University High School
9th Grade Honors English
Required Summer Reading and Assignment
Choose ONE classic and ONE Contemporary Title-
Classic:
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Parrott in the Oven, by Victor Martinez
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Death Be Not Proud, by John Gunther
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
Contemporary:
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass
Notes from the Midnight Driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick
Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, by David Lubar
Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
When I was Puerto Rican, by Esmeralda Santiago
AssignmentThe theme of study for 9th grade English is “Coming of Age.”
Coming of Age: The transition and change from childhood to adulthood. This process usually
involves maturing by gaining knowledge, learning a lesson, taking on responsibilities, or struggling
through a loss of innocence.
The main characters in each of these novels have clear coming of age experiences.
For each novel that you select, create a list of ten quotes reflecting the main character’s challenges and
struggles that are part of their coming of age. For each quote, also include the page number and a
detailed explanation of how the quote relates to a challenge the character facing during their coming
of age. Your list of quotes should be typed or neatly hand-written.
Assignment is due at the end of the first week of school.
University High School
10th Grade Honors English
Required Summer Reading and Assignment
Choose THREE of the Following Titles-
House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
Steps from Heaven, by An Na
The Other Side of the Sky, Farah Ahmedi
La Linea, by Ann Jaramillo
Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
AssignmentThe theme of study for 10th grade English is “Experiencing Culture.”
Culture: The sum total of ways of living including shared values, ideas, beliefs, and behavior
built up by a group of human beings. Culture is transmitted over time from one generation
to another and can be used as a way of excluding individuals that do not have the same
common experiences.
Each of these novels involves a main character that must adapt to and become part of a new
culture. For each novel that you select, create a list of ten quotes that reflect the challenges
and difficulties that the character encounters while trying to adapt to a new culture.
(Possible challenges may include prejudice, family conflict, confusion about identity, new laws
and customs, difficulty with peers, educational challenges, etc.) For each quote, also include
the page number and a detailed explanation of how the quote relates to cultural experiences.
Your list of quotes should be typed or neatly hand-written.
Assignment is due at the end of the first week of school.
University High School
11th Grade Honors English
Required Summer Reading and Assignment
You Must Read THREE Selections, Including
at least ONE Fiction and ONE Nonfiction TitleFiction:
Kindred, by Octavia Butler
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
Nonfiction:
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Pursuit of Happyness, by Chris Gardner
The Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
AssignmentThe theme of study for 11th grade English is “The American Dream.”
The American Dream: A philosophy that stresses the ability of all Americans to achieve freedom
and the promise of prosperity, achievement and success. The American Dream is often shown
through the hope of each generation to have a better life than the generation before it.
Each of these pieces relates to the theme of searching for the American Dream, either with a
positive or a negative result. For each piece that you select, determine whether the search for
the American Dream is presented from a positive or negative perspective. Then create a list of
ten quotes that support your conclusion for each selection. For each quote, also include the page
number and a detailed explanation of how the quote reflects a positive or negative view of the
American Dream. Your list of quotes should be typed or neatly hand-written.
Assignment is due at the end of the first week of school.
University High School
12th Grade Honors Required Summer Reading
and Assignment
Reading Selections-
Required Title: How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster
Choose Two of the Following:
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
The Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob Riis
The Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut
Assignment-
The focus of study for 12th grade English is Perspectives on Power, Society and the
Individual.
Perspectives on Power, Society and the Individual: An individual’s perspective is
often influenced by how much power that individual has within a society. In many
cases, there are conflicts between what an individual character wants and societal
rules or structures. Many texts also focus on how societies use or abuse the power
they have over individuals. Characters in a text often view situations differently
depending on their positions within society.
For each novel that you select, provide a statement about the how the text deals with
or connects to the issue of “Power, Society and the Individual”. Then, create a list of
ten quotes for each selection that elaborate on your interpretation of the text.
Assignment is due at the end of the first week of school.
