Honors English II Summer Literature Project—Summer 2011
To receive credit, you must turn this work in on the first day of class
Mr. Adam Dunsker, Dr. Rebecca Taylor
I.A two-fold reading assignment:
FIRST: Every Honors English II student will read Haroun and the Sea of Stories by
Salman Rushdie. Haroun is a great novel for Honors English II because it offers students a
chance to appreciate a story on several levels. As you read, consider doing some quick research
to learn a bit about Salman Rushdie. Understanding his life experiences might help you
appreciate some of the themes of this work. Read it, enjoy it, bring it with you on the first day of
school; you will be using the novel for discussions and written assignments during the first week
of class.
SECOND: Choose a novel from among the authors or themes that you will encounter
next year in Honors English II. See the list below.
Tim O’Brien:
If I Die in a Combat Zone
In the Lake of the Woods
George Orwell:
Burmese Days
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Down and Out in Paris and London
Richard Wright:
Native Son
Texts relating to the Bible as/in Literature Unit:
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Text relating to the Shakespeare Unit:
Will in the World, Stephen Greenblatt
OVER
II.As your read each novel, track your discoveries using your preferred system (e.g., double
column notes, end-of-chapter summaries, linked annotations, etc.). You decide what to track and
how to track it; we are curious to see what you think is important. When you return to school in
August, we will collect these notes in your first class and talk about them in your first conference.
Be sure to take notes on/make notes in BOTH novels. Plan to write an in-class essay using these
notes during the first few days of school.
III.Also, to keep your composition skills fit, write a 1-2 page CREATIVE response to one of the
prompts below. Let your imagination roam, do some free-writing, then generate a formal
response to the novel you choose from the list above (not to Haroun). We would like to see how
your writing takes shape, so save all your drafts to turn in with the final typed piece. (Please use
MLA style: an academic font, 12-point type, MLA heading and header, double spacing,
numbered pages.) Here are the possibilities:
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Choose one of your text’s prominent vocabulary words; find a big bunch of synonyms for
it, and let them run wild as a motif in a 1-2 page short story—your choice of topic. “Be
sure your story has a beginning, middle, and end,” says Aristotle.
Choose a short scene from The Odyssey; pick a notable character from your chosen
novel, and fold that character into a 1-2 page slice of Homer’s great epic. (Let the
character alter the scene by his/her presence.) Be sure your story has a beginning,
middle, and end.
If your book is set in an urban area, pick a short scene and relocate it to the countryside;
radically change the details to fit the new locale. Conversely, if your book is set out in
the country, pick a short scene and relocate it to the city. Again, radically change the
details. In either case, feel free to play with the plot so you can be still more creative.
(Attach a photocopy of the scene you are imitating.) Note: This option will work best if
you make your new setting a very specific location, one you know a lot about. Fill your
pages with specific details related to the new location. Don’t stint. Go for excess.
Rewrite a scene from your novel in a different point of view. For example, if your novel
has an omniscient narrator who speaks in third-person, pick a character to re-tell the story
in first person. Let the character’s narration change the story as need be. (Attach a
photocopy of the scene you are imitating.) Be sure your tale has a beginning, middle, and
end.
Write a 1-2 page short scene that illustrates a theme your chosen novel explores. Be sure
your story has a beginning, middle, and end. Be sure to identify the theme.
If none of the above topics appeals to you, try free-writing until you discover your
subject. Write your own prompt and include it with your 1-2 page creative piece.
Remember that your topic must in some way connect to your summer reading.
Here’s a summary of your summer assignment:
 Read Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.
 Read a novel of your choice from the list above.
Track: In each novel, track the literary aspects that the author has packed into the book.
Write: For the novel you choose from the list above, develop a 1-2 page CREATIVE essay based
on one of the prompts.