THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA WILLIAM W. BODINE HIGH SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 4TH AND GEORGE STREETS PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19123 TELEPHONE (215) 351-7332 COUNSELOR (215) 351-7340 SUMMER READING PORTFOLIO 2018 IB English 4 Ms. Mackay and Mr. Quaranta Required Reading: How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas Foster A Room of One s Own Virginia Woolf The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte Overview: Your summer work will count for a substantial portion of your 1 st report grade. All of your work must be typed, double-spaced, Times font, 12 point. Your work is due on turnitin.com at on the dates indicated. Please note that the due dates are PRIOR to the first day of school. If you do not adhere to these directions, your work will be graded on a pass/fail basis, which means the highest grade you can earn is 65%. Work submitted after the due date will receive no higher than 50%. Absolutely no summer work will be accepted after September 5. No work will be accepted outside of turnitin.com. It is in your best interest to purchase your books, as we will use them in September. If you need ANY clarification, you may reach me at kmac.bodine@gmail.com or Mr. Quaranta at SQuaranta@PhilaSD.org. Assignments: I. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster Due Date: August 1, 2018 The following short writing assignments will let you practice your literary analysis and will help me get to know you and your literary tastes. Whenever I ask for an example from literature, you may use short stories, novels, plays, or films (Yes, film is a literary genre). If your literary repertoire is thin and undeveloped, use the Appendix to jog your memory or to select additional works to explore. At the very least, watch some of the "Movies to Read" that are listed on pages 293-294. Please note that your responses should be paragraphs -- not pages! Choose 15 of the assignments and answer thoughtfully. Even though this is analytical writing, you may use "I" if you deem it important to do so; remember, however, that most uses of "I" are just padding. For example, "I think the wolf is the most important character in 'Little Red Riding Hood'" is padded. As you compose each written response, re-phrase the prompt as part of your answer. In other words, I should be
able to tell which question you are answering without referring back to the prompts. Concerning mechanics, pay special attention to pronouns. Make antecedents clear. Say Foster first; not "he." Remember to capitalize and punctuate titles properly for each genre. 1. Introduction: How'd He Do That? How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern. 2. Chapter 1 -- Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not) List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5. 3. Chapter 2 -- Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction. 4. Chapter 3: --Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read or viewed. 5. Chapter 4 -- If It's Square, It's a Sonnet Select three sonnets and show which form they are. Discuss how their content reflects the form. (Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis). 6. Chapter 5 --Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works. 7. Chapter 6 -- When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare... Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster shows how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on theme. 8. Chapter 7 --...Or the Bible Discuss Biblical (or another Holy Book) allusions that Foster does not mention. Be creative and imaginative in these connections. 9. Chapter 8 -- Hanseldee and Greteldum Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss the parallels. Does it create irony or deepen appreciation? 10. Chapter 9 -- It's Greek to Me Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology. Be prepared to share your poem with the class. Note that there are extensive links to classical mythology on my Classics page. 11. Chapter 10 -- It's More Than Just Rain or Snow Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot. 12. Chapter 11 --...More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different. 13. Chapter 12 -- Is That a Symbol? Using the process described on page 106, investigate 5 symbols from the books you studied in IB English 3.
