The focus of the Grade 11 AP course is understanding, analyzing, and writing non-fiction prose, and engaging with ideas to develop and support your own arguments. The required summer reading for Grade 11 AP English Language includes one graphic novel, one work of non-fiction, and several selections from newspapers/magazines.
1. Graphic Novel (actually Graphic Memoir!) Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman (both parts)
This is a striking family memoir reaching back to the experiences of Art’s parents in pre-World War II Poland, through the Holocaust and right up until Art’s great success as a graphic novelist in the 1990s. Pay special attention to the way in which Artie’s own life story relates to that of his father, and the ways the images and text work together to convey meaning and emotion. You may purchase your own copy (cheapest seems to be on Amazon) OR you may borrow from a library or share books. This text will be discussed in early September classes and you will be supplied with relevant selections.
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010) – available in paperback (you should have your own copy of this book)
Who is HeLa? This book tells the story of an American woman who died in the early 1950s, but whose cells have lived on in the billions, making possible key scientific experiments and medical advances. Expect to find material that will provoke your thinking about medical and scientific ethics, legal issues, social class, and race. The book, extensively researched, is non-fiction, but will show you a number of ways in which scientific journalism can be informed by some of the techniques of fiction.
3. Non-fiction Reading Journal –for practice in reading and responding to issues, short essays and arguments.
Choose a journal (approx 5”x7” to 8”x11” in size) to keep this assignment in. You will be submitting this journal in the first week of school and continuing to work in it throughout the year. It will be assessed formatively. Incomplete journals will be returned for revisions. The journal must be handwritten.
Over the summer, make five entries. For one of the entries select an issue raised by the Afterword in Skloot’s book (315-328), identify it clearly and respond to it with your own thoughtful reaction to the issue.
For the other entries look for, read, clip and paste into your journal four editorials or commentaries / essays from the period May 2011-August 2011 taken from reputable newspapers or issues-based magazines. They should be opinion pieces, not news stories or informational articles. They may be taken from print or online sources, but you should use at least three different publications.
You may wish to (a) follow an issue that was raised by the Skloot book; (b) select as a focus a contemporary concern that meshes with your a future Grade 11 courses—be that Biology, Geography, World Issues, Law, Economics etc.; (c) read opinions about several current issues that interest you.
What should you write about? Comment on the aspects of each of the editorials that made you think, and your thoughts about the editorial or the issues – one response per editorial. There is no guideline as to length, but your responses should be thoughtful and detailed.
Some questions you might want to think about/comment on:
Do you agree or disagree with the editorial’s viewpoints? Why?
Did the editorial make you want to know more about the issue?
What are some of the author’s best arguments? What makes them good?
Which arguments or points made by the author do not make sense to you and why?
How does this editorial connect with other knowledge that you have from other sources?
Anything else this editorial makes you think about…
Examples of suggested newspapers/magazines:
The Globe and Mail (Canadian newspaper)
The National Post (Canadian newspaper)
The New York Times (US newspaper)
The Washington Post (US newspaper)
The Times of London (UK newspaper)
The Guardian (UK newspaper)
Maclean’s (Canadian news magazine)
The Economist (UK news magazine)
Time (US news magazine)
Newsweek (US news magazine)
The New Republic (US political magazine)
National Review (US political magazine)
The New Yorker (US ideas magazine)
The Atlantic (US ideas magazine) or Atlantic Online
Harper’s (US ideas magazine)
Mother Jones (US ideas magazine)
The Walrus (Canadian ideas magazine)
This (Canadian ideas magazine)
Salon.com (online ideas magazine)
Slate.com (online ideas magazine)
Guernica (online magazine on politics and art)
Arts and Letters Daily (an online compilation of items from around the English-speaking world)
Examples of newspapers/magazines that are not recommended:
The Toronto Sun (newspaper)
The Toronto Star (newspaper)
USA Today (newspaper)
fashion, lifestyle, or popular culture/entertainment magazines
And, finally
The core course books are three plays (Antigone with a special edition required, Pygmalion, and Oleanna); one novel,
Oryx and Crake; and 5O Essays: a Portable Anthology. Books may be bought yourself or ordered through the Canadian School Book Exchange. Check its site for the recommended editions.
Pre-reading of course texts is NOT required. If you want to do it, then the novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret
Atwood is the obvious choice.
If you would like more suggestions for summer reading, here are some books that are not required but that would complement texts we are studying. Check them out online or by browsing at a bookstore to see what interests you.
Animal Farm by George Orwell (helpful for Maus 1 and 2; might interest those taking World History)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig (might interest those taking Philosophy)
Intuition by Allegra Goodman (might interest those taking Law or Biology)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (might interest those taking Philosophy or Anthro/Psych/Sociology)
A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews (might interest those looking for a contemporary Canadian female author)
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (helpful for Henrietta Lacks; might interest those taking American History)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (you can read it too, but we’re recommending it as a film experience)
If you have the opportunity to attend the theatre in the summer, any of the following plays would be good enrichment experiences:
• At The Stratford Festival: Richard III, The Grapes of Wrath
• At The Shaw Festival: Heartbreak House, My Fair Lady (Pygmalion)
• At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts: The Glass Menagerie, Ghosts