Summer reading lists for each grade level are available now. Check the appropriate grade level below for more detailed information:
1. Choose a book from the list below. The book selfie assignment is only required for one. It must be a book that you have not yet read.
2. Read the book over the summer.
3. Complete the assignments below and be prepared to turn them in on Tuesday, August 15th.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS
I. Book Summary Assignment
Complete the following questions in a word document, print and turn in the hard copy.
Short answer questions:
1. Describe the setting of the story.
2. Who are the main characters?
3. What is the conflict in the story?
4. What is the climax?
5. What is the resolution?
Choose one of the following questions and answer in a complete paragraph. Your paragraph should be 5-7 sentences long and contain a topic sentence and conclusion/clincher sentence. Thoroughly explain the answer in your paragraph including references to the book. Finally, proofread and revise for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.
1. How do you relate to the main character?
2. How does the conflict compare to something you have experienced?
3. What can you learn from this story?
II. Book Selfie Project
Book Selfie Instructions:
Please take a Book Selfie with your summer book! Choose a location that is special to you. It could be your favorite place to read or a beautiful location outside. Your selfie may be taken with a camera, cell phone, iPad, etc. It must be taken vertically ↕, not horizontally. Once you have taken your selfie, you will need to have it printed out. This can be done at a local Walgreens, CVS, or WalMart for a very small fee. The Book Selfie should be a 5”x7”color print with a glossy finish. Following directions matters!
In addition to taking a Book Selfie and having it printed, you will complete the Book Selfie information page that goes along with it. The selfie should then be glued onto the information page.
Have fun! 😊
1. Choose a book from the list below. The book selfie assignment is only required for one. It must be a book that you have not yet read.
2. Read the book over the summer.
3. Complete the assignments below and be prepared to turn them in on Tuesday, August 15th.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS
I. Book Summary Assignment
Complete the following questions in a word document, print and turn in the hard copy.
Short answer questions:
1. What is the setting?
2. Who are the main characters?
a. What are the character traits of one of the main characters?
i. What is the motivation of this main character?
3. What is the inciting incident?
4. What is the rising incident?
5. What is the main conflict in the story?
a. Is this conflict internal or external?
i. Is the conflict man vs man, man vs self, man vs a greater force
6. What is the climax?
7. What is the falling action?
8. What is the resolution?
Choose one of the following questions and answer in a complete paragraph. Your paragraph should be 5-7 sentences long and contain a topic sentence and conclusion/clincher sentence. Thoroughly explain the answer in your paragraph including references to the book. Finally, proofread and revise for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.
1. How do you relate to the main character?
2. How does the conflict compare to something you have experienced?
3. What can you learn from this story?
II. Book Selfie Project
Book Selfie Instructions:
Please take a Book Selfie with your summer book! Choose a location that is special to you. It could be your favorite place to read or a beautiful location outside. Your selfie may be taken with a camera, cell phone, iPad, etc. It must be taken vertically ↕, not horizontally. Once you have taken your selfie, you will need to have it printed out. This can be done at a local Walgreens, CVS, or WalMart for a very small fee. The Book Selfie should be a 5”x7”color print with a glossy finish. Following directions matters!
In addition to taking a Book Selfie and having it printed, you will complete the Book Selfie information page that goes along with it. The selfie should then be glued onto the information page.
Have fun! 😊
Step-by-Step to Summer Reading
1. Choose a book from the list below. Advanced classes must complete two books and finish the book summary assignment for each. The book selfie assignment is only required for one. It must be a book that you have not yet read.
2. Read the book over the summer.
3. Complete the assignments below and be prepared to turn them in on Tuesday, August 15th.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS
I. Book Summary Assignment
Complete the following questions in a word document, print and turn in the hard copy.
Short answer questions:
1. What is the setting?
2. Who are the main characters?
a. What are the character traits of one of the main characters?
i. What is the motivation of this main character?
3. What is the inciting incident?
4. What is the rising incident?
5. What is the main conflict in the story?
a. Is this conflict internal or external?
i. Is the conflict man vs man, man vs self, man vs a greater force
6. What is the climax?
7. What is the falling action?
8. What is the resolution?
Choose one of the following questions and answer in a complete paragraph. Your paragraph should be 5-7 sentences long and contain a topic sentence and conclusion/clincher sentence. Thoroughly explain the answer in your paragraph including references to the book. Finally, proofread and revise for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.
1. How do you relate to the main character?
2. How does the conflict compare to something you have experienced?
3. What can you learn from this story?
II. Book Selfie Project
Book Selfie Instructions:
Please take a Book Selfie with your summer book! Choose a location that is special to you. It could be your favorite place to read or a beautiful location outside. Your selfie may be taken with a camera, cell phone, iPad, etc. It must be taken vertically ↕, not horizontally. Once you have taken your selfie, you will need to have it printed out. This can be done at a local Walgreens, CVS, or WalMart for a very small fee. The Book Selfie should be a 5”x7”color print with a glossy finish. Following directions matters!
In addition to taking a Book Selfie and having it printed, you will complete the Book Selfie information page that goes along with it. The selfie should then be glued onto the information page.
