S10 into S11
SUMMER ENGLISH LITERATURE
PACK2014
Contents:
 Reading Requirements for the summer
 Poetry Response section
Name: ___________________________
S10 into S11 Required Summer Reading
Section A:

Read at least 5 novels/ plays of your choosing.
o
One must be pre-20th century.
o
One must be from the Section B list
o
Complete the attached Reading Log on each of the books you read.
Section B

One of the 5 should be one of the following:

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry- Mildred Taylor

Summer of My German Soldier- Bette Green

The Red Pony – John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Time and the Conways – J.B. Priestley

The Crucible -Arthur Miller
With your chosen novel/play you should answer the following questions:
1. What was the main message or moral of the story?
2. Why do you believe this particular message was important to the writer? You may
want to do some research into the life and times of the writer to fully answer this.
3. What are the main themes of the novel? Please provide some details here
4. Who are the main characters (up to 5). Please pick 3 quotes that you think show
something important about each of the main characters and give brief explanations
of the quotes.
5. What do you notice about the style of language used? Pay particular attention to
the dialect/ accents of the characters.
Instructions: This study guide has two purposes. First, it will help to establish that you
have successfully completed your summer reading. Second, it will help you prepare for
class discussions, which will take place at the beginning of school in September.
S11 Reading Logs
Title:
__________________________
Author:
__________________________
What was the writer’s main message? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
What is the Genre
Definition from Dictionary.com: Genre (noun) 1: a kind of literary or artistic work 2: a style
of expressing yourself in writing [syn: writing style, literary genre] 3: a class of artistic
endeavor having a characteristic form or technique.
The two main literary
categories are Fiction
(about things, events, and
characters which are not
true) or Nonfiction (about
things, events, and people
which are based on fact).
Fiction
One thing to keep in
mind while learning
about genres is that
categories aren’t always
clear-cut. You can have a
crime/mystery story set
in the future (science
fiction) or in the past
(historical fiction).
From those two major
categories we can
classify by dividing into
the form of the work
such as
Prose Fiction can be
further classifed by
content and theme
Adventure
Prose
Horror
Poetry
Romance
Plays
Historical
Genre: What genre is the text you have chosen? How do you know?
Context: Provide a brief overview about the writer and their time period. Include only
those details which help to understand the text better or the reasons why the writer
wrote what they did.
Setting: The setting of a book consists of the time and place in which the events of a
story occur. Write a couple of sentences describing the setting of the book.
Characters: List the names of the main characters of the book and describe each with
one or two sentences. You must write about five characters from the book.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The plot events in historical fiction may be documented historical events or they may be fictional. You
have studied the elements of fiction in many texts. Pull the elements from this text as you read and fill in
below. Put proof “in quotes” followed by a brief explanation.
Protagonist
Antagonist
Conflict
Point of View
Plot: The plot consists of the important actions or events that take place throughout the
story. In the order that they occur, choose and describe what you believe are the ten
most important events that take place in the book. This can be done in list form. It does
not have to be written in complete sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Critique: Now it is your chance to critique the book. In a paragraph or two, explain why
you liked or did not like the book.
Suggested Reading List for students entering KS4 (GCSE)
We have compiled a suggested list of books for summer reading for students entering
senior 10 and Senior 11 next year. We have selected a short list of books which have
literary merit and will support the students for the reading demands of IGCSE Literature
and, in the future, S.G.Y. while also engaging and interesting pupils. We ask students to
read a minimum of five texts ready for September, they do not necessarily have to be
from this list. At least one text should be a pre-20th Century choice.
Achebe, Chinua-- Things Fall Apart or A Man of the
People*
King, Stephen -- The Shinning; Insomnia; Skelton Crew; The
Talisman
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi – Purple Hibiscus
Kinsley, Mary - Travels in West Africa (non fiction)
Albom, Mitch-- Five People You Meet in Heaven
Koike, Kazuo – Lone Wolf and Cub X
Ali, Monica – Brick Lane
Austen, Jane -- Sense and Sensibility ; Emma*
Barnes, Julian --The History of the World in 10 ½ chapters
Bradbury, Ray--Fahrenheit 451
Brookes, Max – World Ward Two Series
Bronte, Charlotte--Jane Eyre*
Bronte, Emily--Wuthering Heights*
Byrson, Bill – Notes from a Small Isalnd
Chevalier, Tracey --Girl with a Pearl Earring
Chopin, Kate--The Awakening*
Coelho Paulo – The Alchemist
Conan Doyle, Arthur--Sherlock Holmes stories
Irving, John--The Cider House Rules
Louis de Bernieres -- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Lessing, Doris--The Grass is singing
McCourt, Frank-- Angela’s Ashes
Martel, Yann--The Life of Pi
McCarthy, Cormac – The Road
McGuinness, Charlie - Nomad (non fiction)
Melville, Herman --Moby Dick*
Meyer, Stephenie – Twilight
Miller, Arthur --The Crucible
Mosley, Walter – Devil in the Blue Dress
Narayan R. K. – The English Teacher
Crichton, Michael -- Jurassic Park; Sphere
Peake, M – The Gormenghast Trilogy
Cruen, Sara – Water for Elephants
Pierce, Tamora – Alanna Series
Desai, Anita – Village by the Sea
Pratchett, Terry – Discworld Series
Dickens, Charles--Great Expectations;* A Tale of Two
Cities*
Rai, Bali – Crew
Ryan, Chris – Desert Pursuit
Doherty, Berlie –Dear Nobody
Salinger, J.D.--The Catcher in the Rye
Donnelly, Jennifer-- A Northern Light
Sebold, Alice --The Lovely Bones
Doyle, Roddy--Paddy Clark Ha Ha
Eco Umberto --The Name of the Rose Gaiman, Neil –
Nancy Boys
Shakespeare, William –Othello; Twelfth Night*
Shelley, Mary – Frankenstein*
Gardner, John – Grendal
Smith Sadie - White Teeth
Gibran, Khalil – The Profit
Stoker, B.--Dracula*
Greenberg, Joanne--I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Guvevara, Ernesto ‘Che’ - The Motorcycle Diaries (non
fiction)
Horby Nick – Fever Pitch (non fiction about football)
James, Henry – The Turn of the Screw
Kidd, Sue Monk --The Secret Life of Bees
Taylor, Sam – Republic of Trees
Walker, Alice – The Colour Purple
Wilder, Thorton – Our Town
Note: This list is not comprehensive in anyway but can be
used as a starting point- students should be encouraged
to read widely.
th
(pre 20 Century* novels/ plays)
UNSEEN POETRY PACK
A) Unseen poetry Response
B) Poem and analysis of your choice
A) Unseen Poetry Response
Please read the following poems and annotate them using SPLLATT or STRIVES for your analysis.
Remember to always think – how much could I say about this poem and the effect on the
reader created by the: theme, imagery used, diction choices, structure and tone when creating
your notes.
After you have read and annotated the poem you should write a 100-200 word personal
response to each poem. The focus for this is the effect of the poem on you! It should be short
and maybe only focus on 1-2 words/ phrases; it is NOT a full analysis, it is your response to the
poem! Please set out your responses in the format below. Please respond to at least 3 poems.
Poem: The Habit of Light
Poet: Gillian Clark
3 words which describe the tone of the poem:
Response
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Date:
Poems:








