AP Language and Composition

This assignment is due on the first day back to school. NO EXCEPTIONS!  Please submit a hard copy of your writing assignments on this day. The Summer Reading/Writing Assignment is worth 15% of your first marking period grade. Should you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McBride at michelle.mcbride@boontonschools.org.

Assignment:

Much (but not all) of our reading next year will focus on non-fiction texts.  For the AP Language and Composition summer assignment, you will need to choose a non-fiction reading book.  Requirements for this non-fiction book:

1. The book needs to be at minimum high school reading level or above and should have 150 or more pages of text.

2. The book must consist of mainly text. It may not be a coffee table book, DIY book, Self-Help, Cook Book, or Encyclopedia.

3. The book must have been published within the last 15 years.

After you choose a book to read, you should annotate while you read.  Proof of annotation must be clear. If you buy the book, you can write in it.  If not, use Post-it notes to note-take. Your annotations should focus on the author’s purpose or central argument.

After reading and annotating your non-fiction piece, you will write a 5 paragraph essay (minimum 2 pages) based on the non-fiction book that you read over the summer.  Your essay will be graded according to the attached AP Language rubric and will be due IN PRINTED FORM on the first day of school. Set up your paper according to the MLA guidelines (heading in top left corner, unique title, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 font). 

Prompt:

Works of non-fiction, whether implicitly or explicitly, present an argument to the reader and support this argument with different types of evidence and rhetorical techniques.  Using your selected non-fiction piece, briefly identify the work’s central argument. Then, analyze the evidence and techniques the author uses to support his or her argument. Finally, in the conclusion, evaluate the argument as a whole.  Avoid summarizing the text and focus on analyzing and evaluating the evidence.