2015/2016 - Enriched English IV Summer Reading Assignments and Course Information
Captain Shreve High School
M. Clawson
EMAIL: mdclawson@caddoschools.org
A brief note:
Congratulations! You have made it to your senior year! Hopefully your Enriched English III
experience was rewarding and you practiced all the reading, writing, listening, and speaking
skills you will need to be successful in Enriched English IV. Enriched English IV is a rigorous
English course and will require work both in and out of the classroom. I look forward to meeting
all of you and helping you to prepare for your lives after high school!
Summer Reading List:
Below you will find a list of novels and activities that must be completed before you return to
school. Do not depend on sparknotes or other online summaries. You will be tested on these
novels during the first week of school, so it is crucial that you accomplish the reading before
school resumes. The additional activities will also be due the first week of school. Be sure to
plan ahead and keep on top of your work! (The summaries below were pulled from
ttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz: Oscar is a sweet but disastrously
overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world
mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and,
most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a
curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic
journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history,
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the
contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to
persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love. Winner of the 2008 National Book
Critics Circle Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, for Fiction.
• And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini: An unforgettable novel about finding a
lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–
bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new
novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we
make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and
children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many
ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and
how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter
most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves
around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—
the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful
with each turning page.
What do I do with the summer reading novels?
For each novel, ANNOTATE. This is not required, BUT it will help you to engage in close,
active reading of the texts. Write in the margins, underline, and highlight. Take special note of
themes, motifs, language, characters and their characterizations, plot, and conflicts. Write
summaries for the chapters that you can revisit when preparing for tests.
Specific activities:
For The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, you may choose one of the following projects to
create:
• An Alphabet Book: For this project, you will create an alphabet book using one letter of
the alphabet per page. It may be rhyming or non-rhyming. Give your book a cover and
illustrate it. I am particularly interested in seeing that you have an understanding of the
major events and themes of the novel as well as relationships between the characters.
(EXAMPLE: A is for the Animosity Heathcliff bears Hindley for treating him so badly as
a child.) Make sure that you can explain why you chose the description you do when
presenting to the class.
• Oscar Wao Soundtrack: Create a soundtrack for the novel, choosing or composing 5
songs (ONE can be an instrumental). The songs must represent the main themes, moods,
relationships, or events in the story in some way. Create a CD insert with appropriate
artwork, artist information, dedications, and a booklet that includes lyrics and a paragraph
for each song explaining how and why each relates to the book. You may burn the songs
onto a CD if you’d like but it is not required.
• Oscar Wao Times: Develop a front page for a newspaper during the time/setting of this
story. Choose what you think the most important event of the story to be your front page,
cover story. The goal is to show me that you have an understanding of the plot and
characters in the story. Your front page should include several of the following: a banner
headline, at least one picture with a caption, the lead story (at least 300 words), related
side bar stories, horoscope, title of newspaper, at least one advertisement that is storyrelated, advice column, gossip column, classifieds, editorial, and/or weather.
WORTH 200 POINTS. This will be due the first week of school. You will be required to
present your project to the class. Every day your assignment is late will result in 25% off your
overall grade for the project, so be prepared to present and turn it in the first week of school.
For And the Mountains Echoed, visit the following website:
http://khaledhosseini.com/books/and-the-mountains-echoed/discussion-questions/. Here, you
will find 13 discussion questions. You need to answer five questions using complete sentences,
support from the text, and original ideas. Each response should be one to two SOLID
paragraphs. If you would prefer to have a copy of the questions to take home with you, please
come by classroom, A209. Responses must be typed and follow MLA format.
Academic Honesty is important. Failure to comply with the rules set forth by Caddo
Parish and Captain Shreve High School will result in NO credit for your assignments.
English IV Enriched
Mrs. Clawson
2015-2016
The following texts are required reading in Enriched English IV. You may
purchase, borrow, rent, or check out the novels. Digital versions of these novels
are also acceptable if you prefer to read on a device such as a nook or kindle. (If
you prefer to use physical copies, be sure to check the used books on Amazon!
Oftentimes, you can purchase a book for just a few pennies plus shipping.)
Grendel – John Gardner
How to Read Literature like a Professor – Thomas C. Foster
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
You may also wish to purchase a dictionary. There is weekly vocabulary and it
will be your responsibility to define them. I have a class set of dictionaries in my
room, but none of those may leave, so if you wish to have one at home, please get
one. The definitions I use are from this version: Merriam Webster Dictionary
New Edition copyright 2004 ISBN—13 978-0-877790930-6 (vocab tests are
generated from this version).
You will need a binder stocked with loose leaf, dividers for vocab, grammar,
reading/novel notes, and writing/journals, writing utensils, and red pens.
Email me if you have any questions!
mdclawson@caddoschools.org