Cocopah Middle School Eighth Grade Summer Reading Assignment
ANNOTATING LITERATURE
Siblings may not share a book and no
electronic texts may be used. Each
student needs to use their own hard
copy of the novels.
All students must read:
Code Talker, Joseph Bruchac
And choose one of the following additional novels:
Airborn, Kenneth Oppel
Crossing the Tracks, Barbara Stuber
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, E. Lockhart
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
As you read both your summer reading novels annotate both of them for the following information.
Use the annotation guidelines for completing your assignment.
ANNOTATE FOR:
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Challenges/Conflicts: 2-3 annotations (state what the conflict is) faced by the protagonist and type:
o Person vs. Person
o Person vs. Self
o Person vs. Society
o Person vs. Nature
Exposition: 1-2 annotations events that show background information of characters or events
Rising Action: 5-7 annotations relevant incidents that create suspense, interest, and tension leading up
to climax
Climax: 1 annotation decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot
Falling Action: 2-4 annotations events that answer unsolved questions
Resolution: 1 annotation event that solves the main conflict
Characters: full name of 3 (annotations per) major/important characters – note physical and personality
traits of each
Theme: 1 annotation event that helps the reader to understand the lesson the author is trying to teach
ANNOTATION GUIDELINES
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Use 3x3 inch sticky notes
Label each note with the page number and plot point
Summarize the plot point with a brief statement, not a complete sentence
Required Information
Completed Sample
Page #
5
Type of Annotation
Exposition
Brief Statement – about one sentence
in length
Pony Boy is a greaser, brother to Soda
Pop, in high school
Honors Students and Students Seeking a Challenge:
You have already read and annotated your novels, now record your experience with the novels
Written Assignment Guidelines
1 page total
Times New Roman size 12 font
1” margins
Double spaced
MLA Format header in upper left corner
Student Name
Class and Period
Teacher Name
Date
After reading your novels complete the assignment for both novels.
Select three topics below and write one quality paragraph for each topic. Your final assignment is not to go
over one page total.
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What are your thoughts on the main character (protagonist) and their actions? Do you agree or disagree
with their choices? Why do you feel this way?
How did the conflict make you feel? Why do you feel this way?
What are feelings toward the novel? Did you like or dislike it? Why do you feel this way?
What surprised you? Did a character make an unexpected choice? Did you predict that something was
going to happen and it didn’t? Why were you surprised?
What is something that you learned from reading the novel? All novels have a theme or lesson that the
characters learn which teaches the reader as well. What did the novel teach you about life or your
interactions with others? Were you exposed to situations that were new to you?
Sample Written Response
Eighth Grade Student
ELA Honors Period __
Miss Burggraf or Miss DeMuro
August 8, 2016
Summer Reading Novel Title
Main Character Thoughts
A quality paragraph is about eight sentences. It will have a topic sentence that answers the
question. There will be about six sentences that answer the question and support your reasons with
evidence from the text. If you know how to embed quotes and cite them (author last name and page
number in parenthesis at the end of the sentence before the period) please do so. If you don’t, that’s okay,
write about events in the novel that explain your reasoning. There will be a concluding sentence that sums
up what you talked about in the paragraph.
What Surprised Me