Pre-AP 9th Grade Summer Reading Assignments
Ms. Halada (jehalada@dcboe.com) & Mrs. Miller (mmiller@dcboe.com)
Due Date: Friday, August 1, 2014 – May be turned in July 31st
Congratulations on your enrollment in the 9th Grade Pre-AP class for the 2014 school year! This Pre-AP class
includes a summer reading component with required reading and responding. Getting started in the summer
provides you with initial preparation for the course you will take next year and allows you the flexibility to
proceed on your own schedule at your own pace. Do not wait until the last minute to complete the three
assignments!
These three assignments are due by August 1st regardless of when you have the class! Please turn in
your assignments to Ms. Halada, room 6102 or Mrs. Miller, room 6104, or if turned in early, to the
administration office. You may also turn them in early at the BHS Back to School Open House.
Students should be prepared to write a timed, in-class essay about the novel as well an AR test during
the first week of the 1st or 2nd semester for next school year.
1. Book Cards for Animal Farm by George Orwell
2. Double-Entry Journal based on a Pre-AP Summer Reading Book of Choice
3. Pre-AP Literary Vocabulary Flash Cards
Purchasing Animal Farm is not required but strongly suggested so you can make annotations inside your own
personal copy while closely reading the novel. The annotation process can often become tedious and time
consuming; however, if notations are purposefully done, you should experience greater success with insight
and understanding of a literary work. WE ANNOTATE EVERYTHING WE READ IN PRE-AP.
If purchasing the book is not possible due to financial hardship, a limited number of copies of the book may
be checked out on a first come, first serve basis from Carol Widner, Secondary Literacy Coach at Bainbridge
Middle School. The book will be turned back in with the summer reading assignment. If the book has been
damaged in any way or has been written in, the student is then responsible for the cost of the book. Students
may also check out a copy of the novel from the public library. Animal Farm is a classic and can also be
found online for free download from various sites.
***NOTE - Students are asked to use their own thoughts, observations, and words on these assignments. Copying
information from Sparknotes.com, Enotes.com, or any other source is prohibited and considered plagiarism and is
unacceptable. Students must remember that Mrs. Miller and Ms. Halada have access to these same sources and will be
checking.
We look forward to working with you in 9th grade Pre-AP English. ***Take risks with these assignments –
don’t worry about whether your reaction is the “right” one or not just let it be “yours” and not compliments of
Sparknotes. Have a great summer, and we look forward to meeting you in the fall. Please email one of the
Pre-AP Lit./Comp. teachers if you have ANY questions.
Book Card Rubric:
Title, the author, student’s full name
Setting (times, places, social context)
Character Descriptions w/ 2 direct quotes
Style
Theme
Plot summary
Total:
4 pts.
6 pts.
25 pts.
25 pts.
15 pts.
25 pts.
100 pts.
Pre-AP Summer Reading Assignment #1
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Book Cards
For the novel listed above, complete the book card assignment following the directions listed below.
 *Use 4 X 6 index cards
 *Handwrite in black ink
 *Observe paragraphing - Paragraph format with topic sentences – not bulleted points.
 *Use your own words
 *Use complete sentences on ALL cards.
 *Place the cards in a zip-lock sandwich bag or use a rubber band to secure them.
Include the following cards:
1. Cover Card: Print the Title of the Book and the Author’s Name. Also, include your full name
and the name of the class., 9th grade Lit./Comp. (You may receive an extra point for creativity and/or artwork.)
2. Setting Card: time period, place or geographical locations, social context (what’s going on in society)
3. Character Cards: Identify & Describe the Characters (at least 3 characters)
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At least one 4x6 card per character - Fill the card with descriptions and information about the character.
Also, identify whether or not the character(s) are the protagonist, antagonist, dynamic, static, flat, round, etc.
On the back of the card, include two important quotes as evidence of direct or indirect characterization.
Be sure to include the page/pages where the quotes are found in the book.
Please remember the difference between a direct quote taken from text as evidence and dialogue.
4. Style Cards – Style is the writer’s distinctive manner of arranging words to suit his or her ideas
and purpose in writing. Elements of style may include the use of the following: Diction, Tone,
Figurative Language, Imagery, Point of View, Use of Time (flashback, framework, or flash-forward),
Symbolism, and Allusion. Students are to select three specific elements found in the novel.
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At least one 4x6 card per element explaining the representation and significance/meaning of the element
Include two important direct quotes from the text as examples of the element.
Be sure to include the page/pages where the evidence is found in the book.
5. Plot Summary Cards – 4 to 6 cards summarizing the novel beginning with the exposition, rising
action, climax, and ending with the denouement.
6. Theme(s) Card(s): On the theme card or cards use the following format for each one:
“The ________________ by ___________ is about ____________________________ and reveals ____________________________.”
(genre + Title)
(Author)
(Topic/abstract concept)
(Opinion statement about
topic and its universality)
For example:
“The historical novel Night by Elie Wiesel is about the atrocities of the Holocaust
and reveals that the human spirit can prevail in difficult situations.”
