English Summer Writing DUE: Friday AUGUST 28, 2015 WRITING ASSESSMENT: 3% of quarter 1

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1 English Summer Writing DUE: Friday AUGUST 28, 2015 WRITING ASSESSMENT: 3% of quarter 1 Dear Incoming Students, We hope you have a wonderful summer. Before returning to school on August 26 th, please complete this summer writing task. Be sure to read through all of the requirements and the theme description and spend thoughtful time creating a product that shows your best writing. We hope you enjoy this experience, and we look forward to reading your work. -The TRHS English Department Requirements: All writing pieces must be typed in Times New Roman, size 12 font and double-spaced with one inch margins. Each grade must fulfill the following length requirements: 9 th grade: 2-3 pages in length 10 th grade: 2-3 pages in length 11 th grade: 3-4 pages in length 12 th grade: 3-4 pages in length You must choose one writing style from the list. You may try two different styles, as long as you meet the required length. You must reach the minimum page length and not exceed the maximum page length for your grade. Your writing must reflect your course s main theme. You must label your writing with the specific style(s) you chose and an original title(s). Be attentive to grammar and usage. Follow the grammatical rules that apply to the style(s) you chose. Summer writing projects apply to all year long English courses and semester 1 English courses. The writing prompts are thematic in nature and aligned to a grade level as opposed to a specific course. For that reason, if you are enrolled in two different grade levels (9 th, 10 th, 11 th, 12 th ) of English that begin in the fall, you must complete a summer writing project for EACH class. If you are enrolled in two different English electives of the same level that begin in the fall, you are only expected to complete one summer writing project. For example: If you are enrolled in American Literature (11 th ) and Journalism (12 th ), you must complete two summer writing projects. If you are enrolled in Short Story and Its Writer (12 th ) and Creative Writing (12 th ), you only need to complete one summer writing project. AP English will complete a different assignment for summer work. If you are an AP student, you do not need to complete this assignment. See your AP teacher for that specific course work instead. *Summer Writing will be graded and returned to students by Friday, September 11 th.

2 THEMES: Your writing must connect to the theme of the course you are entering. 9 th Grade Theme: Discovery of Self The English I theme is the discovery of self. Individuals continuously learn new truths about themselves as they transition through the many stages of life. As a teenager, how do you perceive yourself in relation to your classmates and other acquaintances? What unique traits and interests do you have that help to define who you are? And, in what ways do you struggle to avoid peer influence in your decision making? Through your choice of informative or creative writing, answer one or a couple of these questions. 10 th Grade Theme: Individual in Society The World Literature/World Studies theme focuses on individual people in their societies. This theme explores how a person can have either a positive or negative impact on his/her society. It also looks at how the society a person is part of can impact his/her values, ideas, and beliefs. How does one person affect his/her society (for good or for bad)? How does someone s society affect who he/she is as a person? 11 th Grade Theme: The American Dream vs. Nightmare The American Literature/American Studies theme focuses on the idea of the American Dream. Many people have their vision of what the American Dream is, yet many times while striving to create this dream, a nightmare is the result. Consider what the American Dream is to you personally or to others coming to the country. Explore the idea of how a person s journey may be altered to fit a path more like a nightmare instead of a dream. 12 th Grade Theme: Global Perspective Growing up within a certain culture, people are limited in their perspective of other cultures. As humans, we look through the lens of what we know. Step outside your own cultural lens by considering how we fit into the dynamics of the world in which we live by examining a new perspective of life. Types of writing: Persuasive Essay Personal Essay Definition Essay Compare/Contrast Essay Cause and Effect Essay Argumentative Essay Personal Narrative Memoir/Biography Journal/ Diary Poetry- Free Form, Verse, etc. Perspective Piece (Character/Object) Letter Vignette Short Story Internal Monologue Descriptive/Sensory Writing Stream of Consciousness

