Summer Reading

Summer Reading 2019-2020

*Each class will also be required to complete a Dialectic Journal for one of the books assigned. You will find the instructions for this journal below. Each English teacher will also e-mail his/her students in early June with more info in reference to the specifics for the class (i.e number of entries, format, etc).

7th Grade: Chinese Cinderella (Adeline Yen Mah) - Dialectic Journal A Single Shard (Linda Sue Park)

8th Grade: Al Capone Does My Shirts (Gennifer Choldenko) - Dialectic Journal Lead Young: What Young Leaders Need to Know to Develop Their Influence Potential (Dr. Alan E. Nelson)

9th Grade: Lord of the Flies (William Golding) - Dialectic Journal Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)

9th Honors: Lord of the Flies (William Golding) - Dialectic Journal Death Be Not Proud (John Gunther)

10th Grade: Native American Short Stories (PDF) The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane) - Dialectic Journal

10th Honors: Native American Short Stories (PDF) - The Red Badge of Courage (Crane)-Dialectical Journal

11th Grade: Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) - Dialectic Journal (Click here for additional information)

AP Language: 1984 (George Orwell) - Dialectic Journal Article Study/SOAPSTone Rhetorical Term flashcards

12th Grade: The Kite Runner (Hosseini) - The Invisible Man (Wells)-Dialectical Journal

Dual Enrollment/AP Literature: The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis) Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) - Dialectic Journal

Dialectic Journal

The function of your "Dialectic Journal" is not to have you summarize your books, but instead to record your thoughts, questions, confusions, frustrations and enlightenments resulting from your reading. Credit will NOT be given for simple summary!

There is to be NO collaboration with other students. Any assistance from the Internet, movies, or secondary sources such as Sparknotes or Shmoop will be viewed as cheating.

The format of a dialectic journal has two distinct sections: the left side is the page number and quote or summary of an issue in the text; the opposite side discusses your thoughts on the issue or quote. Consider the following for reflection in your journal (as well as other thoughts you will have).

You may use any or none of the following ideas – You might write about:

1. Any passage or item that puzzles you
2. Things you agree with and why
3. Things that you don't agree with and why
4. How something makes you feel and why
5. What you think will happen next and why
6. How this reading relates to your life
7. What you think it would be like to live in _____ and why
8. Your reaction to _____ and why
9. Things you would like the class to discuss and why
10. What you would do if you were _________ and why

While there is no required length for each entry, it should be clear that you are employing higher-level thinking skills. In other words, you would be writing more than 1 sentence! You DO NOT have to format your entry in three columns; however, each part of the entry should be clearly identified and not overlapping the next entry.