The Grade 11 AP course focuses on understanding, analyzing, and writing non-fiction prose, rhetoric and argumentation, and using multiple sources to develop and support your own arguments. The required preparatory reading for Grade 11 AP English Language includes a literary memoir / book of advice on writing from a highly successful author, a segment of a book on understanding and crafting arguments, selections from newspapers / magazines, and a novel. You should also read at least one relatively challenging fiction or non-fiction book of your choice, either from the list of suggestions at the end of this handout, or something equivalent. Reading thoughtfully from a range of challenging texts is one of the biggest contributors to success in English courses.
Literary memoir and reflection on writing practice: On Writing by Stephen King (any edition)
As you read the first part of the book (the memoir section), use a highlighter and/or post-it notes to briefly annotate the text, paying particular attention to passages you feel illustrate pivotal moments in the author’s increasing awareness of how storytelling, creativity, reading and/or writing defined his sense of self and his voice as a writer. As you read the second part of the book (the writing advice section), make a list of your top five “take-aways” that you plan to apply to your own writing.
On argument: Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs (revised and updated edition: 2013)
What makes an argument work? Jay Heinrichs’ book provides you with insights into the nuts and bolts of persuasion by building on a foundation of classical rhetoric but then linking it to the tricks of great speakers in recent history as well as to pop culture. Early in the course you will examine exemplary writings and figure out what makes them tick, before learning to use these tricks of the trade in your own work.
Read Chapters 1 – 13 (AP SEMINAR STUDENTS add Chapter 14). No writing is required as you read (and you are not asked to memorize any terminology), but you should quickly mark pages (e.g. with post-its) that give you surprising or “aha!” moments, e.g.: a technique you’ve observed in your reading elsewhere (such as in your periodical reading, below), or one that you’d like to try out yourself. These moments will provide a foundation for our discussions and work at the beginning of the year.
Non-fiction periodical reading
It is important for this course that you read widely and continuously about current events, local, national and international issues, topics of interest in other fields (science, economics, psychology and other social sciences and Humanities, etc.) – your own interests should guide your reading.
Over the summer, read from a variety of newspapers and magazines (see below) and clip / collect three substantial items (at least 300 words long – no maximum length, but strive for pieces that make a unified argument) from those sources. They should be argument or opinion pieces, not news stories or informational articles. They may be taken from print or online sources, but they should all be from different publications.
Keep your articles together in a folder (physical or on your computer). I will be asking you to bring them to class in the first few weeks to do some writing about your selections. AP SEMINAR STUDENTS: This task can be used for your SAP/Seminar class.
Examples of suggested newspapers/magazines
(this is just a sampling; you should feel free to explore any other North American or international newspaper or magazine that contains persuasive opinion writing):
The Globe and Mail (Canadian newspaper)
The New York Times (US newspaper)
The Washington Post (US newspaper)
The Guardian (UK newspaper)
Maclean’s (Canadian news magazine)
The Economist (UK news magazine)
Time (US news magazine)
The New Yorker (US ideas magazine)
The Atlantic (US ideas magazine) or Atlantic Online
The Walrus (Canadian ideas magazine)
Salon.com (online ideas magazine)
Slate.com (online ideas magazine)
Arts and Letters Daily (ALDaily.com – an online compilation of items from around the English-speaking world)
Fashion, lifestyle, or popular culture/entertainment magazines are NOT recommended unless the writing you are using from them is substantial and thoughtful (e.g. Vanity Fair and similar publications may sometimes have in-depth articles on thought-provoking subjects).
Background novel: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
You do not have to do anything with this dystopic novel besides read it! In fact, you don’t have to read it until about October or November, but it’s a good idea not to leave it until then, if you can help it, since it will establish your background for reading 1984 by George Orwell at Christmas break and likely another dystopic novel shortly thereafter. If you feel you must refer to a notes site like Shmoop or Spark to help you understand this text without teacher guidance, that’s fine, but please do not substitute reading the site for reading the novel itself (and discussing the novel with someone to help you understand it will probably be just as helpful, if not more so). If you feel like taking note of anything using post-its or similar quick annotation, consider marking where the novel seems to predict or reflect the current state of something in our society.
And, finally
Pre-reading of other course texts over the summer is NOT required. The Canadian School Book Exchange website lists only one book at the moment, because it is a text that might be difficult to buy through ordinary bookstores. The books listed on this handout are the planned texts; during the year some texts may be added that you can buy from bookstores or online, or that will be arranged for class purchase through the school.
I strongly recommend you read independently as much as possible over the summer, for pleasure and to expand your boundaries. Make your own choices, or else here are some fiction and non-fiction suggestions:
Other literary memoirs:
Long Quiet Highway by Natalie Goldberg
How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff
Books that focus on issues and ideas in our course and elsewhere – other courses where they might apply are indicated in parentheses. Check them out online or by browsing at a bookstore to see what interests you:
Animal Farm by George Orwell (World History)
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman (World History / Visual Art)
Just Kids by Patti Smith (Gender Studies / Visual Art)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Law / Biology / World History / American History / AP Seminar)
Intuition by Allegra Goodman (Biology / Law / Philosophy)
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan (Biology / Chemistry)
Perfume by Patrick Suskind (Chemistry / Philosophy)
Zeitoun by David Eggers (World Issues)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (World Issues / World History)
For the Win by Cory Doctorow (World Issues / Economics)
No Logo by Naomi Klein (World Issues / Economics)
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (World History / American History)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (World History / American History)
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield (AP Seminar / Earth and Space Science / Sciences)
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf (Gender Studies / World History)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Gender Studies / American History)
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (Gender Studies / World History)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Intro to Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychology / World History / Philosophy)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Intro to SAP / Gender Studies)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Intro to SAP / Gender Studies)
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King (World History / World Issues / American History)
Sex, Drugs and Economics by Diane Coyle (Economics / AP Stats / AP Seminar)
Ru by Kim Thúy, in translation by Sheila Fischman (French / World History / World Issues)
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: Hamlet; The Taming of the Shrew; She Stoops to Conquer; The Physicists; The Alchemist; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Oedipus Rex
At The Shaw Festival: Pygmalion
At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts (Distillery District): Eurydice; Trudeau and Levesque (both runs end in June)
At The Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park: As You Like It and Titus Andronicus
Another great opportunity for enrichment comes from the many entertaining and fascinating non-fiction podcasts that you can listen to, at camp or on a roadtrip, or just hanging out in your back yard, such as: Serial; The Moth; This American Life; Strangers; Backstory; RadioLab; A History of the World in 100 Objects; Theory of Everything