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11th

Grade English III Summer Reading Assignment

Standard English III Choices:Reading Choices Choose one of the following books, read it, and

complete the Summer Assignment- Major Works Data Sheet- listed below.

The Lovely Bones: A Novelby Alice Sebold

Sebold has taken a grim, media-exploited subject and fashioned from it a story that is both tragic and

full of light and grace. The novel begins swiftly. In the second sentence, Sebold's narrator, Susie Salmonannounces, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie is taking a shortcut

through a cornfield when a neighbor lures her to his hideaway. The description of the crime is chilling,

but never vulgar, and Sebold maintains this delicate balance between homely and horrid as she depicts

the progress of grief for Susie's family and friends. She captures the odd alliances forged and the

relationships ruined: the shattered father who buries his sadness trying to gather evidence, the mother

who escapes "her ruined heart, in merciful adultery." At the same time, Sebold brings to life an entire

suburban community, from the mortician's son to the handsome biker dropout who quietly helps

investigate Susie's murder. Much as this novel is about "the lovely bones" growing around Susie's

absence, it is also full of suspense and written in lithe, resilient prose that by itself delights. Sebold's

most dazzling stroke, among many bold ones, is to narrate the story from Susie's heaven (a place wherwishing is having), providing the warmth of a first-person narration and the freedom of an omniscient

one. It might be this that gives Sebold's novel its special flavor, for in Susie's every observation and

memory of the smell of skunk or the touch of spider webs is the reminder that life is sweet and funny

and surprising. 890L

Bleachers by John Grisham

High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the

legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come

home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable

football dynasty. Now, as Coach Rakes boys sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights tsignal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all

whether they love Eddie Rake or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his

coach and himself before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high. 840L

The Day They Can to Arrest the Book byNat Hentoff

A debate is raging among the students and faculty of George Mason High School. Should the Adventure

of Huckleberry Finn, to some a racist and sexist novel, be removed from the school's reading lists and

library? When a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union and a member of a local citizen's

"watch" group come to the school, the debate heats up. Disturbed by what is happening, Barney Roth,the editor of the school paper, uncovers previously undisclosed censorship efforts at the school. By

printing this information, Barney and others at George Mason High learn a valuable lesson. In this

provocative book, Hentoff addresses all of the arguments for and against book censorship. As a

supplement to a social studies curriculum, this book will enlighten students to First Amendment issues

and the nature of freedom in this country. 890L 170 pg

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/nat-hentoffhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/nat-hentoff

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Honors English III Choices: Reading Choices Choose one of the following books, read it, and

complete the Summer Assignment- Major Works Data Sheet- listed below.

Lay That Trumpet in Our Handsby Susan Carol McCarthy

In this poignant, unforgettable novel, a riveting chapter of history is brought to life through the voice o

a young girl coming of age in small-town Florida. Inspired by real-life events, this is the story of anorthern family, a southern town, and a senseless murder that sparks an extraordinary act of courage.

In the spring of 1951, Reesa McMahon is awakened in the night to discover that her closest friend and

mentor, nineteen-year-old Marvin Wiley, has been brutally killed by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. As

violence erupts over the state, Reesa's family, along with rising-star attorney Thurgood Marshall and th

FBI, join together in a daring battle for justice. Fiercely honest and quietly assured, Reesa's painful

search to make sense of her town's soul-destroying bigotry offers an exhilarating resolution to one of

the darkest, most disturbing hours this nation has ever seen.

The Color of Waterby James McBride

The Color of Water(1997) is the bestselling memoir ofJames McBride, a biracial journalist, jazz

saxophonist, and composer whose Jewish mother gave birth to twelve children, all of whom she raised

in a housing project in Brooklyn. His mother witnessed the premature death of her first husband, a

reverend, and through sheer force of will saw each of her children graduate from college. Her basic

household tenets rested on the importance of academic success and the church, and many of her

children moved on to earn graduate and professional degrees. 1240L

State of Fearby Michael Crichton

In "State of Fear" ... Michael Crichton delivers a lightning-paced techno-political thriller that turns on

a controversial notion: All that talk we've been hearing about global warmingyou know, polar ice

caps melting, weather systems sent into calamitous confusion, beach weather lingering well into

Januarymight be at best misguided, at worst dead wrong. Think "The Da Vinci Code" with real facts,

violent storms and a different kind of faith altogether. ..."State of Fear" is, in a sense, the novelization

of a speech that Mr. Crichton delivered in September 2003 at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club.

He argued there that environmentalism is essentially a religion, a belief-system based on faith, not

fact. To make this point, the novel weaves real scientific data and all too real political machinations

into the twists and turns of its gripping story.- The Wall Street Journal 800~L

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Crooms AoIT Summer Reading Assignment for Standard and Honors English ClassName: Title: Author:

Point of View (POV) From what point of view is thestory told? (First-person narrator, a character in the story;omniscient third-person narrator, an all-knowing narratorcan tell what any character thinks and feels; or a limitedthird-person narrator, who sees the world through only onecharacters eyes and only reveals that characters thoughts.)How does the POV affect the story?

Setting I nformationConsider both time (year/historicalperiod) and place (geographic location). Quote twopassages from the book that help the reader visualize thesetting: (Be sure to provide page numbers. See examplebelow.)

CharacterizationAuthors usedirect characterization( the author directly states the characters traits) andindirect

characterization (the characters appearance, what the character says, what he/she does, how other characters react tohim/her) to allow the reader to get to know the characters in their stories. Complete the following activity below to showyour understanding of the characters in the novel you chose.

Character: Choose twomajor characters:

Choose two minorcharacters:

Direct Characterization For eachcharacter, find two examples of directcharacterization. Copy the passage fromthe book and include the page number.

Example- Uncle Marcoss manners werethose of a cannibal! (53).

Indirect Characterization For eachcharacter, find two examples of indirectcharacterization/ Copy the passage from thebook and include the page number.

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Conflict/Resolution Consider the different types of conflict: internal conflict (man vs. himself) andexternal conflict(man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society). Describe two major conflicts and how they were resolved. Include directquotations that show the moment of conflict or explain the resolution of conflict.

ThemesA theme is an idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject the writers view of the world or a revelationabout human nature: For example, love is an example of a topic inRomeo and Juliet, where love conquers all is anexample of a themefor Romeo and Juliet. *Think of the theme as a what about question for the topic. A theme isNOT one word, but is an idea, expressed in a complete sentence. List all major themes developed in the novel.

Vocabulary: List and definein your own words,10 challenging words you encountered whilereading the novel.

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Use each of the 10 words you chose in anoriginal, meaningfulsentence.

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