Have fun! 😊
English Literature Reading List 2023-2024
The A.B.C. Murders By Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery Difficulty: Easy ISBN: 9781579126247
Pudd’nhead Wilson By Mark Twain
Genre: Mystery Difficulty: Moderate ISBN:9780553211580
The Innocence of Father Brown By G. K. Chesterton
Genre: Mystery Difficulty: Moderate ISBN:9780809592531
Indian Captive ByLois Lenski
Genre: Historical Fiction Difficulty: Easy ISBN:9780064461627
Whose Body? ByDorothy Sayers
Genre: Mystery Difficulty:Easy ISBN: 9780486473628
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea By Jules Verne
Genre: ScienceFiction Difficulty:Advanced ISBN: 9781853260315
Out of the Silent Planet By C.S. Lewis
Genre: Science Fiction Difficulty:Moderate ISBN: 9780020868804
Perelandra ByC.S. Lewis
Genre: Science Fiction Difficulty:Moderate ISBN: 9780020869504
That Hideous Strength By C.S. Lewis
Genre: Science Fiction Difficulty:Moderate ISBN: 9780007157174
The Kid from Tomkinsville By John R. Tunis
Genre: Sports Difficulty:Easy ISBN: 9780152056414
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ By Lewis Wallace
Genre: HistoricalFiction Difficulty:Advanced ISBN:9781934648209
Banner in the Sky By James Ramsey Ullman
Genre: Adventure Difficulty: Easy ISBN: 9781934648209
***The Summer Reading assignment is due on the FIRST DAY OF CLASS. Submissions must be typed on paper and brought to class. A second submission will be through TURNITIN to screen for PLAGIARISM, which is cheating and subject to disciplinary action.***
*Honors Classes must read TWO books in TOTAL. Students may choose one book from the list, but you will also be responsible for reading the book listed below:
Out of the Silent Planet By C.S. Lewis
Genre: Science Fiction Difficulty: Moderate ISBN: 9780020868804
Answer the following outline prompts for EACH chapter in the book you choose(remember, honors will do this with TWO books):
1. THE PLOT
· Write ONE SENTENCE in your own words that “encompasses” the whole chapter. This should include the “what” or content of the chapter and then the “how ”—how the chapter is written—possible responses you may consider--from whose point of view, with what action, with internal or external dialogue, with what focus orconflicts.
· (DO NOT write a paragraph—be concise and use semi-colons to connect multiple thoughts, if needed.)
2. KEY CHARACTERS --answer all three FOR EACH CHAPTER
· LIST KEY(MAIN)characters for each chapter (most will be repeated)
· DESCRIPTION: Describe each character—physical and/or emotional
· PURPOSE: explain the purpose of the characters within that chapter—ask yourself why the author includes this character—what is hetrying to accentuate or bring out in the plot or another character **this is vital—do not skip this!
3. SETTING
· Identify the specific setting FOR EACH CHAPTER—where is the action focused? Time of day?
· Write the purpose of the setting of each chapter—why here? Why now? What is the effect of the setting on the plot,conflict, tension, and characters?
4. STYLE OF WRITING
· Identify and label at least three of the following literary elements with afragment of
the quote and the page number for each chapter.
· Explain WHY the author uses each literary element in the context of the chapter.
a) Metaphors
b) Similes
c) Personification
d) Foreshadowing
e) Irony
Ex—Simile--Kino springs on the attacker like a savage cat p#.___
Explanation: Kino attacks the men that were trying to kill them like a cat attacks its prey.
TOTAL POINTS—200points/2 grades for honors. 100 points/1 grade for standard.
English Literature & Composition II and AP English Literature Reading List 2023-2024
Summer Reading for the 2023-2024 School Year – StandardClasses
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Doyle ISBN: 9780199536955
Great Expectations Dickens ISBN: 9780553213423
Murder Must Advertise Sayers ISBN:9780061043550
Journey to the Center of the Earth Verne ISBN:9780553213973
The Sword Bearer White ISBN: 9780877845904
Eragon Paolini ISBN:9780375826696
Gulliver’s Travels Swift ISBN:9781853260278
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Hugo ISBN: 9781593081409
The Great Divorce Lewis ISBN: 9790007672386
Summer Reading for the 2023-2024 School Year – Honors Classes
The Pearl Steinbeck ISBN: 9780199536955
Cyrano de Bergerac Rostand ISBN: 9780553213423
Summer Reading for the 2023-2024 School Year – AP English Literature Class
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe ISBN: 9780486282084
Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky ISBN: 9781840224306
*Assignment for Standard Classes
Once you have chosen your novel, do the following:
Create a dialectical journal as you read. See the example of a two-column dialectal journal below. A dialectical journal is a method of note taking which requires thoughtful analysis of a chosen text. For your journal, you will choose a theme. You will find a Huge List of Common Themes at https://literarydevices.net/a-huge-list-of-common-themes; simply click this link or copy and paste the URL address into your web browser. Using the list, identify a dominant theme that you find in the book of your choice. Then, identify 20 quotes throughout your novel that support, reveal, or clarify the theme. Be sure to place quotation marks around your quote and provide the page number on which the quote is found. Then provide commentary to discuss how the quote reveals the theme.
