AP Lit. Summer Entertainment Packet: A Most Delightful and Amusing Source of Summer Recreation Greetings, AP Lit. Students! Over the summer you will read the novel Crime and Punishment by the nineteenth century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. You will also complete a couple of innocent assignments which will further your understanding of the novel. The novel is a nice mix of entertainment and ideas, and students typically enjoy reading it. Enclosed you will find the following: 1) Translator s notes (to an edition that is actually different from the one that you are reading You may also find it on the Signet Classic edition on Google books). These notes contain some helpful assistance. First, they offer some really good help in making sense of Russian names make sure and read this, as Russians often go by more than one name, which makes it a bit confusing initially on the reader s end. They also contain some information on the roots of some of the main character s names (which will help you on study question number 14). And, lastly, they offer some insight into the odd practice of leaving street names blank a common convention in nineteenth century novels. 2) A map of St. Petersburg during the time of Crime and Punishment. Follow the crime scene and the mad, random wanderings of the novel s main protagonist. There is nothing quite as enjoyable as a book with a map. Do you not agree? 3) Fifteen reading questions. For more information on these, see the introductory note at the beginning of the questions. Beware! Some of these questions contain plot spoilers. 4) An essay prompt at the end of this nice letter. 5) A list of modern, FUN contemporary novels. Choose one from the list and read it while you are hanging out at the pool. Over the summer, read the novel, write the essay, and complete the questions. Both the essay and questions are due on our first class day of the 2017-18 school year. Students who do not complete the summer work by the first day of school will put themselves in an awfully difficult position in the fall. The essay is worth one hundred points, and the study questions are worth thirty points. After school starts, you will write a second essay on a contemporary novel from the attached list. In my experience, students have a very hard time making up the summer work once school starts we move forward in AP Lit, and your other classes start to get busy as well. Furthermore, students who do not complete the summer work tend to struggle in the class, because their work ethic and discipline are often shaky. The bottom line to avoid unnecessary suffering and drama get the summer work done.
The essay prompt appeared on the 2001 AP Literature and Composition exam. Typically, with this type of question, you can pick any of the listed works and even an unlisted work. However, for the purposes of this essay, you must write about Crime and Punishment. With the time and space allotted to me at the moment, I cannot give you too much assistance on the essay, but, then again, that is part of the purpose behind the essay: to assess your writing ability at the beginning of the course. So your essay should be a sample of your best writing. It should be organized well and developed well. It should be, approximately two to three double-spaced pages. It should also be typed. The best brief advice that I can give you on the essay is this: focus not so much on showing that the madness makes sense, but rather focus on the deeper significance of the madness. In other words, it is not so much the identification of the sensible madness that is important here, but rather the madness deeper significance as it relates to the novel s overall meaning and themes. During the summer, if you have any questions about the book, essay, or study questions please e-mail me at erchristensen@ohsd.net I would love to discuss the book with you. Best of luck comrades and enjoy your summer! Yours truly, Mr. Christensen P.S. One final thing. Students are often perplexed by what the yellow pass is all about. In nineteenth century Russia a yellow pass was a certificate issued by the government to prostitutes. It therefore signifies that Sonya is a prostitute. This will make more sense when you start to read the book. Finally, THE ESSAY PROMPT: 2001 AP Question: One definition of madness is "mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it." But Emily Dickinson wrote: Much madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye- Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning Eye." Select a novel or play in which a character's apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the "madness" to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
C + P READING QUESTIONS 1. Prior to murdering the pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanova, Raskolnikov, on several occasions, doubts his conviction to carry out the murder. Provide examples of at least three instances that reveal him doubting. What does this suggest about his state of mind going into the murder? 2. What is the full significance of Raskolnikov s strange dream with the horse (it starts on page 57)? It may be helpful to look not so much at the dream but how he reacts to this dream. 3. While committing the murder, Raskolnikov makes several mistakes. Name at least five of them. 4. What do Raskolnikov s actions after the murder in particular his sickness, craziness, and strange behavior toward others tell us about the power of the human moral conscience? 5. Razumikhin is one of the greatest friends in all of literature. What are those qualities of him that make him such a good friend to Raskolnikov? 6. Describe the importance of St. Petersburg in the novel. How does the city serve as a symbol of society and of Raskolnikov's state of mind? 7. The Lazarus myth appears a few times in Crime and Punishment. What might be the significance of this Biblical allusion as it relates to Raskolnikov? (If you are unfamiliar with this Biblical allusion, look it up!) 8. In Chapter V of Part III, Porfiry presents Raskolnikov with the ideas of Raskolnikov s article. Name at least three criticisms that Porfiry offers regarding Raskolnikov s intellectual theory of extraordinary and ordinary people. 9. It has been said that Crime and Punishment offers a critique of what can happen to a person Raskolnikov that lives their life based purely on rationalism and intellect. Fair enough, so we will go with this and say that Raskolnikov represents rationalism and intellect. Then what idea(s) does Sonya represent? And knowing the idea(s) she represents, why does Raskolnikov the symbol of intellect and reason need Sonya so much?
10. Katerina Ivanova may be a crazy old, woman who coughs up blood and makes her children dance like monkeys in the street, but she has good, redeeming qualities. What are some of those qualities? Provide instances from the novel. 11. Like Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov is a man who commits evil acts. Also, like Raskolnikov, he appears to be a man who is often strangely charitable toward other people. The end of the novel clearly sets up a situation in which we can compare/contrast these two characters actions and outcomes. In three-five sentences, explain the main point of this comparison/contrast. 12. What is the symbolic significance of Raskolnikov kissing the earth this occurs in Chapter VIII of Part VI and why does he do it in the Haymarket of all places? 13. Do you feel that Raskolnikov s change of heart and embracement of Sonya in the closing pages of the novel are convincing? Why or why not? 14. Read the last paragraph of the Translator s Note. Now that you have finished the novel, how does the translator s information about the roots in the names Raskolnikov, Razumikhin, and Lebezyatnikov lend to their characterization? 15. During the second world war while trying to wrestle with the profound philosophical differences between the Nazis and Allies the British Directorate of Army Education produced a document with the following sentence in it: The chief reason why we are at a serious disadvantage compared with the Nazis over this business of big ideas is that the evil things for which they stand for are novel and dynamic, whereas the excellent things for which we claim to be fighting may seem dull and uninspiring. Which do you find more intriguing and fascinating in the novel: the evil things or the excellent things? Why?
AP Literature Independent Reading Contemporary Novel of Choice Choose one of the books below for your independent reading project. AP Lit Contemporary Fiction Title Author Year Notes Reservation Blues Alexie 1995 Possession Byatt 1990 The Alchemist Coehlo 1988 Middlesex Eugenides 2003 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Foer 2005 Cold Mountain Frazier 1997 Water for Elephants Gruen 2006 Snow Falling on Cedars Guterson 1994 The Kite Runner Housseini 2003 A Prayer for Owen Meany Irving 1989 The Cider House Rules Irving 1985 Mister Pip Jones 2006 The Secret Life of Bees Kidd 2002 The Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver 1998 The Namesake Lahiri 2003 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Larsen 2008 The Highest Tide Lynch 2006 Wicked Maguire 1995 Life of Pi Martel 2001 The Road McCarthy 2006 All the Pretty Horses McCarthy 1992 Atonement McEwan 2001 Beloved Morrison 1987 Bel Canto Patchett 2001 Blindness Saramago 1998 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan See 2005 The Thirteenth Tale Setterfield 2006 The Joy Luck Club Tan 1989 A Confederacy of Dunces Toole 1980 The Book Thief Zusak 2005