English 10 Honors Summer Reading 2013-14
Glen Allen High School
Students will read two of the following texts over the summer prior to taking English 10 Honors. These
works have been chosen with the understanding that they can be read independently without difficulty.
While there are commercially available study guides for some of these, students should be aware that
they are only to consult these as guides and should not read them in lieu of the books. Finally, students
will be required to keep a dialectical journal for each of the books. These works will be revisited
throughout the school year and this note taking tool will be an invaluable resource for further study. See
below for assignment details.
Henrico County Public Schools strongly encourages parents/guardians to work with their children as
they choose their summer reading books. All of these books may be found in the public library or you
may want to purchase a copy of each book.
The List (choose two):
Art Spiegelman – Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Tatiana Rosnay – Sarah’s Key
Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
Cormac McCarthy – The Road
Dialectical Journal:
A dialectical journal is a conversation between the reader and the text. In your composition notebook, simply write down
the passages that make you think or interest you, and then write about your thoughts. This process is an important way to
understand a piece of literature and your response to it. With this sort of writing, you make your own meaning of the text
and thereby take ownership of it. The passages will be read by others, primarily your teacher, but they are uniquely yours.
You are neither right nor wrong in your response, so you are encouraged to take risks and hold nothing back.
Write about: what you like, what you dislike, what seems confusing, what seems unusual, what you think something
means, what personal connections you make, what predication you can pose. Possible sentence lead-ins might include: I
don’t really understand this because…; I really like/dislike this idea because…; This idea/event/quote/image seems to be
important because…; I think that the author is trying to say that…; This passage reminds me of…; This character reminds
me of…; If I were (name of character), I would…; etc. IMPORTANT: focus on analysis and avoid summary altogether. Also,
if you choose to read Maus, be sure to comment on the artwork as well as the text.
Be sure to include direct quotations from the works. Also, try to pick out literary elements and how they contribute to the
text. You should comment on at least 2-3 quotes/passages/images for each chapter of each book, or every 30 pages or so if
your chosen book has fewer than eight chapters. See example on the back. These journals must be kept in a single
composition notebook with separate sections for each text. Each journal will receive a quiz grade (two grades overall).
They will be collected early in the school year (Monday of the third week) and the grades will count for the first marking
period.
Scoring Guide:
Journals will be assessed according to the number of entries/annotations, consistent frequency of entries throughout the
text (not all from one chapter), significance of commentary, and variety of topics (character development, theme, point-ofview, plot, etc.). Journals will receive one quiz grade for each novel/journal.
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Explanation
This is an outstanding journal that demonstrates the reader’s complete understanding and analysis of the text(s)
and of the assignment. It makes appropriate references to the text(s) as it insightfully analyzes the work(s). It is
written with consistent stylistic control, using language appropriate to literary criticism.
This is a very good journal which demonstrates a sound grasp of the material. References to the text(s) are
appropriate, but analysis is perhaps not as insightful as it could be. Interpretation may falter or may be less
thorough and/or precise.
This journal tends to over-simplify the assignment or the content at hand. It responds to the question, but tends
to deal with only the obvious points. It tends to rely on paraphrase, rather than specific reference; minor points
may be misinterpreted.
This journal demonstrates an incomplete understanding of the text(s) and/or the assignment itself. It relies
essentially on summary and paraphrase. No real analysis is present. Evidence from the text(s) may be meager or
misconstrued.
Although the writer has made some attempt to respond to the assignment, journal entries are seriously flawed by
misreading, brevity, and lack of organization and focus.
Dialectical Journal Format – Your journal should look like this:
Title and author of text: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Text:
Response: (Write your response on this side)
Write meaningful quotes and short summaries
from the text here.
Write responses to those quotes and summaries
here. What is it about them that stands out and
makes the text distinctive?
Include: direct quotations, citations, and very
brief summaries of/from parts of the text that
jump out.
Include any or all of the following:
 ANALYSIS
 Questions
 Inferences
 Predictions
 Reflections
 Associations
 Feeling toward the author’s tone,
voice, etc.
 Words that need to be looked up
 Connections to other passages
 Literary elements and devices
 Comments about figurative language
(imagery, symbolism, metaphors, etc.)
 Comments about diction (word choice)
and syntax (sentence structure)
Exclude: long, drawn out plot summaries and
paraphrase (ie. do not include great detail about
every event.)
Exclude:
 Summary
 Generalization
 Obvious observations
Example quote:
“I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my
every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise.
One man's life or death were but a small price to
pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I
sought, for the dominion I should acquire and
transmit over the elemental foes of our race”
(231).
Example response:
Take it easy Walton! You might want to think this
through. It’s obviously heartfelt, but you should
probably consider Victor’s troubles before you set
out for the Pole. This quote resonates with the
novel’s romantic theme, where the characters think
more with their hearts than with their heads.