Summer Reading Assignment
Welcome to AP US History,
Well here it is the dreaded summer reading assignment! (Click the above button)
You can have one of two responses to receiving this, neither of which I will take the time to spell out here. Regardless of your response the outcome will be the same – you will be much better prepared to take the class and do well in the exam; that can only be a good result.
The first part of the reading assignment is a collection of essays by prominent historians covering the span of course. Each one focuses on a different time period and provides useful insights into a history that you may not be as familiar with as you need to be. This reading will give you a good background information and it should help you avoid any surprises in the content.
Please, please, please take notes as you read. It will be a requirement next year to take notes as you read, so getting used to it now will be a good idea. Your notes need not be detailed or long – 1/3 of a page per essay is fine.
Expect a quiz in the first week on this material.
The second part of your summer preparation is to pick one of the movies from the list below and watch it. You will be required to give a short presentation on the film in our first week back in school. Your presentation should be short (approx. 5-10 minutes) provide a short synopsis of the film and a discussion of the insights the film provided into American history.
Please check with your parents before choosing a movie.
If you have any questions regarding any of the above do not hesitate to get in touch with me,
Have a great summer and see you in August,
Mr. Isherwood
AP US HISTORY – SUMMER MOVIE LIST
PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR PARENTS BEFORE YOU CHOOSE A MOVIE TO ENSURE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH YOU WATCHIING IT.
The New World (2005) - John Smith, Native Americans
Last of the Mohicans (1992) – French & Indian War
Amistad (1997) – Slavery and the slave trade
Gone With The Wind (1939) – Antebellum and Civil War South
Glory (1989) – Civil War; African-American regiment 54th Massachusetts
Dances With Wolves (1990) – Civil War era relations with Native Americans
Lincoln (2012) – Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation
The Conspirator (2011) - conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln
Tombstone (1993) - western frontier towns, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday
The Molly Maguires (1970) – 1876 coal miners’ strike
There Will Be Blood (2007) – early oil industry
The Great Gatsby (1974) – the 1920s
Inherit the Wind (1960) – Scopes Monkey Trial
Road to Perdition (2002) – the 1930s, organized crime
Iron Jawed Angels (2004) - women's suffrage
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) – The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl
Tora, Tora, Tora (1970) – Pearl Harbor
Fatman and Little Boy (1989) - Manhattan Project
Midway (1976) - World War II, Pacific
The Right Stuff (1983) – 1950s Cold War, beginning of space race
Good Night and Good Luck (2005) - CBS reporter Edmund R Murrow exposes Joe McCarthy
Cadillac Records (2008) - 1950s Chicago, music
Mississippi Burning (1998) – Civil Rights
Selma (2014) – Civil Rights, Martin Luther King Jr.
Thirteen Days (2000) – Cuban Missile Crisis
Apollo 13 (1995) - NASA, space program
Malcolm X (1992) – Black Nationalist leader
Platoon (1986) – Vietnam War
Path to War ((2002) – Vietnam War, presidency of Lyndon Johnson
All the President’s Men (1976) – Watergate