English Department
Summer Curriculum
Twelfth Grade
Students may be required to submit their summer reading assignment on Turnitin.com
within the first few weeks of school.
Turnitin is an online plagiarism prevention system that is used worldwide in thousands
of institutions. Students submit their work online and the system checks papers against
an in-house database of previously submitted student work, as well as internet sources.
Turnitin provides teachers and their students with a “Turnitin Originality Report” that
indicates the percentage of the possibility of plagiarism within the paper. It serves as a
tool for teachers in their instruction of writing, and for students to review their work,
revise where necessary, and use proper citations. For more information about the
program, please access the official website: http://turnitin.com/static/index.html
By signing below, I acknowledge and understand the expectations regarding the English
Department summer assignment. I also acknowledge and understand that the SBHS integrity
policy and procedure, as found in the Student Handbook, concerning plagiarism and other
issues of academic honesty apply to this assignment:
“Students are expected to prepare and complete their own work with the highest
standards of honesty and integrity. Plagiarism is the use of any source without
proper acknowledgment.”
Signed:_________________________
Date:__________
English IVB
RL.11-12.10: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
Objective: Read developmentally appropriate materials at an independent level in order to practice and apply
personal reading strategies that were most effective in previous learning.
W.11-12.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Objective: To apply the grades 9-12 reading standards to literature and literary non-fiction in order to draw evidence
from the reading as preparation to support an analysis essay on the text.
Reading Task: Read Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar in order to complete the task that
follows.
Task: Complete the charts on the following pages. This assignment is worth 12 points.
Throughout literature characters experience a “Quest,” which is a journey toward a goal that involves
challenges. The main character may travel to different places, meet new people, face obstacles, and
experience many joys, all while trying to reach a goal.
While reading the book, find examples that identify the novel as a hero’s quest based on the above
description. In 3-4 sentences, explain how each of these examples supports the elements of the hero’s quest.
List your six examples on the following form including the page number(s) where you found textual
evidence to support this example. The evidence should come from throughout the novel.
Example: The following is an example from the play Macbeth. Use this as a model for your own responses:
Elements of the Hero’s Quest
Page(s)
1. Example:
3
Macbeth is successful in battle and is rewarded with the title Thane of Cawdor.
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
This example shows Macbeth facing an obstacle (fighting in a war) and experiencing a joy (being rewarded
with a title for his efforts on the battlefield). This event begins his quest of gaining the title King of Scotland
Name:
English IVB Summer Reading
Novel:
Author:
Elements of the Hero’s Quest
1. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
2. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
3. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
Page(s)
4. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
5. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
6. Example:
Explain how this example is part of a hero’s quest.
Page(s)
English IV
RL.11-12.10: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
Objective: Read developmentally appropriate materials at an independent level in order to practice and apply
personal reading strategies that were most effective in previous learning.
W.11-12.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Objective: To apply the grades 9-12 reading standards to literature and literary non-fiction in order to draw evidence
from the reading as preparation to support an analysis essay on the text.
Reading Task: Read ONE memoir from the following list in order to complete the writing task that follows:
Autobiography of a Face – Lucy Grealy
Basketball Junkie – Chris Herron and Bill Reynolds
Breaking Night – Liz Murray
The Burn Journals – Brent Runyon
Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival – Norman Ollestad
Three Little Words – Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Tweak – Nick Sheff
Task: Complete the chart on the following pages. This assignment is worth 10 points.
In Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he states, “The real reason for a quest is
always self-knowledge” (3). This means that through a person’s experiences, he searches for what is
important and meaningful in his life in order to achieve a better understanding of himself.
Select one of the memoirs from the English IV Summer Reading list. While reading the book, find examples
that identify the memoir as the author’s quest for self-knowledge. In 3-4 sentences, explain how each of
these examples demonstrates something the author learned about himself. List your ten examples on the
following form including the page number(s) where you found textual evidence to support this example. The
evidence should come from throughout the memoir.
