Welcome to AP Language and Composition! This is an exciting class that will ask you to look closely at and question the world around you as you make your way through a variety of readings. This summer assignment will give you an introduction to the type of reading you will experience and the degree of close reading you will need to do in the course. Our goal is always to evaluate and analyze how authors create meaning and then to establish your own reactions and beliefs in response to their opinion. It is important to read with an open, but critical mind and to never take a writer’s word without thinking and investigating. 

This summer you will be completing a summer assignment which includes reading a number of short non-fiction texts and one chapter from a non-fiction book, Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs. These texts will serve as an introduction to the overall focus of the 11th Grade AP Lang & Comp class, and will introduce you to many of the concepts of the study of rhetoric that we will explore in the coming school year.

Please take the time to join our AP Lang Summer Work Remind group. The class join code is: @sechaplang

Over the summer months, please closely read and  annotate the provided texts which are attached to this packet, or which you may complete digitally by accessing the materials on the RHS Summer Work Site.

Additionally, you will be completing The New York Times’ 15th Annual Summer Reading Contest. Simply put, you will need to describe what you’re reading, watching, or listening to in The New York Times this summer and why. The goal of this activity is to help you become more aware of the world and your place in it; learn how to navigate sophisticated nonfiction; and create for a real audience, beyond the classroom.

You will find the contest’s informational sheet attached in this packet, as well as posted on the RHS Summer Work Site. You may also access the contest website at the following URL:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/learning/our-16th-annual-summer-reading-contest.html. 

You should follow the rules of the contest when completing your assignment; you may submit a short written response of no more than 250 words (using a provided Google Sheets template) — or you can make a video up to 90 seconds long (using Canva). The only rule around content is that a piece must have been published in The New York Times in 2024.

The contest runs for 10 weeks over the summer, and therefore, you will be selecting, reading, and commenting on 10 pieces of media of your choosing. You may choose to simply complete these 10 assignments for credit for having completed your summer work, or if you choose to, you may also submit your work to The New York Times for entry into the contest. ENTERING THE CONTEST IS NOT REQUIRED AS PART OF THE SUMMER WORK.

In addition to completing the various readings included on the AP Summer Work page and annotating the texts, you will also be expected to complete and submit the list of rhetorically accurate verbs with each one defined by the summer work due date.

If you have any questions during the summer regarding the assignments or the course itself, my school email is sechlep@readingsd.org. Feel free to email me, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please remember to check your RSD school email frequently throughout the summer for updates from your AP teachers!

HAVE A TERRIFIC SUMMER, and I will see you all NEXT YEAR!