You must complete this assignment as a Word document which you will turn in on the first day of class in hardcopy (printed copy) for a grade. You will also upload your assignment into Turnitin, a program that will screen for plagiarism. You must use complete sentences. You will be graded on grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Here is an example:
Text Evidence Commentary
“They were going to look at war, the red animal — war, the blood-swollen god” (Crane 23).
(From The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane)
From the beginning of the text, Henry sees war as a noble cause, often confusing heroism with a Greek-god like status. However, once he sees war, he realizes it doesn’t hold the glory he once dreamed of. In this passage, Crane emphasizes what the war is: “the red animal” and “the blood-swollen god.” The repetition and use of metaphor emphasize the danger the war holds to not only Henry but also the reader.
Once we return in August, we will use our notes to begin the practice of analyzing a theme in a work of fiction. Please don’t wait until the end of the summer to do your reading. Above all, choose the work that you find most compelling.
*Assignment for Honors Classes
The Honors assignments are due on the first day of class. Submissions must be typed on paper and brought to class. A second submission will be through TURNITIN to screen for PLAGIARISM, which is cheating and subject to disciplinary action.
*Honors Summer Reading Books and Assignment:
*The Pearl John Steinbeck (any publisher)
*Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand (any publisher)
This assignment MUST be typed with each chapter numbered and all questions
answered in the order of this handout J
Answer the following outline for EACH of the (SIX) chapters of The Pearl:
1. THE PLOT (5 pts x6 ch/ 30 pts)
· Write ONE SENTENCE in your own words that “encompasses” the whole chapter. This should include the “what” or content of the chapter and then the “how ”—how the chapter is written—possible responses you may consider--from whose point of view, with what action, with internal or external dialogue, with what focus or conflicts.
· (DO NOT write a paragraph—be concise and use semi-colons to connect multiple thoughts, if needed.)
2. KEY CHARACTERS --answer all three FOR EACH CHAPTER (8.3 pts x 6 ch/ 50 pts)
· LIST KEY (MAIN) characters for each chapter (most will be repeated)
· DESCRIPTION: Describe each character—physical and/or emotional
· PURPOSE: explain the purpose of the characters within that chapter—ask yourself why the author includes this character—what is hetrying to accentuate or bring out in the plot or another character **this is vital—do not skip this!
3. SETTING (5 pts x 6 ch/ 30 pts)
· Identify the specific setting FOR EACH CHAPTER—where is the action focused? Time of day?
· Write the purpose of the setting of each chapter—why here? Why now? What is the effect of the setting on the plot, conflict, tension, and characters?
4. LIST THE SONGS --each chapter has at least one (5pts x6 ch/ 30 pts)
· Explain the purpose of each song listed in each chapter.
· Ex—Song of the Enemy—This song plays in Kino’s head as ___________________.
It represents ________________________.
5. STYLE OF WRITING (10 pts x 6 ch/ 60 pts)
· Identify and label at least three of the following literary elements with afragment of
the quote and the page number for each chapter
· Explain WHY Steinbeck uses each literary element in the context of the chapter
a) Detailed descriptions
b) Metaphors
c) Similes
d) Personification
e) Foreshadowing
f) Irony
Ex—Simile--Kino springs on the attacker like a savage cat p#.___
Explanation: Kino attacks the men that were trying to kill them like a cat attacks its prey.
TOTALPOINTS—200 points/2 grades (updated 4/23)
* Honors Summer Reading
Cyranode Bergerac
Assignment 2023-24
Directions: Answer the follow questions for EACH CHAPTER of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand: (all work must be typewritten)
1. Write ONE SENTENCE in your own words that “encompasses” each scene of each act in the play. This should include the “what or content” of the scene and the “main idea or purpose” of the content in that scene. As you can see from this list, there are46 scenes in all. Make sure you have a sentence for each one. (#1 and #2 are worth 50 points.)
Act I, scenes i-vii
Act II, scenes i-xi
Act III, scenes i-xii
Act IV, scenes i-x
Act V, scenes i-vi
2. Key Characters: List key (main) characters for each scene of each act in the play, along with the ONE SENTENCE summary of the scene listed in number #1.
3. Themes (50 pts): What does Rostand have to say about each of the following themes? Write a 7-10 sentence paragraph for each theme. First, state what the author’s position is regarding the theme or what he says about the theme, and then support why you believe he feels that way from the play. You must cite examples from the play and provide the MLA format citation for the example (even if it’s not a direct quote).
beauty appearance unrequited love loyalty
deception identity fear difference
pride honor freedom power of words
TOTALPOINTS—100 points (updated 4/23)
*Assignment for AP Classes
Assignment for The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, is celebrated as one of the preeminent novels of British literature, a must-read for the well-read scholar. As you read, take notes in your book. Underline important passages, flag pages, identify symbols, imagery, significant plot elements, vocabulary words, make margin notes, etc. Make the book your own and make it usable. Your book annotations are a part of your grade.
After (or during) your reading of the novel, you must complete the following literary analysis. The analysis, due on the first day of class, can be done in outline form except for sections that specify otherwise. You should also be prepared to write an essay about the novel during the first week of school.
