East Longmeadow High School

Summer Reading Requirement
JUNIORS  


All English Courses:

 

Read Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. Take the twenty-five question, multiple choice test on Lord Of The Flies in September and be prepared to discuss the text in class.  Teachers expect that you will have read the book and, therefore, will not need extra time to read it during the semester.

IMPORTANT: YOUR FALL SUMMER READING MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST SCORE WILL BE 10% OF YOUR GRADE FOR MARKING PERIOD #1 SO TAKE THIS TEST SERIOUSLY.


Honors English 11

 

In addition to the above, read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and be prepared to discuss both books in class. Also, complete the following notetaking and writing requirement:

 

To Be Turned In:      

  • 1 Set of Great Expectations Notes: 100-150 Entries
  • 1 Set  of Wuthering Heights Notes: 100-150 Entries
  • 1 Essay on Great Expectations responding to the assigned prompt
  • 1 Essay on Wuthering Heights responding to the assigned prompt

 

NOTETAKING:

Your notes must be handwritten and self-generated. Also, make sure that your notes span the entire text. Do not take all of your notes on one section of the book.

Students are often intimidated by the thought of taking so many notes. Here are some tips for how to take notes and what you should take notes on. Believe it or not, these skills will help you a great deal in college. BEST PRACTICE: Annotate! Make notes in your book: underline, star, and write in the margins of your books instead of stopping to write notes down on paper. When you’ve finished the novel, go back through your annotations, and write them down on paper in two-column format.

WHAT TO ANNOTATE:

1.       REPETITION: Images, words, phrases, and events that get repeated

2.       IRONY: Verbal irony is when what is meant is the opposite of what is expected. Situational irony is when what happens is the opposite of what we expect to happen. Dramatic irony is when we, the readers, know something a character doesn’t.

3.      THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE SENSE: When something confuses or doesn’t add up, it often means that you should pay attention.

4.       FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Metaphor, simile, personification, etc. These literary devices are often worth noting and explaining.

5.      ATTRACTIVE PASSAGES: Some passages, sentences, even some words, just grab your attention. These are often worth noting.

6.      THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTIONS: If you have questions about the text that need answering, it is worth noting them. Do not, however, write questions about vocabulary that you can look up in the dictionary or questions like “If Jane Bennett were a tree, what kind of tree would she be?”


THE ESSAYS:

ESSAY FORMAT: Times New Roman, 12 pt. type, 1” Margins, double-spaced.

ESSAY QUALITY: Be sure your writing reflects your best thinking and most intelligent reading. You should have an introduction with an attention catcher and thesis; a body of at least 4-5 paragraphs, each containing concrete detail from the novels; and a conclusion. Remember your essay is not a summary of events; it is a response to the prompt. Do your best to write about the themes of the novel.  We will work with this paper at the beginning of the year.  


Great Expectations

Essay: Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the work. Choose two such places from Great Expectations. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

 

Places you might consider: London & the marshes/village where Pip grows up, Miss Havisham’s house vs. Joe’s House, Wemmick’s House vs. Mr. Jaggers’s house


Wuthering Heights

Essay: Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a character from Wuthering Heights who plays such a significant role, and show how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values.

 


IMPORTANT

1.   YOUR FALL SUMMER READING MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST SCORE ALONE WILL BE 10% OF YOUR GRADE FOR MARKING PERIOD #1.  YOU WILL RECEIVE SEVERAL OTHER GRADES BASED ON THE ADDITIONAL SUMMER READING WORK REQUIRED FOR HONORS ENGLISH.  ALL SUMMER READING WORK IS DUE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

2.    ANY EVIDENCE OF USING OUTSIDE SOURCES (OTHER THAN A DICTIONARY), EITHER IN YOUR NOTES OR IN YOUR ESSAY, WILL RESULT IN A ZERO ON THE ASSIGNMENT IN QUESTION.

3.    ALL SUMMER READING WRITTEN WORK MUST BE TURNED IN TO YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL IN THE FALL. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ENGLISH FIRST SEMESTER, TURN YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN TO MS. ABEL IN ROOM 219. NOT TURNING IN YOUR ASSIGNMENTS ON THAT DAY WILL HAVE A MAJOR NEGATIVE EFFECT ON YOUR FIRST MARKING PERIOD GRADE. NO ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE COLLECTED AFTER THE FIRST DAY.