Summer Reading List & Assignments
Channel View School for Research
For Students Entering the 12th Grade
Mr. Kennedy
MKennedy8@schools.nyc.gov
Mr.Kennedy08.09@gmail.com
Grade 12 – AP Language/Literature & Composition (402):
Required Reading: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Required Assignment: Complete Digital Assignment
explained below
Student Choice: Read at least ONE memoir, travel
narrative, and/or an essayist from the list below.
Required Assignment: Work in groups of four to
complete the online assignment described below. All
other completed assignments will be counted as extra
credit.
Grade 12 – 401 & 403:
Required Reading: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Required Assignment: Complete digital or written
assignment explained below.
Extra Credit Student Choice: Read a memoir, travel
narrative, and/or an essayist from the list below for
extra credit. Up to 5 points added to your grade.
Extra Credit Assignment: Work in groups of four to
complete the online assignment described below.
*Any student who does not have viable access to the
Internet must complete the dual-entry journal project
connected to this assignment. Please, contact me personally
if this is the case.
Required Reading:
AP English – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1 book
from the list below
401 & 403 – Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Choose One: Memoirs:
Colored People, Henry Louis Gates
West with the Night, Beryl Markham
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
Growing Up, Russell Baker
This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff
Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriquez
The Duke of Deception, Geoffrey Wolff
In Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin
A Monk Swimming, Malachy McCourt
Out of Africa, Isaak Dinesen
The Road From Coorain, Jill Ker Conway
An American Childhood, Annie Dillard
The Color of Water, James McBride
Hand To Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure, Paul Auster
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman
Memory, Vladimir Nabokov
Naked, David Sedaris
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind
Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain
Choose One: Travel Narrative:
The Pillars of Hercules, Paul Theroux
The Seasons of Rome, Paul Hofmann
The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux
Balkan Ghosts, Robert Kaplan
Confederates in the Attic, Tony Horwitz
A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg, Tim Cahill
A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle
Road Fever, Tim Cahill
Coming into the Country, John McPhee
Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl
Under the Tuscan Sun, Francis Mayes
Blue Highways, William Least-Heat Moon
Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck
Travels with Lisbeth, Lars Eighner
Choose One: Essayists and other General Non-Fiction:
The White Album, Joan Didion (essays)
After Henry, Joan Didion (essays)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (essays)
Salvador, Joan Didion (travel/essays)
The Armies of the Night, Norman Mailer (war)
Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt (political)
Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell (political/war)
Walden, Henry David Thoreau (nature)
The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher (food critic)
I Lost It At the Movies, Pauline Kael (film critic)
Waist-High in the World, Nancy Mairs (essays)
Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills (history)
Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson (language)
Made in America, Bill Bryson (language)
The Miracle of Language, Richard Lederer (language)
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (food)
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (food)
Socrates Café, Christopher Phillips (philosophy)
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (true crime)
Bad, or The Dumbing of America, Paul Fussell (cultural criticism)
Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon, Joe Queenan
(cultural criticism)
The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby (cultural criticism)
The Working Poor, David K. Shipler (cultural criticism)
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (cultural criticism)
The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf (cultural criticism)
Into the Buzzsaw, Kristina Borjesson (media studies)
Killed Cartoons, David Wallis (media studies)
Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell (sociology/psychology)
Protocol for all students to use the blog:
1) Submit your name and e-mail address to Mr. Kennedy using the
form below.
2) Accept an invitation (on-line) to join Mr. Kennedy’s English Blog
by the end of regular school classes on Monday, June 10th,
2013.
3) Once you have accepted an invitation, there are three ways in
which you can access the blog. 1) You will be directed to the
blog via e-mail; 2) you may sign in on your own at
mrkennedysenglish.blogspot.com; or 3) you may sign in by
accessing our school website at www.cvsr.info, click on
“Department”, then “English”, then “Summer Reading” and go
to your year’s assignment. Contact me at
MKennedy8@schools.nyc.gov if you have any problems locating
the blog on-line.
4) View the assignments connected to your class. You may need
to scroll down to the assignment to access it. See the
illustration below for help.
a. For AP students, the first assignment has three parts:
1)“Summer Reading Assignment – Conflict and Brave
New World”. You may have to scroll down or go to “older
posts” in the bottom right corner of the blog; 2)“Summer
Reading Assignment – Characterization and Brave New
World” 3)“Summer Reading Assignment – Theme and
Brave New World”. The second assignment is the book
club assignment described below.
b. For all other students (401 & 403), the first assignment
has three parts: 1)“Summer Reading Assignment –
Conflict and Angela’s Ashes”. You may have to scroll
down or go to “older posts” in the bottom right corner of
the blog; 2)“Summer Reading Assignment –
Characterization and Angela’s Ashes” 3)“Summer Reading
Assignment – Theme and Angela’s Ashes”. The second
assignment is the book club assignment described below.
