Summer Reading - Round Rock ISD Schools

Round Rock High School – Advanced Placement Program
2012 Summer Reading
PURPOSE OF SUMMER READING
GRADE LEVEL: Incoming 11 th graders
CLASS: AP Language
Your Pre-AP and AP teachers share your passion for knowledge and dedication to excellence, and they look
forward to working with you next year. In order to increase your chances for success as a Pre-AP or AP
student, it is important for you to stay intellectually engaged (especially during those long summer months of
unstructured time) so that you continue to grow as a scholar. Therefore, RRHS highly suggests that all Pre-AP
or AP students participate in a summer reading program. The titles you read during the summer are a great way
to begin the new school year with a shared experience for discussion and writing, and all of the books are
appropriate both to the thematic focus of the upcoming year and to your particular grade level. In addition, the
summer reading program will deepen your close reading and analysis skills, skills that are extremely important
to your success in Pre-AP or AP English.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SUMMER READING
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU COMPLETE THE SUMMER READING!
You will have a major assignment over the summer reading during the 3 rd week of school. This assignment will
consist of an in-class writing assignment. You will be allowed to use your book/s on the assignment, as the
assignment will consist of higher level thinking questions.
YOU WILL BE VERY, VERY HAPPY IF YOU COMPLETE YOUR SUMMER READING BECAUSE YOU
MAY EARN THE ADDED BENEFIT OF BONUS POINTS WHICH WILL HELP YOU THROUGHOUT
THE ENTIRE YEAR!
ASSIGNMENT
Choose a nonfiction/fiction pairing from the list below. The books are linked thematically
and have several concepts/ideas that are related to each other.
Read both books and make sure you understand the multiple ways the two texts connect.
You must annotate the texts using high level notations, not just summary, by either
writing in your texts or using post-it notes throughout the text(s). Make note of interesting
ideas or passages, as well as questions you may have. Make note of literary or rhetorical devices
and thematic connections. Annotating texts while reading helps connect our minds with the
written word. Have a conversation with the texts!
The assessment you take in class will focus on the thematic connections and your ability to
provide text evidence to support your connections.
The readings will provide you with a broad base of knowledge that will ultimately benefit you
on the AP Language and AP Literature exams.

Text pairings for AP Language (11 th grade) Summer Reading
Choose one matched nonfiction/fiction pair and read both books.
The reading selections are based on their literary merit and their potential benefit to
students on their AP exams. Selections are pulled from the RRISD reading list, as well as
past AP exams. Your Pre-AP and AP teachers are always reading and analyzing new
selections that will prepare students for success.
Pairs consist of the two books listed side by side.
NONFICTION FICTION
The Worst Hard Time
Grapes of Wrath
By Timothy Egan
By John Steinbeck
Into The Wild
Adventures of
By Jon Krakauer
Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain
The Devil’s Highway
Bless Me, Ultima
By Luis Alberto Errea By Rudolofo Anaya
Life and Death in Shanghai Snow Flower and the
By Nien Cheng
Secret Fan
By Lisa See
Brown
Invisible Man
By Richard Rodriguez
By Ralph Ellison
Round Rock students are readers!