Bergen County Academies
American Literature II (Honors)
Summer Reading (2018)
Hathaway, Kouefati, Wilson, Berwick,Kaba
As a rising sophomore, you are asked to read the following two novels in preparation for your American Literature II (Honors) course.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
(ISBN 9781593080006 / Barnes and Noble Classics Edition)
MyAntonia by Willa Cather
(ISBN-13: 9781593082024/ Barnes and Noble Classics Edition)**
**While we use the print versions listed above for work in class, there are many versions available including free versions for Kindle and Nook, as well as library copies that you may use instead.
First and foremost, enjoy your reading!
Written Assignment:
Take notes as you read. Mark the text itself (if you own it) or adorn important passages with Post-it notes. As part of this note-taking, you will create a dialectical (double-entry) journal in which you identify important passages and briefly respond to them. (See the sample at end of this document).
Your journal should contain: 10 entries per novel/20 entries total.
Your responses should vary and must include discussions of literary elements, such as: narration, diction, imagery, symbolism, metaphor/simile, punctuation, syntax, etc. and an explanation of how these contribute to meaning. Also include any insightful, personal connections, thought-provoking questions, etc. that the passage inspires. Your response must be written in complete sentences and in your own words. Please type your responses.
While you may prepare your journal in any form, your final copy should be word-processed. Please have your assignment completed by the first day of classes (Thursday 9/6/18). Your individual teacher will give you instructions on how to electronically submit your workon the first day that your class meets.
Please arrive to school that first day with your notes and copies of the texts in hand (or on a screen, if you bring a laptop or tablet to class). We expect a successful dialectical journal to have twenty entries – ten for each book. We will use the rubric attached to this assignment to assess your journal. Most importantly, we expect your journal to be meaningful and helpful for the tasks we work on in the beginning of the year.This assignment will count for 20 points towards classwork.
Tri 1 Common Assessments: All sophomore students will take a multiple choice comprehension test on both novels in the first days of school. These texts/novels will be the primary sources of our first unit of work, including a first trimester common assessment: an in-class essay.
Assessment Rubric for Summer Reading 2018--American Literature II (Honors)
Level 4(5 points) / Level 3
(4 points) / Level 2
(3 points) / Level 1
(2-1 points)
Quotations &
Coverage of text / 20 entries;
Covers various points in the text. Good variety of entries. / Has 19-17 entries; Covers important points in the text. Some variety of entry types. / Has 16-14 entries; Covers only one portion of the text. No variety of entry types. / Has 10 or fewer entries; Much too short to show a complete reading of the book.
Interpretation & Literary elements / Thoughtful, avoids clichés and overused ideas; Discusses diction, imagery, syntax, etc. and how these contribute to meaning / Intelligent, discusses themes and the usual ideas presented by sources on the books; Identifies literary features but doesn’t explain how they contribute to the meaning / Vague, unsupported, plot summary; Occasionally names literary features but has little discussion of their contribution to
the text / Plot summaries and paraphrases; Rarelyuses literary language
Questions and connections / Insightful, personal connections, thoughtprovoking
questions / Some personal connections, questions arise from the text / Few connections; obvious questions / Few connections; no questions
Presentation and timeliness / On-time, neat, organized / On-time, neat and readable / Handed into teacher late; lacking in neatness or effort / Late and sloppy
Sample Dialectical Journal
Purpose:
These journal entries will help you to organize your reactions and thoughts about the material you've read and will help you to develop more sophisticated ideas/themes about the work. You will use these entries to generate ideas for your formal writing assignments and to study for tests. You may use the format below, or one that works for you. Please be clear and consistent.
Sample format for dialectical journal:
1.Divide the page vertically, about 1/3 of the way across as follows:
|| / Date
1/3 Direct from text / 2/3 Your Comments
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2.On the first 1/3 of the page, record the page number or chapter, or a short quote, if you wish. (You do not need to copy the passages to which you are referring into your answer. Merely refer to them by page number or chapter, and set them in their context when you write your response.)
3.On the remaining 2/3 of the page, respond in your own words to what you have just noted in your journal. You must write your comments in complete sentences in your own words. No plot summaries! Please type your responses.
If you have any questions, you may email any of the sophomore teachers listed below:
(Mr. Hathaway)
(Ms. Kouefati)
(Mr. Wilson)
(Ms. Kaba)
(Ms. Berwick)