Summer Reading Information 2015-2016
HHIHS College Prep English Summer/Extended Reading Information
Directions for College Prep English Students:
We’re supporting college prep students and their parents in making enjoyable choices for
reading. Before week two of the first semester of the school year, each student will select a book.
This book should be one of the titles from the list below. Students will complete the Reading
Response Sheet in this document to be submitted on the date of the Summer Reading test, which
will be administered school-wide on September 1st. EVERY student will test and turn in summer
reading materials on this date. For the students not taking an English class until second semester,
we will house your tests and your summer reading work until second semester. Your English
teacher will then receive the tests and the work to enter into the grade book.
Works of fiction: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler Boy Nobody (I Am the Weapon) by Allen Zadoff The Caged Graves by Dianne Salerni Find Me by Romily Bernard The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters Invisibility by Andrea R. Cremer Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike Living with Jackie Chan by Jo Knowles Noggin by John Corey Whaley Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl by Carolita Blythe Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith The Tyrant’s Daughter by J. C. Carleson When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney Minnow by James E. McTeer II (This is not a SCASL nominee, but written by Beaufort author)
Works of Nonfiction:
Laughing at My Nightmare written by Shane Burcaw, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group;
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia written by Candace Fleming, and published by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books;
Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won! written by Emily Arnold McCully, and Published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights written by Steve Sheinkin, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’ Children’s Publishing Group;
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek written by Maya Van Wagenen, and published by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group.
Assuming Names (Criminal Mischief #1) by Tanya Thompson
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheink
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickle, America’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot By the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom by Sue Macy
** Some of these titles are available on ebooks. Visit the media center portion of the high school website
to find out more, or email Mrs. Metropolis at [email protected] to set up your ebook!
____________________________________________________________________________ Hilton Head Island High School Honors English and AP/IB English
Students Summer-Extended Reading Information Directions for HHIHS Honors/AP/IB Students: The summer/extended reading list for HILTON HEAD ISLAND
HIGH SCHOOL honors/AP/IB English courses is listed below. You are required to read specific books. Honors
classes must also complete assigned work for each work of fiction, which will be due on September 1st, 2015, the
date of the Summer Reading test for ALL students, regardless of English being scheduled for first or second
semester. Your teacher will have additional assessments on the books including a Socratic Seminar during your
scheduled English class. See the media specialist in your school or local library if you have difficulty obtaining a
copy of any of the readings.
IB HL-2 Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (fiction)
Edit Hamilton: Mythology (fiction) – Read 10 myths – must involve different Gods/Goddesses AP Literature and Composition Edith Hamilton: Mythology (fiction)
Tim O’Brien: The Things They Carried IB HL-1 Thomas Foster: How to Read Literature like a Professor
The Best American Non-required Reading 2014 by Daniel Handler (Editor), Lemony Snicket (Introduction)
Pick 10 pieces to read, No more than 3 from part I!
AP Language and Composition
Thomas Foster: How to Read Literature like a Professor Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
English II Honors/Dual Enrollment Earnest Hemingway: Old Man and the Sea (fiction)
Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome (fiction) Your assignment is to keep a Dialectical Journal for both books, see the assignment below
English I Honors Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (fiction)
One book of choice from the College Prep reading list above
Your assignment is to write an Approach Paper for Flowers for Algernon, and to fill in the Response Guide
attached for the book of choice from the College Prep list.
Additional Recommended Readings
Dear Students: It is recommended that all AP and IB students take advantage of the summer break to engage in as
much reading as possible. In addition to the required reading, the following readings are recommended for the
summer. College bound/college preparatory students may wish to review the books listed below for additional
reading, as these are books that are recommended by major colleges and universities.
AP AND IB RECOMMENDED STUDENT READINGS
SUGGESTED BY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Drama Poetry
Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard (Russian) Dante Inferno (Italian)
Henrik Ibsen A Doll’s House (Norwegian) Homer The Odyssey (Greek)
Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman (American) Milton Paradise Lost (British)
William Shakespeare Hamlet (British)
Non-Fiction Miscellaneous
Franklin The Autobiography
George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion (British)
Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest (British)
Sophocles Oedipus (Greek)
Thoreau Walden (American)
Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie
** Some of these titles are available on ebooks. Visit the media center portion of the high school website
to find out more, or email Mrs. Metropolis at [email protected] to set up your ebook!
