Honors English II: Summer Assignments 2015

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1 Dear Students and Parents, Welcome to Honors English II Students, we are so glad you ve decided to challenge yourself this year, and we look forward to partnering with you and your families on this journey. A primary purpose of Honors English II is to challenge you in ways that help you grow academically, socially and emotionally in preparation for future college level course work. The content of this summer assignment has been inspired and developed by WKHS s AP/IB Vertical Team, which consists of a dedicated group of Honors, AP and IB English and Social Studies teachers who met on a regular basis over the past two years in the effort to answer this question: How can 9th and 10th grade Honors English courses best support students who are taking, or plan to take courses like AP United States History, AP United States Government, AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, and IB Literature Years 1 and 2? It has been an exciting and productive collaboration that confirmed the validity and value of much of what we ve done in the past (much will stay the same), but also produced new ideas (some things will be different). One of those differences will be to make a concerted effort, whenever possible, to avoid overload for the students who have, at our recommendation, ambitiously chosen to take both Honors English II and AP US in their sophomore year. You will find that we ve begun to implement this strategy right here in the summer assignments. We ve put a lot of thought into these summer reading assignments. We hope that you enjoy them and learn a lot from them. Sincerely, The WKHS Honors/AP/IB Vertical Team for English and Social Studies: Dave Miller, Josie Stubenrauch, Marly Hittepole, Jeannie Goodwin, Sandra K-Horn, Paul Chidester, John Jordan, and Lauren Glaros

2 Part 1: Summer Reads (Choose 2) Choose two of the following three books, and read them closely and in their entirety. Online summaries and study guides will not provide you with the kind of close, detailed reading that will be required of you in order to participate successfully during in-class discussions (which will be graded) and on the corresponding written assignments (also graded). We recommend that you purchase your own copies of both books, so that you can write in them and have them at your disposal in the fall when you will need them again. You are required to bring your books to class. (Library books must be returned, and may not be renewed indefinitely when there s a waiting list. It is also not wise to put your name on a long library waiting list, and then be forced to scramble in order to complete summer assignments on time.) We recommend shopping for inexpensive used copies on Amazon and/or half.com. Please let us know right away, if for any reason, you have any difficulty obtaining these books. And remember, you re choosing only by David McCullough (This is a required read in AP US History) 2. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie 3. I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai Please read this assignment carefully, and put the following due dates in your personal calendars. Failure to complete summer work is no longer an acceptable reason to drop the course. Students who choose to drop the course after the drop date will carry with them the grade for the summer assignments. If you have questions or need clarification about any part of this assignment please don t hesitate to contact Sandy K-Horn at skucinichhorn@wscloud.org, (614) , or Marly Hittepole at mhittepole@wscloud.org, (614) Due First Day of School: Persuasive Essay 100 Points Due Second week of school: Critical Reading Journals Dates and Details for the Summative Discussions: 100 Points TBA 1st day of school

3 Part 1: Summer Reads(cont) Journaling and Summative Discussions When you return to school in the fall, you will participate in summatively assessed in-class discussions on both texts you chose. (You will be an active listener during the discussion about the text you chose not to read.) You will receive full details about these discussions and their assessments in the fall. In the meantime, in order to fully prepare for these discussions, you are required to annotate your text (by jotting down notes to yourself and using sticky notes to mark important passages) and you are required to keep a critical reading journal addressing, to the best of your ability, the corresponding focus questions for each book you choose: For McCullough s 1776: For Alexie s Fist Fight: For Yousafzai s Malala: Focus Questions to Guide your Journaling: How does the text address the importance of leadership, both political and military, during the transition to a state of America Independence in the year 1776? Consider the following reviews: The Boston Globe: Alexie s prose startles and dazzles with unexpected, impossible to anticipate moves. These are cultural love stories, and we laugh on every page with a fist tight around our hearts. Chicago Tribune: Poetic and unremittingly honest. And from the publisher: Sherman Alexie s celebrated collection... established its author as one of America s most important and provocative voices... [Alexie] vividly weav[es] memory, fantasy, and stark reality to paint a portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation. In your estimation, to what extent does Alexie s prose merit such descriptions? How is it dazzling, startling, provocative, poetic, for example? To what extent is Alexie an important voice? How has reading this text made you more aware/appreciative of the impact that culture and cultural conflict have on human dignity and the individual s worth in human society?

