Welcome Class of 2017!

Hello Everyone!
This is an exciting summer for all of you, the summer before your senior year of high school. I know that you guys have a busy couple of months — beginning your college application process, participating in summer programs and dual enrollment courses, working, etc. It is important to jump right into your reading, so that we can hit the ground running in August!

Here is some information on AP Literature:

AP English Literature and Composition will give students a learning experience equivalent to a typical undergrad introduction to literature class. Through close reading of literary texts, students will come to understand how writers use language to provide meaning and to answer the big questions in life. We will “measure” literature against the history of philosophy to understand how literature fits into its own time as well as in all time.

We will ask, “What is art?” and try to determine the qualities of great literature. Our literary analysis will look through the lenses of style and structure, rhetorical strategies, diction, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, language and syntax. Vocabulary study is important.
We will look at literature differently. We will examine various philosophers, including but not limited to Aristotle, Kant, Sartre, Camus, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. We will examine what we know and how we know it, and — most importantly — why we want to know it. How does literature fit into all of this? That is part of what we will discuss. Art, and literature is art, is one of the tools that man uses to examine, analyze and explain the world.

So, let’s get started! This summer, you will read:
▪ How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. Write a synopsis of each chapter (between two or three detailed paragraphs in length). You will turn this in. To be clear, you will take notes on the chapters. What did you learn? What hints and suggestions does Foster provide? For example, what are the characteristics of the Heroic Journey?

▪ Oedipus the King a classic Greek play by Sophocles

▪ The Princeton Review: Cracking the AP Literature & Composition Exam. Take notes, there will be a test on the vocabulary and their test strategies. To Clarify: you’ll review the book and LEARN their test-taking skills and strategies. For example, what does the text suggest is at the heart of every essay question? What tips does the text give on answering the multiple choice questions? Know the structure of the exam and become familiar with the literary terms and vocabulary (there is an extensive glossary at the back of the book).

 ▪ Now, suggestions:

The AP Lit exam tests your knowledge of literature. It is, in actuality, a test on 4 years of literary knowledge. The more you read, the more prepared you will be. So, I suggest that you read a novel or play of your choice from this list (but NOT one of the works that we will read together in class, that list is below):

▪ You may also want to refresh your knowledge of Biblical stories. Many literary texts, especially the older works, often allude to Judea-Christian stories.

 Another suggestion is the book A Brief History of Thought: a Philosophical Guide. This book explains and explores different schools of philosophical thought, which will be very helpful as that will be a component of our class.

Please keep in mind that discussion is a major component of this course. So, discuss amongst yourselves. Visit this site often and post questions, thoughts, observations. I will do the same.

Throughout the year we will read and analyze many works of literature from novels and plays to short stories and poems. This is a tentative list of some of the books that we will read next year, in case you want to purchase and/or borrow these books over the summer. Some of these works we will read as a class, while others will be assigned as independent reading:

▪ The Iliad, Homer (excerpts)

▪ Othello, William Shakespeare

▪ Beowulf (excerpts)

▪ Grendel by John Gardner

▪ The Stranger, Albert Camus

▪ The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

▪ A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway

▪ A Doll’s House, Ibsen

▪ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee

▪ Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller

 

SUMMARY:

• You will read independently and for class
• You will read, not just for plot, but for style, motif, hidden meanings, etc.
• Your work begins this summer
• Expect a test on the first day of class. I will test you on:

1. Facts, literary devices, symbols, etc from How to Read Literature Like a Professor
2. Oedipus the King, 
3. on literary terms/vocabulary, testing strategies, and on things that you should have learned from your summer reading.

 

Good luck, enjoy your summer, and keep in touch!