ap literature summer reading assignment

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Summer reading in ap lit..

A few years ago I revamped my summer reading assignment.

It marked an important departure for me. It was a significant step in my growth as a teacher. I’ll explain why, but first I want to share what I have done in years past.

THE OLD SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT

My summer assignment has gone through different iterations over the years, but the gist of it has always been that the students had to read two books — How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines and 1984 — and develop an outline for each. There are many versions of this assignment online. Its probably where I first developed the idea. I must have Googled “ How to Read Literature Like a Professor summer assignment.” A bunch of results came up, and seeing that a lot of other teachers paired Thomas C. Foster’s work with another novel probably validated its worth in my mind.

I liked that both books were accessible and my students could find help online if they needed it.

I liked that I was introducing my students to good literature without ruining their summer with dense texts and mountains of work.

I liked that when students returned from school I could assess them by asking them to apply a chapter from How to Read Literature Like a Professor to 1984 .

I liked that I was doing something to prevent the summer slide.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE OLD ASSIGNMENT

There was nothing pedagogically wrong with my old summer reading assignment. But there were certain things about it that had bothered me over the years:

• Students can easily find summaries of How to Read Literature Like a Professor online ( like this link) .
• Many of my students are not readers of classic literature on their own. In spite of its cheeky humor and tone, they did not have the awareness of texts mentioned in How to Read Literature to fully appreciate the references.
• Students felt that How to Read Literature Like a Professor simplified the process of reading, reducing everything to either a symbol or an allusion.
• The assignment was not thoroughly thought through. It was too simplistic. Basically I was asking students to read and outline. I felt like I was simply following what others were doing without making this assignment a true reflection of my teaching and my goals.
• There wasn’t much feedback I could provide on an outline and consequently little room for growth.

THE GOALS OF SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS

I believe that when students are faced with low-rigor tasks, they create low achievement even when students do well on these tasks. In addition, such tasks contribute to the boredom students so often complain about when they spend too many hours on work that is routine and bland, often centered on discrete skills.

Outlining a text is a low-rigor task. It requires little skill beside extrapolation and summarization.

I want my summer assignments to have what I believe are the three principles of an effective assignment:

1. Effective assignments provide clear expectations about what should be completed, how it should be completed, and why the assignment is important.

I needed to rethink the final part of that criteria. While the original assignment provided clear expectations and walked students through the steps to be completed, it never explained why the assignment was important. When there is no value attached to an assignment, the work can feel like busy work.

Assignment-making requires teachers to clarify what learning is demonstrated and how it can be demonstrated. I needed to answer questions about purpose and relevance: “Why are my students doing this? What greater good will result from this work? As well as, are there significant concepts connected to the curriculum?”

2. Effective assignments are formative, providing feedback that allows teachers to adjust their instruction and scaffold learning.

I also needed to understand how my teaching can be informed by what the students completed. This is where the outlines of the prior assignment failed to be valuable. I was learning nothing about my students nor anything about their thinking.

With the new summer assignment adjustments would I make based on the work that students produced? What was I learning about their reading skills or their writing skills?

Good assignments, whether in the summer or during the school year, should inform instruction, giving teachers a chance to assess skills and modify instruction accordingly.

3. Effective assignments set high expectations and provide pathways to achieve those expectations.

I want the new assignment to communicate high expectations for critical thinking and levels of analysis. I want my students to be challenged no matter what skill sets or content background they bring into the course.

WHAT MY STUDENTS ARE DOING INSTEAD

• I want my students to have a summer experience that is not punitive but is preparatory. I don’t want to punish them with mountains of work or use a summer assignment as a gatekeeper for the class. I want to set a foundation for the enjoyment that comes from reading, thinking, and writing creatively and analytically.
• I want my students to see that great ideas can be expressed in a variety of formats. Therefore, they will read blog articles, watch YouTube videos, and read poems as well as a novel.
• I want them to learn from readers, writers, and thinkers that I admire. I’m not just handing them books and asking them to read them, I want them to observe how others analyze and how others approach the act of writing.  These pieces have the levels of analysis that will promote high expectations for my students.
• I want them to choose the novel they read, not have one assigned to them.
• I want them to have a space of their own creation (their StudyTee Notes) where they will respond to each text that they encounter in thoughtful and diverse ways.