Summer Reading Response Guide ( Fiction): English I CP, English I Honors Personal Choice,
English II CP, English III CP, English IV CP
**You may write your responses on your own paper**
Character Analysis
Character’s Name: ______________________
Physical Description (age, appearance, etc.)
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
Personality Traits (caring, cruel, crazy, etc.)
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
How is this character related to other characters in the book? (ex. Sister of Sarah, Best friends with Jasmine, etc.)
1. _____________________________
2. _____________________________
3. _____________________________
How does this character change from the beginning to the end of the novel? (3 good sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you could cast this character in a movie, what actor/actress would play him or her? (3 good sentences)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Would you be friends with this character?
_____________________________________
What IB Learner Profile Trait describes this character and why? (Ex. Risk-taker, principled, balanced, inquirer, etc)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Character Analysis
Character’s Name: ______________________
Physical Description (age, appearance, etc.)
1. ____________________________
2 ____________________________
2. ____________________________
Personality Traits (caring, cruel, crazy, etc.)
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
How is this character related to other characters in the book? (ex. Sister of Sarah, Best friends with Jasmine, etc.)
4. _____________________________
5. _____________________________
6. _____________________________
How does this character change from the beginning to the end of the novel? (3 good sentences)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you could cast this character in a movie, what actor/actress would play him or her? (3 good sentences)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Would you be friends with this character?
_____________________________________
What IB Learner Profile Trait describes this character and why? (Ex. Risk-taker, principled, balanced, inquirer, etc)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summer Reading Response Guide (Fiction): English I CP, English I H Personal Choice, English II CP, English III CP, English IV CP Cont’d
Conflict Explanation
One conflict that the main character faces is Man vs. ______________________________ Describe the conflict below: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Critique Explain your favorite part of the book. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think was the most important idea in the book? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Would you change the ending? Why or Why Not? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Connections
Text to Self Include the page number where something in the book reminded you of your life. Explain in the space provided.
pg. _____ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ pg. ______ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Pg. ______ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Pg. ______ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Text to Text Include the page number where something in the book reminded you of something you have read before or have seen in a movie or TV show. Explain in the space provided. Pg. ________ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ Pg. ________ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ Pg. _______ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ Pg. _______ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summer Reading Response Guide (Nonfiction): English I CP, English I H Personal Choice, English II CP, English III CP, English IV CP
1. What is the main idea of your book? List three details that support the
main idea.
2. What is the author’s purpose of your book? Explain how you know.
3. Explain why a friend should/should not read this book.
4. Would you like to read more books about this topic? Explain why or
why not.
5. Does the author explain new concepts to you? Give an example. What
are you still unsure of?
6. What questions would you ask the author if he came to Hilton Head?
7. If you were the author explain what you would do differently.
8. Compare and contrast two individuals, events or concepts from the
selection.
English I Honors Students: you will use this format to respond to Flowers for Algernon by Daniel
Keyes (This is the same format of approach papers from 8th
grade)
Writing an Approach Paper:
An approach paper consists of several sections:
I. Proper heading with your name, date, class, and novel/play title
II. Summary Paragraph: A three or four sentence paragraph which explains the ENTIRE novel using as
much description and detail as you can manage. To encourage your writing style, you may not use semi-
colons or colons in this paragraph, and every sentence must start out in a different way. Prepositional
phrases, gerund phrases, normal word order clauses, participial phrases, and infinitive phrases are some of
the different ways you might choose to start these sentences. This helps make your writing more
interesting to read. This is often the most difficult section of the approach paper to write. It will take some
time to condense the happenings of the novel/play into these few sentences which all start in a different
way.
III. Character Descriptions: Choose three or four main characters in your novel or play. By each of these
character’s name, list four or five words which describe the character distinctly. This is a good time to
think about vivid vocabulary words we have studied and to check the dictionary and thesaurus for ideas.
