ENGLISH II PRE AP
Summer Reading Assignment 2015-2016 School Year
READ THIS OR YOU WILL PERISH! Reading extensively provides the
key to becoming a great reader, and exposure to great writing
naturally underscores your evolution into a great writer. You
should not simply read during the school year when we require you
to do so; life-long learners are life-long readers. Just as an
athlete or musician practices his or her skills for peak
performance, a student must likewise participate in cultivating his
or her reading and writing proficiency to engage in thoughtful
discussion and intelligent debate.
We have listed your assignment below. Please note that you must
complete BOTH portions of the assignment, 1) the reading and 2) the
annotating.
ASSIGNMENT, Part I: Read a novel from the list below. In order
to facilitate class discussions and daily class assignments such as
turning the universal topics below into theme statements for your
novel, you should purchase a clean (not annotated or highlighted)
copy of the novel. An electronic copy of the novel will not work
for this assignment.
· A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (fiction) by Betty Smith· Hotel on
the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (historical fiction) by Jamie Ford·
I am Malala (autobiography) by Malala Yousafzai · Into the Wild
(nonfiction) by Jon Krakauer
Assignment, Part II: As you read the novel, annotate for the
following universal topics:· The impact of personal/familial
relationships· The importance of loyalty even at significant
personal cost· Effects of poverty· The importance of education· The
significance of determination and perseverance· Doing what is right
regardless of what others think· Fate versus free will·
Misunderstandings (such as stereotypes) as the catalyst for
societal conflict· Implications of cultural/social barriers*some
topics may not apply to all novels
Definition of “annotate” to make notes of explanation; thus to
“annotate” your novel for the above-mentioned universal topics is
to make notes of explanation about how excerpts, ideas, evidence,
characters, setting, plot, etc. exemplify the topics.
Consider the following question stem as you annotate: “What is
the author saying about __________?” Your annotations should answer
this question throughout your novel based on almost all of the
given topics. Feel free to color-code.
Contact information: If you have any questions over the summer,
we want you to feel free to contact a 10th grade Pre-AP/IB teacher
for assistance. Please email [email protected]. Mrs.
Castillo may not be your English teacher next year, but she can
help you with questions about the assignment.We look forward to
teaching the class of 2018! Happy Reading!
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