English
Name: ________________________
Independent Reading Assignment
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of
counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” By - Charles W. Eliot
This year we will devote every Friday to independent reading. Please come prepared with an
American text of your choice and complete the following assignments:
Directions:
Part I – Choosing a Book
[RL.11-12.9]
At the beginning of the semester, your teacher will provide you with a list of
American novels and plays for you to choose from. You may choose a text that
is not on the list; however, you will need to have your choice approved prior to
the first reading day.
Part II - Reading Log
[RL.11-12.1]
Each Friday you will read the entire period (bell to bell) and complete an entry
on your reading log. Your instructor will meet with you regularly to discuss your
goals, sentences, reflection, self-evaluation, and progress. At the end of the
semester, you will turn in your reading log with your note cards and book report.
Part III – Note Cards
[RL.11-12.1-5,9]
Your teacher will provide you with note cards and a list of specific items (such as
plot, point of view, themes, etc…) that you will keep notes on. At the end of the
semester, you will turn in your note cards with your reading log and book report.
Part IV – Book Report
[RL.11-12.1-5, 9 & W.11-12.2, 5, 9]
Write a multiple-paragraph, informative/explanatory essay in which you identify
two central themes of the novel and (since they’re inferences) prove they exist by
identifying specific diction, imagery, details, language, and/or syntax that
supports your ideas. Your instructor will provide you with a pre-writing outline
to help you organize your ideas.
Due Date:
Your book report (typed, double spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font,
standard margins) stapled to your reading log and note cards is due no later than:
_________________________
1st Semester
_________________________
2nd Semester
English
Independent Reading Booklist
Romantics:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Regionalism and Naturalism:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Daisy Miller by Henry James
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Emerging Modernism:
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Contemporary:
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Native Son by Richard Write
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Things they Carried by Tim O’Brien
Plays:
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry
Note: Any novel or play by these authors is acceptable.
Name: ________________________