Long Branch High School English Department

Long Branch High School English Department

Summer Reading List

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition

All students will read two books over the summer and compose a draft of an analytical essay in response to one of the prompts listed below.

Assigned Reading:

·  How To Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster

and student’s choice of one novel selected from the list below:

·  The Road, Cormac McCarthy

·  Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

·  As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

·  The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

·  Sula, Toni Morrison

·  The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

·  Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Assigned Composition:

Student will compose an analysis of the novel of his choice by writing a paper in response to one of the prompts listed below. Essays must be a minimum of 3 pages in length and will be collected on the first day of class.

Prompt 1: “You can leave home all you want, but home will never leave you.” —Sonsyrea Tate

Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable influence on an individual.

Consider a central character in the novel you have read that leaves home yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home illuminates the larger meaning of the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Prompt 2: In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror.

Focusing on the novel you have read, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Prompt 3: Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Based on the novel you have read, write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore a political or social issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.