APE SUMMER READING
Greetings APE Students!
I congratulate you all on your
choice to undertake the challenging rigors of AP Lit and Comp.
To prepare for an outstanding
start to the course next fall, it is necessary to continue reading literature
over the summer months. As in any sport, practice and experience result in
advancement of skill. There are 3
(three) readings to complete this summer:
STEP 1: Buy the Books
1. How
to Read Literature Like a College Professor by Thomas C. Foster
2. Doctor
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Chronicle
of a Death Foretold By Gabriel Garcia Marques
If possible students should purchase their own copies of the
novels. It is an advantage to be able to take note in the margins and underline
or highlight notable passages. This is
known as annotation and is a preferred method of engaging with the text in AP English. We
will practice this skill extensively in all of your AP English classes.
STEP 2: Read Foster’s book first!
Foster’s book teaches the APE student how to read between
the lines. To look at literature as a
sum total of parts, that added together make meaning. This is called the
Formalist Lens of literary analysis – the very lens the AP Board asks us to use
for the test.
For each chapter, annotate for the following:
• Identify
the claim/main idea
• A
brief summary of the key ideas (this could be a simple highlight with
notations)
• Questions
inspired by the chapter; about the content or questions to ask about reading
and viewing literature based on the content of the chapter
• Personal
examples that reflect the chapter’s main ideas: This is a list of books or
movies that YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH that can be used as examples
Step 3: Read and Annotate Novels
• You
will need your own PERSONAL copy so that you can ANNOTATE the text as you read.
• Following
the reading of How to Read Literature
Like a Professor, you will READ and ANNOTATE, the Novels (or take
exhaustive analysis notes outside the text with linked MLA cited quotations).
• You
must actively read and annotate these texts, applying the skills and strategies
learned from your reading of How to Read
Literature Like a Professor.
Pay close attention to themes, characterization, imagery,
figurative language, diction, detail, syntax, symbolism, etc.
Don’t mark too
much. If you mark everything, nothing will stand out. Use your own words--don’t
try to be fancy. Remember, your annotations are for you! EVERY SYMBOL/MARK OR
HIGHLIGHTED TEXT MUST HAVE AN ANNOTATION.
Annotation Tips for Fiction
• Make brief notes at the top of the page or on a
sticky note to mark important plot events.
• Circle or highlight words that are unfamiliar or
unusual. Try to figure out what the words mean through the way they are used;
supplement your guesses by consulting a dictionary.
• When new characters are introduced, highlight
phrases that describe them. (Try not to highlight whole sentences).
• Highlight words, images, and details that seem
to form a pattern throughout the text.
o For
example, if a large clock appears in the story, and then you notice the author
using the words “timely” or “ticking” in the text, and then an incident occurs
in which a character breaks a watch or is late for an appointment, you may have
uncovered a pattern of imagery which will lead the close reader to discover a
thematic idea.
o Highlight
these related strands and observe the rest of the text closely to see if the
author uses other linked words, images, or details.
• Highlight passages you think might be symbolic.
• Mark key ideas and note briefly your reflections
about them in the margins.
• When you get an idea while reading the text,
note it in brief form in the margin. You may never think of this idea again
unless you write it down.
• If you have a question about something in the
text, write it on the page when it first occurred to you.
