Summer Reading Assignment AP Literature

Summer Reading Assignment AP Literature
2008-09 Radford High School
Sheryl Scanlon 545-5023 shscanlon@aol.com

WHAT: For your summer assignment, you'll be reading two twentieth century novels, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. You will take an AR quiz on both books when school begins.

WHERE to get books: You may buy your own copy or borrow a copy from my class set in the Radford library. The librarian will have a list of students registered for this class.

HOW: 1. You will write questions, list and study vocabulary of your choice, and describe literary elements for each book, due on the first day of class. Keep the work for each book separate. If work is not typed in size 12 Times New Roman font, it should be hand printed, on one side of the paper, and have page numbers. If your printing is too small or illegibly written, you will lose points and have to type it and all future work done at home. Legibility is important on the AP Exam, and therefore also important in this class.
2. I will give you topics for writing an essay on each book before the tenth day of class.
3. You will use your work to write Reading Record Cards to study for the AP exam in May.

WHY: Passing the AP exam for this course can earn you credit in a college literature class and a college composition class as well. To pass the exam, it helps to have read a wide variety of high quality literature and to remember characters, setting, and events for AP Exam Essay Question # 3.

PART I: Questions and Vocabulary (As You Read)

1. QUESTIONS: Write how and why types of questions for each book, with answers only implied in the text. Remember that a character’s actions are the inventions of the author, so when you ask why a character does something, you are asking why the author has the character act that way. It isn’t a person living his/her life; it’s a writer making a character do something for the writer’s purpose. Write 10 to 20 questions as you read each book. Give the chapter, and relevant page number if possible, for each question.

2. ANSWER: Write a 50-to-100-word answer to your second and tenth questions. Don’t worry about “right” answers. You are exploring your thoughts on the question.

3. VOCABULARY: Find words you would like to learn from each book, 40 total for the two. Write:
(1) the sentence containing the word, or if it’s very long, about 25 words of it,
(2) the page #, and
(3) the definition that fits.
If you can’t find enough words you want to learn from one of the books, find another source for words that interest you and follow the same instructions. However, every word you choose must have a sentence not of your making, containing the word. Wherever you find your words and sentences, I must be able to find the sentence from your documenting the source. For example, if it’s another book you have, give in addition to the above items the title, author, publisher, & copyright date. If it’s an online source, list the URL. If I can’t find it, your won’t get full credit.

PART II: Examining the Literary Elements (After Reading)

Write the question and the answer. Use the term definitions given below.

1. Write what you see as the main theme. In a well-written story all other elements support the theme.
2. Write a statement of the plot (a précis) in one sentence, around 25 words. How is it tied to theme?
3. Describe the setting and its impact on the theme.
4. List five or fewer characters most important to the theme and do the following:
(1) Give an example of characterization for each person and tell whether it’s direct or indirect.
(2) Tell whether the character is flat or round and why you think so.
(3) How does the character fit into the theme?
5. Write about the point of view of the narrator and how it affects the theme.
6. Describe a possible symbol and what it represents. How is it related to the theme?
7. Write about an allusion and how it adds to the theme.

TERM DEFINITIONS:
You will write these definitions for a quiz the first week of class

• THEME: The central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work, often a universal idea. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LITERARY TERM
(It is important not to mistake the theme for the actual subject of the work. In nonfiction, for example, the theme generally refers to the main topic.)

• PLOT: The sequence of events, which includes Exposition, Conflict, Rising action, Climax, Falling action, and Resolution (also known as denouement)

• SETTING: A combination of
(1) Place,
(2) Historical time, and
(3) Social environment

• CHARACTERIZATION: The ways an author describes and develops the characters.
FLAT characters are types, defined by a single quality.
ROUND characters have the three-dimensional complexity of real people.
DIRECT characterization explicitly tells about the characters.
INDIRECT characterization shows characters’ actions, statements, thoughts, and feelings.

• POINT OF VIEW: The vantage point from which a narrative is told.
FIRST person: The author tells the story through a character referred to as “I.”
THIRD person: Third-person narratives come in two types: omniscient (all knowing) and limited.

• SYMBOL: Something that stands for itself and also suggests something larger and more complex.

• ALLUSION: An indirect reference to something in literature, the other arts, history, myths, religion, or popular culture



ANY WORK TAKEN FROM A STUDY GUIDE IS PLAGIARISM AND RECEIVES A FAILING GRADE