I. Author Research: Conduct research on Marlowe – his life, his beliefs, the causes he stood for, his purpose for writing this novel. Write 1-2 paragraphs on your findings (include citations and works cited).
II. Characters: List major characters and include thefollowing information for each:
a. Internal and external conflicts that mold or motivate the character
b. Character traits (2-4 one word answers)
III. Themes: List major themes.
IV. Author’s Style: Describe the overall style of the text (1-3 sentences) and list examples from the text to support your description. Include page numbers.
V. Important Scenes: Quote at least 5 scenes or lines that you found to be especially memorable or that illustrated key ideas (include page numbers). Write a brief commentary for each scene, explaining its significance (3-5 sentences). Choose two quotes to memorize. This will be part of a quiz when you return.
VI. Questions: As you read, record questions you have (the margin is a great place for this!). After finishing the novel, list 5 questions you feel are most important and would facilitate the best class discussion.
VII. Vocabulary: As you read, choose 20 words that are new and interesting to you and do the following for each:
A. List the word.
B. Define it.
C. Quote the sentence in which the word is used, and cite the scene and line(s) (e.g., iv.27-30).
D. Write your own sentence using the word in a way that shows a thorough understanding of the word.
**Crime & Punishment Summer Assignment Guidelines
As I am sure you have heard from the legions of AP Literature students who have come before you, your task in preparation for AP Literature next year is to read Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment. To be perfectly honest, this novel is dense, complicated, and challenging. (For starters, many of the characters have several different names, and they are used interchangeably!). It is also thrilling and maddening. If you take the time to thoroughly read this novel, you will very likely be able to use it on the AP Exam Open Prompt Question at the end of the year, as it covers a variety of themes.
Your assignment is two-fold:
I. First, annotate the novel thoroughly. You will need to annotate the entire novel—including the epilogue—by the first day of school. Your book will be turned in and checked for thorough annotations. Although you will need to mark directly in your book for you own understanding, I will only be looking at Post-it notes.
· 25 color-coded Post-it notes total for the entire book. These are the regular sized notes, not the miniature ones. If I cannot read your writing, it does not count.
· No fewer than 4 and no more than 6 for each category of Post-it notes.
· A minimum of 3 in each part plus the epilogue. (This ensures that you are connecting with the text throughout and not just for one chapter).
· The categories need to be color coded, so make sure you include a color key at the beginning of your novel. (For example: comments=yellow, symbols=blue, etc.).
A. CATEGORIES
1. Comments to yourself (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the sentence, “What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “Why did the author all of a sudden address the reader directly? Is the breaking the 4th wall? Am I supposed to be answering this as a moral question for myself?”)
2. Symbols, images, ideas that reoccur (Ex. After circling the word “animal,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the 3rd time in 2 pages Raskolnikov’s actions are compared to an animal. He is being portrayed as not human.”)
3. Settings that are physical, geographical, or cultural. (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the phrase, “gazed in miserable bewilderment at the coffin like room,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the second time a home has been described as cramped and dark. This reflects what was going on in Russia during this time period.”)
4. Characterization (Ex. After circling the words, “walked slowly with hesitation”…”scowl””...crushed by poverty”… and “isolated,” your post it note is stuck right by those words and states, “Tone is set from the beginning about what kind of person Raskolnikov is.”
B. Some thoughts on annotating well:
1. On the whole, quality is more important than quantity (although I will be counting the post it notes for this activity); thorough annotations every few pages will help you engage with and process the novel more meaningfully than scribbling single words on every page or writing several notes at the end of a chapter. The goal is for you connect parts of the book together to see the whole picture.
2. Think in terms of questions: as a reader, you are in a conversation with the text. It is a two-way street. To that end, when something strange, confusing, or thrilling happens in the novel, ask a question about it. You may be able to answer your question later.
3. Think also in terms of making connections across the text. When asked his advice about what novelists need to do to be great, the superb British novelist E. M. Forester wrote: “Connect, connect, connect.” Try to link ideas—character changes, image and symbol patterns, plot movements—with your annotations. For example, when you note something (a symbol, an image, a character trait) on page five, see if you can re-describe it on page 100 if and when it reappears.
4. Avoid writing down single literary terms like “symbol,” “theme,” or “characterization.” Talk about the book—not around it. Those terms do not really help you make any sense of anything unless you comment more deeply about them. Do not just notice things: try to explain or describe them.
5. Personal comments (“Cool!” “Weird!” “I don’t get this!”) will also not help you. Avoid them. Those comments do not enrich or explain the novel at all. If you are compelled to write such comments, follow them up with legitimate questions or comments about characterization, voice, symbolism, setting, plot, structure, theme, etc.
II. Second, analyze significant passages from Crime and Punishment.
Much of our work next year will be focusing on the author’s use of language in significant passages, noting literary techniques and then analyzing them.
“Significant” means that the passage can stand as an excellent example or microcosm of the work considering its use of language and how it develops a larger meaning or overall theme of the entire work. As you read the novel, highlight significant passages you think may be speaking to a theme. Once you finish reading, go back and look specifically at the passages you highlighted.
Analyze seven (7) significant passages from the novel – 1 from each part + epilogue.
