Advanced Placement English Literature & Composition
Summer Assignment
This summer assignment has been designed with purpose by both your teacher and the class of seniors before you to reflect the most
rigorous and analytical concepts of the class. These skills are absolutely mandatory for you to master in order to be successful in this course. As
suggested by the peers before you, please take each element of the assignment seriously and be thorough, as this is certainly not the last time
you will need it! The entire assignment consists of two parts, both of which are included in this document. They are the 1) Literary Device Chart
and 2) Jaws Assignment activities. To help you with each assignment, you will need the themes list provided here. YOU WILL BE TESTED ON
LITERARY DEVICES IN THE FIRST WEEK!
This themes list will be your “bread and butter” when analyzing any work we read this year! You will use it immediately in these
activities and a number of times throughout the class. HANG ON TO THIS PIECE OF PAPER!
- Alienation - Ambition - Appearance vs. reality - Betrayal - Bureaucracy - Chance/fate/luck - Children - Courage/cowardice - Cruelty/violence - Custom/reality - Defeat/failure - Despair/discontentment/disillusio
nment - Domination/suppression - Dreams/fantasies - Duty - Education/school - Escape - Exile - Faith/loss of faith - Falsity/pretence - Family/parenthood - Free will/will power - Game/contests/sports
- Greed - Guilt - Heart vs. reason - Heaven/paradise/utopia - Home - Illusion/innocence - Initiation - Instinct - Journey/psychological journey - Law/justice - Loneliness/aloneness - Loyalty - Materialism - Memory/the past - Mob psychology - Music, dance - Mysterious stranger - Patriotism - Persistence/perseverance - Poverty - Prejudice - Prophecy - Repentance - Resistance/rebellion
- Revenge/retribution - Ritual/ceremony - Scapegoat/victim - Search for identity - Social status - Supernatural - Time/eternity - War - Women/feminism
1) Literary Device Chart
Device Definition Provide an Example (you can create
one or find one in literature)
Allegory
Alliteration
Allusion
Anachronism
Anecdote
Anthropomorphism
Antihero
Apostrophe
Aside
Assonance
Ballad
Bathos, Pathos
Black humor
Cadence
Canto
Catharsis
Chorus
Colloquialism
Conceit, Controlling
Image
Connotation
Denotation
Consonance
Couplet
Diction
Syntax
Irony (and types)
Elegy
Enjambment
Epic
Epitaph
Farce
Foil
Free verse
Gothic, Gothic novel
Hubris
Hyperbole
Implicit
In medias res
Irony
Metaphor
Simile
Metaphysical conceit
Metonymy
Objectivity
Subjectivity
Omniscient narrator
Oxymoron
Parable
Paradox
Parallelism
Parody
Personification
Point of view (and types)
Protagonist/Antagonist
Pun
Rhetorical question
Satire
Soliloquy
Stock characters
Stream of consciousness
Subjunctive mood
Suspension of disbelief
Theme
Tragic flaw
Utopia/Dystopia
2) Jaws Assignment
Story-creators (writers/authors, directors, etc.) create their own worlds and their own rules. Justice and Fairness exist and are typically rewarding. Usually, the
good guys win; contrastingly, “bad guys” and rule-breakers get punished (which is not always the case in reality). They try to make it clear from the very beginning of
the story who the reader/audience is supposed to like and dislike, and they leave hints about the finale all the way until the end. Your job as the reader/audience is to
try to uncover those hints to figure out the end before it happens. This is the case in all forms of media (books, plays, movies, tv shows, poems, songs, etc.). STOP AND
RE-READ THIS PARAGRAPH AT LEAST ONCE BEFORE MOVING ON!
Watch Jaws (1975). You MUST watch the whole thing; otherwise, your analysis of how the writer foreshadowed the finale won’t make sense. Complete the
chart for each scene (listed at the top).
(I’m using the chapter titles from the DVD—look up on YouTube):
EXAMPLE:
Scene/Chapter: “Chrissie’s Last Swim”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience supposed to
feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with theme
(explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his/her chances of success/survival
(regardless of ending)?
Chrissie
Don’t give me synonyms. Pay attention to connotation: positive or negative? Impulsive Idiotic Naïve Irresponsible Ignorant Foolhardy Reckless
If the adjectives you chose are primarily positive, we’re probably supposed to LIKE this character; if the adjectives are mostly negative, we’re probably going to DISLIKE this character. Briefly explain why. We’re not supposed to like her initially: she’s breaking the rules AND being irresponsible about it! She’s acting like an idiot. I don’t like her.
You should notice that these start to connect! Don’t limit yourself to the definition of the theme! Think of anything related (refer to Themes List above) Rebellion Coming of age/ youth Freedom Duty/ responsibility Naivete Fear/lack thereof
No plot summary—I’ve seen the movie. Explain to me what you think ABOUT the themes you listed. She’s breaking the rules of social norms and expectations for her gender and age. She’s free because of her youth and lack of duty/responsibility. This drives her to behave impulsively. She should have more fear of
We should be able to assume the outcome of each character even when we’re first introduced to him/her, so focus on the very first time we meet the character. Don’t tell me what WILL or DOES happen; tell me what you think might. IT’S OKAY TO BE WRONG! JUST MAKE A HYPOTHESIS/TAKE A RISK! Something bad will happen at the least. Probably she’ll die. She’s being reckless hanging out in the ocean when she shouldn’t be. Plus, she’s smoking, drinking, and skinny-dipping, which is typically seen as “bad behavior.”
the ocean—it’s not her territory or home and presents a real threat. Her lack of fear demonstrates stupidity.
Scene/Chapter: “A Feast for the Crabs”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Scene/Chapter: “The Town Meeting”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Quint
Scene/Chapter: “The Shark Hunters”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Quint
Mr. Hooper
Scene/Chapter: “Face to Face”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Quint
Mr. Hooper
Scene/Chapter: “Scars”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Quint
Mr. Hooper
Scene/Chapter: “Quint’s Last Stand”
Character Adjectives to describe character in this scene (4):
How is the audience
supposed to feel about her?
Themes dealt with (3):
Explanation of how character deals with
theme (explain EACH):
Therefore, what are his chances of success/survival?
Brody
Quint
Mr. Hooper