| AP English Literature and Composition - Reading List |
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| Reading List Most of the reading for this course will be available for you on the web. Other materials will require that you go to a library or purchase from a bookstore. In many cases, you will have a choice: the material will be available to you on the web, but you may prefer to read a print version, as most people would rather do extended reading from a book rather than a computer screen. Your school's English department is likely to have most or all of these available to loan to you for this class. First Semester Required Reading:
Ordering Information First semester novels Pair One: The role of women in society Pair Two: The individual in war Pair Three: The dysfunctional family First semester major works that can be
read on a web site or from a printed text Oedipus Rex (Sophocles) (may also be called Oedipus the King or Oedipus Tyrannos): This play is available online in older translations, but you may prefer newer translations available in print. The Fitts and Fitzgerald translation is recommended. 1-4209-2603-9 (Note: this ISBN number is for a version that is combined with Antigone, a text required for second semester.) Second Semester Required Reading or Viewing:
Ordering Information Required Works Hamlet (William Shakespeare) 074347712X : This play will be available online through this class, but you might consider the ease of having your own text. If you do, please be aware that the full play is extremely long, and your class version will be edited, with many scenes and lines deleted. It will contain additional helpful information which you will need to check anyway. You should therefore refer to both. Arms and the Man (George Bernard Shaw) 0486264769: This play will be found in many English textbooks and many collections of plays by Shaw. Because it is not long, you not usually find it by itself. Caesar and Cleopatra (George Bernard Shaw) 014045036X: This play will be found in many English textbooks and many collections of plays by Shaw. Because it is not long, you not usually find it by itself. The Importance of Being Ernest (Oscar Wilde) 0486264785: This play will be found in many English textbooks and many collections of plays by Wilde. Because it is not long, you not usually find it by itself. You may choose to view this instead of reading it. Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand) 0553213601: You may choose to view this instead of reading it. The preferred version is hard to find. It can be ordered from Amazon: Gerard Dépardieu version of Cyrano on DVD Antigone (Sophocles): Required. This play is available online in older translations, but you may prefer newer translations available in print. The Fitts and Fitzgerald translation is recommended. 0-87220-571-1 (with Oedipus Rex) Three Essays: Required. The following essays are usually found in collections. All are available online. Almost all libraries and English departments will have them.
Lysistrata (Aristophanes) 1-4209-2643-8: A Greek comedy in which a group of Spartan women go on strike from their wifely duties to protest their husbands' obsession with going off to wars. Check with your parents and the school before selecting this adult-themed Greek comedy. (It would definitely be R-rated today.) Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky) 0-553-21175-7: The main character determines that laws are meant for ordinary people, and extraordinary people, like Napoleon (and himself), are morally allowed to break rules and laws in order to achieve greatness. To prove this, the novel begins with his commission of a heinous crime. This is a major, challenging work, and those who select it are not expected to read as many other works. The Crucible (Arthur Miller) 0142437336: This play is simultaneously about the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings. It was recently a movie, so it can be viewed on tape or DVD. The Last of the Mohicans (novel by James Fenimore Cooper, but don't read it--Cooper is a tough read. Watch the movie. It is excellent.): Individuals have to make critical decisions during the French and Indian War in New York. If you knew the person you loved were going to die, to what lengths would you go to save that person? Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) 0486264645: This short but challenging novel was written during the early colonization of Africa, when the common view that the white man was bringing civilization to a savage world. Does Conrad agree? Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola): This movie about the Vietnam war is based upon Heart of Darkness. Students choosing one might want to choose the other for comparison purposes. The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane) 0812504798: What role does an individual have in a war? An individual struggles with personal identity during the Civil War. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf) 0156628708: A woman examines her own existence as she plans a party. Virginia Woolf was one of the most innovative writers of her time. She was, with James Joyce, one of the first to experiment with stream of consciousness. The Hours (novel by Michael Cunningham; movie by Rudin/Fox) 0312305060: This complex novel intertwines the lives of three women, two fictional and the third the historical Virginia Woolf. The novel connects especially to Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. People who select either this novel or movie should consider reading Mrs. Dalloway as well. Beloved (Toni Morrison) 1400033411: This novel is based on the horrifying but true story of an escaped slave and the extremes to which she was driven. The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien) 0767902890 : A cross between a novel and a collection of short stories about the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war was an extremely controversial moment in American History, as Americans began to question and then challenge the reasons for our involvement. Platoon (Oliver Stone): Controversial movie about the Vietnam war. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison) 978-0-679-73276-1: This novel deals with growing up as a black in the middle of 20th century America. The first chapter, "Battle Royal," is a powerful episode that is often published as a separate short story. This is a challenging and complex novel. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) 0553279378 : This is the autobiography of one of the great writers of our century. She describes growing up black in the segregated south. Bless Me, Ultima (Rudolfo Anaya) 0446600253: A Hispanic youth grows up in New Mexico, learning about conflicting family and cultural values. The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros) 978-0-679-73477-2: A Latina girl grows up in a harsh Chicago world that neither gives nor expects much of her. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) 0060930535: This novel follows a missionary family in the Congo. Their father wants to bring the American/Christian culture to this land, but is it the best decision? (Consider reading Heart of Darkness or Things Fall Apart as well.) This is a long novel, but it has an easy and enjoyable reading style. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) 0385474547: A novel that deals with how an African village deals with change. The Bonesetter's Daughter (Amy Tan) 0804114986: In this novel, a woman learns to deal with her own identity and her Chinese heritage. The Last Samurai (Cruise-Wagner): Movie deals with the end of
the Samurai culture as Japan moved toward modernization in the 19th century. |
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