If you use a particular word to describe one character, you may not use that same word to describe
another character.
IV. Discussion/Essay Questions: Write three questions that a teacher might ask you about thenovel or
play either in class or for an essay. These questions should be thought-provoking and almost always take
more than one line to type because they ask readers to combine more than one idea. Just writing these
types of questions helps you to anticipate what questions might be asked of you in class discussion or on a
test and encourages you to think more insightfully about the book or play.
V. Key Passage: Choose the most important passage in the novel/play (in your opinion). Type it up
word-for-word in the approach paper. Make sure to identify the speakers.
VI. Key Passage Explanation: In a fully-developed paragraph, explain why your chosen passage is
important to understanding the novel/play. In your explanation, make sure you integrate quotes (actual
words or phrases) from the key passage to strengthen your explanation. Often, this selected passage will
offer clues to the novel/play’s themes. Explain any mentioned or inferred themes connected to the key
passage.
Sample Approach Paper
Jennifer Crowley
October 22, 2001
English 10: Mrs. Adams
To Kill a Mockingbird Approach Paper
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of three years in the childhood of Scout and her older
brother Jem. As an adult narrator, Scout recalls a series of loosely connected episodes which occur in
Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, a time of racial segregation and extreme prejudice. Weaving two
strands of narrative, Lee presents Boo Radley, the mysterious and reclusive neighbor whom the children
find both intriguing and frightening, with the trial of Tom Robinson, a hardworking, innocent black man
who is being defended by Scout and Jem’s just and courageous father, Atticus Finch. The two strands of
narrative tie together in the end when Boo Radley emerges from his seclusion to save Scout and Jem from
a cowardly attack on them by Bob Ewell, who vowed vengeance on Atticus after the trial.
Scout Finch: strong-willed, intelligent, tomboyish, loyal, quick-tempered
Jem Finch:thoughtful, steadfast, imaginative, maturing
Atticus Finch:just, courageous, insightful, determined
Boo Radley:reclusive, lonely, simple, protective
1. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with the issue of racial equality, but Harper Lee also includes the
strong story line of Boo Radley. How does the Tom Robinson trial combine with the Boo Radley
story thread to make a novel that speaks powerfully of more than just racial equality?
2. What do Jem and Scout finally understand about their father: what he stands for in their own lives
and in the lives of many of the townspeople?
3. Discuss the three different views of Tom Robinson’s trial and its outcome as seen by Atticus, Jem
and Scout, and the townspeople.
From Chapter 3, page 30:
Atticus: “First of all,” he said. “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all
kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Atticus’ entire philosophy of life seems to be summed up in his words to Scout. To be an objective and
just community member, one must be able to “climb into” another person’s “skin” and “walk around in
it” or be able to see issues from another person’s perspective. Atticus offers these words to Scout after her
first day of formal schooling in the first grade when she is upset that the teacher doesn’t understand her
efforts to explain Walter Cunningham’s financial situation. These words from Atticus begin her first
lessons in life. Through the course of the novel, Atticus will show the children his compassion for people
different from their family, his attempts to “climb into someone’s skin and walk around in it” when he
defends an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, against a town’s wishes, and when he instructs the
children to be respectful and compassionate toward Boo Radley, a neighborhood recluse. One of the main
themes of the novel is understanding and accepting people different from oneself.
Summer Reading Directions for ESOL Level 1 and ESOL Level 2 students:
For rising 9th
Graders, choose one of the e-format books listed below:
No te vayas by Vicki Grant ; traducido por Eva Quintana Crelis
Un trabajo sin futuro by Vicki Grant ; traducido por Queta Fernandez
For upperclassmen (10, 11, 12), choose ONE from 3 SCYABA nominees that are available in Spanish OR choose ONE e-format book, OR choose ONE of the titles listed in the English version.
The 3 titles available in Spanish are:
The 5th
Wave by Rick Yancey
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Follow the following modifications for the Approach Paper and be ready to turn in and test on September 1st
!