Example: The following is an example from the memoir The Glass Castle. Use this as a model for your own
responses:
Examples of the Author’s Quest for Self-Knowledge
Page(s)
1. When the author travels to New York City, she “studied [her] face in the mirror and wondered what
New Yorkers would think when they looked at [her]. Would they see an Appalachian hick, a tall, gawky
girl, still all elbows and knees and jutting teeth?” She shares with the reader her insecurities about her
appearance even though her father always told her she “had an inner beauty…and that was what
mattered.” When she says that she hopes the New Yorkers see what her dad sees when they look at her,
she has come to realize that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty and this is a meaningful
step in her understanding and accepting of herself.
245
Name:
English IV Summer Reading
Memoir:
Author:
Examples of the Author’s Quest for Self-Knowledge
1.
2.
3.
4.
Page(s)
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Academic English IV
RL.11-12.10: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
Objective: Read developmentally appropriate materials at an independent level in order to practice and apply personal
reading strategies that were most effective in previous learning.
W.11-12.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Objective: To apply the grades 9-12 reading standards to literature and literary non-fiction in order to draw evidence
from the reading as preparation to support an analysis essay on the text.
Reading Task: Read any TWO memoirs from the following list in order to complete the writing task that
follows:
Breaking Night – Liz Murray
Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival – Norman Ollestad
The Distance Between Us – Reyna Grande
First Darling of the Morning – Thrity Umrigar
The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
Hardcore Zen – Brad Warner
A Hope in the Unseen – Ron Suskind
A House in the Sky: A Memoir – Amanda Lindhout
Tales of a New Jersey Nothing – E.V. Anderson
The Wild Truth – Carine McCandless
Task: Complete the charts on the following pages. This assignment is worth 20 points.
According to Approaching Literature in the 21st Century, “style is the manner in which a writer uses words,
constructs sentences, and incorporates nonliteral expressions and symbols, all resulting in the effectiveness
and individuality of a writer’s work.” If your teacher asks you to discuss the style of a work, she or he wants
you to describe how or explain why the words, sentences, and imaginative comparisons are significant to the
text and develop meaning for the reader. Such a question requires that you read actively and attentively for
the following features: diction, syntax, imagery, metaphor, motif, and symbol (Schakel).
Select two memoirs from the Academic English IV Summer Reading list. For each memoir, complete a
double-entry journal that identifies ten properly cited examples from the text which demonstrate various
elements of the author’s style based on the above description. In 3-4 sentences, examine and interpret the
author’s use of language (diction, syntax, imagery, metaphor, motif, symbol) and evaluate how it creates
complex meaning in the text. Your evidence should come from throughout the memoir.
Example: The following is an example from the memoir The Glass Castle. Use this as a model for your own
responses:
Evidence of Elements of Style
Analysis of Quotations
1. “Winter came hard that year. Just after Thanksgiving, the
first big snow started with fat wet flakes the size of
butterflies. They floated down lazily but were followed by
smaller, drier flakes that kept coming for days. At first I
loved winter in Welch. The blanket of snow hid the soot and
made the entire town seem clean and cozy. Our house
looked almost like all the others along Little Hobart Street.”
(Walls 175)
In this passage, the author uses simple diction to create a larger, more complex
meaning. For example, instead of stating, “It was a bad winter,” the author
chooses the simple word “hard,” which reflects the daily struggles in her own
life. Continuing with simple word choice, the author creates a familiar visual
image for the reader by comparing the snowflakes to butterflies as they
“floated down lazily.” Again, the reader infers that this expression describes
the author and her desire to be soft and delicate, but her need to be “hard” in
order to survive. The blanket of snow is a symbol of her desire to hide herself
and her situation from those around her; however, the word “almost” in the
last line lets the reader know that the snow is a temporary cover for the reality
of her “hard” life.
Name:
Academic English IV Summer Assignment
Memoir 1:
Author:
Evidence of Elements of Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
Analysis of Quotations
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Memoir 2:
Author:
Evidence of Elements of Style
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Analysis of Quotations
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Honors English IV
RL.11-12.10: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems proficiently, with scaffolding as needed
at the high end of the range.
Objective: Read developmentally appropriate materials at an independent level in order to practice and apply personal reading
strategies that were most effective in previous learning.
