AP English IV Summer Reading

AP English IV: Literature and Composition

Summer Reading Assignment – 2018

Anderson/Isch, Creekview High School

Email: andersont@cfbisd.edu

ischn@cfbisd.edu

Welcome to AP Literature and Composition, and we are excited you signed up for the AP English IV challenge. Thus begins the journey. We want you to feel confident and prepared to take the AP lit exam in May and receive a qualifying score for college credit. We will do our best to help you along your quest–and you must do your part as well. READ AS MUCH AS YOU CAN OVER THE SUMMER. Success on this test requires a keen ability to quickly interpret challenging texts with multiple meanings. Not reading in an AP Lit Class is like preparing for your Driver’s Ed exam by listening to grandpa’s tales of driving. We want you to listen to grandpa–always. We also need you to do the driving on this quest as well (the reading) because we want you to feel confident, capable, and engaged as you take the wheel later on in May. (NOTE: You get to select the novel/play you read, along with your parents, so feel free to select works that are appropriate for you!)

Please complete the following stages of the AP quest Assignment over the summer:

Stage 1: Read and take notes (Cornell format or your favorite note-taking format) on the stages of the basic quest that Foster recounts in chapter one (“Every Trip is a Quest”) of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. NOTE: This is a great book; I recommend you get your own copy; however, you can also find a link to the entire book online at Ms Effie’s website.

Stage 2: Choose a work from the list of novels/plays that have frequently shown up on past AP Literature tests, and then read and apply Foster’s advice from chapter one (“Every Trip is a Quest”) while you read your selected text. Take Cornell notes (or your favorite type of notes) on (at least) the archetypal quest and specific stages as played out by the characters in your novel/play. (See next page for list of novels/plays that have shown up at least ten times or more on past exams.)

Stage 3: Select a passage (roughly a page or two long) from the novel you read in stage 2 that you think highlights the quintessential topic/idea of your novel/play. You will need a copy of this passage for class during the first week for assessment purposes. You may type it, copy it, find it online, or bring your novel/play with it marked, etc.

Stage 4: Find a poem that is meaningful to you on the same topic you found in your novel/play. (You will need a copy of this as well.) The poem does not have to be connected to the novel/play you read in any other way than being about the same topic; don’t worry about it having the same opinions, themes, conflicts, language, etc. Just use this as an excuse to read some cool poems over the summer. You do not have to limit your poem choice to this website either…this is just a helpful site. Find Poems Here

Stage 5: (optional) The PTA Reflection theme this year is: “Heroes around Me.” Since we are thinking about the hero and the quest, you might get inspired to create your own fictional story/ entry for this contest! This is not mandatory–just a great opportunity and a great program. National PTA Website

NOTE ON SELECTING A NOVEL/PLAY of INTEREST TO YOU that has literary merit:

If you are wondering which novel to choose in regards to which one has shown up on the AP Literature test ten times or more, you might consider checking out one of the following texts on the chart below (if you have not read it yet). You don’t have to limit your choice to the list below though; you can find a suggested list of works that fall in this category HERE, along with brief summaries of each so you can pick one based on your interests. Additionally, we have multiple copies of the texts in BOLD on the chart below; come by C311 of finals week on Wednesday morning or afternoon to check out your own copie(s).