Contact Ms. Dunmeyer at adunmeyer@hapevillecharter.

org for any questions or concerns regarding the

summer assignment

Advanced Placement Language & Composition/ American

Literature & Composition

Welcome to Advanced Placement English Language/ American

Literature and Composition. The focus of AP Language is
understanding, analyzing, and writing non-fiction prose, connecting
fiction prose (drama and novels) to rhetoric and argumentation, and
using multiple sources to develop and support your own arguments.
The required preparatory reading and assignments for this class
includes reading two books on understanding and crafting arguments,
a memoir and reading selections from periodicals.

As you work on these assignments, you may contact Ms. Dunmeyer

via adunmeyer@hapevillecharter.org. In your email please clearly
articulate your concern or question and include your full name. All
emails will be responded to on Tuesdays and
Heres what you can Thursdays throughout the summer.
expect in AP Language
AP Language & Composition... At a Glance

Focus on nonfiction (personal essays,

autobiographies, news articles etc.)

You will write (and write and write and write). AP Language and
Composition is a writing and research intensive course so writing
is a MUST

You will analyze other authors pieces, writings produced

by your classmates, and your own personal writings

You will study grammar

This is considered a college-level course, therefore,

students will be treated like the mature, honest,
responsible, self-motivated people they are (I will reiterate
mature, honest, and responsible)

You MUST be able to trust yourself to keep up with the

workload

For the summer assignment, you will have to:

1) Read the required number of books

2) Complete your dialectal journals
3) Write the assigned essay

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summer assignment

All assignments are to be completed as outlined in this packet and are

to be submitted on the first day of class. No late assignments
will be accepted.

The summer assignment will be the initial focus of the

course. Failure to complete the summer assignment will
seriously affect your fall semester grade.

The summer assignment is due on the first day of school

during the fall 2017-2018 school year.

* If you transfer into the class, from another school, or into the class
late you are still required to complete the summer assignment. Your
assignment due date is September 6, 2017 at the beginning of your
class period.

Assignment 1: Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs

Note-taking/ Dialectal Journal: This portion of your summer reading

assignment must be completed in the format described below

1. Read Chapters 1-17

2. Take notes on each chapter in a Dialectal Journal. This journal
should be typed in Times New Roman 12 pt. Font.

Additionally you
must: Create a heading with your name, the book
title, and the book author.

Select 9-12 meaningful passages that adequately draw

from the beginning, middle, and end of the text.

Type the entire passage to which you will refer and include
the page number from which it came.

Paraphrase or summarize the passages. It will be helpful to

provide the context in which it came. In other words, what is
happening before and after the passage appears in the text.

Analyze and react to the passage in full sentencesnot

notes. This should NOT just be personal reactions or a
summary; rather, you should attempt to analyze the methods
that the writer uses to make his or her argument. This is

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where you will show your engagement and reflection. Your

analysis should be longer than the selected quote or passage.

*On the following page you will find an example of how your
notes should be arranged from Thank You for Arguing

Student Name: Jane Doe

Book Name: Thank You for Arguing
Author: Jay Heinrichs

Quotation/ Passage Paraphrase or Analyze and React

from the text with
page number
I played a lot of
Monopoly growing up.
Like most players of the
game, I loved drawing a
yellow Community
Chest card and
discovering a bank
error that allowed me
to collect $200. It never
occurred to me not to
take the cash. After all,
banks have plenty of
money, and if one
makes an error in your
favor, why argue? I
havent played
Monopoly in twenty
years, but Id still take
the $200 today. And
what if a real bank
made an error in my
favor? That would be a
tougher dilemma. Such
things do happen. (1)
Summary
The author is
remembering that a
common childhood
game had a positive
moment when a player
received free cash
because a bank made a
mistake. This is the way
the book begins and
sets up the idea of the
Cheating Culture.
By beginning with a
reference to a childhood
game, the author
reminds the audience of
something that most
people probably
remembernot just the
game, but the
excitement of a bank
error card. He also
issues the question that
banks have plenty of
money so why
argue?
This really mimics what
most people would
probably say in real life
to justify why they
should keep money that
isnt rightfully theirs. He
moves from this game
topic to a suggestion
that it could really
happen (which he will
explain later) and
suggests that it would
be a tougher
dilemma. It almost
seems like this could be
a sarcastic remark. I
think many people
would just take the
money.
We tend to view banks

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as huge institutions that

they will not miss a few
rogue dollars here and
there. This idea that
Wall Street continues to
pay out bonuses while
the little guy is barely
getting by or may not
even have a job is
especially prevalent
now. By this question,
the author seems to be
trying to get us to ask if
we can even justify that
type of thinking. Is this
the right decision to
make?

