Summer Reading: Advanced Placement English 3
Summer
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The focus of the AP Language and Composition exam is non-fiction, but our curriculum will also include American literature; hence, we will be combining both throughout the year. Though The Catcher in the Rye is a work of literature, we will be looking at it rhetorically and using it to practice the argumentation skills required by the AP Language exam. Your objective this summer is to do a close and careful reading of the novel by paying particular attention to the details of language and the literary devices rather than merely plot. In order to accomplish this, your assignment is to closely annotate the novel, marking both significant passages and commenting on their significance in the margins of the text. You will be turning in your copy of your annotated novel on the first day of school, and the quality of your annotations will be graded as the first assignment of the course. In addition, you will be tested on the novel within the first few days of the year. Finally, your first essay will also focus on The Catcher in the Rye. In addition to your work with the novel, you will need to study the attached list of literary and rhetorical terms that serve as the foundation for the course—and be prepared to be tested on them sometime in September.
WHAT TO DO: 1. Obtain a copy of The Catcher in the Rye that will allow you ample space to complete thoughtful and thorough annotations. We are not looking for a specific quantity of quotes or comments but, rather, evidence of college-level insight of your own original ideas. Hence, a reliance upon outside sources is NOT encouraged. 2. You may choose to purchase your own copy of the book or locate an electronic copy that you can mark up and then submit as an email attachment. 3. Annotations should be a combination of careful markings/underlining/highlighting of key passages along with margin notes that
demonstrate your thoughts and ideas of the marked passage. (See example on back.) 4. You might consider moments of character development, theme, symbolism, tone, or other relevant literary devices. Some key topics you may be attentive to include: adolescence, maturity, relationships, grief and loss, and the idea of “phoniness.”
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in a this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” --Holden Caulfield
