English 11 Honors Summer Reading Assignments
Welcome to English 11 Honors! – I hope that you are looking forward to a very busy and exciting year. In class we will continue to use the skills you have developed so far, as well as improve upon them as you make plans for your future courses and academic aspirations.
Summer time is a great time to read and explore. Since our focus for the junior year is American literature, the assignments listed below will allow you time to hopefully enjoy and explore some of the elements of American literature.
1. Black Like Me – by John Howard Griffin (Non-fiction)
For this novel you will need to complete a series of discussion questions.
2. Choose 1 Full-Length Novel from the book list provided-
While reading, complete the Active Reading Worksheets provided.
If you have ANY questions or concerns please contact me at [email protected]
**Please stop by my room after school to sign out copies of Black Like Me as well as your Full-Length novel selection. At this time I will also provide copies of the discussion questions and active reading worksheets.
We will review these books within the first week of school so that any confusions or misunderstandings can be clarified.
The assignments will be collected on: Monday, September 11th, 2017.
REMINDERS:
Failure to complete the assignments will result in your removal from English 11 Honors Be prepared to explain and discuss the works you have completed, as well as complete a series of in-class activities Please be sure to read the expectations carefully All work should be in your own words - - Plagiarized work will receive a zero Contact me if you have any questions or concerns ([email protected])
I look forward to working with you. Have a great summer and see you in September!
~Mrs. Kelley English 11 Honors – Part 2 Full Length Literary Selection
Directions: 1. Choose one (1) book from the list provided. You may choose to sign out a copy from my room, or if you would prefer you may purchase your own copy/download. Descriptions/summaries are provided, but you may also choose to research your book selection to ensure that it is a book you will enjoy. Please feel free to see me after school to discuss possible book choices.
2. While reading, or upon completion of your selected novel, complete the active reading worksheets. If you have ANY questions or concerns please contact me at [email protected]
Title and Author Setting; Period Style Lexile Summary
The Last of the Set in 1757 during the It is 1757. The English and French are engaged in a savage, bloody war Mohicans French-Indian War for control of the North American continent. Caught in the middle is Hawkeye, a white scout who was raised among the Indians. Not fully by James Fenimore belonging to either world, Hawkeye has learned to respect the best of both 1350 Cooper civilizations. But with war swirling around him, Hawkeye must finally Romanticism (fiction) struggle to save his own life and those of a small band of colonists.
The Scarlet Letter Set in 17th c. Puritan When Hester Prynne bears an illegitimate child she is introduced to the Boston ugliness, complexity, and ultimately the strength of the human spirit. by Nathaniel Though set in Puritan community centuries ago, the moral dilemmas of Hawthorne Romanticism 1850 personal responsibility and consuming emotions of guilt, anger, loyalty and (fiction) 1420 revenge are timeless.
Set in early-mid 1800’s On a previous voyage, a mysterious white whale had ripped off the leg of aboard the whaleship Pequod a sea captain named Ahab. Now the crew of the Pequod, on a pursuit Moby Dick that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps, must follow
by Herman Melville 1230 the mad Ahab into the abyss to satisfy his thirst for vengeance. Narrated by the cunningly observant crew member Ishmael,Moby-Dick is the tale Romanticism 1851 (fiction) of the hunt for the elusive, omnipotent, and ultimately mystifying white whale.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin or, Set in early 1850’s Though “Uncle Tom” has become a synonym for a fawning black yes-man, Life Among the Lowly beginning in the Stowe’s Tom is actually American literature’s first black hero, a man who South 1050 suffers for refusing to obey his white oppressors. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a By Harriet Beecher living, relevant story, passionate in its vivid depiction of the cruelest forms Romanticism 1851 Stowe of injustice and inhumanity—and the courage it takes to fight against them. (fiction)
The Adventures of Set in early-mid Floating down the Mississippi on their raft, Huckleberry Finn and Jim, a 1800’s along the Huckleberry Finn runaway slave, find life filled with excitement and the spirit of adventure. Mississippi River 990 Join Huck and Jim and their old friend Tom Sawyer as they come up by Mark Twain Romanticism 1855 against low-down thieves and murderers, whilst being chased by Huck's (fiction) evil, drunken father who is after Huck's treasure.
Sister Carrie Set in the early 20th The story of Carrie Meeber, an 18-year-old country girl who moves to century Chicago and becomes a kept woman (a mistress for a wealthy married By Theodore Dreiser 980 man). The novel follows her decisions as she tries to fulfill her American Realism 1900 Dreams. (fiction)
The Grapes of Wrath Set in late 1930’s The Grapes of Wrath is the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, from Oklahoma to who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the by John Steinbeck California promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisons against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots, Modernism 1939 680 Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale (fiction) and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its insistence on human dignity. Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son Set in 1930’s Chicago Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in by Richard Wright Modernism 1940 700 Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on (fiction) the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.
Catch-22 Set near the end of WWII Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber on an island off the coast squadron off Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named of Italy by Joseph Heller Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the Post-Modernism 1961 twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It (fiction) 1140 is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality -- a masterpiece of our time. The Autobiography of Chronicles the period of The Autobiography recounts the life of Malcolm X from his traumatic Malcolm X his life from 1925-1965 childhood plagued by racism to his years as a drug dealer and pimp, his 1120 conversion to the Black Muslim sect (Nation of Islam) while in prison for Modernism 1965 by Alex Haley (non-fiction) burglary, his subsequent years of militant activism, and the turn late in his life to more orthodox Islam.
Set from 1940-1964 in Anne (Essie Mae) Moody delivers the reader through her childhood and Mississippi and schooling as a young black girl in Mississippi as she struggles with poverty, Coming of Age in Louisiana 870 racism, and the struggle to survive. As she recounts her college years, the Mississippi reader witnesses her involvement in the early days of the Civil Rights Modernism 1968 Movement, including her sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter and the by Anne Moody (non-fiction) march on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Set in New Mexico Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with during WWII his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with Bless Me, Ultima herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family Contemporary 1972 ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself in the by Rudolfo Anaya (magical realism - 840 fiction) magical secrets of the pagan past-a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world...and will nurture the birth of his soul.
Set in 1873 in Ohio, Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel with flashbacks to transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a Beloved time in slavery lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of by Toni Morrison Contemporary 1987 870 Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. (historical fiction) And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: "Beloved".
Devil in the White City: Recounts the events Their fates were linked by the magical Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, Murder, Magic and leading up to and nicknamed the “White City” for its majestic beauty. Architect Daniel Madness at the Fair that following the 1893 Burnham built it; serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes used it to lure victims to his Chicago World’s Fair Changed America World’s Fair Hotel, designed for murder. Both men left behind them a 1170 powerful legacy, one of brilliance and energy, the other of sorrow and Contemporary by Erik Larson darkness. 2004 (non-fiction)
English 11 Honors – Summer Reading Black Like Me Questions
During and after your reading of the book Black Like Me, reflect on the story and answer the following questions. These should be on your own paper, answered completely with well thought out responses that directly address the text.
What motivates Griffin to change the color of his skin and take on the identity of a black man?
Write about his reaction as Griffin looks in the mirror and first sees a black man peering back at him. He feels he has lost his identity. How would you feel if you changed the color of your skin? How does skin color affect identity? Is skin color a more powerful determinant than gender?
What do you consider as the most difficult experience that Griffin faced as a black man? What angered or depressed him—or you—the most?
How did you respond to the white men's attitude toward African-American sexuality? How does that stance dehumanize black men and women? And what does it say about white men who are s obsessed by the idea of black sexuality?
Griffin spends a day with his acquaintance P.D. East, and the two discuss racism and the law in the South. Write about the ways in which prejudice was incorporated into the South's legal code.
How does the treatment Griffin receives at the hands of white people affect him? What does he notice about himself after a couple of weeks? Do you think his experience of racism was harder for Griffin because he was white...or easier because he was white?
Write about Griffin's time in Montgomery, Alabama, and the young Martin Luther King, Jr., back then a still unknown figure outside the South.
What were some of the other positive things Griffin experienced? What about those who rose above the cruelty of hatred and intolerance? In what way did they offer hope?
The book was published in 1959. How far has the nation come in the past 50+ years. Beyond the most obvious fact that the country elected an African-American president, to what extent—and how—does racism continue to show itself? What racial injustices, faced by Griffin in 1959, still exist today?
Follow-up to the previous question: What do you think would Griffin experience if he were to attempt his project today?
Even with his darkened skin, John Howard Griffin was still a white man. Was it possible for him to truly experience life as a black man? Is his book well-meaning but arrogant in its attempt to speak of another race's experiences? Or do you think Black Like me offers a critical perspective because it is the closest that any white person could ever come to experiencing—and thus understanding—racial intolerance?
Explain what you have learned as a result of reading this book.
YOUR NAME:______English 11 Summer Reading, Book Choice Novel Title:______Note-Taking Graphic Organizer
Author:______
READ THINK WRITE LEARN
Directions: For the purpose of these notes pages, think about dividing your book of choice into four sections of approximately equal lengths. For each of those four reading sections, you will complete one Active Reading Worksheet in this packet. You are welcome to create more pages if you would like to divide your book into smaller sections!
Expectations: Bring this packet with you to our first class meeting in September. I will answer any questions you may have had during your reading. This packet will be collected on September 11th, 2017.
Purpose: These worksheets will assist you as you read your book of choice. They will help you record key events, analyze characters, and record unfamiliar / interesting vocabulary. You will also have space in which you can jot down questions or concerns, as well as your favorite and most interesting parts.
Any Questions? Feel free to contact me during the summer: Mrs. Kelley – [email protected]
Reading #1 – Pages/Chapters:______
KEY DETAILS / SUMMARY 1
CHARACTER ANALYSIS (Use a separate sheet of paper, if necessary, for more characters)
Characters Physical Psychological Relationships to Conflicts / Issues Overall Description Description other characters to be resolved Evaluation of the (Wants, Feelings, character Beliefs)
NEW/INTERESTING VOCABULARY – minimum three (Include page numbers and definitions)
Word Copy usage in book (cite) Guess the meaning Dictionary Definition
KEY PASSAGE (include page number) EXPLANATION / SIGNIFICANCE OF QUOTE
Reading #2 – Pages/Chapters:______2 KEY DETAILS / SUMMARY
CHARACTER ANALYSIS (Use a separate sheet of paper, if necessary, for more characters)
Characters Physical Psychological Relationships to Conflicts / Issues Overall Description Description other characters to be resolved Evaluation of the (Wants, Feelings, character Beliefs)
NEW/INTERESTING VOCABULARY – minimum three (Include page numbers and definitions)
Word Copy usage in book (cite) Guess the meaning Dictionary Definition
KEY PASSAGE (include page number) EXPLANATION / SIGNIFICANCE OF QUOTE
Reading #3 – Pages/Chapters:______3 KEY DETAILS / SUMMARY
CHARACTER ANALYSIS (Use a separate sheet of paper, if necessary, for more characters)
Characters Physical Psychological Relationships to Conflicts / Issues Overall Description Description other characters to be resolved Evaluation of the (Wants, Feelings, character Beliefs)
NEW/INTERESTING VOCABULARY – minimum three (Include page numbers and definitions)
Word Copy usage in book (cite) Guess the meaning Dictionary Definition
KEY PASSAGE (include page number) EXPLANATION / SIGNIFICANCE OF QUOTE
Reading #4 – Pages/Chapters:______4 KEY DETAILS / SUMMARY
CHARACTER ANALYSIS (Use a separate sheet of paper, if necessary, for more characters)
Characters Physical Psychological Relationships to Conflicts / Issues Overall Description Description other characters to be resolved Evaluation of the (Wants, Feelings, character Beliefs)
NEW/INTERESTING VOCABULARY – minimum three (Include page numbers and definitions)
Word Copy usage in book (cite) Guess the meaning Dictionary Definition
KEY PASSAGE (include page number) EXPLANATION / SIGNIFICANCE OF QUOTE