Welcome to Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition!
Please read the works listed below during the summer: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Hard Times by Charles Dickens All books can be found in bookstores and libraries. DUE ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS: 1. Reading Journal A. Schedule: Design a reading schedule and deadlines. Write it down on page one of your journal. B. Double – Entry Journal: Fold several loose-leaf pages in half vertically to make two equally long columns. Label the left hand column Quotes and the right hand column Connection. As you read, choose 8-10 quotes per novel that you feel are significant (in terms of character development, motifs, or theme). Copy the quotes into the left-hand column. In the right hand column, write a reflection on the importance of the quote. C. If possible, meet with others in the class and discuss: 1. Themes 2. Character development 3. Use of language and structure of the work 4. Your understanding and enjoyment of books and literature Keep a record of these meetings and discussions, and print out e-mails or messages to include in your journal. Journal may be stapled together or bound in a three-prong folder. No spiral notebooks, please. 2. Paper Write a paper of two to three pages (typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12 point font, Times New Roman) in which you discuss the three works you have read in response to the following quotation by Franz Kafka: “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.” In other words, write about what each of these novels have revealed to you about yourself. The paper must be structured and well organized. This is a personal essay, and therefore should be written in first person. Please do not use outside sources for this paper. Do use specific examples and quotations from the novels to support your points (use MLA citation). Please read the page on plagiarism in the Student Handbook. I will collect both assignments on the first day of class. They will count as a substantial part of your first quarter grade. If for any reason, you will not be in class on the first day, I expect you to send in your journal and paper with a friend, or drop it off in the front office prior to the start of school. Please come back to school ready with discussion topics and questions. Be prepared for a quiz over each of the works the first week of school. I look forward to seeing you. If you have any questions or concerns over the summer, please e-mail me (put “AP English” in the subject line) at [email protected]. |
Wuthering HeightsWuthering Heights is the only published novel by Emily Brontë, written between December 1845 and July 1846 and published in July of the following year. It was not printed until December 1847, after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. It was finally printed under the pseudonym Ellis Bell; a posthumous second edition was edited by Charlotte. The title of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors of the story. The narrative centres on the all-encompassing, passionate, but ultimately doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and the people around them.
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Things Fall ApartThis expanded edition of Chinua Achebe's first novel portrays the collision of African and European cultures in an Igbo village. Okonkwo, a great man in Igbo traditional society, cannot adapt to the profound changes brought by the British conquest of Nigeria. Yet, as in classic tragedy, Okonkwo's character as well as external forces contribute to his downfall.
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Hard TimesThe book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times. It follows a classical tripartite structure, and the titles of each book are related to Galatians 6:7, "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Book I is entitled "Sowing", Book II is entitled "Reaping", and the third is "Garnering."
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