English 12 Honors
Summer Reading Adventure for 2016
Instructions and Guidelines
As an English 12 Honors student, you are expected to complete the following assignments this summer. These assignments are structured to involve all facets of literacy, yet one is more individualized so that you have a taste of ownership and freedom. Both assignments are to be completed by the first day of class. Assignments can be typed or handwritten. Please work diligently; you will reap the rewards of your labor as the semester progresses.
After completing all aspects of both reading assignments, write out a statement of honesty stating that you did not plagiarize, copy, borrow, or coincidentally paraphrase any of the information that is attached to your name. All work and ideas are your own. Sign and date beneath your statement.
Personal Statement of Honesty:______
Signature: ______
Date: ______
Reminders:
•E-mail me the title of your book of choice.
•Complete all assignments for both books.
•All summer reading assignments due the first day of school.
•Summer Reading assignment is worth 20% of the 1st nine weeks average.
Assignment #1
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
by Thomas C. Foster.
*This assignment was compiled from information found at
In Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “The Red-Headed League”, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson both observe Jabez Wilson carefully, yet their differing interpretations of the same details reveal the difference between a “good reader” and a “bad reader.” Watson can only describe what he sees; Holmes has the knowledge to interpret what he sees, to draw conclusions, and to solve the mystery.
Understanding literature no longer needs to be a mystery -- Thomas Foster’s book will help transform you from a naive, sometimes confused Watson to an insightful, literary Holmes. Professors and other informed readers see symbols, archetypes, and patterns because those things are there -- if you have learned to look for them. As Foster says, you learn to recognize the literary conventions the “same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice.” (xiv).
These short writing assignments will let you practice your literary analysis and they will help me get to know you and your literary tastes. Whenever I ask for an example from literature, you may use short stories, novels, plays, or films (Yes, film is a literary genre). You are to use a variety of genres; don’t immediately use film examples for every topic. Remember, your choice of literary works and film are an indication of your reading background. Multiple references to Disney and Harry Potter might be questioned. If your literary repertoire is thin and undeveloped, use the Appendix to jog your memory or to select additional works to explore. At the very least, watch some of the “Movies to Read” that are listed on pages 293-294.
Even though this is analytical writing, you may use “I” if you deem it important to do so. As you compose each written response, re-phrase the prompt as part of your answer. In other words, I should be able to tell which question you are answering without referring back to the prompts. Concerning mechanics, pay special attention to pronouns. Make antecedents clear. Say Foster first; not “he.” Remember to capitalize and punctuate titles properly for each genre.
The following assignments follow Foster’s book chronologically. You are to read EVERY chapter; however, you are to choose only fifteen of the chapter specific assignments for this portion of the summer reading requirement.
Introduction: How’d He Do That?
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.
Chapter 1 -- Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5.
Chapter 2 -- Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.
Chapter 3: --Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or viewed.
Chapter 4 -- If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
Select three sonnets and show which form they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form. (Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis).
Chapter 5 --Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works.
Chapter 6 -- When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare...
Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster shows how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on theme.
Chapter 7 -- ...Or the Bible
Read “Araby” (available at Discuss Biblical allusions that Foster does not mention. Look at the example of the “two great jars.” Be creative and imaginative in these connections.
Chapter 8 -- Hanseldee and Greteldum
Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony or deepen appreciation?
Chapter 9 -- It’s Greek to Me
Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology.
Chapter 10 -- It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Interlude -- Does He Mean That
Chapter 11 --...More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.
Chapter 12 -- Is That a Symbol?
Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism of the fence in “Araby”. (Mangan’s sister stands behind it.)
Chapter 13 -- It’s All Political
Assume that Foster is right and “it is all political.” Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned to you as a freshman, sophomore, or junior is political.
Chapter 14 -- Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film -- for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiatorand Ben-Hur.
Chapter 15 -- Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Chapter 16 -- It’s All About Sex...
Chapter 17 -- ...Except the Sex
OK ..the sex chapters. The key idea from this chapter is that “scenes in which sex is coded rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense that literal depictions” (141). In other words, sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is described, and, if the author is doing his job, it reflects and creates theme or character. Choose a novel or movie in which sex is suggested, but not described, and discuss how the relationship is suggested and how this implication affects the theme or develops characterization.
Chapter 18 -- If She Comes Up, It’s Baptism
Think of a “baptism scene” from a significant literary work. How was the character different after the experience? Discuss.
Chapter 19 -- Geography Matters...
Discuss at least four different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under “geography.”
Chapter 20 -- ...So Does Season
Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. (Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.)
Interlude -- One Story
Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a literary work with which you are familiar.
Chapter 21 -- Marked for Greatness
Figure out Harry Potter’s scar. If you aren't familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization.
Chapter 22 -- He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
Read “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver. The content may be offensive to some readers. (available at ) As Foster writes, “seeing and blindness are generally at issue in many works.” Discuss the purpose of Robert’s blindness and the importance of his introduction as a “blind” character.
Chapter 23 -- It’s Never Just Heart Disease...
Chapter 24 -- ...And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters that died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the “principles governing the use of disease in literature” (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.