5) Post your response for the assignment and/or leave a
comment for another student’s response by clicking on the
“Comment” link below the assignment to the left and writing
your response in the “Leave your comment” space provided.
Mr. Kennedy’s English Blog
Sign-Up Form
Summer Reading & 2013-2014 English Class
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alternate e-mail address (g-mail, if you have it):_________________
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Required Reading Assignment (Circle Whichever Text Applies):
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Other students with whom you wish to work:
________________________
_________________________
Required Summer Writing Assignment – AP Language/Literature
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Mr. Kennedy – 402/AP Language/Literature & Composition
CVSR
Summer 2013 Assignment
Reading Forum
The Reading Assignment:
This project focuses on the fictional text, Brave New World. I expect that each of you will read weekly and
complete your reading project assignments (described in detail below) even though we will not be
discussing the text until after you have finished. Therefore, I am providing a weekly reading schedule to
which everyone must individually adhere. Each student will be placed in a group of three.
The Writing Assignment:
After completing each week’s reading assignment, one student will be designated to write a well-written,
logical mini-essay of approximately 250-300 words. Students writing this initial essay should practice
writing good 1-3 sentence opening paragraphs which address the task accurately, followed by a body which
develops the task and uses the text adequately to support the claim, and write a brief conclusion which
draws a conclusion. The other two students should write a response to the initial essay by adding a
“thread” of their thoughts or taking up a different position. Responses will be submitted online by the due
date by posting to my blog which can be accessed through portaportal.com by signing in as a guest
“mghjk00”, clicking on my link to the blog at mrkennedysenglish@blogspot.com or by going directly there
and signing in. Students can also access my blog by accepting an invitation which they should be receiving
by this weekend. Both those writing initial essays and responses should follow the directions on the blog
which will clearly direct each writer to the group thread.
For this assignment, there are three general topics to help you formulate your written assignments: conflict,
characterization, and theme. Each week, the group member charged with submitting the initial essay will
be assigned to one of the topics. Every week, the topics will rotate. A schedule detailing the topic for each
week is attached. It is the responsibility of each group member to do the reading assignment, read the
submitted post, and write his or her own response. An adequate response must be approximately 150
words – but no more than three paragraphs, include an individual’s own work (PLAGIARISM will result in
failure), include aspects of the reading, and a reflection to the initial essay. Responses should seek to
explain how what the individual reads is a applies to the topic and an in-depth description of personal
experiences you can relate to your group’s submission. Be sure to cite vivid examples from Brave New
World to convince us you are keeping current on your reading schedule. In writing a solid essay, pay
particular attention to the answering the topic question and state your opinions clearly. Responses to your
group’s submission should be timely, specific, courteous, and foster a dialogue – these are not critiques of
the initial essay, but rather an opportunity to start and continue a discussion. Also, responses should stem
from the content of that week’s essay. One of the many benefits of such a forum is the ability to read other
people’s writings and comment directly about them.
You will be assigned roughly thirty pages to read per week. In general, plan on completing the reading for
the week by Thursday. Those responsible for the group’s submission that week should plan on finishing
the reading by Wednesday, to allow adequate time for writing and editing. Assigned essay-writers must
also post their essay by 10:00 pm on Fridays, starting July 12th, 2013. The remaining group members must
post their responses by 10:00 pm starting on Sunday, July 14 th. Remember that writing is a gradual process
of writing and revising. Expect to write one day, read your essay the next day, and be prepared to make
adequate changes to help accentuate your ideas.
In using this forum, there are a few guidelines and points to keep in mind. First, forums are public space on
the World Wide Web (WWW). Hence, in the case of my blog, any teacher or administrator or parent who
has been invited to read on the site can read your posts. Remember that your thoughts and writing are a
reflection not only on yourself, but also the class and the school at large. Therefore, use proper grammar
and spelling. Secondly, we should uphold the same respect we have for each other when we meet each day
in class together. The topics to which you will respond each week probe your personal life and experience
as well a your knowledge of other texts and the world at large. Be sensitive to others in hopes of providing
an environment where everyone will feel comfortable expressing their experience and opinions.
Reading Project Essay Topics
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
General Directions: Use these descriptions below to guide the writing of your initial essay. Your initial
essay should be a well-organized logical argument which explores the narrative in detail. Responses to
other students’ essays may flow somewhat more freely, but you should keep these guidelines in mind.
Assignment #1 – Conflict is a key part of any compelling narrative. Conflict can be external when it takes
place between two outside forces (e.g. one person against another, or one person against his environment).
A conflict can also be internal when two forces inside a person do battle. For example, one person might
struggle with a desire to leave home and a desire to remain at home.
Describe one conflict – external or internal – in your reading of Brave New World that you find interesting
and important. Be sure to describe the conflict in detail and support your claim with plenty of details that
show a detailed reading and understanding of the text. Have you ever experienced this kind of conflict
yourself? Do you know someone who has? You may also bring in connections to other pieces of literature
or the outside world which explore a similar conflict.
Assignment #2 – Both fiction and non-fiction rely on the use of characterization (the development of
character) to communicate to the reader the essential qualities of the people inhabiting the book. Examine
how Aldous Huxley uses character to develop his purpose (to criticize the direction of the world in which
he lives). Do you feel personally connected to this character? What realization(s) does the main character
have during the course of the novel? How does he change and why? Explain in detail.
Assignment # 3 – Thematic subjects are the main ideas with which a story deals; for example, one theme
in Black Boy is alienation. As Richard Wright becomes more aware of the reality of his environment and
his own identity, he becomes more distant from family, friends, co-workers, and other social networks (like
the communist party). Read the statement presented below and write a well-organized response in which
you support your ideas with plenty of evidence from the text, your observations, and experience.
To what degree does the world that we live in today resemble Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future in Brave
New World? You may wish to consider but are not limited to a comparison of the way in which the society
in Brave New World is organized to the way ours is today; the different classes of people.
Required Summer Writing Assignment – 401 & 403
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Mr. Kennedy – 401 & 403
CVSR
Summer 2013 Assignment
Reading Forum
The Reading Assignment:
This project focuses on Frank McCourt’s autobiography, Angela’s Ashes. I expect that each of you will
read weekly and complete your reading project assignments (described in detail below) even though we
will not be discussing the text until after you have finished. Therefore, I am providing a weekly reading
schedule to which everyone must individually adhere. Each student will be placed in a group of three.
The Writing Assignment:
After completing each week’s reading assignment, one student will be designated to write a well-written,
logical mini-essay of approximately 250-300 words. Students writing this initial essay should practice
writing good 1-3 sentence opening paragraphs which address the task accurately, followed by a body which
develops the task and uses the text adequately to support the claim, and write a brief conclusion which
draws a conclusion. The other two students should write a response to the initial essay by adding a
“thread” of their thoughts or taking up a different position. Responses will be submitted online by the due
date by posting to my blog which can be accessed through portaportal.com by signing in as a guest
“mghjk00”, clicking on my link to the blog at mrkennedysenglish@blogspot.com or by going directly there
and signing in. Students can also access my blog by accepting an invitation which they should be receiving
by this weekend. Both those writing initial essays and responses should follow the directions on the blog
which will clearly direct each writer to the group thread.
For this assignment, there are three general topics to help you formulate your written assignments: conflict,
characterization, and theme. Each week, the group member charged with submitting the initial essay will
be assigned to one of the topics. Every week, the topics will rotate. A schedule detailing the topic for each
week is attached. It is the responsibility of each group member to do the reading assignment, read the
submitted post, and write his or her own response. An adequate response must be approximately 150
words – but no more than three paragraphs, include an individual’s own work (PLAGIARISM will result in
failure), include aspects of the reading, and a reflection to the initial essay. Responses should seek to
explain how what the individual reads is a applies to the topic and an in-depth description of personal
experiences you can relate to your group’s submission. Be sure to cite vivid examples from Angela’s Ashes
to convince us you are keeping current on your reading schedule. In writing a solid essay, pay particular
attention to the answering the topic question and state your opinions clearly. Responses to your group’s
submission should be timely, specific, courteous, and foster a dialogue – these are not critiques of the initial
essay, but rather an opportunity to start and continue a discussion. Also, responses should stem from the
content of that week’s essay. One of the many benefits of such a forum is the ability to read other people’s
writings and comment directly about them.
You will be assigned roughly fifty pages to read per week during the summer. In general, plan on
completing the reading for the week by the second Thursday, after you have read approximately 100 pages.
Those responsible for the group’s submission that week should plan on finishing the reading by
Wednesday, to allow adequate time for writing and editing. Assigned essay-writers must also post their
essay by 10:00 pm on Fridays, starting July 19th, 2013. The remaining group members must post their
responses by 10:00 pm starting on Sunday, July 21st. Remember that writing is a gradual process of writing
and revising. Expect to write one day, read your essay the next day, and be prepared to make adequate
changes to help accentuate your ideas.
