Please follow Adler s recommended method of annotating. ************************************************************************************

Transcription

1 English II Pre-AP SUMMER ASSIGNMENT Welcome to Pre-AP English II! Part I: As part of this course, you will read, annotate, and analyze a work of literary non-fiction over the summer in order to prepare for the first few weeks of the upcoming school year. *You will find detailed instructions regarding the annotation below and on the following pages. Ø The historical novel, or literary non-fiction piece you will need to read before returning to school in August is Julia Alvarez s In the Time of the Butterflies. Ø You will need to purchase this novel (new) in order to annotate as you read. It sells on Amazon for around $7.50 and can be purchased at most bookstores as well. The purpose of the summer assignment is to add to the number of literary works you ve read by the time you take your AP Exams during your junior and senior years. Also, you ll arrive to school in August having shared a common literary experience with your teacher and your peers, thus providing immediate instructional opportunities! **************************************************************************************************** *ANNOTATING: to add notes to a text, asking questions, giving explanation or comment. I know you know this, but it s worth repeating: a good reader is a close reader! A close reader conducts conversations with the text, whether in his/her mind or on the pages of the book itself. So, that is what you ll be asked to do. Converse with this novel. Here s how: Mortimer Adler s short essay How to Mark a Book will reassure those of you hesitant to write in a novel. It s okay. Let go. Mark it up but with purpose. Ø READ THIS: Please follow Adler s recommended method of annotating. ************************************************************************************ This is not a group assignment! Please work individually. Your annotations and novel questions will be due within the first week of school. You will utilize knowledge gained from the assignment immediately. NO EXCEPTIONS. Your grade will consist of the following: o Mortimer Adler annotations of the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies o MLA formatted responses to six questions about the novel (MLA in this case means: typed, 12 pt. Times New Roman or Cambria, MLA Heading [Your name, Instructor s name, class, MLA date], title, numbered, double-spaced responses to novel questions.

2 You have or will encounter the below terms in your English classes throughout high school. For now, just familiarize yourself with those you don t know. Pre-AP Literary & Rhetorical Terms Collection v Rhetorical Terms: Appeals: devices in rhetoric that classify a speaker s appeal to the audience Ethos: the persuasive appeal of one s character, or credibility Pathos: the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity Logos: appeal to reason or logic Argumentation: a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by reason and logic, and asserts a position, belief or conclusion Defend: speak or write in favor of; attempt to justify Challenge: dispute the truth or validity of; attempt to thwart another s claim Qualify: To limit or restrict a position (for or against), or to make less strict Discourse: written or spoken communication or debate Rhetoric: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing Rhetorical modes: narration, exposition, description, argumentation (no example necessary here yet) Semantics: the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning of a word, sentence, phrase, and/or text Style: a way of using language Thesis/Position/Claim: a statement or theory put forth as a premise to be maintained or proved v Literary & Stylistic Terms: Connotation: implied or associative meaning of a word (slender vs. skinny; cheap vs. thrifty) Denotation: the literal meaning of a word Diction: word choice Ellipsis: the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ( Some people prefer cats; others, dogs. ) Equivocation: the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself Euphemism: an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant Hyperbole: intentional exaggeration to create an effect Juxtaposition: placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast Malapropism: the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar ( The doctor wrote a subscription. ) Mood: the emotional atmosphere of a work Non Sequitur: inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, does not follow ) Pedantic: often used to describe a writing style, characterized by an excessive display of learning or scholarship, characterized by being narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned Platitude: a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful Polemic: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something Sarcasm: harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences Tone: attitude of an author toward a subject Theme: the main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly - Literary works can have major and minor themes. A theme is a statement, not one or two words. Understatement: the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it v Literary and Rhetorical Devices: Allegory: a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions

3 Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words Allusion: a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize Analogy: a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way Anecdote: a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event Anaphora: repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses Assonance: Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words Chiasmus: a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed Consonance: the recurrence of similar consonant sounds in close proximity (end of one word, beginning of another, ends of words, etc.) Flashbacks: interruptions that writers do to insert past events in order to provide background or context to the current events of a narrative. By using flashbacks, writers allow their readers to gain insight into a character s motivation and provide a background to a current conflict. Dream sequences and memories are methods used to present flashbacks. Foreshadowing: a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Idiom: an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect Irony: the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs (situational, verbal, dramatic) Metaphor: a direct comparison of two different things Metonymy: substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ( The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting].) Motif: a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works Onomatopoeia: Using words to imitate sounds Oxymoron: TWO words that are ordinarily contradictory; a TWO WORD paradox; two words with contrary or apparently contradictory meanings occurring next to each other, and, which, nonetheless, evoke some measure of truth open secret, larger half, clearly confused Paradox: an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth Parallel syntax (parallelism): using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance Parody: a humorous imitation of a serious work Pun: a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings. Satire: the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions Simile: a comparison of two things using like, as, or other specifically comparative words Symbolism: the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. Synecdoche: using one part of an object to represent the entire object v Structure & Style Complex sentence a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause Compound sentence a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions Compound-complex sentence a sentence with two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses Simple sentence a sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause

4 In the Time of the Butterflies Read, Annotate, Analyze Annotation of the following elements will help you respond to the ITB Questions on the following page. Section One (Chapters 1-4): pp Reading Focus for Section I: CHARACTERIZATION Characterization: In this section, the reader learns about the personality of each member of the Mirabal family, especially the sisters (for whom the chapters are named). The reader will also be introduced to important secondary characters (extended family members, community members, political leaders, etc.) Identify these characters as you read. There will be a writing assignment about secondary characters upon your return in the fall. You are strongly encouraged to CIRCLE each secondary character s name once on any page it appears. Characterization of the Mirabal Family: The reader will learn specific information about each narrator (sister) by what she thinks, what she says, what she does, and what the others say about her. The reader will learn about other characters through the sisters revealing of their actions and speech. **So much is in a name. Alvarez didn t invent the names of the sisters; they were given to them at birth. HOWEVER, note the meanings of their names and how those meanings align with their personalities throughout the novel.** Section Two (Chapters 5-8): pp Reading Focus for Section II: THE EFFECT AND IMPACT OF SETTING As you read, notice how each member of the Mirabal family and the family dynamics are influenced by the political climate, time period, and Dominican Republic setting. As you read, annotate passages that show the impact of setting on character development. (THIS IS A SMART WAY TO GAUGE THOSE IMPORTANT/FORCEFUL STATEMENTS MENTIONED IN THE ADLER ANNOTATION HANDOUT.) Section Three (Chapters 9-12): pp Reading Focus for Section III: GROWTH, CHANGE, AWARENESS, AND RESOLUTION As you read, notice growth, development, change of the Mirabal Family, as well as the resolutions of conflicts. As you read, annotate the passages of the novel that indicate character development and the building of and resolution to conflict.

5 In the Time of the Butterflies Summer Questions Respond to the following tasks/questions on a separate Word document. The document must include: (1) an MLA heading (your name, my name, class, date in MLA format) (2) Page numbers (beginning on 2 nd page last name #) (3) Title (ITB Summer Questions) (4) Double spaced, Times New Roman or Cambria. (5) Number the questions, and type and bold the question on your document. Save your document as: LastName_FirstName_ITBSummerQuestions 1. Describe Dedé. 2. Describe Minerva. 3. Describe María Teresa. 4. Describe Patria. 5. How does the political climate of the Mirabal s country affect/influence each sister during Section II of the novel? (In your response, you must specifically mention each sister and the effect of Trujillo s regime on her life.) 6. Using the following sentence skeleton, write a theme statement that will double as a thesis statement for a future essay: In her novel,, (title of novel) (author) suggests/demonstrates/shows that encourages/creates (abstract noun/phrase). (abstract noun/phrase) *To complete number 6, you will have had to read the novel in its entirety. A theme statement is a universal idea the author conveys through the ideas and actions of characters, their addressing and resolving of conflict or lack thereof. So, once you ve read the entire story, ask yourself: If I had to summarize this story using one word or phrase, what would it be? ß Your answer to THIS question is your SUBJECT!! Now, what is the author saying about this SUBJECT? **ALSO, you are welcome to change the abstract nouns to phrases. You are also welcome to use other verbs in place of suggest, etc. or encourages, etc. I just wanted you to have a format to guide you.** EXAMPLE: Let s think about a story we all know: Roald Dahl s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: In his novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl demonstrates that living one s life with humility can reap unexpected benefits.