Chapter 25 -- Don’t Read with Your Eyes
After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century.
Chapter 26 -- Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
Select an ironic literary work and explain the multi-vocal nature of the irony in the work.
Chapter 27 -- A Test Case
Read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your writing with the three examples. How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciationof Mansfield’s story?
Assignment #2 ------Book of Your Choice
Under no circumstance can this be a book you have already read at any point in time. Your statement of honesty will reflect that you adhered to this guideline.
For the second part of the summer reading requirement, believe it or not, I want you to read for fun. However, I do have some stipulations. Please carefully note the guidelines listed below:
- Select a book that you want to read; this can be fiction or nonfiction.
- The author can be representative of any nationality or culture, age or genre, canon or cult, and so on and so forth....
- Your selection must be at least 250 pages in length.
- Your selection must have a lexile level of 1000 or greater. (The steps below will help you denote the lexile level of your book.)
- E-mail the title of your book to me by June 15 for approval. If you have any trouble denoting lexile level, I will help you.
*The lexile level of a text is defined as the numeric representation of an individual's reading ability or a text's readability (or difficulty), followed by an “L” (Lexile). In a way, the lexile level helps denote the complexity of the text itself. However, this is not a full measure of the complexity of the text. A lower lexile level does not mean that the book is an easy read. Hence the reason your book should be a least 1000L. The following steps will help you figure out the lexile level of your reading selection.
- Go to
- Type the title of your chosen book in the box on the top right hand side of the page under the “Quick Book Search”.
- If your book title does not appear, here’s what I want you to do. In an e-mail to me, type the first two or three paragraphs of your chosen book. I will use the lexile analyzer to denote the lexile level. I’ll e-mail you back with the lexile level.
- I am not going to be too rigid about the lexile level. I want you to read! I want you to read something you want to read! BUT… Challenge yourself! Stick close to 1000L.
The following directions explain the assignment that accompanies the reading of the book of your choice:
The following dialectical journal information was found at
DIALECTICAL JOURNALS
The term “dialectic” means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer.” Think of your dialectical journal as a series of conversations with the text your chose to read for this portion of your summer reading. The process is meant to help you develop a better understanding of your text by allowing you to incorporate your personal responses to the text. I hope you will find that it is a useful way to process what you’re reading, prepare yourself for group discussion, and gather textual evidence for your literary analysis assignments due once school begins.
PROCEDURE:
- As you read, choose passages (short or long) that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of the chart (ALWAYS include page numbers and paragraph numbers).
- In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each passage)
- Label your responses using the following codes:
- (Q) Question – ask about something in the passage that is unclear
- (C) Connect – make a connection to your life, the world, or another text
- (P) Predict – anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage
- (CL) Clarify – answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
- (R) Reflect – think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense – not just to the characters in the story/author of the article. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just the way things work?
- (E) Evaluate - make a judgment about what the author is trying to say
Sample Dialectical Journal Entry: Beyond the Yellow Highlighter
Passages from the text. You should have 3-5 from each chapter. You should have a minimum of 30 entries. / Ch. #/Pg. #/ paragraph # / Each passage you quote must relate to one of the following codes above. Make sure to use a variety. Using the same codes for most or all of your entries will result in a lower score.1. "The yellow marks in my college textbooks...did not help me very much.”
2. "Annotations do make me read a lot slower and I wish I didn't have to do them. It is so much harder to fake read if you have to annotate like we have to do now. So now I actually read, because it's too hard to fake annotate" / Ch.2/82/1
Ch. 3/87/2 / (C) I can relate since I often used to highlight what I thought was important and then end up with most of the page highlighted.
(C) It is harder to fake annotate--it almost takes more time. (R) People are prone to find the easy way to do something. Since there's really no easy way to annotate--fake or real--it makes sense to really read and think about the texts. (Q) Is it really harder to fake read if you have to annotate? Or does it just take longer?
CHOOSING PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:
Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. (Think of Foster’s chapters.) For example, you might record:
- Effective and/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices
- Passages that remind you of your own life or something you’ve seen before
- Structural shifts or turns in the plot
- A passage that makes you realize something you hadn’t seen before
- Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs
- Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary
- Events you find surprising or confusing
- Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting
RESPONDING TO THE TEXT:
You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember is that your observations should be specific and detailed. You can write as much as you want for each entry. You can choose to type your journaland print it before turning in, or you can write by hand.
Basic Responses
- Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text
- Give your personal reactions to the passage
- Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
- Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences
- Write about what it makes you think or feel
- Agree or disagree with a character or the author
Sample Sentence Starters:
*I really don’t understand this because… * I really dislike/like this idea because…
*I think the author is trying to say that… * If I were (name of character) at this point I would…
*This passage reminds me of a time in my life when… *This part doesn’t make sense because…
*This character reminds me of (name of person) because…
Higher Level Responses:
- Analyze the text for use of literary devices (tone, structure, style, imagery)
- Make connections between different characters or events in the text
- Make connections to a different text (or film, song, etc…)
- Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
- Consider an event or description from the perspective of a different character
- Analyze a passage and its relationship to the story as a whole