Suggested College Readiness Reading List
Resource for AP Language and Composition: THE WRITER'S VOICE: LESSONS IN COMPOSITION, Lynne Dozier
Fiction and Nonfiction: Reading fiction novels and nonfiction books that deal with problems and issues in American society provide invaluable sources of ideas, evidence and experiences. Reading and writing are parallel activities and student writers develop their skills through reading authors who have unique styles and ideas. For success in college, I recommend reading:
Autobiography and Memoir
Douglass, Frederick. NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVE. (1845). Former slave and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass describes the horrors of his enslavement and eventual escape.
Galarza, Ernesto. BARRIO BOY.(1971). A story of a young boy who grew up in Jalco during the Mexican Revolution, and had to move to Sacramento, California to get away from the problems and strife.
Gish, Jen. TYPICAL AMERICAN. (1992). Yifeng comes to America to make the American Dream come true in every way: making money in fast food, buying a bargain house in the suburbs and pursuing social status.
Jiang, Ji-Li. RED SCARF GIRL: A MEMOIR OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. (1997). A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices
when the government urges her to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her own parents.
Keller. Helen. THE STORY OF MY LIFE. This remarkable woman became an outstanding citizen of her country and of the world in spite of
being born both blind and deaf.
Pat Mora. HOUSE OF HOUSES. (1997). With magic and imagination, author Pat Mora weaves the voices of her ancestors into her own
personal account of growing up in a Mexican-American family in El Paso, Texas.
Rodriguez, Richard. HUNGER OF MEMORY. (1982). Rodriguez's journey through the educational system leads to his belief that family,
culture, and language must be left behind to succeed in mainstream America.
Obama, Barack. DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. (1995). In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African
father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American.
Wright, BLACK BOY. (1944). A powerful account of Wright's journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South, it is both an
unashamed confession and a profound indictment--a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.
Political Themes In Fiction
Orwell, George. NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. Signet Edition. (1977).
Media and Literary Criticism
Lawrence, Jerome and Robert E. Lee. (1972). THE NIGHT THOREAU SPENT IN JAIL.
Writing Across the Curriculum: History and English Language Arts
Suggested "Prompt" for writing expository and argumentative essays:
Choose a novel from the list below, read it carefully, and then write an essay that explains what it shows about a significant political, economic or social issue during the historical time period that serves as a setting for the novel. Use evidence from the novel to support your opinion. Avoid mere plot summary.
Colonial America: THE SCARLET LETTER, Nathanael Hawthorne
Pre-Civil War: HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Mark Twin
Civil War: THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, Stephen Crane
The Industrial Revolution: THE JUNGLE, Upton Sinclair
The Lost Generation: THE GREAT GATSBY, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Depression: THE GRAPES OF WRATH, John Steinbeck
World War I: A FAREWELL TO ARMS, Ernest Hemingway
World War II: CATCH 22, Joseph Heller
Vietnam: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, Tim O'Brien
Post Modern: INVISIBLE MAN, Ralph Ellison
Fiction and Nonfiction: Reading fiction novels and nonfiction books that deal with problems and issues in American society provide invaluable sources of ideas, evidence and experiences. Reading and writing are parallel activities and student writers develop their skills through reading authors who have unique styles and ideas. For success in college, I recommend reading:
Autobiography and Memoir
Douglass, Frederick. NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVE. (1845). Former slave and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass describes the horrors of his enslavement and eventual escape.
Galarza, Ernesto. BARRIO BOY.(1971). A story of a young boy who grew up in Jalco during the Mexican Revolution, and had to move to Sacramento, California to get away from the problems and strife.
Gish, Jen. TYPICAL AMERICAN. (1992). Yifeng comes to America to make the American Dream come true in every way: making money in fast food, buying a bargain house in the suburbs and pursuing social status.
Jiang, Ji-Li. RED SCARF GIRL: A MEMOIR OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. (1997). A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices
when the government urges her to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her own parents.
Keller. Helen. THE STORY OF MY LIFE. This remarkable woman became an outstanding citizen of her country and of the world in spite of
being born both blind and deaf.
Pat Mora. HOUSE OF HOUSES. (1997). With magic and imagination, author Pat Mora weaves the voices of her ancestors into her own
personal account of growing up in a Mexican-American family in El Paso, Texas.
Rodriguez, Richard. HUNGER OF MEMORY. (1982). Rodriguez's journey through the educational system leads to his belief that family,
culture, and language must be left behind to succeed in mainstream America.
Obama, Barack. DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. (1995). In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African
father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American.
Wright, BLACK BOY. (1944). A powerful account of Wright's journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South, it is both an
unashamed confession and a profound indictment--a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.
Political Themes In Fiction
Orwell, George. NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. Signet Edition. (1977).
Media and Literary Criticism
Lawrence, Jerome and Robert E. Lee. (1972). THE NIGHT THOREAU SPENT IN JAIL.
Writing Across the Curriculum: History and English Language Arts
Suggested "Prompt" for writing expository and argumentative essays:
Choose a novel from the list below, read it carefully, and then write an essay that explains what it shows about a significant political, economic or social issue during the historical time period that serves as a setting for the novel. Use evidence from the novel to support your opinion. Avoid mere plot summary.
Colonial America: THE SCARLET LETTER, Nathanael Hawthorne
Pre-Civil War: HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Mark Twin
Civil War: THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, Stephen Crane
The Industrial Revolution: THE JUNGLE, Upton Sinclair
The Lost Generation: THE GREAT GATSBY, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Depression: THE GRAPES OF WRATH, John Steinbeck
World War I: A FAREWELL TO ARMS, Ernest Hemingway
World War II: CATCH 22, Joseph Heller
Vietnam: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, Tim O'Brien
Post Modern: INVISIBLE MAN, Ralph Ellison