June Dear Parents/Students,

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1 June 2017 Dear Parents/Students, In order to encourage life-long reading and prepare for the upcoming school year, we have developed a summer reading program featuring relevant selections that connect to the English curriculum. Our summer reading program provides an opportunity for students to begin the year ready to participate in both class discussion and a written evaluation of the works. This discussion and evaluation will be included in the first quarter English grade. The summer reading program works as follows: Students in each grade level will read an assigned book or books as listed on the MDSA website under the Academics tab: Some reading selections are required of all students in a given class. Additionally, in most classes, students are also required to choose a reading selection from a short list of literary works. Discussion questions can be downloaded from the MDSA website Students will use the discussion questions for each work to guide them in their reading Students do not have to write the answers to the questions, but answering the questions will help prepare them for the written evaluation/test which will be given the first or second week of the quarter Limited class discussion will take place on each assigned book. The written evaluation/test on the book(s) will be included as part of the first quarter grade. In this way, students will have the opportunity to make the connection between their summer reading and other literature covered in their English classes and will also be held accountable for reading the works. Since the summer reading selections will be used during the first few weeks at the beginning of the first quarter, we encourage students to purchase the assigned text(s) so that they are available for the class discussion and evaluation. All of these texts are readily available at Barnes and Noble and online sites such as Amazon. We genuinely hope that the program will provide an enjoyable reading and learning experience for your daughters. Sincerely, Helen Hufford English Department Chair 1

2 SUMMER READING LIST 2017 AP English Literature (Seniors) Required Reading: Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett, The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka, The Stranger Albert Camus, Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Honors Senior English British Literature Required Reading: 1984 George Orwell, Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro Frankenstein Mary Shelley Tess of the D Urbervilles Thomas Hardy To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf Level 2 Senior English British Literature Required Reading: 1984 George Orwell Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde Tess of the D Urbervilles Thomas Hardy Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë Level 1 Senior English British Literature Required Reading: Lord of the Flies William Golding And Then There Were None Agatha Christie A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson AP Language/American Literature (Juniors), A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway Choose two, one from each of the following pairings: Bartleby - Herman Melville Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck & Angela s Ashes Frank McCourt The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Honors Junior English American Literature Billy Budd Herman Melville The Turn of the Screw Henry James My Antonia Willa Cather East of Eden John Steinbeck 2

3 Level 2 Junior English American Literature Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Our Town Thornton Wilder East of Eden John Steinbeck The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Big Two-Hearted River, and Indian Camp Ernest Hemingway (Read all three short stories, counting as one selection) Level 1 Junior English American Literature To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd Honors Sophomore English Required Reading: Great Expectations Charles Dickens Lord of the Flies William Golding A Separate Peace John Knowles A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith Level 2 Sophomore English Required Reading: The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque A Room with a View E.M. Forster Call of the Wild Jack London The Moviegoer Walker Percy Level 1 Sophomore English Required Reading: The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway The Pearl John Steinbeck Our Town Thornton Wilder Honors Freshman English Required Reading: The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen Levels 1 and 2 Freshman English Required Reading: The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd 3

4 Sophomore English - Level 2 Summer Reading Questions As you read, please keep in mind the specific discussion questions below. In addition, the following literary concepts and sub-concepts should guide your reading and note-taking. Pay particular attention to the differences between the two works you read: for instance, one might have an intended moral lesson while the other does not. When we return to school, be prepared for a brief quiz, followed by a class discussion of the work and, later, a group presentation. Plot: What is the overall structure of the work? What events take place, and in what order? 1.Sub-concepts: Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action (Denouement), Resolution Setting: Where and when does the action take place? What feelings does it evoke? 2.Sub-concepts: Author / Narrator Point of View, Location, Time Period, Mood, Tone Characters: Who participates in the action, and how does it affect them? 3.Sub-concepts: Major / Minor, Relationships, Static / Dynamic, Protagonist / Antagonist Theme: What ideas recur throughout the work? Why might the author have written it? 4.Sub-concepts: Genre, Central Topic, Symbols, Motifs, Lesson Devices: What sort of language and voice does the author use to communicate? 5.Sub-concepts: Imagery, Metaphor / Simile, Personification, Alliteration, Diction Required Text: The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1. Even though the characters are named, Santiago is usually called the old man and Manolin is simply the boy. The sea is the unnamed third character, and also the only female character. What effect does this lack of naming have on the characters relationships? 2. Find allusions to Christ. How and why does Hemingway depict Santiago as a Christ figure? 3. What is the old man s relationship to other animals that rely on the sea for their survival? Why does the old man choose to fish for marlin as opposed to squid, bait fish, tuna or shrimp? Why does he dream about lions? 4. The Old Man and the Sea is a story of a battle. Who wins and why? You are required to choose one text from these selections: All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque 1. The novel's title and last line are the same, "All quiet on the western front." What does this phrase mean? Why is it significant enough to start and end the story? 2. Why is the experience of home leave so disappointing to Paul? Is he able to connect with anyone in the outside (i.e. non-military) world? 3. Define the following terms: archetype, camaraderie, monotony, pacifism. How does each play a role in the novel? 4. Most students of history believe that the depressed state of the German nation at the close of World War I opened the door to allow the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. What evidence from the novel supports this? 4

5 Sophomore English - Level 2 Summer Reading Questions (continued) A Room with a View - E.M. Forster 1.Lucy and George both stand outside Britain's traditional class structure. What role does social class play in the novel? Why did Forster choose Cecil to deliver the statement: "The classes ought to mix... There ought to be intermarriage all sorts of things. I believe in democracy? 2.What is "medieval" about Cecil's attitude toward women in general and toward Lucy in particular? What role is she allotted in his notion of chivalry? Why does Lucy feel, after George throws her blood-stained photographs into the Arno, that it is "hopeless to look for chivalry in such a man"? What kind of companionship and protection does George offer in exchange? 3.How does the book poke fun at Edwardian manners and social codes? (Research Edwardian if necessary.) Which characters seem to most embody the Edwardian mindset, and why? 4.There are many kinds of deceit in the book: betrayal by friends, secrets between lovers, and most importantly Lucy's self-deceit. Four of the last five chapters show Lucy lying to nearly everyone else in the book. Which kinds of lies are most harmful to the personal relationships in the story? The Call of the Wild - Jack London 1.The Call of the Wild has an unnamed narrator, who tells the story entirely from the perspective of Buck. How effective is Jack London s ability to sustain the story from a dog s point of view? Does the dog ever seem to take on human characteristics? 2.Describe "the law of club and fang that Buck learns from the man with the red sweater. Is this lesson relevant for the survival of humans today? 3.One of the novel s most important scenes is the fight between Buck and his rival, Spitz. Who initiates this fight? Does it have to end the way it does? Why or why not? 4.The Call of the Wild begins with the opening lines of Atavism, a poem by John Myers O Hara published in What is atavism? Although Jack London didn t know the full poem at the time, he felt these four lines perfectly summarized his novel. Do you agree? The Moviegoer - Walker Percy 1.Movies are so important to Binx Bolling that he constantly labels his friends and acquaintances "moviegoer" or "not a moviegoer." What does the term "moviegoer" mean? Why are movies so important to Binx? 2.What is an existential crisis? Why was it common in the 1960's? How does Binx eventually solve his? 3.How does Percy portray the areas of the United States in which the action takes place (New Orleans, Chicago, and the American South?) What does the novel say about American culture? 4.The Moviegoer won the National Book Award in 1962, the year it was published. It caused a great scandal because there were several other novels that critics believed should have won instead. Based on other works you have read, what sets this novel apart? Why might it have upset the other top choices? 5