A.P. Language and Composition—Summer Reading Welcome to A.P. Lang and Comp! Hopefully, you all are up and ready for the challenge because it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a journey where you will become a better writer than you ever thought possible. But to get there you are expected to be dedicated and self-disciplined, teachable, and self-motivated. I want to have fun with this class but in order to have fun, you need to put in the work. Here’s a brief list of expectations for this course: ❖ Focus on nonfiction (personal essays, autobiographies/biographies, newspaper articles, non-fiction novels, etc.) ❖ You will write (and write and write and write). • Did I mention you are going to write? ❖ You will analyze other author’s pieces and be the author of your own. ❖ This is considered a college-level course, therefore, students will be treated like the mature, honest, responsible, self-motivated people they are. ❖ You MUST be able to trust yourself to keep up with the workload. • This class will rely heavily on personal responsibility. Your grade, and eventual A.P. score, is completely reliant on you and the amount of work you put into the class. Your first test, summer reading, and writing! 1. Summer Vocabulary A.P. Language and Composition will consist of the use of many technical terms in order to successfully analyze the rhetoric of writing. Some of these terms may be familiar and some will be completely new. To get a head start on some of the technical vocabulary, you will be required to learn and know the attached vocabulary words. ​Be prepared for a quiz on the terms one of the first couple days back to school. Vocabulary will continue to ​ be a big part of the course so don’t think this is all you will encounter. 2. ​Reading & Journal Assignment​: The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne Fiction ● Complete 10 journal entries Read the novel The Scarlet Letter and complete journal entries. You will be submitting turning in your journal the first day or two back. Instructions are found at the end of these instructions. 3. ​ Rhetorical Analysis Essay Prompts (​Print, read, and annotate in other words close reading style the following 2 essays. Then write an essay for each essay. ● Type 2 formal essays that will be graded according to the attached AP Language rubric and will be due ​IN PRINTED FORM ​on the first day of school. Use proper MLA formatting when writing your essay. Do not arrive to class on the first day asking to go print. I will say no and the assignment will be considered late. See the grading rubric in google classroom: ​Scoring Rubric for Question 2: Rhetorical Analysis (pages 4,5,6 only) Before authors’ s/speakers write they think about who will be listening to their words. After they have taken into account the characteristics of the potential readers they carefully select strategies to bring forward their rhetoric (words). They implicitly or explicitly, present an argument to the reader and support this argument with different types of evidence and rhetorical techniques. Read the following 2 essays, and write an essay for each one: 1. Shooting an Elephant - George Orwell (found in google classroom) ​ 2. Former President Barack Obama’s statement regarding ​DACA (found in ​ google classroom) When you are responding to each essay make sure you are doing the following: ● Identify the work’s central argument ● Analyze the evidence ● Explain the characteristics of the audience (who was meant to hear the argument, it wasn’t only the person who picked the essay and decided to read it. In other words who specifically was the writer/speaker trying to reach?) ● Analyze the techniques ● Why those specific techniques were selected ● Finally, evaluate the effectiveness of the argument as a whole. Avoid summarizing the text and focus on analyzing and evaluating the evidence and who the audience is. Summer Vocabulary Rhetorical terms ​(concepts and terminology related to rhetoric and argument) ​Lookup definitions,​ ​memorize and understand all of the following terms you will have a test on them when we get back to school: 1. Appeals (ethical, emotional, logical)—logos, pathos, ethos 2. Argument 3. Defend, challenge, or qualify 4. Discourse 5. Rhetoric 6. Rhetorical devices 7. Rhetorical modes 8. Exigence 9. Thesis Literary and stylistic terms ​(useful for a discussion of style) 10.Connotation 11.Denotation 12.Euphemism 13.Hyperbole 14.Juxtaposition 15.Mood 16.Polemic 17.Sarcasm 18.Syntax 19.Tone 20.Understatement 21. Diction - Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types of words have ​ significant effects on meaning. An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang. You should be able to describe an author's diction. You SHOULD NOT write in your thesis, "The author uses diction...". This is essentially saying, "The author uses words to write." (Duh.) Instead, describe the type of diction (for example, formal ​ ​ or informal, ornate or plain). ● Colloquial - Ordinary or familiar type of conversation. A “colloquialism” is a common or ​ ​ ​ familiar type of saying, similar to an adage or an aphorism. ​ ​ ​ ​ ● Connotation - Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations ​ suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than the literal meaning. (For example, “policeman,” “cop,” and “The Man” all denote the same literal meaning of police officer, but each has a different connotation.) ● Denotation - The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations. ​ ● Jargon – The diction used by a group that practices a similar profession or activity. ​ Lawyers speak using particular jargon, as do soccer players. ● Vernacular - 1. Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a ​ regional clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech Literary and rhetorical devices ​(useful for a discussion of writer’s craft or tools a writer may employ) 1. Allegory 2. Alliteration 3. Allusion 4. Adage 5. Analogy 6. Anecdote 7. Irony 8. Metaphor 9. Motif 10. Oxymoron 11. Paradox 12. Parallel syntax (parallelism) 13. Parody 14. Pun 15. Satire 16.Simile Instructions for Journal Entries Section for ​The Scarlet Letter Complete your journal entries within a composition notebook. You will have ​10 journal entries to complete. Complete each log entry like the following: Label the entry (Journal Entry 1, etc.) ​ And Respond to each log question(s) using commentary, analysis, insight, interpretation, etc. ​ Skip a line. Then begin your next entry. Each entry must be a between 75 to 200 words. ​ Journal Entry 1: “The Custom House” ​ “The Custom House” What is romanticism? What is the purpose of this chapter? How does Hawthorne’s family history contribute to his attitude toward The Custom House and his place in society? How would you describe Hawthorne’s attitude toward his former job and fellow workers? Why do you think so? (This is asking for TONE and evidence supporting your inference.) In this essay, Hawthorne addresses the reader directly. What effect does he create in this manner? What effect does the detailed description of the scarlet letter have on you? Journal Entry 2: Chapters 1-2 What is the narrator’s attitude toward the Puritans? What is his attitude toward Hester? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 3: Chapters 3-4 How does the narrator present Chillingworth to the reader? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 4: Chapters 5-6 What is the effect of the scarlet letter upon Hester? Describe Pearl’s character. Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 5: Chapters 7-8 Explain Hester’s argument concerning her rights to Pearl. Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 6: Chapters 9-12 What is Chillingworth’s project? What is Dimmesdale’s inner struggle, and how does it affect him? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 7: Chapters 13-15 In what different ways can the scarlet letter be interpreted? What do these different ways reveal about Hester’s view of herself and her role in Puritan society? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 8: Chapters 16-19 Explain the kind of love Hester and Dimmesdale have for each other. What prevents them from acting upon this love? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 9: Chapters 20-22 Why does Dimmesdale finally announce his guilt? How does he do so – what type of language does he use, who does he address, and why? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Journal Entry 10: Chapters 23-24 What is Hester’s role in society? What is her view of the role? Discuss themes, symbols, and rhetorical devices in these chapters (see above). Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell (1936) In Burma I was hated by large that time I had already made up my mind that numbers of people – the only imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner time in my life that I have I got out of it the better. Theoretically – and been important enough for secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese this to happen to me. I was and all against their oppressors, the British. I sub-divisional police officer, hated the job I was doing because I saw the and in an aimless, petty way dirty work of Empire at close quarters. But I anti-European feeling was was young and ill-educated and I had had to very bitter.