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“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—
that is the goal of true education.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Honors American Literature Summer Assignment
Overview
Welcome to Honors 11th Grade American Literature and Composition! The summer assignment is meant
to encourage students to begin thinking about American culture and to read literature which you may not
otherwise explore. There are several components to this assignment that must be completed and turned in
by August 10th or 11th—the first day of class.
We suggest—whole heartedly suggest—that you do not wait to start this assignment. Get your texts now
and start now. Since the summer assignment is ten percent of your first semester grade, you will
jeopardize your future success in Honors American Literature if you do not have your summer
assignment on the first day of school
If you need any assistance during the summer, please contact Mrs. Hernandez at
whshonorsamlit@gmail.com or via telephone 678-480-2777.
Our website: www.elawhs.weebly.com
Please save this website address to your desktop or favorite…we become increasingly annoyed when asked the website
address.
Mrs. Hernandez and Mr. Reynolds
Reading Requirements:
1. MANDATORY reading: Thomas C. Foster How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Before the first day of
school, you must have read this text. There will be a comprehensive test over this text within the first two weeks
of school.
2. SELECT one from the prescribed reading list:
Title
Allies & Assassins
Atlantia
Can’t Look Away
Far Far Away
Fire Horse Girl
Gilded
Illusions of Fate
The Body in the Woods
The Iron Trial Holly Black
The Rule of Three
Author
Justin Somper
Ally Condie
Donna Cooner
Tom McNeal
Kay Honeyman
Christina Farley
Kiersten White
April Henry
Cassandra Clare
Eric Walters
Title
Midnight Thief
Mindwar
Prisoner of Night
Red Queen
Snow Like Ashes
Stitching Snow
Tempus
The Glass Sentence
The Mark of the Dragonfly
The Winner’s Curse
Author
Livia Blackburne
Andrew Klavan
Anne Blankman
Victoria Aveyard
Sara Raasch
R.C. Lewis
Holly Lauren
S.E. Grove
Jaleigh Johnson
Marie Rutkoski
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3. ANNOTATE your chosen text. Please give yourselves time to read the books in order to take thorough notes.
Please take notes on major literary devices and major points used IN the novels themselves.
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Below are your note-taking guidelines:
This means that during that first week of class, you will be expected to provide: anything written in the margins of
your text (i.e., statements, questions, words), items circled, underlined, highlighted, etc.—you should be
interacting with the text at all times! While there is no one way to annotate a text, here is a useful guideline (feel
free to create your own system):
a. Circle symbols
b. Bracket examples of motifs
c. Underline examples of themes
d. Squiggly-line major characters/descriptions
e. Write questions of comprehension in the margins
f. Write questions of further confusion at the end of each chapter that later will have my answers
g. Write brief summaries of my thoughts on what happened at the end of each chapter
h. Make notations of patterns seen
i. Highlight in 1 color important terms (definitions/explanations will be found at the top/bottom of the page)
j. Highlight in another color solid examples of figurative language and write brief explanations in the
margins next to it (i.e., similes, metaphors, personification, euphemism, foreshadowing, alliteration,
anaphora, etc.) You may not find examples of everything in every text.
k. Highlight in another color examples of rhetorical devices (i.e., allusions, foils, paradoxes, irony,
hyperboles, ethos, pathos, logos, allegories, parallelism, tone, etc.) You may not find examples of
everything in every text.
Regardless of your system, there should be several examples of each of the above findings.
News Article Requirement:
It is important that students are familiar with what is currently happening in America and the world as this will be
useful when writing argumentative essays, an essay format that is widely utilized throughout the rest of your high
school career. Therefore you will complete the following:
1. COLLECT five news articles that can be connected to your chosen novel in some way. These articles must
be from reputable sites (CNN, NY Times, Chicago Times, newspapers from other countries).
2. PRINT out a copy of the news articles and type a response to each one that includes the following
information:
a. A paraphrase of the events discussed in the article in your own words.
b. Make a connection to America, yourself, or how the events discussed could affect America.
c. What surprises you about the information in the article?
d. Make a connection to your chosen novel with a minimum of 2 textual examples and citations from
both readings. Follow the CEI Model (Claim, Evidence, Interpretation).
Seminar
1. COMPOSE five (5) Socratic seminar questions based on the text using the format you will find at the end of this
packet, one question of each type: Close-Ended, Open-Ended, Literary Analysis, Thematic, and WorldConnection. You must also answer your own questions and provide at least 2 pieces of textual evidence for each
of your responses, following MLA format. Questions cover the breadth of the entire novel from beginning to end
(divide the novel in half).
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Tips for Socratic Seminar Questions
1. CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION: A question which deals with matters of character, setting, and plot and which has
one correct answer that is stated explicitly in the text.
a. Example: What happened to Hester Prynne’s husband so that she was left alone in Boston without a
family?
2. OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: A question that is arguable, has no “correct” answer, lends itself to discussion and
debate, and whose answer requires textual support and proof as one interprets multiple meanings inherent in a
text.
a. Example: Why did Gene hesitate to reveal the truth about Finny’s accident that first day in the infirmary
after the mid-point of A Separate Peace?
3. LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTION: A question dealing with HOW and WHY an author composes a literary
piece in terms of point of view, characterization, theme, archetypal hero-patterns, etc.
a. Example: Why is it important that the narrator of Invisible Man is left nameless?
b. Example: What is the theme of Invisible Man?
4. UNIVERSAL THEME/CORE QUESTION: A question which widens out the implications of “theme” as it might
apply to Question #3 in an attempt to make connections with universal experience.
a. So, while a literary analysis question in relationship to theme in Frankenstein might be: “What point is
Mary Shelley trying to make about the forces that made the Creature monstrous?” A Universal
Theme/Core Question that expands on that would be: Example: To what degree do the influences that
either Nature or Nurture have on our behavior excuse us from taking moral responsibility for how we feel
and act?
5. WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION: The “you” question that applies the thematic concerns of the work to the
reader’s real-life situation.
a. Example: After reading Night, if you were given only 24 hours to pack your most precious belongings in
a backpack and get ready to leave your hometown, what would you pack?