havisham’s house in Dickens’ Great Expectations or the cold and misty moors where Pip first meets Magwitch. In describing settings, the author will sometimes be giving the reader a clear indication of his central ideas and the conflicts he is presenting. Your quotations need not be full sentences. Reflect on how the description of setting does more than merely present time and place.

Identify Signposts

A work’s signposts tell us what to pay attention to, where to direct ourselves in our journey through its pages. Signposts can take the form of key words, key images, key sentences or passages that make us sit up and pay attention. Signposts often resemble, contrast, and argue with one another. In Macbeth, Shakespeare gives us the recurring images of blood and darkness to guide the reader through the horror of Macbeth’s deed and its aftermath of damnation. Think of the scaffold in The Scarlet Letter and how it ties at least thre central incidents in the novle together. Holden’s use of the word “phony” in The Catcher in the Rye and his red hunting hat both seem to mean more than is obvious when we first meet these details in the novel. You may not notice all the signposts, but the more of them you do notice, the surer you are of getting to the destination the author is leading you toward. Find some signposts in the work and discuss why you think they are important.

Significance and Relationship of the Opening and Closing Scenes Think about these key parts of the work whose full meaning is not apparent until the reader is finished and has reflected on the entire work. It is insufficient to describe how the opening introduces us to setting, characters, etc., or how the ending brings the work to a conclusion. All openings open as all closings close. Look at the details and discuss why the writer chose those particular details for this work. These scenes provide the backbone of an author’s structure and almost always bear a relationship to one another.

Themes or Basic Thoughts

Complex or interpretive works rarely present a simple lesson for the reader to learn. Instead, authors grapple with ideas and feelings, often presenting similar thoughts in several works. Reflect on what the topic or topics are that the author is commenting on and what you believe the author is saying about those topics. Themes are not single words like “love.” Instead, you need to ask: what is this writer saying about love? It could be something like this: Hemingway portrays romantic love as both pleasurable and painful.

Choose Another Work

Writers influence other writers and, in that sense, works can be seen as communicating with one another. Thomas Foster discusses this as intertextuality in his How to Read Literature Like a Professor and David Mikics in his Slow Reading in a Hurried Age also makes reference to this idea. Think about what your author is saying in this work and then contrast or compare this with another work. The work may be fiction or nonfiction. You are welcome to use a history book, a poem, a science book, a play, a novel, the Bible, whatever you like that is printed material. Steer clear of movies, television programs, or songs, although they may seem relevant.

Explore Different Paths

This is another great idea from David Mikics. Reflect on how the work would be different with a different beginning or ending. What if one of the characters were not in the work or was a different sort of person. What if one crucial event had not occurred or had occurred differently? How would the work be different? Think through at least two different paths here, but keep the sensibility of the author in mind and his or her basic thought. One thing this activity can accomplish is to remind ourselves that writers usually revise works many times before we ever see them, and things could have been different in an earlier version. At one time, all sorts of possibilities were on the table. Nevertheless, Lennie and George would probably not have become millionaire ranchers in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, so we can’t just change up an ending to one we might find more palatable. Keep the sensibility of the writer in mind and his or her basic thought.

Senior AP English Literature 2021 Summer Reading

1. Our assigned novel is Old School by Tobias Wolff (ISBN#978-0375701498). It is a masterful work that my students bring up throughout the year. Most students find it enjoyable to read, but on a first reading, it is easy to misinterpret. It is complex, deep, and interesting, so don’t rush to a simplistic understanding of the ideas and themes that Wolff is exploring.

I want you not only to read the work but to think about it and choose four quotations to discuss and one quotation that you feel is important but you do not understand and give the reasons the quote confuses you. I have also posted prompts to help you understand the novel and pick out excellent quotes. You may use these prompts or you may ignore them.

As you read, underline likely quotations to consider as one of your four required quotations with commentary or your fifth quotation, one which you do not understand at all or only partially but you feel is significant. An excellent quotation is complex, lengthy enough to express more than one idea, and compelling, leading the reader to think deeply, to interpret and to question. You are welcome to combine different passages or use two shorter related quotations as one, using ellipsis marks (. . .).

For the first four quotations, type the full quotation with page numbers and provide detailed, reflective commentary underneath each. What is the context of the quote? How does it develop character? What, if any, literary devices are evident? How is the quote related to the larger theme(s) of the novel? Remember, you are reflecting on this quote after finishing and thinking about the novel, and that should be evident in your commentary. Do not merely summarize what the quote is literally saying. Deal with the words of the quote and comment on those words as well as their meanings.

For the fifth quotation, type the full quotation and follow it with questions that will explain why you found the quote difficult but significant. You are welcome to venture some ideas about meaning here as well.

Save your quotes on your laptop, and you can upload those to turnitin by the 2nd day of school. You will also need a hard copy to turn in to me. You will be presenting some of your quotations to the class when school begins, but since there is no test or quiz, you may do this assignment whenever you want up to the morning of the first day of school without fear of forgetting details.

*As you read the book, consider the essay prompts as well (attached). We will be writing about this book, and thinking about the prompts as well as marking passages that apply, will be helpful to you.

2. Read one book of your choice from my 1st Nine Weeks Independent Reading List and complete a data sheet on the work in pen or pencil and turn it in to me on the first day of class. Do not type the data sheet or submit it online. The list, the data sheet form, and advice on completing the data sheet are all included here. During the 1st Nine Weeks, you will be required to read another book from the 1st Nine Weeks list, so you may want to read ahead and do another data sheet. (I recommend that you make several copies of the data sheets so you have plenty on hand.) Each Nine Weeks, you will select a book, so you would do well to read as many as you can in the summer. I will take your data sheets early and record them in their appropriate place. Since our reading schedule is intense during the year, it’s a good idea to get some of your reading done in the summer.