AP English Summer Homework

Students must read all FOUR selections before class convenes in the fall and meet the turn-in deadlines below.

Please read your books and email your responses in the prescribed order. These required readings will provide the basis for discussion, group work, and presentations. They will also serve as essential material for your first major essays in ATYP AP English, so please read carefully and be sure to refresh and reacquaint yourself with the texts before we meet in September, should you finish your reading early in the summer.

THE READINGS:

  • First reading (Annotation and Written Reflection), due June 30th: Joy Harjo's "Crazy Brave" (memoir) ISBN: 9780393345438 
  • Second reading (Annotation and Written Reflection), due by July 30th: Quian Julie Wong’s "Beautiful Country" (memoir) ISBN: 9780593313008 
  • Third reading (Annotation and Written Reflection), due by August 30th: Hedy Habra's "The Taste of the Earth" ISBN: 9781950413096
  • Fourth and final reading (Annotation and Written Reflection),  due by 8 p.m. (get some sleep) the day before our first class meets: 
    • James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" available online. If you want to purchase the entire short story collection "Going to Meet the Man," it is available, ISBN 9780679761792.

It’s fine to purchase used copies, but see if you can find copies that don’t have other people’s annotations in them. Also, Zhang Scholarship recipients can have summer reading novels purchased for them. The ATYP office will send an email regarding obtaining your books. If you are not a scholarship recipient but purchasing the texts is a hardship, please contact the ATYP office. We will help!

In the spirit of supporting local business…please consider purchasing your texts from a local store! This is also a great time to buy your summer beach reads! We have given our titles to this is a bookstore/Bookbug and Kazoo Books so they can help you. In addition, there will be a special book purchasing day on Saturday, June 1, at this is a bookstore, 3019 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo. The store will donate a percentage of the purchase amount for that day back to the program if you tell them that you’re purchasing for ATYP. 

WRITING DIRECTIONS: Two Steps (annotations and writing reflections)

Step 1: Annotation, aka: Write in your book! 

      1. Page synopsis: Write minimally at the top of nearly ever page (or every third page, or so) summarizing the events of the page. Ex: write what’s happening, the characters present, or any other brief detail that will help you quickly orient yourself within the novel when you flip through and reference later. This will come in extraordinarily handy for our discussions and the critical work you will perform on these novels.
      2. Underline key passages/lines. How will you decide what to underline? Consider passages that seem to sum up or epitomize core themes, central conflicts or tensions, or are particularly indicative of certain characters. Put your brain in critical mode: what might you want to easily find and quote later?
      3. Write down questions in the margins - as well as any connections to other texts/current events/etc. that you notice.
      4. On the first day of class, I will flip through each of your novels and check your annotations and sticky notes. Put ink on those pages! It should go without saying that you will do this FIRST, before tackling the written reflection below.
      5. If you have an eBook or some other form of the book that you are unable to annotate physically (library book, etc.), you will still need to complete the above work to the best of your ability, which may involve a separate and detailed notes page or digital annotations that you will show me in class.

Step 2. Writing Reflection

For Harjo, Wang, and Baldwin: Locate TWO compelling moments in each of these readings and craft TWO paragraphs about each moment. Format all your documents in 12pt Times New Roman font, 1.5 spacing, 1-inch margins, with your name, my name, and the assignment title in your header: 

  • First paragraph: Copy the passage and discuss why this passage proves significant to the story as a whole; does it play a key role in the events of the story, representing some kind of turning point or dramatic action? Or is it a small moment that simply compels closer reflection from the reader? Or perhaps it provides a good example of the work’s voice, structure, themes, etc.? (Hint: simple plot points won't show me what you can do - use your discerning eye) And… I want to see the rhetorical or literary devices that you can identify in the passage, as well. Your first and second year instructors would like you to show off your chops! Resist copy/pasting from a Google search…I need to see what you can do. ATYP English uses MLA style. Each book quote should be followed by the author’s last name and a page number in parentheses. Try to narrow your selections to one or two paragraphs so you can really focus your analysis.
  • Second paragraph, address how/why the passage affects you on a personal level. For this second paragraph, it might help to simply think about the ways in which this passage mirrors your own experiences or observations of the world around you. You can even talk about how the passage broadens your horizons and makes you reconsider previous assumptions - or confirms them. This exploration will provide a helpful reference when you write your first essays in the fall. Some students in the past gave me vague or hasty writing - please avoid. Show me your thoughtfulness and candor. 
  • To avoid confusion: This means FOUR paragraphs per reading - so you will have 12 paragraphs between the three readings, altogether. You have a different set of directions for the poetry book.
  • With this written reflection, make sure to vary your responses! No boilerplate, copy & paste answers here -  give each of the works special care and attention. Find the piece's unique voice and architecture.

For Habra's poetry book: While you will be annotating all of the poems, select four poems that speak to you the most from this collection to write about. Write about each of the four poems individually. 

  • First paragraph: First, discuss what the poem is exploring/what appears to be at the heart of this piece? And then write about what draws in the reader: this is where you list several beautifully crafted lines, imagery, and various devices employed by Habra so you may show an appreciation for how this poet’s craft compels us to interact with this particular poem. Resist copy/pasting from a Google search…I need to see what you can do. 
  • Second paragraph: Address how/why the poem speaks to you or affects you on a personal level. For this second paragraph, it might help to simply think about the ways in which this poem mirrors your own experiences or observations of the world around you. How does it touch you or reach you? You can even talk about how the poem broadens your horizons and makes you reconsider previous assumptions - or confirms them. This exploration will provide a helpful reference when you write your first essays in the fall. As noted above, some students in the past gave me vague or hasty writing - please avoid. Show me your thoughtfulness and candor. 
  • To avoid confusion: This means TWO paragraphs per reading - so you will have 8 paragraphs between the four poems you choose to write about, altogether. I can't wait to see what you say!
  • With this written reflection, make sure to vary your responses! No boilerplate, copy & paste answers here - give each of the poems special care and attention. Find the piece's unique voice and architecture.

 Due Dates: email each portion to me (becky.cooper@wmich.edu) by the following dates:

  • Selection one, Crazy Brave, by 10 p.m. June 30th
  • Selection two, Beautiful Country, by 10 p.m. July 30th
  • Selection three, The Taste of the Earth, by 10 p.m. August 30th
  • Please save “Sonny’s Blues” for last, as it will be the quickest read (but notice that a quick read does not mean without depth). Email this selection to me by 8 p.m. the day before our first class meets (get some sleep)

FINAL NOTES:

    • I staggered the turn-in dates to help you stay on track in order to avoid a last-minute rush before school starts. You have four turn-in dates. Notice the key word is "by," so you can technically send the responses earlier. The dates represent when I will consider them late.
    • Please save "Sonny's Blues" for last as it will be the quickest read (but notice that a quick read does not mean without depth). Email this selection to me by 8 p.m. (get some sleep) the day before our first class meets.
    • Parents should be aware that the texts may contain mature content. ATYP faculty agree that our students entering the third year of ATYP in a college-readiness course are ready for this content. ATYP faculty are trained in facilitating productive conversations on potentially difficult topics. We also encourage students to discuss what they’re reading with their parents. To review the books, we suggest looking for the titles on goodreads.com or commonsensemedia.org.

Advice from previous students: “The reading was fun - hardly like work at all, but do not wait too long before getting started!” 

Have a fantastic summer! I’m looking forward to seeing you in September!