Summer Reading List & Assignments
Channel View School for Research
For Students Entering the 12th Grade
Mr. Kennedy
Grade 12 – AP Language/Literature & Composition (402):
Required Reading: Brave New Worldby Aldous HuxleyRequired Assignment: Complete Digital Assignment explained below
Student Choice: Read at least ONE memoir, travel narrative, and/or an essayist from the list below.
Required Assignment: Work in groups of four to complete the online assignment described below. All other completed assignments will be counted as extra credit.
Grade 12 – 401 & 403:
Required Reading: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Required Assignment: Complete digital or written assignment explained below.
Extra Credit Student Choice: Read a memoir, travel narrative, and/or an essayist from the list below for extra credit. Up to 5 points added to your grade.
Extra Credit Assignment: Work in groups of four to complete the online assignment described below.
*Any student who does not have viable access to the Internet must complete the dual-entry journal project connected to this assignment. Please, contact me personally if this is the case.
Required Reading:
AP English – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1 book from the list below
401 & 403 – Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Choose One: Memoirs:
Colored People, Henry Louis Gates
West with the Night, Beryl Markham
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
Growing Up, Russell Baker
This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriquez
The Duke of Deception, Geoffrey Wolff
In Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin
A Monk Swimming, Malachy McCourt
Out of Africa, Isaak Dinesen
The Road FromCoorain, Jill Ker Conway
An American Childhood, Annie Dillard
The Color of Water, James McBride
Hand To Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure, Paul Auster The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman Memory, Vladimir Nabokov
Naked, David Sedaris
Reading Lolita in Tehran, AzarNafisi
A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind
Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain
Choose One: Travel Narrative:
The Pillars of Hercules, Paul Theroux
The Seasons of Rome, Paul Hofmann
The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux
Balkan Ghosts, Robert Kaplan
Confederates in the Attic, Tony Horwitz
A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg, TimCahill
A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle
Road Fever, Tim Cahill
Coming into the Country, John McPhee
Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl
Under the Tuscan Sun, Francis Mayes
Blue Highways, William Least-Heat Moon
Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck
Travels with Lisbeth, Lars Eighner
Choose One: Essayists and other General Non-Fiction:
The White Album, Joan Didion (essays)
After Henry, Joan Didion (essays)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (essays)
Salvador, Joan Didion (travel/essays)
The Armies of the Night, Norman Mailer (war)
Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt (political)
Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell (political/war)
Walden, Henry David Thoreau (nature)
The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher (food critic)
I Lost It At the Movies, Pauline Kael (film critic)
Waist-High in the World, Nancy Mairs (essays)
Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills (history)
Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson (language)
Made in America, Bill Bryson (language)
The Miracle of Language, Richard Lederer (language)
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (food)
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (food)
Socrates Café, Christopher Phillips (philosophy)
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (true crime)
Bad, or The Dumbing of America, Paul Fussell (cultural criticism)
Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon, Joe Queenan (cultural criticism)
The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby (cultural criticism)
The Working Poor, David K. Shipler (cultural criticism)
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (cultural criticism)
The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf (cultural criticism)
Into the Buzzsaw, Kristina Borjesson (media studies)
Killed Cartoons, David Wallis (media studies)
Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell (sociology/psychology)
Protocol for all students to use the blog:
1)Submit your name and e-mail address to Mr. Kennedy using the form below.
2)Accept an invitation (on-line) to join Mr. Kennedy’s English Blogby the end of regular school classes on Monday, June 10th, 2013.
3)Once you have accepted an invitation, there are three ways in which you can access the blog. 1) You will be directed to the blog via e-mail; 2) you may sign in on your own at mrkennedysenglish.blogspot.com; or 3) you may sign in by accessing our school website at click on “Department”, then “English”, then “Summer Reading” and go to your year’s assignment. Contact me at if you have any problems locating the blog on-line.
4)View the assignments connected to your class. You may need to scroll down to the assignment to access it. See the illustration below for help.
- For AP students, the first assignment has three parts:1)“Summer Reading Assignment – Conflict and Brave New World”. You may have to scroll down or go to “older posts” in the bottom right corner of the blog; 2)“Summer Reading Assignment – Characterization and Brave New World” 3)“Summer Reading Assignment – Theme and Brave New World”. The second assignment is the book club assignment described below.
