October 7-October 20

#1

193 pages

 Novel

Topics – alienation, community, death, freedom, gender, identity, race, individual and society, love, rejection

“A deeply soulful novel…a lyrical writer who believes in the transformative power of storytelling, and takes risks with sentiment that few contemporary writers are prepared to make.” -Zadie Smith

Challenges – the dialogue in the book is written in dialect, use of the ‘n’ word

If you liked the memoirs Educated or The Glass Castle, you’ll like this book

If you liked the poem “When Maze and Frankie Beverly Come on in My House”, you’ll like this book

#2

171 pages

Novel

Topics – race, violence, death, identity, community, cruelty

“Extravagantly beautiful… enormously, achingly alive… A howl of love and rage, playful and funny as well as hard and bitter.” -The New York Times

Challenges – use of the ‘n’ word, difficult topics such as suicide and violence

If you liked the memoirs The Yellow House or Persepolis, you’ll like this book

If you liked the poem “Chaos Theory”, you’ll like this book

#3

166 pages

Novel

Topics – search for identity, sex, guilt/shame, violence, rejection

“He is thought-provoking, tantalizing, irritating, abusing and amusing. And he uses words as the sea uses waves, to flow and beat, advance and retreat, rise and take a bow in disappearing…” -Langston Hughes

Challenges – names and some words/phrases are in French, difficult topics such as violence

If you liked the memoirs Heavy or Naked, you’ll like this book

If you liked the poem “James Baldwin Speaks to the Protest Novel” you’ll like this book

#4

207 pages

Novel (based on a true story)

Topics – Justice, cruelty, freedom, hope, innocence and experience, race, violence

“A masterpiece squared, rooted in history and American mythology and, yet, painfully topical in its visions of justice and mercy erratically denied…A great American novel.” -NPR

 Challenges – it takes several chapters to get into the story, use of the ‘n’ word, difficult topics such as abuse

If you liked the memoirs Stitches or A Child Called It, you’ll like this book

If you like the poem “what the cicada said to the black boy”, you’ll like this book

 #5

150 pages

Drama (based on the author's experiences)

Topics – the American Dream, family, hope, love, oppression, race, identity, work

“A beautiful, lovable play. It is affectionately human, funny and touching… A work of theatrical magic in which the usual barrier between audience and stage disappears.” -John Chapman, New York News

Challenges – understanding the purpose and importance of stage directions, understanding the difference between genre of drama and novel

If you liked the memoirs Becoming or Born a Crime, you’ll like this play

If you liked the poem “Full-Court Press”, you’ll like this play

#6

120 pages

 Drama

 Topics – identity, family, love, race, futility, work, pride, fate, abandonment

 “It’s tough, it’s gritty, it’s beautiful, it’s poetry and it’s pretty damn funny.” -Lester Fabian Brathwaite, Entertainment Weekly

 Challenges – understanding the purpose and importance of stage directions, understanding the difference between genre of drama and novel, use of the ‘n’ word

 If you liked the memoir The Other Wes Moore or the general nonfiction book Random Family, you’ll like this play

 If you liked the poems “Lifeline” and “For the Hardest Days”, you’ll like this play

The document below includes books featured on the lists that accompany FRQ #3 on the AP Literature exam from the past ten years. Book titles that are bolded are also found on at least one banned book list.

Assignment: Choose one banned book from the list. You can choose to read the same book as a small group of friends, or you can select a title you're interested in reading even if no one else in class is reading it. If you have read one of these books previously within the past few months, you may choose to read it again for this assignment. Each Friday (August 23,  30, September 6, 13, and 20), you will discuss your book with other students (even if they haven't read the same book). You will discuss insights you gained about character, structure, style, literary elements, and theme. 

On September 20, you will turn in a completed MWDS (document below the book list).

Schedule an appointment with me by September 1 for sometime in the month of September (Sept 1-30).  Come to our meeting prepared with your book talk (see document below or on Teams).