English IV Enriched Summer Projects for 2013/2014

English IV Enriched Summer projects for 2013/2014

Hopefully, you have had a successful and rewarding English III Enriched experience. I know that you are looking forward to finishing up your years at Captain Shreve High School and to all the “perks” you will be having as a CSHS senior.

The following list is the list of summer reading novels that you will need to have completed before school resumes in the fall. Each novel has its own set of instructions for assessment.

Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand (Read and be ready to discuss the elements of history detailed in class)

Summary: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Summary: First published in 1847 only one year before the death of Emily Brontë at the age of thirty, Wuthering Heights is a English novel about love and death, hope and despair, romance and horror, revolving around the eponymous farmhouse on the Yorkshire moors, and celebrating the enduring love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. It is accounted as one of the finest examples of the Gothic novel, and has inspired countless adaptations and transpositions.

Attached is the list of projects that you may choose to complete this portion of your summer reading. As a part of your ‘enriched’ level, you must be able to take initiative in showing your understanding of things that we may be reading and discussing before entering the class. Several assignments will be given to you throughout your senior year to explore and create on your own with the final conclusion coming together.

Due Date for this project will be the week of August 19. Do NOT wait til the week school begins to try and create your project. You will “hit the ground running” with our first reading assignments for the actual school year. Late projects are accepted with 50% deduction before I begin grading - NO EXCEPTIONS.

Projects for Wuthering Heights

Choose one of the following to complete. (Quality should always be exceptional!) We will begin presentations of your ideas within one week of returning to school. Be prepared to answer any questions that I or your classmates may have pertaining to your project.

200 pts.

People Magazine’s Love Triangle of the Year

Produce a magazine article in which you try to piece together the story of this love triangle from the various characters’ points of view. Your article should include comments by Catherine, Edgar, Heathcliff and Isabella. The main goal here is to understand the effect their actions had on each of the others. Be sure to bring out the major events of the story in some way. Your finished product should look like a magazine article and include various pictures or whatever your creative little minds can come up with! Look at some People Magazine articles for ideas.

An Alphabet Book

For this project, you will create an alphabet book using one letter of the alphabet per page. It may be rhyming or non-rhyming. Give your book a cover and illustrate it. I am particularly interested in seeing that you have an understanding of the major events and themes of the novel as well as relationships between the characters. (EXAMPLE: A is for the Animosity Heathcliff bears Hindley for treating him sobadly as a child.) Make sure that you can explain why you chose the description you do when presenting to the class.

The Prequel

Write a prequel to the story in which you take the part of Catherine’s best friend. Begin your story at the point where you must watch Catherine decide whom to marry. Relate the details of your friendship using a flashback technique. Reveal your internal conflict as you watch the proceedings. Then, take the story in any direction you wish.

1.How did you and Catherine meet?

2.How did she and Heathcliff get involved?

3.What types of forces drew them together?

4.What has she revealed to you about their relationship?

Be as creative as you like as long as you are true to the story. Use details about other characters that you learned about in the book. You may add an illustration, poster, or book jacket if you like.

Wuthering Heights Greeting Cards

Design FOUR greeting cards that you think Catherine, Edgar, Heathcliff and Isabella. would have sent to each other for a holiday. You choose the holiday/occasion and design the 4 cards, one from each of these characters. Include a picture and a quote or poem that they would have written in each card. They can be funny or serious. Be creative and make the cards look nice! I am particularly interested in seeing that you have an understanding of the major ideas and the relationships between the characters. Include an explanation with each card.

Wuthering Heights Soundtrack

Create a soundtrack for the novel, choosing or composing 5 songs (ONE can be an instrumental). The songs must represent the main themes, moods, relationships, or events in the story in some way. Create a CD insert with appropriate artwork, artist information, dedications, and a booklet that includes lyrics and a paragraph for each song explaining how and why each relates to the book. You may burn the songs onto a CD if you’d like but it is not required.

Wuthering Heights Interview

This is the ONLY group project, and each person MUST have an active role.

Produce a session of a talk show in which you try to piece together the story from the various characters’ points of view. One student can take the role of the talk show host and interview other students playing Catherine, Edgar, Heathcliff and Isabella . You can interview them in any order you wish, alone or as a group. The main goal here is to understand the effect their actions had on each of the others. Be sure to bring out the major events of the story in some way. You should have a script to turn in, and one for each character to refer to during the skit. You should dress for your parts and may use whatever props you need.

Wuthering Heights Diary

Create a journal/diary for one of the three main characters. In that character’s voice (first person), you will create at least 10 dated entries based on what’s happening at the time. This will allow you to comment on the major events of the plot. You MUST comment on the following:

The first appearance of the character in the story

Any meeting that your character has with another of the characters

Any important event that occurs in the story

Any physical/psychological changes in the character

Where the character leaves the story

The story covers years in the character’s life so you will observe changes in the character’s acceptance in the community, the physical and/or mental condition of your character, and his/her relationship with the other characters. The main characters who will appear in your journal will be Catherine, Edgar, Heathcliff and Isabella. You may choose any of these as your “journal writer”, but all of them will appear in your journal.

Here is a sample journal entry:

October 2, 1641

My heart knows not the words to beg of my Lord forgiveness for what I have done this day. I weep now, in solitude, for I realize that this evening has brought upon my soul a weight that I may never ever be released from. I have spent hours before my looking glass, weeping, praying, begging the Lord’s mercy, for on this night I have condemned my soul to eternal damnation.....etc.

You may write in the above style or our modern style of writing. Revise and correct spelling, grammar, etc., so it looks nice. Be creative about what your diary looks like. Each entry should be at least one and a half pages in length in order to cover and detail the thoughts of events completely. Issues to cover: personal reflection, societal activity, emotions toward another character/characters, wishes of future happenings….etc

Wuthering Heights Times

Develop a front page from a Yorkshire newspaper during the time/setting of this story. Your front page will be full of the story of Catherine and Company, the scandal, her sin and punishment, or the aftermath. The goal is to show me that you have an understanding of the plot and characters in the story. Your front page should include several of the following:

1. A banner headline

2. At least one picture with a caption

3. The lead story (at least 300 words)

4. Related side bar stories

5. Horoscope

6. Title of newspaper

7. At least one advertisement that is story-related

8. Advice column

9. Gossip column

10. Classifieds

11. Editorial

12. Weather

ENGLISH IV ENRICHED

Mr. Simms

2013/2014 school year

The following novels are the required outside readings for English IV Enriched. You are not required to buy the novels if you can find them in a local library or maybe be able to get them from previous seniors - however, these ARE the required outside reading that we will cover throughout the year. Tentative time slots are listed for the testing dates of each novel.

The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy (test end of September)

Grendel - John Gardner (Test end of Oct/first of Nov)

Atonement - Ian McEwan (test before midterms in December)

Ophelia - Lisa Klein (test February)

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (test end of March)

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (test end of April)

You may also want to purchase your own copy of the dictionary that the vocabulary words are taken. The following is the ISBN number. I will put your vocabulary words on line - and it will be your responsibility to define them. The definitions I use are from this version:

You need to have a composition notebook for journal entries when school begins. We will begin journal entries on Day 1 of classes. This does NOT mean a spiral notebook or folder with internal clasps!!! Points are deducted for not having the proper type of notebook for journal entries.