APSEM Summer Assignments 1 & 2

Hello AP Seminar! (From hereon referred to as APSEM!)

I hope everyone is having themselves a relaxing and enjoyable summer!

Your first summer assignment is due on July 20, and you’ll be posting it in the comments section below this blog post. To do that, just click on “LEAVE A COMMENT” just under the title of this post.

I’ll do this assignment too, and have mine posted on here within the next few days. Feel free to use it as an example or model for you own, or not. Whatever’s best for you. As always, please feel free to email me with any questions: shulkinj@worc.k12.ma.us.

Here is assignment #1, in case you don’t have the sheet I handed out at the end of last year handy:

Assignment #1: How Soccer Explains the World (Due July 20)

1) Pick a chapter of How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization to discuss in depth. It could be the one that you found the most interesting, or that most supported Foer’s thesis/argument about how soccer explains the world, or that you think didn’t do such a good job of supporting his thesis/argument.

2) Explain, with evidence from the book, which of those eight lenses (listed below) Foer used in that chapter to examine soccer’s role in shaping a particular region of the world, and does the evidence from those lenses support his larger argument? Come to some kind of conclusion about whether or not the chapter succeeds in addressing Foer’s larger idea that soccer can explain the world, or at least a region in it.

The eight lenses:

• Cultural and social
• Artistic and philosophical
• Political and historical
• Environmental
• Economic
• Scientific
• Futuristic
• Ethical

This should be between 500 and 750 words. Make sure to incorporate plenty of evidence from the text.

Assignment #2 is due three days later. To do this, just click on the “REPLY” button below the comment you want to respond to. Here’s a pic of what it looks like:

Assignment #2: Responding to your classmates’ ideas (Due July 23)

Choose two of your classmates’ comments (or Mr. Shulkin’s) on a chapter different than the one you originally wrote about, and respond to their critiques of Foer’s book. Do you agree with their praise or criticism? Add evidence from the book to explain your agreements/disagreements. Your response should be about half the length of the original post.