10th Grade MAPPS Required Summer Reading

The MHS Language Arts Department welcomes you to your sophomore year! This summer’s reading requirement is that you read the book listed below and complete the attached assignment. This is NOT OPTIONAL!! You do not want the first few grades you earn for the new school year to be a 0/F! Your friends may tell you that this reading assignment is optional, but it is not! All MAPPS 10th grade students have to do required summer reading

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand **

**Please note this book is a memoir of a prisoner of war and therefore contains some graphic scenes of physical abuse and torture.

Reading Assignment: Double Entry Journal

(1) Enjoy the book! This memoir has been carefully selected by your teachers with the help of 10th grade

student recommendations. This was the class favorite last year and students suggested that it remain on the summer reading list.

(2) As you read, use post-its, bookmarks, or highlighters (if it’s your book) to indicate passages you feel are important, especially detailed, unforgettable, insightful, exciting, special – passages that evoke a strong emotional response from you or that get you thinking. You will need five (5) passages that represent the beginning, middle and end of the novel you read.

(3) Record these passages in the left column of a typed table. These passages could be a few words to a few sentences long. Be sure to copy the passage exactly as it appears in the work and record the page number where the passage is found. If you want to take something out of a passage to shorten it, use […] to indicate where you took something out. See the example of the following page for help.

(4) Respond to each passage. Each response should be about 100-200 words long. Responses shorter than 100 words will not be accepted. Your responses are your opportunity to show that you are an active reader: you think while you read.

This is the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. In evocative, immediate descriptions, Hillenbrand unfurls the story of Louie Zamperini--a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned-Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie’s plane crashed into the ocean, and what happened to him over the next three years of his life is a story that will keep you glued to the pages, eagerly awaiting the next turn in the story and fearing it at the same time. You’ll cheer for the man who somehow maintained his selfhood and humanity despite the monumental degradations he suffered, and you’ll want to share this book with everyone you know. --Juliet Disparte

Each response should either: Connect: Text-to-Text: (what other works or literature, film, art, etc. does this remind you of? What makes the connection for you?) Text-to-self: (Is there some connection between the words on the page and your life?) Text-to-world: (Do you see some reflection of the world or of society here?)

Or Evaluate: Give your opinion of the character/event/word choice or style/message. What makes this passage effective? What do you like or dislike about it?

(5) Your table MUST be typed, printed and ready to be submitted on the first day of school.

(6) A model, or a sample entry from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is on the following page:

Note: The plagiarizing of material for summer reading is strictly prohibited!

Sample Double-Entry Journal Assignment

Your Name

Your Teacher’s Name

English 10 Honors

Title of Your Book

Date

Double-Entry Journal Assignment for To Kill a Mockingbird

Passage with Page Number Response

“Dill’s voice went on steadily in the darkness: ‘The thing

is, what I’m tryin’ to say is – they do get on a lot better

without me, I can’t help them any. They ain’t mean.

They buy me everything I want, but it’s now-you’ve-got-

it-go-play-with-it. You’ve got a roomful of things. I-got-

you-that-book-so-go-read-it […]

To Kill a Mockingbird, page 143

Dill has just run away from home and explains to Scout

what his home life is like. Although his parents seem to

give him everything he wants, what is missing is affection.

They do not want to be bothered with him, so they buy

him toys and books to keep him occupied, when what

he really wants is attention and real love. Like many of

my friends, Scout at first thinks the fact Dill’s parents let

him do whatever he wants is great. Dill doesn’t have his

parents on his case all of the time. He has freedom!

When I think about it, though, it makes me sad that

parents would treat a child like that. Every kid wants to

feel loved and wanted by his/her parents. This could be

considered a type of child abuse: instead of physically

hurting Dill, they hurt him by neglecting his emotional

needs. Now I see why Dill would want to run away to

the Finch house where Scout and Jem’s dad, Atticus,

shows true love, interest and concern for his children.

Example Only!