AP Language Adventure
AP Lang is a composition course, which means we’ll be focusing on writing (duh, I know). However, what might surprise you is that one of the keys to success in this course is actually reading and thinking about the world. Let’s face it: you can’t write about something that you don’t know; you can’t clearly explain something about which your thinking is fuzzy. Students who do best in this course and on this exam are the students who KNOW STUFF and who are in the habit of THINKING ABOUT STUFF.
In short, you need to become a Student of the World. This means that you’re someone who is always engaged in observing, reading about, and reflecting on the world around you. It means you go out of your way to be someone who likes exploring and encountering new things. It means that you pay attention not only to what’s going on around you, but to what you THINK about it. Students of the World are not satisfied mindlessly meeting requirements and and being told what to do; instead, they seek out of a sense of passion and learn because they’re interested in experiencing life.
This assignment is going to set you on your path to becoming a Student of the World. It’s designed to help you build your personal set of background knowledge by exploring diverse information and experiences and by providing you with opportunities to explore the world around you. You’ll then have new information and experiences from which to pull as you develop and support your own arguments and think critically about the arguments of others. The better informed you are, the more evidence you have at your disposal when you need it; the more practiced you are at complex thinking, the easier it will be to do so on the spot.
Definition: Schema (pronounced SKEE-muh) means a framework of understanding; in other words, background information and experience. The point of this assignment is to build your schema.
The Adventure: To complete as many of these schema builders as you can over the summer; list of options attached
Your Assignment: For each schema builder all you have to do is:
- Identify your source/activity, giving as much basic information as possible (depending on the source/activity, as applicable: title, author, creator, physical location, URL, time, place, etc.)
- Write about a half page reflection, thoughtfully commenting on your experience & answering one or more of the following: What did you notice about the source/activity? What did you like about the source/activity? What about it pushed you out of your comfort zone? What did you THINK about the source/activity? What do you know/understand now that you didn’t before? How did this experience change the way you think about something? What is a thought, idea, or perspective that you might not have considered if you hadn’t encountered this material?
This can be handwritten, digital, or a combination as long as you can turn in a hard copy that is organized and readable on the first day of class. Though it’s not required, feel free to be creative in your presentation (ex. Create a binder that includes evidence you’ve gathered, such as pictures, pamphlets, etc.)
- To get a 90+, complete at least 7 schema builders and reflections, including at least one from each category.
- To get a 80-89, complete at least 5 schema builders and reflections (category ONE must be included)
- To get a 70-79, complete at least 3 schema builders and reflections.
*Note that the number of schema builders you choose to complete will earn you a grade within the set range, as indicated above. Where your grade falls within that range will depend on the degree to which your work shows evidence of engagement, critical thinking, thoroughness, and reflection.
Your Adventure Awaits
Look at the list. There are lots of choices. The point is to explore and learn new things, but also work within areas of interest to you.
The rules:
- Don’t write about things you’ve already read, watched, or done (e.g. you can’t use the same book you used for your English project last year).
- You can’t double-dip (e.g. you can’t count a book that you’re also reading for AP Psych summer work, and you can’t count the same history documentary in both the Entertainment category and the History one).
- Some of them CAN be things you’ve already been planning on doing this summer (e.g. visiting a museum on vacation or a particular book that’s been on your to-read list). These are meant to fit in to your regular summer plans.
- Don’t choose things that you already regularly do (e.g. don’t write about going to Dorney Park, if you’ve done it your whole life).
- You can do them with friends or family if you choose.
- The point is to have and reflect on NEW experiences.
If you complete these sporadically throughout the summer, you will find that the amount of writing/response you’re doing is rather reasonable. If you wait until the last few days of summer and then try to do it all at one shot, this is going to seem like a huge, onerous task. Additionally, cramming it all in at once means you’re just going through the motions and missing the point of the assignment (engagement with the world). You’ve chosen to take a high level thinking course; do you really want to start out taking all of the shortcuts? If shortcuts are your thing, do you really want to be in a college level course?
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Finally, please note that this assignment is not requiring you to do any particular activity. You don’t have to spend a dime or do anything extravagant; essays and other short texts can easily be found online, while books and many movies are available for free at the public library. The extensive list of options is meant to provide flexibility for your situation, interests, and abilities, so you can meet your chosen tasks over the summer whether you’re traveling to Europe or not leaving Nazareth. Though the goal is to get you engaging with new things, you could complete the required array of activities with nothing more than an internet connection and some creativity.
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** On the list of schema builders, you will see some underlined text.
On the electronic version of this (located on the AP Lang Summer
Work Schoology group to which you’ve been added), those
underlined words are links to options or additional information.