See highlighted portions as options for modifying the approach paper … thoughts?
I. Proper heading with your name, date, class, and novel/play title. ESOL Students: keep it the same.
II. Summary Paragraph: A three or four sentence paragraph which explains the ENTIRE novel using as much
description and detail as you can manage. To encourage your writing style, you may not use semi-colons or colons
in this paragraph, and every sentence must start out in a different way. Prepositional phrases, gerund phrases, normal
word order clauses, participial phrases, and infinitive phrases are some of the different ways you might choose to
start these sentences. This helps make your writing more interesting to read. This is often the most difficult section
of the approach paper to write. It will take some time to condense the happenings of the novel/play into these few
sentences which all start in a different way. ESOL Students may opt to give this information as bulleted points (and
will develop the paragraph with guidance in class) or they may choose to create an illustration that serves as an
explanation for the novel. Students who opt to create an illustration should be prepared to explain it (in English) to
their teacher.
III. Character Descriptions: Choose three or four main characters in your novel or play. By each of these character’s
name, list four or five words which describe the character distinctly. This is a good time to think about vivid
vocabulary words we have studied and to check the dictionary and thesaurus for ideas. If you use a particular word
to describe one character, you may not use that same word to describe another character. ESOL Student: Select two
main characters, list 3 words to describe the character, If you use a particular word to describe one character, you
may not use that same word to describe another character. Students should include an illustration of one of the
chosen characters to accompany their writing.
IV. Discussion/Essay Questions: Write three questions that a teacher might ask you about the novel or play either
in class or for an essay. These questions should be thought-provoking and almost always take more than one line to
type because they ask readers to combine more than one idea. Just writing these types of questions helps you to
anticipate what questions might be asked of you in class discussion or on a test and encourages you to think more
insightfully about the book or play. ESOL Student: Write one question … This may be the most difficult part of the
assignment – forming a question in English.
V. Key Passage: Choose the most important passage in the novel/play (in your opinion). Type it up word-for-
word in the approach paper. Make sure to identify the speakers. ESOL Student: Keep this the same
VI. Key Passage Explanation: In a fully-developed paragraph, explain why your chosen passage is important to
understanding the novel/play. In your explanation, make sure you integrate quotes (actual words or phrases) from
the key passage to strengthen your explanation. Often, this selected passage will offer clues to the novel/play’s
themes. Explain any mentioned or inferred themes connected to the key passage. ESOL students (1 & 2) may
choose to give information as bulleted items in a list rather than a paragraph format (this would be something for
students to work on in the Fall/Spring IN CLASS – developing their writing with assistance). Explain any
mentioned or inferred themes connected to the key passage.
English 10 Honors Summer Reading 2015-2016
All students, regardless of which semester you will be taking the class, should be
prepared to test on the summer reading after two weeks. Your journals will be
due on this date as well. Journals should be hand-written (see Requirements
Section).
KEEPING A DIALECTICAL JOURNAL
A Dialectical Journal (DJ) means that you will create a “conversation” between the book and yourself through the selection of important and meaningful quotes. The process is meant to help you develop a better understanding of the texts we read. You will use your journal to incorporate your analytical responses to the text and explain your ideas about the developing themes, important symbols, and characters. DJ’s will allow you to have a better understanding of what you’re reading, help you prepare for group discussion, and help you gather textual evidence for others assignments related to the assigned reading. PROCEDURE:
You will need two quotes for EACH chapter of Ethan Frome. You will need 5 quotes for EACH SECTION of Old Man and the Sea, (see directions below).
In the left-hand column of the chart, record passages that reflect (1) literary devices and/or passages that reflect (2) developing themes.
o Mix and match literary devices and themes. Avoid having all literary devices
passages or all thematic passages.
In the right-hand column of the chart, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each passage) .
SAMPLE JOURNAL: Passages from the text (Must quote at least 2 per chapter for Ethan Frome; for Old Man and the Sea, see directions below as there are no chapters. Make sure to number them.)
Pg#/¶ Analyze EACH passage you quote.
