by Thomas C. Foster and Mary Shelley, respectively

Transcription

1 AP LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT BISHOP MACHEBEUF HIGH SCHOOL I darted towards the spot from which the sound proceeded, but the devil eluded my grasp. Suddenly the broad disk of the moon arose and shone full upon his ghastly and distorted shape as he fled with more than mortal speed. 180 How to Read Literature Like a Professor & Frankenstein by Thomas C. Foster and Mary Shelley, respectively Doctor Frankenstein The Creature

2 The assignment in brief: 1. Read the below assigned chapters of How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster. ISBN: X (Most of the chapters of the book are assigned, start soon/early.) This is listed as 1, because you need to read this book first! Complete questions below as you go. (50 points) 2. Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Any complete edition with her original wording will do. (50 points) 3. Complete the essay to apply How to Read Literature Like a Professor to Frankenstein. (More on this below!) (50 points) Anyone who does not turn in the COMPLETE assignment on the day it is due (the first day we return to school) will be removed from AP Literature and Composition and rescheduled for English 4: British Literature, where he/she will be given a zero for the summer reading assignment. If you have printer trouble and are not able to print your assignment, please bring a note from your parent/guardian AND your essays to mkopenhafer@machebeuf.org. I will also check this address about once a week during the summer. Purposes: First and most importantly, the purpose of reading Frankenstein is to call into question the idea of humanity (Who am I? /Why am I here?), our relationship with ourselves, and our relationship with God, through the characters struggles with these struggles and their pursuit of the answers to these questions. Please read it with these questions in mind. Additionally I seek to instill a sense of theme for the year & to introduce British Literature, in style, tone, & vocabulary. Finally, all summer reading assignments endeavor to keep the students minds active in the subject matter and critical thinking.

3 Step One: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster You may either borrow this book from a library or purchase it. You need to read all of the below assigned chapters and interludes and complete the questions below, typed or handwritten, to hand in. I also recommend you take notes on the major points of each chapter, as we will be applying them these chapters to the literature we will be reading this year. The author of this book is a (secular) professor who is writing about books and short stories from his point of view as an established expert. His advice regarding the analysis of literature and the recognition of patterns in it, as well as the questioning of why these patterns exist, is right on. Some of his opinions regarding what should be read, while they do not match mine, do match the majority of colleges in America (whether that be right or not). That does not mean we will be reading many or most of the books or short stories he references in this book. He also may at times talk on topics I hold reverent in a way I find blasé. I would not use this book as a way to start a list of What should I read before the AP test and just because he references a book does not mean that Sister Miriam recommends you run out and read it or that you not read it either. We will be talking about a good number of Great Books this year which are more closely in line with a morality and an anthropology that is less hopeless than many of these. Answer these AS YOU READ! You may type your answers or write them in a notebook/journal. Read: Introduction: How d He Do That? How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Read: Chapter 1: Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It s Not) List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read or seen, but that was not discussed in the chapter. Read: Chapter 5: Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? If there is only one story? What do you think it is?/what do you think it is about? How do superheroes recall the pattern of mythology? What are the similarities and differences? Read: Chapter 6: When in Doubt, It s from Shakespeare Add any other quotes from Shakespeare you remember. In your opinion how has modern knowledge of Shakespeare shaped our ideas of the definitions of what is tragic, what is romantic, and what is comedic?

4 Read: Chapter 7: Or the Bible Name three books or short stories you ve studied so far in high school that strongly incorporate Biblical stories or imagery and explain the connections. Read: Chapter 8: Hanseldee and Greteldum *Define the literary canon based on the description in this chapter. Make a list of some pieces you think are in it. *Define metonymy. Read: Chapter 9: It s Greek to Me *Do you agree or disagree with his definition of myth? Why or why not? *What is it called (in literary terms) when an author references a myth, a bible story, something from history, etc? Read: Chapter 10: It s more than Just Rain or Snow *Why is water (often/usually) cleansing? By this I mean, examine (analytically, using your brains, imaginations, thought-processes) the history of the symbol. How did it come to be? Why do we use it this way in Western culture? Read: Interlude: Does He Mean That? So: Do the authors really mean to do all of this? Read: Chapter 11: More than It s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence Give an example of violence in something that you have read, preferably a work of literary importance (aka something from the canon) not listed in this chapter. What was the purpose of that violence in that work? Read: Chapter 12: Is That a Symbol? Here he really uses the whole chapter to define symbol. Condense that for me. (Define symbol, in your own words, based on this chapter.) When, near the end of the chapter, Foster says, Reading is a highly intellectually activity but it involves affect and instinct to a large degree, what does that mean? What does it mean for you in this course? Read: Chapter 13: It s All Political Why does Foster say religious belief too tightly held can keep us from being analytical, from seeing how they are being used? How may we reapply our beliefs after the point of analysis?

5 Read: Chapter 14: Yes, She s a Christ Figure, Too Define Christ Figure --give me the list. Read: Chapter 15: Flights of Fancy Make a connection between our hearts and souls being often described as soaring and the idea of flight is freedom. Don t Read: Chapter 18: If She Comes Up, It s Baptism But do consider the title. If there is water or renaming there is a rebirth a renewal happening. In literature look for these things. Read: Chapter 19: Geography Matters, Chapter 20: So Does Season In these chapters, what Foster discusses used to fit in your old literary definitions under setting. How can setting affect/change/shape/inform a story? Answer by giving a SPECIFIC example from literature NOT included in either of these chapters. Read: Interlude: One Story *Review, but do not change your answer for the previous interlude. Did you agree or disagree with Foster? Do you agree or disagree with him now? *Define intertextuality and archetype. Read: Chapter 22: He s Blind for a Reason, You Know How can blindness be more metaphoric or symbolic in literature? Answer in the form of an example from something you ve read/seen. Read: Chapter 25: Don t Read with Your Eyes Make a list of things that separate you and our time period from most of the works in the literary canon, so that these things can be disregarded when reading them. Read: Chapter 26: Is He Serious? And Other Ironies If irony is to twist the reader s expectations and have what occur be the opposite of what is expected, and if it trumps everything, and if Foster kept referencing it all through the book, why write about it last? Now the assignment continues on the next page with Frankenstein.

6 Frankenstein By Mary Shelley Preface: Letters What do you learn about the storyteller of the letters from his letters? (What does he do? What is he like?) Chapters 1-3 these chapters and indeed nearly the whole of the book are related to Walton from his new mysterious passenger. 2. Write questions you have as you read. Refer to the glossary. 3. What do you think of the narrator Victor Frankenstein? Do you like him/dislike him? Why? 4. What does he like? What does he dislike? Chapters Victor is narrating these chapters much later in his life, compare and contrast the narrating Victor and the young Victor he talks about. How are they different in chapter 4? How do they become more similar in chapter 5? Make a prediction about the book based on these differences. 6. Victor said he was setting out to create a new species. Why create him so human in form? Why does he abandon his creation so immediately? Quote for support. 7. What responsibilities do you think he has toward this creation? Chapters Responsibility is a great theme of these chapters. In a few sentences, describe how and why Victor feels responsible for the tragedies that befall those he loves. What responsibilities do Justine and Elizabeth feel? Why? Is there anything that Victor should feel responsible for that he is missing? 9. Victor has always felt unable to tell his family about this great science project of his, even when he was proud of it and ambitious, before he saw the result. If you are fearful to tell those you love about what you are doing, what is most often the reason? How does that apply to his situation? What did he really do? Why? Chapters Describe your impression of the creature at this point. What is he like in your mind? Pushing aside all the old movies, what does he look like? What does he move like? What does he think like? What is he like? 11. Compare and contrast Victor and the creature. Which is rational? Which is emotional? Why? Which is more compassionate? Which is more virtuous? Why? (This should be a thorough paragraph.)