14. Chapter 13 -- It's All Political Assume that Foster is right and "it is all political." Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned to you as a freshman is political. 15. Chapter 14 -- Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film -- for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiator and Ben-Hur. 16. Chapter 15 -- Flights of Fancy Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain it in detail. 17. Chapter 16 -- It's All About Sex... Chapter 17 --...Except the Sex OK the sex chapters! The key idea from this chapter is that "scenes in which sex is coded rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense that literal depictions" (141). In other words, sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is described, and, if the author is doing his job, it reflects and creates theme or character. Choose a novel or movie in which sex is suggested, but not described, and discuss how the relationship is suggested and how this implication affects the theme or develops characterization. 18. Chapter 18 -- If She Comes Up, It's Baptism Think of a "baptism scene" from a significant literary work. How was the character different after the experience? Discuss. 19. Chapter 19 -- Geography Matters Discuss at least four different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under "geography." 20. Chapter 20 --...So Does Season Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. (Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.) 21. Chapter 21 -- Marked for Greatness Figure out Harry Potter's scar. If you aren't familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization. 22. Chapter 22 -- He's Blind for a Reason, You Know Chapter 23 -- It's Never Just Heart Disease... Chapter 24 --...And Rarely Just Illness Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the "principles governing the use of disease in literature" (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism. 23. Chapter 25 -- Don't Read with Your Eyes After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century. 24. Chapter 26 -- Is He Serious? And Other Ironies Select an ironic literary work and explain the multi-vocal nature of the irony in the work.
II. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Due Date: August 10, 2018 You must answer at least one question from each chapter for a total of 15. You select the 6 questions to omit! Chapter 1 1. Why is it significant that Woolf's essay is partly fictional? Why doesn't she write completely in non-fictional mode about the limitations real women face in writing literary works? 2. Consider Woolf's audience. What was the original occasion of "A Room of One's Own"? What kind of audience is she addressing, and to what extent does Woolf do in her essay what she advises other women to do? 3. How does Woolf characterize "Oxbridge" (i.e. Oxford and Cambridge) as a material place and in terms of its traditions and conventions? What are the connections between Oxbridge and British life and institutions beyond the universities? 4. What effects does Oxbridge have on Woolf's semi-autobiographical character Mary Beton? How does Oxbridge limit her and impinge upon her consciousness? 5. In chapter 1, Woolf analyzes the change in relations between men and women since WWI. How do the Tennyson and Christina Rossetti verses she quotes help her make the points she does? What is it about gender relations that she says has changed since the Great War? 6. What does Woolf point out about the difference between male educational institutions and women's colleges? What effects does the difference generate? 7. What is Woolf's closing reflection in this first chapter? What does she accomplish by "casting into the hedge" the day's thoughts and occurrences? Chapter 2 8. What problem does the proliferation of male-authored books and views about women pose? Why have so many books been written, and what underlies the pose of "disinterested" (i.e. objective, scientific, dispassionate) male objectivity? What "conclusion" do all the men, according to Woolf, arrive at? 9. What underlies Professor von X's hostile treatment of women? How does his hostility amount to more than simple anger? According to Woolf, what individual and societal needs has male writing about women served? 10. Woolf's speaker mentions a departed aunt's legacy. What effect does this newly revealed information have on your understanding of "Mary Beton's" situation? What impact does Woolf say the legacy has made? Chapter 3 11. Why is the significance accorded to women by male fiction a kind of sham or dodge with regard to real-life women? How can women address this problem in recovering women's history? 12. Woolf imagines the career of of Shakespeare's fictional sister, Judith. What happens to Judith, and why? How does Judith's fate show that "genius" is not above history and material circumstance? 13. According to Woolf, why is Shakespeare so little known as a person? What was granted to him that would not have been granted to a sister with equal potential? Chapter 4 14. What criticisms does Woolf make of Lady Winchelsea's poetry?
