AP English Summer Reading Assignment

2008-2009

Students enrolled in AP English for the 2007-2008 school year are required to actively read and complete journal entries on the following three texts:

Thomas C. Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment, both translated by

     Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

This assignment will comprise a major portion of the first quarter grade.  A written evaluation given during the first few days of school will be the year’s first test grade, and the journal, collected on the first day of school, will count as two test grades.  Furthermore, much of September will be devoted to study and discussion of both texts, and they will continually be referenced throughout the year.  Your success on this assignment will have far-reaching consequences, so please put in your strongest effort. 

     Below are some specifics about these books and the accompanying journal.  A grading rubric for each journal entry is attached. 

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

This book is an easy-to-read introduction to the patterns of symbolic meaning in literary texts, and is a helpful secondary source for AP English.  I suggest reading it first, as it may help make some parts of the Dostoevsky novels more meaningful to you.       

     You are to complete two journal entries after (or while) reading this book.  You are to choose two separate “texts”—a text could be a scene from a movie, poem, play, story, chapter from a novel, song lyric, etc.—and explain how each text reflects one or more of Foster’s ideas.  The texts you write about must not be one discussed in Foster’s book, or the two Dostoevsky novels.  See the additional specifics about the journal entries at the end of this handout. 

Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) is a preeminent Russian novelist who made a profound and lasting contribution to world literature.  His novels explore the troubled undercurrents beneath the social fabric of Russian society, and are often thought of as precursors to the anxieties and moral uncertainties of the twentieth century and beyond.

     Published within two years of each other (1864 and 1866, respectively), study of these two novels will provide an opportunity to study the evolution of a writer’s artistry and ideas from one text to the next.  I strongly suggest reading them in the order they were written (Notes from Underground first), partially for that reason.  Notes from Underground is a slender novel that packs a wicked punch: be prepared for an unsettling reading experience.  Crime and Punishment is about an impoverished and desperate ex-student who rationalizes what he considers to be the perfect crime: the robbery and murder of a miserable old woman whom no one will mourn.  It is a crime drama, detective story, a compulsively readable story, and one of the most compelling and realistic psychological novels ever written.   Hopefully you will find these books to be rich and rewarding reading experiences.  

     Please make sure you read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations, as those are the versions we will be reading and discussing in class.      

You are to complete a reflective journal entry after each of the following readings:

Notes from Underground, Part I (“Underground”)

Notes from Underground, Part II (“Apropos of the Wet Snow”)

Crime and Punishment, Part I, chapters 1-3

Crime and Punishment, Part I, chapters 4-7

Crime and Punishment, Part II, chapters 1-4

Crime and Punishment, Part II, chapters 5-7

Crime and Punishment, Part III, chapters 1-3

Crime and Punishment, Part III, chapters 4-6

Crime and Punishment, Part IV, chapters 1-3

Crime and Punishment, Part IV, chapters 4-6

Crime and Punishment, Part V, chapters 1-3

Crime and Punishment, Part V, chapters 4-5

Crime and Punishment, Part VI, chapters 1-4

Crime and Punishment, Part VI, chapters 5-8 and the Epilogue

Tips for reading the Dostoevsky novels

·        Read up a little on Dostoevsky’s life prior to the reading.  He had a life of amazing variety and emotional intensity, and some knowledge of his experiences will help inform your reading and put his ideas in context.  Also, read up something about St. Petersburg, the setting for both novels.  (You don’t have to go crazy with this background reading…Wikipedia articles are fine.)

·        Don’t read SparkNotes or any other such materials with these books.  I want you to have an original reading experience.   

·        With long novels originally written in different languages, you need to keep track of both names and places.  I suggest starting a list of them (separate from the journal entries), updating the list as you finish each chapter, and referring to that list when you need to. 

·        Read with a pen in hand, making notes in the margins of the text when you are confused, amused, moved, or find some startling significance in a particular passage.

Specifics about the Journal Entries

• You should have a total of sixteen journal entries: two on How to Read Literature Like a Professor, two on Notes from Underground and twelve on Crime and Punishment. 

• You may type or handwrite the journal.  If you type it, make sure you double-space; if you handwrite it, make sure it is written neatly.

• Label the journal entries so I know which chapter(s) you are referring to.

• The journal will be collected the first Monday of class and will comprise two test grades.  There will be a ten point deduction per class day if handed in late.

• Each journal entry will be given a separate grade, as specified on the attached rubric.  For the full journal grade I will add up the journal entry grades and divide for the final grade.

• Read the rubric (next page) carefully for grading specifics, but above all, please try to make your journal entries interesting, lively and responsive narratives. 

AP English

Summer Reading Journal Entry Rubric

A (8-9)

All the requirements of a “B” journal entry (see below) are in evidence, but with a greater degree of effort, analytical insight and writing sophistication.  The entry balances generalizations with specific illustrative details with considerable skill, maintains coherence through thoughtful transitions from one point to another, goes beyond mere structural integrity to establish a voice through which the analysis is maintained, and is engaging and enjoyable to read.  Furthermore, the entry is unusually insightful and shows an uncommon sensitivity to the language and ideas of the text, especially as language and ideas relate to each other. 

B (6-7)

The entry is well-written and constitutes evidence of thoughtful interaction with the text.  That evidence is displayed through some or all of the following:

• Characters and events are analyzed and meaningfully compared to other characters and events in the text, different text(s),  and/or personal or “real world” experience;

• Structure and/or style is analyzed in relation to meaning, especially regarding the narrative voice and point of view;

• The author’s tone is analyzed and connected to theme, with textual substantiation.

Excerpts from the text are cited and thoughtfully elaborated on, meaningful questions are asked, difficulties with the plot or the writer’s style are grappled with and explored with sensitivity and intelligence.  Creative tangents with clear connections to the text may be present.   

C (5)

The entry aspires to reach all of the requirements of the “B” level entry (see above), but falls short by no more than two of the following: 1) writing about the text superficially, without meaningful exploration of characterization, tone, theme, etc.; 2) not providing enough textual substantiation for your assertions; 3) not clearly connecting the evidence to the assertions in a meaningful way, thus causing confusion; 4) writing about plot at the expense of other literary elements; and 5) writing sloppily or poorly.  

F (0-4)

The entry falls short of the requirements of the “B” level entry (see above) by more than two of the deficiencies explained above (see the “C” level entry), or with one or more of those deficiencies with an unusual degree of severity. 

(Journal grade equivalencies on a 0-100 scale: 9=100, 8.5=95, 8=90, 7.5=88, 7=85, 6.5=83, 6=80, 5.5=75, 5=70, 4.5=68, 4=65, 3.5=63, 3=60, 2.5=50, 2=40, 1.5=30, 1=20, .5=10, 0=0)

In Summary

Just to make it clear what you have to do, here’s the summer reading assignment simplified as far as possible:

• Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

• Complete two journal entries on How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

• Read Notes from Underground and complete two journal entries while reading.

• Read Crime and Punishment and complete twelve journal entries while reading.

That’s it…enjoy the summer!