Women in Literature – 11th & 12th Grade – Summer Reading Assignment

Read the following texts:

1. Skin Deep: Black Women & White Women Write About Race ISBN-13: 978- 0385474108

Summary: Candid, poignant, provocative, and informative, the essays and stories in Skin Deep explore a wide spectrum of racial issues between black and white women, from self-identity and competition to childrearing and friendship. Eudora Welty contributes a bittersweet story of a one- hundred-year-old black woman whose spirit is as determined and strong as anything in nature. Bestselling author Naomi Wolf recalls her first exposure to racism growing up, examining the subtle forms it can take even among well-meaning people; bell hooks writes about the intersection between black women and feminist politics; and Joyce Carol Oates includes a one-act play in which racial stereotypes are reversed. Among the other writers featured in the collection are Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Susan Straight, Mary Morris, and Beverly Lowry. A groundbreaking anthology that reveals surprising insights and hidden truths to a subject too often clouded by misperceptions and easy assumptions, Skin Deep is a major contribution to understanding our culture.

Assignment: After reading this book, take note of the readings that resonated with you most and type a one-page commentary, which includes why and how these readings affected you. What lessons have you learned? (Be sure to include material from the book in your commentary.)

2. Read Pope John Paul II’s “Letter to Women” (1995) and annotate the text for discussion the first week of school. Please bring a printed copy of the text with your annotations in place. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1995/documents/hf_jp- ii_let_29061995_women.html

DUE DATE FOR COMMENTARY: Friday, August 21, 2020 on Google Classroom (code: pp7fz3n)