The Habit of Light- Gillian Clarke
At the Border, 1979 – Choman Hardi
Catrin – Gillian Clarke
City Jungle – Pie Corbett
My Mother’s Kitchen – Choman Hardi
London – William Blake
I Shall Paint My Nails Red – Carole Satyamurti
Benjamin Zephaniah
STRIVE Poetry Analysis for IGCSE Poetry
Subject mater
What is the poem about?
Themes
What are the main issues that
the poet is exploring and how
does the poet feel about these
issues? How do we know?
Rhyme/Rhythm
Is there a pattern to the lines,
verses, syllable count?
Imagery
How has the poet created
images in our head? Have they
used devices like similes,
onomatopoeia, personification
….? If so why?
Vocabulary
Are there any unusual or
interesting diction choices?
Have words been used because
of the specific connotations
they have?
Evidence/Effectiveness
After identifying all of the
different devices used make
sure you discuss how effective
they were. Was the poet able
to get his or her point across to
the reader through these
devices?
Shifts
Does the subject matter or
tone of the poem shift or move
at any point? Look out for
words like ‘Yet’, ‘But’ or
‘However’.
SPLLATT POETRY ANALYSIS
SPLLATT
stands for…
Statement
Which Means
What is the main
message of the poem?
Purpose
What is the poet trying to
do to the reader, or
possibly to history by
writing this poem?
Language
What kind of words did
the poet include, and
why? (Semanitc Field)
Layout
How does the poem look
on the page? Does it
have a certain number of
stanzas for a reason or
does it hold a particular
shape?
Who exactly was this
poem aimed at? How do
you know?
Audience
Ideas/ key words from poem
Tone
What tone of voice do
you imagine the poet
reading it in? What
emotions come across?
Technique
What techniques did the
poet use to make all of
these points stand out?
It could be anything from
simple alliteration to
more
complex
metaphors.
POETIC/ FIGURATIVE VOCABULARY
IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE

Allegory - a text in which most things are symbolic of something or other. Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde is fairly allegorical.