- For all other students (401 & 403), the first assignment has three parts: 1)“Summer Reading Assignment – Conflict and Angela’s Ashes”. You may have to scroll down or go to “older posts” in the bottom right corner of the blog; 2)“Summer Reading Assignment – Characterization and Angela’s Ashes” 3)“Summer Reading Assignment – Theme and Angela’s Ashes”. The second assignment is the book club assignment described below.
5)Post your response for the assignment and/or leave a comment for another student’s response by clicking on the “Comment” link below the assignment to the left and writing your response in the “Leave your comment” space provided.
Mr. Kennedy’s English Blog
Sign-Up Form
Summer Reading & 2013-2014 English Class
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Required Reading Assignment (Circle Whichever Text Applies):
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Other students with whom you wish to work:
______
Required Summer Writing Assignment – AP Language/Literature
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley CVSR
Mr. Kennedy – 402/AP Language/Literature & Composition Summer 2013 Assignment
Reading Forum
The Reading Assignment:
This project focuses on the fictional text, Brave New World. I expect that each of you will read weekly and complete your reading project assignments (described in detail below) even though we will not be discussing the text until after you have finished. Therefore, I am providing a weekly reading schedule to which everyone must individually adhere. Each student will be placed in a group of three.
The Writing Assignment:
After completing each week’s reading assignment, one student will be designated to write a well-written, logical mini-essay of approximately 250-300 words. Students writing this initial essay should practice writing good 1-3 sentence opening paragraphs which address the task accurately, followed by a body which develops the task and uses the text adequately to support the claim, and write a brief conclusion which draws a conclusion. The other two students should write a response to the initial essay by adding a “thread” of their thoughts or taking up a different position. Responses will be submitted online by the due date by posting to my blog which can be accessed through portaportal.com by signing in as a guest “mghjk00”, clicking on my link to the blog at or by going directly there and signing in. Students can also access my blog by accepting an invitation which they should be receiving by this weekend. Both those writing initial essays and responses should follow the directions on the blog which will clearly direct each writer to the group thread.
For this assignment, there are three general topics to help you formulate your written assignments: conflict, characterization, and theme. Each week, the group member charged with submitting the initial essay will be assigned to one of the topics. Every week, the topics will rotate. A schedule detailing the topic for each week is attached. It is the responsibility of each group member to do the reading assignment, read the submitted post, and write his or her own response. An adequate response must be approximately 150 words – but no more than three paragraphs, include an individual’s own work (PLAGIARISM will result in failure), include aspects of the reading, and a reflection to the initial essay. Responses should seek to explain how what the individual reads is a applies to the topic and an in-depth description of personal experiences you can relate to your group’s submission. Be sure to cite vivid examples from Brave New World to convince us you are keeping current on your reading schedule. In writing a solid essay, pay particular attention to the answering the topic question and state your opinions clearly. Responses to your group’s submission should be timely, specific, courteous, and foster a dialogue – these are not critiques of the initial essay, but rather an opportunity to start and continue a discussion. Also, responses should stem from the content of that week’s essay. One of the many benefits of such a forum is the ability to read other people’s writings and comment directly about them.
You will be assigned roughly thirty pages to read per week. In general, plan on completing the reading for the week by Thursday. Those responsible for the group’s submission that week should plan on finishing the reading by Wednesday, to allow adequate time for writing and editing. Assigned essay-writers must also post their essay by 10:00 pm on Fridays, starting July 12th, 2013. The remaining group members must post their responses by 10:00 pm starting on Sunday, July 14th. Remember that writing is a gradual process of writing and revising. Expect to write one day, read your essay the next day, and be prepared to make adequate changes to help accentuate your ideas.
In using this forum, there are a few guidelines and points to keep in mind. First, forums are public space on the World Wide Web (WWW). Hence, in the case of my blog, any teacher or administrator or parent who has been invited to read on the site can read your posts. Remember that your thoughts and writing are a reflection not only on yourself, but also the class and the school at large. Therefore, use proper grammar and spelling. Secondly, we should uphold the same respect we have for each other when we meet each day in class together. The topics to which you will respond each week probe your personal life and experience as well a your knowledge of other texts and the world at large. Be sensitive to others in hopes of providing an environment where everyone will feel comfortable expressing their experience and opinions.
