9th Grade Pre-AP Summer Reading Project 2015-2016
Ms. Le-Mon
Dear Students,
For this year’s summer reading project, you will read TWO bildungsroman novels. The first required
novel is Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, and for the second novel you will select from the list
provided below. As you read Great Expectations, keep an open mind and stay focused; the novel may
seem slow and tedious at first, like many classics, but it is well worth the effort. As you read, you will
complete Double-Entry Journals (DEJs), which you will find attached, and you will identify passages
related to the coming-of-age essential questions. Be sure to follow the directions carefully and make sure
your commentary consists of YOUR THOUGHTS; using Cliff Notes, Sparknotes, or an abridged version will
not help you to successfully complete the assignment, and you will be unprepared for the additional
assignments we will complete the first week of school, including research, writing, and collaborative
discussions.
You will find additional detailed information below. Enjoy your summer reading!
Sincerely,
Ms. Le-Mon
9th Grade Pre-AP
Assignment Details:
What is bildungsroman?
The term means “formative novel” and it is a German term. A bildungsroman novel is about coming-ofage; the protagonist grows up, matures, and learns about who they are and how they fit into the world.
You are required to read the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and ONE selected novel
from the list provided.
While reading, you will complete double-entry journals (DEJs); follow the directions below:
The left side must contain at least 5 quotations from the reading with page numbers noted.
Should you wish to refer to a particularly large selection, you may paraphrase it.
The right side must comment on a minimum of three of these seven points. Your right side can
respond to questions such as:
• What strikes you about this?
• What does this passage/idea make you think of or remember?
• What else have you read/heard/experienced that connects with this author’s ideas?
• Does something confuse you or lead to further questions?
• How do you feel about this?
• Do you notice literary elements that are used by the author, including conflict,
characterization, mood, figurative language, tone, irony, point of view, setting, allusions, etc.?
• Do you notice any repetition of ideas or images?
The last reflection for each chapter is the essential questions related to the coming-of-age theme:
• What are the defining characteristics of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood?
• How does culture influence our identity?
When I grade these, I will be looking for detail. The best way to guarantee earning full points is to
comment on more passages than the minimum of five and to complete a minimum of SEVEN
DEJS for Great Expectations (Chapters 1-6, 7-11, 12-19, 20-30, 31-42, 43-49, 50-59) and FIVE
DEJS for the selected novel. You can write each entry on notebook paper, or type it, but please use
the following format, and be sure to include the essential question section for EACH entry.
Title:
Chapters/Pages:
Quote/Text Evidence with page
numbers
Commentary/Analysis
Essential Question Analysis: How does this section of the novel relate to these coming-of-age questions?
1. What are the defining characteristics of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in the
novel?
2. How does culture influence the character’s identity in the novel?
Question
Number:
Quote from Novel:
How does this quote relate to
an essential question?
You will then read ONE novel from the list below:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Realistic Fiction)
Amazon Synopsis: The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant
“wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and
adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to
run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing
up. (Please note: there are references to sex, drugs, and homosexuality in this novel.)
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Realistic Fiction)
Amazon Synopsis: In this debut novel, the García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their
family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow
a tyrannical dictator is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their
existence in the Caribbean. In the wild and wondrous and not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try
to hold on to their old ways, but the girls try find new lives: by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening
their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be
caught between the old world and the new. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents sets the sisters free to
tell their most intimate stories about how they came to be at home—and not at home—in America.
Looking for Alaska (Realistic Fiction)
Amazon Synopsis: Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been
one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great
Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-butboring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down
the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly
fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into
the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same. (Please note: this book contains mental illness and a character with
depression and self-destructive behaviors.)
Ender’s Game (Science Fiction)
Amazon Synopsis: In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack,
government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew
"Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves
more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training
program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for
rigorous military training.