Pre-AP Summer Reading Choice List:
Double-Entry Journal Assignment #2
Directions:
Read and select one book from the list of young adult books listed below. While you read a book of your
choice, you will complete a double-entry journal as outlined on the reverse of this assignment. The use of a
journal will help you discover meaning through the rethinking of what you have read. It is a place for you to
examine your own experiences, feelings, and values as well as a means to gain insight into a world different
than your own. Furthermore it is a way to begin to analyze the literary elements of literature, including
characterization, setting conflict, style, and theme. Choose a book that you have not read! We have access
to your AR records from the middle schools. 
Your double-entry journal must include a minimum of eight direct quotations taken from the book and
a reflective response for each of the quotations.
Books indicated with ** are books you may check out from your teacher and will not have to purchase;
however, you are not allowed to write in them or damage them in any way or will have to pay for them.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Divergent, by Veronica Roth
**The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
**The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
The Maze Runner, by James Dashner
**Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupis
**Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater
**The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
Double-Entry Journal
For the novel, you will compose eight double-entry journal entries: four personal
connections and four intertextual connections. Following the models from “The Story of the
Three Bears” below, number each entry, write the quotation including page and paragraph
number, identify the type of connection, and compose a response of at least two sentences.
Personal Connection Contemplate how the quotation connects to some aspect of your
personal knowledge and experience. The quotation may remind you of a situation you have
been in, seen, or read about.
Intertextual Connection Think about how the quotation connects to another text (literature,
film, media, music, or art). Consider similarities that the two texts share (characterization,
mood, plot, setting, theme, tone), and discuss how the two texts relate to one another.
Double-Entry Journal /”The
Story of the Three Bears”
Quotation
1 “If Goldilocks had remembered what
Connection
personal
As a child, I had—and still do have—a
strong memory. I did not, as Goldilocks
does, forget my mother’s advice. I simply
chose to ignore it often and make my own
decisions. Thus, negative consequences
were often crucial learning experiences for
me.
2 “Then Goldilocks went upstairs into
intertextual
Despite being warned repeatedly about
politeness by her mother, Goldilocks
cannot seem to control her selfish desires.
The story suggests that Goldilocks, fast
asleep, may be punished for her lack of
self-control, much like the thoughtless and
greedy suitors are punished by Odysseus
for attempting to steal his wife Penelope
and his kingdom of Ithaca (Homer’s
Odyssey).
her mother had told her, she would
have waited till the Bears came
home, and then, perhaps, they would
have asked her to breakfast; for they
were good Bears--a little rough, as
the manner of Bears is, but for all
that very good-natured and
hospitable. But Goldilocks forgot, and
set about helping herself” (1,
paragraph 2).
the bed-chamber in which the Three
Bears slept. And first she lay down
upon the bed of the Great Huge Bear;
but that was too high at the head for
her. And next she lay down upon the
bed of the Middle-sized Bear, and that
was too high at the foot for her. And
then she lay down upon the bed of
the Little Small Wee Bear; and that
was neither too high at the head nor
at the foot, but just right. So she
covered herself up comfortably, and
lay there till she fell fast asleep” (1,
paragraph 5).
Pre-AP 9th Grade Literature & Composition
Flash Card Summer Assignment #3
The process of making flash cards helps commit the information to memory. Use 4 x 6 index
cards and print (very neatly) the word on one side of the card and on the other side, print a
definition of the term.
Write with consistent, clear handwriting on blank cards! Use a highlighter or pen to
underline the key words in longer definitions or answers. (Test your pen or marker on a
spare card to make sure the ink is clearly visible but doesn't bleed through the paper.)
Pre-AP terminology comes from the 9th Grade Skill Progression Chart for AP Vertical Teaming:
1. Annotation
2. Generalization
3. Archetypes
4. Epiphany
5. Motivation
6. Diction
7. Connotation
8. Denotation
9. Dialect
10.Euphemism
11.Idiom
12.Allusion
13.Motif
14.Rhetorical devices
15.Tone
16.Author’s Style
17.Syntax
18.Antithesis
19.Juxtaposition
20.Asyndeton
21.Ellipsis
22.Polysyndeton
23.Anaphora
24.Epistrophe
25.Parallelism (used in writing)
Study the flash cards before starting school in August. These elements along with the
ones you have already acquired in middle school, will be utilized in the close reading,
application, and stylistic analysis of more complex reading, grammar, and composition.
Bainbridge High School
Pre-Advanced Placement Literature & Composition
Summer Reading Acknowledgement
9th Grade
Date:__________________________
8th Grade Homeroom Teacher:__________________________________________
Team Name:________________________________________________________
I understand that I have chosen to be enrolled in Pre-Advanced Placement 9th Grade Literature
& Composition for the 2014-2015 school year. I understand that I must complete the attached
summer reading requirements and that the assignments will be graded. I understand that if I cannot
purchase the books, that I may check them out from the teacher. I understand that I will use the
information in the assignments in class next school year. I also understand the assignments are due to
my teacher by August 1, 2014. Failure to complete the assignment will negatively affect my grade
and my performance in the class. I understand that according to the BHS English Department policy,
for every day the assignments are late, 15 points will be deducted from each assignment, and after
three days, the assignment will not be accepted at all. I understand that I may contact Mrs. Miller or
Ms. Halada if I have any questions regarding the assignments.
________________________________
Student Signature
________________________________
Parent Signature