THE SUMMER READING TEXTS

• StudyTee’s Note-Taking Method
• The NerdWriter Analyzes Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks”
• Leo Babauta’s Why I Read (+ a Dozen Book Recommendations)
• Any novel on this list or this one
• Poetry Foundation’s Poem of the Day

Download the Summer Reading Assignments for Susan Barber and Brian Sztabnik

Concluding thoughts.

I know that I am asking my students to complete somewhat unorthodox summer assignments. They are not being handed a textbook or a stack of novels and asked to complete a series of study guide questions or outlines. There comes a point in a teacher’s career when he or she stops doing things just because everyone else is doing them and strikes out on his or her own path.

And this has been that moment for me.

Instead, I am giving them models of critical thinkers. I am exposing them to a variety of texts across a span of genres. I am giving them the power to choose the novel and poems that they want to read. And it will have clear expectations, an understanding of why each component of the assignment is important, a chance for me to gain formative feedback, and high expectations for success.

Brian Sztabnik is just a man trying to do good in and out of the classroom. He was a 2018 finalist for NY Teacher of the Year, a former College Board advisor for AP Lit, and an award-winning basketball coach.

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Ap english literature and composition summer reading 2024.

Welcome to AP English Literature and Composition. The information below describes your summer reading and essay assignments. Summer reading is an important part of the Advanced Placement course and serves multiple purposes. This is a literature course so of course, reading literature and then writing about that literature is the main focus. Summer reading and the essay assignment will work to prepare you for next year and practice these skills. 

Everyone must read two books, one is listed below and the other is selected from the list of titles. 

Required: The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan

Choose one from this list of suggested titles from the AP English Literature and Composition Exam:

An American Marriage       The Sun Also Rises Great Expectations               One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Brave New World                  The Awakening All the Pretty Horses            East of Eden Jane Eyre                                    Sula Little Fires Everywhere       The Color Purple The Kite Runner                     Catch-22 Slaughterhouse-Five            The Invisible Man The Handmaid’s Tale            There There    

The Assignments      For The Bonesetter’s Daughter , you will write an essay in the first week of school. It will be a response to an AP Literature and Composition Free Response Prompt and will help me understand what you can do as writers and what we should work on in preparation for the AP test. 

For the second book, choose 3 prompts from the list below and write a literary argument that responds to the prompt. In addition to the thesis statements, include specific scenes and/or details from the text that would support the argument. Include the number of the prompt and submit it to Google Classroom on the first day of school.

The AP Prompts

• Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or parental figure) and a son or daughter.  Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
• Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two counties, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and sea) to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work.  Choose a novel or a play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.
• Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed.  Choose a play or novel in which such a character plays a significant role and how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values.  
• The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about happy endings: “The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development.  By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events* a marriage or a last-minute rescue from death* but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.”  Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes.  In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole. 
• Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions.  Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live.  Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole. 
• In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” Choose a character from a novel or play who responds in some way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze that character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance to the work as a whole.

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Summer reading & assignments.

Details of summer assignments are included below. Click the course name to expand the topic and see details.

9th-12th Non-AP Summer Independent Reading 2023-24

Summer Independent Reading 2023-24

Note:  Summer assignments for students in Advanced Placement courses are in the other sections on this page.

The mission of Parkview High School is to engage and inspire the hearts and minds of every learner every day. It is our shared vision to become a thriving community of learners in an environment that embraces a culture of thinking. Within this culture of thinking, reading is expected, valued, and celebrated.

During the school year, our curriculum provides opportunities for students to build their critical reading skills and develop an appreciation for reading. Summer is a time for students to continue to build upon that foundation. Research shows that leisure reading can contribute to many important practices such as supporting reading comprehension, increasing vocabulary development, and creating self-confidence and positive attitudes towards reading.

Summer reading is an opportunity for you to broaden your life experience through the eyes of an author. Enjoy this reading assignment, expand your vocabulary and reading repertoire without the pressure and demands of the school year. Your summer reading assignment is extra credit, so get a jumpstart on next semester!  

Suggestions to help you do well on your extra credit assignment next semester:  Keep a journal on characters who have an impact on the events in the book, events that influence characters’ actions and motivations, and universal themes explored throughout the book. You should be able to recall specific people’s names and their contributions to the overall story or theme.

