Summer Reading 2024-2025

AP English Language and Composition

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

Welcome to AP English Language and Composition. According to the College Board, an AP

course in English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of
prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose
for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the
interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way
genre conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. The
assignments in this packet are important because they provide you with a chance to establish
good reading and writing work habits this summer and to raise the level of your “English” so that
you are comfortable with the work load that you will encounter when the class begins meeting on
a daily basis in the fall. Needless to say, the expectations for this class are high and you will have
to work very hard if you are going to be successful. Writing well is the key to doing well in all of
your classes from this point forward; therefore, we applaud your decision to take on this
challenge. And, we will do everything that we can to help support you along the way.
Good Luck!

DUE DATE: All assignments must be submitted as one document titled “Summer Reading” to
CANVAS by 7:40, August 22nd. Please note that all work submitted to CANVAS will be
processed through Turnitin.
**You must also print a copy of your entire assignment with each section clearly labeled to
turn in.

This document should include:

_____ Assignment 1: Letter of Introduction
_____ Assignment 2: Tone Words
_____ Assignment 3: Speech Summary
____ Assignment 4: Rhetorical Methods of Development - Bedford Reader notes (typed)
____ Assignment 5: Allsides.com
_____Assignment 6: JK Rowling Harvard Commencement Address
***ALL assignments must be typed and follow MLA format.
***Please note that all handouts, including the tone words, speeches/documents, Bedford
chapters, can be found in the Canvas module.
Assignment One: Letter of Introduction
1. You are to write a letter of introduction to your AP Language teacher about why you
signed up for AP Language and Composition. The letter should focus on you as a
“student.” Your letter must include the following:
• What you hope to gain from taking the class.
• What you intend to do to better prepare yourself for the class.
• Anything you think would be useful for us to know about you as a student so that
we can help you be as successful as possible.
• What are your strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing, and grammar.
Assignment Two: Tone Words
1. Using the “Tone Words” handout, define at least twenty words that you do not
know. You are creating a study guide for yourself and will be required to keep the tone
words in the “Words in Action” section of your binder.

Assignment Three: Speeches/Documents

The Summary Paper:
As you read the following speech, annotate (make notes on the main assertions, central ideas,
and purpose of speech). YOU WILL LOSE CREDIT IF THE SPEECH IS NOT ANNOTATED.
Please note: HIGHLIGHTING IS NOT ANNOTATING!
For the speech, you will write a summary of approximately 300 words. Make sure to include the
main idea and supporting assertions. Ensure that your summary accurately and economically
expresses the central ideas of the original.
The following are helpful hints for you:
• Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” Speech
In this passage, every paragraph can be summarized in 3-5 sentences. Reread the 12-20
sentences you have written to be sure that your sentences accurately, clearly and economically
express the central ideas of the original.
Some Advice:
• Before writing your summary paper, read the speeches SEVERAL times carefully to
determine each thesis…the writer’s position. Distinguish between those assertions which
the speaker makes to develop his thesis and the evidence he uses to support such
assertions.
• Look for the topic sentence of each paragraph, but do not assume that every paragraph
treats a separate, equally important topic. Sometimes a writer will elaborate or develop a
single point for several paragraphs.
• Isolate these single points (assertions) and examine their relationship to each other.
• It may help to outline the main points (the main assertion) of the speech, realizing that the
outline may or may not precisely reflect the organization of the original speech.
 • The summary should be entirely your own words. To duplicate the phrasing of the
original without quotation constitutes plagiarism. You will find this formula for the first
sentence to be helpful: In his speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death,” Henry
asserts that… Following the word that will embed a thesis sentence that summarizes
Henry’s own thesis.
• Do not impose your ideas or opinions on the original.
• Do not merely rephrase or paraphrase. You cannot possibly reproduce every idea in the
speech. Select and summarize only the central ones. (Keep in mind there is a difference
between summary and paraphrase.)
• Use the present tense. For example, “Henry asserts…” The speech and the ideas it
presents exist in the present. However, past tense or future tense must be used when
necessitated by the context. In other words, if the author discusses an event that occurred
in the past, the event happened; if the author discusses a future consequence, the
consequence may ensue.
• Do not attempt to analyze or evaluate what the author does; merely summarize what
the writer writes.
• Use effective, precise words.
Assignment Four: Rhetorical Methods of Development
You should use The Bedford Reader chapters that are included as a handout to take the notes.
Take notes on “The Method” and “The Process” for each of the following rhetorical methods:
• Narration
• Description
• Example
• Comparison/Contrast
• Process Analysis
• Division or Analysis
• Classification
• Cause and Effect
• Definition
**You are creating study notes for yourself so use the format most helpful to you for
studying purposes.

Assignment 5: Allsides.Com
AllSides is a website that displays the news as it is covered from a breadth of perspectives,
providing different perspectives on the same story, as well as different opinions on the day's top
stories. AllSides also seeks to give context by revealing debate on the underlying issues and
providing other helpful background.
1. Select three articles from different sources on the SAME topic. One will be a source from
the far left, center, and far right. Read all of them.
2. For BOTH the article from the far left and from the far right, complete the following:
(1) Identify the author’s claim.
(2) Cite two specific textual references that support the claim.
(3) Explain how the quotes or cited sources emphasize one side of the issue more than the
opposing side
(4) Identify any bias the article’s title or pictures show.
(5) Identify information in the center article the far right and the far left sources leave out.
(6) Identify at least three examples of loaded/biased diction (word choice).
**** You must print and include each of the three articles that you read.
Assignment 6: J.K. Rowling Harvard Commencement Address
You are to read J.K. Rowling’s Harvard Commencement Address (included). Then identify her
claims about both the “fringe benefits of failure” and the “importance of imagination.” For each
claim write a separate paragraph in which you identify her claim, cite at least two specific textual
references as evidence for each claim, and discuss whether or not you agree with each of her
claims and why.