English 3 Advanced Summer Reading Assignment
Book: East of Eden By: John Steinbeck
Students should read the above novel and complete the assignments below prior to the first day of
school. Students should be prepared to turn in their assignments on the first day of class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Annotation
Annotating a text, or marking the pages with notes, is a way to help you make the most out of reading
for both your high school and future college courses. When you annotate a text, you make it easier to
go back and study for a test, write an essay or even just prove a point in discussion. Annotations also
help to keep you organized and focused. When annotating a text, you must be an active reader and be
engaged in the text that you are reading.
A well-annotated text will accomplish all of the following:
•clearly identify where in the text important ideas and information are located
•express the main ideas of a text
•trace the development of ideas/arguments throughout a text
•introduce a few of the reader’s thoughts and reactions
Assignment #1: As you read the novel East of Eden, you are to annotate the book for character
development. This means that you need to pay attention to passages that either directly or indirectly
characterize a few characters. These passages should be located at various parts of the book so that
you, as a reader, can go back and "trace" how the characters have developed. I would like you to use
sticky notes to annotate this text or at least make it obvious to me where your annotations are. Utilizing
these types of characterization (direct/indirect), annotate East of Eden to show character development.
In other words, how is a character portrayed at the beginning of the novel? Does he or she grow
morally, emotionally or have some sort of crisis which alters his or her outlook on life? Everyone must
characterize Kate, but then you can choose two other characters to annotate for. Please provide 4-5
annotations per character.
Literary terms:
Direct characterization-----what the author directly states about the character.
Indirect characterization-----what the character says or does or what others say about him or her.
*****I will collect your books the first day of class and the annotations will count as a class
participation grade. If you have an electronic copy of the book, you can type the assignment and turn
that in. But you still need the book (e copy)
Format for typed annotations
……Pg # type out passage……..then brief analysis of what passage says about character, does not need
to be complete sentences…..
Format for sticky note or hand written
Passage should be marked clearly, then write a brief note that is describing how Steinbeck is portraying
the character.
Assignment #2: Upon completion of the novel and annotation, I would like you to write a one
paragraph analysis in which you relate the below quote to the novel East of Eden. In other words, how
does this quote relate in theme or character to the book? While it is not an essay, I am looking to see
that you are able to make a connection and develop your thoughts. You will need to provide specific
examples from the novel. This should also be formal in tone (no 1st or 2nd person). Due to the
complexity of the assignment, I will expect your paragraph to be about 1/2 to 1/3 of a page double
spaced. I will be looking for the following:
 Strong topic sentence which contains both the title and author and introduces topic of
paragraph.
 No use of 1st or 2nd person
 The use of present tense when discussing the novel.
 Direct quotes from the novel
 Analysis
Quote:
“A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are
two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all
the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, the one I feed the most.”
― George Bernard Shaw
This should be typed and double spaced using the MLA format for the heading and citation from the
novel. Be prepared to upload your paragraph into turnitin.com. This will count as a quiz
Rubric for Annotations

Annotations are spread throughout the entire book, obvious effort shown __________/40

Annotations show analysis and commentary (It is shown that you were actively involved with
the text – you did not simply highlight every few pages. It is also clear you were conscious of the
specific focus/ theme for the annotations) __________/60
Rubric for Paragraph
Topic Sentence
___________/15
Connection between quote and novel
___________/60
 Comprehension of quote and book
 analysis of quote in relation to novel
 evidence from book……both direct quotes and summary
Citation
__________/10
Grammar
 no 1st or 2nd person
 subject/verb agreement
 spell check used
 traditional grammar rules followed
_________/15
I hope you enjoy this book. It is one of my favorites! If you have any questions, feel free to email me
over the summer!! I look forward to getting to know you next year.
[email protected]