Summer Reading

SUGGESTED Summer Reading and Extra Credit project: 

Goodreads links are on the titles, so you can choose a book that fits your interests.

All English 10  Summer Reading Project: The Pizza Box Project

Use any size pizza box to do the following:

1. Turn the box so that it looks like a book, with it opening on the right side and the “spine” of the book on the left.
   
2. Decorate the front of the box with the name of the book, the author’s name, and a drawing or design.  (Hint: Some have found it useful to spray paint/paint/glue paper over the entire box to “erase” the name of any pizza companies, let dry, then they will have a “blank slate” to work with.) 
3. On the “spine” of the book, continue to decorate it and put the author and the name of the book again. Look at real books to see the different ways you can achieve this.
4. On the back of the box/book, write a summary of the book without giving away the ending for those who haven’t read it.  Needs to be at least 6 well written sentences.  Neatness counts.
5. On the inside of the box/book, decorate the left side with a scene from the book. Be creative and colorful!  On the right side (the place where the pizza normally is) divide it into four parts.

•  In the first part, list and describe the characters of the book
•  In the second part, describe the conflicts encountered in the book and label what the conflicts are--internal/external….man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. himself, man vs. nature
• In the third part, compare this book to another book you have read or a movie you have seen. Include some kind of illustration and explain why it reminds you of that book/movie.
• In the fourth part, include an object that is important to the story. Example: if a baseball is important to the story, hot glue/attach/tape a plastic lightweight toy baseball, or draw one.

Suggested Summer Reading and Extra Credit project 

Goodreads links are on the titles, so you can choose a book that fits your interests. 

• Black, Holly The Cruel Prince 
• Brown, Daniel James The Boys in the Boat 
• King, A.S. Everybody Sees the Ants 
• Lewis, John March Volume 3 
• Safran Foer, Johnathan Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 
• Sepetys, Ruta Between Shades of Gray 
• Standage, Tom A History of the World in 6 Glasses 
• Okorafor, Nnedi Akata Witch 

Regular English 11 Project Choices. Use the project that best fits the genre of your book and your talents. 

1. Create a mobile from items related to the story. 
   1. Select 10 items that represent character, setting, plot elements, etc to represent on the mobile. Write a key for the individual items and include an original, 7-10 sentence summary of the story. 
2. Create a ¨book in a container¨ 
   1. Select 10 items that represent character, setting, plot elements, etc to represent in the container of your choice. Write a key for the individual items and include an original, 7-10 sentence summary of the story. 
3. Write a letter to the author that shows your reaction to the book. The letter must include all elements of a properly formatted friendly letter 
   1. Include your opinion of the book, reasons for your opinion, the character in the book you are most like and how this character is like you. Include your favorite scene or chapter and why it is your favorite. Include two questions you have about the book or questions you have about the writing process. 
   2. Make sure you include your home or school address in the letter, as dictated by the format of the friendly letter. Include an addressed envelope with your return address and the authorś address 
4. Write out a full interview between you and a character. 
   1. Write ten questions to ask your character that will reveal the characterś thoughts, feelings, and responses to events in the story. Answer each question in the characterś voice. 
5. Create a board game or a card game about the book. 
   1. The game should include details about the setting, motivation, characters, and elements of the storytelling arc to show your knowledge of the book. Include playing instructions. 
6. Prepare a travel brochure for your chosen book. 
   1. Based on the setting, provide the attractive features of this location and describe the events in the book that occurred in this location. Make it colorful and use rhetorical strategies to persuade someone to travel to this location. 
7. Illustrate a cover (similar to a CD album cover) for a ten song Spotify-type playlist.
   1. Connect each song to an event or character or the setting of the story. Under each song, thoroughly explain your reasons for choosing that particular song. (beat, words, musicality) 
8. Create a color comic book version of your book. 
   1. Be sure to include all elements of the story-telling arc in your version and be sure to include important dialogue between the characters.

 

SUGGESTED Summer Reading 

Assignment: Read for enjoyment—REALLY!

(This reading is not required and will not be a grade for AP 11. However, the practice of reading and analyzing nonfiction material will be of importance in AP Language.) 

Fundamentally, we believe that reading is a pleasure. Therefore, our summer reading project is designed to allow you to read a book simply for enjoyment. We save the difficult books, the ones that benefit from being taught and discussed in a classroom setting, for the school year so we can read those books with you. 

The List: 

Our list of suggested works is organized somewhat thematically. If you would like to know more about individual works, go to Amazon.com and read the summaries. Additionally, your knowledge of any of these works may be used as evidence on the AP exam. 

