RESURRECTION COLLEGE PREP HIGH SCHOOL

Summer Reading -- Resites! The English Department welcomes you to Resurrection College Prep High School and its SUMMER READING PROGRAM in preparation for the 2015-2016 school year. Book choices are listed in the attached packet. The book you read can be purchased at any bookstore or online. The purpose of reading the book and completing the attached packet is: -

To enjoy exposure to a novel that can inspire us.

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To encourage our understanding and love of Christian values.

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To explore literature together and to learn more about each other through the process.

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To expand our insights into the human situation and increase our awareness of the world.

Upon your return to classes in the fall: ●

Please bring a copy of your annotated novel (see notes at the end of the packet for basic annotation guidelines) to class on the first day for immediate sharing and discussion.

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Please type your reading journal and submit electronically per directions of your English teacher. Further instructions for your electronic submission will be given on the first day of classes.

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Expect, based on the book, a writing assignment, class activities, and a creative project to be assigned the beginning weeks of school.

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Prepare to enjoy a film that will enrich our experience.

We look forward to seeing you in you August! The Resurrection College Prep High School English Department

Enjoy your Summer Reading!

2015-2016

RESURRECTION COLLEGE PREP HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT SUMMER READING SELECTIONS Grade

Regular

Honors

9

(11691) The Secret Life of Bees by Monk-Kidd

(11891) The Book Thief by Zusak

(12691) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon

(12891) Great Expectations by Dickens

10

11

12

(14691) The Color of Water by McBride

(18691) In the Time of the Butterflies by Alvarez

(14891) Ethan Frome by Wharton and Fast Food Nation by Schlosser

(18991) Things Fall Apart by Achebe and How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Foster

READER RESPONSE JOURNAL You will create a “READER RESPONSE JOURNAL” for the novel required for your 2015-2016 course in English. This journal will be the starting point for processing the novel and will prepare you for the reading, writing, thinking, class discussion, creative project, and film that we will share when school begins in the fall. The journal will reflect your ideas, your questions, your connections. You will be able to respond intelligently in the journal after you highlight or underline passages related to themes, imagery, and characterization. Please make “margin notes” or use “Post-Its” in your book. The enclosed “Marginalia” sheet (located at the end of this packet) will also help you complete your journal and the “Marginalia” bookmark will help you “make the novel yours.” They will also be used for in-class activities. Please complete the contents on the following pages; be prepared for quite an adventure! YOUR NAME: BOOK TITLE: AUTHOR - Use the Internet to research interesting information about the AUTHOR. Make sure to cite your SOURCES. Please reference your Pocket Style Manual for citation guidelines.

MLA CITATION:

SETTING - Describe the details of the setting and the time period. What is the mood or feeling of the text? Support what you are saying with textual examples.

CHARACTERS - List the major and minor characters and analyze the characteristics that make them unique.

POINT OF VIEW - From what (standpoint) is the story told (i.e. 1st person, 3rd person, omniscient, limited)? What is important about the POINT OF VIEW (s)?

CONFLICT- Please identify the conflicts (struggles) and label each one, i.e. internal conflict (character vs. self) and/or external conflict (character vs. character, character vs. the supernatural, character vs. nature.) Are the conflicts resolved? If so, how? Explain.

STORY- In a hundred words or less, summarize the story line. Think about developing this summary for a book review to be published in THE RES BANNER or A LOCAL ONLINE NEWS SOURCE. How would you entice your audience with this review?

TITLE - How does the TITLE relate to the content of the work? Explain.

THEME(s) - Please examine themes (main ideas about life) as expressed in this book. What are the main ideas of the novel? Discuss using textual examples as supports.

QUOTATION - Select the quotation from the book that made the strongest impression on you. Explain why you selected it.

LETTER RESPONSE - Write a letter to a friend in which you tell her/him what you liked and did not like about this book. Discuss what is interesting, confusing, emotional, challenging, and/or surprising.

TIPS ON ACTIVE READING! (MARGINALIA = ANNOTATING) Reading closely and actively will help you to better understand the texts you encounter. You will use this skill throughout your life to make sense of what you read. Good readers (at all levels) use these strategies. The goal is to form the habit of using a consistent marking system that is easy for you to remember. Here are some tips. 1. Underline or highlight any VOCABULARY words you do not know. Look up these words and write the definition in the margin. Ask questions about vocabulary in class, and we will define them together. 2. Note CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS as you are reading. Each time a new character is introduced, CIRCLE his/her name, and then underline descriptions of those characters. It is important to get to know the “people” you are reading about.

3. Analyze TITLES while you read. Try to predict why the author named a novel what he/she did. At the end of the novel, go back and try to determine the reason for the choice of title. Make your predictions about the title right next to the title on the title page, and then write your concluding notes right below your predictions. 4. At the end of a chapter (or a homework reading assignment), write ONE DISCUSSION QUESTION. The question should not be literal (meaning it should not be factual information that can simply be located within the text). Rather, you should be writing INFERENCING QUESTIONS, which require you to read “in between the lines” and make your own conclusions from the information given. 5. Look for PASSAGES that are CONFUSING to you. Put a QUESTION MARK in the margin, and ask about the passage in class. Also, in the margin, try to paraphrase (put in your own words) what you think the meaning is, to the best of your ability. 6. Highlight or underline and then STAR passages that relate to a MAIN IDEA or THEME of the book. The star will help you to remember that the passages relate the main focus of the text. Also, write a word or two in the margin to summarize the point. 7. When something strikes you personally (when you can relate to something, when you are shocked by something, when something makes you sad, happy, angry, etc.), put an EXCLAMATION MARK in the margin. Next to the exclamation mark, jot down PERSONAL COMMENTS and REACTIONS. 8. Put PARENTHESES around QUOTES that seem important to you or that you particularly like, and then put QUOTATION MARKS (“”) in the margin. If you do not understand these quotes, put a question mark, and ask about it in class. Your teacher may ask you to share quotes you liked in class. 9. Put BRACKETS around RECURRING IMAGES and SYMBOLS within the text. Why do you think these images are repeated? Why are they important to your comprehension of the text? Try to jot down a word or two regarding the meaning in the margin. 10. Highlight or underline and put an ARROW in the margin when you encounter KEY TURNING POINTS in the PLOT. What has changed? Why have these things changed? In what direction will the plot go from there? Try to make PREDICTIONS

about what will happen later on in the book as you read. Jot down some questions that you think still need answering. How do you think these questions will be answered? 11.

CROSS REFERENCING: (a) On the inside cover of the book, make a “THEMES” heading and list the page numbers of the passages you have marked as main ideas or themes. (b) Also on the inside cover of the book, make an “IMAGES/SYMBOLS” heading and list the page numbers where you found these images/symbols. (c) On the inside of the back cover, make a “CHARACTERS” headings, and list the page on which the character was first introduced, as well as all subsequent pages of character description.