English Literature and Composition (12 AP): Summer Reading
2008-2009
To the Students and
Parents/Guardians of incoming English 12 AP students:
All students in our honors
English program are required to read literature during the summer and complete
an accompanying assignment in preparation for the upcoming school year. Many students enrolled in English Literature
and Composition will choose to take the Advanced Placement exam, and these
students will need to have read a wide range of texts in order to be
successful.
We have chosen the
following selections for incoming English 12 AP students. Students will read one of the novels in
addition to the second required book. A
dialectical journal for the novel (explained below) must be completed and
turned in to the English 12 AP teacher on the first day of student
attendance. It is highly recommended
that students who are serious about taking the Advanced Placement English
Literature and Composition exam their senior year read as many of these
selections as possible.
Novel
(Choose One)
*Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
*Brothers Karamazov by
Fodor Dostoevsky
Second
Required Book
*How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
Please feel free to contact
Kristen Kuklinski if you have any questions or concerns. She can be reached at (815) 577-5955 or kkuklins@learningcommunity202.org. This information is also available in the
English Department’s section of the school website www.learningcommunity202.org/pshs/depts/english.
For this particular study of literature, a reading journal
is required. It is essential for this
reading assignment that you take notes for the journal as you read along. Additionally, students must purchase a
stenographer’s notebook for this project.
There is one rigid rule for the format of this type of
journaling that you must follow: Take
all of your reading notes on only the right hand pages. Leave the opposing pages blank for
later. A good rule of thumb is one page
of journaling for every 10-15 pages of text.
v The RIGHT
hand page is for comments on the reading.
v The LEFT
hand page is for comments on the right hand page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK – So what do I write on the right hand pages?
Many different ideas can be expressed in your reading
commentaries. Here are suggestions for
you to follow:
o
You see something you didn’t see before.
o
You recognize a pattern: overlapping images, repetitions of
idea, details, colors that make a connection, etc.
o
You discover that the story is about something different
from what you originally thought it was about.
o
Is there use of flashback?
o
Is the dialogue authentic?
o
Are there shifts in point-of-view or narration?
*Make certain you are specific in your observations and
note the page numbers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok – So what do I write on the left hand pages?
o
What did you find you focused on the most?
o
What did you find you cared about the most?
o
Have you found yourself sympathetic to the characters? Why, or why not?
o
What has this author done to provoke anger, confusion, or
greater within you?
o
Are you learning something new and different from this
author that you could use to improve your writing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are suggestions for you as a reader, writer, and
thinker. If there are any connections
not included here that you find important, note them on the right hand side of
the page and comment on these connections on the left hand side of the
page. Remember, this is your
journal.
You will be called upon to make use of your journal to
write a short analytical paper of two to three pages in length when you begin
English 12 AP in the fall. The more
analysis you have at hand in your journal, the better your analytical paper
will be.
Source: The Journal Book ed. Toby Fulwiler (1982)