9th Grade Summer Reading Assignment
Controversial Topics
Congratulations and welcome to MATES. Your summer reading assignment revolves around CONTROVERSIAL
ESSAY TOPICS: Controversial essay topics are burning, hot issues, which raise heated debate and provoke debate
concerning an issue/subject of current interest. People have very strong yet divergent feelings and opinions on these
issues, which lead to much dispute and argument. Controversial essay topics tend to polarize people, who often make
strong arguments for and against the subjects. Controversial essay topics are usually much talked about and raise the
interest in many people. They are thrilling and captivating, yet controversial in nature. In a nutshell, these are issues
of the day, which are elucidated in the mass media, newspapers, magazines, TV, Youtube, and other websites.
Researching is an important skill to learn. You will be writing a formal research paper this year, which includes
researching using a database. We will be guiding you through the research paper process. Your summer reading
assignment is the beginning of this process. You will use the Ocean County Library to find a controversial topic, find
3 articles/essays on this topic, and write a summary (5-7 sentences per summary) on these articles/essays. Please
follow the step-by-step directions for this assignment.
Assignment and directions:
1. You need to go to the Ocean County Library’s website: http://theoceancountylibrary.org/ .
2. At the top of their main page, click on the blue tab labeled “Research & Info.” Then click on the first
dropdown “research.”
3. On this page (on the right-hand side) locate “Are you looking for.”
4. Scroll down until you locate the words “Controversial Topics.” Click on these words.
5. Now you will need to enter the bar code from your library card to access the system. If you do not have a
library card, this is a good time to get one!
6. Once you enter your bar code, you will be directed to the “Points of View Reference Center.”
7. You will see a list of categories; now choose one that interests you. I chose “Women’s Issues.”
8. Then you will need to choose a more specific topic to find articles/essays. I then chose “body image in the
media.” This topic is focused and narrow enough to write a research paper on.
9. Then click on one of the articles/essays. You will find all the pertinent info about this document listed at the
top: the author, the source (the publication), and the “Document Type.” The document type shows you
whether you reading an essay or an article.
10. Print out three articles/essays on this one specific topic you have chosen. Read these articles/essays carefully.
11. Type a summary on each article/essay and staple it to the corresponding article or essay. Please include in
your heading your name and grade.
12. You are to submit this assignment on the first day of school.
If you have any questions, please email: mminnier@mail.ocvts.org
Have a wonderful summer and happy researching, reading, and writing!
Sincerely,
The MATES English Department