English 10 Honors Summer Reading
2008 – 2009
School Year
Dear Parents and
Incoming Sophomore Honors Students:
Recent research suggests that today's teens do not read enough outside of school. As part of a district goal to expand reading opportunities for students, the English Departments at all Plainfield High Schools are requiring that all students read a novel over the summer. Since we feel reading is vital to a student's success in school, we have set up this program to encourage it. Additionally, many honors students will take the AP examinations during their junior year, thus it is imperative that each student is exposed to a wide range and background of literature, especially in the area of twentieth century authors and issues. Like Stratford P. Sherman, author of America Won't Win Till it Reads More, we believe "Reading transcends the mere transmission of information: It fosters an imaginative dialogue between the text and the reader's mind that actually helps people think."
Over
the past few months, English teachers have read and discussed many possible
titles for this summer reading program. We have chosen the following selections
for incoming sophomore honors students. Please, choose one novel and
complete a reader's log (the directions are on the back) to be turned in to the
English 10 Honors teacher the FIRST day of student attendance.
This letter and
the actual assignment are also included in the English Department's section of
the school web site at: http://www.learningcommunity202.org/PSHS/
and are also linked off of PSHS website.
※
The Joy Luck
Club (Tan)
※ The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury)
If you have any questions about
the summer reading, feel free to contact Mrs. Smith at her email address: tsmith@learningcommunity202.org) .
We wish you an enjoyable summer
and eagerly anticipate classes beginning in August.
Thank you,
The English Faculty
Creating
a Reader’s Log
A reader's log is a method of recording
one's reactions to literature while it is being read. It may include opinions,
feelings, connections to real life or other literature, analysis of specific
lines of the text, examination of unclear words or passages, or questions. Its
purpose is to assist a reader in examining the text more carefully and as a
source of material for later thinking, discussion, or writing.
How
to: This
kind of writing is done in two columns with a quotation or fact from the text (including
page numbers) on the left and the reader's corresponding comment on the
right. It is evaluated on the basis of its quality as well as quantity;
therefore, the reader will want to put thought into each entry.
Response is in-line with the quote, and is also
numbered.
Sample
Page Set-up:
Quote/ passage is numbered Page # is included
Quotation/Fact Comments/Questions
7. I can relate with Ester here because I often find
myself staring at the phone wondering who might call me of all the people I
know.
- Connections
to real life: Hamlet’s
mourning for his father reminds me of the time my grandfather died. People tried to cheer me up, but I just
felt too sad to talk.
- Opinion: I
don’t think Huck Finn should have run away from his father because a child
should never deceive his parent. I
would never think of doing that to my father.
- Connections
to other literature: The end of West Side Story makes
me think of Romeo and Juliet, both of which are tragic ends
to a beautiful love story.
- Feelings: How
sad that Romeo and Juliet died for love. It made me cry to think how
foolish it was that they could not be together.
- Analysis of
the text: The line, "It was the best of
times; it was the worst of times" really sums up the themes of this
story in one sentence. That makes it a very effective first line on the
novel, making the reader want to know what events prompted that comment.
- Examination
of unclear words or passages: If the Wife was
boiling puddings in the pan, that can't be chocolate or tapioca. The
dictionary says that this pudding is a sausage -- that makes more sense.
- Questions: Why does Chaucer
describe only two women in the Prologue? Was this usual for a trip at this time?
Example of GOOD
journal entries:
Quotation/Fact |
Response |
|
1. “I use the
lipsticks now and then, and last week I cut the plastic starfish off the
sunglasses case for the baby to play with” (3) |
1. How long ago
does this story take place from the main character’s point of view? The text
stated that she ahd a baby, so it can’t be too long after her college years
in the book. |
|
2. “I talked
with one of them, and she was bored with yachts and bored with flying around
in airplanes and bored with skiing in Switzerland at Christmas and bored with
the men in Brazil. Girls like that make me sick. I’m so
jealous I can’t speak” (4) |
2. This passage
makes me angry because I’ve never even left the country, so in a way, I am
like Esther. I envy people who act like that girl as well. |
|
3.
“At my feet, the city doused its lights in sleep, its building blackened, as
if for a funeral” (111) |
3. Again, Esther
makes reference to her own readily accepted death. She keeps referencing
death so often that I think she will attempt suicide later in the book. |
Example of POOR
journal entries:
Quotation |
Response |
|
|
1. Complete
connection to real life. I have such dry skin, my hands are so dry my skin
cracks. It hurts and it’s gross! |
|
2. “This would
demonstrate that he was indeed a seer” (65) |
|
|
Students
should respond on a frequent, consistent basis throughout the
reading of the novel. (suggested minimum – 40 comments) |
While it’s good to make personal connections to the
novel, please try to be sure that the connections somehow enhance the
understanding of the novel. Any time you are simply stuck on a vocabulary word—look
it up in a dictionary or online.