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Required Reading for Summer 2024

Required Reading for Summer 2024

Required Reading for Summer 2024

The Hillcrest High School English Department and administration believe that it is essential for students to read over the summer in order to maintain and develop their reading, writing, and vocabulary skills. Our desire is to give students the utmost advantage by preparing them for the ACT and SAT and for scholarship opportunities.

Students are required to have the following book(s) read by the first day of their English class. We have chosen specific texts for Honors and AP courses.  Any student who selected Dual Enrollment or Advanced English (any grade) on his or her course card will choose a book (or books) from the provided list.  All other students should read a book of their choice in keeping with the spirit of summer reading.

Advanced, Honors, Dual Enrollment, and AP students will be evaluated on the content of the book(s) in a variety of formats after school begins. AP Language (11th grade) and AP Literature (12th grade) students have an additional assignment for each book they are assigned. This assignment is due on the first day of their English class (unless the instructor indicates otherwise), and students may neither copy another student’s work nor copy from the Internet. If parents or guardians have any questions or concerns regarding summer reading selections and/or assignments, they must contact administrators before July 12, 2024.

Honors English 9

Salt to the Sea

by Ruta Sepetys

Honors English 10

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

AP English 11

Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell

AP English 12

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

AND

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

by William Shakespeare

AND

The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger

Dual Enrollment, Advanced English

9, 10, 11, and 12

Dual Enrollment students need to choose two books from the list below.

Advanced English students in each grade should choose one book from the list below.

•               The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

•               The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

•               Lord of the Flies by William Golding

•               The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

•               Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

•               Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

•               A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

English 9, 10, 11, and 12

Read a book of your choice in the spirit of summer reading.


AP Language Summer Reading and Writing Assignment (11th Grade)

Read Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.  Then answer each of the following questions.  You should provide specific examples from the text to support your responses.  You are encouraged to incorporate one or two direct quotes per question (with page number citations).  Your responses need to be well argued and thoroughly supported with the assigned text.  This text will be used in the first nine weeks as you are introduced to rhetorical analysis and argumentative writing. *You should expect a test, project, or writing assessment for the assigned text.

1. What does Gladwell mean by the term “outlier”?

2.  Explain Gladwell’s theory about what makes a person successful.  You should use evidence from at least three different chapters.  Do you agree with his assessment?  Why?

3.  After reading Outliers, which is more important for success: opportunity or legacy? Explain why.

4. What did you find most surprising or thought-provoking in Gladwell's book? Explain.


AP Literature Summer Reading and Writing Assignment (12th Grade)

Read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Then, answer each of the following questions.  Your responses should be six to ten sentences per question.  You also need to provide specific examples from the texts to support your responses.  You are encouraged to provide one or two direct quotes per question (with page number citations).  Your responses need to be well argued and thoroughly supported with the assigned texts. 

*You should expect a reading comprehension test for all three assigned texts the first week you return to school.  We will then spend the first nine weeks analyzing the texts in preparation for the Literary Argument Essay on the AP Literature and Composition Exam.

1.  In The Catcher in the Rye, is Holden a static or dynamic character?  Why?

2.  Throughout Holden’s journey in The Catcher in the Rye, which moment affects him the most?  Why?

3.  According to English poet and novelist George Meredith, “The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” Identify the elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that make this play both humorous and thought-provoking. Evaluate how the play’s combination of humor with more serious elements contributes to the overall meaning of the work.

4.  Study two of the couples in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, Theseus and Hippolyta, or Titania and Oberon). Compare and contrast their relationships.

5.  In Their Eyes Were Watching God, which TWO characters have the most impact (positive and/or negative) on Janie’s journey?  Why?

6.  In Their Eyes Were Watching God, what lessons does Janie learn in each of her three marriages?

7.  It has often been said that what we value can be determined only by what we sacrifice. Consider how this statement applies to a character from ONE of your summer reading texts. Discuss ONE character who has deliberately sacrificed, surrendered, or forfeited something in a way that highlights that character’s values.

8.  In his 2004 novel Magic Seeds, V.S. Naipaul writes, “It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That’s where the mischief starts. That’s where everything starts unravelling.”  Select ONE of your summer reading texts and consider how this statement applies to ONE character who holds an “ideal view of the world.” Analyze the character’s idealism and its positive or negative consequences.

9.  In many works of literature, a physical journey – the literal movement from one place to another – plays a central role. Select ONE of your summer reading texts in which a physical journey is an important element and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

10.  Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.”  Select ONE of your summer reading texts and, considering Barthes’s observation, analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which the text offers any answers.  Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.