W.11-12.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Objective: To apply the grades 9-12 reading standards to literature and literary non-fiction in order to draw evidence from the
reading as preparation to support an analysis essay on the text.
Reading Task: Read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and at least one of the following books:
Hardcore Zen – Brad Warner
A House in the Sky: A Memoir – Amanda Lindhout
Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind – Sarah Wildman
Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn – Amanda Gefter
The Wild Truth – Carine McCandless
Task: Complete literary analysis journals for each work. This assignment is worth 20 points.
According to Approaching Literature in the 21st Century, “style is the manner in which a writer uses words,
constructs sentences, and incorporates nonliteral expressions and symbols, all resulting in the effectiveness
and individuality of a writer’s work.” If your teacher asks you to discuss the style of a work, she or he wants
you to describe how or explain why the words, sentences, and imaginative comparisons are effective in terms
of what is being created. Such a question requires that you read actively and attentively for the following
features: diction, syntax, imagery, metaphor, motif, and symbol (Schakel).
For each book, complete ten text analysis journal entries which focus primarily on the various elements of
the author’s style based on the above description. It is important to note that text analysis involves more than
just summarizing the plot or offering a personal observation about the author’s style. Analysis involves a
close reading where the reader examines and interprets the author’s use of language (diction, syntax,
imagery, metaphor, motif, symbol) and evaluates how it creates complex meaning in the text.
Each journal entry should be at least a paragraph in length, must be typed, must be written in third person,
and must include properly embedded and cited textual evidence that supports your analysis of the author’s
use of style. The paragraph must also address specifically how and why this analysis leads to a more
complex understanding of the memoir.
Example: The following is an example from the novel Brave New World. Use this as a model for your own
responses:
Aldous Huxley begins Brave New World with two grammatical fragments, an interesting stylistic choice. He writes, "A SQUAT
grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND
CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY." The fact that
these sentences lack grammatical subjects suggests that this new world does not value subjects (people with agency and
autonomy). As the World State motto suggests, all sense of individual identify is subsumed inside of collective community. The
content of the sentences--a "building," "shield," and "the World State's motto"--concentrate on order (the motto), structure (the
building), and protecting the institution of the World State (the shield); this mirrors the values of the motto itself: COMMUNITY,
IDENTITY, STABILITY. From the very first lines of the novel, Huxley has conveyed his dark literary vision--a cold, inhumane
society whose primary objective is maintaining communal stability, even at the expense of individual identity.
English IV College Composition
RI.11-12.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective,
analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
Objective: To analyze and evaluate how an author advances the theme or purpose of a work.
W.11-12.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or text, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
Objective: To draft a theme statement and support/defend it through highly developed ideas and content, organization,
and paragraph development.
Summer Reading Assignment #1 - 1984 by George Orwell
Critically read 1984 by George Orwell. Be sure to read the Appendix on “The Principles of Newspeak.” An
objective test on the entire text will be given on the FIRST FULL DAY OF CLASS. Subsequent assignments
will occur regarding the text.
Summer Reading and Writing Assignment #2 - Fifty Great Essays (Fifth Edition only) edited by Robert
DiYanni
Critically read Fifty Great Essays (Fifth Edition), including the Preface and Introduction (see selected essay
reading list). Highlight as you read. Classify each essay according to the four modes of discourse – persuasion,
exposition, narration, and description and include two pieces of proof (quotations) from the essay to support
your choice. Briefly (two to three sentences, no more!) explain why both proofs collectively validate your mode
of discourse. Hand in these notes on the first day of class.
E-mail Mr. Ziminski if you have questions about either assignment (mark.ziminski@sbschools.org)
Reading list from Fifty Great Essays (Fifth Edition only) edited by Robert DiYanni (40 essays)
Gloria Anzaldua – “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
James Baldwin – “If Black English Isn’t a Language,
Then Tell Me What Is”
Dave Barry – “Road Warrior”
Roland Barthes – “Toys”
Sven Birkerts – “Into the Electronic Millennium”
Judy Brady – “I Want a Wife”
G. K. Chesterton – “The Fallacy of Success”
Judith Oriz Cofer – “Casa: A Partial Remembrance of a
Puerto Rican Childhood”
Bernard Cooper – “Labyrinthine”
Joan Didion – “On Self-Respect”
Mark Doty – “Souls on Ice”
Brian Doyle – “Joyas Voladoras”
Ralph Ellison – “Living with Music”
Malcolm Gladwell – “The Tipping Point”
Ellen Goodman – “The Company Man”
Michael Hogan – “The Colonel”
Barbara Holland – “Naps”
Zora Neale Hurston – “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”
Stephen King – “Why We Crave Horror Movies”
Barbara Kingsolver – “Stone Soup”
August Kleinzahler – “The Dog, The Family: A
Household Tale”
John McPhee – “Silk Parachute”
Herman Melville – “The Advocate”
Laura Miller – “Cat People vs. Dog People”
Horace Miner – “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”
George Orwell – “Some Thoughts on the Common Toad”
Scott Russell Sanders – “The Men We Carry
in our Minds”
David Sedaris – “Me Talk Pretty One Day”
Lee Seigel – “The World Is All That Is the Case”
Leslie Marmon Silko – “Landscape, History, and the
Pueblo Imagination”
Susan Sontag – “A Woman’s Beauty: Put-Down or
Power Source?”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton – “Declaration of Sentiments
and Resolutions”
Paul Theroux – “On Being a Man”
Lewis Thomas – “Crickets, Cats, Bats, and Chaos”
Sojourner Truth – “Ain’t I a Woman?”
Mark Twain – “Reading the Mississippi River”
Alice Walker – “Beauty : When the Other Dancer
Is the Self”
David Foster Wallace – “Consider the Lobster”
Geoffrey Wolff – “The Duke of Deception”
Mary Wollstonecraft – “A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman”
Advanced Placement English IV
RL.11-12.10: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
Objective: Read developmentally appropriate materials at an independent level in order to practice and apply personal
reading strategies that were most effective in previous learning.
W.11-12.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or text, using valid reasoning and
relevant and sufficient evidence.
Objective: To draft a theme statement and support/defend it through highly developed ideas and content, organization, and
paragraph development.
Assignment #1: Read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Be prepared to complete a timed writing on the
novel during the first two weeks of class.
Assignment #2: Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense (8th Edition):
Evaluating Poetry
Read Chapter 16 (pp 998-1024), and for each of the eight poems, answer any one question from the
book. Each response should be one paragraph and should include specific textual evidence as support.
Note: These are challenging poems. You might need to read each one several times.
Read through some of the other poems in the book until you find one that you love. Then keep
reading that poem. Get to know it deeply. Be prepared to share the poem and your response with the
class during the first quarter.
Assignment #3: Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense (8th Edition):
20 Short Stories
Read the 20 stories below. For each story, write a one-paragraph explanation of how the author uses a
literary element to develop meaning for the story as a whole. Each paragraph should contain two
pieces of textual evidence.
Select the best story you read. Write a (roughly) 1,000-word essay in which you justify your choice
by discussing how the author uses literary elements to develop complex meaning for you as a reader
(you are allowed to use first person if you choose, but use it carefully).
Story List:
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by
Ernest Hemingway
“How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro
“Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff
“Once upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer
“Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“You’re Ugly, Too” by Lorrie Moore
“A Municipal Report” by O. Henry
“Gooseberries” by Anton Chekhov
“The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov
“The Darling” by Anton Chekhov
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery
O’Connor
“A Late Encounter With the Enemy” by Flannery
O’Connor
“Greenleaf” by Flannery O’Connor
“The Lady With the Pet Dog” by Joyce Carol
Oates
“Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe
“Errand” by Raymond Carver
“The Swimmer” by John Cheever
Please see Mr. Honig in A205 for copies of The Great Gatsby and Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense(8th Edition). Go to
http://tinyurl.com/sbhsaplitsummerreading for links to all stories and poems (in case you don’t want to lug around a giant
textbook all summer).
All work is due on the first day of class. Type the essay and the paragraphs on Google Drive and share it with
peter.honig@sbschools.org. This work will be part of the first marking period grade.