May, 2013
Dear Parents,
As we prepare for instructing your son or daughter as a freshman at Brookwood High School, the
language arts department will be offering several novel choices as part of our summer reading program. For
rising ninth graders, we require that they read one of the following choice novels during summer break:
1. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
2. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
3. Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark
4. Don’t Look Behind You by Lois Duncan
5. The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
ALL classes are required to complete the attached Reading Guide on their CHOICE NOVEL. The guide
needs to be hand written and is due on the first day of school.
ADDITIONALLY, ALL HONORS AND GIFTED students are required to read Part 1, chapters 1-19, of
the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and complete the attached activities. We will read the
rest of the novel when students return to school.
All Honors and Gifted students need to complete the following:
 Complete the attached background information to increase historical and author understanding.
 Read Chapters 1-19 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
 Complete the attached study guide in pen, front side of paper only.
All written work is due on the first day of school, and the assessment over all novels will be during the
second week of school. Typed papers will not be accepted.
Additionally, the language arts department plans a major focus on helping to develop vocabulary skills.
We have selected Word Clues (0-06-538030-4), a book which covers both Greek and Latin word parts and can
be used in both the ninth and tenth grades by your son/daughter. This book will increase the knowledge of
Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes. Students may borrow a book in class but cannot take the book
home. All books may be purchased on-line, at Borders, or Barnes and Noble in Snellville. The book is not
required but recommended.
We appreciate your cooperation in helping us help our students. We ask that you encourage your son or
daughter not to procrastinate in doing the reading. We want our students to be successful, and reading will
enable them to reach that goal.
Brookwood 9th Grade Language Arts Teachers
NINTH GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS SUPPLY LIST
Supplies needed for book bag/locker/home:
-1½ inch 3-ring binder
-Loose-leaf notebook paper
-Blue or black ink pens
-#2 pencils
-Tab dividers (2 packages or 10 total)
-Highlighters
-White out/Liquid Paper
-Index Cards (500 cards)
-USB Storage Device (jump drive, thumb drive ,zip drive,etc)
SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKS: NOT REQUIRED BUT HIGLHY RECOMMENDED
-Word Clues text book- all year
-Anthem by Ayn Rand- fall
-Beowulf- Gifted only- fall
-To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee- spring
- Romeo and Juliet, No Fear Shakespeare- spring
Classroom Supplies to be given to teacher:
-Kleenex
-Paper towels
-Hand Sanitizer
-Rubber Bands
-Computer Paper
Novel Blurbs:
(Science Fiction) Ender’s Game by Orson S. Card
Ender Wiggins, a genius among geniuses, is trained in Battle School in the art of war for the purpose of saving the human race from
yet another attack by the alien “Buggers.”
(Mystery, Suspense) Where are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark
Nancy Eldredge’s past hides a terrible secret. During a first marriage, Nancy is almost convicted of the murder of her two young
children. She is now married again, and her past appears to be repeating itself.
(Peer Relationships, Family Suspense) Don’t Look Behind You by Lois Duncan
April has everything-great friends, a handsome boyfriend, and a shot at the state tennis championship. Then she learns that her family
must disappear into the Federal Witness Security Program to save their lives.
(Realistic Fiction, Sports) The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
Alfred Brooks is a seventeen-year-old high school dropout who lives with his Aunt Pearl and her three daughters in Manhattan, New
York. Alfred’s father deserted the family when Alfred was ten years old; his mother died when he was thirteen. Alfred braves the
inner battle of peer pressure while training to become a boxer.
(Contemporary Fiction; Medical Ethics) My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so
that her older sister, Kate, can survive the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. Anna is beginning to question her
commitment to Kate and her family. She will make a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear
her family apart and perhaps have fatal consequences for her sister
All Students Must Complete for Choice Novel:
For each of the categories, complete the following chart. Please list the appropriate
answers in the corresponding box. Answers must be handwritten; typed answers will not
be accepted.
Name:
I.
Draw a picture representing your favorite scene from the novel. In a 4-5 sentence
paragraph explain your scene. Picture should be neat and in color. Paragraph
should be in ink and in complete sentences. (24 pts)
II.
Complete the chart. All Answers must be handwritten; no typed answers.
Book Title and Author
Setting(s)…just the main ones (3 pts)
(2pts)
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Main Characters (5 pts)
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A Few Qualities about each Main Character (10 pts)
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Major Events (45 pts)
List 15 events that summarize the novel
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Character You like
Most/Least (2pts)
Most:
Why? (4 pts)
Least:

What Themes does the
book explore? (3 pts)
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Were you satisfied with the ending? Why/why not? (2pts)
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Great Expectations: Activities
I.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Great Expectations
CREATE A LIST OF 25 FACTS ABOUT THE NOVEL GREAT EXPECTATIONS AND/OR THE
AUTHOR CHARLES DICKENS.
