AP & Honors English Summer Reading List

Congratulations on selecting Honors or AP English as one of your courses of study for next year 2010-2011. This will be a challenging year, so preparing early will be helpful. Listed below is your required reading list and assignment. The assignment will be collected on the first day of school and additional assignments and discussions, on the required selections, will follow in the first weeks of school. In addition, optional works are also listed for those who would like to pursue additional reading opportunities. We look forward to seeing you in September. Until then, have a great summer and happy reading!

Required Reading
Golding, William – Lord of the Flies

Optional Reading:
Wright, Richard – Black Boy
Defoe, Daniel – Robinson Crusoe

Assignment: For the following questions regarding The Lord of the Flies,write a full one-page response for each prompt. Use evidence from the text to support your conclusions. Maintain a formal voice and writing style.

1.  Describe some of the ways the vision of a human “at once heroic and sick” (Chapter 6) is represented in the novel and within the larger context of history as well. Does Golding prescribe a remedy for the “sickness”?
2.  Discuss the issue of the mythical beast that terrorizes the boys’ imaginations. What is origin of this beast? Does it really exist? Do they ever find it?
3.  Golding considers his novel allegorical. Explain how this novel may be viewed as an allegory. What are some of its important symbols? What do they represent?
4.  Of all the characters, Piggy is the one who most often has useful ideas and sees the correct way for the boys to organize themselves. Yet the other boys rarely listen to him and frequently abuse him. Why do you think this is the case? In what ways does Golding use Piggy to advance the novel’s themes?

Honors American Literature  or  AP Language and Composition – 11th Grade
Required Reading

Hawthorne, Nathaniel – The Scarlet Letter

Required Assignment:  Utilize a notebook/journal to record your reactions, analysis, and interpretations of your reading.  You should write a minimum of one paragraph per chapter.  In addition, Make a list of questions about the novel for class discussion.

Assignment Note (Honors American Literature ONLY):
You do not need to read “The Custom House” Introduction. This will be discussed in class the first week of classes.
Bring your Scarlet Letter books.

AP Language: you will still need to read this section

Optional Reading
Crane, Stephen – The Red Badge of Courage
Steinbeck – The Grapes of Wrath

Honors British Literature – 12th Grade

Required Reading
Shakespeare, William – King Lear
        -- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Optional Reading:
Swift, Jonathan – Gulliver’s Travels

Required Assignment:  Utilize a notebook/journal to record your reactions, analysis, and interpretations of your reading.

AP English Literature – 12th Grade

Required Reading
Aristotle – Poetics
Shakespeare, William – King Lear
       -- A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Optional Reading:
Austen, Jane – Pride and Prejudice