Alliteration - successive words or several words close together begin with the
same consonant (dreadful din, ghastly ghoul, hideous hound)

Ambiguity - where language has more than one possible meaning.

Anaphora - repetition of the openings of clauses/ lines in a poem.

Antithesis - synonym for juxtaposition.

Anthropomorphism animal, etc.

Archetypal character (a classic type of character: hero, villain, helper, captured
princess, etc)

Assonance - successive words or several words close together begin with the
same vowel (active ant, odd ostrich)

Blank verse - Rhythm or meter used but no rhyme

Caesura - Punctuation used in the middle of the line that breaks the flow.

Colloquial - characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation
rather than formal speech or writing; informal.

Commands - sentences with imperatives (Stop that! Come here!)

Connotes - language brings up certain associations, feelings, ideas and
impressions (heat in Romeo connotes anger, simmering rivalry, danger)

Cursing - use of swearing and impolite language

Dactylic tetrameter - Four stressed syllables in a line but with two unstressed
syllables between each stressed one.

Diction – choice of words a writer uses
the attribution of human form or behaviour to a deity,

Enjambment - where the lines are not punctuated at the end so that they flow into
each other quickly in reading.

Epistrophe - repetition of the endings of clauses/ lines in a poem.

Epizeuxis – the repetition of a word for emphasis, usually with no words in
between the repeated ones.

Everyman character (a character that represents ordinary people)

Fantasy - in some ways the opposite of realism.

Feminine rhyme - where the last syllable in the line is unstressed (a soft rhyme).

Free verse - No rhyme or rhythm used.

High and low register - degrees of formality.

Hyperbole - Exaggeration, strong emphasis.

Iambic pentameter - Five stressed syllables in a line, typically used by
Shakespeare (Theday is hot, the Capels are abroad)

Iambic tetrameter - four stressed syllables in a line.

Imagery - language that helps you to visualise.

Implies - suggests or causes the reader/ viewer to think about something that
isn't actually said in the words

Irony - the use of words to express something other than and especially the
opposite of the literal meaning; incongruity between a situation developed in a
drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the
audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony,
tragic irony

Irregular indentation - a foregrounding technique that draws the reader's eye to
strangely indented lines.

Juxtaposition - the placing together of opposite things.

Masculine rhyme - where the last syllable in the line is stressed (a hard rhyme).

Metaphor - where something is represented by something else without using 'like'
or 'as' (the mountainous tree, her diamond eyes).

Mimesis - where the writer shows how the character is feeling through the
description rather than telling you: it makes for more realism (George's face was
as hard as wood when he decided to kill Lennie, for example).

Neologism – A new word/phrase, usage or expression

Onomatopoeia - words that sound like what they describe (clang, bark, crash,
splash)

Pathetic fallacy - where the setting and environment represent the ideas,
character or mood of the text (the gloom in Jekyll, the heat in Romeo)

Pejorative - : a word or phrase that has negative connotations or that is intended
to disparage or belittle : a pejorative word or phrase

Personification - something human is given some human quality (the wind
whistled in the trees).

Pleonasm - : the use of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense
(as in the man he said): redundancy

Poetic syntax - where the word order of a sentence is unusual and more
commonly associated with poetry.

Portmanteau – a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from
a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog)

Prosaic language - Language that seems more like ordinary speech and writing
and not obviously poetic.

Realism - the attempt in literature to show people in a realistic light, through
detailed description and dialogue.

Repetition - a recurring word, phrase or clause for emphasis.

Rhythm/ meter - the pattern of beats in a line of language (pattern of stressed
and unstressed syllables)

Rhyme - the same sound in the last syllable or two of the line

Semantic Field - The words in a semantic field share a common semantic
property. Most often, fields are defined by subject matter, such as body parts,
landforms, diseases, colors, foods, or kinship relations. . .

Sensory language - other language that appeals to the senses (auditory - to do
with sounds - the most common)

Simile - where something is represented as something else, using 'like' or 'as'
(her eyes were like diamonds, the tree was as tall as a mountain)

Stock character (a simple type of character often used: the joker, the henchman,
the dutiful servant, etc)

Synecdoche - where a part of something represents the whole thing (something
eminently human beaconed from his eye).

