10th Grade English Summer Reading Assignments

First Assignment - Due June 25 Read The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Although The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first of the Narnia series to be published, Lewis preferred that the series be read according to Narnian history, with The Magician’s Nephew first and The Last Battle last. This book opens the Chronicles of Narnia, a series renowned in its genre and full of spiritual insight. For each major character, write a detailed paragraph describing that character, not just physically, but in personality, virtue or vice, etc. Write a plot synopsis including the major plot events. This should require a minimum of one legible handwritten page. On an additional page, note any characters or occurrences in the story that remind you of people or events in the Bible.

Second Assignment - Due August 6 Read The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. Like The Magician’s Nephew, Tolkien’s The Hobbit introduces an extensive fantasy world as well as one of the most famous of fantasy tales. The Lord of the Rings trilogy would follow. As above, for each major character, write a detailed paragraph describing that character, not just physically, but in personality, virtue or vice, etc. Write a plot synopsis including the major plot events. This should require a minimum of one legible handwritten page. On an additional page, explain how Tolkien deals with the nature of courage in the character Bilbo, not a traditional heroic type. Please be aware that the movie version (two films so far) only covers a portion of the story and deviates from the original a great deal. This is a reading assignment, and failure to show that you have read all of the book, will result in a seriously reduced grade.

ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE TO BE LEGIBLY HANDWRITTEN.

Assignments may be delivered to the WCS office between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM Mondays through Thursdays or they may be mailed to:

English Department Summer Reading Program Westbrook Christian School 100 Westminster Drive Rainbow City, AL 35906

All assignments will be dated upon arrival, so get them in on time.

Any questions about these assignments may be emailed to [email protected].