Considerations:
*Passages should not be more than approximately 10 lines. Quotes that are longer than that tend to have several ideas in them. Focus on one idea.
*NONE OF THE QUOTES MAY BEFROM SPARKNOTES “IMPORTANT QUOTES EXPLAINED” OR OTHER SIMILAR SOURCES.
*You should discuss the specifics of the language in the quote and how that passage reflects an overall theme of the book.
*This is NOT RESEARCH; it is reflection. Therefore, you are NOT to use outside sources—only the text. Failure to adhere to this constitutes plagiarism.
Guidelines for the outline of quotations:
1. Write the quote (part, chapter, and page number).
2. Identify the speaker.
3. Give the context of the quotation (the parts that immediately precede or follow a passage and clarify its meaning).
4. Write an explanation/analysis of the quote.
5. Create a theme in the novel that would be supported by this quote.
The following is an example of a properly done quote. You may not use this one, because it is from Sparknotes and only for the purpose of illustration.
1. “The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she’s not the point! The old woman was merely a sickness .. . I was in a hurry to step over . . . it wasn’t a human being I killed, it was a principle! So I killed the principle, but I didn’t step over, I stayed on this side . . . All I managed to do was kill. And I didn’t even manage that, as it turns out . . .” Part III Ch 6 P. 217-218
2. Raskolnikov
3. Raskolnikov has just spoken with Razumikhin and wants to go home to be alone with his thoughts. His ideas are tangled in his head, and he is laying on his bed, thinking to himself about what he has done.
4. Raskolnikov wants to believe that his murder was not a crime. At this point in the novel, he feels that he was justified in the murder and that he had a right, due to the superman ideal.
5. Through Raskolnikov’s mental struggle, Dostoyevsky is showing that every member of society has the same moral code to follow and that not following it will produce guilt and anxiety.
(Notice that the theme is a complete sentence that includes what the author is saying to the reader about life).
English Literature & Composition III Reading List 2023-2024
Summer Reading for the 2023-2024 School Year – ENG III
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare Chesterson ISBN: 9780140183887
Flags of Our Fathers Bradley ISBN: 9780553384154
Loving VS. Virginia Powell ISBN 9781452125909
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Stowe ISBN:9780140390032
Brave New World Huxley ISBN: 9780060929879
The Red Badge of Courage Crane ISBN:9781580495868
Mere Christianity Lewis ISBN:9780684823782
A Raisin in the Sun Hansberry ISBN:9780553210095
The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde ISBN: 9780020868804
Assignment for Literature and Composition III
Once you have chosen your novel, answer the following five questions in short essay responses (paragraphs). Where you feel it will support your responses, please include direct quotations and page numbers from the text. As you ponder these characters and your responses, please remember, the answers you provide will be the basis of your first major paper for the course.
1. List three major characters of the literary work and in well-developed paragraphs give an example/examples of what the character learns by the end of the work.
2. Pretend that you are one of the major characters in the literary work. Write a monologue (one person talking) of the character telling his/her most unique experience from the text.
3. Choose one complex and important character in your novel or play who might, based on the character’s actions alone, be considered good. Identify and explain what hidden flaws or immoralities are beneath the surface of the character. Explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work and the society in which he or she lives, makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might.
4. Pick a current national issue. Compose a speech(100-150 words) to be given on that topic by one of the major characters in the work you read. Be sure the contents reflect the character's personality. Possible issues are aging, political corruption, prejudice, family communications, poverty, disillusionment with society.
5. Finally, complete each of these ideas with material from the literary work:
This work made me: wish that... realize that... decide that... wonder about…. see that... believe that... feel that... hope that….
*Assignment for AP Classes
Assignment for The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, is celebrated as one of the preeminent novels of British literature, a must-read for the well-read scholar. As you read, take notes in your book. Underline important passages, flag pages, identify symbols, imagery, significant plot elements, vocabulary words, make margin notes, etc. Make the book your own and make it usable. Your book annotations are a part of your grade.
After (or during) your reading of the novel, you must complete the following literary analysis. The analysis, due on the first day of class, can be done in outline form except for sections that specify otherwise. You should also be prepared to write an essay about the novel during the first week of school.
I. Author Research: Conduct research on Marlowe – his life, his beliefs, the causes he stood for, his purpose for writing this novel. Write 1-2 paragraphs on your findings (include citations and works cited).
II. Characters: List major characters and include the following information for each:
a. Internal and external conflicts that mold or motivate the character
b. Character traits (2-4 one word answers)
III. Themes: List major themes.
IV. Author’s Style: Describe the overall style of the text (1-3 sentences) and list examples from the text to support your description. Include page numbers.
V. Important Scenes: Quote at least 5 scenes or lines that you found to be especially memorable or that illustrated key ideas (include page numbers). Write a brief commentary for each scene, explaining its significance (3-5 sentences). Choose two quotes to memorize. This will be part of a quiz when you return.
VI. Questions: As you read, record questions you have (the margin is a great place for this!). After finishing the novel, list 5 questions you feel are most important and would facilitate the best class discussion.
