Idea Transcript
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition
Title All My Sons
Author
Educational Value
Arthur Miller
This play highlights the conflict between a businesslike father and an idealistic son. When Joe allows defective airline parts to leave his plant, an action that killed twenty-one pilots and led to the arrest and imprisonment of his partner and friend, Steve Deever, he tries to escape the past. His solider-son, Chris, finds it impossible, and on his return home from the war, finds “no meaning” in the shallow upper middle-class concerns or in the consumerism of post-war America. Chris judges the lives of his friends and family and, more importantly, “truth” against the standard of his combat experience. These tensions and conflicts give depth to Miller’s play, allowing the playwright to explore both the human and social dimensions of its central moral crisis.
Sensitive Content Mature Content
Themes/Topics: The search of the american dream
An American Childhood
Annie Dillard
American Childhood is a valuable teaching tool when studying the genre of memoir. The author’s use of vivid description and imagery, as well as the appreciation of nature, parallels the transcendental curriculum taught at this level. Themes/Topics: Memoir Non-fiction Female point of view
Academic Services 1/2015
Language
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Bean Trees, The
Barbara Klingsolver
The Bean Trees explores the coming-of-age theme through the use of Taylor, a feisty, unique, strong female protagonist. In an attempt to escape a legacy of teen pregnancy and single parenthood, Taylor embarks on a road trip from Kentucky to Arizona. During her travels, she agrees to care for an abandoned Native American child. Taylor learns to love, nurture and reach out to others for help. The understanding and love she gains for Arizona continue to make this a novel that Gilbert students can connect to personally.
Mature Content Language Violence
Themes: Overcoming adversity Sense of family Love and nurturing
Crucible, The
Arthur Miller
The educational value of this play consists in the view of Puritanical life in 1692, the analysis of the themes of injustice, pride, integrity, hypocrisy, vengeance, and hysteria, which are used to analyze inferences. The historical fiction creates relevancy with modern hysteria, and reinforces the concepts of irony, characterization, foil, allusions, and culture. Themes/Topics: Intolerance Hysteria Reputation
Academic Services 1/2015
Mature Content Violence
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Grapes of Wrath, The
John Steinbeck
“The Great Depression comes vividly to life in this reflective non-fiction; readers get a full picture of the forces that shaped the massive migration west and fed growing political, economic, and social tension of the Great Depression Era. The story of the Joad family is a jumping-off point for exploring labor history, economic principles, mid-century politics, and more” (commonsensemedia.org). The text presents impactful rhetorical choices for essay analysis.
Mature Content Language Violence
Topics: Making difficult choices
Huck Finn
Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Huck Finn offers a depiction of a historical time in which America faced the moral and ethical crisis of slavery and devaluing of humans. This is still in play in contemporary society, although not as blatant, creating relevancy and rigor. The educational value is in the author’s use of satire, which provides students the opportunity to analyze, deconstruct, and formulate satire, wit, and humor, which is common in modern society. Themes/Topics: Morality Realism/Romanticism
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Language Religious References Violence Mature Content
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
The educational value of Jane Eyre lies in studying a female author who creates a narrative of a young female protagonist. As a well-written example of bildungsroman, the reader sees Jane overcome adversity through education and self-sufficiency. The novel teaches about handling young love, heartache, independence, and finally self-reliance by standing on her own two feet and making her marriage to her husband her choice as a testament to love and faithfulness.
Violence Mature Content
Themes: Education Self-reliance Love Relationships Jungle, The
Upton Sinclair
A Lithuanian couple with many hopes and dreams for the New World, had to endure many setbacks and struggles while living in the meat-packing capital of the world, Chicago, in the early 1900s. Sinclair’s novel shows the day to day circumstances many experienced as an immigrant in the United States, and the perseverance it took to survive. The educational value lies in the historical context of immigrants in the early 1900s, which promotes social change through literature and parallels the AP Language curriculum. Themes/Topics: American Dream Labor laws Human and civil rights Audience and purpose in writing Immigrant experience
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Mature Content Violence
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Lord of The Flies is a coming-of-age story about a group of boys marooned on an island without adult guidance. Although at first it seems like an exciting, fun adventure, the reality of life on the island becomes a deadly struggle for power and survival. As former rules of behavior deteriorate, dark, primitive actions gain dominance as the boys struggle to find their individual moral identity. Lord of the Flies is an allegory that could be construed to have a variety of meanings -- inherent evil of man, human nature, war. Students reading this book have an opportunity to explore any or all of the options. The symbolism of this novel allows each student to gain experience in deep reading and analysis while making current, relevant personal connections.
Violence Language Religious References
Themes/Topics: Metaphor for a larger world
Choice and consequences
Good versus evil
Creating/Finding true identity
Savagery versus civilization
Leadership versus abuse of power
Loss of innocence Man’s Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
Man’s Search for Meaning is a deeply moving essay dealing with Frankl’s psychological and philosophical observations during his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps. This novel powerfully details the struggle to find meaning and purpose in suffering, particularly during stressful times. The second part of this book describes Logotheraphy, the psychotherapeutic method developed by Frankl. Often listed as one of the most influential books in America, Man’s Search for Meaning also encourages the reader to find a very personal opportunity for reflection and self-understanding. The varied levels of meaning provide a different experience for every reader. Themes: History of Holocaust Meaning of life Existentialism Personal reflection
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Religious References Violence
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Scarlet Letter, The
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The educational value lies in the archaic language and style of writing, allusions, framing of the narrative, in addition to the literary elements of scaffolding, diary, flashback, point of view, and symbolism. It asks the reader to view the text from a historical perspective.
Mature Content Violence
Themes/topics: Independence Guilt Silence Hypocrisy Gender roles and equality Forgiveness of self and others
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson
Silent Spring is an environmental science book addressing the detrimental effects of the indiscriminate use of pesticides (especially DDT) on the environment—particularly on birds. The book explains the scientific process of inquiry through studying nature and through experimentation, and creates an understanding of social change through literature. Topics: The science of pesticides
Academic Services 1/2015
Mature Content
Novel Review Information AP Language and Composition Streetcar Named Desire, A
Tennessee Williams
(GCA)
Blanche DuBois, a haggard, fragile southern beauty whose pathetic last grasp of happiness is cruelly destroyed by a sweat-shirted barbarian, Stanley Kowalski, and happens to be her brother-in-law, is the base of the this Southern gothic play. Taking place in the middle of the 20th century in New Orleans, during a transitional period culturally, relationships are explored. The author’s diction and style, in addition to the symbols and imagery used, help to bring the novel to life. Themes: Fantasy’s inability to overcome reality Fears of aging and lost beauty Treatment of women
Academic Services 1/2015
Mature Content Violence