In using this forum, there are a few guidelines and points to keep in mind. First, forums are public space on
the World Wide Web (WWW). Hence, in the case of my blog, any teacher or administrator or parent who
has been invited to read on the site can read your posts. Remember that your thoughts and writing are a
reflection not only on yourself, but also the class and the school at large. Therefore, use proper grammar
and spelling. Secondly, we should uphold the same respect we have for each other when we meet each day
in class together. The topics to which you will respond each week probe your personal life and experience
as well a your knowledge of other texts and the world at large. Be sensitive to others in hopes of providing
an environment where everyone will feel comfortable expressing their experience and opinions.
Reading Project Essay Topics
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
General Directions: Use these descriptions below to guide the writing of your initial essay. Your initial
essay should be a well-organized logical argument which explores the narrative in detail. Responses to
other students’ essays may flow somewhat more freely, but you should keep these guidelines in mind.
Assignment #1 – Conflict is a key part of any compelling narrative. Conflict can be external when it takes
place between two outside forces (e.g. one person against another, or one person against his environment).
A conflict can also be internal when two forces inside a person do battle. For example, one person might
struggle with a desire to leave home and a desire to remain at home.
Describe one conflict – external or internal – in your reading of Angela’s Ashes that you find interesting
and important. Be sure to describe the conflict in detail and support your claim with plenty of details that
show a detailed reading and understanding of the text. Have you ever experienced this kind of conflict
yourself? Do you know someone who has? You may also bring in connections to other pieces of literature
or the outside world which explore a similar conflict.
Assignment #2 – Both fiction and non-fiction rely on the use of characterization (the development of
character) to communicate to the reader the essential qualities of the people inhabiting the book. Examine
how Frank McCourt uses characters to develop his purpose (to criticize the direction of the world in which
he lives). Do you feel personally connected to this character? What realization(s) does the main character
have during the course of the novel? How does he change and why? Explain in detail.
Assignment # 3 – Thematic subjects are the main ideas with which a story deals; for example, one theme
in Black Boy is alienation. As Richard Wright becomes more aware of the reality of his environment and
his own identity, he becomes more distant from family, friends, co-workers, and other social networks (like
the communist party). Read the statement presented below and write a well-organized response in which
you support your ideas with plenty of evidence from the text, your observations, and experience.
To what degree does the environment in Angela’s Ashes shape the person who Frank McCourt comes to
be? Comment on the way your environment has shaped you in comparison.
2nd Writing Assignment – Based on Summer Reading
12th Grade English
Mr. Kennedy
MKennedy8@schools.nyc.gov
AP Language/Literature and Composition (Required) & 401/403 (Extra
Credit)
Book Club: Create a book club with the other members of your group in which
you will have discussions based on questions that well help you discuss the most
significant ideas brought up by your reading
Requirements: You are responsible for the following on-line assignments
 creating a reading schedule for the month of August - due August
1st which requires that all reading and posts are completed before
the beginning of the school year. You are free to choose your own
book and create your own schedule, but you must finish all work
before the beginning of the school year.
 posting ten discussion questions (total as a group) which you will
use as the basis for a discussion about your book
o each member of the group is responsible for posting three
questions for the group, one from the beginning, one from
the middle, and one from near the end of the text
o the group leader should create the final question after
completing the book (each group will designate a group
leader themselves)..
o These questions should be “why” and “how” questions which
encourage responses which explore deeper issues related to
the novel.
o The final question should seek to find out the most important
question from the book.
 Post responses to questions asked by the group
o Each member should take turns responding to the questions
asked by other members of their group as well as their own
o Each member is responsible for responding to the responses
of other members of the group
o Choose at least one question in which you have a “threaded
discussion” – a back and forth discussion based on the most
controversial or engaging question brought up by the group
 Post a question and response to at least one other group’s discussion
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Troubleshooting the blog
If you have problems with…
…try the following:
The other members of your group are not
completing the main assignment.
Comment on another group’s discussion.
You are not responsible for writing another
student’s assignment, but you are
responsible to write the main assignment
when it is your turn. Refer to the schedule.
You do not have access to the Internet
You all should have laptops and can find
community spaces which have access to
wi-fi, bring your laptop and log on. But if
you cannot get onto the Internet at all,
please see me before the summer starts and
I will give you an alternate assignment.
You cannot complete the assignment
because you are on vacation
You will be receiving your suggested
pacing calendar for reading assignments
and your schedule to complete your writing
assignments with your group members
shortly via e-mail and as a handout. Please
discuss with your group members how you
will complete the assignment. If you need
to change the schedule in any way, please
inform me via e-mail. I will honor all
reasonable requests.
You cannot log onto the account, have lost
your assignment
1) Go to
mrkennedysenglish.blogspot.com
and sign in
2) Go to the school web site, go to
“department” and “English” and
“summer reading” and select your
year’s assignment to read it
3) E-mail with the problem