Reading Project Essay Topics
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
General Directions: Use these descriptions below to guide the writing of your initial essay. Your initial essay should be a well-organized logical argument which explores the narrative in detail. Responses to other students’ essays may flow somewhat more freely, but you should keep these guidelines in mind.
Assignment #1 – Conflict is a key part of any compelling narrative. Conflict can be external when it takes place between two outside forces (e.g. one person against another, or one person against his environment). A conflict can also be internal when two forces inside a person do battle. For example, one person might struggle with a desire to leave home and a desire to remain at home.
Describe one conflict – external or internal – in your reading of Brave New World that you find interesting and important. Be sure to describe the conflict in detail and support your claim with plenty of details that show a detailed reading and understanding of the text. Have you ever experienced this kind of conflict yourself? Do you know someone who has? You may also bring in connections to other pieces of literature or the outside world which explore a similar conflict.
Assignment #2– Both fiction and non-fiction rely on the use of characterization (the development of character) to communicate to the reader the essential qualities of the people inhabiting the book. Examine how Aldous Huxley uses character to develop his purpose (to criticize the direction of the world in which he lives). Do you feel personally connected to this character? What realization(s) does the main character have during the course of the novel? How does he change and why? Explain in detail.
Assignment # 3 – Thematic subjects are the main ideas with which a story deals; for example, one theme in Black Boy is alienation. As Richard Wright becomes more aware of the reality of his environment and his own identity, he becomes more distant from family, friends, co-workers, and other social networks (like the communist party). Read the statement presented below and write a well-organized response in which you support your ideas with plenty of evidence from the text, your observations, and experience.
To what degree does the world that we live in today resemble Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future in Brave New World? You may wish to consider but are not limited to a comparison of the way in which the society in Brave New World is organized to the way ours is today; the different classes of people.
Required Summer Writing Assignment – 401 & 403
Angela’s Ashes byFrank McCourtCVSR
Mr. Kennedy – 401 & 403Summer 2013 Assignment
Reading Forum
The Reading Assignment:
This project focuses on Frank McCourt’s autobiography, Angela’s Ashes. I expect that each of you will read weekly and complete your reading project assignments (described in detail below) even though we will not be discussing the text until after you have finished. Therefore, I am providing a weekly reading schedule to which everyone must individually adhere. Each student will be placed in a group of three.
The Writing Assignment:
After completing each week’s reading assignment, one student will be designated to write a well-written, logical mini-essay of approximately 250-300 words. Students writing this initial essay should practice writing good 1-3 sentence opening paragraphs which address the task accurately, followed by a body which develops the task and uses the text adequately to support the claim, and write a brief conclusion which draws a conclusion. The other two students should write a response to the initial essay by adding a “thread” of their thoughts or taking up a different position. Responses will be submitted online by the due date by posting to my blog which can be accessed through portaportal.com by signing in as a guest “mghjk00”, clicking on my link to the blog at or by going directly there and signing in. Students can also access my blog by accepting an invitation which they should be receiving by this weekend. Both those writing initial essays and responses should follow the directions on the blog which will clearly direct each writer to the group thread.
For this assignment, there are three general topics to help you formulate your written assignments: conflict, characterization, and theme. Each week, the group member charged with submitting the initial essay will be assigned to one of the topics. Every week, the topics will rotate. A schedule detailing the topic for each week is attached. It is the responsibility of each group member to do the reading assignment, read the submitted post, and write his or her own response. An adequate response must be approximately 150 words – but no more than three paragraphs, include an individual’s own work (PLAGIARISM will result in failure), include aspects of the reading, and a reflection to the initial essay. Responses should seek to explain how what the individual reads is a applies to the topic and an in-depth description of personal experiences you can relate to your group’s submission. Be sure to cite vivid examples from Angela’s Ashes to convince us you are keeping current on your reading schedule. In writing a solid essay, pay particular attention to the answering the topic question and state your opinions clearly. Responses to your group’s submission should be timely, specific, courteous, and foster a dialogue – these are not critiques of the initial essay, but rather an opportunity to start and continue a discussion. Also, responses should stem from the content of that week’s essay. One of the many benefits of such a forum is the ability to read other people’s writings and comment directly about them.