History/Social Science: 

• Hillbilly Elegy, Vance 
• Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, Bradley 
• Kabul Beauty School, Rodriguez 
• Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story Of Those
• Who Survived The Dust Bowl, Egan 

Business/Tech: 

• Fulfillment: Winning and Losing In One-click America, MacGillis 
• Freakonomics, Levitt 
• Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Schreier 

Sports: 

• Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Krakauer 
• *Friday Night Lights, Bissinger 
• Moneyball, Lewis 
• Boys In The Boat, Brown 
• Adventure/Nature/Science: 
• When Breath Becomes Air, Kalanithi 
• A Deadly Wandering, Richtel 
• Hidden Figures, Shetterly 
• Morgue: A Life In Death, Di Maio

Biography/Memoir: 

• A Long Way Gone, Beah 
• Life Is So Good, Dawson 
• The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom     on Death Row, Hinton 
• Educated, Westover 
• Americana Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood,   Arana 

Current Events/Recent bestsellers: 

• Born A Crime, Noah 
• *The 57 Bus, Slater 
• Talking To Strangers, Gladwell 
• The Code Breaker, Isaacson 

True Crime: 

• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage County Murders and the Birth of the FBI, Grann 
• *In Cold Blood, Capote 
• *Columbine, Cullen 
• The Devil In The White City, Larson

 

Suggested Summer Reading and Extra Credit project 

Goodreads links are on the titles, so you can choose a book that fits your interests. 

Assignment: Read one of the books listed below and then complete the project:

• Ackerman, Diane A Natural History of the Senses 
• Bryson, Bill Notes from a Small Island 
• Crossan, Sarah We Come Apart 
• Gaiman, Neil The Ocean at the End of the Lane 
• Giono, Jean The Horseman on the Roof 
• Greene, Graham The Human Factor 
• Kelman, Stephen Pigeon English 
• Khan, Muhammad I Am Thunder 
• Ness, Patrick The Knife of Never Letting Go 
• Sloan, Robin Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore 
• Oppel, Kenneth This Dark Endeavour 

 

Complete the five-part project on your novel and submit to your teacher on the first day.

 

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

Give a thorough plot summary including all important events in 150-250 words

Part 3:

Consider the author’s tone. Use THIS LIST of tone words/definitions and choose 3 words that apply to your novel. Write 1-3 sentences (for each of the three tone words you selected) explaining how the word describes the author’s tone.

Part 4:

Choose five memorable quotes from the text that are significant to the plot. In the left column, write the quote and the page number where the quote is found.. In the right column, explain the quote’s significance to the plot. 

 

Part 5:

Consider the important characters from the novel. Create a chart like the one below and fill in the information about each important character. (Remember, a character can be important to the plot, even if they are not a main character!) 

 

 

Required Summer Reading and required project

Part One: Read for enjoyment—REALLY!

Fundamentally, I believe that reading is a pleasure. Therefore, the summer reading project is designed to allow you to read a book simply for enjoyment. I save the difficult books, the ones that benefit from being taught and discussed in a classroom setting, for the school year so I can read those books with you.

Instructions:

1. Choose one of the books from the list on the following page. If you wish to use a book that is not on the list, please contact Mr. Carter at hdcarter@mcssk12.org.
2. Divide your book in half, either by chapters or page numbers.
3. Halfway through reading the book, type a one-page, double-spaced response to the novel. (By “response,” we mean write about your perceptions, delights, and frustrations about the book thus far, not a summary).
4. At the end of the book, type another one-page, double-spaced response about the book as a whole, judging it in light of all the other books you’ve read in your life.
5. Then make sure your name is on both pages of your responses, staple the two pages together.

Format:

Responses should be typed in Times New Roman, 11 point font, with 1 inch margins on each side. Handwritten responses must be written in pen and be four pages (2 for each half of the book) in order to receive full credit. Responses written in pencil will be returned and requested to be turned back in the following day—in pen. Twenty points will be deducted.

Evaluation:

Part One is a 100 point test grade. The pages must be FULL to receive full credit. Remember that your two page assignment will be our first impression of you in our classroom—so make a GOOD one.

Due Date:

The Summer Reading Assignment Part One is due one week from the first day of your English class.

Questions?

If you have any questions, contact Mr. Carter.

