Summer Reading List There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book. Marcel Proust Students will be assessed on the mandatory readings in September. All teachers will be using the mandatory book throughout the entire school year. Rewards/projects/extra credit/prizes for suggested readings will be determined by individual teachers. Where to get the books? Saratoga Springs Public Library (notified regarding our list) Saratoga Springs Barnes&Noble (notified regarding our list) New York Public Library (audio available) Local Independent booksellers ebooks available Grades 6-9: Mandatory for Grades 6-9: Bomb by Steven Sheinkin The following are suggested ( not required) readings: Grade 6: Hidden Talents by David Lubar Tuck Everlasting by Natale Babbit Grade 7: Lord of the Nutcracker Men by Iain Lawrence
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages Grade 8: The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien Grade 9: Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Heist Societ by Ally Carter Mandatory for Grades 10-12 AND AP English 12: Life of Pi Martel by Yann Suggested Readings: Grade 10: The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen Into Thin Air by John Krakauer Grade 11&12: The Help by Kathryn Stocket Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Eric Larson
AP English 12 Crowther Summer Reading Assignment: Reading and Writing A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. Italo Calvino, The Uses of Literature AP English Literature and Composition is an intensive course designed to expose you to many great works of literature. The world of literature is vast, and the more we read the more we desire to read further. Although we must prepare for the AP Exam, our main goals will be the advanced study of literature, insightful analysis, and effective written communication. We will therefore be sampling a wide range of authors and genres throughout the year. This summer you are to prepare for a challenging course of study by reading the following texts and working on corresponding writing assignments. All summer reading and writing is due on the first day of classes. Required Summer Reading http://www.sparkascreen.com/files/apfiles/howtoreadliteraturelikeaprofessor.pdf The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Breakfast at Tiffany s: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Miss Julie by August Strindberg 1. You are expected to read the books listed above, unabridged, during the summer and, though it is not definite, be ready to be TESTED on each one as of the first week of classes. (If there is a test on any or all of the works, it will be detailed and demanding.) 2. Study guides (such as CliffsNotes and SparkNotes) may NEVER be used as a substitute for the reading assigned or as a resource, although you will often need to refer to outside sources for information related to the text for the Data Sheet. Summer Writing 1. Complete a Data Sheet (attached) for The Grapes of Wrath. The purpose of the Data Sheet is for you to create your own study guide for the novel. Each section is to be approached analytically, not literally. For example, the section on setting requires that you identify not only the physical location of the plot(s), but also the atmosphere and significance of that location. You may attach additional sheets of paper to the Data Sheet if necessary, but try to stay within the space provided. Write or type neatly and legibly. 2. Choose ONE of the following options for your work on Pride and Prejudice. The piece must be one to two pages typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font. Quote, cite, and analyze three passages from the novel that represent or discuss gender, social, or class- and status-based ideas addressed in the novel. Write a skit or dramatic scene based on your own rendition of the customs and values of the time and place in which the novel takes place. Write an original poem, with a minimum of 30 lines, about the ideals, values, or concerns of the Bennets or the society in which they live. Examples: the Gardiners, the soldiers, Lady de Bourgh, fate,
religion, and the upper class. 3. For Breakfast at Tiffany s: A Short Novel and Three Stories, you are to become one of the characters from either the book or one of the stories and keep a journal of your thoughts throughout the course of the story. You may decide if you want to keep a daily, weekly, semi-weekly journal, but the journal must be kept up from the start of the story until the end. You are going to be writing from the perspective of one character from the book that you may choose (therefore, you should be writing using first person point of view). You may have freedom with this particular assignment, as it is creative writing, but the journal entries must be thoughtful, thought-provoking, well-written, and the length of a page per entry. I suggest keeping a composition book for this assignment. 4. Write a two- to three-page response/commentary (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12- point font, etc.) on Miss Julie. Although not necessarily a thesis essay, your commentary on the book must be a well-written response to the work as a whole. Remember to support all of your comments and arguments by referring specifically to the play and using quotations wherever appropriate. 5. For The Turn of the Screw, you will be assigned one motif and symbol to trace and study throughout the reading of the novella. See me for your individual theme/motif, symbol and question. You will need to find five (5) quotes that relate to each of your assigned topic. You must include the following items for each quote: (make a chart) 1) The quote itself. 2) The page number from which you took the quote, recorded in parentheses. 3) The chapter from which the quote was taken. Example: Chapter 12 4) Three sentences of commentary/analysis, explaining WHY your quote fits your assigned topic.