English 9 Summer Reading Task: 2016-2017 School Year
Essential Question: How do outside influences and our personal struggles impact who we become?
Purpose: Your completion of these tasks will enable your freshman English teacher to determine a starting point
for you in terms of key skills that we develop over the course of the year.
Please select one of the three novels below to read for your Summer Reading Task.
Option 1: Matched
Option 2: Maus I – A
Option 3: Miss Peregrine’s Home for
by Ally Condie
Survivor’s Tale
Peculiar Children
by Art Spiegelman
by Ransom Riggs
Cassia has always trusted the
Spiegelman, a stalwart of the
A mysterious island.
Society to make the right choices
underground comics scene of
An abandoned orphanage.
for her: what to read, what to
the 1960s and '70s, interviewed A strange collection of very curious
watch, what to believe. So when
his father, Vladek, a Holocaust
photographs.
Xander's face appears on-screen
survivor living outside New
It all waits to be discovered in Miss
at her Matching ceremony, Cassia York City about his experiences. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an
knows he is her ideal mate . . .
The artist then deftly translated unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and
until she sees Ky Markham's face
that story into a graphic novel.
photography in a thrilling reading
flash for an instant before the
By portraying a true story of the experience. As our story opens, a horrific
screen fades to black. The Society Holocaust in comic form--the
family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob
tells her it's a glitch, a rare
Jews are mice, the Germans
journeying to a remote island off the coast
malfunction, and that she should
cats, the Poles pigs, the French
of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling
focus on the happy life she's
frogs, and the Americans
ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar
destined to lead with Xander.
dogs—Spiegelman compels the Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned
reader to imagine the action, to bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear
But Cassia can't stop thinking
fill in the blanks that are so
that the children were more than just
about Ky, and as they slowly fall
often shied away from.
peculiar. They may have been dangerous.
in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Reading Maus, you are forced to They may have been quarantined on a
Society's infallibility and is faced
examine the Holocaust anew.
deserted island for good reason. And
with an impossible choice:
somehow—impossible though it seems—
between Xander and Ky, between
they may still be alive. A spine-tingling
the only life she's known, and a
fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage
path that no one else has dared to
photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for
follow.
Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens,
and anyone who relishes an adventure in
the shadows.
*descriptions from amazon.com
Your Reading Tasks
1. Double Entry Journal: Please complete the attached Double Entry Journal, citing quotations (include page
number) throughout your selected novel that you believe respond to or provide insight regarding our
Essential Question. Then, explain how the quotations you have selected connect with the Essential
Question.
2. Characterization Chart: Select 2-3 characters from your novel. Identify two traits/characteristics that
each character possesses (a total of 4-6 traits, 2 per character). Then, use textual evidence (a specific line
from the text) that supports the trait you have identified in your characters, including page numbers. Use
the sample as a guide.
*All Reading Tasks will be due on the first day of school as a hard copy, regardless of your teacher.
Both tasks will count as one supportive assessment grade each.*
English 9 Summer Reading Task: 2016-2017 School Year
Name: __________________________________________________ Book Title: ____________________________________________________________
Double Entry Journal: Summer Reading Task (This will count as a homework grade.)
Essential Question: How do outside influences and our personal struggles impact who we become?
Use this Double Entry Journal to track an answer to the above question while reading. Be sure to explain why the
quotes you are choosing relate to this question. Please do not forget to include page numbers with your quotations.
Quotation from the Text (that supports the
Essential Question)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explanation: Why is this significant? How does it tie
into specific aspects of the story? (Think theme,
characterization, etc.)
English 9 Summer Reading Task: 2016-2017 School Year
Sample Double Entry Journal
Essential Question: How do outside influences and our personal struggles impact who we become?
Quotation from the Text (that supports the
Essential Question)
1. “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever
in your favor.” (page 19)
Explanation: Why is this significant? How does it tie
into specific aspects of the story? (Think theme,
characterization, etc.)
1. This first quotation demonstrates the outside influence
that the Capital has on Katniss and all of the districts.
While the people in the different districts dread the
Hunger Games, the Capital views it as a source of
entertainment and excitement. The districts do not have a
choice but to be influenced by the cruel Games inflicted by
Effie and the Capital.
2. “You don’t forget the face of the person who was
your last hope.” (page 85)
2. Again, the second quotation shows how individuals
cannot always control who impacts them. When Katniss
loses the sight of the person who represented her “last
hope,” she is inadvertently influenced by that feeling of
loneliness and desperation.
3. “I pull the sleeping bag up to his chin and kiss his
forehead, not for the audience, but for me.” (page
323)
3. Finally, we are able to see Katniss overcome her
personal struggle of not wanting to become close with
Peeta. She knows that the Hunger Games forces them to
be torn apart, but regardless, Katniss decides that she will
no longer let the Games impact her decisions.
4. I lift my hand to my mouth taking one last look at
the world. The berries have just passed my lips when
the trumpets begin to blare. The frantic voice of
Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. "Stop!
Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present
the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss
Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you - the tributes
of District 12!” (page 344)
4. Ironically, once Katniss has decided to make her own
decisions, she becomes the outside influence that forces
the Capital into a corner. Now, she has shown an
individual’s power over the Capital’s desires, which
means they will surely target her in the future.
5. “One more time? For the audience?" he says. His
voice isn't angry. It's hollow, which is worse. Already
the boy with the bread is slipping away from me.
I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the
cameras, and dreading the moment when I will
finally have to let go.” (page 374)
5. Throughout the novel, Katniss is struggling to find
herself and to remain strong throughout the Hunger
Games. Though she lets Peeta see her vulnerable side, she
is still uncertain of how she will ever be able to survive all
that lies ahead.
English 9 Summer Reading Task: 2016-2017 School Year
Characterization Chart: Summer Reading Task (This will count as a homework grade.)
Name: __________________________________________________ Book Title: ____________________________________________________________
Character
Trait/Characteristic Identified
Example: Katniss from The Hunger
Games
Selfless
Character 1:
Trait 1:
Trait 2:
Character 2:
Trait 1:
Trait 2:
Character 3 (optional):
Trait 1:
Trait 2:
Textual Evidence (the line copied
from the text with a page number
provided)
“‘I volunteer as tribute!’” (p. 22)