Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy Summer Reading Assignment Grade 9- English I All students must complete the summer reading requirements for English I. The reading and double journal entries must be completed before August 28, 2012. The books can be found at your local libraries or book stores. REQUIREMENT #1 FEATURED TEXT: Read the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Esperanza struggles to show how she values both her family and her Latina community while defining her own unique identify and pride. 1. Read the text. 2. Complete the double journal with your reflections on the reading (see attachment). 3. Be prepared to take a test based on your reading during the first week of school. REQUIREMENT #2 CHOICE TEXTS: 1. Read the text. 2. Be prepared to complete an independent assignment based on your reading during the first week of school. Choose one of the following additional texts: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson What would you be willing to do to save someone you love? As Jenna awakens from an accident she starts to view videos from her past to create a sense of who she is, but what is different? What secrets could she uncover? Does the past make us who we are or do we define ourselves by the present? What she discovers unravels more questions and greater uncertainty about the future for all of us.
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor What is truly a family? Is a genetic link essential to make you family or can love and compassion suffice? Addie struggles to make sense of her family, which is like a road that keeps taking twists and turns. Addie remains optimistic despite the diverse paths her family takes. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls A heartfelt memoir revealing the allure of a parent s promise and the unfortunate circumstances- a child is forced to act more like an adult to hold the family together. Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald An adolescent s impulsive decision leads to a web of lies to protect his reputation and future. The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick Historical fiction with a twist of supernatural- a young woman uses her premonitions to find her brother at war to change what she foresees as his destiny. Firehouse by David Halberstam A non-fiction text that documents that amazing story of 13 firefighters who set out on 911 and only one returned. Acceleration by Graham Greene Duncan is miserable working in the lost and found department in the subway station until suddenly he discovers a diary. While at first he is intrigued by the journal, which seems like a scrapbook of tragic events, Duncan quickly realizes he could be holding evidence that could lead him to a crime scene or even worse.
The House on Mango Street Double Entry Journal (DEJ) Overview: A DEJ is a way to closely read passages from a text to discover what words and sentences reveal about characters, conflicts, themes. In your journal, you will be selecting your own strong lines and meaningful passages. For purposes of learning the process, three have been chosen for you. Each passage shows something about Esperanza, her relationship to someone else in the neighborhood and/or her opinion about a particular social issue. Directions: As you read each passage, you have five tasks: 1. Identify who is speaking or narrating. 2. Explain the context or situation: o Who is involved o Location o Time o What is happening 3. Explain what the quote means and how it is significant to the novel (P.S. It s not going to tell you! You ve got to use clues and really dig beneath the surface.) 4. Note any stylistic devices, including, but not limited to: o Similes o Metaphors o Personification o Symbols o Alliteration, Repetition, Hyperbole 5. Identify connections between the quote and the other vignettes in the novel. For example, ideas of: o Waiting o Feeling trapped o Making friends o Defining Identity
Quotation Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life (Cisneros 27). Response Esperanza is narrating Esperanza has been watching Marin in the evenings. Her observations help her to get to know Marin and to interpret what her actions might mean. She has a sense that Marin is waiting for change to happen to her, as opposed to effecting change herself. Strong: Esperanza understands that Marin thinks that her life will change when someone a man comes into it. Marin knows that she can use her physical appearance to get out of Mango Street, a place she does not like. Esperanza appears to relate to Marin because she says, I know. She, too, has dreams of changing her life and getting beyond Mango Street. While Marin is stuck, singing the same song. Esperanza would like to make change happen, not just wait for someone to change her life. A falling star is something you wish upon. It symbolizes Marin s dependency on something outside herself to bring change to her life. Cisneros also uses alliteration (same song somewhere) to establish rhythm. Like Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva, Marin seems trapped in circumstances that she cannot control. Each of these women wants to escape but does not know how.
DOUBLE JOURNAL ENTRIES As you read the text, select a few phrases or strong lines that you find meaningful or interesting. Write each phrase in the first column below, then write your reaction (a comment, question, connection made, or analysis) each quote in the second column. You must make at least 5 entries in your journal. SAMPLE from House on Mango Street: I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn t it. The house on Mango Street isn t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go (5).