2004 English Department Summer Reading Lists
Students
can expect quizzes,
essays, or other writing assignments in the first weeks of school on the listed
works. For all grades, reading journals are a required part
of the summer reading assignment.
Specific journal assignments are listed on the other pages of this
handout. Grades earned on summer reading quizzes, papers, or journals will count as part of the first
quarter grades in each class.
NOTE: All journals are due Tuesday, September 7, the first day of
school.
1) Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
2) Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
English IV
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
1) Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn (Please buy the Norton
Critical Third Edition.)
2) Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Please buy the
Penguin Classics edition.)
Zora Neale Hurston,
Their Eyes Were Watching God
1) William Golding, Lord of the
Flies
2) For the second summer
reading, you may choose a book of your own.
This cannot be a book you have already read in school; instead, we would
like you to select a novel or a play that you have wanted to
read but perhaps haven’t had the time for. If you are at a loss for ideas, there is a
list of suggested titles on the SMES library website.
If you have questions or
problems meeting these assignments, please email Dallas Clemmons at
dallas.clemmons@smes.org.
Journaling assignments:
JOURNAL: for themes,
symbols, ideas, character development, passages of language, structure, imagery, etc. Use the front side of the paper only.
RE-JOURNAL: Return to page one of your journal and
begin reading what you wrote. On the
facing pages, write additional understandings now that you have finished the entire work, correct
earlier impressions, answer questions
you had originally, etc.
Anna Karenina: Part One; read and journal
(Narrative time = one week); Part Two; read and journal (Levin’s story
is approximately three months later after Part One; Kitty’s story is
approximately six months after Part One; Anna and Vronsky’s
story is eighteen months after Part One); Part Three; read and journal (Levin’s
story is five months after Part One, May – October; Anna and Vronksy’s
story is summer of the year following Part Two); Part Four; read and journal
(For all the characters, it is the winter two years after Part One) Part Five;
read and journal (That spring into summer); Part Six; read and journal (Summer); Part Seven; read and journal (A year later); Part Eight; read and
journal (That summer); Introduction
(vii-xvii) and Re-journal
The Things
They Carried: Journal after the following stories: Friends,
Stockings, Notes, and The Lives of the Dead. Re-journal when you finish. NOTE:
You must include ALL the stories in your journal, not only the titles listed
above.
12th Grade English Electives (All classes read the same assignments)
The Things
They Carried: Journal after the following stories:
Friends, Stockings, Notes, and The Lives of the Dead. Re-journal when you
finish. NOTE: You must include ALL the stories in your journal, not only the
titles listed above.
Huckleberry Finn: Chapters 1-9, journal
Chapters 10-18, journal
Chapters 19-27, journal
Chapters 28-37, journal
Chapters
38-end, journal.
Toni
Morrison’s essay “This Amazing, Troubling Book” (pp 385-392), Re-journal the
entire novel.
The Awakening: One journal after finishing.
The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-8, journal
Chapters 9-16, journal
Chapters 17-24. Re-journal when
you finish.
English II
Their Eyes Were Watching God Journal after the following chapters: 4, 9, 13, & 20.
English I
Before beginning to read the
book, pick one of the following questions and write a response of two pages
(approximately 600 words):
1) Compare and contrast human beings and animals
2) Is power necessary to sustain a successful
society? Explain.
3) Is there a difference between a leader and a
hero? Explain.
Chapters 1-4; read, then
journal your general responses to the characters, their situation, their
actions, etc; discuss any questions you might have about the novel so far;
explore Jack’s character as it seems to be emerging in these first four
chapters; look at the description of Simon carefully – how does the language
convey his differences from the other characters. (Approximately two pages/600 words)
Chapters 5-8; read, then
journal your general responses to the characters, their situations, their
actions, their relationships, etc; discuss any questions you have about these
chapters; why do Ralph and Jack believe in the beast while Simon doubts its
existence; why do the boys cease being loyal to Jack? (Approximately two pages/600 words)
Chapters
9-12; read, then journal your final responses to the novel, the characters, and
the ending. (Approximately two pages/600 words)
NOTE: While journaling, if you can connect your
ideas to specific quotes from the text, please do so.
Re-journaling: Return to the first pages of your journal and
begin reading what you wrote. Write your
new ideas on the facing pages; for example, when you re-read your response to
the pre-writing question, explain how your original views have changed or
developed after reading this novel.
Continue to respond section by section to your ideas, answering your
questions if you can, elaborating on a thought, correcting yourself, etc.
It is not necessary to
respond to every idea in every paragraph; rather, you are re-examining what’s
important in your thinking.
When journaling the second
novel, you need
to discuss each of the following questions: