Non-Fiction Ind Rdg

Lots of people have asked about this semester's independent reading book. Here is the information you need if you'd like to get started:

This semester, your independent reading book should be non-fiction. You can choose anything that is a full-length, high quality non-fiction book; it can be on any subject you like. However, keep in mind that you will write a rhetorical analysis of the book's argument so you want to choose something that has a clear argument (memoirs are tougher for this than other kinds of non-fiction).

1. Choose a book (from this list or your own choice):

Non-Fiction Recommendations

(These have been read and recommended by Ms. Grissom, Ms. Southall, or former AP students)

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Stiff by Mary Roach

The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

No Impact Man:  The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beaven 

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr 

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Ted Bishop

Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes

Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster OR Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby

Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead by Frank Meeink




2. Read and take notes. "Over what?" you might ask. All of the things you should pay attention to in an argument (purpose, audience, appeals, rhetorical devices, tone, fallacies, holes in the argument, strengths in the argument) AND evidence of these things you can use to back up the claims you make about each of those things. (That means jot down page numbers with your notes so you can find that evidence later.)

3. How you accomplish this reading is up to you. You'll write this paper for your portfolio which is due the end of April. Options: Wednesday workday is always a time you could read if reading isn't something you do well at home. Reading days in class that are set aside for class texts can obviously be used for independent reading if you get done early. At home/study hall/during opens is a good option for those of you who need quiet, no distractions, etc. Spring break is a good option for those of you who have no other time and/or plan to read something anyway. You should not have any other AP Lang homework over spring break so this might be the ideal time for those of you who are overwhelmed by too much to do.