Summer reading is an invaluable learning experience for all students, one which will help every reader to acquire many of the essential skills needed for success in high school, college, the workplace, and beyond. Parents, please encourage your child to read as much as possible over the summer. Books may be purchased at local book stores or online for a nominal cost, and many titles are available at the public library. We encourage each student to purchase a copy to allow for marking annotations within the text. A limited number of titles may be available at the school for those unable to afford their own copy. Summer reading is strongly suggested for all English I, II, III, and IV students taking Standard and Honors English courses, as all students in these course will have a major assessment on the reading during the third week following the beginning of school. A SPECIAL NOTE TO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN AP COURSES: Summer reading and the completion of related assignments are required for students taking AP English III and AP English IV. Refer to the appropriate AP reading lists and assignments posted below. English III AP students with questions can contact Ms. Burke and English IV AP students with questions can contact Ms. Watson.
ENGLISH I English I Standard: Read at least one work from the following list. English I Honors: Read at least two works from the following list. The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Lord of the Flies by William Golding Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Contender by Robert Lipsyte The Call of the Wild by Jack London Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers Animal Farm by George Orwell Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare The Pearl by John Steinbeck Dracula by Bram Stoker Night by Elie Wiesel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
ENGLISH II English II Standard: Read at least one work from the following list. English II Honors: Read at least two works from the following list. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon Siddhartha by Herman Hesse A Doll s House by Henrik Ibsen The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway My Forbidden Face by Latifa The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Patton All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan Candide by Voltaire The Story of Blima by Shirley Russak Wachtel
ENGLISH III English III Standard: Read at least one work from the following list. English III Honors: Read at least two works from the following list. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hiroshima by John Hersey The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Billy Budd by Herman Melville Moby Dick by Herman Melville The Crucible by Arthur Miller Jazz by Toni Morrison The Jungle by Upton Sinclair The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Life of Pi by Martel Yann
AP ENGLISH III AP English III: Read at least one work from the following list. Complete a Major Works Data Sheet (MWDS)--a 7-page template is located below--to be submitted during the first day of class, and be prepared for a major assignment (written or other) based on the summer reading during the first week of class. (You may earn extra credit points for reading a second work from this list and completing a MWDS on it, also to be submitted on the first day of class.) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines Rats by James Herbert Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston The Color of Water: A Black Man s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride Beloved by Toni Morrison In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick Walden by Henry David Thoreau Black Boy by Richard Wright
ENGLISH IV English IV Standard: Read at least one work from the following list. English IV Honors: Read at least two works from the following list. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin The Stranger by Albert Camus Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest by Ken Kesey The Road by Cormac McCarthy Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller 1984 by George Orwell Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare Gulliver s Travels by Jonathan Swift The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
AP ENGISH IV AP English IV: Read at least one work from the following list. Complete a Major Works Data Sheet (MWDS)-- a 7-page template is located below--to be submitted during the first day of class, and be prepared for a major assignment (written or other) based on the summer reading during the first week of class. (You may earn extra credit points for reading a second work from this list and completing a MWDS on it, also to be submitted on the first day of class.) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
AP English--Major Works Data Sheet Title: Author: Date of Publication: Genre: Biographical information about the author: Historical information about period of publication: Characteristics of the literary genre:
Plot Summary --List the significant events of the plot in their proper chronological sequence.
Describe the author s writing style. Provide examples that demonstrate this style.
List several significant and/or memorable quotations. Explain what makes each quotation particularly significant and/or memorable.
Name of Character Role in Story Significance Adjectives
Setting(s) Summer Reading 2016--West Mecklenburg High School Symbols and what each Symbolizes Significance of Opening Scene Significance of Closing Scene Possible Themes for this Literary Work