Mrs. Al yssa Al ami a Ms. Kati e Tan sl ey Ms. Jen n y ...
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English 2 Pre-AP Summer Reading Guide 2021-2022 School Year Mrs. Alyssa Alamia Ms. Katie Tansley Ms. Jenny Ryan As part of your studies in English 2 Pre-AP, you will be learning about different analytical approaches to literature. In order to prepare you for this, you need to select one of the four novels below and read it in its entirety by the start of school in August. In the 1st nine weeks, you will ultimately complete a final project using your chosen summer reading novel. Review the information for each novel to help you in your selection process. Then, as you read, complete the reading guide to help you track the novel and keep up with important information that you may find useful once you start analyzing the novel in class. Option 1: 1984 by George Orwell (1949) Synopsis (from Amazon): Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching...A startling and haunting novel, 1984 creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time. Synopsis (from Good Reads): Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written. Option 2: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (1988) Synopsis (from Amazon): The Bean Trees is bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver’s first novel, now widely regarded as a modern classic. It is the charming, engrossing tale of rural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoid getting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a 3-year-old native-American little girl named Turtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Tucson, Arizona, half-Cherokee Taylor and her charge search for a new life in the West. Written with humor and pathos, this highly praised novel focuses on love and friendship, abandonment and belonging as Taylor, out of money and seemingly out of options, settles in dusty Tucson and begins working at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires while trying to make a life for herself and Turtle. Synopsis (from Good Reads): Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.
Transcript of Mrs. Al yssa Al ami a Ms. Kati e Tan sl ey Ms. Jen n y ...
English 2 Pre-AP Summer Reading Guide2021-2022 School Year
Mrs. Alyssa Alamia Ms. Katie Tansley Ms. Jenny Ryan
As part of your studies in English 2 Pre-AP, you will be learning about different analytical approaches to literature. In orderto prepare you for this, you need to select one of the four novels below and read it in its entirety by the start of school inAugust. In the 1st nine weeks, you will ultimately complete a final project using your chosen summer reading novel.
Review the information for each novel to help you in your selection process. Then, as you read, complete the readingguide to help you track the novel and keep up with important information that you may find useful once you start analyzingthe novel in class.
Option 1: 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
Synopsis (from Amazon): Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy thedemands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Partythat seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes.But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is alwayswatching...A startling and haunting novel, 1984 creates an imaginary world that iscompletely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the novel’s hold on theimaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems togrow, not lessen, with the passage of time.
Synopsis (from Good Reads): Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, NineteenEighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomesmore real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarishvision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality.The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television,the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell.Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifyingnovels ever written.
Option 2: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (1988)
Synopsis (from Amazon): The Bean Trees is bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver’sfirst novel, now widely regarded as a modern classic. It is the charming, engrossing tale ofrural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoidgetting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a 3-year-old native-American little girl namedTurtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Tucson, Arizona, half-CherokeeTaylor and her charge search for a new life in the West. Written with humor and pathos,this highly praised novel focuses on love and friendship, abandonment and belonging asTaylor, out of money and seemingly out of options, settles in dusty Tucson and beginsworking at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires while trying to make a life for herself and Turtle.
Synopsis (from Good Reads): Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor inrural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when sheheads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human conditionhead-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completelyunexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehowcome to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is astory about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery ofsurprising resources in apparently empty places.
Option 3: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini (2007)
Synopsis (from Amazon): Born a generation apart and with very different ideas aboutlove and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, byloss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in theirhome as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes themboth sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the coursenot just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power andsuspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her toshocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even thememory of love, that is often the key to survival. A stunning accomplishment, AThousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of anunforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.
Synopsis (from Good Reads) A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story setagainst the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years - from the Soviet invasionto the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding - that puts the violence, fear, hope,and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations ofcharacters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives -the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness - are inextricable from the historyplaying out around them.
Option 4: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (2014)
Synopsis (from Amazon): Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in thecolor-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing thathe and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet hetoils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for hischildren. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanityreached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across theplanet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent rulingclass. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrowsacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for thedominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle forpower. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization againstthe best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bringdown his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
After selecting your novel, continue to the close reading guide to help you track the key components ofyour novel.
English 2 Pre-AP Summer ReadingClose Reading Guide
Novel Title and Author:
For each category, make notes of important key points and write down important quotations with page numbersto help you remember how you came up with your ideas/points of analysis.
Topic/Focal Point Notes Supporting Quotes and Page #
Protagonist
Minor/Supporting Characters
Setting
Conflicts (Internal and External)
Symbols
Themes
