English 11 Regular and English 11 AP Summer Reading Assignment

English 11 Regular: Choose ONE of the following novels to read.

English 11 AP: Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich AND The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck are REQUIRED reading for all English 11AP students.

In addition, choose ONE of the following novels to read.

Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

English 11 Regular Summer Reading Assignment:

-Complete 1 Dialectical Journal for your choice novel.

-A hardcopy of your completed summer reading assignment is due at the beginning of your first English class period. Your assignment score will be reduced by 10% for each day it is late.

-In addition to turning in the completed summer reading assignment, you can expect an assessment during the first week of school.

English 11 AP Summer Reading Assignment:

-Complete 1 Dialectical Journal for Nickel and Dimed.

-Complete 1 Dialectical Journal for The Grapes of Wrath.

-Complete 1 Dialectical Journal for your choice novel.

-A hardcopy of your completed summer reading assignment is due at the beginning of your first English class period. Your assignment score will be reduced by 10% for each day it is late.

-In addition to turning in the completed summer reading assignment, you can expect an assessment during the first week of school.

Dialectical Journal Assignment: Writing a Dialectic Journal will help you to process and reflect upon what you are reading. The term Dialectic means the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer. This type of journal records the conversations in the mind, as the reader questions ideas in the text, comparing them with his/her own ideas and attitudes.

Keeping A Dialectical Journal

Your journal will use a three-entry form:

If you would like to handwrite your dialectical journal, fold a piece of lined notebook paper into three columns. If you are using a computer, create a Word document with three columns.

In the LEFT COLUMN, write down a direct quotation that you think is interesting or important. If you are reading a hard copy of the novel, you MUST include the page number after the quotation. If you are reading an electronic copy of the novel, you MUST include the chapter number after the quotation. You need to include quotations from the beginning, middle, and end of the book.

In the MIDDLE COLUMN, write down YOUR OWN thoughts, commentary, and questions about the information in the LEFT COLUMN.

In the RIGHT COLUMN, identify a literary device used in the passage. Then, explain how the literary device highlights, emphasizes, explains, clarifies or supports the apparent goal of the author in writing the passage.

Each dialectical journal assignment needs to have 10 entries that include quotation selections from the beginning, middle, and end of the novel.

Choosing Passages from the Text (LEFT COLUMN): Look for quotations that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For example, you might record:

Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices

Passages that remind you of your own life or something youve seen before

Structural shifts or turns in the plot

A passage that makes you realize something you hadnt seen before

Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs

Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary

Events you find surprising or confusing

Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting

Responding To the Text (middle column): You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember is that your observations should be specific and detailed.

Basic Responses

Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text

Give your personal reactions to the passage

Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)

Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences

Write about what it makes you think or feel

Agree or disagree with a character or the author

Possible Higher Level Responses

Analyze the text for use of literary devices (tone, structure, style, imagery)

Make connections between different characters or events in the text

Make connections to a different text (or film, song, etc.)

Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)

Consider an event or description from the perspective of a different character

Analyze a passage and its relationship to the story as a whole

Identifying Literary Devices or Rhetorical Devices (RIGHT COLUMN): Identify a literary device that is important to the passage, then explain the literary device and why it is significant to the selected passage.

Possible Literary Devices: Alliteration, allusion, characterization, dialogue, external conflict, flashback, foreshadowing, hyperbole, imagery, internal conflict, irony, juxtaposition, metaphor, motif, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, personification, play on words (pun), point of view (first person or third person) simile symbolism, theme, understatement, etc.

Exemplary Sample Dialectical Journal Entries

Student Name:________________

Book Title/Author: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Date:

Evidence

Commentary

Literary Device and Explanation

When describing her familys visiting her in the hospital as a three year old, Jeannette Walls writes: Everyone always turned and stared at Dad. I couldnt figure out if it was because he called people pardner or goomba and threw his head back when he laughed (12).

As a young girl, Walls naturally

would not perceive her fathers

eccentric behavior the way other

adults would as obnoxious and loud. Walls shows naivet in thinking that it is her dads strikingly attractive looks that cause people to stare at him. It also shows her attitude toward her dad as innocent, much like a toddlers. I understand where Walls is coming from when she says this, because I also tend to view my father in a positive light. If he makes a mistake, I naturally forgive him easily, although my father did not put me through any of the horrors Rex Walls children endured.

Characterization:

This quotation is an example of indirect characterization because the author describes how Walls dad talks, and it also explains what other people think about him. This characterization of Walls father helps the reader learn about his personality and mannerisms; it also reveals how Walls viewed her father as a young child.

On Christmas Day, Rex takes

Jeannette out to the desert and gives her a present. He tells her she can have a star, and the one she selects is Venus, which is a planet, to which Rex states: What the hell. Its Christmas. You can have a planet if you want (45).

Rex explains to Jeannette that after all the other children have forgotten about their

toys, his children will have their stars

and planets, which shine brightly in

the heavens. This is so true. On

Christmas Day, children will get toys, say they love them, play with them for an

hour, and then lose interest. What Rex

gave his children will last a lifetime

and make them feel loved and special.

Truly, that is the best gift he could have

given them. This is my favorite part of

the book, because it really shows

Rexs love, compassion, and

sweetness. This passage sends the

message that you dont have to be rich

in order to be happy.

Symbol: A symbol is an object, person, or idea that represents something beyond itself. The stars and planets in this novel act as symbols because they represent enduring love. The way characters value the stars and planets indicates how they also value enduring love.

8 additional entries would continue on for a minimum of 10 entries.

Page numbers will indicate selections from the beginning, middle, and end of the book.