Visit me at my
blog -wanderjahr to read my comments
regarding our summer reading assignment!
Summer Assignment
Welcome to World Literature! Over the summer, you will read the first literary selection,
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.
Reading:
This piece of literature is considered both a memoir and a literary criticism. The author, Professor Nafisi taught at
University of Tehran in Iran; however, under the new Iranian government, an oppressive regime of the 1980s and 1990s,
her refusal to wear the mandatory veil resulted in her firing and resignation from the University. In 1995, Nafisi handpicked
seven of her female students to meet secretly at her house once a week to discuss banned Western literature. The students
were asked to keep a diary/journal of their readings and reactions.
List Price: $13.95
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 081297106X
Publisher: Random House
Annotating:
As you read Reading Lolita in Tehran, make annotations in the book’s margins about the lines you feel are most important.Use your own system for annotation.If you find lines puzzling, use a question mark.
Pay attention to the characters.. Both the characters and the setting of Iran play a significant
role in the understanding of this memoir.
Writing Assignment:
You, like the students in this book, will be keeping a journal of what you are reading. Even if you haven’t
read the novels featured in this memoir: Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice and Daisy Miller,
you can still get the general gist of the novel’s themes, characters and conflict. . Remember a professor is
writing this book and she is very interested in the literature – so, be prepared for analysis of the literature.
1.Purchase a journal to use for this book. Try not to purchase an “ordinary” notebook. Try to choose a
journal that is a bit personal – maybe, a leather journal.
In your journal, date the page and your impressions of what you read. If you are unsure
about something – for example, where Iran is even located, google a map and put the map in your journal.
If you want to know what the author looks like
(she now teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland
(find a picture and glue it into your journal. If something you read reminds you of a song or poem,
place the song and poem in your journal. Perhaps for one or two days, you would like to sketch what you
have read or think after reading. This is okay. Just remember most of your entries
should be written. If there is a quote or song that would work, include this in your journal.
The seven students in this memoir make strong analogies in how the literature fits their own lives.
Try to incorporate what you read with what you are thinking or feeling at the moment.
We will use our journals when discussing the novel
You will receive a grade of 100 pts. This will be due on August 22, 2008.
Your grade will be based on dates entered and the comprehensiveness, originality and creativity of your entries.
Please read and sign the Honor Code found at the bottom of the assignment. Thanks. 
If you have questions, please e-mail me at khouston@rdhs.org.
World Literature - Level III
If you are contracting to take Level III, you will need to read either Daisy Miller by
Henry James or Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. (If choosing Lolita, please have your
parent/guardian sign the inside of the book acknowledging that they give you permission to read this novel.
Writing Assignment:
Five paragraph or at least 250 words. Dr. Nafisi's question on the first day of her class was:
"What should fiction accomplish? Why should anyone read at all?" What do you think?
Nafisi also teaches that "empathy is the heart of the novel." Focus your written response
on either James' Daisy Miller or Nabokov's Lolita. Due Monday, August 25, 2008.
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THE HONOR CODE OF REGINA DOMINICAN HIGH SCHOOL
“Regina Dominican High School strives to create an atmosphere of academic
Integrity where students accept responsibility for their own education and
The ramifications of their actions. The school community values academic
integrity and promotes the development of the students into mature, honest
and responsible women. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated” (Regina
Dominican Handbook 10).
Plagiarism is one form of academic dishonesty. According to The Little,
Brown Compact Handbook, plagiarism is “the presentation of someone else’s
ideas or words as your own, whether deliberate or accidental” (Aaron 217).
To avoid plagiarism, make sure to credit all sources you consulted and to
include quotation marks and citations when copying word for word from a
source.
By signing my name, I affirm my commitment to the Regina Dominican Honor
________________________________________________
SIGNATURE DATE
