AP Language and Composition

Below you will find the required summer reading list for the course. We recommend keeping a critical reading response log in which you record your observations and reflect on themes and issues that emerge from your reading of the novel 1984 by George Orwell.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt

​Click on the book cover to access the full text of ​1984.

Next, identify a contemporary issue related to 1984, such as:

• Government Controlled Media

• Propaganda

• Doublethink

• Erosion of Privacy

• Social Stratification 

• Two Minutes of Hate

• Gender 

• Feminism

• Self identity under an oppressive Government

• Immigration

• Racism

• Censorship

• Free Speech

• Social Media

• #MeToo

• Contemporary Policing

• Bullies

• Domestic Surveillance

• State of MI Real ID

Find contemporary articles/essays (at least three) related to your issue and read them as well.  Try to find at least one long-form essay (>1000 words).  You will be asked to write an essay in which you synthesize information from 1984 and your other sources as you develop your position about your contemporary issue in the first week of class.

​We also recommend you acquire a style manual to guide you as you refine your writing skills. Diana Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual or Joseph Williams’ Style: the Basics of Clarity and Grace are excellent, as is the old standby, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. There are also many helpful online guides such as Grammar Girl (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/) or the Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/).

If you have questions or concerns over the summer, you may contact:

Charlie Crimando (ccrimando@birmingham.k12.mi.us)

Erica Neumayr (eneumayr@birmingham.k12.mi.us)