PTHS PRinTS 2014

Dear Students:

PRinTS is a district-wide initiative to encourage reading and to help prepare you for future academic pursuits. The PTHS Humanities Department has prepared summer readings that support an ongoing appreciation of the written word and draw you toward the themes and texts of the upcoming school year. This summer, we invite you to read texts that inform, inspire, connect, and lead you into a community of critical thinking and dialogue.

Themes: English I - World History: Perspectives on Leadership

The Alchemist What is the leader’s journey?

English II- US History I: Ideals and BeliefsLord of the FliesWhat ideals and beliefs shape our society?

English III – US History II: The Individual in SocietyInto the Wild How does an individual’s influence change society?

English IV: Good versus Evil- ChoicesThe RoadHow do the choices we make define our future?

Requirements:As you read, keep a journal of notes and the ideas you generate while reading. You should have at least 10 journal entries. (See Close Reading Guide) Teachers have provided questions to provoke deep thinking.Upon our return to school, your teachers in the Humanities will lead classroom discussions based on the notes and the ideas in your journal. Your first major writing task will be an essay that demonstrates your

knowledge of the text and your ability to connect themes and draw conclusions across the readings.

Happy Reading!

Close Reading Guide

Close Reading means reading actively, paying attention to patterns, making thoughtful observations, and tracking your interpretations of the messages the author delivers. You should note questions, ideas, and feelings as you read in your journal.Here is a guide to literary clues for you to uncover in your reading:

Literary Clues What to Look For

Inferences-InsightsRepetition Notice when ideas, words, and/or images

are repeated either in exact words or similar words through out the text

Symbols and Motifs Notice when the writer gives special meaning to an object and/or person

CharacterizationDirect information through narration What does the writer or narrator say

about the character?Indirect Information through Dialogue What does the character or characters

say to show who he, she, or they are?Actions What does the character do to show who

he or she is?Thoughts /feelings What does the character think or feel to

show who he or she is?Reputation What do other characters say or feel

about the character being analyzed?Interactions How do other characters react to the

character in question?ThemeWhat idea about life does the author want you to think about as a result of reading this story? After reading the story- so what?Central ConceptWhat is the primary focus, pattern, purpose, or worldview, guiding the text?

Main Ideas

Supporting Evidence for Main Ideas Unfamiliar Vocabulary

? Confusing Parts/ Wonderings

+ or - Positive or Negative Words/Phrases

Annotating Primary Source/Informational Text Print-Outs for History*(School provided novels should not be written in.)

English I - World History: Perspectives on Leadership

English I/English I Honors:

The Alchemist by Paola Coehlo

Guiding Questions For All Levels

1. The novel opens with Santiago thinking about his sheep. What does he observe about their existence? How might the sheep symbolize the way some people live their lives? How does his observation that they “have forgotten to rely on their own instincts” foreshadow later events in the story?

2. The jacket is considered a symbol for the hero’s journey. Explain why the main character’s jacket could be both a blessing and a curse Make an inference as to what the jacket may symbolize in Santiago’s journey.

3. What is the world’s greatest lie according to Melchizedek? Do you believe that? What have you experienced or seen to prove or disprove the lie?

Honors Classes Should Also Consider:

4. The alchemist says, “There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey”. What are some of the things Santiago has learned through action?

5. Discuss the significance of the novels' ending. What does the tree, beneath whose roots the treasure is burred, represent? Why did Santiago have to travel so far when the treasure was at home the whole time?

World History/ World History Honors

Primary Source Readings: Read the following selections from classical writers on political philosophy. Annotate as you read and answer the discussion questions below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LastU6JgwYnv7RyYExO_j4pzPP2mq9tRqetvV1pXzzo/edit?usp=sharing

1) How does William Deresiewicz, the author of the article, define leadership?

2) Based on the reading and the quotes, how would you define leadership?3) What can you predict, based on the quotes, about how leadership has changed over time?4) Pick three quotes. Explain the relationship between these quotes to each other and to modern day.

