GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
th
Assignment Overview
All students who will be entering the GHAA full-day program as 9 th graders are required to complete a summer reading assignment. The assignment requires students to read two books and prepare two written responses. The requirements for the summer reading assignment are as follows: o Assignment #1---Required Book : Book 1 must be from the list of required texts.
Students need only read ONE of the required texts. Students are encouraged to choose the book that most interests them. All books are readily available in bookstores, online, and in local libraries. After reading the required text, students must prepare a written response
(attached) that will be collected on the first day of school; 50 points total.
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GRADING : Responses will be scored according CAPT Response to
Literature Rubric o A=6 ; B=5; C=4; D=3; F=2 or 1; 0, if not completed o Assignment #2---Choice Book: For the self-selected book, students will complete the document entitled “Summer Reading Choice Book Assignment.” The assignment requires students to summarize the book’s plot, select an interesting passage, and write a persuasive paragraph. Also, students should be prepared to participate in a book talk when they return to school. Assignment attached; 50 points total.
Required Book List:
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Please read ONE of the following required texts. I suggest reviewing your choice before making any purchases. o When I Was Puerto Rican – Esmeralda Santiago
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Santiago's artful memoir recounts her childhood in rural Puerto Rico and her teenage years in New
York City. These small, unadorned stories sketch the white dress she wore to close a dead baby's
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GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS eyes and how she learned to sing ''America the Beautiful'' in English. Santiago's refusal to romanticize is refreshing, but it also means she doesn't worry about explaining all of Puerto Rico.
When she says the sky was so dark she lit quinques, readers must either flip to the glossary or simply guess that quinques are kerosene lamps. The book leaves her in America just as she begins to escape the tenements, heading toward Harvard and her own film company. Puerto Rico is part of
America, but Santiago illuminates the brilliantly hued chasm between them.
o Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
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Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the
"poor-ass" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. When a teacher pleads with
Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one.
o 145 th Street: Short Stories – Walter Dean Myers
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In a kind of literary Rear Window, Myers uses 10 short stories to create snapshots of a pulsing, vibrant community with diverse ethnic threads, through all of its ups and downs. Most readers will find that they could settle in for hours and take it all in. o Ball Don’t Lie – Matt de la Pena
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Sticky, 17, has spent his life being abused by pimps living with his prostitute mother, bouncing from one foster home to another, and living on the street between failed placements. But he's developed incredible hoop skills that have given him considerable social standing among his mostly black peers. And he gets a girlfriend named Anh-thu, who loves him and wants to help him reach his dreams. Sticky sees basketball as his way out of his dead-end life and is determined to make the right moves in the game to attain his goal. But he doesn't quite know how to make the right moves in his life, until a bad decision leads him to confront dark secrets.
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Both assignments are due on first day of school.
 Both assignments will count toward the student’s first quarter grade.
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For whichever of the above books you choose, please have an answer to the following question.
You may use the attached answer sheet to prepare your answer, or type it up.
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GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
Required Text Response Assignment
QUESTION: After reading your book, answer this question: How does the main character (or several characters, if your piece is on the short stories) struggle with their
understanding of their place in American society? Other questions to consider: What is the
“American Dream,” and does it still exist? What are the social and political circumstances that may aid one person to attain the “American Dream” but prevent another? How does this book represent the tension between cultures within the borders of American culture? Please be thorough in your answers and use direct textual evidence, including page numbers, in your response below. This should be a five-paragraph essay.
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
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Quoted Passage: Please copy down one passage from the book that you found engaging or
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Character Speaking:
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org

GREATER HARTFORD ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
Quoted Passage: Please copy down one passage from the book that you found engaging or interesting (10pts):
Character Speaking:
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Recommendation: Write a persuasive paragraph to convince your audience to read this book. (10pts)
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160-172 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106   Phone: 860-757-6300 x3500  Fax: 860-724-0626  www.crecschools.org