COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
For your summer reading, you must read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest
Hemingway and a text of your choice from the list below (you may get alternative
summer reading texts approved by Mr. Briggs no later than Thurs, June 11. Alternative
summer reading books must qualify as “American Literature” (the course title of
English 11) and be appropriately rigorous for a college-bound, 11th grade student).
In addition to reading the texts, you must complete the following two assignments, due the
first day of class. For each day late, 10% will be deducted from the grade, not to exceed 30%.
The essay/journal is worth a test grade, and the multi-media assignment is worth a project
grade. You may choose which option you would like to do for which book.
1. Left-Right Journal or Academic, MLA Format 5-Paragraph Essay
2. Multi-media assignment
How do I choose a book?
Start by crossing off any books you’ve already read! READ SOMETHING NEW!
Choose a tier that you think is appropriate for where you are as a reader. Books have been
separated into three tiers of lexile scores, a metric used to calculate the “grade level” of a book.
Note, however, that this metric is imperfect and doesn’t always accurately reflect the difficulty
level of a book. Mr. Briggs would be happy to provide personalized book recommendations!
Pick a few that catch your eye, and do some informal research to help you choose wisely.
Tier 1: Lower Lexile (Below Grade Level)
The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane, 1895.
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 1939.
The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara, 1974 (set during Battle of Gettysburg (1863)).
The Color Purple, Alice Walker, 1982 (set in 1930s).
The Martian Chronicles, H.P. Lovecraft, 1950.
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, 1990 (set in Vietnam).
The Grass Dancer, Susan Power, 1995.
Chickadee, Louise Erdrich, 2013.
Tier 2: Middle Lexile (Grade Level)
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway, 1940.
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut, 1969.
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko, 1977.
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980.
The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper, 1826.
COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass, 1845.
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884.
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1952.
On the Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957.
The Plague of Doves, Louise Erdrich, 2009.
Tier 3: Upper Lexile (Above Grade Level)
Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson, 1919.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America, John Steinbeck, 1960.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, 1969 (set in 1930s).
Catch-22, Joseph Heller, 1961 (set in WWII).
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley & Malcolm X, 1965.
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson, 2003 (set in 1893).
The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois, 1903.
No Lexile Score (Unidentified Grade Level)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852.
Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup, 1853.
The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain, 1869.
Roughing It, Mark Twain, 1872.
All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren, 1946 (set in 1930s).
The Moviegoer, Walker Percy, 1961.
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates, 1961.
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson, 1980.
The Known World, Edward P. Jones, 2003 (set in antebellum).
COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
ASSIGNMENTS (5-Paragraph Essay OR Left-Right Journal for one text,
multimedia assignment for the other text)
5-PARAGRAGH
ESSAY
As you read your text, write down possible discussion questions.
When finished, choose one of these questions as a writing prompt, and write a 5paragraph essay answering that prompt.
You must include two quotes or paraphrased examples from the text per body
paragraph. Each example must have the page number, in parentheses, MLA style.
LEFT-RIGHT
JOURNAL

Use a spiral notebook, marble composition book, or computer wordprocessing program
 For every fifth of the book you read, complete a left and right page of your
journal.
 Record the date and page numbers you read for that entry at the top of each
page.
 Your journal must have a minimum of ten pages full pages of normal sized
writing and illustrations (5 left, 5 right)
 For each left-hand page of the notebook, you may take notes, summarize the
section of reading, record quotes (see details below)
 For each right-hand page of the notebook, you may be more creative: express
opinions and feelings, discuss symbolism, favorite characters and why, what
you would do in that situation, drawings of the setting or characters, personal
reflections (see details below)
Left Side Options







Summary of the section you
just finished reading
Facts
Vocabulary you don’t know
Important events in the book
Timeline
Lists and descriptions of
characters
Quotes from the book that
you want to reflect on (on the
right side) or you feel are
significant, or that might help
you with your paper
Right Side Options












Ask questions you’re unsure about
Define vocabulary (from left)
Poetry you found or wrote that relates
Cartoons that relate to the book
How you relate personally – comparison to
your own life
How it reminds you of other books, movies,
stories and why
Reactions to the characters and situations in
the book
Favorites or things you hate about the book
and why
What you would do if you were in that
situation or if you were that person
Drawings of the characters and setting
Venn diagram contrasting characters
Remark on the meaning of certain quotes
COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
Options for the MULTI-MEDIA ASSIGNMENT
CREATE
a
BLOG




CREATE
a
GLOG
 For each character in the text
 For each chapter or section of the text
 www.glogster.com
CREATE
a
MOVIE
 5-10 minute movie , with original script
 Choose one of the following to do: re-write the ending of the text,
add an additional scene to the end (or extend the ending), or create a
prequel to the text
from the perspective of the main character
8-10 entries
an original photo to accompany each entry
Google Blogger is easy to use for first-timers
CREATE
a
PODCAST
 With 5 episodes
 Discuss various aspects of the text that you are passionate about.
Each podcast should be 1-2 minutes of speaking.
 Include a short musical/instrumental introduction to each episode
 Publish the mp3 episodes on a blog (google blogs is easy)
 http://www.digitaltrends.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-podcast/
WRITE
a
SONG
 Write a song based on the text, or a theme from the text
 The song must be at least 5 stanzas; no more than two can be the
chorus
 Type a copy of the song, and spell check it
 Perform the song, or have someone perform it
 Record the performance (video, sound, or both!)
COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
Left-Page Example for Left-Right Journal
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Pages 1-49 of Lord of the Flies
Summary: The first two introduced are the fair-haired boy (Ralph) and a fat boy with glasses (Piggy).
Through their conversation we learn that the world is in a state of war, and that the plane carrying the boys
crashed in the jungle. There are no adults anywhere. Ralph and Piggy go looking for other survivors and find
a conch shell. Piggy suggests that Ralph use it to blow into like a trumpet, and he does. The sound of the
conch brings the other survivors to them. The eldest of the new group, is Jack, who had been the head of their
choir. The boys decide to elect a leader and the votes are split between Ralph and Jack, but Ralph wins. Ralph
asks Jack to lead the choir to serve as hunters – to try to appease him. He sends Jack and another boy, Simon
to explore the island. They discover that they are on an uninhabited island. Jack pulls his knife on a pig to try
to kill it, but chickens out. He swears he will kill it next time. The boys hold another meeting to discuss how
to survive. Some are worried about how no one knows that they have crashes. A little kid says he saw a
“beastie” and it scares some of the others. They decide to build a fire to try to get rescued, collecting wood,
and using Piggy’s glasses to ignite the flame. Order is somewhat lost. Piggy yells at the group, telling them
that a little boy has gone missing. Though they are shocked and Ralph is upset, they go on as if nothing has
happened.
Vocabulary:
Scavenge
Immure
Gesticulate
Quotes: “Something dark was fumbling along....The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in
step in two parallel lines” (15).
“We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages” (44).
Characters:
Ralph: Fair-haired, mild mannered, a leader, democratic
Piggy: fat, glasses, intellectual, no one listens to him
Jack: wears black, intense, red hair, blue eyes, arrogant, a leader, more of a dictator
Simon: skinny, but vivid, a thinker
Other Important Things:
Conch Shell
Piggy’s Glasses
The knife
COMMONWEALTH ACADEMY
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS (11TH GRADE) Summer, 2015
Right-Page Example for Left-Right Journal
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Pages 1-49 of Lord of the Flies
Definitions:
Scavenge: Search for and collect (anything usable) from discarded waste.
Immure: Enclose or confine (someone) against their will: "immured in a lunatic asylum".
Gesticulate: Use gestures, esp. dramatic ones, instead of speaking or to emphasize one's words.
Poem:
The Sound of the Shell
Stranded on a deserted island,
Lonely, lonely, with only each other,
No adults and no real rules,
What can we do, there’s nothing to lose?
We arrived here in a plane, crash-landed.
The pilot is gone; all’s left is us boys,
Shot down from the sky, the crash scattered us all,
We were all lost ‘til we heard the sound of the shell.
Personal Response: I think if I were in the boy’s situation that I would be both happy and sad. On one hand,
the idea of being free from the rules of parents and of society is liberating. There would be no one to tell me to
eat or sleep or go to school. It would be nice to get to choose what I want to do when I want to. On the other
hand, surviving on a deserted island without adults and civilization would be difficult. For one thing, there
isn’t any air conditioning. I also wouldn’t be able to blow-dry my hair. It’s not like I could spend all my time
playing video games or shopping. I think it would be a lot of work to survive, and I’m not sure how well a
group of kids would get along. I also think it would be scary at night on an uninhabited island.
Relating the text to other stuff: The scene where the boys come together to vote and make some rules
reminds me of Animal Farm. The boys are suddenly without rules and need to instill some order like the
animals do after the farm-owner is gone. In Animal Farm, the rules the pigs make in the beginning are wellintentioned, and for the good of the whole group. However, as time goes on, the pigs begin to take liberties
with those rules. I wonder if the leaders of the group, Ralph and Jack, will succumb to greed and powerhunger like the pigs did.
Conch Shell Drawing
The conch shell seems to be a
symbol of order. The boys use it to
come together, and they use it to
determine who will speak.