Geography Component: Fill in the continents and major oceans on the map of the World. This will be used as a resource throughout the year in class. Use this webpage for the map: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/world_cont.pdf

English II - US History I: Ideals and Beliefs

English II/English II Honors:

The Lord of The Flies by William Golding

Guiding Questions For All Levels

1. How does the society set up by the boys in The Lord of the Flies relate to the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke?

2. What is William Golding suggesting about the human need for order and community (democracy) vs. the abuse of power (tyranny)?

3. What are the positive and negative features and qualities that make leaders and followers of the boys in The Lord of the Flies?

Honors Classes Should Also Consider:

1. Is it possible for human beings to live in security and peaceful cooperation without a form of government to bind them to civil behavior?

2. How might “social contract theory” be applied to The Lord of the Flies?

US History I/ Us History I Honors

Primary Source Readings: Read the following selections from classical writers on political philosophy. Annotate as you read and answer the discussion questions below.

Locke: Second Treatise Chapter II and IXhttp://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr02.htmhttp://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr09.htmHobbes: Leviathan Chapter XIII http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-

1) To Locke what is a “state of nature”? What rights does Locke argue every individual is given? Do you agree?

2) To Locke what is the chief end of all governments? Do you agree?3) To Hobbes what is the state of nature like? Do you agree? 4) How could these philosophies have been used to contribute the creation of the

American nation?

Geography Component: Fill in the map of the United States. This will be used as a resource throughout the year in class. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/us_nl.pdf

English III - US History II: The Individual in Society

English III/English III Honors:

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Guiding Questions For All Levels

1. Krakauer warns his readers that he will not be an impartial biographer of McCandless's story; what evidence is there that he either is or is not a reliable narrator?

2. Chris marked the following passage in Tolstoy’s Family Happiness, “He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others” and then wrote, “Happiness only real when shared”. Why do you think McCandless marked this passage? What did he mean by this inscription?

3. Is McCandless a heroic “champion of ideas” who lives a life of self-discovery, or an antiheroic “foolhardy adventurer” whose life is lost too soon because of bad decisions?

4. If McCandless is truly seen as a motivational figure, does your reading of Into the Wild influence your own personal goals?

Honors Classes Should Also Consider:

1. How does Chris McCandless demonstrate a spirit of individualism throughout the novel?

2. What does a reader find out about McCandless's "soul" and its landscape, and how might a reader identify with McCandless as the story unfolds?

3. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth”. Chris highlighted this passage and wrote “truth” above it. Why do you think McCandless identified with this quote?

US History II/ Us History II Honors

Primary Source Reading: Read the following excerpt from The Jungle. Annotate as you read and answer the discussion questions below.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/140/140-h/140-h.htm

1. What does it mean to be a progressive? 2. How have the efforts of a progressive individual been an integral aspect of

history? 3. In what ways is Sinclair a progressive individual? 4. Make a prediction as to what changes would have occurred after his book

was published?

Geography Component: Fill in the map of the United States and the world. This will be used as a resource throughout the year in class. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/us_nl.pdf

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/world_country.pdf

English IV – The Choices We Make

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

"You wanted to know what the bad guys looked like. Now you know. It may happen again. My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you. Do you

understand?Yes.

He sat there cowled in the blanket. After a while he looked up. Are we still the good guys? he said.Yes. We're still the good guys.

And we always will be.Yes. We always will be." 

Cormac McCarthy ~The Road

Reading – come to school in September prepared to discuss the text (fires and ashes and cannibals…oh my!)

Guiding Questions For All Levels: 1. Do good and evil still battle in a world without rules?2. Does life ever lose its value?3. To what extreme would you go to survive?4. How do the choices we make define our future?

Summer assignment – Due the first day of school - Rough draft of college essay (If you are not planning to attend college, write a 500-word essay to describe your strengths to a fictional employer). This will be graded, and edited for your college applications.

For your reference: Common Application Essay Prompts – 2014

https://appsupport.commonapp.org/link/portal/33011/33013/Article/1694/2014-15-Common-Application-Essay-Prompts

Princeton Review – “The College Essay” http://www.princetonreview.com/college/essay.aspx

*If you enjoy The Road, you may also enjoy the following: The Stand – Stephen King The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins Lord of the Flies – William Golding A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess