Independent+reading

AP Lit Independent Reading Assignment

Each student will read three books of their choosing, one book per quarter in AP Language. The text selected must be from the nonfiction genre.

Nonfiction texts allowed:
 * autobiography (no celebrity autobiographies, esp. if they are alive!!)
 * biography
 * memoir
 * travel/adventure/historical event story
 * analytical work (author explores a current topic)
 * thematic series: read at least 10 persuasive pieces from credible sources about the same topic. If you have any questions about what qualifies as a credible source please contact Ms. Degenhardt.
 * NY Times
 * Times Magazine
 * Wall Street Journal
 * Forbes
 * The Washington Post
 * Los Angeles Times
 * Sports Illustrated/ESPN Magazine
 * World News CNN

List of authors and texts

** Academic Networking: ** Write two posts of 300 to 400 words. Be sure to post while you are reading the book. Do not wait until you have finished the book. If you submit for review all four posts on one day or in several days at the end of the quarter, there will be penalty points. Select from the list below to develop your post topics:
 * 1) Find two to three essential quotes (no longer than a single sentence) from the text. Use these quotes to emphasis what statement the author is trying to get across to the reader. Introduce each quote by stating the context in which it was given. In other words, what is the author talking about in this particular section of the text. Analyze the quotation by explaining the denotations and connotations of the quote.
 * 2) Provide a counterargument to one of the essential arguments the author makes in the text you are reading. Be sure to provide valid facts and information to support your counterargument.
 * 3) What literary devices does the author use within their argument? How do these devices strengthen the author's claim? Are there devices not used that could have strengthened the argument?
 * 4) Defend the claim made in the text you are reading by considering another text that echoes the same ideas or concepts.
 * 5) Describe how the text you are reading could be made into a documentary. What information in the text would be essential to producing the argument through the documentary?
 * 6) What happens after the completion of the text? What areas of the argument does there need to be more research?