Summer Reading Assignment – Honors English II
NONFICTION Selection - Dialectical Journal
Choose ONE of the following nonfiction books to read as your summer reading:
1. The Year We Disappeared: A Father - Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby
2. I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
3. Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones
Your journal will be due the first week of school. There will be discussions and a test over your
selected novel. Be sure to write the name of the book you choose on the FIRST page of your
journal. Your journal will be evaluated on the
quality of your analysis.
A dialectical journal is a way to logically discuss your ideas and opinions about a book.
As you read your novel you are going to identify key pieces of text and explain the significance in your own
terms. This is another way to annotate/highlight the text to help your understanding of a novel.
In your marble journal, you will fold each sheet of paper in half. ONLY WRITE ON THE FRONT. On the
left hand side of the page, title the column Note Taking. This is where you will write
sentences/passages/phrases from the book that illustrate a significant idea. Make sure you write it word
for word, use quotations marks, and include the page number.
On the right hand side of the page, title the column Note Making. In this column (right next to the passage
from the book), you will explain in your own words what is significant about the passage you chose. This
needs to be insightful commentary.
In you get stuck with what to write in your commentary concerning the quotes, maybe
one of the following will “un-stick” you! WRITE ABOUT: what you like, what you dislike,
what seems confusing, what seems unusual, what you think something means, what
personal connections you make, what predictions you can pose. Also, you may want to
examine some of the following literary aspects of the passage (THESE ARE
SUGGESTIONS):

Setting – What is especially significant about the setting? How is it related to the time
period in which the work was written? Discuss the time and place in which the action occurs.

Plot – Examine where your passage falls on a plot diagram. It is mere introduction like the
exposition or is it imperative to the climax of the story, etc.

Point of View – What is the perspective of the narrator? How does the point of view affect
your understanding as a whole? Does the choice of narrator make an impact on the author’s
message?

Themes and moral – Identify and explain the message the author is communicating. Explain
a specific lesson learned by any character.

Literary devices – Examine examples of literary devices (like metaphors, personification,
similes, etc) and their use and effectiveness in the novel. Why are they important?
You will need to have between 2 or 3 entries for every 25 pages of the book. I
should not see that you pulled all from the same pages throughout. I will be
grading for AT LEAST 25 entries in your journal. The following page shows an
example – you are not allowed to use the same quotes as shown. Each entry is
worth 5 points each.
Sample Dialectical Journal Page - taken from the novel The Bean Trees
Note Taking
(exact sentences/passages/phrases and page)
Note Making
(MY original ideas about significance)
“If you were to look at the two of us,
myself and Newt side by side in the sixth
grade, you could have pegged us for
brother and sister. And for all I ever
knew of my own daddy I can’t say we
weren’t, except for Mama swearing up
and down that he was nobody I knew
and was long gone besides” (2).
Taylor - wasn’t raised in an affluent
neighborhood, nor did she have a
permanent father figure in her life. She
was only raised with her mother, but she
longed to know who her father was and
what he was like. Since she didn’t, she
could imagine that she was related to
anyone in her town. The constant sense
of questioning left a hole in her life.
“With most of the money I bought a
car…with no windows…no back seat and
no starter. But it was easy to push start
once you got the hang of it…In this car I
intended to drive out of Pittman county
one day and never look back, except
maybe for Mama” (11).
Taylor is not your stereotypical girl who
cares about looks. She doesn’t care that
her car is a piece of junk and that it
barely runs. Her goal is to leave town
and never look back. This shows her
independence and also how brave she is
to venture out alone. The only thing
about her hometown she will miss is her
mom which shows how much she values
their relationship.
“Lou Ann Ruiz lived in Tucson, but
thought of herself as just an ordinary
Kentuckian a long way from home” (25).
This is the beginning of chapter two and
it is a little confusing. The novel went
from 1st person pov told from Taylor to
introducing this new person in 3rd person
point of view. I am guessing that Taylor
and Lou Ann will eventually meet since
the author made a point to tell us that
she too is from Kentucky.