Independent Reading Assignment

This semester, English II/Honors students will be reading one novel per nine weeks. Students will be responsible for completing an independent reading blog post every week, while they read the novel of their choice from the list below:

• Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia (245 pages) • Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai (240 Pages) • First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung (288 pages) • I am the Clay by Chaim Potok (256 pages) • I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings by Maya Angelou (289 pages) • In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (252 Pages) • Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (256 pages) • Maus I by Art Spiegelman (160 Pages) • Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (160 pages) • Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (272 Pages)

Assignment 1. Choose 1 reading prompt per week to respond to from the list below. You may only respond to a prompt one time throughout the course of a novel. You must post your response on the blog post by WEDNESDAY night. EACH post must be a minimum of 200 words. 2. Every response should include at least two pieces of textual evidence. Textual evidence should be sited with the page number in parentheses.

Reading Prompts 1. What are some of the universal themes that appear in the novel? Provide evidence of the themes that you choose (at least 2).

• A human being’s confrontation with nature • A human being’s lack of humanity • A rebellious human being’s confrontation with a hostile society • An individual’s struggle toward understanding, awareness, and/or spiritual enlightenment • An individual’s conflict between passion and responsibility • The human glorification of the past/ rejection of the past • The tension between the ideal and the real • Conflict between human beings and machines • The impact of the past on the present • The inevitability of fate • The evil of unchecked ambition • The struggle for equality • The loss of innocence/disillusionment of adulthood • The conflict between parents and children • The making of an artist in a materialistic society • The clash between civilization and the wilderness • The clash between appearance and realities • The pain of love (or what passes for it) • The perils or rewards of carpe diem

2. What does change and the ability/inability to cope with change reveal about human nature in the novel? 3. What is the main setting of the novel? What cultural values does the setting represent? 4. Explain the difference between gender roles presented in the novel. 5. What is the general mood of the novel? Provide details. 6. How do the language, content, imagery, and allusions combine to create the tone? 7. How does religion have an influence on the characters and/or events in the novel?