VII. Vocabulary: As you read, choose 20 words that are new and interesting to you and do the following for each:
A. List the word.
B. Define it.
C. Quote the sentence in which the word is used, and cite the scene and line(s) (e.g., iv.27-30).
D. Write your own sentence using the word in a way that shows a thorough understanding of the word.
**Crime & Punishment Summer Assignment Guidelines
As I am sure you have heard from the legions of AP Literature students who have come before you, your task in preparation for AP Literature next year is to read Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment. To be perfectly honest, this novel is dense, complicated, and challenging. (For starters, many of the characters have several different names, and they are used interchangeably!). It is also thrilling and maddening. If you take the time to thoroughly read this novel, you will very likely be able to use it on the AP Exam Open Prompt Question at the end of the year, as it covers a variety of themes.
Your assignment is two-fold:
I. First, annotate the novel thoroughly. You will need to annotate the entire novel—including the epilogue—by the first day of school. Your book will be turned in and checked for thorough annotations. Although you will need to mark directly in your book for you own understanding, I will only be looking at Post-it notes.
· 25 color-coded Post-it notes total for the entire book. These are the regular sized notes, not the miniature ones. If I cannot read your writing, it does not count.
· No fewer than 4 and no more than 6 for each category of Post-it notes.
· A minimum of 3 in each part plus the epilogue. (This ensures that you are connecting with the text throughout and not just for one chapter).
· The categories need to be color coded, so make sure you include a color key at the beginning of your novel. (For example: comments=yellow, symbols=blue, etc.).
A. CATEGORIES
1. Comments to yourself (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the sentence, “What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “Why did the author all of a sudden address the reader directly? Is the breaking the 4th wall? Am I supposed to be answering this as a moral question for myself?”)
2. Symbols, images, ideas that reoccur (Ex. After circling the word “animal,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the 3rd time in 2 pages Raskolnikov’s actions are compared to an animal. He is being portrayed as not human.”)
3. Settings that are physical, geographical, or cultural. (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the phrase, “gazed in miserable bewilderment at the coffin like room,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the second time a home has been described as cramped and dark. This reflects what was going on in Russia during this time period.”)
4. Characterization (Ex. After circling the words, “walked slowly with hesitation”…”scowl””...crushed by poverty”… and “isolated,” your post it note is stuck right by those words and states, “Tone is set from the beginning about what kind of person Raskolnikov is.”
B. Some thoughts on annotating well:
1. On the whole, quality is more important than quantity (although I will be counting the post it notes for this activity); thorough annotations every few pages will help you engage with and process the novel more meaningfully than scribbling single words on every page or writing several notes at the end of a chapter. The goal is for you connect parts of the book together to see the whole picture.
2. Think in terms of questions: as a reader, you are in a conversation with the text. It is a two-way street. To that end, when something strange, confusing, or thrilling happens in the novel, ask a question about it. You may be able to answer your question later.
3. Think also in terms of making connections across the text. When asked his advice about what novelists need to do to be great, the superb British novelist E. M. Forester wrote: “Connect, connect, connect.” Try to link ideas—character changes, image and symbol patterns, plot movements—with your annotations. For example, when you note something (a symbol, an image, a character trait) on page five, see if you can re-describe it on page 100 if and when it reappears.
4. Avoid writing down single literary terms like “symbol,” “theme,” or “characterization.” Talk about the book—not around it. Those terms do not really help you make any sense of anything unless you comment more deeply about them. Do not just notice things: try to explain or describe them.
5. Personal comments (“Cool!” “Weird!” “I don’t get this!”) will also not help you. Avoid them. Those comments do not enrich or explain the novel at all. If you are compelled to write such comments, follow them up with legitimate questions or comments about characterization, voice, symbolism, setting, plot, structure, theme, etc.
II. Second, analyze significant passages from Crime and Punishment.
Much of our work next year will be focusing on the author’s use of language in significant passages, noting literary techniques and then analyzing them.
“Significant” means that the passage can stand as an excellent example or microcosm of the work considering its use of language and how it develops a larger meaning or overall theme of the entire work. As you read the novel, highlight significant passages you think may be speaking to a theme. Once you finish reading, go back and look specifically at the passages you highlighted.
Analyze seven (7) significant passages from the novel – 1 from each part + epilogue.
Considerations:
*Passages should not be more than approximately 10 lines. Quotes that are longer than that tend to have several ideas in them. Focus on one idea.
*NONE OF THE QUOTES MAY BEFROM SPARKNOTES “IMPORTANT QUOTES EXPLAINED” OR OTHER SIMILAR SOURCES.
*You should discuss the specifics of the language in the quote and how that passage reflects an overall theme of the book.
*This is NOT RESEARCH; it is reflection. Therefore, you are NOT to use outside sources—only the text. Failure to adhere to this constitutes plagiarism.
Guidelines for the outline of quotations:
1. Write the quote (part, chapter, and page number).
2. Identify the speaker.
3. Give the context of the quotation (the parts that immediately precede or follow a passage and clarify its meaning).
4. Write an explanation/analysis of the quote.
5. Create a theme in the novel that would be supported by this quote.
The following is an example of a properly done quote. You may not use this one, because it is from Sparknotes and only for the purpose of illustration.