Secondary Activity:
Flashcards: Thank You for Arguing is the text that will cover the
central focus for this coursethe art of argumentation. Therefore
you must become extremely familiar with the wide variety of
rhetorical strategies discussed throughout this text. These terms
can be found in bold, in the margins, as well as in the glossary.
Additionally, attached is a list of terms you should become
extremely familiar with in preparation for this class. It is strongly
suggested that you create flashcards and begin reviewing them
regularly to prepare you for the course. These terms will be
referenced repeatedly throughout the course of the year.

Assignment 2: Annotations and Dialectal Journal

Choose a book from the list provided below:

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The Color of Water: A Black Mans Tribute to His White Mother by James
McBride
A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson
This Boys Life by Tobias Wolf
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
And Still Peace Did Not Come by Agnes Kamara-Umunna
The Soloist by Steve Lopez

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summer assignment

1) For this portion of the summer reading assignment students will

need to read and annotate their chosen book. Proof of annotation must
be clear. If you buy the book, you can write in it. If not, use post-it
notes. Please take a moment to research and read the summary of
each book and select the text that interests you the most.

2) For each text, students will also need to complete a dialectal journal
(see the instructions on the previous page for the dialectal journal
example). This journal is also due on the first day of school and will
be extremely helpful during the first few weeks of class as you will
have a related writing assignment.

Assignment 3: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

This assignment should be completed in a composition notebook.

Material is to be handwritten in black or dark blue ink pen only: you
may copy and paste passages into your notebook, but not any of your
analysis. Please make sure your assignments are clearly labeled.

Address the overall purpose of the Lamotts text and explain how
effectively the writer achieves this purpose through literature
analysis as well as materials addressed in Heinrichs Thank You
for Arguing. Your response should be no less than 350 words and
should include a thesis statement and textual evidence.

Identify three excerpts from the text to compose individual, close

reading analysis. You must begin by including the excerpt (this
can be copied down, or printed out and pasted into the
notebook). These analyses should address the passages in close
analytical detail using the information gleaned from Heinrichs
Thank You for Arguing.

Assignment 4: Opinion/ Current Events Essay Journal

Success in Advanced Language and Composition will depend on your

knowledge of current issues and events. To be successful in this
course, you MUST read widely and continuously about current events,
local, national, and international issues. This portion of the assignment
must also be completed in your composition notebook. If you have
room in your notebook from assignment 3, you may use the same
notebook. However, if you choose to do so, please label your notebook
clearly.

1) Over the summer, read from a variety of reputable sources (see

the list below) and clip/collect twelve (12) news/current event

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articles and twelve (12) editorial articles from these sources.

They may be taken from print or online sources but you should
use at least two different sources (i.e. The New York Times and
The New Yorker for instance).

2) All articles must be printed, glued in your journal, and

opinion/editorials annotated for the writing and persuasive
strategies outlined in Thank You for Arguing (be sure to reference
this text throughout your summer assignment). These
annotations must be detailed and insightful, not labels.
Additionally, your annotations should be written in black or dark
blue ink. All articles must be prefaced by their appropriate MLA
citation. Please see the online Purdue owl resource to see how to
cite a newspaper or an editorial.

Examples of suggested newspapers/magazines:

The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The
New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, National Review, The
Nation, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs and Foreign
Policy, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Arts and Letters Daily

For your use and

reference:
If you are unsure on how to annotate or
mark-up a book, please see the
attached documents
Annotations: How to mark up a text
A Users Guide to Active Reading
As you work with your text(s), consider all of the ways that you can
connect with what you are reading. Here are some suggestions that
will help you with your annotations:

Circle and Define words or slang; make the words real with
examples from your experiences; explore why the author would
have used a particular word or phrase.

