The Assignment that started it all

On June 11th, 1996 A teacher at Leonardtown High school in St. Mary’s County Maryland assigned Song of Solomon and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as summer reading for an 11th grade AP English course.

David Flood, the teacher, aimed to have students work at a college level. They were to focus on specific concepts that would allow them to compare and contrast the two works.

 

Provided by David Flood

June 11, 1996

Dear Student and Parent (s)

Congratulations on being accepted into eleventh grade Advanced Placement English. I look forward to working with you in the 1996-97 academic year; it will be challenging. The basic outline of the course will follow a similar curriculum to an introductory college level course in American literature. We will begin with Puritan literature, follow all of the progressive movements, and end with Twentieth century works. The focus will be on philosophical movements, including Puritanism, Age of Reason, Nationalism, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Transcendentalism, and Modernism.

The course will be reading and writing intensive and a major portion of each student’s grade will be based upon classroom purchase THE ST. MARTIN’S GUIDE TO WRITING, which can be purchased at the St. Mary’s College Book Store at a cost of approximately $30.00.

Required summer reading:

SONG OF SOLOMON Toni Morrison

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN Mark Twain

These books can be purchased at Bay Books in the Wildwood Center. Please have these novels read by the first day of school, August 27, 1996. Be prepared to be tested during the first week of school and to the summer reading. Also, have your Writing Guide in hand for the first day of school. Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in exclusion from class.

Once again, I look forward to working with students and parents alike during the 1996-97 school year.

Sincerely,

David G. Flood

English Teacher

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