Dr. John D. Horn High School
GT English
Summer Reading Assignments 2015–2016
!
Summer reading assignments need to be completed before you attend your first day of class. There
is too much work here to wait until the last minute. Start early and pace yourself.
!
!
Assignment #1:
Biography/Autobiography
!
Read a biography or autobiography of your choice. Select a book that is
appropriate both in content and reading level. If you have questions
about your selection, just ask.
!
Then answer ten of the following fifteen items (seven from the first column and three from the
second). Each response needs to display some insight you have into your subject. Please type and
print your responses, labeling each question clearly.
!
Column One
Answer seven of these items in the first person
from the point of view of the subject of your
biography/autobiography.
Column Two
Answer three of these items from your own
perspective.
1. Tell me about your greatest accomplishment.
11. Why did you choose this subject’s
biography/autobiography?
2. Tell me about the greatest obstacle you faced.
3. Explain the most controversial issue of your
time.
4. What is your family life like?
5. Tell me about your greatest fear.
6. Describe your attitude toward your society.
7. What are your opinions on life in the 21st
century?
8. Describe your mentor.
12. What was the biggest surprise you learned
about your subject?
13. Explain whether you admire the subject
more or less after reading the biography/
autobiography.
14. How do you identify with your subject?
(What do you have in common?)
15. What is the biggest disappointment you
have in your subject after reading the
biography/autobiography?
9. What is your position on being considered a
role model?
10. What are your philosophies about life? Do
you have a motto?
!
This book will serve as a starting point for your research paper this year. Assignment #2:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
!
Read the Prologue and Part 1. As you read, annotate the chapters with your thoughts.
!
Summarize nine of the seventeen steps of the hero’s journey:
• all five steps from the “Departure” +
• two steps from the “Initiation” +
• two steps from the “Return.”
!
Your summaries should be brief but must contain quotations from the book and demonstrate
your understanding of the steps. These can be typed or handwritten. Please label each step clearly.
!
This book will be the basis of many of our discussions and your first major project.
!
!
Contact Information
!
As the summer progresses, the web site is our tool for communicating with each other. I will post
helpful information and links. It is also a place for you to ask questions of me and your classmates.
To enter the web site, click on the GT English link.
!
Address:
Username:
Password:
!
http://www.jhhsenglish.com
Last 2 digits of your birth year + first 3 letters of your first name + first 3 letters of
your last name + last 5 digits of your student ID number
Your whole 8-digit student ID number
Check to make sure you are able to log in to the site early in the summer. If you have any problems,
e-mail me ([email protected]).
!
!
Dr. John D. Horn High School
GT English
Reading List 2015–2016
!
!
Below is a list of books that we will be reading and studying throughout next year. It is highly
recommended that you purchase these so that you have your own copies to annotate and refer to in
the future.
!
The Hero with a Thousand
Faces
Joseph Campbell
The Iliad
Homer (translated by Robert Fagles)*
Don Quixote
Cervantes**
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare
Henry V
William Shakespeare
!
(No Fear Shakespeare edition)
(No Fear Shakespeare edition)
* Please make sure you buy the Fagles translation of The Iliad.
** Do not buy an abridged version.
!
!
Dr. John D. Horn High School
GT English
Student Contract 2015–2016
!
!
STUDENT/PARENT STATEMENT
!
!
I, [print student name]____________________________________________, on this date,
acknowledge the following:
!
!
•
!
•
!
•
!
•
!
•
I agree to complete the assignments listed on the summer reading sheet designated for
students enrolled in GT English at Dr. John D. Horn High School. I understand that failure
to complete these assignments will gravely impact my grade for the first six-weeks period of
the 2015–2016 school year. I understand that the assignments will count as first six weeks
grades and will serve as the basis for other assignments throughout the school year.
I understand there is no substitute for the pleasure, benefits, and satisfaction of reading
literature for myself. Therefore, I will not take any shortcuts by reading summaries or
skipping the reading altogether.
I value my integrity more than a good grade. Therefore, the work I turn in will be my own,
demonstrating my knowledge and skills.
I plan to take the AP English Language Exam at the end of my junior year because one of
the goals of this class is to prepare me for the test.
I know that the required summer assignments are due on the very first day I go to English
class.
!
! !
!
!
!
!
!STUDENT SIGNATURE:
!!
PARENT SIGNATURE:
_________________________________________
DATE _______
_________________________________________
DATE _______
Please sign and return this form to your English teacher no later than Friday, May 15.