Here is the REQUIRED Summer Reading for any student taking an Honors or AP English class next year (in the Fall OR Spring). The assignment is due the first day of school on August 27, 2012. Please email Mr. Plaster at splaster@lexcs.org with any questions.
We would also love for ALL students to participate in our general Summer Reading Program.
We would also love for ALL students to participate in our general Summer Reading Program.
Required
Summer Reading
for English Honors Students
WHAT: Students signed
up for and planning to take Honors English either in the Fall or Spring
semester are REQUIRED to do a summer project by reading a book and completing
an assignment. You will receive a project/test grade for your work, and you
will also have a TEST on the book on one of the first days of class.
WHY: It is important to keep reading and learning over the summer
to continue your academic and intellectual growth. We’re sure that most of you
will read multiple books and other works over the summer (especially as a part
of the overall Summer Reading Program), but if each grade level also completes
the same book, your teachers can use this assignment to help start the semester
off on the right foot.
WHEN: Your assignment is due the first day back to school on
Monday, August 27th.
WHERE: Please turn it in your English teacher, if you have
Fall-semester, or to Mr. Plaster in Room 15, if you do not have English until
the Spring.
WHAT IF: Completing
this assignment is a requirement of
taking Honors English. If you do not complete this assignment, you will be
rescheduled for a regular class.
Assignment
for Rising 9th-Graders
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Projects (Choose One):
- Write an appropriate alternate ending for the novel, doing your best to keep the voice and mood the same as the rest of the novel. This should be at least 750 words.
- Pretend that Pi was able to save things from his journey. Create a museum exhibition that displays at least 12 things Pi saved and include detailed explanations about what these things are, how Pi used them, and why they were important to his journey.
- Research accounts of real people who have survived being stranded at sea and write a 750 word paper compiling their stories and how they survived. Also, include scientific facts that prove how people are able to survive such ordeals.
- Create a webpage that helps other students understand the novel, its themes, plot, historical/cultural context, and physical geography.
- Create an ad campaign for the novel, including a commercial, a magazine ad, and a poster, to persuade other students to read it. Write a brief paper (300 words) to explain how and why you created your ads the way you did.
Assignment for Rising 10th-Graders
The Color of Water by James McBride
Projects (Choose One):
1. As
you read, be sure to create a journal in which comment your thoughts on the
book. You must comment ten times while you read, and in those
comments you must respond to a quotation of your choice from the book.
2. Once you’ve finished the entire book, you
need to write two-page essay about one of the following discussion questions.
(a) Discuss
Ruth McBride’s refusal to reveal her past and how that influenced her
children’s sense of
themselves and their place in the world. How has your knowledge—or lack
thereof—about your family background shaped your own self-image?
(b) “Mommy’s
contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island . White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil
toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best
education. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was
probably substandard… She was against welfare and never applied for it despite
our need, but championed those who availed themselves of it.” Do you think
these contradictions served to confuse Ruth’s children further, or did they
somehow contribute to the balanced view of humanity that James McBride
possesses?
3. Create a family tree on poster board complete
with six artifacts which may symbolize James’s struggle for an identity. Give a
caption explaining the symbolism of each item.
Assignment for Rising 11th-Graders
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Projects (Choose One):
1. Comparative
Criticism: View the film “Equilibrium” (This is rated R for violence
and fight scenes, so parental
permission is required) and compare the similarities and differences in plot
and themes. (Two pages/ Standard MLA) Two pages, typed.
2. Comparative Criticism: Compare and
draw parallels between the technology described in Fahrenheit 451 and today’s
technology (i.e. ebooks, 3D movies and television, etc.) Five paragraphs,
typed.
3. Literary Analysis: In what ways is
the book ironic? For example, the use of fire to destroy a world
which used fire to control thought. Five paragraphs, typed.
4. Compare and Contrast: Compare the
characters and the roles of Mildred and Clarisse. How do these two women
compare and vary in their lives, their relationship with Guy and the way
Bradbury uses them in the book. Five paragraphs, typed.
5. Art Project: Create a piece of
visual art which represents the novel. This must be accompanied by a one page,
typed explanation of your art and its relationship to the work.
.
Assignment
for Rising 12th-Graders
Grendel by John Gardner
John Gardner’s Grendel
is a contemporary novel written from the antagonist’s, Grendel’s, point of
view. An understanding of the monster’s
beliefs, feelings, and fears will serve as a beginning point of appreciating
the conflict between it and the poem’s hero, Beowulf.
- REQUIRED: Write a 2-3 page paper (double spaced, 12 pt font) in which you discuss the complex relationship between Grendel and the dragon, or Grendel and Hrothgar’s wife, the queen.
THEN, Select ONE of the following two options to reflect
your understanding and appreciation of the work.
- Create a chart which is separated into four components using the four seasons to identify when and how at least one major event from the story occurred within the season. The chart should be detailed and reference page numbers from the text.
- Create a drawing that depicts the Grendel’s visit to the dragon’s lair. Be sure to include details from the work that are significant in reflecting the dragon’s and Grendel’s characteristics.
Please also
check out the general Summer Reading Program!
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11th Grade AP Required Summer Reading
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11th Grade AP Required Summer Reading
This project applies to all students enrolled in AP American Literature for the 2012-2013 school year.
