Bellarmine Preparatory School
Summer Work: All students will have summer reading for English (see below). Summer work is expected
in many other classes. Please see summer work assignments noted under the Academic section of the
Bellarmine website.
English Department
Summer Reading 2015-2016:
The Bellarmine English Department requests that during the summer months our students stay
active as readers. In light of this, we request that students read each summer. Students, upon their return to
school, will be given an exam that will allow them to express their understanding of the summer reading.
Emphasis will be on characterization, thematic development, and personal insight rather than simply on
plot. Students may also be asked to identify and analyze quotations. Students may want to keep journals
through the summer to help recall their insights about the reading and prepare for exams. If students read
early in the summer, they should review the stories and reading journals before school begins.
ENGLISH I: Short Stories: (1) “The Necklace” by Maupassant, (2) “The Most Dangerous Game” by
Connell, (3) “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by Thurber, (4) “The Lottery” by Jackson, (5) “Two
Kinds” by Tan (Note: text of this story may not be available on iBooks), and “August 2026: There Will
Come Soft Rains” by Bradbury. (Note: “August 2026” is a short story included in The Martian
Chronicles; please consider purchasing and reading all of the The Martian Chronicles, though the
minimum expectation is to read “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”). We recommend
purchasing and reading these stories on iBooks, though you may find some of them online at no
charge. Students are also required to complete a Short Stories Worksheet, noting the prominent
literary elements of each story (due the first full day of class).
ENGLISH II College Prep: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien. Students are also required to complete the
Summer Writing Assignment (due the first full day of class).
ENGLISH II Honors: Oedipus the King, Fagles translation, and Siddhartha, Hesse
AMERICAN LITERATURE College Prep: Into the Wild, Krakauer
AMERICAN LITERATURE Honors: Farewell to Arms, Hemingway and My Antonia, Cather
SENIOR COMPOSITION: This Boy’s Life, Wolff. Please read carefully. You may want to keep a
reading journal or to take notes on your reading. You will be asked to write an essay based on your
understanding of the memoir at the beginning of the semester (fall or spring).
AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION: This Boy’s Life, Wolff and Dead Man Walking, Sr. Helen
Prejean. Please read carefully. You may want to keep a reading journal or to take notes on your
reading. When you return to school in the fall, you will be asked to write an essay on the book(s).
Your work on this assignment is indicative of your readiness to take a college level class.
AP LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION: The Iliad, Homer; Jane Eyre, Bronte; and options for
extra credit – The Aeneid, Virgil; Moby Dick, Melville; A Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan; and The Works of
Sir Thomas Malory). You will be asked to have a four-page journal on each of the two books you
read. The journal is to be one page on the theme of hero, one on death, one on love, one on evil.
What is the book saying on each of these themes? Think of figurative as well as literal
interpretations of each theme. The journal is due on our second day of school.
English II (Incoming-Sophomores) College Prep
SummerWriting Assignment
JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit
Writing Assignment
Answer each of the questions below in a well-developed paragraph (minimum of 5 sentences). Responses must be
typed, double-spaced. Please write your answers without help from others. In that way we can see how thoughtful
you can be.
Be sure to include quotes, paraphrases from the text in each response. Please use The Bedford Handbook for proper
citations. Due the first full day of class.
1) Compare Bilbo at the beginning of his journey with Bilbo at the end of his journey. What are the changes
and what causes them? Would you call him a hero? Why or why not? What is the most valuable lesson
learned?
2) In finding the Arkenstone, what did Bilbo really find? Why did Thorin’s intensive searching yield nothing?
3) When Bilbo took the Arkenstone to Thorin’s enemies it seemed a dreadful betrayal to him. But before he
dies Thorin has a change of heart and tells Bilbo, “I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take
back my words and deeds at the Gate.” Why has Thorin changed? What has he learned from Bilbo?
4) Examine the ways in which the battle between good and evil/light and darkness is fought in The Hobbit and
discuss what is communicated about human nature through this struggle.