SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
WELCOME To Honors American Literature
Below are four literary works you are to read for your summer
reading assignment. Directions for your paper in response to
these
readings follows. PLEASE print them out in color if possible.
Do NOT wait until the last minute to write this.
 The Great Gatsby….F. Scott Fitzgerald
 The Catcher in the Rye….J.D.Salinger
 The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears…Dinaw Mengestu
 The Age of Miracles…Karen Thompson Walker
These four works capture dominant themes in American literature:
a search for self combined with major conflicts that entail
combating antagonistic forces that derive from internal and
external origins.
Two are based in New York City while another is based in
Washington, and another could be any town or city in America.
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The Catcher in the Rye Since his debut in 1951 as “the catcher
in the rye”, Holden Caulfield, the novel’s alienated, mourning
and cynical protagonist, narrates a few days in his sixteen-yearold life, following his expulsion from prep school. Holden is
furious with somewhat normal teenage anger; however, the loss of
his younger brother, Allie, to leukemia, has emotionally
paralyzed him. This novel, which has survived many rounds of
being banned, remains as one of the most significant and popular
books with American youth. In addition, films and other books
have been inspired by Salinger’s novel, including the now popular
The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
The Great Gatsby: This classic, set in1920’s, explores the
misconception that
money can
buy devotion, can
guarantee
eternal youth, can
purchase an ideal. The “ideal” is found
in Daisy Buchanan, a beautiful, selfish, rich
Southern belle to
whom Gatsby devotes his life.
As narrated b y Nick Caraway,
Daisy’s cousin
who is spending summer in New York City to work,
the novel reveals Gatsby’s devotion is pure; however, Gatsby is
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
blind to Daisy’s emptiness. He
truly undergoes
a religious
quest but uses money to
capture his “object” of devotion.
This has become known as non-material materialism.
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears: This first novel tackles
the questions of identity, dislocation and loneliness through the
life of anEthiopian émigré in the United States. It narrates
the story of Sepha Stephanos, a young man who fled to America to
escape the violence of Ethiopia’s Communist revolution after
witnessing his father’s death at the hands of junta soldiers.
Seventeen years later, running a struggling convenience store in
a once grand but now dilapidated neighborhood of Washington,
D.C., Sepha is still trying to find his place in the new world.
The deeply felt pain in Mengestu’s novel is offset by the solace
of friendship..whether it is a friendship that hovers on the
verge of romance, a friendship between an adult and a child or
the sustaining friendships of fellow immigrants. Rob Nixon
explains in a New York Times book review, “Again and again,
Sepha’s story makes us consider what it means to be displaced:
from a local community ,from a distant nation, from a love you
had hoped to settle into.” Sepha’s rhetorical question, “How was
I supposed to live in America, when I had never really
leftEthiopia?” remains a presence throughout the protagonist’s
wanderings. The title derives from
Dante’s Inferno…., “Dante is finally coming out of hell
and that is what he sees, ‘Some of the beautiful things that heaven
bears”. This proves to relate to his little store “tilted at a daunting
angle to the official American dream” (Rob Nixon, New York Times Book
Review).
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
The Age of Miracles: Told from the point of view of the protagonist, Julia, who is on the
verge of turning 12, this is another novel focused on the movement from innocence to
experience. However, the framework is very different.
In this novel, the rotation of the Earth has begun to slow causing days and nights
to grow longer and longer. All normal life has come to a halt. As days and nights
become longer, people begin to grow sick and to act abnormally. Crops begin to
fail, oceans rise, flooding homes; soon food and water are hoarded, just likewhen a major
storm is coming. There is talk about the end of the world and even the possibility of
moving to another planet. Julia is a quiet, observant girl with a major
crush on a boy, Seth. As the ‘the slowing’ begins, Julia says she remembers feeling,
“not fear but a thrill”…”a sudden sparkle amid the ordinary, the shimmer of the
unexpected thing.” As the “slowing” continues, Julia realizes it is not temporary.
Rather it is species-threatening as the changes to Earth’s gravity make people sick. Soon
the widespread use of sunlamps and artificial heating during the longer and colder nights
will create energy shortages and periodic blackouts. While the drastic change to life
on the outside narrates a large part of the novel, Julia’s transition towards adulthood
is as eventful as the earth’s gravity shifting. “Light unhooked from day, darkness
unchained from night”could also describe the turmoil occurring within Julia.
(some wording taken from Kaukutani, The New York Times Book Review)
______________________________________________________________________
_Below are very important details related to writing this paper.
READ THEM OVER CAREFULLY before you begin and use as a checklist
when you finish.
PART I
Select
BIOGRAPHY
ONE
(15 pts)
of the four authors.
Look for sophisticated information. Make it interesting. Connect it to the novel.
For example, Mengenstu saw a storekeeper which, along with his own life, inspired
the novel.
Do not begin with: “________________was born on “….
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American
Literature
Do not give me the author’s resume (dates, who they married, etc. unless it connects
to the novel). If you choose Fitzgerald or Mengenstu, then much of the history of
their lives did inspire their novels.
No use of author’s first name alone** EVER
Required Use of primary sources* and recent information *letters, interviews
(either written or youtube/audioUse of good sources…shows effort and
“digging/exploring”
Not like a Wikipedia entry..
Offers insight into the writer’s subject matter/connects to work analyzed
Most verbs will remain in PAST tense.
Do NOT forget to vigorously provide in text citation.
3 paragraphs REQUIRED (no more and no less)
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PART II
PROMPTS: (50 pts) Prompt selection based on initial of last name
Each prompt response must be 4 -5 pages..NO
LONGER OR SHORTER
The PROMPTS: You MUST respond to one prompt
depending on the first letter of your last
name. A-O: select prompt 1
PROMPT 1: Using The Age of Miracles(must use) plus either
The Catcher in the Rye or The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears ,
discuss how both protagonists are displaced by forces beyond their control.**For
Catcher, you must advance from the fact that Allie’s death has
triggered Holden’s loss of self and home.
In The Age of Miracles, the protagonist attempts
to hold onto the present, pushing away the threat of
the future, while in the other novel, the protagonist
(Holden or Sepha) remains affixed to his past,
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SUMMER READING HONORS
Literature
struggling to extricate himself from its grip. USE ALL
OF THIS AS YOUR THESIS OR FIRST SENTENCE for prompt 1.
SELECT THIS PROMPT IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH PZ: PROMPT 2
PROMPT 2: Selecting any
one
of the four novels,
discuss how a search for identity is amplified or
enlarged by distinct settings:
While Gatsby religiously follows a holy grail that he believes
will bring him the green light to which he is devoted, both
Holden and Sepha wander through streets and various settings to
recapture their identities as well as to shed the profound
tragedies that have relentlessly imprisoned them. Finally,
Julia’s normal coming of age evolution suffers upheaval by an
unnatural, cataclysmic event where the schoolyard, the classroom
and home all transform into foreign places, usurping the
normality of life.
*If you select Catcher, you MUST work from the premise that
Holden’s trauma is rooted in Allie’s death.
*If you select Gatsby, you MUST work from the premise that his
love for Daisy is not normal and that Daisy is an empty vessel;
thus, his devotion is directed at a nothingness he will not
allow himself to accept
Use the following as your first sentence and overall guiding thesis for whichever
novel you select to analyze:
In (title of novel choice) search for identity is amplified by the distinct
settings. *Your next sentence will specifically identify which settings hold
symbolic weight for the novel you chose.
REQUIREMENTS FOR RESPONSES to Prompt 1 OR Prompt 2
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature



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4-5 pages
1.5 spacing
11 font
Each paragraph should incorporate text support*, critical outside support
and your own words.
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GENERAL INFORMATION/REQUIREMENTS FOR BOTH PROMPTS
You must use direct quotations for all discussion. If you are
stating, for example, that Holden is emotionally
paralyzed, SHOW where this occurs in the text itself.It
is always your best evidence
 You must use some outside critical sources that
logically support your paragraph focus and your
direct quotations.
DO NOT TELL THE PLOT OF ANY WORK
HOWEVER
You must provide context; you must write this as if I have not
read the novels.
FOR EXAMPLE, “Holden finds support from his sister, Phoebe.
(Phoebe is the context).
STYLE, CITATION AND ALL THAT AWFUL STUFF:
 Use().after quotations.Remember the period
comes after the().
 Any quotation beyond 4 lines..must be
separated.
Do NOT NOT NOT use quotation
marks for these. Please limit these and
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
never use two in a row. For your response
to this summer reading prompt, use ONLY ONE
since you are limited to 5 pages.
 USE PRESENT TENSE for verbs. Holden FEELS
lost..not FELT. *Biography will be in past
tense.
 Avoid the conditional tense (could, would)
 Use context (who, what, when, where).
Use wording APPROPRIATE for a FORMAL
paper. NO CONTRACTIONS
 No SLANG
 VARY SENTENCE STRUCTURE. IF your
sentences begin the same or
are filled with “ ands” REVISE.
USE STRONG AND SOPHISTICATED verbs. “IS” “DOES” “HAS” SHOULD
remain very limited.
_________________________________________________
WORDS YOU CANNOT USE:
*any word with THING in it
 you
 get, got, go .went
 mindset
 issue
 I think, I feel, you
 any contractions

