Honors English 12

Summer Reading Assignment

Council Rock High School South

You have elected to take a challenging English course in your senior year. The focus of the course is to “provide a thorough and advanced study of key concepts derived from world literature.” In addition to writing in a variety of modes that “will require application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of complex course material,” you will be challenged to apply “abstract and complex concepts” based on your reading. Collaboration, self-direction, and independence are necessary attributes as you embark and embrace the challenges of Honors English 12. Critical thinking skills will be necessary to creatively and intuitively research literature using different critical perspectives (formalist, archetypal, psychoanalytic, sociological, historical, philosophical, reader-response, etc.). With this in mind, you are invited to begin your literary journey during your summer vacation. The assignment will allow you to experience a novel by a writer cited in The Sunday Times of London as one of the “1,000 Makers of the Twentieth Century” for defining “a modern African literature that was truly African” and thereby making “a major contribution to world literature.” Closely reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe should give you an outstanding opportunity to broaden your cultural horizons while strengthening your analytical skills. When we meet as a class at the beginning of the school year, we will be able to begin our course work immediately!

1. Students will read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It is best to own your own copy so that you can highlight and annotate; however, copies of the novel may be signed out from the school collection (see Ms. Miller Hosey in room 280).

ISBN numbers: Things Fall Apart ISBN-13: 9780385474542

2. Because students will take an objective test on Things Fall Apart on one of the first days of the school year and write a blue book within the first three weeks, they are encouraged to engage in a close reading of the novel and maintain a typed reading journal. Write quickly after your reading: ask questions, attempt answers, and make comments about whatever catches your attention. A good question to begin with when writing response entries is "What point does the author seem to be making?"

Notes in such a journal should also include, but not be limited to, the following:

§  Character Analysis

§  Specific Ibo terminology

§  Foreshadowing

§  Literary Devices

§  Imagery

§  Symbols

§  Tone

§  Point of View

§  Conflict

§  Structure

The following website can assist students with rhetorical terms and definitions of literary devices: http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/index.htm

3. Students will be required to complete the Summer Project (see charts below) in ADDITION to keeping a reading journal as noted in number 2 above.

Both the journal and the project will be a graded assignments and are due the first week of school.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The proverbs that you identify and interpret should commensurately represent the novel as a whole. In other words, choosing 6 proverbs from the first 7 chapters of the novel is NOT acceptable and would receive a grade of “incomplete” or zero. Choose proverbs that proportionately reflect the beginning, middle, and final sections of the novel.

Please feel free to identify and discuss more than the 6 minimum! The wisdom of the Ibo awaits you.

Summer Project for Things Fall Apart

I.  Among the Ibo, according to the narrator of Things Fall Apart, “the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” Using # 1 below as an example, identify a minimum of 6 other proverbs in the novel and list them by page number in column # 1. Use the second column to explain what the proverb means. Finally, use the third column to note the context in which the proverb is used in the novel and the specific point that the speaker makes. Set up a chart like this:

Proverb and Location / Meaning of Proverb / Specific Point Emphasized
1. “If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.” P. 8 / Achievement is more worthy of respect than age. / Although Okonkwo is a young man, his achievements have earned him the respect of the elders.

II. Identify with page number(s) and briefly paraphrase three fables (children's stories) told in Things Fall Apart in column one below. Use the second column to analyze/discuss the significance of that particular folktale. Set up a chart like this:

Folktale and Location / Interpretation and Relevance of Folktale
1.

To be clear:

You are expected to have a journal, chart of proverbs,

and chart of folktales when you arrive for school in the fall.

Council Rock School District Disclaimer:

Council Rock School District strongly encourages parents to survey the outstanding collection of challenging literature contained within our program. Much of the content presents ideas and issues that are important, complex, and encourage critical thinking. Any connection discussed in class is made that much stronger by the conversations and connections that are made at home. We invite you to discuss any of the elements of our courses with your child’s teacher.