7 Chapters These are the creature narrating his movements of the last years to Victor (as Victor tells Walton). 12. Read these chapters pleasurably. Enjoy the creature s story as he tells it. Try to be moved by him. In the end of these three chapters, how do you feel about him? What has he learned? What was he like as he left Ingolstadt? To whom could you compare him? What is he like now? Is he at all like you described him before? Is he like what Victor thinks he is like? Could he be the same creature who murdered? 13. What question does he ask at the end of chapter 13 and why is that important? Chapters These chapters are the creature continuing to tell his story 14. The creature learns a lot about himself and learns to better understand his finer feelings by comparing and contrasting himself with the characters of the three great stories of chapter 15. What does this experience reveal about yourself or humanity in general? 15. What persists for the creature in the beginning of chapter16? What lesson does he learn about humanity in this chapter? Chapters These return to Victor s narration. 16. Where is responsibility and rightness here? It surely was wrong for Victor to have created life the first time, but is it wrong for him to deny companionship to the creature now? Is this the only/best way? Ought Victor to feel enslaved? 17. Why does the creature exclaim this is what it is to live now I enjoy existence!? 18. Predict the end of the novel. Chapters In chapter 19, Victor says I was guiltless, but I had indeed drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as mortal as that of crime (141). Do you think that he really believes that? Why or why not? Quote from the text to support. 20. Victor has begun to call the being, the creature (which he called him even on suspecting him of murder) a devil a demon instead. What could have prompted this change? Explain why you think so. Chapter The whole book has foreshadowed toward and built toward this chapter. Victor, in telling his story to Walton, has remembered this end, and hinted about this and the other tragedies. Yet even here, the reader may find similarities between creator and creature in motivations, emotions, and thoughts. What makes man monstrous? What makes the monster monstrous? Chapter Consider both Victor and the creature s final words and deeds. What does it mean for each of their humanity? What kind of man is each? 23. A foil character is a minor character who has similar traits or situations to a main character in order to make you think about that trait/situation in a new way. Consider Walton in this final chapter and again from the letters as a foil character to Victor. Explain what makes them similar and what makes them different and what you, as the reader learn.

8 Step Three: The Essay, Applying How to Read Literature Like a Professor to Frankenstein Write an essay, (5-6 paragraphs, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, size 12) in which you apply one of the chapters from Foster s book to Frankenstein to show the one story to tell the story of humanity. That is, write about ONE of the followings: archetypes, quests, intertextuality, symbol, allusion, geography, weather, politic, irony, violence, etc, HOW it is used in Shelley s Frankenstein to more closely analyze who mankind is and how we interact with one another? (Clearly the one story chapter is already applied.) Use formal tone (no I or you ; write out &, no fragments, etc.), careful word choice, a phenomenally persuasive thesis statement, meticulous grammar and spelling, and careful organization. You will be graded on this essay using the attached rubric, based off of the AP test essay rubrics. READ THE RUBRIC BEFORE WRITING THE ESSAY. Revisions may be required, if necessary. You should NOT use any sources, other than the two summer reading books. DO quote Frankenstein (Shelley and the page number of the quote in parentheses after the quote)! If you choose to quote from Foster s book, cite it using MLA formatting.

9 Summer Reading Essay Rubric AP Score Converted Percentage Description These are well-written papers which respond fully to the question asked. The best papers show a full understanding of the issues and support their points with appropriate textual evidence and examples. Writers of these essays demonstrate stylistic maturity by an effective command of sentence structure, diction, and organization. The writing need not be without flaws, but it should reveal the writer s ability to choose from and control a wide range of elements of effective writing These essays also respond correctly to the questions asked but do so less fully or less effectively than the essays in the top range. Their discussion may be less thorough and less specific. These essays are well- written in an appropriate style but reveal less maturity than the top papers. They do make use of textual evidence to support their points. Some lapses in diction or syntax may appear, but the writing demonstrates sufficient control over the elements of composition to present the writer s ideas clearly These essays respond to the question, but the comments may be simplistic or imprecise; they may be overly generalized, vague, or inadequately supported. These essays are adequately written, but may demonstrate inconsistent control over the elements of composition. Organization is attempted, but it may not be fully realized or particularly effective. Essays may include plot summary These essays attempt to deal with the question, but do so either inaccurately or without support or specific evidence. They may show some misunderstanding or omit pertinent analysis. The writing can convey the writer s ideas, but it reveals weak control over diction, syntax, organization. Essay may rely on plot summary. These essays may contain excessive and distracting spelling and grammatical errors. Statements are seldom supported with specific or persuasive evidence, or inappropriately lengthy quotations may replace discussion and analysis These essays fail to respond adequately to the question. They may reveal misunderstanding or may distort the interpretation. They compound the problems of the Lower Score papers. Generally these essays are unacceptably brief or poorly written. Although some attempts to answer the question may be indicated, the writer s view has little clarity and only slight, if any, evidence in its support. Essays rely on generalizations and do not quote from the text.