Please follow the minimal requirements for your book selection

• The book meets the challenge of a young adult or adult reader.
• The book HAS NOT BEEN MADE INTO A MOVIE / TV SHOW / SERIES!
• Do not “recycle” a book from a previous class or independent reading assignment.
• Avoid texts used for classroom study listed on the following page. 

The Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing a Summer Reading Book

Do use these resources..

The following resources can help in selecting books that are relevant, interesting, and have the appropriate reading level, values, and interests for you.

• YALSA - Outstanding Books for the College-Bound
• YALSA - Best Fiction Book List
• YALSA - Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers
• TED Ideas: 88 Books to Enjoy This Summer

Do NOT choose any of the books listed below.

Because we will study many of these books together in class, we will not accept an extra credit assignment based on these texts.

• Romeo and Juliet
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Homer’s The Odyssey
• The Glass Castle
• The Secret Life of Bees
• All American Boys
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
• Born a Crime
• Lord of the Flies
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Julius Caesar
• Things Fall Apart
• All Quiet on the Western Front (gifted only)
• Kafka’s The Metamorphosis
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Alchemist
• A Doll's House
• The Great Gatsby
• Of Mice and Men
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
• The Scarlet Letter
• The Crucible
• Red Badge of Courage
• A Raisin in the Sun
• The Sound and the Fury

12th Grade British Literature

• Brave New World
• Frankenstein
• Heart of Darkness

12th Grade Multicultural Literature

• American Born Chinese
• Between the World and Me
• Interpreter of Maladies
• The Distance Between Us

Advanced Placement Courses

AP courses have specific summer assignments listed in the other sections on this page.

AP Seminar - 10th and 11th grade

Advanced placement seminar - 10th and 11th grade.

• 10th grade Join Code -  6ect3j3
• 11th grade Join Code - 2uq42oy
• Here you will find your assignment along with any resources you may need to complete the work over the summer.
• You can use the Google Classroom to email any questions you may have.  In a collegiate environment, the expectation is that you will complete similar work independently.
• We will respond to your questions as quickly as we can, but please bear in mind that we are away from our classrooms for the summer.
• If you are new or cannot access Google Classroom, please use the PDF-only version of the assignment.
• You may also access this assignment in a Google Docs format.

AP Lang - 11th grade

Advanced placement language - 11th grade only.

• Join the Google Classroom :  Join Code -  rfp3mno
• We will respond to your questions as quickly as we can, but, please bear in mind that we are away from our classrooms for the summer.
• This assignment is also available in a Google Doc .

AP Lang - 12th grade

Advanced placement language - 12th grade only.

• Join the Google Classroom :  Join Code -  pkxgasn

AP Lit - 12th grade

Ap lit summer reading 2023.

This assignment is also available in a PDF or in Google Docs .

Required Reading:

• You need to read the Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1 of this book by Mr. Thomas C. Foster.
• We will continue reading this book during the school year.
• If you have read this book before, make sure you refamiliarize yourself with the content.
• I’d love for you to have a copy of this text, but if circumstances prevent it, here is a link to its PDF: How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
• Choose ONE novel from the list below (or go crazy and read more, then pick one!):

MAKE SURE YOU DISCUSS AND HAVE APPROVAL FROM YOUR PARENTS FOR YOUR SUMMER READING CHOICE. AS THIS COURSE IS INTENDED FOR COLLEGE CREDIT, SOME OF THESE NOVELS HAVE MATURE CONTENT.

You will receive your summer reading assignments on the first day of school. Please read and annotate/take notes on both texts before the first day. Questions? Email David Thompson .

AP Research - 12th grade

Advanced placement research - 12th grade.

The goal of this summer reading assignment is two-fold.  First, it is designed to get you accustomed to finding and reading peer-reviewed journal articles.  Second, it is a way (hopefully) for you to get a jump-start on your research for this course.

Using a journal database such as JSTOR or Taylor and Francis , find and read four (4) journal articles on a topic or topics that you might like to do your research on this year.  For each article you read, write a citation and, in one long paragraph, a summary of the findings in the article.

This assignment is available in other formats:

• AP Research Summer Assignment PDF
• AP Research Summer Assignment Google Slide

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