Eliminate Have,Has or Had as Major Verbs
OTHER:
*
Do not define any literary terms like symbolism, etc. I know what they mean.
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
 Works cited and in text citations must match; make sure spacing is correct on Works
Cited page and that alphabetizing is accurate.
PARAGRAPHS , FONT AND SPACING:
No new points at the end of a paragraph
NO PARAGRAPH should be short. It means you have not developed.
No Paragraph should be longer than ¾ of page
 1.5 SPACES BETWEEN EVERY LINE..NO MORE/NO LESS
 11 font
 Use Times Roman or Calibri font style
 refer to Writer’s Inc. or online sources for citation rules or any
other usage questions. DO NOT GUESS
WHEN discussing the novels, make sure you include use of SYMBOLISM (It
is abundant in all works)
ORGANIZE logically; do not shift focus within a paragprah
PROVIDE TRANSITIONS between paragraphs or whenever necessary for
clarity.
AGAIN:
With Catcher, work from the premise that Allie’s death activates Holden’s
trauma and journey.
With Gatsby, do not depict Gatsby and Daisy’s love as typical. Daisy is truly
a religion for Gatsby. Make sure to specifically address to what EXACTLY
he is devoted; WHAT does green light symbolize?
SCORING:
Biography: 15 pts
Prompts: 50 pts
Grammar: including citation (make sure works cited and in text citations
agree;* careless errors, spacing, agreement, RO, FRG, titles in italics,
correct punctuation, verb tense *do not forget to include the novels on
works cited: 25 pts
Overall effort/following directions: 10pts
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
TOTAL POINTS= 100

FINALLY: PUT YOUR LAST NAME AND PAGE NUMBERS ON ALL
PAGES and STAPLE PAPER..NO PAPER CLIPS

PUT YOUR NAME and block/color day on title page. Do NOT count
title page as the first page. All other pages should show just the
page number and your last name.
** How do I put this paper together?
 COVER PAGE
 BIOGRAPHY * 3 paragraphs
 PROMPT RESPONSE (dependent on initial of last name)4-5 pages
 *Biography does not count towards the 4-5 pages of prompt
response
 Works Cited page
ON Title Page, include Block and whether Yellow day or Blue day
Papers are due as follows: August 27th YELLOW
OR August 28th BLUE
***-5 pts every day late/automatic F for no works cited

Bring these books to class the second day of classes. GOOD LUCK.
Do not wait until the last minute. This is worth 100 points./I look
forward to meeting you and to discussing these remarkable novels.
Please come to see me if you have any questions or you can email me over
the summer, but do not wait until the last minute.
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SUMMER READING HONORS
American
Literature
Listen for announcements the week we return regarding
turnitininformation. You will receive I.D. numbers and passwords in your
email.
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