Literary Device “It was a face, fiendlike, full of smiling malice, yet bearing the semblance of features that she had known full well, though seldom with a smile, and never with malice in them. It was as if an evil spirit possessed the child, and had just then peeped forth in mockery.” (56)
82
• A literary device used here is alliteration of the “f” sound in “face,” “fiend,” and “full.” This alliteration creates a feeling of fierceness; the sounds are definitive and sharp. Hawthorne uses alliteration here to signify the fierceness of Pearl’s behavior when he describes her as being possessed by an evil spirit.
Theme “But the point which drew all eyes, and, as it were, transfigured the wearer,--so that both men and women, who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne,
50 • In this quote, Hester Prynne is
standing on the scaffolding in front of
all of the people in town, now with
her scarlet letter sown upon the chest
of her dress, and all the people she
were now impressed as if they beheld her for the first time,--was that SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.” (50)
used to know, no longer want to know
her. From this point on, she will be an
outcast and wear the scarlet ‘A’ as a
mark of shame for what she had done.
Here, Hawthorne uses a metaphor to
show the theme of being an outcast.
When he says, “It had the effect of a
spell, taking her out of the ordinary
relations with humanity, and
enclosing her in a sphere by herself,”
Hester isn’t literally being enclosed
in a sphere by herself. She is enclosed
in a metaphorical sphere of solitude.
Old Man and the Sea: The novel can be broken into thirds (as follows). Please complete five journal entries for each section, and follow the same guidelines as you did for Ethan Frome.
Breakdown into thirds: (pages will vary between editions or for students who are using e-readers)
-before Santiago hooks the fish (approx. page 44—Santiago says, “He’s taken it.”)
-while Santiago waits for the fish to surface/when the fish is killed (approx. page 94; “Then the fish came alive,
with his death in him…”)
-then the journey home to Havana to end
REQUIREMENTS:
DJ’s MUST be handwritten. THESE ARE DUE ON THE DAY OF THE SCHOOL-WIDE SUMMER READING TEST (SEPTEMBER 1ST).
It may be helpful to get a 1 subject notebook and divide it in half; then you can use the first half for Ethan Frome and the second half for Old Man and the Sea, or vice versa.
CHOOSING PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:
Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For example, you might record:
Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices
Structural shifts or turns in the plot
Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs.
Passages with interesting language choices
Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting
RESPONDING TO THE TEXT:
You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember is that your observations should be specific and detailed. Responses that don’t thoroughly analyze the passage will lose points.
Adapted from https://www.madison.k12.al.us/Schools/bhs/Documents/2013%20Summer%20Reading/Pre-
AP%2010%20Dialectical-Journal-Handout.pdf
AP Language and Composition Summer Reading Requirements 2015-2016 Dr. Read
Summer Reading Read How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster—create book cards Read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain—write a SOAPStone essay for 2 chapters and prepare for Socratic Seminar 1st Quarter I expect the following in all of your writing:
Standard MLA formatting
11 pt. Calibri or Times Roman, double space, MLA heading, 1 inch margins—if typed and complete sentences at all times
Proof-read for correct grammar and spelling
Absolute originality of thought—use no resources outside the novels and the handout provided For How To Read Literature Like a Professor you will create book cards, use 5 X 8 cards and write legibly in blue or black ink. Label each card with the concept discussed in each of the 27 chapters. You may need more than one card to cover the important information in each chapter that you find. You will bring the notecards to class the first week of school. For Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you will choose two chapters after reading the entire novel for a more in depth study. For each chapter you will write a SOAPStone paper (6 paragraphs—1 paragraph for each topic) in which you will analyze the concepts below. Please title your paper by the name of the chapter you are analyzing.
Guiding Questions for SOAPStone Paper
Speaker: is there someone identified as the speaker? Can you make some assumptions about this
person? What class does the speaker come from? What political stance can be inferred? What
gender? Any other ideas about this individual’s perspective on the topic at hand?
Occasion: What may have prompted the author to write this piece? What event led to its
publication or development? Why is this particular storyline a part of the novel as a whole?
