AP Language & Composition Summer Assignment 2018-2019 Welcome to the AP Language and Composition course at Pathways Academy of Technology and Design. I am excited that your love for all things English has led you to this challenging, yet highly rewarding course. Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. Course reading and writing activities should help students gain textual power, making them more alert to an author’s purpose, the needs of an audience, the demands of the subject, and the resources of language: syntax, word choice, and tone. First and foremost, I am committed to your academic success this year, which is why I am requiring that you complete the summer assignment (details below). Please read the following directions, and if you have any questions, you can direct them straight to me. All work must be completed by the first day of school. Students prepare for the AP® English Language and Composition Exam and may be granted advanced placement, college credit, or both as a result of satisfactory performance. This class begins with the summer work. Summer reading and writing are required. If you do not complete the summer work, you will be dropped from AP Language & Composition in the first week of classes. I will be hosting a practice exam day for all students to take on the last day of school, June 18, 2018. The exam will begin at 7:50AM and end at dismissal (11:15AM). I hope that you and your family have a great summer! Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I very much look forward to seeing you in August! Sincerely, Chelsea Usher English Instructor Pathways Academy of Technology & Design 2 Pent Road, East Hartford, CT 06118 [email protected] AP Language & Composition Summer Assignment 2018-2019 Over the summer, students who wish to take on the challenge of AP Language & Composition must complete the following summer assignments. These assignments will be collected on the first day of school without exception. Assignment 1: Read J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. After reading this text, read article “I Am an Object of Internet Ridicule” by C.D. Hermelin (attached). Create a compare and contrast diagram (T Chart / Venn Diagram / Other) that compares Salinger’s Holden Caulfield to C.D. Hermelin. With this diagram, craft an argumentative essay that addresses the prompt as outlined below. (The Diagram must be submitted with the rough draft of the essay on the first day of school) Major Paper #1: After considering Salinger’s prose, select one passage from “I Am an Object of Internet Ridicule” that allows you to discuss the purpose of the text. Then, draft an essay in which you analyze your selected passages, illustrating how each writer creates the argument of “phoniness.” Your rough draft (a completed intro, body, conclusion + text evidence) is due on the first day of school. Following discussions over your drafts with me, you will revise, prepare, and submit the final versions of your essays a week into the new school year. Requirements: • MLA Format (double spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman font, MLA citations) • 800-1000 words Assignment 2: AP Language & Composition is about how a piece is written as opposed to why a piece is written. In order to really engage in discussions about metacognition, you need to have the vocabulary to clearly and critically demonstrate your understanding. Using the quizlet link below, study the terms in order to prepare for a vocabulary test within the first week of school. Vocabulary Study: https://quizlet.com/_3sen7f Assignment 3: The AP Lang exam is broken into multiple parts – a 55 question multiple choice component and 3 essays. One of the essays (FRQ 3) requires an understanding of the world around you. In order to become acquainted with current events, you will create a Current Events Blog that will improve your summarizing, analyzing, and grammatical skills. This weekly assignment will keep you well-informed of current events and breaking news, and will help you on the Argument portion of the AP exam. Lastly, this assignment will require you to familiarize themselves with MLA style bibliographic citations. See page 2 for more details on your Current Events Blog (CEB). Summer Blog Entry Deadlines 6/29/2018 7/13/2018 7/27/2018 8/10/2018 8/24/2018 ** If you do not have internet at home, please remember that all public libraries have free internet access. If you live next to a coffee shop like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, they also offer wifi for customers. A lot of local food resturants like Panera also offer wifi for customers. AP Language & Composition Summer Assignment 2018-2019 Current Events Blog (CEB) Adapted from an assignment by Danny Lawrence, AP Instructor, Winston-Salem, NC Every other week you will find a non-fiction (not news articles or informative features) newspaper or magazine article to analyze to add to your current events blog. The articles should be about current events or issues. Use at least three different sources over the summer (i.e. not all the pieces should come from the same newspaper or magazine). DO NOT USE SOURCES SUCH AS USA TODAY, PEOPLE, SEVENTEEN, BLOGS ETC. The following are ideas of sources to use for these articles: § Choose a magazine article, editorial, commentary or essay from reputable issues-based magazines such as Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, New Republic, Forbes, The Economist, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Harper’s, and Scientific American (Please see me to get a source not listed here approved). OR § Choose a newspaper editorial or commentary/essay from reputable newspapers such as The New York Times, The Hartford Courant, The National Post, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The State, The Herald-Journal, The Post and Courier, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Huffington Post, and The Onion (beware of satire). Each article you choose must have been published in the current month. During the school year, I will assign a theme for the week (for example, “This week, you must read an article about politics / the environment / education,” etc.). When I do this, I will let you know ahead of time. 1. Create a Weebly Blog titled “Current Events Blog.” 2. In the title of each submission, you should include the article’s title. 3. On the top line of the text submission, you will include a MLA citation for the magazine/newspaper article. a. This part of the assignment should always be in MLA format. 4. For the first 150-200 words, you will write a summary of the article you have read. You must include a small quote from the article in your summary (be sure to “set up” the source). A “small” quote can be words or parts of a sentence. Avoid quoting complete sentences. a. DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN 200 WORDS ON THE SUMMARY!!! 5. For the second 150-200 words, you will write commentary. Comment on the content of the article (what the author has to say) or the form/style (how the author says it). a. If you comment on the content, you may be defending, challenging, or qualifying the author’s claim/point/thesis/interpretation; i. Some questions you might want to think about/comment on: 1. What are some of the author’s best arguments? What makes them good? 2. Which arguments or points made by the author do not make sense to you and why? 3. Is the author using logical or emotional appeals to get you to agree with him or her? b. If you comment on the author’s form/style, you may be commenting on the author’s diction, syntax, tone, imagery, organization, appeals, etc. i. Some questions you might want to think about/comment on: 1. Is there any connotative language? 2. What is the writer’s attitude toward the subject and what it the article gives you this idea? AP Language & Composition Summer Assignment 2018-2019 I Am An Object Of Internet Ridicule, Ask Me Anything by The Awl September 18, 2013 by C. D. Hermelin I moved to New York City, and I needed to make money. I wasn’t having luck getting a job. It’s a common tale. My solution was to grab my typewriter that I bought at a yard sale for 10 dollars and bring it to a park. I’d write stories for people, on the spot — I wouldn’t set a price. People could pay me whatever they wanted. I knew that I had the gift of writing creatively, very quickly, and my anachronistic typewriter (and explanatory sign) would be enough to catch the eye of passersby. Someone might want something specific; they might just want a story straight from my imagination. I was prepared for either situation. I started at Washington Square Park. My cousin joined, which was particularly nice, since it started raining and he held an umbrella over my head. Barely anyone stopped, but there was a grand piano player and dancers to contend with. So I tried the 5th and 59th street entrance to Central Park, and was lost among the Statues of Liberty, the bubble guys, the magicians, the stand- up comic, the free hugs guy, the jugglers.