Dear Prospective English 11 Honors Students,
English 11 Honors is not for students simply looking to pad their transcripts with some H’s
beside course titles. It requires discipline, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to embrace
academic challenges, and the desire to examine literature at a deeper level than in standard
classes. If you’re up for all of that, read on. (If you’re not, then I respectfully ask you to drop the
class now and save you and me a series of headaches.)
Our exploration of literature begins over the summer. You will be required to read How to Read
Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
Both reading selections are accompanied by writing assignments. For How to Read Literature
Like a Professor you will write a 100 to 150-word summary for each chapter. Read Foster’s
book first. It will help you as read The Grapes of Wrath.
You will complete two writing assignments in conjunction with reading Steinbeck’s novel: a
reader-response journal and a quote analysis. Complete both assignments in a spiral notebook
or journal.
 Reader-response journal – Write a thoughtful personal response/reaction to each
chapter. I do not want chapter summaries. Engage with the text. What are your reactions
to events in the chapter? What questions do you have? What expectations do you have?
Read critically. Look for passages that reveal character, foreshadowing, symbol, theme,
etc.
 Quote Analysis – As you read, underline passages that strike you as significant—again,
ones that reveal character, offer bits of foreshadowing, contain symbolism, connect to a
central theme, etc. After you’ve finished reading the novel, choose 10 quotes, write them
down along with the page their page numbers and write a paragraph explaining why you
think each is important. Here is an example what an entry for The Great Gatsby by F.
Scott Fitzgerald might look like:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us
then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine
morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” p. 189
This is Nick’s final reflection on Gatsby, and Fitzgerald uses it to end the novel. Gatsby’s attempts to
recreate his past with Daisy overcome his hope for the future and his pursuit of his dreams. I think people’s
obsession with the past or their struggle to overcome it is one of the main themes Fitzgerald addresses. In
the last line of the quote, he uses the image of someone rowing a boat against the current to show how
people expend a lot of effort trying to fulfill their ambitions but are always pulled back into the past. Nick
cannot escape the past either since he’s obviously still affected by his interaction with Gatsby and
everything that happened during the summer he lived on West Egg.
For each assignment, you’ll be graded on whether you complete the assignment and on how much
effort and original thought you demonstrate in the process. Any sort of plagiarism or cheating will
result in a zero. In addition to the writing assignments, you will have a test on The Grapes of
Wrath during the first week of school.
I haven’t lost you yet, have I? No? Terrific! I’ll see you in August.
Sincerely,
Mr. Middlekauff