2010 Summer Reading Assignment

Welcome to AP Literature and Composition. Over the summer, you will be required to read two books—please note the appropriate due dates:

1. How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster: the ultimate cheat sheet for students. It gives you the inside scoop on how your teachers figure out all that meaning stuff about literature. It divides major concepts (symbol, archetype, allusion, pattern, etc.) up into small, easy-to-digest chapters and relates them to popular movies, TV, and literature (look for references to mythology, The Simpsons, Cinderella, The Great Gatsby, The Odyssey, Oedipus, Gilligan’s Island, the Bible, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, and Ghostbusters).

Although you will be expected to read the whole book this fall, focus on the following chapters: Introduction, 5-7, 11-15, 19, and 25.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: Fyodor Dostoevsky’s psychological novel probes the inner workings of the criminal mind both before and in the aftermath of premeditated murder. This novel of realism takes the reader into the innermost thoughts of the central character and also probes the central philosophical issues of good and evil.

Assignments and Due Dates

Postings are due by midnight on the following dates:

August 10—Parts I-III

August 25—Parts IV-Epilogue

By each due date, you need post at least twice:

1 original post analyzing a specific quote with page number from the assignment. Your analysis must:

Be a minimum of 200 words, not including the quote.
Must tie the quote to an idea from How to Read Literature like a Professor. (i.e., "Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too," or "Geography Matters...")
Should not be a paraphrase or summary of the quote—think significance.
Cannot repeat or regurgitate ideas from another student’s post.
Stay within the assigned section.

1 response to another student’s post that must:
Be a minimum of 100 words, not including the textual support.
Must use textual references for support.
Must be an actual response to what someone said—“I agree with Tom” is not sufficient.

Feel free to respond and continue the discussion in addition to your required posts. Just keep the discussion on topic and handle disagreements maturely.

Final Itinerary

Teusday/Wednesday 4/27 & 28 - Discuss Death of a Salesman

Thursday 4/29 - "Open" Prompt-essay on Death of a Salesman

Friday 4/30 - Xingu

Monday 5/3 - MC Practice Day

Tuesday 5/4 - Final Pratice Essay (Prompt #2)

Wednesday 5/5 - Poetry Review Day

Thursday 5/6 - AP EXAM!

Hamlet Unit Itinerary

We will spend the next two weeks on Hamlet (except for Xingu Fridays!). You will need to bring your copy of the play to class everyday. Wednesday 4/7 will be a reading day. You should be through Act II by Wednesday and finished with the play by Monday 4/12.

Assignments over the play are as follows:

For Wednesday 4/7 –

Read Act I, Scenes I and II of Hamlet and post responses to the following questions. These will be recorded as homework grades...15 pts. each if you do them reasonable well, 0 if you have not posted by the beginning of class Wednesday.

1. What portents appear in Act I Scene I? What does Horatio think these signs mean? What portents appeared in Moby-Dick? Do you think Shakespeare influneced Melville in this regard? Why or why not?

2. In his soliloquy, Hamlet uses the image of an unweeded garden. What is Hamlet comparing to a garden? What are the weeds? Who is responsible for tending the garden? If Hamlet were the chief gardener, how do you think he would go about restoring the garden?

Tuesday 4/13 –

Hamlet Essay (9 pts)

Thursday 4/14 –

Hamlet Test (20 pts. MC, 50 pts. quote identification, 30 pts. short answer) This will take more than 40 minutes, so eat lunch during 4th period or bring lunch to class to eat during the test. We will have a review day on Wednesday 4/13.

Week 30 Itinerary

Week 30

Homework:
Final paper due Friday 3/26
Perrine's The Elements of Drama, Ch 1. pp 1027-1030; Ch. 3 pp. 1209-1216; Oedipus Rex

Monday 2/22 – Xingu in TLC Conference Room. Boys, sort out camera/software in my room in my room.

Tuesday 2/23 - Moby-Dick Prompt and MC Wrap-Up…bring copy of M-D and your test to class!

Wednesday 2/24 – Paper workshop day. To best take advantage of this period, have a reasonably complete draft of your paper printed out!

Thursday 2/25 – 15-question CPS Quiz on The Elements of Drama, Ch 1. pp 1027-1030; Ch. 3 pp. 1209-1216; Oedipus Rex through Scene 1 (pp. 1216-1231)

Friday 2/26 – Oedipus analysis/discussion day.

Week 29 Iitnerary

Monday 3/15 - The Green Mile Special Features
HW: Discussion Questions; memorize lines

Tuesday 3/16 - Paideia discussion in TLC Conferrence Room
HW: Final Paper...final drafts due Wednesday 3/24

Wednesday 3/17 & Thursday 3/18 - Paper work days in 508 Computer Lab
HW: Memorize lines trhough p. 18 for Friday!

Friday 3/19 - Xingu in TLC Conference Room

"Death to Moby-Dick!" Itinerary for Weeks 26 & 27

Monday 2/22 – Reading day.
HW: Vocab #3 due Tuesday

Tuesday 2/23 – CPS Quiz pp 307-375
Vocab #3 due
HW: Read!

Wednesday 2/24 – 20-minute prompt-write.
HW: Read!


Thursday 2/25 - 20-minute prompt-write.
HW: If you haven’t, finish the novel for Monday!

Friday 2/26 – Xingu

Monday 3/1 – Final 20-minute prompt-write and assessment.
Final M-D Assignnment: Create 15 original MC questions over the final 19 chapters (pp 376-427). Five of these must be vocabulary-based and may NOT use words from vocab assignments 1-3! Due Friday 3/5.

T-Th 3/2-3/4 – Watch TNT version of Moby-Dick
HW: Work on MC questions!

Friday – Moby-Dick MC Test.

Week 25

Tuesday 2/17 - CPS Quiz, “The Monkey-rope” through “Schools and Schoolmasters”

Wednesday 2/18 –20-minute timed writing; work on vocab #3.

Thursday 2/19 – Reading day.
HW: finish vocab #3 for Tuesday; CPS Quiz on chapters btn. pp 307 and 375 on Tuesday 2/24

Friday 2/20 - Xingu