AP+English+Language+(11)

=Advanced Placement English Language and Composition =
 * Summer Reading Assignment **

//“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” (Alfred North Whitehead) //

Required Text: Plato's //Republic// (click on icon below to purchase from Barnes and Noble)*

__Course Objective:__ from the AP Central __ [|Course Description] __ //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, // //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">audience expectations, and subjects, as well as the way genre conventions and the // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%;">//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing. //

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We can think, therefore, of no better introduction to the content and purpose of the course than reading Plato’s //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Republic //. It is with the Greeks that the arts of reasoning begin, and there is no other thinker in the Western World who has had a greater impact than Plato and on how we live and think. Therefore, for the young student of the history and content of our thought, few classic writers are as easy to read, or as engaging of our imaginations, as Plato. Of course, it is the character of Socrates, Plato’s teacher, who stands, in the Dialogues, as the voice of Plato, and the voice that still speaks to us today—in the classrooms, courtrooms, and legislatures of the Western World. Most importantly, it is Socrates’s personality and his method of asking questions that serves as an example for the beginning student of rhetoric.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Plato: //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The Republic //

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assignments: Due on Class Day One
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Annotate the text of Plato's //Republic//.** However, as this edition is a beautifully crafted hardback, you will probably not want to mark it up. Instead, create an annotation notebook just for this assignment. Turn in your notebook on Day One for an Annotation Grade __ [|(see “How and Why to Annotate a Book.”] __ from AP Central)
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For each of the ten chapter sections (called "Books"), **insert yourself, at any point, in the dialogue** with Socrates and company, and take part in the topic of conversation. Adopt Plato’s dialogue format. Ask questions, get replies, make comments, analyze arguments. You may adopt your own stance as a time-traveler from West Springfield, or be an Athenian citizen of the era (c. 380 B.C.). Make each “insertion” dialogue at least two double-spaced pages. Publish and clearly label these **Insertion Dialogues Mylastname** on one Buzzword document.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tip: start this project immediately upon leaving school for the summer. It is one little book, but thought-intensive. You will get the most out of the reading, annotating, and writing if you gradually work at it over the summer. The Republic is broken into ten chapter sections called "books," so if you devote one week to each of the"books," you will have no trouble at all successfully completing the assignments.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If, however, at any time during the summer you encounter difficulty, a question, a concern, or would just like to say hello, you may contact us at ballentine@wsps.org at kdoyle@wsps.org or via Buzzword.


 * Please note that there are many free audio downloads of the //Republic// (and at Itunes)..

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We look forward to meeting you all in September. Have a great summer! <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Ballentine <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ms. Doyle

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 98%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THE SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT IS DUE THE __FIRST__ DAY OF SCHOOL. **