West High School S Summer Reading Assignment

West High School’s Summer Reading Assignment

for Incoming English 1 Honors Students

Please read the following two books in their entirety:

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The focus of your reading is to consider this Essential Question:

What is the power of words?

At the beginning of the school year, you will be required to write an in-class essay answering this question, using examples from the two books as evidence. Please bring the books with you to class!

Although The Diary of a Young Girl is nonfiction and The Book Thief is fiction, they share similar subjects. Understanding these subjects can help you answer the Essential Question:

·  relationships

·  death

·  censorship

·  secrets

·  fear

Your assignment:

1) Find one article online or in a magazine/newspaper about ONE of the subjects. Fill out the C.R.A.P. evaluation form to help you determine the merits of the article. Staple the article and evaluation form together.

2) Copy one quote from each book that illustrates each subject. (Total 10 quotes)

Immediately following each quote, explain what the author is saying about that subject in her/his book. Your explanation should be detailed.

Staple together Parts 1 and 2.

We expect to see Honors level, deeper-thinking from you. Plan to turn in this assignment on the first day of school. This Summer Reading assignment will count as 5% of your first semester grade. In addition, your knowledge and understanding of the two texts will be necessary to complete several major assignments during the first quarter. It is important that you have the books with you in class during that time.

Name ______English 1 Honors- Summer Assignment

C.R.A.P. Evaluation Form

Not all sources of information are equally current or reliable! It’s up to you to evaluate the quality of your sources. Focusing on C.R.A.P. will help you avoid it in your research!

·  Currency

·  Reliabiity

·  Authority

·  Purpose/Point of View

Instructions:

Find an article about one of these subjects:

·  relationships

·  death

·  censorship

·  secrets

·  fear

______

1.  Answer the following questions for your article.

Currency:

·  How recent is the information?

·  On what date was the resource written/created/last updated?

·  Based on the topic, is this information current enough to be useful today?

·  Why might the date matter for your topic?

Reliability:

·  What kind of information is included in the resource?

·  Is the content primarily opinion?

·  Is the information balanced or biased? How can you tell?

·  Does the author provide citations and references for further research?

·  Does the author provide citations and references for quotations and/or data provided on the site?

Authority:

·  Who is the author/creator?

·  What are their credentials (education, affiliation, experience, etc.)?

·  Who is the publisher or sponsor of the site?

·  Is this publisher/sponsor reputable/trustworthy?

Purpose/Point of View:

·  What’s the intent of the article (to persuade you, to sell something, etc.)?

·  What is the domain (.edu, .com, etc.)? What does that mean (LOOK IT UP IF YOU DON”T KNOW!)? How might that influence the purpose/point of view?

·  Are there ads on the website? How do they relate to the topic being covered (e.g., an ad for ammunition next to an article about firearm legislation)?

·  Is the author presenting fact or opinion?