Summer Reading Assignments. Honors English I

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1 Summer Reading Assignments Honors English I Directions: Each student is responsible for reading one novel from the list below in order to complete the guided questions which are due during the first week of school. See the attachment on the website for the assessment. Students will be assigned additional assessments during the first week of school. Summer Reading Choices - Choose one. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand - This is an unforgettable story of a man s journey into extremity, a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit. It is the true story of Louis Zamperini, a promising young Olympic runner from Torrance, California, who was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War II. Zamperini's plane went down in the Pacific Ocean and he and two other survivors drifted over 40 days living on rainwater and the occasional fish or bird they could catch. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher - Clay Jensen, a quiet, shy high school student, returns home from school one day to find a package from an anonymous person sitting on his doorstep. Upon opening it, he discovers that it is a shoe box containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate. What will clay find on these tapes? A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - The story focuses on an impoverished but aspirational third-generation-american adolescent girl and her ethnically-blended family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City during the first two decades of the 20th century

2 Honors English II Directions: Each student is responsible for reading both novels below and each student is to complete the Critical Reading Portfolio as an assessment which is due the first week of school. See the attachment on the website for the assessment. Students will be assigned additional assessments on the summer reading works during the first week of school. Summer Reading: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya Things Fall Apart is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. The novel shows the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people (in the novel, "Ibo"). It describes his family and personal history, the customs and society of the Igbo and the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community during the late nineteenth century. Nectar in a Sieve is Kamala Markandaya s first novel to be published although it is actually the third novel she wrote. It became a best-seller around the world and was translated into seventeen languages. In 1955, it was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association. The novel was published in 1954, less than a decade after India won its independence from Britain. Nectar in a Sieve is clearly influenced by this event, portraying some of the problems encountered by the Indian people as they dealt with the changing times. Markandaya never mentions a specific time or place, however, which gives the story universality. Some of the struggles that the main character, Rukmani, faces are the result of the changing times, but they are the kinds of struggles (poverty, death, loss of tradition) that are experienced by many people for many reasons. Far beyond its political context, the novel is appealing to modern readers for its sensitive and moving portrayal of the strength of a woman struggling with forces beyond her control. It is a story about the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of values.

3 Honors English III Directions: Each student will read both novels listed below and complete the assigned assessment in preparation for the first week of school. See the attachment on the website for the assessment. Additional assessments will be given during the first week of school. The Color of Water by James McBride An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother is the autobiography of James McBride first published in 1995; it is also a tribute to his mother. The chapters alternate between James McBride's descriptions of his early life and first-person accounts of his mother Ruth s life, mostly taking place before her son was born. McBride depicts the conflicting emotions that he endured as he struggled to discover who he truly was, as his mother narrates the hardships that she had to overcome as a white, Jewish woman who chose to marry a black man in An American Tragedy follows the life of Clyde Griffiths from late childhood to his infamous death. Beginning his life as the impoverished son of street missionaries, young Clyde aspires to a more affluent life with luxuries, fine clothes, and a woman who'll love him. As a young man, Clyde achieves a measure of this as a bellhop for the Green-Davidson hotel in Kansas City until a car accident involving the death of a little girl forced him to flee the city.

4 AP Language and Composition Directions: Each student is responsible for reading each book below to complete the summer reading for AP Language and Composition. Please view the attachment on the website for the assessments. Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich Scratch Beginnings is intended to be a rebuttal to Barbara Ehrenreich s books Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch on a socio-economic level. Barbara Ehrenreich s non-fiction bestseller, Nickel and Dimed, is the story of an essay writer who went undercover as a low wage worker to find out how non-skilled workers make ends meet.

5 Honors English IV Directions: Each student is responsible for reading each book below to complete the summer reading for Honors English IV. Please view the attachment on the website for the assessments. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory Fences by August Wilson

6 AP Literature and Composition Directions: Each student is responsible for reading each book below to complete the summer reading for AP Language and Composition. Please view the attachment on the website for the assessments. The Awakening by Kate Chopin The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Tess of D urbervilles by Thomas Hardy The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

7 Dual Credit English 101/102 (Fall 2014) Summer Reading Dual Credit English 101/102 Please purchase and read the following titles and complete the corresponding assignments over the summer to prepare for the Dual Credit course. See the attachment on the website for the assessment. 1. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster by George Orwell