Audience: Does the speaker identify an audience? What assumptions can you make about the
audience? Is it mixed in terms of race, politics, gender, social class, religion, etc.? Who was the
document created for? Does the speaker use language that is specific for a unique audience?
Purpose: What is the speaker’s purpose? In what ways does the author convey this message
through the speaker? What seems to be the emotional state of the speaker? How is the speaker
trying to evoke reaction in the audience? What words or phrases reveal the purpose?
Subject: What is the subject matter of this particular chapter? How do you know this? How has
the subject been presented? What is the role of the subject matter within the context of the whole
novel?
Tone: What is the tone of this chapter? Is it consistent throughout the chapter? What appears to
be the writer’s attitude as it is revealed through the word choice, phrases, dialogue, and narrative?
Chose three adjectives to describe the tone and give an example from the text that lead you to
determine your choice of adjective to describe the tone.
AP English Literature and Composition 2015-2016 KEEPING A DIALECTICAL
JOURNAL
A Dialectical Journal (DJ) means that you will create a “conversation” between the
book you are reading and yourself through the selection of important and meaningful
quotes. The process is meant to help you develop a better understanding of the texts
we read. You will use your journal to incorporate your personal responses to the text
and explain your ideas about the developing themes, important symbols, and
characters. DJ’s will allow you to have a better understanding of what you’re reading,
help you prepare for group discussion, and help you gather textual evidence for others
assignments related to the assigned reading.
PROCEDURE:
As you read, choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-
hand column on the chart (ALWAYS include page numbers).
In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions,
reflections, and comments on each passage)
You must label your responses using the following codes:
(Q) Question – ask about something in the passage that is unclear
(C) Connect – make a connection to your life, the world, or another text
(P) Predict – anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage
(CL) Clarify – answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
(R) Reflect – think deeply about what the passage means in a broad
sense – not just to the characters in the story/author of the article. What
conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just
the way things work?
(E) Evaluate - make a judgment about what the author is trying to say
Sample Journal Page: Passages from the text (Must quote at
least 2 per chapter. Provide only 1 for
each chapter. Make sure to provide
the page and paragraph number for
each.)
Pg#/ ¶# EACH passage you quote must relate to
one of the following codes above. (Make
sure to use a variety. Using the same
codes for most or all of your entries will
result in a lower score.)
1. "The yellow marks in my college
textbooks...did not help me very
much.”
2. "Annotations do make me read a
lot slower and I wish I didn't have to
do them. It is so much harder to fake
read if you have to annotate like we
have to do now. So now I actually
read, because it's too hard to fake
annotate"
Etc……
82/1
87/2
(C) I can relate since I often used to
highlight what I thought was important
and then end up with most of the page
highlighted.
(R) People are prone to find the easy
way to do something. Since there's really
no easy way to annotate--fake or real--it
makes sense to really read and think
about the texts. (Q) Is it really harder to
fake read if you have to annotate? Or
does it just take longer?
REQUIREMENTS:
DJ’s MUST be handwritten. These are due the day of the summer reading test.
It may be helpful to get a 1 subject notebook and divide it in half; then you can use the
first half for The Things They Carried and the second half for Mythology, or vice versa.
CHOOSING PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:
Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For
example, you might record:
Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices
Passages that remind you of your own life or something you’ve seen before
Structural shifts or turns in the plot
A passage that makes you realize something you hadn’t seen before
Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs.
Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary
Events you find surprising or confusing
Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting
RESPONDING TO THE TEXT:
You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember
is that your observations do not have to be lengthy but they should be thoughtful--
specific and detailed.
BASIC RESPONSES:
Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text
Give your personal reactions to the passage
Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences
Write about what it makes you think or feel
Agree or disagree with a character or the author
SAMPLE SENTENCE STARTERS:
I really don’t understand this because…
I really dislike/like this idea because…
I think the author is trying to say that…
This passage reminds me of a time in my life when…
If I were (name of character) at this point I would…
This part doesn’t make sense because…
This character reminds me of (name of person) because…