IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
Summer Assignment Instructions, IB English 3 SL and HL
I: Vocabulary
Study, and know, the list of SAT vocabulary words found at the site below and attached. There
will be a series of vocabulary quizzes throughout first semester.
www.Quizlet.com
List titled: RMHS IB 3 SL/HL Vocabulary
II: Reading & Reading Assignments
Basic Instructions
Over the summer, your only job is to read a pair of books, chosen from the list on the back of
this page. Each pair is linked in some way(s) – author’s origins, theme, topic, major literary
features, etc. As you read, think about the ways in which you can compare/contrast these books.
While we are not requiring annotations, we strongly encourage you to use a marking system
while you read. We have posted instructions for annotating on the school website if you are
interested, but at the end of the day, you need to find a method of annotation that works for you
as you continue in your education. If you do not annotate while you read, assignments based on
reading become that much more difficult.
YOU MUST BRING THESE TWO BOOKS FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL DAYS OF
SCHOOL IN AUGUST/SEPTEMBER.
The first days of school will be spent writing several short, comparative essays in class. In these
essays, you will be exploring links between your books, which is direct practice for your IB
Paper 2 exam (taken in May of your senior year).
IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
Some of the titles listed may include adult themes or language – please choose according to
your/your family’s values.
Text Pairs
1. Sorrow by Bao Ninh
The Wars by Timothy Findley
2. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx
3. How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez
My Antonia by Willa Cather
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
River Angel by A. Manette Ansay
5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
6. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
7. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
8. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
10. King Lear by Shakespeare
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
11. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
12. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
13. The Odyssey by Homer
Ulysses by James Joyce OR Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
14. Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Zaat by Sonallah Ibrahim
15. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
16. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
17. Waterland by Graham Swift
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
18. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Weep Not Child by Ngugi
IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
Vocabulary List
1
approbation
n.
24
callow
adj.
46
commiserate v.
2
assuage
v.
25
drivel
n.
47
enjoin
v.
3
coalition
n.
26
epitome
n.
48
expedite
v.
4
decadence
n.
27
exhort
v.
49
expiate
v.
5
elicit
v.
ex officio
adj.,
50
ferment
n.
6
expostulate
v.
28
adv.
51
inadvertent
adj.
7
hackneyed
adj.
29
infringe
v.
52
nominal
adj.
8
hiatus
n.
30
ingratiate
v.
53
noncommittal adj.
9
innuendo
n.
31
interloper
n.
54
peculate
v.
10
intercede
v.
32
intrinsic
adj.
55
proclivity
n.
11
jaded
adj.
33
inveigh
v.
56
sangfroid
n.
12
lurid
adj.
34
lassitude
n.
57
seditious
adj.
13
meritorious
adj.
35
millennium
n.
58
tenuous
adj.
14
petulant
adj.
36
occult
adj.
59
vitriolic
adj.
15
prerogative
n.
37
permeate
v.
60
wheedle
v.
16
provincial
adj.
38
precipitate
v.
17
simulate
v.
39
stringent
adj.
61
affable
adj.
18
transcend
v.
40
surmise
v.
62
aggrandize
v.
19
umbrage
n.
63
amorphous
adj.
20
unctuous
adj.
64
aura
n.
65
contraband
n.
66
erudite
adj.
67
gossamer
adj.
68
infer
v.
21
ameliorate
v.
22
aplomb
n.
23
bombastic
adj.
41
abominate
v.
42
acculturation n.
43
adventitious
adj.
44
ascribe
v.
45
circuitous
adj.
IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
69
inscrutable
adj.
93
scathing
adj.
117
surreptitious
adj.
70
insular
adj.
94
scourge
v.
118
transgress
v.
71
irrevocable
adj.
95
sepulchral
adj.
119
transmute
v.
72
propensity
n.
96
soporific
adj.
120
vicarious
adj.
73
querulous
adj.
97
straitlaced
adj.
74
remonstrate
v.
98
transient
adj.
121
austere
adj.
75
repudiate
v.
99
unwieldy
adj.
122
beneficent
adj.
76
resilient
adj.
100
vapid
adj.
123
cadaverous
adj.
77
reverberate
v.
124
concoct
v.
78
scurrilous
adj.
101
anomalous
adj.
125
crass
adj.
79
sedulous
adj.
102
aspersion
n.
126
debase
v.
80
sleazy
adj.
103
bizarre
adj.
127
desecrate
v.
104
brusque
adj.
128
disconcert
v.
adj.
81
amnesty
n.
105
cajole
v.
129
grandiose
82
autonomy
n.
106
castigate
v.
130
83
axiomatic
adj.
107
contrive
v.
inconsequential
adj.
84
blazon
v.
108
demagogue
n.
131
infraction
n.
85
caveat
n.
