To: Rising Juniors in AP English Language & Composition

From: The CCHS English Department

Date: School Year 2008-2009

The CCHS English Department firmly believes summer reading complements our curriculum and benefits our students by providing challenging, interesting literature that stimulates the intellect and the imagination.  Like athletes training in the off-season, students continue reading to exercise the skills required for doing their best.  Further, these selections provide common bases for diagnostic assessments of student performance, from basic reading comprehension to the identification and application of literary terms to the more formal analysis of imagery, themes, and genres.  By providing engaging, provocative stories, summer reading books set the academic tone and expectations for the upcoming school year.

The books we have selected for your summer reading are designed to better prepare you for the challenging year ahead. McGraw Hill’s 5 Steps to a 5: AP English Language, second edition (ISBN 0-071-48854-5) is a comprehensive guide to the AP exam.

 Not only will this book offer tips and techniques for test taking, but it will also show you how to confront and analyze rhetorical techniques. In addition, we have chosen The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (ISBN10 0767902890 or ISBN13 9780767902892) and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (ISBN 0385486804).

·         Mark significant passages and make notes in the margins.  Such active reading will help you better prepare for extensive assessments of both novels at the very beginning of the year.  Refer to the notes on “How to Annotate a Text” which appears on www.gocougars.org. 

·         To further that end, complete the English 11AP summer reading assignment which also can be found at www.gocougars.org, which is due the second day of classes

·         Read and annotate Parts I & II only of 5 Steps to a 5.  Students will also be taking an AP multiple choice test and write an AP in-class essay during the first week of school.

 As always, all your work should reflect your best effort.  We look forward to a rewarding year together.  Enjoy a restful summer!