If a student does not complete the summer reading list and/or submit all assignments on the first day of the fall semester, he or she will be immediately removed from the AP course and reassigned to an Honors 11 class. Any appeal must be made in writing to the school’s administration after which time a meeting will be scheduled for the student and parent/guardian to make their argument in person to the principal and teacher. The final decision will be made by the principal within 24 hours of the meeting.
-No Country for Old Men by: Cormac McCarthy
Assignment #1:
-Write an essay concerning the novel No Country for Old Men and the poem Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats examining the shared themes of human morality and connecting with one’s mortality. Before beginning the essay research the city of Byzanitum as it relates to ancient Greece.
Assignment #2:
-Create a double entry journal that examines the themes that are developed throughout the novel. Pay particular attention to the narrative of Llewelyn Moss and the assassin Chigurh and the investigation being conducted by Sheriff Tom Bell. Also include a typed essay of 750-800 words discussing the themes that are present within each of these narratives and how are they developed.
-White Noise by: Don DeLillo
Assignment #1:
Write a well-developed essay concerning how White Noise can be read as a novel that argues for increased attention to the relationship between technological progress and conservation of the environment. Cite at least two current events articles that comment on conservation and technology that could be related to White Noise.
Assignment #2:
Create a plot diagram for the novel White Noise. Include all the essential plot diagramming aspects (Expoition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution) with an illustration for each. Does White noise follow the traditional plot diagram? While creating this plot diagram examine the impact of the media and television within the novel’s major plot points. Attach a typed, one page discussion concerning what Don DeLillo says about the media’s impact? How do the media impact the world around us?
12th Grade AP Required Summer Reading
The Stranger &
The Fall
The Crucible &
Death of a Salesman
Bartleby the
Scrivener & Billy Budd
If a
student does not complete the summer reading list and/or submit all assignments
on the first day of the fall semester, he or she will be immediately removed
from the AP course and reassigned to an Honors 12 class. Any appeal must
be made in writing to the school’s administration after which time a meeting
will be scheduled for the student and parent/guardian to make their argument in
person to the principal and teacher. The final decision will be made by
the principal within 24 hours of the meeting.
The assigned
summer readings and corresponding assignments will function as a basis for the
study of literary works covered in the course curriculum. In addition to a
basic understanding of the story lines, your writing should reflect how the
implementation of different methods is used to convey meaning within the
individual texts and a base knowledge of the philosophical beliefs of the
authors. As you progress though the literature, consider a work’s
structure, style, and theme. On a smaller scale, note the use of
figurative language, tone, syntax and diction. Assignments are due on the
first day of the fall semester. Each will receive a grade equivalent to a
*major paper. Rewrites may be submitted for a higher grade only after
conferencing with teacher. All rewrites must be completed within the
first four weeks of class. Questions may be emailed todapoole@lexcs.org or texts sent to 731-697-5241.
* Major papers
account for ½ of students’ final grades
The
Stranger & The Fall
Between
publication of his first novel The Stranger in 1942 and his last work The Fall in 1956, Camus’ perspective changed on
many key ideas. Though, as an Existentialist, he maintained the view that
life is essentially absurd and morality comes from humanity rather than God,
Camus’ philosophy about how human beings live in the microcosms of their absurd
worlds evolved considerably. It is important to note, a brief study of the
philosophy of existentialism will aid you in understanding the author’s
ideology, therefore benefiting you as a scholar when analyzing Camus’ work.
In a well developed
essay, briefly discuss how the existential idea of the Absurd is portrayed in
the author’s writing. Explain how Camus implements his philosophy into
the two novels with a focus on how he develops the main characters and their
perceptions of life.
Papers should be
written in a 12 point font, double spaced, and contain a header with the
student’s name, date, and page number. Writings should be 2-3 pages in
length with no excessive white space.
The
Crucible & Death of a Salesman
Oppressed by the disturbing
direction in which his country was moving in the mid 1900’s, Arthur Miller
immersed himself in the study of the Salem witch trials of 1692 which he
describes as “one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.”
One of Miller’s most popular plays, The Crucible, was the result of his immersion. Later in
his career, he made a similar study of culture when writing of Willy Loman’s
search for the American Dream. This endeavor resulted in The Pulitzer
Prize winning play, Death of a Salesman.
In the two plays,
Elizabeth Proctor and Linda Loman share a devotion to their husbands that
results in the surrender of their own happiness. In a well developed
essay, draw comparisons and contrasts between the setting, the tone, and the
two female characters and the resulting fate of their husbands.
Papers
should be written in a 12 point font, double spaced, and contain a header with
the student’s name, date, and page number. Writings should be 2-3 pages
in length with no excessive white space.
“Bartleby the Scrivener” and Billy Budd
During the late
nineteenth century, Herman Melville wrote some of the most widely read works in
the history of literature. Even though his use of language has been
compared to that of William Shakespeare’s, during his lifetime his most
important achievements were ridiculed by critics and ignored by the
public. Nathaniel Hawthorne, however, asserted that no “writer ever put .
. . reality before his reader more unflinchingly” than did Herman Melville.
Two of Melville’s
most popular and studied short works of fiction feature the somewhat
out-of-place characters of Bartleby and Billy Budd. In a well developed
essay, compare Melville’s writing style in the two stories while discussing the
similarities and differences you find between the storylines and the
characters.
Papers
should be written in a 12 point font, double spaced, and contain a header with
the student’s name, date, and page number. Writings should be 2-3 pages
in length with no excessive white space.
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