English III AP

Advanced Placement English III: Lit and Composition

Summer Reading Requirements

Advanced Placement English IV is a college prep class that is designed not only to help students pass the AP Lit exam in May, but to help students prepare for college and beyond. Only the well-read student can respond intelligently to prompts on the AP exam; therefore, summer reading is essential to your success. The options below have been recommended by the College Board several times in the past as good texts for answering this question on the exam.

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

1. Read ONE of the books listed above.
2. Keep a dialectical journal as you read. (See instructions below.) The amount of points awarded for your summer reading will depend on how detailed and analytical your journal is. The goal is to prove you read the book.
3. Submit your journal the first day of class.

Guidelines for the Dialectical Journal 

     Dialectic means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer.” The “dialectic” was the method Socrates used to teach his students how to be actively engaged in the struggle to obtain meaning from an unfamiliar and challenging work. A dialectical journal is a written conversation with yourself about a piece of literature that encourages the habit of reflective questioning. You will use a double-entry form to examine details of a passage and synthesize your understanding of the text. 

Instructions: 

1. Journal must be HANDWRITTEN to receive points.
2. Journal must comprehensively cover the entire book to prove that you read to the end.
3. You can keep your journal in any type of notebook or on looseleaf paper stapled together.
4. Divide each page into two sections.
5. Jot down notes from the book in the left-hand column.  Your notes can be paraphrased or quoted, but must include the chapter and page number where found.
6. On the right side of the page, write down your analysis including author’s tone, author’s purpose, targeted audience, author’s claim (argument or purpose), methods the author uses to convey his message and/or persuade his audience, any questions you may have on this section.
7. To receive the most points, choose a variety of information to explore in your analysis.  (Only asking questions will not yield many points on this assignment.)  Take notes and provide analysis on all chapters.  Prove to me that you read the book.

Sample Journal Entry: