Kochien/Boyd
9 Honors Summer Reading Assignment
English 9-Honors Summer Reading Assignment
You have chosen to enroll in English 9-Honors. This means you are prepared to demonstrate the requisite
skills, interest, independence, work ethic, and passion for reading necessary for success in the course.
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Over the summer you will read To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read closely, you will keep a
dialectical journal. See the explanation and assignment below and the sample attached.
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You will also read Of Mice and Men. The opening quotation, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’
men gang aft agley,” from Robert Burns’s poem “To a Mouse,” reflects the idea of the
powerlessness of man in an indifferent world. For each chapter, keep notes on the kinds of
schemes – plans – each character has. What obstacles impede the success of these plans?
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In addition, choose a book that deals with the school-wide topic of discovery and be prepared to
share. Suggestions are available on the PRHS library website.
The Purpose of a Dialectical Journal
A dialectic journal helps you develop a better understanding of the novel by demanding close reading
skills.
To Kill a Mockingbird Journal Assignment
Complete at least three journal entries per chapter as you read To Kill A Mockingbird. As you read,
choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of a T-chart. In the right
column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each
passage). Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking or puzzling. For example:
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Effective and/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices
Passages that remind you of your own life or something you’ve seen before
Structural shifts or turns in the plot
A passage that makes you realize something you hadn’t seen before
Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs
Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary
Events you find surprising or confusing
Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting
Respond to passages critically. For example:
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Analyze the text for use of literary devices (tone, structure, style, imagery)
Make connections between different characters or events in the text
Make connections to a different text (or film, song, etc…)
Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
Consider an event or description from the perspective of a different character
Analyze a passage and its relationship to the story as a whole
Adapted from:
http://mrsyeomanson.yolasite.com/resources/AP_EnglishIII_Dialectical_journal.pdf
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/DDawson11/
http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/west/teachers/gerding/djs.pdf
Kochien/Boyd
9 Honors Summer Reading Assignment
Quotations
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his
arm badly broken at the elbow . . .” (Lee 3).
(Note: I have not included the entire
quotation to which I am referring. Instead, I
use an ellipsis [ . . . ] to quote only the part
that is most important to what I want to respond to.
Atticus, the lawyer, “knew his people, they knew him,
and because of Simon Finch’s industry, Atticus was
related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in
the town” (Lee 5).
(Note: Instead of quoting the part about
Atticus and his job immediately before this, I put it as
a side note at the front before the quotation.
“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go . .
nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb
County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of
the people: Maycomb County had recently been told
that it had nothing to fear but fear itself” (Lee 7-8).
(Note: Since my quotation wraps to the
next page, I made a note of it by putting
both pages numbers after the quotation.
Notice that there is ALWAYS a page number.
“The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to
themselves, a predilection unforgivable in
Maycomb. . . .” (Lee 9).
(Note: In my response, I touched on one of the topics
of the novel—prejudice—which appears in an atypical
way.)
“…predilection…” (Lee 9)
“One night, in an excessive spurt of high spirits, the
boys backed around the town square in a borrowed
flivver . . .” (Lee 10).
“…repertoire was vapid… “ (Lee 2).
What is stumphole whiskey?
Adapted from:
Responses
I remember breaking my foot before a choir
concert. I was not feeling well and had to leave the
risers. When I was hopping down from the third riser, I
landed on the side of my foot and broke it. All I cared
about when I was recovering was being able to walk
without crutches or a walking cast again. This seems to
be how Jem feels. (Making a Connection)
Atticus seems to be a well-respected person in
Maycomb, and since he is a lawyer, he also must be
fairly intelligent. Maycomb must be a relatively small
town where everyone knows everyone if Atticus is
indeed related to most of the people. I think Atticus
most likely will play an important role in this book
because of his position.
(Interpreting/Making a Prediction)
Apparently Maycomb is also a very slow, sleepy town
that is pretty isolated from everything else. This seems
to be especially true since they only have a “vague”
notion of FDR’s speech (an allusion to the Great
Depression of the 1930s – must be
the era in which the story takes place) and there is
“nothing” outside of Maycomb County. I wonder why
they see the world this way – maybe people don’t travel
because of the Depression or because that’s just not
what people did.
(Interpreting/Asking a Question)
It seems that the town is a little closed minded in
viewing the Radleys since they don’t go to church or do
other things common in Maycomb. This seems to be a
prejudice against their lifestyle since it seems that the
town might not really know them and has become
pretty superstitious about them.
People often get suspicious about what they don’t
understand or what seems strange to them.
(Extending the Meaning)
a preference, or a preferred way to do something.
(Building Vocabulary)
This doesn’t sound like a six year old, so it might
not be as realistic. However, this is written as a
flashback, so Scout must be older now as
she is telling this. Maybe she is just smart.
(Challenging the Text)
a repertoire is all the special skills a person has; vapid
means boring or uninteresting. When Scout says this,
she means that the games they had invented to pass
the time had become old and no longer held their
interest. (Building Vocabulary)
According to historychannel.com, this is whiskey made
illegally and stored in holes of tree stumps. They did
this because of Prohibition. (Allusion)
http://mrsyeomanson.yolasite.com/resources/AP_EnglishIII_Dialectical_journal.pdf
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/DDawson11/
http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/west/teachers/gerding/djs.pdf