University High School
Advanced Placement Language and Composition
Required Summer Reading and Assignment
You Must Read THREE Selections, Including at
least ONE Fiction and ONE Nonfiction TitleFiction:
Kindred, by Octavia Butler
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
Nonfiction:
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Pursuit of Happyness, by Chris Gardner
The Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
AssignmentThe theme of study for 11th grade English is “The American Dream.”
The American Dream: A philosophy that stresses the ability of all Americans to achieve freedom
and the promise of prosperity, achievement and success. The American Dream is often shown
through the hope of each generation to have a better life than the generation before it.
Part One: Each of these pieces relates to the theme of searching for the American Dream, either
with a positive or a negative result. For each piece that you select, determine whether the
search for the American Dream is presented from a positive or negative perspective. Then create
a list of ten quotes that support your conclusion for each selection. For each quote, also include
the page number and a detailed explanation of how the quote reflects a positive or negative view
of the American Dream. Your list of quotes should be typed or neatly hand-written.
Part Two: While reading each text, create a vocabulary journal recording words from the text
that have significance in each chapter, including the page number for each. Consider which
words are most closely connected to the central theme or idea of that chapter. Some chapters
many require only a few words while others may be more extensive. After compiling the list for
each chapter, include a brief explanation of the textual significance of the word list. Your word
lists and explanations should be typed or neatly hand-written.
Assignment is due at the end of the first week of school.
University High School
12th Grade Literature and Composition Advanced Placement
Required Summer Reading and Assignment
Required Texts:
How to Read Literature like a Professor—Thomas C. Foster-ISBN-0-06-000942-X
Middlemarch— George Eliot [Note: This novel is widely available in both new and used forms as
well as obtainable electronically via the Internet for free].
East of Eden—John Steinbeck [Note: This novel is widely available in both new and used forms
and may be obtainable electronically via the Internet for free].
Summer Assignment:
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Your starting point begins by reading and gathering literary information from Thomas C. Foster’s text, How to
Read Literature like a Professor. As you read the text, take notes on the insights and methods that Foster uses
to analyze literature. Your annotations and notes will be expanded upon and will be applied to other readings
that will come later in the school year. It is highly recommended that you annotate and/or take sufficient
notes on Foster’s text, How to Read Literature like a Professor as you read it in order to apply the
information within it to Eliot’s text, Middlemarch and to Steinbeck’s text, East of Eden.
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Next, when you have completed the reading of How to Read Literature like a Professor, you must read George
Eliot’s text, Middlemarch and John Steinbeck’s text, East of Eden.
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In order to effectively analyze a text [e.g. George Eliot’s text, Middlemarch and John Steinbeck’s text, East of
Eden], a student of literature should attempt to understand the historical and social contexts in which a given
text was written. Oftentimes, this goal will come in the form of research. Though it may not seem as
important as, say, the actual reading of an assigned text, it is just as important that you know as much about a
text’s influences as you do about the characters’ actions and comments within the text. Therefore, you should
gather biographical information about these authors as well as historical and social information that will
provide understanding of the period in which Eliot and Steinbeck were writing their texts. You need to
answer—through research—this question: What was happening in the times in which these authors were
writing their particular stories?
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More importantly, from the annotations and/or notes that you have taken from reading of Foster’s text, you
should make connections that you see existing between those chapters of Foster’s text, How to Read
Literature like a Professor with that of Eliot’s text, Middlemarch and that of Steinbeck’s text, East of Eden.
Furthermore, as you encounter the literary devices that Foster teaches in his book such as—characterization,
motifs, point-of-view, symbols, and themes—think about how you can apply such literary elements to Eliot’s
and Steinbeck’s text.
Due: August 31, 2012 and September 7, 2012
Note: There will be assessments on these Summer Assignments, which your teacher may assign to you when
you return for the 2012/2013 school year. You should expect some form of assessment to be given to you
on this material and you should be prepared for it within the first two weeks of the new school year.