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Summer Reading ASSIGNMENT
Summer Reading ASSIGNMENT
The AP English Language and Composition course aligns with an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum and utilizes American literature as its foundation. The course focuses on developing and revising evidence-based, analytic, and argumentative writing and the rhetorical analysis of texts. Students discuss writers' decisions as they compose and revise by evaluating, synthesizing, and citing research to support their arguments. Instruction will be based on fiction, nonfiction, and visual texts from various historical periods, from the earliest Native Americans to the contemporary United States. There is an emphasis on understanding and appreciating the many and varied American perspectives and the experiences that shaped this nation and formed its people. To initiate the study of these elements, students will be required to read Educated by Tara Westover for their summer reading assignment.
After reading, students will be required to write a cohesive 2-3 page reflection addressing four specific questions:
According to Westover, what does it mean to be educated?
What is one of the great lessons described by Westover?
In your opinion, what does it mean to be educated?
What is one lesson you learned from reading Educated?
In addition to reading Educated, students are expected to be familiar with Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. While reading the novel is strongly preferred, students should at least watch the 1962 film adaptation starring Gregory Peck. The film is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, and the Google Play Store. When students return to school in August, they will complete an in-class assessment based on the story (and how it compares to Educated).
Purchasing the Book
Purchasing the Book
For this assignment, a physical copy of Educated is required. Digital copies and library books cannot be used due to annotation limitations. While a link to Amazon is provided below, a physical copy of Educated can be purchased at any retailer that carries the ISBN (0399590528).
Educated
Educated
Tara Westover
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Source: Amazon.com
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Source: Amazon.com
Links for AP Language & Composition
Links for AP Language & Composition
Amazon Link (Educated) Amazon Link (To Kill a Mockingbird) Summer Letter from Ms. Marcuccio
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