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Home > Summer Reading Assignment: AP Human Geography
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Summer Reading Assignment: AP Human Geography
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by Ken Keller
Danbury High School
Danbury, Connecticut
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The following summer reading assignment is designed to be distributed in the spring to students who plan to take AP Human Geography in the following school year.
Instructions to Incoming Students
In advance of your beginning this course this coming fall, I would like for you to choose one book from the attached list to read over this summer. As well, I would like for you to complete an assignment related to the introductory unit of this course, which will come out of the textbook and associated Student Companion we will be using.
The books on this list, from which you need to choose one, have been selected to help you understand the nature and complexity of geography before undertaking its formal study. Moreover, each book in its own way will, I hope, broaden your knowledge of geography by helping make the complex simple and the intricate interesting.
Finally, I have selected these books because they are easily accessible, eminently readable, broadly informative, and specifically focused on some important aspect of geography such as urban development, religion and culture, or politics. It is my hope that in anticipation of taking AP Human Geography, you will not only enjoy the subject matter of the book you select but you will also make your AP experience more meaningful.
You will be asked to discuss your book, based on the following rubric, when we come back in late August. With regard to length of response, a total of three to four typed pages would be considered appropriate.
Rubric
Please use the following rubric as a guide to how to organize your paper:
I. Description
5 points: Author's name, place of publication, date of publication, number of pages in book.
20 points: Summary of book -- important points brought out, highlights, etc.
II. Analysis
10 points: Author's objectives. What did the author intend for the reader in writing this book?
10 points: Universal lessons. Provide examples from the book of lessons that would apply any place or time. These lessons should deal, if possible, with threads of humanity or the universal condition. If you do not feel there is any lesson to be learned from your book, explain why.
10 points: Use of passages to support answer.
III. Appraisal
10 points: Did you like/dislike the book and why?
5 points: What is missing?
IV. Themes of Geography
20 points: Please integrate, where applicable, the five geographic themes of place/location, movement, perception, human/environment interaction, and region. If you are unsure of the definitions of these terms, you will find them in your textbook, any dictionary, or a Web inquiry related to the "five themes of geography." You do not have to address them all, just the ones that apply to your book!
V. Overall Paper
10 points
Total: 100 points
Assigned Texts for Summer Work
Summer Assignment from Textbooks
- De Blij, H. J., and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space, 7th ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002.
- Associated Student Companion to above text.
Read chapter 1, beginning on page 2. Begin a vocabulary notebook, label this section "Unit 1: Nature and Perspectives of Geography," and define the key terms listed on page 16. Choose one of the two "Applying Geographic Knowledge" questions on page 16 and write a response, no longer than one typed page. Also, answer study questions in the Student Companion related to the section on "Nature and Perspectives of Geography." These questions can be found on page 24.
Summer Book List
- Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1997, 1999.
If you choose this book, you do not have to read the entire book. You can pick any six chapters to analyze. Likewise, please pick at least one section from each of the four parts of the book. This book is very good, and it is highly recommended that, even if you do not read it this summer, you should read it at some point before we finish this course.
- Kunstler, James Howard. Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape. Simon and Schuster, June 1993.
This book deals with suburbanization and urban development in the United States and how they have altered our cultural landscape.
- Lapierre, Dominique. City of Joy. Doubleday, October 1985.
This book deals with the culture of the poor in India. Likewise, it gives a clear picture of agricultural life and the impact of religion on day-to-day life in India.
- Friedman, Thomas. Longitudes and Attitudes. Anchor, August 2003.
Friedman's exceptionally frank and convincing columns offer an insightful post-September 11 diary. He asks questions surrounding that day and offers a reporter's perspective on the world from outside U.S. borders. Thomas Friedman is an eminent columnist for the New York Times.
- Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. HarperCollins, 2002.
This is a great book related to the "fast food" culture of America. It tells the story of how America and much of the "globalized" world has become a repository for eating "fast food" and embracing the "fast culture" of America. The book also takes an in-depth look at fast food's associated impact on agricultural and economic practice.
- Herzog, Brad. States of Mind. John F. Blair Pub., 2000.
Paraphrased from the book jacket: "Can you find love in Love, Virginia? Is there inspiration in Inspiration, Arizona? The author took stock of his Generation X lifestyle and didn't like what he discovered. So he and his wife emptied their bank accounts, packed everything into a Winnebago, and set a course for a fabled America they weren't sure existed. What began as a literal search for the small places on the map became a figurative examination of the small places of the heart, a quest for virtues lost amid negativity and disillusionment. Examples from the book include: Justice, West Virginia, where one-half the population descends from the Hatfields and McCoys, to Harmony, California, and a town that's up for sale and can be yours for the right price."
- Zakaria, Fareed. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad. W. W. Norton, 2003.
Zakaria contends that something has gone wrong with democracy in America, which has descended into "a simple-minded populism that values popularity and openness." The solution, Zakaria says, is more appointed bodies, like the World Trade Organization and the U.S. Supreme Court, which are effective precisely because they are insulated from political pressures.
- Foner, Eric. Who Owns History? Rethinking the Past in a Changing World. Hill and Wang, 2003.
This book is a collection of essays that span Dr. Foner's career as a preeminent historian. The Columbia University professor takes an in-depth look at how the concept of freedom has been promoted throughout the history of the United States. As well, Foner looks at the complex and controversial topic of how globalization has affected how people from other parts of the world view American "freedom."
Ken Keller teaches AP Human Geography, world studies, and civics at Danbury High School in Danbury, Connecticut. Ken is currently an AP Reader and is a cooperating teacher in the state of Connecticut's BEST teacher training for new teachers. Ken is also a board member on the Connecticut Council for Social Studies and a teacher consultant for the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. In October 2003, Ken had an article published in the National Council for Geographic Education's Perspective magazine on the topic of attracting new AP Readers for the annual scoring of exams at Clemson University.
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