Required summer reading:
1. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology, Samuel Cohen, ed.
Read three of the essays listed under “Personal” in the Table of Contents. Then, complete a SOAPStone on each essay (see directions below).
2. A major newspaper
Read three editorials or signed opinion columns from a major newspaper, ONE EACH MONTH JUNE-AUGUST. Then, write a one-paragraph response to each article. Attach your response to a copy of the article.
3. At least one NON-FICTION book (complete a SOAPStone on your selection). You will write a review of this book for one of your first essays.
Some suggested titles include:
A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking
Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation, by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America, by Thomas Friedman
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
Instructions for writing a SOAPStone:
• Who is the Speaker? Write a brief paragraph describing the speaker(s) and his or her background as it is reflected in the book.
• What is the Occasion? Write a brief paragraph describing the rhetorical situation of the speaker(s). What is his or her social and/or political environment? What is the particular situation to which he or she is responding?
• Who is the Audience? Write a brief paragraph describing the person or group to whom the piece is directed.
• What is the Purpose? Write a brief paragraph analyzing what the writer hopes to convince the audience to believe, feel, or do. What type of appeals and rhetorical devices does he or she use?
• What is the Subject? Write the author’s thesis statement. (One or two sentences, at most.)
• What is the Tone? Write a brief paragraph analyzing the speaker’s tone or attitude toward the subject. Remember that tone is established through features like diction, syntax, and figurative language.