Make connections to other parts of the book and write about it

in the margins. Feel free to use direct quotes from the book.

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summer assignment

Make connections to other texts you have read or seen,

including:

Movies
Comic books/graphic novels
News events
other books, stories, plays, songs, or poems. Again remember to
write about it in the margins of the pages

Draw a picture in the margins when a visual connection is

appropriate.

Take a post it note and re-write, paraphrase, or summarize

a particularly difficult passage or moment.

Take a post it note and make meaningful connections in the

margins of the page to your own life experiences.

Take a post it note and describe a new perspective you may

now have. Stick it on the page where you gained that new
perspective.

Take a post-it note and explain the historical context or

traditions/social customs that are used in the passage or even
discuss how these customs and traditions are different from your
background.

Take a post it note and offer an analysis or interpretation of

what is happening in the text. Be sure to stick your post-it note
inside of your book.

Point out and discuss literary techniques that the author is

using.

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summer assignment

Again please feel free to contact Ms. Dunmeyer at

adunmeyer@hapevillecharter.org with any questions or concerns you
may have regarding all summer reading assignments. Emails will be
responded to on Tuesdays and Thursdays only during the
course of the summer months.

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summer assignment

Additional Terms
You will need to become extremely familiar with these terms
throughout the course of the 2017-2018 school year (Please see
assignment 1 secondary activity).
Alliteration: The repetition of the same sound or letter at the
beginning of consecutive words or syllables.
Allusion: An indirect reference, often to another text or an historic
event.
Analogy: An extended comparison between two seemingly dissimilar
things. Anaphora: The repetition of words at the beginning of
successive clauses. Anecdote: A short account of an interesting
event.
Annotation: Explanatory or critical notes added to a text.
Antecedent: The noun to which a later pronoun refers.

Antimetabole: The repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen

a contrast. Antithesis: Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting
ideas.
Aphorism: A short, astute statement of a general truth.
Appositive: A word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun.
Archaic Diction: The use of words common to an earlier time period;
antiquated language. Word choice

Argument: A statement put forth and supported by evidence.

Aristotelian triangle: A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation
as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience
(see rhetorical triangle).

Assertion: An emphatic statement; declaration. An assertion

supported by evidence becomes an argument.
Assumption: A belief or statement taken for granted without proof.
Asyndeton: Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses.

Attitude: The speakers position on a subject as revealed through his

or her tone.
Audience: Ones listener or readership; those to whom a speech or
piece of writing is addressed. Authority: A reliable, respected source
someone with knowledge.

Bias: Prejudice or predisposition toward one side of a subject or issue.

Cite: Identifying a part of a piece of writing as being derived from a
source.
Claim: An assertion, usually supported by evidence.
Close reading: A careful reading that is attentive to organization,
figurative language, sentence structure, vocabulary, and other literary
and structural elements of a text.

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Colloquial/ism: An informal or conversational use of language.

Common ground: Shared beliefs, values, or positions.
Complex sentence: A sentence that includes one independent clause
and at least one dependent clause.

Concession: A reluctant acknowledgment or yielding.

Connotation: That which is implied by a word, as opposed to the
words literal meaning (see denotation).
Context: Words, events, or circumstances that help determine
meaning.
Coordination: Grammatical equivalence between parts of a sentence,
often through a coordinating conjunction such as and, or but.
Counterargument: A challenge to a position; an opposing argument.
Declarative sentence: A sentence that makes a statement.
Deduction: Reasoning from general to specific.
Denotation: The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition.

Documentation: Bibliographic information about the sources used in

a piece of writing.
Elegiac: Mournful over what has passed or been lost; often used to
describe tone.
Epigram: A brief, witty statement.
Ethos: A Greek term referring to the character of a person; one of
Aristotles three rhetorical appeals (see logos and pathos).
Figurative language: The use of tropes or figures of speech; going
beyond literal meaning to achieve literary effect.
Figure of speech: An expression that strives for literary effect rather
than conveying a literal meaning.

