AP Literature
2008 Summer Reading
Mr. Guilford
Milwaukee Lutheran High School
I am very excited about teaching next year’s AP Literature course. All of you have vast potential, and I can’t wait to start reading some enjoyable texts with you—picking them apart and peering into the literary merit of each and every one.
Ok…enough pep-talk. While I am planning an exciting academic semester, you will be actively training your brain with some texts during your summer vacation. Along with the reading, there will be some journal writing and essays, too. I think that they are enjoyable texts, and I hope that you will feel the same.
For each of the three texts listed below, you will write an essay as indicated and keep a journal. As for the essays, I have suggested a topic for each of the titles, but you are encouraged to develop your own topics and responses to the works. Keep in mind that if you use outside sources to supplement your essays, be sure to cite them within your paper. If you do want to stray from a given topic, please contact me via e-mail and share with me your ingenious, creative topic. As for journaling, in a 1 subject notebook (minimal) you are to take notes of the following things in addition to general notes:
1.) life comparisons,
2.) literary elements,
3.) concerns,
4.) questions,
5.) characters,
6.) etc.
It’s not just about surface-layer plot structure, but it’s about analyzing—going deeper into the novel and questioning the writers’ purposes. Every journal entry should be dated at the top of the page. It’s important to journal every time you sit down to read. Spill your guts on the pages questioning everything you read. Dig deep so that you can show me when the year starts that you are actively going to be a part of this class. I will expect nothing less.
When you return in late August, you will turn in your essays and journal notes. Successfully completing the essays and journals will be a pre-requisite for continued participation in the class. If in any way you feel that the required summer reading and writing will interfere with your summer endeavors, than you need to drop this class as soon as possible. I need you on board from the beginning.
As for the books, well, email me and let me know that you need one. I can check them out to you. However, here’s a suggestion: You could raid your parents’ libraries or buy the books at someplace like “Half-Priced Books” and treat them however you want to treat them. This way you could write in them all you want. That’s right—you can’t write in the ones that you check out from me.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- What is the symbolism of the green light that appears throughout the novel (at the end of Daisy's pier, at intersections throughout the book)?
- Fitzgerald returns several times to describe a decrepit optical products sign -- the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg -- that hovers over "the valley of ashes." What does that sign represent?
- Fitzgerald describes the world as "a valley of ashes" but often contrasts Daisy and Jay Gatsby as being spotless. What does this say about his view of American culture and of both Jay and Daisy?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- This novel presents us with the life of Jane Eyre. Choose three relationships that help her to grow towards understanding more about society and herself. Be sure to give good characterizations of those individuals Jane Eyre encounters.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
· There is clearly a difference between good sharks and sea animals and bad sharks and sea animals. What is that difference?
· Take that comparison to people. Who are the good people in the novel and who are the bad ones?
· How is this story similar to Hemingway’s life story?
Format:
1” margins
Double Spaced
12 pt. Times New Roman Font
Bibliography page (if needed…you’ll need it for The Old Man and the Sea.)
Citations
All essays should be at least 2 pages long
If you have questions during the summer, you can reach me through e-mail:
jguilford23@yahoo.com