1. “The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she’s not the point! The old woman was merely a sickness .. . I was in a hurry to step over . . . it wasn’t a human being I killed, it was a principle! So I killed the principle, but I didn’t step over, I stayed on this side . . . All I managed to do was kill. And I didn’t even manage that, as it turns out . . .” Part III Ch 6 P. 217-218
2. Raskolnikov
3. Raskolnikov has just spoken with Razumikhin and wants to go home to be alone with his thoughts. His ideas are tangled in his head, and he is laying on his bed, thinking to himself about what he has done.
4. Raskolnikov wants to believe that his murder was not a crime. At this point in the novel, he feels that he was justified in the murder and that he had a right, due to the superman ideal.
5. Through Raskolnikov’s mental struggle, Dostoyevsky is showing that every member of society has the same moral code to follow and that not following it will produce guilt and anxiety.
(Notice that the theme is a complete sentence that includes what the author is saying to the reader about life).
English Literature & Composition IV Reading List 2023-2024
Summer Reading for the 2023-2024 School Year – ENG IV
The Good Earth Buck ISBN: 9780671035778
Outliers Gladwell ISBN:9780316017923
The Case For Christ Strobel ISBN:9780310209300
Anthem Rand ISBN:9780452281257
The Chosen Potok ISBN:9780449213445
A Tale of Two Cities Dickens ISBN:9780141439600
The Scarlet Pimpernel Orczy ISBN:9780486421223
Doctor Faustus Marlowe ISBN:9780451527790
We Are Displaced Yousafzai ISBN: 9780316523646
Wuthering Heights Bronte ISBN:9780553212587
Assignment for Literature and Composition IV
Once you have chosen your novel, answer the following five questions in short essay responses (paragraphs). Where you feel it will support your responses, please include direct quotations and page numbers from the text. As you ponder these characters and your responses, please remember, the answers you provide will be the basis of your first major paper for the course.
1. List three major characters of the literary work and in well-developed paragraphs give an example/examples of what the character learns by the end of the work.
2. Pretend that you are one of the major characters in the literary work. Write a monologue (one person talking) of the character telling his/her most unique experience from the text.
3. Choose one complex and important character in your novel or play who might, based on the character’s actions alone, be considered good. Identify and explain what hidden flaws or immoralities are beneath the surface of the character. Explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work and the society in which he or she lives, makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might.
4. Pick a current national issue. Compose a speech (100-150 words) to be given on that topic by one of the major characters in the work you read. Be sure the contents reflect the character's personality. Possible issues are aging, political corruption, prejudice, family communications, poverty, disillusionment with society.
5. Finally, complete each of these ideas with material from the literary work:
This work made me: wish that... realize that... decide that... wonder about…. see that... believe that... feel that... hope that….
*Assignment for AP Classes
Assignment for The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, is celebrated as one of the preeminent novels of British literature, a must-read for the well-read scholar. As you read, take notes in your book. Underline important passages, flag pages, identify symbols, imagery, significant plot elements, vocabulary words, make margin notes, etc. Make the book your own and make it usable. Your book annotations are a part of your grade.
After (or during) your reading of the novel, you must complete the following literary analysis. The analysis, due on the first day of class, can be done in outline form except for sections that specify otherwise. You should also be prepared to write an essay about the novel during the first week of school.
I. Author Research: Conduct research on Marlowe – his life, his beliefs, the causes he stood for, his purpose for writing this novel. Write 1-2 paragraphs on your findings (include citations and works cited).
II. Characters: List major characters and include the following information for each:
a. Internal and external conflicts that mold or motivate the character
b. Character traits (2-4 one word answers)
III. Themes: List major themes.
IV. Author’s Style: Describe the overall style of the text (1-3 sentences) and list examples from the text to support your description. Include page numbers.
V. Important Scenes: Quote at least 5 scenes or lines that you found to be especially memorable or that illustrated key ideas (include page numbers). Write a brief commentary for each scene, explaining its significance (3-5 sentences). Choose two quotes to memorize. This will be part of a quiz when you return.
VI. Questions: As you read, record questions you have (the margin is a great place for this!). After finishing the novel, list 5 questions you feel are most important and would facilitate the best class discussion.
VII. Vocabulary: As you read, choose 20 words that are new and interesting to you and do the following for each:
A. List the word.
B. Define it.
C. Quote the sentence in which the word is used, and cite the scene and line(s) (e.g., iv.27-30).
D. Write your own sentence using the word in a way that shows a thorough understanding of the word.
**Crime & Punishment Summer Assignment Guidelines
As I am sure you have heard from the legions of AP Literature students who have come before you, your task in preparation for AP Literature next year is to read Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment. To be perfectly honest, this novel is dense, complicated, and challenging. (For starters, many of the characters have several different names, and they are used interchangeably!). It is also thrilling and maddening. If you take the time to thoroughly read this novel, you will very likely be able to use it on the AP Exam Open Prompt Question at the end of the year, as it covers a variety of themes.
Your assignment is two-fold:
I. First, annotate the novel thoroughly. You will need to annotate the entire novel—including the epilogue—by the first day of school. Your book will be turned in and checked for thorough annotations. Although you will need to mark directly in your book for you own understanding, I will only be looking at Post-it notes.
