BEAUMONT SUMMER READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENT (2014-2015)
College Prep World Literature & Honors World Literature
ALL students enrolled in World Literature must read the following:
All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
ALL students enrolled in Honors World Literature must read the following:
All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
OVERVIEW
Follow these directions to be successful:
1) Before you begin reading the books, choose ONE OF THE PROMPTS on the following page. You will answer
this prompt as you write your essay.
2) As you read the books, TAKES NOTES BASED ON THE PROMPT YOU CHOSE. As you read, mark specific
quotations that relate to your prompt. You’ll use these later when you write your essay.
3) After reading the books, write a THESIS STATEMENT BASED ON THE PROMPT YOU CHOSE. Your thesis
statement must be argumentative; this means that it must be proving a point, not just summarizing the books.
4) Then, use your thesis statement as a guide as you write your essay using all of the notes that you took
while reading related to the chosen prompt.
-Your essay must include ANALYSIS OF ALL THE REQUIRED BOOKS. That means you’ll write ONE ESSAY
that includes ALL OF THE BOOKS required of you.
-Your essay should INCLUDE DIRECT QUOTATIONS AND SCPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM THE BOOKS.
-All PARAPHRASE, SUMMARY, and DIRECT QUOTATIONS should feature proper IN-TEXT CITATIONS.
You may not use study aides, such as Spark Notes, Enotes, or Bookrags, for this assignment. This
analysis must be your own work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated; a paper that reflects plagiarism will
not receive any credit. Use Writers Inc. to learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it.
5) As you write your essay, be sure that you are addressing your prompt/answering your thesis statement.
-AVOID SUMMARIZING the readings; your audience is familiar with the books. Analyze the books
based on the prompt you chose/your thesis statement.
6) Be sure that you follow the guidelines in Writers Inc. for punctuation, grammar, literary terms, in-text
citation, Works Cited, and MLA format.
7) Include a Works Cited page with your paper. This Works Cited page will features entries for the books that
you read.
8) IN ORDER TO SUCCEED ON THIS ASSIGNMENT, YOU MUST CAREFULLY READ OVER THE RUBRIC. Take note
of what I will be looking for as I grade your paper. If you ignore the rubric, you will most likely not do well.
The essay is worth 100 points and is DUE FRIDAY, AUGUST 29TH IN HOMEROOM (even if you do not have
World Literature or Honors World Literature until second semester). Ten points will be deducted each day
the paper is late.
REQUIREMENTS
-For College Prep, the minimum length of the essay is 3 full pages and the maximum length is 5 pages. Ten
points will be deducted if your paper does not meet the minimum length requirement or exceeds the
maximum length.
-For Honors, the minimum length of the essay is 4 full pages and the maximum length is 6 pages. Ten points
will be deducted if your paper does not meet the minimum length requirement or exceeds the maximum
length.
-One Works Cited page (this does not count as a “page” in your essay)
-MLA format: 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, heading on 1st page, header with page number
on subsequent pages, double-spaced
-Attach a copy of the following rubric to the back of the essay. Attaching the rubric is worth 5 points.
-Be prepared to submit your paper to turnitin.com as soon as the school year begins. I will give you an ID and
password to enroll in a class. Five points will be deducted if the paper is not submitted to turnitin.com after
the announced deadline. If the paper is never uploaded to turnitin.com, you will receive a zero.
-Do not use these words in your essay: I, YOU, YOUR, YOURSELF, ME, MY, MYSELF, THING, EVERYTHING,
NOTHING, SOMETHING, IT (without a proper antecedent), CONTRACTIONS (’), EXCLAMATION POINTS (!).
Each time you use one of the following words in your essay one point will be deducted from your total
score.
PROMPTS (1-4)
Directions: Choose ONE of the following prompts to guide your thesis statement and essay. You are writing
ONE essay but including ALL books required for your course.
1. In a literary work, a contrasting character, often known as a foil character, possesses traits that emphasize,
by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the protagonist (main character).
For example, the ideas or behavior of the foil character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or
strengths of the main character. Write ONE essay as you analyze how a foil character in each work serves as a
foil to the protagonist in that work. Analyze how the relationship between the foil characters and the
protagonists illuminate the meanings of the works.
2. An author can use a minor character to affect a work in some major way. The minor character may create
a conflict, affect the plot, act as a confidant to a major character, or act in other important ways. No matter
what, a minor character has a significantly smaller role in the plot than the major character. Select one
minor character from each work. Remember, he/she must play a much smaller part in the novel than the
protagonist. Write ONE essay that analyzes the impact of a minor character in his or her respective work.
Note: Each character does not need to impact his or work in the same way as the other characters influence
theirs.
3. A character may be torn in two directions by two equally compelling forces or by a passion and a
responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to correct a wrong,
or some other emotion may conflict with moral duty. For each work required for your course, select one
character that faces such a conflict. The selected character does not have to the protagonist. Identify the
source of the conflict and clarify how the conflict is resolved (if it is). Then, explain the impact of each conflict
on the character, on other characters in the work, and on the work as a whole. Write ONE essay that includes
a character from each work required for your course. Note: The conflicts in each work may be very different.
4. Some of the most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or
deaths take place. At these moments, other characters can come to a new understanding about life. Select
one or several death scenes from each work. Write ONE essay as you analyze how these death scenes in each
work help to illuminate the meaning of each work. Be sure to avoid plot summary.
Name:
Summer Reading and Writing Assignment RUBRIC (2014-2015)
College Prep World Literature & Honors World Literature
Category
MLA FORMAT
-Times New Roman 12 pt. font -Heading and header
-Double-spaced with 1 inch margins
-Centered, creative title that isn’t underlined or in quotations
INTRODUCTION
-Includes the titles of the works and their respective authors
-Links basic plot summary to concepts from prompt
-A clear and meaningful thesis with parallel structure that guides the paper
and reflects one of the prompts
DEVELOPMENT
-Strong analysis and development of thesis
-Ideas are well-supported with appropriate quotations,
paraphrase, and original thoughts
-Only necessary plot summary (i.e. context)
ORGANIZATION
-Smooth topic sentences/ transitions at the start of body
paragraphs
-Transition sentences move from old idea to new idea
-Body paragraphs follow the organization of thesis
-Body paragraphs focus on only one main idea
CONCLUSION
-Reviews main points without introducing new ideas or repeating
introduction and thesis
-Breaks thesis down into separate sentences
IN-TEXT CITATIONS
-Use of meaningful quotations
-Appropriate set-up for quotations (context, signal verbs)
-Correct MLA citation of direct quotations and paraphrase
-Correct format for long quotations
WORK CITED
-Correct MLA Work Cited page
-In-text citations have corresponding entries in Works Cited and
entries in Works Cited have corresponding in-text citations
MECHANICS AND GRAMMAR
-Punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, grammar
-Consistent use of the “literary present”
CLEAR EVIDENCE OF PROOFING/REVISING
CLEAR RESPONSE TO CHOSEN PROMPT/DISCUSS ALL READINGS
SUBMITTED RUBRIC
Date:____________________
Points
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
-Forbidden Words Deduction (-1 point per use)
I, YOU, YOUR, THING, EVERYTHING, NOTHING, SOMETHING, IT, CONTRACTIONS (’), EXCLAMATION POINTS (!)
-Incorrect spelling of names, titles, authors, characters, or any other words (-1 each time)
-Incorrect length (-10 per page over or under)
-Missing turnitin.com deadline (-5)
-Missing deadline (-10 each day late)
/ 100
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