Pre-AP English I Summer Assignment: Incoming 9th graders
Contacts: Ms. Kelsey Hollister
[email protected]
As an incoming 9th grade student, you will be required to read Of Mice and Men by John
Steinbeck and two additional books from the Reading List. After reading the novel, you will
complete the following assignments. These assignments are not designed to torture you, but to
help you keep your brain working over the summer holiday. You are welcome and encouraged
to purchase copies of the assigned reading, however, you may also check out copies from the
public library. This summer’s reading assignment was created to give you an introduction to the
kinds of reading you will see throughout the course and types or analysis that will be required of
that reading.
Due Date: The summer assignment (all parts) is due the first day of class. Failure to come
to class prepared will result in a failing major grade. You have all summer to complete this
assignment, therefore, NO EXCEPTIONS will be made if a student does not have the
assignment in its entirety.
Plagiarism: A student who submits as his/her own work (i.e., a paragraph, draft, completed essay,
examination, quiz, or any other written work), which is taken in whole or part from another person’s
writing without proper acknowledgement (that is, the use of quotation marks and documentation for
directly quoted work or some sort of a specific citation for paraphrased material), is guilty of plagiarism.
A student who submits a plagiarized paper or who allows another person to copy his/her work is subject
to any one, or all, of the following actions: Parental Contact, A failing grade for the assignment, and/or
Office referral to Dean of Academics. As such, please be mindful of the following… You may NOT
use SparkNotes, MonkeyNotes, CliffNotes, or any other similar material. You may not use
materials from another student. DO NOT WORK COLLABORATIVELY on this
assignment. If you have difficulty any questions, please email me well before the due date. This
is the best way to avoid panicking and resorting to cheating or rushing.
**Note- You cannot read more than one work by the same author for this assignment.**
Assignments
Please complete the below assignments in their entirety. Note that ALL incoming freshmen
MUST read Of Mice and Men and complete the assignment detailed. Students must also select
two texts from the reading list and complete one of the assignments detailed below.
REQUIRED TEXT ASSIGNMENT
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men assignment: Read the thematic statements below and select the one that you
think best represents your understanding of one of the themes present in Of Mice and Men. Using
the handout provided at the end of this packet, you will then select THREE quotes from the
novel and write 3-4 sentences explaining how the quote you selected illustrates that thematic
statement you selected. To be clear, each quote you select requires a 3-4 sentence explanation of
how it represents the thematic statement.
Thematic Statements for Of Mice and Men:
1. It is human nature to strive for power because many believe that power is the most
important aspect of survival.
As a result of human beings’ predatory nature, friendship, no matter how desirable, can be
unsustainable.
STUDENT SELECTED TEXTS ASSIGNMENT
Student Selected Text Assignments: For each novel that you read (two in addition to Of Mice
and Men) you will select ten important quotes and provide 3-4 sentences explaining why each
quote is important. That means 3-4 sentences of explanation for every quote that you choose.
It will be beneficial for you to start picking out quotes while you are reading rather than waiting
until you have finished the entire book then trying to go back and remember where you’d find
important quotes.
If you have any questions, please email Ms. Hollister.
Reading List
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Candide by Voltaire
Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Do Hard Things:A Teenage..by Alex and Brett Harris
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
We Were Liars by Emily Lockhart
Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
China Boy by Gus Lee
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
Name:___________________________
Title of Book:__________________________
Quote:
Explanation:
example:
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Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw
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them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in __________________________________________________
diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet
strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting
__________________________________________________
child was the protection of parents and school and policemen
and the law.
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