4 Part 1: Summer Reads (cont) Tips and Suggestions for Keeping a Reading Journal 1. Read for a while; enjoy the book. Wait for a natural stopping point before you turn towards the task of journalling. 2. As you read, it s helpful, I think, to use sticky notes to mark passages that you may want to come back to when journaling. That way, your written reflections maintain close ties with the text, but the task of journaling doesn t hijack your reading experience. 3. You may want to keep an eye on the clock. Read for an hour, stop, and then spend 15 minutes on your journal. 4. Critical reading journals are a place for you to react, reflect, connect, and opine. *********************************************** Rubric for Evaluating Critical Reading Journals The journal contains personal and reflective speculations that fully and convincingly address the focus question (10 pts) Creative, original analysis is strongly evident throughout the journal, as the student grapples to deal with the focus question and its implications (10 pts) The journal contains ample textual references including those in the form of quotations. All textual references are accompanied by parenthetical documentation of page numbers. (10 pts) The journal is written in complete sentences and all entries are legible. (10 pts) There is strong evidence in this journal that the student has read the entire text. (10 pts) Total /50 pts x 2 = 100 points total

5 Part 2: Persuasive Essay ( words) Please note: The following task has been extracted from the 2010 AP Language and Composition Exam and then modified for our purposes. We know that there are student examples online. Feel free to consult them, but do not be tempted to draw directly from them by lifting their wording in any way, or by paraphrasing their examples. We are asking you to craft your own claims and produce your own examples. Written Task: In his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, Alain De Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain, but to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly. Because society allows humorists to say things that other people cannot or will not say, De Botton sees humorists as serving a vital function in society. Think about the implications of De Botton s view of the role of humorists. (Cartoonists, stand-up comedians, satirical writers, tv shows). Then write an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies De Botton s claim about the vital role of humorists. Use specific, appropriate evidence to develop your position. While you may want to look up the following terms in order to craft viable claims about the chief aim of comedy, no other research is required for this paper. You have already had quite a bit of experience with humor, and you can also draw on the examples that you come across this summer. It might be a good idea to jot down notes so that you can be very specific in your descriptions and retellings of what made you laugh, and why it made you laugh, but no outside bibliography is required. Comedy Vocabulary: Pun/Word Play Slap-stick/Physical Spoof Verbal Irony Low brow comedy Burlesque Sarcasm High brow comedy Dark/Gallows Satire Situational Irony Farce Mockery Situational Comedy (Sit-Com) Juvenile Hyperbole Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com) Parody Please also note, for the purposes of this question, defend means to support with examples, challenge means to refute with examples, and qualify means to either agree, or disagree, as long as there is room to make exceptions, or as long as the claim can be limited (qualified) in some specific way. Qualifications to an argument are like the exceptions you must have in order to agree or disagree.

6 Part 2: Persuasive Essay Learning Targets for the Persuasive Paper: I can craft a specific, thoughtful central claim that explicitly addresses the writing task. I can craft a sequence of persuasive claims that support my central claim, where one claim builds from the previous paragraph s explanations/warrant. I can think creatively and use specific, concrete and insightful examples in support of my claims. My warrants fully analyze and explain how my examples support the claim. I can write an intro that creatively introduces my topic in order to gain the reader s attention. I can write a conclusion paragraph that effectively summarizes my position, without being redundant and tired. I can write in a voice and tone that is both personal and formal. I can use words that are specific, accurate and precise. I can use sentences in varying lengths, and I can vary my sentence beginnings to avoid monotony. I can use transitions that lead the reader logically and naturally through the text of my paper. I can use parallel structure and avoid passive voice in order to write more clearly and accurately. I can make my subject and verb agree in number I can make my pronoun and antecedent agree in both number and person. I can write an essay that is free of surface errors and grammar/usage errors.