English III Summer Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to assess your reading, writing, and analytical abilities as well as to introduce you to the type of work you will be expected to complete in English III.
The essential question we will be exploring in English III is:
What is truth, and how do we determine it?
Directions: 1. Read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (192 pages)
2. Complete a reader’s notebook (should be typed). Reader’s notebooks should contain the following headings filled in with the appropriate information: Title: Author: Type of Text (Poem, novel, fiction, non-fiction, etc.): Theme Statement (See explanation below): Supporting Examples of Theme Statement (With page numbers): Vocabulary I Had to Look Up (Include word, part of speech, and definition/s): Important Quotes (Minimum of 3, page numbers, and an explanation of why each is important):
3. Write a theme analysis (5 paragraphs) for one of the texts: The analysis should be organized like this: introduction, 3 supporting examples, conclusion
Think of this like a persuasive essay: prove what the theme of the book is.
The thesis in the introduction should be a theme statement about the concept of TRUTH proven by the 3 supporting examples.
What is the difference between a theme and a theme statement? o A theme is 1 word: Love, Hope, Courage, Desire, etc. o A theme statement is a sentence that is the lesson the book is trying to teach you about the theme. . It says something specific about the theme and is usually about human nature or human experiences.
Theme Theme Statement Love Love is stronger than hate.
Hope Hope can help a person to survive any dark time.
Courage A person needs courage to express their individuality.
Desire If a person does not control their desires then those desires will lead them into danger and difficulties.
An example reader’s notebook and theme analysis are attached for the book Treasure Island, and your work should be formatted in the same manner.
The reader’s notebook should be in Times New Roman, Size 12 with the same headings, labels, and format as the example.
Your essay should be formatted in MLA format with a creative title, your essay, and a works cited page.
You should not be using “I” or your opinion anywhere in this essay.
Both assignments are due on the first day of school, Wednesday, September 4, 2019. You may contact me, Ms. Altstadt, at [email protected] with any questions you may have. Be sure my e-mail is spelled correctly or I will not receive it, and if I do not respond within 24 hours, it is because I did not receive your e-mail.
Reader’s Notebook Title: Treasure Island Author: Robert Louis Stevenson Type of Text: Novel-Fiction
Theme Statement: If a person does not control their desires then those desires will lead them into danger and difficulties.
3 Supporting Examples of Theme Statement (With page numbers): Jim’s mother puts herself and Jim in danger in order to get money that is owed to them (17). Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey’s hire a crew that is untrustworthy and who plan to kill them because they are blinded by their greed for treasure (35). The pirates’ desire for alcohol causes them to get drunk and lose their ship (60).
Vocabulary I Had to Look Up (Include word, part of speech, and definition/s): 1. Diabolical (Adj.): Extremely evil or cruel 2. Rebuff (N): A deliberate discourteous act; (V): To reject someone or something 3. Ruffian (N): A cruel and brutal person 4. Leer (N): A facial expression of contempt or scorn; (V) To look at slyly or with evil intent
Important Quotes (Minimum of 3, page numbers, and an explanation of why each is important): Quote: “That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to seek, and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell” (75). o Explanation: This quote sums up the entire novel in how greed causes destruction and death for those people who cannot control it. Quote: “We must go on, because we can't turn back” (52). o Explanation: This shows the inevitable dangerous situation the characters’ desires have gotten them into, and they cannot take back their choices and must live with the consequences. Quote: “’My dear,’ said my mother suddenly, ‘take the money and run on. I am going to faint.’ This was certainly the end for us both, I thought. How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbors; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness!” (17) o Explanation: This quote demonstrates how Jim’s mother’s greed puts them both in danger and how Jim regrets her choices. Quote: “You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit” (44). o Explanation: This quote highlights why Jim is able to survive the events of the novel because even though he is weak and broken at times, he never gives up and keeps on going because he has a desire to get home and live a happy life. Smith 1
John Smith
Altstadt
English III
6 September 2016
Not All that Glitters is Gold
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is an adventure story about a boy seeking treasure and having to deal with bloodthirsty pirates along his journey. Even though the story ends happily, the events of Treasure Island show that if a person does not control their desires then those desires will lead them into danger and difficulties. This theme is visible in the consequences that come from the characters’ desires for riches and the pirates’ desire for alcohol.
In the beginning of Treasure Island, Billy Bones dies without paying his debt to Jim and his mother for staying at the inn. After Bones dies, Jim tells his mother about the mysterious and dangerous visitors who are expected back at the inn later that night, and the two immediately rush to town to see if someone will help them get the money they are owed. Everyone in town refuses to help, but Jim’s mother decides to return to the house anyway with her son and without any protection from the danger that these men pose. Her decision puts them in harm’s way, which causes Jim to think, “This was certainly the end for us both, I thought. How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbors; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness!” (Stevenson 17). Jim sees how his mother’s stubborn desire for money puts not only her life but also his life in danger. It does not matter to her what disasters could occur, just that a debt to her is paid.
The two return to the inn and almost fall into the pirates’ clutches, but a luckily, group of riders show up causing the pirates to disperse out of fear. After Jim and his mother are rescued, Smith 2
Jim along with Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey discover how to find and obtain Billy
Bones’ hidden treasure (Stevenson 35). Without a thought of the danger that their lives could be put in, the Squire and the Doctor immediately decide to go in search of the gold because they want to be even wealthier than they already are. Their desire for riches causes them to put their lives in danger because the crew that they hire also wants the treasure and is planning to kill the
Squire and the Doctor in order to get it.
The pirates’ in Treasure Island want to drink alcohol because it makes life seem more entertaining. They are warned about the dangers of drinking by Doctor Livesey when he tells them “If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel!” (30)
The pirates do not listen, however, and their desire to drink causes them to lose the upper hand in obtaining the treasure over Jim and his friends. The pirates become drunk and are not paying attention as Jim and the others escape from the Hispaniola with the treasure map as well as arms and provisions to defend themselves against the pirates. Later on in the novel, the pirates become intoxicated once more, and this time, they do not notice that the ropes of the Hispaniola have come loose (60). Because they are not paying attention, their ship floats out to sea, causing them to lose their way home.
Robert Louis Stevenson illustrates the destructiveness of unrestrained desires through the consequences of the characters’ desire for riches and the pirates’ desire for alcohol. These consequences show that if a person does not control their desires, it will lead them into danger and difficulties. Smith 3
Works Cited
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. New York, NY, 1985.