Dear Parents:
In keeping with Puckett Attendance Center’s commitment to improving and enriching the reading skills of all of our
students, the English department is excited to continue our required summer reading program for those students
entering 7th through 12th grade.
The focus of these reading assignments is as follows:
1. Reinforce or enrich reading strategies.
2. Polish comprehension skills.
3. Provide practice in a variety of methods to report on a story.
Students will be required to complete the following assignments for the grade/class that they will enter for the
2015-2016 school year. Directions and information are included here and will be posted on the school’s website.
Why is summer reading important? In order for children to develop good reading habits and to grow in their
ability to read and comprehend texts, reading must take place every day. To help our students meet this
expectation, we will require all students entering 7th through 12th grade to complete the following reading and
corresponding assignments over the summer months. Parents are encouraged to read with and to their children.
It will be the student’s responsibility to obtain his or her own books whether they are from a library or bookstore.
Students must demonstrate mastery of the summer reading by completing the assignments to show their
comprehension of the texts.
The assignments are considered part of the child’s grade for the first quarter of the 2015-2016 school year.
Students are welcome and encouraged to read beyond the required amount, but only the required assignment(s)
will be assessed.
The summer reading assignment is a required one. The emphasis of the assignments and the evaluation process is
on ensuring that students build reading comprehension skills and to begin to develop a lifelong habit of daily
reading. Your support of the summer reading program is greatly appreciated.
Any questions may be emailed to your child’s upcoming teacher.
Sincerely,
The Administration and Faculty of Puckett High School
9th Grade Summer Reading Assignment (and Alternate Assignment for 10th-12th grade)
Directions: Read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. Create a Google Doc and name your document by your
first initial last name grade Summer Reading. (Ex: JDoe10SummerReading) After you have read the assigned
selections, please answer the questions below and respond to the appropriate writing prompt. (Please include the
questions.) When you are done, please share your completed Google Doc with your teacher. Documents are due by
the first day of the 2015/2016 school year.
9th / 10th : [email protected]
11th / 12th: [email protected]
Assignment #1: Answer the following questions in 2-3 thoughtful, complete, well-written sentences each.
1. Why does Dr. Strauss think Charlie would be a good subject for the experiment?
2. Who is Algernon? What happens when Charlie first races Algernon?
3. What are some signs that Charlie is changing now that he’s had the operation?
4. What evidence reveals that the men at the baker are not Charlie’s friends?
5. What are the first tangible pieces of evidence that Charlie’s intelligence is improving?
6. How have Charlie’s feelings for Miss Kinnian changed in the first part of the story? What has contributed to this
change?
7. What does Charlie’s research reveal about the results of the experiment?
8. What are some of the signals that tell you that Charlie’s mental state is getting worse?
9. Why would some people say that Charlie would be better off if he had not had the operation? What do you think?
10. At the end of the story, Charlie writes, “Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you.” Do you agree or
disagree with Charlie’s opinion? Explain.
Assignment #2: Writing Response (Respond in a well-developed 1-page written essay.)
In the short story "Flowers for Algernon," Charlie is the subject of an experiment in human engineering that
radically changes his life. As the story progresses, the readers learn of great joys as well as great heartaches that
Charlie experiences as a result of this experiment.
9th grade prompt
Charlie thought that getting smarter would solve all of his social problems (e.g fitting in with others). However, we
see that the experiment turned out very differently than he had hoped. Explain how Charlie was mistaken and what
he comes to understand about society. Be sure to include evidence from the text.
10th grade prompt
3: Did Charlie have the mental maturity and cognitive ability to truly understand the risks of the operation even
before he had it? Was it morally right to ask him to make such a decision? Support your argument with evidence
from the text, personal experience, or other examples from life.
11th grade prompt
Charlie’s mother, Rose, is unwilling to accept that her son is mentally challenged; therefore, she continually treats
him terribly so that he will become “normal.” Does societal pressure to be perfect make individuals (and/or
parents and teacher) push themselves or others too much? Argue yes or no and use evidence and examples. Your
examples can be from the novel, from other literature you have read, your own personal experience, or a
combination of the above.
12th grade prompt
In a well-reasoned essay, argue the impact of Charlie's experience with human engineering. (You may want to do
some research on human engineering to better understand how you feel about it. Argue what impact you think the
experiment has for Charlie. You may argue whether you think it was a moral experiment, or that it was or wasn’t
useful given the results, or something else you think about the experiment. Be sure to support your interpretation
with specific details and page numbers from the text.