May,2010
Dear Future FreshmanEnglish students,
Welcome to the high school and best wishes for an exciting and rewarding year with us. Since reading provides immeasurablepleasure, assists students in all their studies,and improves scoresin standardized testing, we urge you to read widely over the summer, To prepare you for the specific demandsof FreshmanEnglish and Western civilization, we require you to read two books.
Requirement#1:
THE ALCHEMIST: A Fable about Following your Dreams by paulo coelho
As you readthis short novel, we askthat you choose3 golden lines, lines that inspire you or strike you as significant,and write thesedown. In addition,when you finish the novel, make a list of elements in the story that strike you as typical of myth, fairy-tale, or story-telling in general. For example, the Harry Potter seriesshowcases the classicconflict betweengood versusevil, a wise old man, and the hero on a ouest.
Bring your lines and list to class thefirst week of school.
Requirement#2:
Read ONE other book from the following list on the back of this page. Somebooks relateto topics we will cover during freshman year (such as the Holocaust, the Middle Ages, myth, Classical Greece),but you may chooseanything from the list.
Be preparedto write about your secondbook during the first week of school.
We encourageyou to challengeyourself. Considerreading more than one book from the list!
Sincerely,
Wilton High School English Department
m UntilI fearedI would loseit, I neverloved to read. Onedoes not lovebreathing. -Harper Lee
m Outsideof a dog,a bookis man'sbest friend. Insideof a dog,it's too darkto read.-Groucho Marx
m Bookscan be dangerous.The best ones should be labeled"This could change your life."-Helen Exley FICTIOI{ NONFICTION The Red Tent+ Diamant The Year of Living Jacobs Biblicallv+ The Girl with the Chevalier Shakespeare:The Bryson Pearl Earcing+ World as Stase+ Year of Wonders* Brooks Sailing the Wine-Dark Cahill Sea+ Eastof Eden+ Steinbeck Mysteriesof the Cahill Middle Asest TheBull from the Reanault stiff Roach Sea+ The Crvstal Cave+ Stewart Blink Gladwell The Sword and the White Freakonomicsor Levitt Stone+ Superfreakonomics The Golden Pullman Into Thin Air Krakauer Compass*+ The Wove*+ Strasser Marley and Me* Grogan TheBook Thief+ Zusak The Radioactive Boy Silverstein Scout* Pillars of the Earth+ Follett A Walk in the Bryson Woods* The DaVinci Code+ Brown The Boy Who Kamkqamba and Harnessedthe Wind Mealer Ender's Game Card Three Cups of Tea Mortenson A Tree Grows in Smith Brooklyn The Bell Jar Plath Persepolis (graphic Satrapi novel) The Kite Runner Hosseini The Absolutely True Alexie Diary of a Part-Time Indian* Twisted* Anderson Wintersirls Anderson ThirteenReasons Asher whv* TheGood Thief Tinti The First Part Last Johnson The Hunger Games Collins I Kill Giants Kelly
*Representsbooks that are quick reads. *Representsbooks that relate to the FreshmanEnglish/Westem Civilization Curriculum.
/z\ I Hello, 2010-2011Humanities student!
Many students(and their parents!) want to know how Humanities differs from coursesthat thev have encountered in earlieryears. Excellent question!
This class will ask you to think in abstractterms as well as concrete ones. You already have sharp comprehension skills; when you read a book now, you not only know who lives or dies, but whetheror not the butler did it. Furthermore, you have begun to work with interpreting themes, deciding what the author says by having the butler do it. We will go deeperinto theme with an examination of style, deciding what the author was doing wittr tone and diction and figurative laneuagewhile the butler was doing it.
To preparefor the course, read a newspaperon a regular basis, if you do not do so already. The New york Times is highly recommended,despite its lack of daily comics. Periodicals like The New Yorker and,The Atlantic also offer much to you' As you read, notice how the same event may be interpreted and reported differently by various sources.why? can we apply this line of questioningto fiction as well? (yes!)
The initial discussions,assessments, and writing for classwill be basedon the titles below, all readily availableat the library and your local book stores.Purchase them if possible,as we will re-visit them throughouithe year.
L Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Wy the Greel 2. How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster 3. Either The Once and Future King,by T.H. White, or Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier You will now have raw material; we will seewhat your gifted and talentedminds do with it when schoolbegins. It makes sensethat you would take some notes rather than rely on memory. As you decide what point or points the authors make (and how you know), make some observationsabout their style, and record some of you" own responsesto these works. What else caflyou say about them or do with them? We look forward to meeting you and exploring Humanities with you! Mr. Sheridanand Mrs. Foley I SummerReading for StuderrtsE4tering 1Otr erade. 20l Q-2011 You are required to read two books this summer,one fiction and one non-fiction to prepare for the sophomore English course,American Experience. These texts address important topics that appearin this year-long course's curriculum but are also excitins new books that teil provocative stories. While you will not be required to take notes,the questionsbelow should guide your reading. You will be writing about thesebooks when you return to school, so pieaseread thesebooks as thoroughly as possible. Rick Bragg'sAll Over But the Shoutin, Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains Chooseone of Lhesetwo fiction books: Lany Watson'sMontana I94B SueMonk Kidd's The SecretLife of Bees o What are your thoughts and questionsabout this story? You might reflect on the characters,their problems, the author's use of symbolism, the tiile, or other ideas in the story. o Describe how the main characterhas changedthrough the story. Support your thinking with details from the story. o What does this book say about people or life in general (theme)? In what ways does it remind you of people you have known or experiencesyou have had? you may also write about storiesor booksyou have read, or movies, works of art, or TV programs you have seen. o How successfulwas the author in creating a good piece of literature? Enjoy your summer and your summer reading. We look forward to your ideas about these books! ?/-VS gd7ld4 DAaaa*zt I summer Reading for AP Language and composition students Dear Future AP Language Students, Next year you will be taking two semestersof our high honors coursesthat together earn you Ap Languageand Compositioncredit: English Novel, SelectedEnglish Authors, SelectedAmerican Authors, Modem EuropeanAuthors. Thesecourses offer you the opportunity to experiencethe richness of classic and modem literature as well as non-fiction. You can expect a rigorous coilege-level approachto reading and writing, and a chanceto practice rhetorical analysis which will prepare you for taking the Ap Languageand CompositionExam. You can also expectlively discussion,good reads,and thought- provoking assignments. In order to prepare for the challengesahead, you are required to complete the following and bring finished work to your English classthe first week of school. 1. Readthe following essaysand completethe attachedquestions. "On Listening" by Eudora Welty "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan 2. Read The Autobiography of Frederick Douglas and be preparedfor follow-up assignments. 3. R:eadThe Collector by John Fowles and be preparedfor follow-up assignments. 4. Read The Assault by Harry Mulisch and be preparedfor follow-up assignments. +p 6u^'rernNn^Lf +tnrilnolt-f,hns tAr+-fiuruS Consub,t u bf ^ CA'\wvoA\rc- 6ot dwdu I June2010 To A.P. Students20l0l20ll: Many of you have expresseda desire for suggestedreadings to do before the course begins and a list of books that we will read next year. The following list contains books and plays that you should have read before coming into A. P. All of theseworks are taught at WHS. Lord of the Flies-Golding 'F*{'{'*anabsolute must The Tempest-Shakesp eare Othello-Shakespeare Macbeth--Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet--Shakespeare A Farewell to Arms--Hemingway Lieht in August--Faulkner Catch 22--Heller GlassMenagerie--Williams Deathof a Salesman--Miller Pride and Prejudice--Austen Tessof the D'Urbervilles-Hardy Too Late the Phalarope-Patton French Lieutenant'sWoman-Fowles The following is apartial list of works that we will cover in A. P. next year. Please,consider buying the novels so that you can mark your copy as you read. Hamlet-Shakespeare Macbeth-Shakespeare Othello--Shakespeare A Doll's House--Ibsen "No Exit"--Sartre Long Day's Journey into Night--ONeill Beowulf--Anonymous Grendel--Gardner "Everyman " --Anonymous ParadiseLost-Milton The Road-McCarthy The Sound and the Furv-Faulkner StreetcarNamed Desire--Williams Metamorphosis--Kafka Heart of Darkness--Conrad Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man--Joyce Mrs. Dalloway--Woolf The Great Gatsby-F itzgerald The Things They Canied-O'Brien I You Can't Go HomeAgaln-Wolfe C{imeand Punishment--Dostevsky The following list containsyour summerreading. Pleaseread in the ordergiven. After reading Franke{rstein,peruse the chaptersin the Ha+dbookgf Critical Approachestq I.iterature payingspecial attentionto the essayson Frankenstein.We will usevarious methods of criticism throughoutthe course Thesecritical approachesto literaturewill alsohelp with your summerreading. After readingthe