Tone - Refers to the force of feeling in the words, especially important in plays.
The Habit of Light
In the early evening, she liked to switch on the lamps
in corners, on low tables, to show off her brass,
her polished furniture, her silver and glass.
At dawn she’d draw all the curtains back for a glimpse
5
of the cloud-lit sea. Her oak floors flickered
in an opulence of beeswax and light.
In the kitchen, saucepans danced their lids, the kettle purred
on the Aga, supper on its breath and the buttery melt
of a pie, and beyond the swimming glass of old windows,
10
in the deep perspective of the garden, a blackbird singing,
she’d come through the bean rows in tottering shoes,
her pinny full of strawberries, a lettuce, bringing
the palest potatoes in a colander, her red hair bright
with her habit of colour, her habit of light
Gillian Clarke
At the border, 1979
‘It is your last check-in point in this country!’
We grabbed a drink –
soon everything would taste different.
The land under our feet continued
5
divided by a thick iron chain.
My sister put her leg across it.
‘Look over here,’ she said to us,
‘my right leg is in this country
and my left leg is in the other.’
10
The border guards told her off.
My mother informed me:
We are going home.
She said that the roads are much cleaner
the landscape is more beautiful
and people are much kinder.
15
Dozens of families waited in the rain.
‘I can inhale home,’ somebody said.
Now our mothers were crying. I was five years old
standing by the check-in point
comparing both sides of the border.
20
The autumn soil continued on the other side
with the same colour, the same texture.
It rained on both sides of the chain.
We waited while our papers were checked
our faces thoroughly inspected.
25
Then the chain was removed to let us through.
A man bent down and kissed his muddy homeland.
The same chain of mountains encompasses all of us.
Choman Hardi
Catrin
I can remember you, child,
As I stood in a hot, white
Room at the window watching
The people and cars taking
5
Turn at the traffic lights.
I can remember you, our first
Fierce confrontation, the tight
Red rope of love which we both
Fought over. It was a square
10
Environmental blank, disinfected
Of paintings or toys. I wrote
All over the walls with my
Words, coloured the clean squares
With the wild, tender circles
15
Of our struggle to become
Separate. We want, we shouted,
To be two, to be ourselves.
Neither won nor lost the struggle
In the glass tank clouded with feelings
20
Which changed us both. Still I am fighting
You off, as you stand there
With your straight, strong, long
Brown hair and your rosy,
Defiant glare, bringing up
25
From the heart’s pool that old rope,
Tightening about my life,
Trailing love and conflict,
As you ask may you skate
In the dark, for one more hour.
Gillian Clarke
City Jungle
Rain splinters town.
Lizard cars cruise by;
Their radiators grin.
Thin headlights stare –
5
shop doorways keep their mouths shut.
At the roadside
Hunched houses cough.
Newspapers shuffle by,
hands in their pockets.
10
The gutter gargles.
A motorbike snarls;
Dustbins flinch.
Streetlights bare
Their yellow teeth.
15
The motorway’s
cat-black tongue
lashes across
the glistening back
of the tarmac night.
Pie Corbett
My mother’s kitchen
I will inherit my mother’s kitchen.
Her glasses, some tall and lean, others short and fat,
her plates, an ugly collection from various sets,
cups bought in a rush on different occasions,
5
rusty pots she can’t bear throwing away.
‘Don’t buy anything just yet,’ she says,
‘soon all of this will be yours.’
My mother is planning another escape,
for the first time home is her destination,
10
the rebuilt house which she will furnish.
At 69 she is excited about
starting from scratch.
It is her ninth time.
She never talks about her lost furniture
15
when she kept leaving her homes behind.
She never feels regret for things,
only for her vine in the front garden
which spread over the trellis on the porch.
She used to sing for the grapes to ripen
20
sew cotton bags to protect them from the bees.
I know I will never inherit my mother’s trees.
Choman Hardi
London
I wander thro’ each charter’d street
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
5
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear:
How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry
10
Every black’ning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls;
But most thro’ midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot’s curse
15
Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
William Blake
I Shall Paint My Nails Red
Because a bit of colour is a public service.
Because I am proud of my hands.
Because it will remind me I’m a woman.
Because I will look like a survivor.
5
Because I can admire them in traffic jams.
Because my daughter will say ugh.
Because my lover will be surprised.
Because it is quicker than dyeing my hair.
Because it is a ten-minute moratorium.
10
Because it is reversible.
Carole Satyamurti
No Problem
I am not de problem
But I bear de brunt
Of silly playground taunts
An racist stunts,
5
I am not de problem
I am born academic
But dey got me on de run
Now I am branded athletic
I am not de problem
10
If yu give I a chance
I can teach yu of Timbuktu
I can do more dan dance,
I am not de problem
I greet yu wid a smile
15
Yu put me in a pigeon hole
But I am versatile
These conditions may affect me
As I get older,
An I am positively sure
20
I have no chips on me shoulders,
Black is not de problem
Mother country get it right
An juss fe de record,
Sum of me best friends are white.
Benjamin Zephaniah
B) Choose a poem yourself and copy it here. Then write an evaluation of the poem and
why you chose this particular poem/ poet. The evaluation should be 300 words or less.