109
disabuse
v.
132
mitigate
v.
86
equitable
adj.
110
ennui
n.
133
pillage
v.
87
extricate
v.
111
fetter
n.
134
prate
v.
88
filch
v.
112
heinous
adj.
135
punctilious
adj.
89
flout
v.
113
immutable
adj.
136
redoubtable
adj.
90
fractious
adj.
114
insurgent
n.
137
reprove
v.
91
precept
n.
115
megalomania n.
138
restitution
n.
92
salutary
adj.
116
sinecure
139
stalwart
n.
adj./n.
IB English 3 SL/HL
140
vulnerable
Rio Mesa High School
adj.
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
163
anathema
n.
187
efficacious
adj.
164
astute
adj.
188
equanimity
n.
141
acrimonious
adj.
165
avarice
n.
189
fortuitous
adj.
142
bovine
adj.
166
culpable
adj.
190
gist
n.
143
consternation n.
167
dilatory
adj.
191
gratuitous
adj.
144
corpulent
adj.
168
egregious
adj.
192
imperious
adj.
145
disavow
v.
169
equivocate
v.
193
invective
n.
146
dispassionate adj.
170
evanescent
adj.
194
motley
adj.
147
dissension
n.
171
irresolute
adj.
195
munificent
adj.
148
dissipate
v.
172
nebulous
adj.
196
procrastinate adj.
149
expurgate
v.
173
novice
n.
197
provocative
adj.
150
gauntlet
n.
174
penury
n.
198
recondite
adj.
151
hypothetical
adj.
175
pretentious
adj.
199
reprobate
n.
152
ignoble
adj.
176
recapitulate
v.
200
sedentary
adj.
153
impugn
v.
177
resuscitate
v.
154
intemperate
adj.
178
slovenly
adj.
201
abstemious
adj.
155
odium
n.
179
supposition
n.
202
censurable
adj.
156
perfidy
n.
180
torpid
adj.
203
contingent
adj.
157
relegate
v.
204
corroborate
v.
158
squeamish
adj.
181
accrue
v.
205
denizen
n.
159
subservient
adj.
182
annotation
n.
206
discursive
adj.
160
susceptible
adj.
183
bedlam
n.
207
disseminate
v.
184
covert
adj.
208
dowdy
adj.
adj.
209
florid
adj.
210
foist
v.
161
abate
v.
185
debonair
162
adulation
n.
186
dun
v., n., adj.
IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff
211
gauche
adj.
235
politic
adj.
258
opportune
adj.
212
heresy
n.
236
prosaic
adj.
259
prolific
adj.
213
inculcate
v.
237
redundant
adj.
260
rejoinder
n.
214
palpable
adj.
238
sanctimonious adj.
215
perceptive
adj.
239
scintillating
adj.
261
amenable
adj.
216
pernicious
adj.
240
winsome
adj.
262
berate
v.
217
salient
adj.
263
carnage
n.
218
satiate
v.
241
abet
v.
264
credulous
adj.
219
sear
v.
242
aver
v.
265
criterion
n.
220
specious
adj.
243
blatant
adj.
266
deplete
v.
244
broach
v.
267
expatiate
v.
221
absolve
v.
245
buttress
v.
268
extraneous
adj.
222
caricature
n.
246
carousal
n.
269
inception
n.
223
clangor
n.
247
collate
v.
270
infirmity
n.
224
contiguous
adj.
248
connoisseur
v.
271
jejune
adj.
225
cupidity
n.
249
disconsolate
adj.
272
obdurate
adj.
226
deleterious
adj.
250
encumber
v.
273
potpourri
n.
227
enhance
v.
251
foment
v.
274
precocious
adj.
228
enthrall
v.
252
grisly
adj.
275
sadistic
adj.
229
extenuate
v.
253
herculean
adj.
276
sententious
adj.
230
implicit
adj.
254
impassive
adj.
277
supplicate
v.
231
incisive
adj.
255
inauspicious
adj.
278
surfeit
n.
232
ostentatious
adj.
256
279
tortuous
adj.
233
paragon
n.
incontrovertible
adj.
280
turgid
adj.
234
paraphrase
v.
257
nonplussed
adj.
IB English 3 SL/HL
Rio Mesa High School
281
adamant
aj.
282
brouhaha
n.
283
bulwark
n.
284
choleric
adj.
285
cloy
v.
286
curtail
v.
287
deference
n.
288
definitive
adj.
289
demeanor
n.
290
enigmatic
adj.
291
adv.
impromptu
adj.,
292
mawkish
adj.
293
mollify
v.
294
onus
n.
295
presentiment n.
296
profligate
adj.
297
remit
v.
298
requisite
adj.
299
sartorial
adj.
300
thwart
v.
Ms. Brennan & Ms. Olliff