Welcome to AP English Language and Composition at Grimsley High School!
Mrs. Saunders’ Wiki Space and Planner
This is a two-part assignment.
Part One: AP Language Summer Columnist Project
This assignment is designed to lead you into the kind of language analysis that will serve you well in this class.
· Select one syndicated columnist (look it up if you don’t know exactly what that is), either online or in print publications. Your columnist can be any kind (political, humor, sports, etc.), except an advice columnist whose columns are put together in letter and response form.
· Read many (at least ten) of your person’s columns so you know his or her beat (again, look it up if you don’t understand), opinions, and style deeply. Create an MLA format (look up “MLA Citations” online) bibliography of all the columns you read or use the references tab in Microsoft Word.
· Make hard copies of two or three columns and annotate them heavily—including questions, comments, definitions, rhetorical devices, connections, or other.
· Write a one-page analysis of the columnist’s beat, point of view, and style. Be very, very specific about style—organization, favorite rhetorical devices, subject matter, tone, or other.
· Write a column (observe column word limit) on a local or personal issue in the style of your columnist. Make it look like the column.
· Put all of these documents in order in a portfolio called Advanced Placement Language Summer Columnist Project, but don’t entomb the pages in plastic. This portfolio will be due on the first day of AP Language in the fall of 2016.
AP Language and Composition Name______
Points Sheet: Summer Columnist Project
Columnist______
Bibliography
· Proper MLA format
· Adequate number of columns to see patterns _____/20
Annotations
· Two or three annotated columns
· Insight in annotations
· Addressing of all required annotations _____/20
Portfolio
· Professional appearance
· Title page _____/10
Analysis of Columnist’s Style
· Concrete listing of style elements
· Level of insight
· Organization
· Conventions
· Proofreading _____/25
Your Column in Columnist’s Style
· Success in capturing author’s style
· Application of style to local or personal issue
· Conventions
· Proofreading _____/25
Total _____/100
Part Two: Create a MWDS as you read one of the following:
Between the World and Meby Ta-Nehisi Coates
Outliers: The Story of Successby Malcolm Gladwell
Major Works Data Sheet
Note: Your major works data sheet must be submitted to turnitin.com during the first week of school
Title of Work:Author:
Date of Publication:
Genre: / Characteristics of the Genre:
Historical Information about the Period of Publication: / Biographical Information about the Author:
Plot Summary:
Description of the Author’s Style: / Example that Demonstrates Style and Your Explanation:
Why do you think the book was told using this style and from this perspective? What is the effect?
Memorable Quotations
Quotation (and page number in parentheses): / Significance: (Do not just summarize and go beyond “I feel” statements -- tie to theme, motif, character development, etc.)
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Major Characters (you need at least 5)
Character’s Name: / Role (What role does this person have in the story?): / Significance (Why is this character important?): / Character Traits (What sort of person is this?):
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Description of the Setting(s) and the Mood the Setting(s) Create: / Significance of the Opening Scene:
Major Symbols, Motifs, Images: / Significance of the Ending/Closing Scene:
Themes:
Possible Topics/Questions for Discussion:
· When responding to significant sections, consider how/what about this component might be important to the book as a whole – character development, theme, symbolism.
· Themes are complete sentences about a topic. “Love” is not a theme; it is a topic. “Love can exist in spite of society’s pressure” is what the author might say about love.
· “Author’s style” refers to the author’s diction, syntax, point of view and tone -- not only what is said, but how it’s said. Writing from a ten-year-old’s perspective differs from an adult’s because of the writer’s style and selection of detail. Style, when done properly, contributes to theme, character development, plot . . .
· If using the internet for anything, please use it as a reference tool for literary terms, vocabulary, allusions, author bio, etc., not to look up or replace the book itself. This assignment must be done in your own words, based on your own reading, not based on other MWDS online.
· Your MWDS must be submitted to turnitin.com by first week of school once you are given the code
· There will be a major assessment (essay, test, or project) assigned during the first week of school.