IB/AP English 12

Summer Reading 2007

Teachers: John Ruhlin

ruhlin_john@asdk12.org

Assignment: For the second year in a row, the summer reading assignment is a nonfiction text. You will be able to choose your own text, as long as it meets the following criteria:

• nonfiction
• international setting or focus
• firsthand narrative account (as opposed to a historical account)
• 20th century (or 21st)
• literary (i.e., generally regarded as well-written)

The following books are some suggested titles. Although you aren't limited to these books, any one of them would be a good choice, and they will at least give you an idea of what we're looking for.

• The Places in Between, Rory Stewart (an account of a recent trip on foot through Afghanistan)
• The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin (tracing Australian aboriginal travel routes and the songs used to map them) or other Chatwin books
• West with the Night, Beryl Markham (a female aviator's account of growing up in Kenya)
• Running in the Family, Michael Ondaatje (a memoir of Ondaatje's return to his Sri Lankan home)
• War Talk, Arundhati Roy (Indian Booker Prize winner discusses war, terrorism, and other contemporary global issues)
• any of a variety of books by V. S. Naipaul, 2001 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Literature
• any of a variety of books by Paul Theroux

You should read the book carefully and reflectively. Any book that meets the criteria will introduce you to new places, new cultures. Your success in this class depends primarily on your willingness to read with attention to detail and with an enthusiasm for literature.

As you read, make note of any "jaw-dropping" passages, any selections from the book that make you say, "Wow!" due to their cultural revelations or their achingly beautiful prose style, for example. On the first day of class in the fall, be prepared to give a short (2-3 minute) presentation on the passage you've selected. I'll ask you to read the passage and then comment on why you found it to be so stunning. I'll also collect your short comments in written form.

Above all, find a book that intrigues or excites you. Ask your parents for suggestions. Look around for books that fit the criteria and appeal to your interests. I'm assuming that at least one of the reasons you've signed up for this class is the fact that you enjoy reading and that part of the enjoyment comes from finding a book that challenges you to examine the world in a new way.

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