Hyperbole: Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

Imagery: Vivid use of language that evokes a readers senses (sight,
smell, taste, touch, hearing).

Imperative sentence: A sentence that requests or commands.

Induction: Reasoning from specific to general.
Inversion: A sentence in which the verb precedes the subject.
Irony: A contradiction between what is said and what is meant;
incongruity between action and result.

Juxtaposition: Placement of two things side by side for emphasis.

Logos: A Greek term that means word; an appeal to logic; one of
Aristotles three rhetorical appeals (see ethos and pathos).
Metaphor: A figure of speech or trope through which one thing is
spoken of as though it were something else, thus making an implicit
comparison.
Metonymy: Use of an aspect of something to represent the whole.

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Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms.

Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but is actually true.
Parallelism: The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical
patterns.
Parody: A piece that imitates and exaggerates the prominent features
of another; used for comic effect or ridicule.
Pathos: A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be
associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotles three
rhetorical appeals (see ethos and logos).
Persona: The speaker, voice, or character assumed by the author of a
piece of writing.
Personification: Assigning lifelike characteristics to inanimate
objects.

Polemic: An argument against an idea, usually regarding philosophy,

politics, or religion.

Polysyndeton: The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions.

Premise (major, minor): two parts of a syllogism. The concluding
sentence of a syllogism takes its predicate from the major premise and
its subject from the minor premise.

Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded.

Minor premise: All horses are mammals.

Conclusion: All horses are warm-blooded (see syllogism).

Propaganda: A negative term for writing designed to sway opinion
rather than present information.

Purpose: Ones intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing.

Refute: To discredit an argument, particularly a counterargument.

Rhetoric: The art of speaking or writing effectively.
Rhetorical modes: Patterns of organization developed to achieve a
specific purpose; modes include but are not limited to narration,
description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, definition,
exemplification, classification and division, process analysis, and
argumentation.
Rhetorical question: A question asked more to produce an effect
than to summon an answer.

Rhetorical triangle: A diagram that represents a rhetorical situation

as the relationship among the speaker, the subject, and the audience
(see Aristotelian triangle).
Satire: An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue
for something, but actually argues against it.

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Sentence patterns: The arrangement of independent and dependent

clauses into known sentence constructionssuch as simple,
compound, complex, or compound-complex.
Sentence variety: Using a variety of sentence patterns to create a
desired effect.
Simile: A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare two
things.
Simple sentence: A statement containing a subject and predicate; an
independent clause.
Source: A book, article, person, or other resource consulted for
information.
Speaker: A term used for the author, speaker, or the person whose
perspective (real or imagined) is being advanced in a speech or piece
of writing.
Straw man: A logical fallacy that involves the creation of an easily
refutable position; misrepresenting, then attacking an opponents
position.
Style: The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the
selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech.
Subject: In rhetoric, the topic addressed in a piece of writing.
Subordinate clause: A clause that modifies an independent clause,
created by a subordinating conjunction.
Subordination: The dependence of one syntactical element on
another in a sentence.
Syllogism: A form of deductive reasoning in which the conclusion is
supported by a major and minor premise (see premise; major, and
minor).
Syntax: Sentence structure.
Synthesize: Combining or bringing together two or more elements to
produce something more complex.

Thesis: The central idea in a work to which all parts of the work refer.
Thesis statement: A statement of the central idea in a work, may be
explicit or implicit.
Tone: The speakers attitude toward the subject or audience.
Topic sentence: A sentence, most often appearing at the beginning of
a paragraph, that announces the paragraphs idea and often unites it
with the works thesis.
Trope: Artful diction; the use of language in a nonliteral way; also
called a figure of speech.

Understatement: Lack of emphasis in a statement or point; restraint

in language often used for ironic effect.

Voice: In grammar, a term for the relationship between a verb and a

noun (active or passive voice). In rhetoric, a distinctive quality in the

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style and tone of writing.

Zeugma: A construction in which one word (usually a verb) modifies or
governsoften in different, sometimes incongruent waystwo or more
words in a sentence.