Be Advised:

Please choose a book that you think you will enjoy. Don’t choose one randomly, nor choose one because of length. Some short books (100 pages) take longer to read than long works. For example, students may read a Harry Potter book (that’s 700 pages) in a couple of days but need two weeks to read The Awakening, a 1899 novella (approximately 100 pages). If you start a book and don’t like it, then put the book down and choose another. Some of the works listed on the following page have content that may be offensive to some readers. We have tried to list warnings beside each title. Please do not choose a book with a warning if you know that you would be offended by that book, or more importantly, if you know that your parents would not like you to read that book. An * means this work may have adult themes and issues.

The List:

Our list of suggested works is organized somewhat thematically. If you would like to know more about individual works, go to Amazon.com and read the summaries. Additionally, any of these works may be used on the AP exam.

African-American Works:

• *The Bluest Eye, Morrison
• *Song of Solomon, Morrison
• *Beloved, Morrison
• *A Lesson before Dying, Gaines
• *A Gathering of Old Men, Gaines
• Black Boy, Wright
• Invisible Man, Ellison

Science Fiction:

• *The Sparrow, Russell
• For the Future English Major:
• David Copperfield, Dickens
• Emma, Austen
• Mansfield Park , Austen
• Persuasion, Austen
• Howard’s End, Forster
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce
• Remains of the Day, Ishiguiro
• Middlemarch, Eliot
• A Room with a View, Forster
• Rebecca, Du Maurier
• The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy
• Pride and Prejudice, Austen

Some International Works:

• The Plague, Camus
• The Three Musketeers, Dumas
• The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas
• The Alchemist, Coelho
• Anna Karenina, Tolstoy
• The Fountainhead, Rand
• The Trial, Kafka
• Things Fall Apart, Achebe
• Heart of Darkness, Conrad

Dystopian / Post-apocalyptic Works:

• *A Clockwork Orange, Burgess
• *All the Pretty Horses, McCarthy
• Brave New World, Huxley
• Alas, Babylon, Frank
• 1984, Orwell
• *The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood

Horror and Suspense:

• Dracula, Stoker
• The Turn of the Screw, James
• Some American Literature:
• Age of Innocence, Wharton
• Catcher in the Rye , Salinger
• The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway
• A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway
• Ragtime, Doctorow
• *On the Road, Kerouac
• *The Cider House Rules, Irving
• A Prayer for Owen Meany, Irving
• *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey
• An American Tragedy, Dreiser
• *The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner
• * As I Lay Dying, Faulkner
• Moby Dick, Melville
• My Antonia, Cather
• The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
• Multicultural Literature:
• The Namesake, Lahiri
• Reservation Blues, Alexie
• The Joy Luck Club, Tan
• The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Tan

 

Thanks to Davis Thompson and Karen Hall from Auburn High School for the above ideas

Part 2: Read How to Read Literature like a Professor by Foster and apply what you’ve learned

 

Instructions:

1. Read the book.
2. As you read, consider how the novel (from part one) relates to Foster’s ideas.
3. Select any twenty (20) chapters and write a 2-4 sentence response, demonstrating how at least ONE concept from a chapter relates to a work that you’ve read.
   1. At least ten (10) chapters should be from the novel you read during the summer.
   2. b. The remaining ten (10) are your choice. You may continue with your book or choose any short story or novel that you’ve read (in school or on own).

Format:

Responses should be typed in Times New Roman, 11 point font, with 1 inch margins on each side.

Handwritten responses must be written in pen. Responses written in pencil will be returned and requested to be turned back in the following day—in pen. Twenty points will be deducted.

Be sure to write the chapter number next to your response as well as the name of the story or book that you reference.

Below are three examples:

Ch 2: Foster claims that the essentials for a vampire store are an older figure, a young, virginal female, “a stripping away of her youth”, and her death or destruction (19). In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend is a metaphorical vampire, for he is twice the age of Connie, a teenage girl. He preys upon her, “marks” her as his, and presumably takes her life.

Ch. 21: Foster states, “In each of us....a monstrous Other exists...no matter how civilized, lurk elements that we’d really prefer not to acknowledge” (200). Throughout history and literature, even the best of men and heroes have done bad things. In Lord of the Flies most of the seemingly innocent young boys turn into savage monsters in just a few months without having adults to supervise them.

Ch. 10 The cliché “It was a dark and stormy night” became popular for a reason—it easily works to foreshadow dark events. Each time before Catherine and Heathcliff (from Wuthering Heights) have an argument, there is always a storm; also a ghost appears to Lockwood on a stormy evening. Additionally,

Frankenstein’s monster is created on a stormy night, and his “birth” brings about the eventual demise of his creator.

Evaluation: 

Part Two is a 100 point test grade.

Due Date: 

The AP English 12 Literature Summer Reading Assignment Part Two is due one week from the first day of your English class.