3 Here are some examples of how to match a style of writing to a theme: 9 th Grade: These pieces should focus on your own self-discovery. Write a personal essay that explores your own path to self-discovery. Write a short story illustrating the transitions an individual progresses on his/her path to self-discovery. 10 th Grade: These pieces should focus on how one person can have a positive or negative impact on their society. Write a personal narrative in which you vividly describe a time or scene in your life where you have felt like you ve made a positive or negative impact on others. Create a poem about a real or fictional person who made a positive or negative difference in his/her community or world. Write a cause and effect essay analyzing an individual s impact on society. 11 th Grade: These pieces should focus on the American Dream and to what extent this dream can be realized. Write a compare/contrast essay analyzing the similarities and differences of the American Dream and American Nightmare. Write a letter from the perspective of an immigrant traveling to the US to obtain the American dream. 12 th Grade: These pieces should focus on global perspective and ways in which you or others have been forced to look at something from a different perspective. Step into someone else s shoes. Write a perspective piece in which you become an object in a foreign land witnessing something (the house in which a family lives/the country itself/a blanket of a child). Write a persuasive essay centering on a global issue.

4 SUMMER WRITING GRADING RUBRIC Ideas Format: Times New Roman 12 font, 1 inch margins, double spaced, creative title Length: 9 th grade: th grade: th grade: th grade: 3-4 Voice The paper is The writer has The writer is clear and defined the topic beginning to define focused. It holds and development is the topic, even the reader s strong. though development attention. is still basic or Relevant general. anecdotes and details enrich the central theme. all of the requirements are met Length of writing within the minimum and maximum The writer of this paper writes in a manner that is individual, compelling, engaging, and shows respect for the audience 3 of the requirements are met Length of writing just below/above The writer s tone and flavor are well suited to the topic, audience, and purpose 2 of the requirements are met Length of writing a page below/above The writer seems sincere, but not fully engaged or involved. The result is pleasant or even personable, but not compelling The paper has no clear sense of purpose or central theme. Reader must make inferences based on sketchy or missing details. 1 of the requirements is met Length of writing more than a page below/above the The writer seems uninvolved with the topic and the audience. Conventions No grammatical / usage. The writer demonstrates a clear understanding of standard writing Few Sufficient complexity shows off many Some The writer shows control over a limited range of standard writing Frequent Errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, usage and grammar and/or paragraphing repeatedly distract the reader & make text difficult to read

5 Don t take a vacation from reading! Even though our summer work requires you to demonstrate writing to earn credit, we want to remind you to keep reading through the summer months as well. Research strongly suggests that reading, like most skills, improves with practice. The following reading list reflects choices for each grade determined by their specific themes. Lexile Measure represents a student s reading level. The Lexile Measure is shown as a number with an L after it: 750L is 750 Lexile. Higher Lexile measures indicate higher levels of reading. A Lexile measure can range from below 200L for emergent readers to above 1600L for advanced readers. When available, Lexile Measures have been provided for the suggested reading titles below. While Lexile Scores can be helpful in recommending texts aligned with a student s reading ability, please keep in mind this measurement does not always indicate a text s complexity and/or the nature of the themes/issues that a reader must comprehend. 9 th Grade (Self Discovery) Divergent by Veronica Roth 700L Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom 830L The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 870L The Alchemist by Paolo Choelo 910L Childhood s End by A.C. Clarke 990L The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 1150L Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon 1180L 10th Grade (Role of the Self in Society) Zlata s Diary by Zlata Filipovic 640L Ender s Game by Orson Scott Card 780L Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 970L The Chosen by Chiam Potok 970L Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 1010L Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl 1310L 11th grade (American Dream/American Nightmare) Killer Angels by Michael Shaara 610L The Postman by David Brin 1310L Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 820L The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway 1420L In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. by Nathaniel Philbrick 1210L Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson 1050L A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain 1080L (Graphic Novel Version: 610L) 12th grade (Global Community) Dune by Frank Herbert 800L Watership Down by Richard Adams 880L One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn 900L The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger 1140L Tess of The D Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 1160L Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser 1240L