· 25 color-coded Post-it notes total for the entire book. These are the regular sized notes, not the miniature ones. If I cannot read your writing, it does not count.
· No fewer than 4 and no more than 6 for each category of Post-it notes.
· A minimum of 3 in each part plus the epilogue. (This ensures that you are connecting with the text throughout and not just for one chapter).
· The categories need to be color coded, so make sure you include a color key at the beginning of your novel. (For example: comments=yellow, symbols=blue, etc.).
A. CATEGORIES
1. Comments to yourself (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the sentence, “What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds?” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “Why did the author all of a sudden address the reader directly? Is the breaking the 4th wall? Am I supposed to be answering this as a moral question for myself?”)
2. Symbols, images, ideas that reoccur (Ex. After circling the word “animal,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the 3rd time in 2 pages Raskolnikov’s actions are compared to an animal. He is being portrayed as not human.”)
3. Settings that are physical, geographical, or cultural. (Ex. After underlining or highlighting in your book the phrase, “gazed in miserable bewilderment at the coffin like room,” your post it note is stuck right by it and states, “This is the second time a home has been described as cramped and dark. This reflects what was going on in Russia during this time period.”)
4. Characterization (Ex. After circling the words, “walked slowly with hesitation”…”scowl””...crushed by poverty”… and “isolated,” your post it note is stuck right by those words and states, “Tone is set from the beginning about what kind of person Raskolnikov is.”
B. Some thoughts on annotating well:
1. On the whole, quality is more important than quantity (although I will be counting the post it notes for this activity); thorough annotations every few pages will help you engage with and process the novel more meaningfully than scribbling single words on every page or writing several notes at the end of a chapter. The goal is for you connect parts of the book together to see the whole picture.
2. Think in terms of questions: as a reader, you are in a conversation with the text. It is a two-way street. To that end, when something strange, confusing, or thrilling happens in the novel, ask a question about it. You may be able to answer your question later.
3. Think also in terms of making connections across the text. When asked his advice about what novelists need to do to be great, the superb British novelist E. M. Forester wrote: “Connect, connect, connect.” Try to link ideas—character changes, image and symbol patterns, plot movements—with your annotations. For example, when you note something (a symbol, an image, a character trait) on page five, see if you can re-describe it on page 100 if and when it reappears.
4. Avoid writing down single literary terms like “symbol,” “theme,” or “characterization.” Talk about the book—not around it. Those terms do not really help you make any sense of anything unless you comment more deeply about them. Do not just notice things: try to explain or describe them.
5. Personal comments (“Cool!” “Weird!” “I don’t get this!”) will also not help you. Avoid them. Those comments do not enrich or explain the novel at all. If you are compelled to write such comments, follow them up with legitimate questions or comments about characterization, voice, symbolism, setting, plot, structure, theme, etc.
II. Second, analyze significant passages from Crime and Punishment.
Much of our work next year will be focusing on the author’s use of language in significant passages, noting literary techniques and then analyzing them.
“Significant” means that the passage can stand as an excellent example or microcosm of the work considering its use of language and how it develops a larger meaning or overall theme of the entire work. As you read the novel, highlight significant passages you think may be speaking to a theme. Once you finish reading, go back and look specifically at the passages you highlighted.
Analyze seven (7) significant passages from the novel – 1 from each part + epilogue.
Considerations:
*Passages should not be more than approximately 10 lines. Quotes that are longer than that tend to have several ideas in them. Focus on one idea.
*NONE OF THE QUOTES MAY BEFROM SPARKNOTES “IMPORTANT QUOTES EXPLAINED” OR OTHER SIMILAR SOURCES.
*You should discuss the specifics of the language in the quote and how that passage reflects an overall theme of the book.
*This is NOT RESEARCH; it is reflection. Therefore, you are NOT to use outside sources—only the text. Failure to adhere to this constitutes plagiarism.
Guidelines for the outline of quotations:
1. Write the quote (part, chapter, and page number).
2. Identify the speaker.
3. Give the context of the quotation (the parts that immediately precede or follow a passage and clarify its meaning).
4. Write an explanation/analysis of the quote.
5. Create a theme in the novel that would be supported by this quote.
The following is an example of a properly done quote. You may not use this one, because it is from Sparknotes and only for the purpose of illustration.
1. “The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she’s not the point! The old woman was merely a sickness .. . I was in a hurry to step over . . . it wasn’t a human being I killed, it was a principle! So I killed the principle, but I didn’t step over, I stayed on this side . . . All I managed to do was kill. And I didn’t even manage that, as it turns out . . .” Part III Ch 6 P. 217-218
2. Raskolnikov
3. Raskolnikov has just spoken with Razumikhin and wants to go home to be alone with his thoughts. His ideas are tangled in his head, and he is laying on his bed, thinking to himself about what he has done.
4. Raskolnikov wants to believe that his murder was not a crime. At this point in the novel, he feels that he was justified in the murder and that he had a right, due to the superman ideal.
5. Through Raskolnikov’s mental struggle, Dostoyevsky is showing that every member of society has the same moral code to follow and that not following it will produce guilt and anxiety.
(Notice that the theme is a complete sentence that includes what the author is saying to the reader about life).