AS YOU READ, THINK ABOUT HOW THE FACTS RELATE TO THE OVERALL NOVEL.
MAKE SURE YOU LOOK AT SEVERAL SITES, AND .ORG SITES ARE ALWAYS
RECOMMENDED.
II.
SHORT ANSWER STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - Great
Expectations
Directions: Answer on separate sheets of paper. All answers must be in pen, blue or black ink. TYPED
ANSWERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Chapters 1-2
1. Identify Pip. Discuss what you know about Pip’s character. For example, age, physical characteristics,
background, personality.
2. Identify Mrs. Joe. Discuss what you know about Mrs. Joe’s character. For example, age, physical
characteristics, background, personality.
3. Identify Joe. Discuss what you know about Joe’s character. For example, age, physical characteristics,
background, personality.
4. Who does Pip meet in the graveyard? Discuss his reactions to this individual.
5. What is Pip ordered to fetch under threat of losing his heart and liver?
6. Explain how Pip and Joe are "brought up by hand."
5. What does Pip do which causes him to have a guilty conscience?
Chapters 3 – 7
6. Discuss the setting of the novel including time, place and atmosphere.
7. Why does Joe give Pip more gravy during dinner?
8. Identify Mr. Wopsle. Discuss what you know about Mr. Wopsle’s character. For example, age, physical
characteristics, background, personality.
9. Identify Mr. Pumblechook. Discuss what you know about Pumblechook’s character. For example, age,
physical characteristics, background, personality.
10. What happens when Pip meets the convict in the marshes the second time?
11. Near the end of chapter 4, why does Pip "run for his life," and why doesn’t he get very far? (When they are
finishing up dinner)
12. Why do Joe and Pip go to the marshes with the police?
13. What were the convicts arguing about when they were captured?
14. Joe says, "We don't know what you have done, but we wouldn't have you starved to death for it, poor
miserable fellow-creature." What does the reader learn about Joe's character from this quote? What does the
quote mean?
15. What news does Mrs. Joe bring at the end of Chapter 7? How do you predict that this might change Pip’s
life?
Chapters 8 - 12
16. Identify Miss Havisham. Discuss what you know about Miss Havisham’s character. For example, age,
physical characteristics, background, personality.
17. Identify Estella. Discuss what you know about Estella’s character. For example, age, physical
characteristics, background, personality.
18. Identify Biddy. . Discuss what you know about Biddy’s character. For example, age, physical
characteristics, background, personality.
19. How does Pip describe Miss Havisham's house?
20. How does Estella treat Pip during his visits? Use clear examples.
21. What lie does Pip tell Joe and Mrs. Joe about his first visit to Miss Havisham’s house? Why doesn't Pip tell
the truth to them about his visit?
22. How does Pip feel about himself after his first meeting at Miss Havisham's?
23. During the visits, Pip meets the “pale young gentleman.” Who is the pale young gentleman?
24. What does Pip want from Biddy?
25. How is Pip reminded of "his convict" in the Jolly Bargemen?
26. "Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of
thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link
on one memorable day." Explain the significance of this quote.
27. Why do Camilla, Raymond and Sarah Pocket visit Miss Havisham?
Chapters 13 - 19
28. At the beginning of Chapter 13, Pip goes with Joe to Miss Havisham’s to get his working papers for
becoming a blacksmith. As a whole, what does this signify to the course of Pip’s life?
29. Who is Orlick? Discuss what you know about Orlick’s character. For example, age, physical characteristics,
background, personality.
30. For what purpose does Pip wish to return to Miss Havisham's after he is dismissed?
31. Who is Jaggers? What does the reader know about Jaggers at this point in the novel?
32. Why does Biddy come to live with the Gargerys?
33. What is Pip's great expectation?
34. What are the conditions of his Great Expectations?
35. Who will be Pip's tutor when he goes to London?
36. What does Pip want Biddy to do for Joe?
Final Wrap-Up Questions for Chapters 1-19
37. Create a timeline for Chapters 1-19. Use Pip’s age as a gauge to the number of years that pass between
Chapters 1-19.
38. Formulate two statements that represent themes present in Chapters 1-19.
39. Pick a favorite character and defend why the character is your favorite.
40. Write down one interesting fact, piece of trivia, description or something from Chapters 1-19 that reflects
the writing style of Charles Dickens. Choose something that no one else may have noticed.