Summer Assignment for Pre AP 9 English/McAbee
*Assignment is due the very first day of school. 10 pts.deducted per day late—no exceptions!
*Read Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue.” It can be read in pdf form from the following website:
*Print it off, and highlight and define any words you don’t understand.
*Answer the following questions (you may have to do some online research to answer some of these):
1. What is the writing situation? Where did the text originally appear?
2. What is the writer’s subject? Is she choosing to focus or not focus on something important? Is she leaving something out?
3. What is the writer’s main point about her subject? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why?
4. What is the writer’s purpose in making that point?
5. What do you think of the purpose stated in #4? Do you think that she achieves it?
6. To what sort of audience does the writer seem to be addressing herself? Are you part of that audience? Who is, and who is left out?
7.What are the assumptions behind the writer’s treatment of her subject? Do you agree with them? Do you disagree? Why?
8. What further conclusions could be drawn from the writer’s point? Do you agree with them? Do you disagree? Why?
9. What do you think of the way the writer makes her argument? Is it convincing? Logical? Does she fight fair?
10. What can you borrow (without plagiarizing)? Are there particular techniques the writer uses to argue, describe, narrate, or just shape a sentence tha you want to remember and use in your own writing?
Questions about the essay itself:
- List the different Englishes Tan describes, defining each.
- Of her mother’s English, Tan writes, “ That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (par.7). How was the effect of her mother’s English positive and how was it negative?
- Do you use different Englishes yourself (maybe a dialect)? Even if English is your sole language, consider how your use of it changes depending on circumstances and audience. Write a well-developed paragraph in which you describe the different ways you speak and the meaning of these differences.
TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH CLOSE READING
*Using define the following words and provide an example of each. You will test on all of these words within the first 2 weeks of school.
Rising actionstock
Suspensediction
Settingidiom
Falling actionfoil
Mooddenotation
Conflictepiphany
Rhetorical shiftdynamic character
Flashbackstatic character
Plotflat character
Toneround character
Climaxcharacters
Foreshadowingprotagonist
Expositionimagery
Denoumentconnotation
Themedialect
Inciting incidentdetails
Stylearchetypal characters
Point of vieweuphemism
Antagonist
Archetype
*The above assignment is also on my staff page of the school website. Go to
Click—School staff
Click—Jessica McAbee
Read the announcement
Click—File Manager tab at the top of the page
Scroll until you see “Pre AP English 9 Summer Assignment 2016.2017”