English 10 Honors
Summer Reading
Email with questions:
Jason.dinkler@venturausd.org
Jennifer.kindred@venturausd.org
MATERIALS FOR THE SUMMER READING :
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Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
A pack of multi-colored highlighters or colored pencils.
Assignments: Due August 25/26
Assignment #1
Reading and annotating Life of Pi by Yann Martel
This novel is the story of a sixteen year old boy named Piscine Patel who survives a
shipwreck by spending 227 days on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a tiger, an orangutan,
a zebra, and a hyena.
As you read, you will annotate the novel for two different elements (see below). In essence,
annotations are the critical or explanatory notes that you make as you read through a text.
These notes will be important to your overall understanding of the text and our class
discussions. Underline in the colors below and write notes in the margins.
1. Yellow annotations will be questions that arise as you are reading. These questions
can include areas that you find confusing or troubling about the plot, questions about
character interactions, questions about symbolism or imagery that he chose to use
throughout the novel, etc. You should have at least one example of this type of annotation
per chapter. Once you have done this, write your question at the top of each chapter and
include the page number where you chose your example. Or, you can write your
question(s) next to the highlighted text in the margins. Please make sure that your
questions are legible.
2. Blue annotations will be connected to the author’s writing style. You can include a
large variety of examples for this. Look for areas such as:
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Martel’s choice of diction. Diction refers to a writer's word choice with the
following considerations:
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denotation / connotation of a word
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degree of difficulty or complexity of a word
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level of formality of a word
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tone of a word (the emotional charge a word carries)
Martel’s use of literary/poetic devices.
Martel’s Syntax. Syntax refers to the arrangement--the ordering, grouping, and
placement--of words within a phrase, clause, or sentence. Some considerations:
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type of sentence
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length of sentence
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subtle shifts or abrupt changes in sentence length or patterns
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punctuation use
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use of repetition
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language patterns / rhythm / cadence
…more on back >>
English 10 Honors
Summer Reading
You should have at least one example of this type of annotation per chapter. Once you have
done this, create a one or two sentence summary which describes why you chose to annotate
this particular section. You can write this description on the last page of each chapter
and include the page number where you chose your example or write it in the
margins next to the highlighted text. Please make sure your comments are legible.
Assignment #2
Choose one of the following prompts and create a well written, multi-paragraph response:
1.
Pi says to Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, “If you stumble at mere believability, what are you
living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?” Discuss this in the context of faith and storytelling.
2. Discuss the idea that Richard Parker is part of Pi and necessary for his survival on the
lifeboat.
3. In the beginning of the book, Martel insists that this is a story “to make you believe in God”
(author’s note, pg xi). Do you agree or disagree with this assertion?
(This handout can also be found on our class websites at www.foothilltech.org)