15. How does Woolf trace the history of women's writing from the eighteenth century onwards? Why was the novel the main genre for female writers in that period? 16. What contrast between Jane Austen / Emily Bronte and Charlotte Bronte does Woolf make? What limitations did Austin and Emily Bronte reject that Charlotte Bronte was unable to reject? 17. Woolf discusses the "newness" of the novel, its suitability for women writers. To what extent does Woolf index her argument here to notions about the supposed differences between men and women? Chapter 5 18. Woolf invents "Mary Carmichael," a novelist. What criticisms does Woolf make of this fictional author? What is nonetheless promising, and even startling, about her work? Chapter 6 19. According to Woolf, what did Coleridge mean by his term "androgyny"? Why is Shakespeare an excellent example of this quality? 20. Why is it "fatal" to write solely as a man or as a woman? Why, according to Woolf, is the modern (post-wwi) way of constantly theorizing about gender and gender relations misguided? 21. What exhortation does Woolf offer women in her audience in this chapter? What does she suggest that women should do to make progress? Is Woolf offering this advice to "women in general," or is her advice offered to a more limited group than that? Explain. III. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Due Date: August 25, 2018 Please answer 5 of the following questions. In your answers, you must refer to TWO specific scenes from the reading to support your answer. Finally, I mean this in the nicest possible way: if you do not understand a question, choose another one. We are using this as a form of mock exam, so as with the exams, I am not providing clues. 1. What role do postmodern themes play in the text? Which do you see as being most significant? How are they used? 2. What significant role does Paradise Pickles and Preserves play in the story? (Not just in terms of plot, but in terms of theme or symbol.) 3. To what extent are race, social class, and religion important in this text? What specific elements of each take on predominant importance, and with what consequences? 4. Why does Roy switch back and forth among time present and various times past? What effect does she intend this to have on the reader? Does it work? 5. Is time as destroyer the novel's most insistent theme? How are the blue Plymouth, the pickle factory, Rahel's toy wristwatch, which always reads "ten to two", and other objects related to this theme? 6. What is the significance of Velutha s role in the story? 7. How does Roy portray the twins' extraordinary spiritual connection, their "single Siamese soul," the fragile, wonder-filled world of their childhood, their often magical vision, and their differences? What might be her purpose for creating such a strong connection between the twins? Is this simply a character trait, or does this connection function thematically? 8. What importance does Roy ascribe to story, storytelling, and playacting? Why?
9. In what ways are the Kochamma women subjected to male dominance, indifference, and even cruelty, and in what ways are they decisive in their own lives, the life of their family, and the affairs of their community? 10. Roy has said that her architectural studies determined her novel's structure. In what ways can we view the novel's plan and construction as architectural? In what ways is the novel's "architecture" related to the significance of actual buildings in the novel? 11. So far, what would you identify as the most significant key motifs or theme in the story? Which scenes or characters illustrate this theme most clearly? 12. How is the idea of boundaries explored? Who enforces boundaries? Who breaks them? What moral judgments are made, either by the author or by the characters? 13. What is the significance of the title, The God of Small Things? 14. What function does Pappachi's moth serve in the book? 15. What does the book have to say about the changes to the world brought about by modernity, development and globalization, etc.? 16. What does the author seem to be saying about the nature of history and of memories in The God of Small Things? 17. The God of Small Things is filled with strong images. From variously shaped "Holes in the Universe" to bursting jackfruits to Pappachi's moth, Roy weaves a very sense-ridden story. Identify two strong similes or images used in the book, and discuss *why* they worked so well. 18. Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times praised Roy's "marvelous job of conjuring the anomalous world of childhood, its sense of privilege and frustration, its fragility, innocence and unsentimental wisdom." Do you agree with this? Why/why not? 19. In what way is this a fundamentally political text? What does Roy seem to be criticizing or advocating? 20. Create a detailed character sketch of Ammu, Baby Kochamma, Velutha, Chako, Mammachi, Pappachi, or Margaret. Be sure to include your thoughts and opinions on the character, not just a literal description. 21. How do you think Caste affects Rahel and Estha s outlook on life and people? (If you d rather, you may discuss Ammu, Chacko, or Baby Kochamma instead of the twins.) 22. What is the significance of the name Baby Kochamma? 23. In what way do characters in the text illustrate a crisis of identity? What point do you think Roy is using this pattern to make? IV. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Reading check in class on September 19, 2018. V. College Essay Draft - Due September 20, 2018 (advance warning!) Choose 1 of the following prompts and respond to each in no more than 650 words. Please note the word count the end of each essay. (OR substitute with an essay prompt from a school to which you plan to apply.)
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? 4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. 5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.