above,read these works in the ordergiven: A Roomof One'sOwn-Woolf The Awakening-Chopin A Doll House-Ibsen Mrs. Dalloway-Woolf Sula-Morrison TheHandmaid's Tale----Atwell Summerreading will be testedduring the first weekof class. Theseworks will alsoserve as discussion materialduring the first weeksof class. Summerwriting assignments:Keep a journal asyou readso that you will be ableto engagein thoughtful discussionas we beginclass. Keep a list of topicsfor discussionand analysis. We look forwardto our coursenext year. Havea greatsummer!! Ms. Henryand Dr. Vogel ! Sumrner Reading for llth eg l2'h Graders ju,niors As rising and seniors,you are required to read two books (from the following lists) over rhe summer and to be prepared to write about them during the first week of schooi nextTail. i.ryo.r" raking anHonorsEnglkh coursenext year is required to readthree books. Researchhas shown that reading over the summer helps ensureyour academicsuccess. And, of course,it's a great pleasureto read as well. We havelisted quite a few books in many categories,and we hope you finisome books you will "nioyi ?,/75 t,4t//42 Deqad*.rlaa Classics to Consider Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Eastof Eden ]ohn Steinbeck The Count of Monte Cristo or The ManlilFlron A-lexandreDumas Mask On the Road fack Kerouak Senseand Sensibility faneAusten JaneEyre Charlorte Bronte Rebecca Daphenedu Maurier Tender is the Nieht F. Scott Fitzgerald The Trial Franz Kafka Cry the BelovedCountry AIan Paton Hard Times CharlesDickens An AmericanTragedy TheodoreDreiser Beloved Toni Morrison Contem >orary l-Iction to Contempl. The Blind Assassin Marqaret Atwood The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini ExtremelyLoud, Incredibly Close fonathan SafranFoer A Prayerfor Owen Meany fohn Iwing Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnezut Cold Mountain CharlesFrazier TheHouse Gun Nadine Gordimer Tsotsi Athol Fugard Going After Cacciaro Tim O'Brien Water BapsiSidhwa 4!gl9 rf Repose Wailace Stegner A ThousandAcres ]ane Smiley A LessonBefore Dying Ernest Gaines How the Garcia Girls Losr Their Accenr |ulia Alvarez The Hour I First Believed Waliy Lamb All the PretrvHorses Cormac McCarthv We Were the Mulvaneys |oyce Carol Oates I The Shipping News E.Annie Proulx The Sweet Hereafter RussellBanks Sophie'sChoice William Swron PIot Against America Philip Rorh White Noise Don Delillio Sarurdav Ian McEwan BeICanto Ann Pachett House of Sandand Fog AndreDubos IIi The Lone RangeJand Tonro Fistfighr in Heaven ShermanAlexie Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez Ellen Foster KaveGibbons Emnire Falls RichardRusso The Reader BernhardSchlink Dracula Bram Stoker The Color Pumle Alice Walker Fiction to Ponder The Absolutely True Story of a part-Time Indi:an ShermanAlexie Wintergirls Laurie Halse Anderson The Hunger Games SuzanneCollins The DaVinci Code Dan Brown Y"lqgrtv DeanKoontz The Bourneldentiw RobertLudlum Blankets Craig Thompson Persepolis MarjaneSatrapi Ender's Game Orson Scott Card Nineteen Minutes fodi Picoult The GoodThief Hannah Tinti The Help Kathnm Stockett Carrie StephenKing Sunrise Over Falluiah Walter Dean Mvers Loving lrank Nancv Horan The Divine Secrersof the Ya-Ya Sisterhood RebeccaWells Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett Gone Michael Grant Memoir/A to ReIIect BeautifulBov David Sheff Tweak Nic Sheff LoneSurvivor: The EyewitnessAccount of MarcusLuttreil OperationRedwing and rhe Losr Heroesof SEAL Team10 When I Was PuertoRican EsmeraldaSantiago Ghostsof War: The lh:e Ston'of a ig-Yeal{ld GI Ryan Smithson I Autobioqraphy of Malcolm X Alex Hailev RunninsWith Scissors AuzustenBurrouehs The BoyWho Harnessedthe Wind: C.reating \A/il liam Kiunl Nonfiction to MuII Over War SebastianIunser Into Thin Air TonKrakauer The Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan The Tippine Point Malcolm Gladwell Freakonomicsor Superfreakonimics StephenD. Levitt and StephenT. Dubner GreasyRider: fu'o L)uclcs,One Fly-OiI-llor;r'erecl Greg Melville Car,and a Ci:oss-CountrySearch fbr: zr 6reener Fuftrre Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers M"ry Roach RadioactiveBoy Scout:The Frightening True Story Ken Silverstein of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor A Perfect Storm SebastianJunger Devil in the White City Erik Larson Kabul BeautySchool: An AmericanWoman Goes DeborahRodrizuez and Kristin Ohlson Behind the Veil ThreeCups of Tea:One Man's Mission to Promote Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin PeaceOne Schoolat a Time Candyfreak AJourneyThrough the Cholcolate SteveAlmond Underbellvof America Nickeled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in BarbaraEhrenreich America RescueWarriors: The U. S. Coastguard,America's David Helvarg ForgottenHeroes TheBlindside Michael Lewis The Hot Zone Richard Preston AmaztngGrace:The Loves of Children and the Jonathon Kozol Conscienceof a Nation /-1\ Newjack Guarding Sing Sing TedConover Songbook Nick Hornby Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil JohnBerendt Supercrunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbersis the Ian Ayres NewWayto BeSmart TheDevil'sTeeth: ATrue StoryoM SusanCasey SurvivalAmong America's Great White Sharks The Lost Ciry of Z: ATaIeof DeadlyObsession in David Grann the Amazon TheBig Short:Inside the DoomsdayMiffie Michael Lewis , ,/-\ I