ap english literature 2012 summer reading - Junipero Serra High ...

Summer Reading Book 1AP ENGLISH LITERATURE 2012SUMMER READINGHow to Read Literature Like a Professor – Thomas Foster ISBN # 978-06-000942-7Assignment #1: Enroll in the AP English Literature discussion group. You have all received an e-mail invitation from me(tsullivan@serrahs.com) to participate. If you haven’t received one (or know someone in the class who hasn’t), e-mail medirectly, and I’ll invite you.Assignment #2: Read “How To Read Literature Like a Professor.” It is an excellent resource book which will give us acommon vocabulary and structure for our reading.Assignment #3: As you read, log on weekly to the AP Literature group and respond to the discussion topic posted. As ofright now there are 6 topics posted. They correspond to the first 6 chapters. I’ll be adding to the topics throughout themonth of June. Your minimum participation in this discussion group is as follows:• Respond to at least 5 discussion topics. Try to stretch and grow in your responses. Say important things, raise thebar in your critical thinking.• Reply to at least 5 of your classmates’ responses. Challenge their thinking and reasoning. Actively contribute toour collective thinking in this discussion.Summer Reading Book 2Please complete these three assignments before June 30.Hard Times – Charles Dickens ISBN # 0-393-09639-4During the month of July, we will shift the focus of our discussion group to Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times.”Assignment #1: Read the text of Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times.”Assignment #2: As you read, log on weekly to the AP Literature group and respond to the discussion topic posted. I willbe posting discussion questions according to the ‘books’ of “Hard Times.” Your participation in this discussion group isas follows:• Respond to at least 3 discussion topics. Consider the connection between “HTRLLAP” and “Hard Times.”• Reply to at least 3 of your classmates’ responses. Challenge their thinking and reasoning. Actively contribute toour collective thinking in this discussion.Assignment #3: Respond to the following essay prompt and upload it to turnitin.com no later than July 31 st . Theturnitin.com information is listed below. Hard Times Essay: Choose 1-3 principles from the text/chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, andin a well-written essay (2 pages +/-), explain how you would apply its central elements to your reading ofDickens’ Hard Times. Please refer to the sample paragraph for a sense of the quality of writing that is expected ofyou.Please complete these three assignments before July 31.

Summer Reading Book #3 – Student Choice2Choose one of the following books, read it, and respond to the following essay prompt in a well written essayusing specific details from the text to support your views.o As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner ISBN #0-679-73225-Xo Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie ISBN #0-385-72220-9o Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut ISBN # 978-0-385-33348-1o The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon ISBN # 978-1-4000-3271-6o Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison ISBN #0-679-72313-7o Life of Pi – Yann Martel ISBN # 0-15-602732-1o Lullaby – Chuck Palahniuk ISBN # 978-0-385-72219-3o The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy ISBN #0-395-05158-4o Middlesex – Jeffery Eugenides ISBN # 0-312-42773-5o Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison ISBN #0-452-26011-6o The Book Thief – Markus Zusak ISBN #0-375-84220-7Essay Prompt: Many readers would agree that good literature asks more questions than it answers. Based onyour summer reading choice (from the above list), write a thoughtful essay that explores the essentialquestion(s) of the text. Be sure to consider how the author’s use of such literary elements as Point of View,narration, diction, syntax, imagery, irony, and metaphor contribute to the presentation, examination, orexploration of the ‘question’ that is at the heart of the text. Be sure to avoid mere plot summary.Important:• Due Date: Monday, August 20 th (submit to turnitin.com & bring hard copy to class.)• Length: 2-3 pages.• All work must by double-spaced, typed. Be sure to put your name, date and assignment in the upper leftcorner of your work.• Attached is your scoring guide which will be the basis for your writing this fall. Please review it anddetermine what level of writing will be acceptable for you to begin the semester in the 5-6 range(minimum).Essential Information for turnitin.comCourse: AP English Lit. – Summer Reading 2012# 5132148 Password: aplit***You already have been enrolled in turnitin.com as a class. Please verify your e-mail address.***

AP English LiteratureGeneric Scoring Guide & Percentile Grading Table3This scoring guide employs the language common to all AP English Literature scoring guides. Specificassignments will call for some slight modifications.The Percentile System: Throughout your high school years, you have been trained to calculate your gradesaccording to a percentage system. In this class, we will be using a percentile system. It is through this systemthat you can compare yourself to other students’ performance in the class (and nationally). The College Boardadvocates that AP English teachers employ this scale to familiarize you to their performance ratings before youtake the exam. If necessary, we will adjust the scale to reflect your current achievement.99 – 70 A69 – 66 A-65 – 62.5 B+62 – 57.5 B57 – 55 B-54 – 44 C+/C/C-43 – 0 DoomUpper Half Scores:The Scoring Guide9-8: The essay will be well written, with apt and specific references from the target text. The essay willdemonstrate a clear understanding of the target text and the question or thesis, offering a convincinginterpretation and consistent control over the elements of effective exposition and criticism. The essay willdemonstrate the writer’s ability to read perceptively and write with clarity, skill, and grace.7-6: These essays also demonstrate an understanding of the target text, but compared to the best essays, theyare less thorough or less precise in handling the relation of the multiple perspectives to meaning. In addition tominor flaws in interpretation, their discussion of the question or thesis is likely to be more brief, less wellsupported,and less incisive, These essays demonstrate the writer’s ability to express ideas clearly, but with lessmastery and control than the 9-8 papers.5: These essays are characterized by superficiality. Their handling of language, imagery, and structure maybe vague, mechanical, or inadequately supported. They deal with the question or thesis and target text withoutimportant errors of interpretation but miss the complexity or address it in a cursory way. The writing issufficient to convey the writer’s views, but it is often ‘pedestrian’, not as well conceived, organized, ordeveloped as the upper half papers. Often they reveal simplistic, superficial thinking and/or immature writing.

4Lower Half Scores:4-3: These lower-half essays may reflect an incomplete understanding of the question or thesis and/or targettext. Typically, they fail to respond adequately to part or parts of the question or thesis. The treatment oflanguage, imagery, and/or structure in relation to the meaning may be weak, meager, or irrelevant. Thediscussion of multiple perspectives and/or meanings may be unclear or convoluted. The writing demonstratesshaky control over the standard elements of composition. These essays often contain recurrent stylistic flawsand/or misreadings and a lack of persuasive evidence from the text. Essays scoring a 3 exhibit more than one ofthe above deficiencies – they are marred by significant misinterpretations, insufficient development, and seriousomissions.2-1: These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misread thetarget text and/or the question/thesis. Frequently they are unacceptable brief. They are often poorly written inseveral ways and may contain many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics. While some attempt mayhave been made to answer the question, the writer’s views are presented with little clarity, organization, orsupporting evidence.0: This is a response with little more than a reference to the target text.--: This indicates a blank response or one that is completely off topic.