11th Honors American Literature —Summer Reading Assignment 2014

Over the summer, you will be responsible for reading the following:

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn –Mark Twain (1884 [UK], 1885 [US])
  • Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art – Scott McCloud (1993)

Literary analysis is a major component of 11thgrade Honors American Literature. Therefore, it is imperative that you spend quality time with these selections. Reading alone is notenough.

In addition to reading, you have an assignment to complete for each book.

  • For Huckleberry Finn, you will write an in-class, timed essay the second day of school.See below.
  • For Understanding Comics, you willkeep a dialectical journal, due the first day of school. See below.
  • Subsequent discussion and examination of both bookswill be included in subsequent units.
  • Each assignment will be assessed individually.
  • Each assignment has the value of a test grade.

Guidelines for Huck Finn Timed Essay:

Students will be given an informational article on the first day of school to read before the assessment. Students will be given a prompt that requires them to compare, contrast, and synthesize the text and the informational article provided. The aim of this essay is for students to demonstrate their understanding of both texts by not only synthesizing the information but also comparing and contrasting key aspects of both texts. Students will be required to incorporate several textual examples from both the summer reading novel and the informational article.

Guidelines for Understanding Comics Dialectical Journal:

First of all, why a book about understanding comics? It’s a unique and largely misunderstood, and as a result, largely unexamined, medium. Since McCloud wrote this book, there has been a boom in the art of comics, from manga (Japanese graphic novels) to highly-regarded graphic novels studied in college and high school such as Persepolis and Maus. McCloud examines the art form and literature of comics, from how the mind processes the language of comics, how the words and pictures create story, how artists create sequence, to how and why we accept that certain line arrangements represent complex ideas (think “smiley face”). You will read, ponder, and comment on the book over the summer, and we will refer to it repeatedly during the school year.

Oh – and the book is a comic book about comics.

Dialectic means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer.” The “dialectic” was the method Socrates used to teach his students how to be actively engaged in the struggle to obtain meaning from an unfamiliar and challenging work. A dialectical journal is a written conversation with yourself about a piece of literature that encourages the habit of reflective questioning – a habit that should be firmly ingrained by the time you leave this class.

Absolutely NO collaboration with another student is permitted. Any assistance from the internet, movies, or secondary sources such as SparkNotes or Cliff Notes will be perceived as cheating.

Instructions:

  1. Purchase a composition book.
  2. Fold pages in half vertically or draw a vertical line down the middle of each page.
  3. Label the top of each column: left side, TEXT; right side, RESPONSE.
  4. Skip pages (write on one side of the page only).
  5. In the TEXT column, cite passages verbatim from the book; including quotation marks and page numbers.
  6. Choose three passages from each chapter (there are 9).
  7. How to choose passages:
  8. Details that seem important to you
  9. You have an epiphany (look it up)
  10. Your learn something significant
  11. You agree or disagree with something the author says or does
  12. You find an interesting or potentially significant quotation
  13. You notice something important or relevant about the writer’s style
  14. You notice effective use of literary devices
  1. In the RESPONSE column, reflect upon the passages
  2. Raise questions about the values and beliefs implied in the text
  3. Give your personal reactions to the passage, the characters, the situation, the ideas
  4. Connect to your own experiences
  5. Compare the text to other books
  6. Write about what it makes you think or feel
  7. Argue with or speak to the characters or author
  8. Make connections to any themes that are revealed to you
  9. Make connections among passages or sections of the work
  10. Note vocabulary you don’t know (then look it up)
  11. DO NOT MERELY SUMMARIZE.
  12. Each RESPONSE must be at least 50 words (include the word count at the end of each response).
  13. Write down your thoughts, questions, insights, and ideas while you read or immediately after reading a chapter so the information is fresh.
  14. As you take notes, re-read previous pages of notes and comments.
  15. First person reference is acceptable in the RESPONSE column.

Assessment:

Dialectic journals will be assessed on your choice of passages: Are they meaningful? Do they reflect the ideas discussed? Are the quotations significant? Is interpretation and commentary about the text thoughtful? Do you include commentary on various literary devices such as theme, narrative voice, imagery, conflict, etc., AND how each contributed to the meaning of the text? Do you comment on your understanding of how comics and “sequential visual art” work? Do you make insightful personal connections and ask thought-provoking questions? Is coverage of the text thorough? Is the journal neat, organized and professional-looking? Did you follow directions?

Please contact English teacher Leslie Wolfe-Cundiff if you have any questions at .