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summer assignment

Thank You for Arguing Notes

(Thisrubricisforassignment1)

Approaching
Effective Adequat Inadequa
Standard (5-
(9-10) e (7-8) te (0- 4)
6)

Student notes are thorough and

complete. Obvious time and effort
has gone into the production of
this journal.

Student notes show insight into the

text. Rhetorical strategies are
identified clearly.

The student identifies effective

strategies and makes connections
to other readings

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

are correct.

The journal is neat and organized.

The specified style of notebook is
used. The journal entries are
handwritten in blue or black ink.

Total Score for Thank You for Arguing Journal

Entries________________________/50

Rubric for memoir selection Journal Notes

(This rubric is for assignment 3)

Effectiv Adequat Approaching Inadequa

e (9-10) e (7-8) Standard (5-

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summer assignment

6) te (0- 4)

Student notes are thorough and

complete. Obvious time and effort
has gone into the production of this
journal.

Student notes show insight into the

text. Rhetorical strategies are
identified clearly.

The student identifies effective

strategies and makes connections
to other readings

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

are correct.

Thejournalisneatand organized. The

specified style of notebook is used.
The journal entries are handwritten
in blue or black ink.

Total Score for Journal Notes_____________________/50

Rubric for Opinion Essays Journal Notes

(This rubric will be used for assignment 4)

Approaching
Effectiv Adequat Inadequa
Standard (5-
e (9-10) e (7-8) te (0- 4)
6)

Student notes are thorough and

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summer assignment

complete. Obvious time and effort

has gone into the production of this
journal.

Student notes show insight into the

text. Rhetorical strategies are
identified clearly.

The student identifies effective

strategies and makes connections
to other readings

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

are correct.

Thejournalisneatand organized. The

specified style of notebook is used.
The journal entries are handwritten
in blue or black ink.

Total Score for Opinion Essays Journal Notes_____________________/50

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summer assignment

Dialectal Journal Rubric

(This rubric will be used for the dialectal journal in assignment

1 and assignment 2)

Critical Reader (detailed, elaborate responses)40-50:

_________Extra effort is evident.
_________You include more than the minimal number of entries.
_________Your quotes are relevant, important, thought provoking, and
representative of the themes of the novel.
_________You can read between the lines of the text (inference).
_________You consider meaning of the text in a universal sense.
_________You create new meaning through connections with your own
experiences or other texts.

_________You carry on a dialogue with the writer. You question, agree,

disagree, appreciate, and object.
_________Sentences are grammatically correct with correct spelling and
punctuation.

Connected Reader (detailed responses)30-39:

_________A solid effort is evident.
_________You include an adequate number of legible entries.
_________Your quotes are relevant and connect to the themes of the
novel. Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis.

_________You construct a thoughtful interpretation of the text.

_________You show some ability to make meaning of what you read.
_________the text.
_________You explain the general significance.
_________You raise interesting questions.
_________You explain why you agree or disagree with the text.

Thoughtful Reader (somewhat detailed responses)25-29:

_________You include an insufficient number of entries.
_________Sentences are mostly correct with a few careless spelling and
grammatical errors.
_________You selected quotes that may be interesting to you, but that
dont necessarily connect to the themes of the novel.
_________Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis at times. You
make connections, but explain with little detail.
_________You rarely make new meaning from the reading.
_________You ask simple questions of the text.
_________You may agree or disagree, but dont support your views.

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Literal Reader (simple, factual responses)20-24: You include

few entries.
_________Entries exhibit limited insight or none at all.
_________You accept the text literally.

_________You are reluctant to create meaning from the text.

_________You make few connections, which lack detail.
_________You are sometimes confused by unclear or difficult sections of
the text.

Limited Reader (perfunctory responses)below 20:

_________You include very few entries.
_________Very little effort is evident.
_________You find the text confusing, but make no attempt to figure it
out. You create little or no meaning from the text.

_________You make an occasional connection to the text, and the ideas

lack development.

_________Sentences contain numerous grammatical and spelling errors.

Total score for dialectal journal_____________ / 50

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