Name______

ENG II pre-AP Summer Reading

Mrs. Sustaita ()

Since these are your first grades of the semester, and I want you to succeed next year,please do not put off the assignment!It is due the first day of class and will not be accepted late.

Choose one of the following novels to read for your summer assignment:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Native Son by Richard Wright

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Anthem by Ayn Rand

ASSIGNMENT: Complete annotations for your chosen novel in preparation for a timed essay.

Annotations should reference any elements that point to theme and purpose. These will be instrumental in the writing of your in-class essay on the first day of school, so they should be thorough. Annotations will be a 40-point Minor Gradeand will be due on the first day of class.

In addition, annotate for the following thematic questions in order to prepare for your timed essay:

  1. Who is considered an oppressor in the novel, and who is being oppressed?
  2. How does the author create sympathy for a particular character or group in the novel, and how does this portrayal connect to the author’s message and theme about oppression?
  3. What does your novel teach you about the history of oppression, and how does the story and theme still apply to current society?

What else should I annotate?

Try to find (and note) these things as you read:

  • Plot:
  • Where is the exposition?
  • What is the instigating incident?
  • What important actions or events occur in the rising action?
  • What is the climax?
  • What is the result of the climax, and what is the falling action?
  • How does the story end? What is its resolution?
  • Character:
  • Who are the main characters in the story (at least three)?
  • What are some important things the protagonist thinks?
  • What significant things does s/he say?
  • What significant things does s/he do?
  • To what important places does s/he go?
  • Diction (Word choice):
  • Is it simple or difficult? Find examples.
  • What are those words‘ connotations? Are they positive or negative?
  • How do the words reflect or reinforce the meaning?
  • Vocab. Find at least 20 words you didn’t know before, their definitions, and their connotative effects.
  • Figurative language, such as (but not limited to):
  • Metaphors
  • Similes
  • Analogies
  • Personifications
  • Rhetorical questions
  • Imagery
  • Theme and Purpose

a.What insight in to life or the human condition does the author convey?

b.What arguments does the author make through the novel?

c.Who is the author’s target audience? How does your author want this audience to act or think differently after reading the novel?

d.How does the historical context of your novel affect the meaning and purpose?

e.What is the author trying to accomplish through this novel?

Note: See annotation instructions and a sample annotation on the next two pages.

What Does It Mean to Annotate a Text?

Annotating or highlighting can be a record of a reader’s intellectual conversation with the text. Annotating can help a serious reader to keep track of patterns, contrasts, plot events, and character development. It can assist a student in studying for a test or writing a paper that requires the use of quotations to support ideas. From time to time in class you will be asked to submit your highlighted and annotated books as reading checks. Students who learn to highlight and annotate become active readers and recursive thinkers who notice patterns, symbolic elements, and contrasts almost effortlessly as they absorb the text.

Highlighting and annotating a text is like having a conversation with a book—it allows the active reader to ask questions, comment on meaning, and mark events and passages he or she wants to revisit later. The annotation of a text can take place during a reading, a lecture, or a discussion that is focused on a certain poem or passage. The advantage of marking the actual text is obvious—you will never lose your notes and your thoughts will be readily available.

Students, then, should learn how to mark, highlight, and annotate a text to discern patterns, contrasts, and relationships. When readers first begin to highlight and annotate in order to organize their understanding of a text, they may wish to begin by following these simple guidelines.

  • Make brief notes at the top of the page or on a sticky note to mark important plot events.
  • Circle or highlight words that are unfamiliar or unusual. Try to figure out what the words mean through the way they are used; supplement your guesses by discussing the words with a parent or teacher, or by consulting a dictionary.
  • When new characters are introduced highlight phrases that describe them.
  • Highlight words, images, and details that seem to form a pattern throughout the text. For example, clocks, windows, plants, flowers, if used in a recurring pattern indicate a thematic idea. Highlight these related strands and observe the rest of the text closely to see if the author uses other linked words, images or details.
  • Highlight passages you think may be symbolic.
  • Mark key ideas and note briefly your reflections about them.
  • Highlight passages in which figurative language appears.
  • Mark the syntax, or sentence structure such as long, short, medium, and comment on its effect. As a rule, the shorter the sentence is, the more dramatic the effect.
  • When you get an idea while reading the text, note it in a brief form in the margin. You may never think of this idea again unless you write it down.
  • If you have a question about something in the book, passage or poem, write it on the page when it first occurred to you.
  • Use parentheses, brackets, checks, stars, bullets, or asterisks to mark very important items or things you want to come back to later. Simply highlighting or underlining text without accompanying commentary is meaningless.
  • Don’t mark too much. If you mark everything, nothing will stand out.

English II pre-AP Rubric: Book Annotations for Summer Reading

Category: Reading / Not submitted:
Missing
(5) / Little Success
(6) / Inadequate
(7) / Adequate
(8) / Effective
(9) / Highly
Effective
(10)
No annotations. / Annotations minimally recognize quotes, devices, and language that connects to major themes. (Annotations are sparse and lack purpose.) There are few if any notes. / Annotations occasionally recognize quotes, devices, and language that connects to one of the major themes. Annotations are infrequent or contain very few notes. Notes often lack purpose or connection to theme an purpose. / Annotations adequately recognize quotes, devices, and language that connect to one of the major themes.
Annotations are inconsistent and infrequently make good connections to the theme. / Annotations
competently analyze how quotes, devices, and language connect to one of the major themes. Annotations consistently address the theme and are thorough. / Annotations perceptively analyze how quotes, devices, and language connects to the one of the major themes. Annotations perceptively address the themes in the novel.

Total Points:______/40

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