Back to School: Finish Those Summer Reading Assigments!

There's only about a month left until the start of classes for Norwood High School students - and if you've spent the last two months ignoring your summer reading assignments then it's time to get going! Here are the details on all summer reading assignments for NHS English classes:

Grade 9, 10, 11 Assignment: Write a Character Journal

In addition to reading the book during the summer, students are also required to write a character journal. Choose one character from the novel, either a main character or a peripheral character, and write from his or her point of view. Do not merely summarize the plot. Use your imagination, and write what you think your chosen character is thinking, feeling, observing, etc. Each journal must be either one page typed and double-spaced or two pages legibly handwritten, skipping lines.

The books have been divided into sections, and students are to write one journal entry per section. Make sure you are focusing only on the events within each specific section. Each entry must be numbered and also contain at least two quotations. Please feel free to be creative—do not just summarize the events that take place.

Incoming Freshmen

Required Book: "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest J. Gaines

Journal sections:

1. Chapters 1-8
2. Chapters 9-16
3. Chapters 17-23
4. Chapters 24-31

Incoming Sophomores

Required Book: "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

Journal sections:

1. Part One – The Hearth and the Salamander
2. Part Two – The Sieve and the Sand
3. Part Three – Burning Bright

Incoming Juniors

Required Book: "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Journal sections:

1. Chapters 1-6
2. Chapters 6-12
3. Chapters 13-18
4. Chapters 19-25

Grade 12 Assignment: Choose one of the following

Choose one of the following assignments to complete for your Senior Summer Assignment for English class. Written work should be 3-4 pages, typed, and double-spaced.

1. Write a reflection of your first three years of reading in high school English. Discuss what you read, what was your favorite and/or least favorite reading and why, and what should be added to/deleted from the curriculum and why.
2. Write an original piece of creative writing of substance. Choose to write a short story, a script, a series of vignettes, or a sequence of poems. If you choose to write a series of short works, it should be unified by a common theme.
3. View a movie of substance. Then write a character analysis OR write a response to a review on the movie (submit a copy of the review with your writing).
4. Track a local, state, national, or international current event through the news. EITHER write an article investigating and analyzing the current event OR make a video of your investigation and analysis. Make sure to include a script or storyboard with the video. Students will receive extra credit if the article or video is published in a local paper or on the local cable access channel.
5. Attend a play, musical, musical performance, or art exhibit. Then write a review on the performance or exhibit, analyzing the positive and negative aspects of the work of art.
6. Read a book from the New York Times bestsellers list. Then write an essay in which you justify why it should be OR why it should not be a NYT bestseller.
7. Read a book you have not read during your previous years of school. Then complete one of the following assignments:

• Create a music soundtrack that traces one character’s development or exemplifies a theme of the book. Then explain your choices in writing. Submit the soundtrack and writing for full credit.
• Compose and record original music and/or lyrics that either trace one character’s development or exemplify a theme in the book. Then explain your choices in writing. Submit the recording and writing for full credit.
• Create a two- or three-dimensional representation of a character or theme of the book. Then explain your choices in writing. Submit the artwork and writing for full credit.

All of these assignments will be due September 17 and 18.

Grade 11 AP Assignment: Response Journal

Required Book: "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt

As you read the novel, a memoir of growing up in Ireland, you will compose six journal entries. Each entry should be 1 ½ -2 typed, double-spaced pages. You will be responding to four of the major themes/concepts of the novel listed below. The fifth journal entry will be a personal response or reaction to a character, event, or the work as a whole. The sixth journal will require you to read "How to Write a Memoir" by William Zinsser and discuss to what extent Frank McCourt follows Zinsser’s suggestions.

For the first four entries respond to one each of the following:

• Social class
• Hunger/Food
• Anti-British sentiment
• Stories, folklore, songs
• Use of humor
• Alcohol/drinking
• Value of education
• Religion/Catholic church

Assignment due the very first day of class.

Grade 12 AP Assignment: Response Journal

Required Book: "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez

As you read the novel, you will compose five journal entries. Each entry should be 1 ½ -2 typed, double spaced pages. It is your choice as to when you will respond to the prompts provided, but entries should address the beginning, middle, and end of the book. At the top left corner of each entry, please indicate the page numbers and chapters to which you are responding, and underneath that, copy the appropriate prompt for the entry.

Following are five specific suggestions for your journal entries, and you must discuss four of the five suggestions in any order you wish. The “free choice,” can be used once at any point in your reading. These prompts are meant to aid your understanding of the text and help facilitate thoughtful reading of the novel’s themes and concepts. Write your thoughts about these topics freely, honestly, and intelligently.

Respond to four of the following concepts:

• The passage of time – linear vs. cyclical
• Solitude and abandonment
• History and politics
• Fate
• Style: language and Magical Realism

AND

Choose one free choice suggestion:

• Create a question the novel has raised for you. Then answer your own question.
• Describe and explain a personal reaction to a character or event in the text.
• Discuss what you feel is the most powerful sentence in a section of the novel and how it contributes to your understanding of the text. For clarity, include the entire quotation somewhere in the entry.

Assignment due the very first day of class.