<< AP Lit Outside Reading

AP Lit Outside Reading | Written Response

Your response should push 750 words, and is in two parts: copyright 2000, Hammish Strong
  1. Your feelings/thoughts about the book.
    It's important to write this first part first, untainted by what critics and reviewers have said. This part should show [   ] an active engagement with the book, both at [   ] a feeling/reacting level and at [   ] a thinking/analyzing level. If you think I might not be able to tell the difference between these two, maybe you should [   ] announce each explicitly. There is no pressure to like the book, nor to be profound, only to use writing to make clear to yourself and to me what you felt and thought.

  2. How the literary world regards the book, and your reaction/thoughts about that.
    This second part is where you ground your response in the larger world. You first need to do enough research to be confident that you can report on [   ] how the literary world regards the text.
      Due dates
      2000-01
    • December 16
    • January 12
    • February 9
    • March 9
    • April 6
    • May 4
    This requires time and energy -- it is not enough to find one review or piece of criticism, nor somebody's college paper posted on a web site. Use the links and suggestions below. If you have trouble, ask me to help you -- I'll meet you at Bowdoin after school, if you give me 2 days' lead time. Dig till you have enough sources (2-5) to be confident you know the general issues surrounding the book's position in the literary world. Describe that position, [   ] using short quotes and [   ] the apparatus of academic attribution (parenthetical citations referring to a Works Cited page), and then [   ] compare and contrast your earlier response to what you have found.
  • These sections need to be obvious to me as I read. If you think they may not be obvious, either write better [   ] topic sentences and transitions, or [   ] use headers.
  • Anonymous.
  • Typed. Double-spaced.

Places to start looking for reviews and criticism:


Accessible from anywhere:

  • New York Times Book Review
    (Use "mt.ararat" as a user name, and "eagles" as a password, if you want.)

  • Books in MtA Library
    (These are just a sample from the Reference section; there are lots of others nearby...)
    R 809.8 NIN Nineteenth century literature criticism excerpts
    R 809 TWE Twentieth century literary criticism
    R 809 CON Contemporary literary criticism
    R 809.04 MAG Magill's literary annual
    R 809 EUR European writers
    R 820.9 MO Moulton's library of literary criticism



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revised 10/14/04