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Mrs. Lindbloom, English 12AP, English 10, and Journalism |
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Summer Reading
Rising juniors, you can download Mrs. Branyon's 11A summer
reading assignment here.
English 10 Honors Required Summer Reading 2008 Mrs. Lindbloom
Directions: In order to prepare for English 10A, you are required to read the following books over the summer and complete the notes assignment for each. I recommend that you purchase them, which will enable you to underline, highlight, or write in your copies, although you must still take separate notes to be graded. Be prepared to take a test on the required reading and write an essay on the optional reading at the beginning of the school year. Both of these will count as 100 point test grades. See the back of this sheet for grading rubrics.
Required
Optional
4 Points The Once and Future King by T. H. White
3 points The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
2 points Anthem by Ayn Rand Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
1 point
Fences by August Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen Siddhartha by Herman Hesse . Notes: As you read, list characters and settings for each section. Identify elements such as historical context, themes, symbolism, and conflicts in a special section of your notes. The rest of your notes will be your own summary and analysis of the plot (this section does not need to be in complete sentences). A good rule of thumb is about one page (about 250 words or 25 bullet points) of notes per 50 pages that you read. For most of you, this will equal about twenty pages in the end. Notes must be your own creation; plagiarism will be turned in as an honor code violation. You will turn your notes in for a 200 point homework grade on Monday, September 8, 2008.
*Please locate the abridged version by Signet Classic. The following are the correct version:
1) Signet Classic: Published 2005 or 1988, says Signet Classic
on the cover, 509 or 528 pages
.
Suggested Optional Reading by Theme (all
equal four points):
Buy the books online:
Required The Count of Monte Cristo, Signet Classic | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | The Count of Monte Cristo, Penguin Books | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | (You must buy the Signet Classic or Penguin Books version of this book.) . Optional: 4 points The Once and Future King | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble| . Optional: 3 points The Bean Trees | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | The Joy Luck Club | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | . Optional: 2 points
Around the World in 80 Days | Amazon.com
| Barnes
and Noble | (version does not matter)
Optional: 1 point Fences | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | Hedda Gabler | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | (version does not matter) Siddartha | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble |
. With the exception of The Count of Monte Cristo, the edition or publisher of the book does not matter. Feel free to get your copy from a used book store or to borrow one from a family member or friend. Anthem, Around the World in 80 Days , The Awakening, Hedda Gabler, Siddhartha, and The Turn of the Screw are no longer under copyright and are available online as well.
Tips: "He has only half learned the art of reading who has not added to it the more refined art of skipping and skimming." --Arthur James Balfour . Your summer reading assignment is by no means easy, although I hope that having so many optional books from which to choose will allow you to tailor your assignment to your own interests. Here are some tips to help you: . 1) Concentrate most of your effort on The Count of Monte Cristo. This is a long book, but it is pretty straightforward. If you read carefully and keep track of the characters and plot developments, you should not have difficulty with comprehension. Take notes with the expectation that you will be tested heavily on this book. Be sure to buy the correct version; it is a sure sign that you did not follow directions and are probably refering directly to SparkNotes if you mention incidents which do not appear in the version we will be reading. . 2) When short on time, students sometimes try to read online summaries such as SparkNotes or CliffNotes instead of reading (or worse yet, to watch the movie). This is a disastrous mistake (which you will discover when you have to take my reading check quizzes!), especially because the version of the The Count that we are reading is heavily abridged -- you will find yourself reading about events that have been cut entirely from our version. If you do not have time to read a work carefully word by word, then you will need to learn how to skim. First, read the titles of the book, chapters, and sections. Second, try to identify the main point of a passage or chapter. If a passage is particularly long but you have identified the main point, try skipping a sentence or two. Third, don't get hung up on passages that you don't understand. This is what you can use online summaries for -- to clarify confusing passages. . 3) Pick optional books that interest you and that are connected in theme (see recommendations above). Try to think of the optional reading as something enjoyable to read by the beach or the pool. The main assessment for the optional reading will be an essay assigned at the beginning of the school year. Check out last year's Common Summer Reading Essay Errors to avoid making unnecessary mistakes. . You will find the ability to skim and prioritize invaluable in English this year and beyond. Remember, there is no shame in using plot summaries and study guides in addition to a thorough reading of the material. However, these should be used only when necessary. As the year progresses, we will focus on learning to identify key elements without help. The last book we will read this year does not come with any outside study guides and will be a test of your ability to do your best on your own. .
Study Resources
I. The Count of Monte Cristo page. . . II. Optional Books: The following information may help you choose your optional books. . Anthem genre: science fiction themes: man's individuality, dystopias year published: 1938 author: Ayn Rand, a Russian-born philosopher, founder of Objectivism
. Around the World in 80 Days
genre: adventure
year published: 1873
. The Bean Trees
genre: modern fiction
year published: 1988
. Fences
genre: drama
. Hedda Gabler
genre: drama
year published: 1890
. The Joy Luck Club genre: postmodern novel
protagonists: four pairs of mothers and daughters
year published: 1989 author: Amy Tan, Chinese-American author, still writing today
The Once and Future King genre: Arthurian (King Arthur) fantasy protagonist: King Arthur, from a young boy to an old man themes: chivalry, politics, love, the hero year published: 1958 (parts of the novel were published as early as 1939) author: T. H. (Terence Hanbury) White, an English author born in India
. Siddhartha
genre: allegorical novel
year published: 1922 author: Herman Hesse
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