English 8 Pre-AP
Summer 2016
Coyle Middle School Summer Reading
English 8 Pre-AP
Novel: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Teacher: Mr. Erik Goen
Objective
Students will understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about issues and themes
raised in The Book Thief from the varied literary devices used and provide evidence from the
text to support their understanding.
Purpose
Summer reading allows students to enter the classroom with a common background
knowledge; therefore, discussion can take place immediately without any heavy reading
assignments the first few weeks of school.
Assignment
There will be two parts to the summer assignment. Both parts of the assignment must be
typed (Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1” margins).
First assignment:
The novel is broken up into ten parts, plus the prologue and epilogue for a total of twelve.
Throughout the book, you’ll find bolded text that is highlighted with *** on either side of a
bolded title. It looks like this:
***Bolded Title***
Subtext Subtext Subtext
Subtext Subtext Subtext
You will need to choose one of these sections for each ‘part’; therefore, you will have chosen a
total of twelve. You will analyze their importance to the story. Consider how they affect the
plot and the storytelling. You will quote the bolded text and cite the page number where you
found it, and then write your brief analysis (4-5 sentences).
For example:
Part Seven
“***Bolded Title***
Subtext Subtext Subtext” (pg. 352)
Analysis here…
Second assignment:
Think about “The Hero’s Journey” as we discussed in class*. Write an essay explaining how
The Book Thief is (or is not) an example of this. Be sure to include the details of “The Hero’s
Journey” and how they relate to the book and use text evidence to support your claims. Your
essay should be one page typed as described above.
Your section analysis will be graded for 30% of the grade and the remaining 70% will be from
your essay. Both parts will be due on August 25. Papers turned in late will be penalized ten
points per day. This will be counted as an essay grade (30% of your total six weeks grade).
There will be other assignments with The Book Thief after school has started, but we will
discuss those in class.
Dialectical Journal**
While it is not required, keeping a dialectical journal similar to the one you kept for Tangerine is
recommended. This will not only help you with your analysis, but it will be a huge asset for
your essay and your vocabulary assignment which you will receive after school has started. We
will also have class discussions upon your return next year, and this will help you remember
things you wanted to discuss or about which you had questions.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form. I am well aware of what already exists online.
Anyone found to be plagiarizing will receive a zero for the assignment. Other ramifications
could occur including but not limited to being removed from Pre-AP English.
Special Circumstances
Students who were enrolled or placed in Pre-AP English late must have a parent contact the
teacher by email by the third day of class, August 24, 2016, in order to be granted a two-week
extension on the summer reading assignment. Those granted this extension will have to turn in
both assignment parts on or before Wednesday, September 6, 2016.
Contact Information
I will be checking email over the summer in case students have questions. My email address is
[email protected].
*A description of The Hero’s Journey can be found online. There are many steps to the journey;
however, these are the ones we focused on in class: The Call To Action; The Refusal of the Call; The
Acceptance of the Call; A Guide or Mentor; Companions on the Journey; Talismans; A Road of Trials; A
Crossing of a Threshold; A Ritualistic Death; A Return Home from the Journey Changed Seeing the
World in a New Light
**Dialectical Journals can be found online; there are many formats. One would use them to keep
track of important quotes, a question you may have about the text, or just something that you find
thought provoking.