9 TH Grade English
Assignments: All incoming freshmen will need to have actively read BEFORE the start of the school year
chapters from Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. You should anticipate a test and writing early in the school year
over this reading assignment. You will need to read and take hand-written notes on a separate sheet of
paper on the following selections from Mythology.
Part I:
Part II:
Part VI:
Chapter 1 (“The Gods”) Chapter 2 (“The Two Great Gods of Earth”)
Chapter 3 (“How the World and Mankind Were Created”)
Chapter 2 (“Eight Brief Tales of Lovers”):
•
Pyramus and Thisbe
•
Orpheus and Eurydice Chapter 4 (“Four Great Adventures”):
•
Phaethon
•
Pegasus and Bellerophon
•
Daedalus
Chapter 1 (“Midas—and Others”)
•
Midas
•
Baucis and Philemon
•
Daphne
Honors Students: preview and select one or more of the following works to read. You will find on the reverse
of this page a template of a chart you should create and complete.
This reading and chart should also be completed by the first day of the school year.
SPECIAL NOTE: Reading a novel for pleasure is a different process from reading a novel for academic study.
Even if you have read one of these novels previously, re-read it with an analytical eye. Do not merely rely on
what you believe to be your knowledge or understanding of the text.
The Color of Water by James McBride
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (The novel has some graphic scenes of war and adult language;
therefore, please consult your parents before selecting this title.)
*Bring Mythology book, Mythology notes, book of choice from the above list, and completed chart over the
selected choice novel with you on the first day of school.
Book Title:
Dominant Images
Light
To Kill a Mockingbird
Examples – Use this
format for quotes and
include the page
number.
“A long extension cord
ran between the bars of
a second-floor window
and down the side of the
building. In the light from
its bare bulb, Atticus was
Author:
Big Ideas
Harper Lee
Examples – Use this format
for quotes and include the
page number.
The danger of
stereotypes
“...but they were
Haverfords, in Maycomb
County a name
synonymous with jackass”
(5).
“He ain’t company, Cal,
Light
Shadow
sitting propped against
the front door” (150).
“In ones and twos, men
got out of the cars.
Shadows became
substance as lights
revealed solid shapes
moving toward the jail
door” (151).
The danger of
stereotypes
he’s just a Cunningham—”
(24).
“He said that the Ewells
were members of an
exclusive society made up
of Ewells. In certain
circumstances the common
folk judiciously allowed
them certain privileges by
the simple method of
becoming blind to some of
the Ewells’ activities” (31).
“Then I saw the shadow.
It was the shadow of a
man with a hat on. ... The
back porch was bathed in
moonlight, and the
shadow, crisp as toast,
moved across the porch
toward Jem” (53).
Dominant Images: Select figurative language (Symbols and images) that appear repeatedly throughout the
book. Big Ideas: Select main ideas that emerge as you read. How is the story meaningful to humankind?
Format: Use this format when creating your own chart. Examples should represent the entire novel
(beginning, middle, and end)