9 Honors English - World Literature
2017 Summer Reading Assignment
This reading assignment is for all students who have chosen to take the 9 Honors English Course.
The assignment in connection to your summer reading choice must be turned in on ​Thursday,
September 7, 2017​. All late assignments will be penalized a letter grade lower for every day the
assignment is late. Being a member of a high school Honors English course requires a level of
maturity and independence. Therefore, carefully read all of the instructions ​before​ you choose
your book and begin the assignment.
CHOOSING YOUR BOOK:
Choose ​one​ full length work of nonfiction or historical fiction by a ​foreign author​ that pertains to a
non-American culture. The work cannot be a fantasy or a mystery novel. The work must take place
in a country other than the United States and is to be​ rich in cultural information​ that can be
compared and contrasted with the American culture. ​Do not choose a work which takes place in
England or a work pertaining to WWII and the Holocaust​. Take a visit to your local bookstore
or head to the library and search the shelves for something that may interest you. Read reviews on
your choice to make sure it is World Literature, not American Literature or British Literature.
Amazon (​http://www.amazon.com/​) is a good website to read brief summaries and reviews of
different works. Your parents ​must​ consent to your chosen work. The following are examples of
works students have read in the past years; however, they are just suggestions: ​IraqiGirl: Diary of a
Teenage Girl in Iraq​, Kamala Markandaya’s ​Nectar in a Sieve​, ​ Daoud Hari’s​ ​The Translator​, ​Ishmael
Beah’s ​A Long Way Gone​, ​ ​John Bul Dau’s ​God Grew Tired of Us​, Malala Yousafzai’s ​I am Malala​,
Mariatu Kamara’s ​Bite of the Mango​, Asne Seierstad’s ​The Bookseller of Kabul​, Adeline Ye Mah’s
Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter​, Mark Mathabane’s ​Kaffir Boy: An
Autobiography​, Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak’s ​They Poured Fire on Us From
the Sky​, and Ibtisam Barakat’s ​Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood​.
The authors and works listed below will be studied in your 9​th​ grade English class and ​are
NOT allowed​ to be read for your summer homework. Please understand if you use one of
these as your chosen authors or works you will earn a zero on your summer work!
Elie Wiesel's ​Night ​(or any other WWII/Holocaust novel)
Pearl S. Buck’s ​The Good Earth
Homer’s ​The Odyssey
Paulo Coelho’s ​The Alchemist
Henrik Ibsen’s​ A Doll’s House ​and​ Hedda Gabler
George Orwell’s ​Animal Farm
Erich Maria Remarque’s​ All Quiet on the Western Front
William Shakespeare’s ​Romeo and Juliet ​and ​Julius Caesar
Sophocles’​ Oedipus ​and​ Antigone
Sandra Cisneros’ ​The House on Mango Street
Any work by Yasmina Khadra
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ASSIGNMENT CONNECTED TO YOUR BOOK:
Once you have read your chosen book, you must complete the the assignment listed below. The
assignment will be collected on ​Thursday, September 7, 2017​.
Directions. ​Create an informational poster about your summer reading choice.
Your poster must be visually appealing, informative, and Honors appropriate. This visual aid will
be used to present your book to the class. The following is what must be included on your poster:
● Cultural Information and Setting:
o What did you learn about the culture and country in which your novel takes place?
This should not be researched​. It should come right from your chosen work. Do
not limit yourself to the list below.
▪ Traditions
▪ Beliefs – religious, political, etc.
▪ Issues – surrounding issues within your country
▪ Clothing
▪ Education
o Provide a map of where the story takes place and other pictures pertaining to the
above information.
● Author Information
o The author should not be an American author. Therefore, where are they from?
When were they born? When did they die?
o Research information on the author. Does it seem like they have chosen the writing
because of some personal connection or experience?
o What else might be interesting about your chosen author?
o Find a picture of your author (include the website link where the images was taken.)
(If you use a website for the author information, you must put everything in
your own words and provide an MLA formatted Works Cited page when you
turn in your project. See ​https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
on how to properly create an MLA formatted Works Cited page.)
● Significant Quotes
o Provide ​two​ significant quotes​ ​from the work which may have inspired you, made
you think, or you felt it was significant to the entire work as a whole. This could be
either something someone says or a part of the narration. Include proper
documentation when quoting. “Quoted material” (last name of author and page
number).
o Be prepared to discuss the quotes and why you have chosen them on the day you
present your chosen work to the class.
Do not limit yourself to what I have listed above; there might be some other things you feel
are significant enough to include on your poster.
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Name: ________________________________
Summer Work 2017-2018 School Year
Poster (40 Points)
Category
Cultural Information​ ​(The project should provide examples from the novel. Traditions,
beliefs, clothing, education, issues surrounding the country are the types of things that
could be added to visual. This should not have researched information in it. It must all
come from the work.)
out of 10 points
*Grammar, punctuation, diction, and syntax are very important when providing this
information on your visual.
Setting ​(Appropriate images and maps of where the story takes place)
Author Information​ ​(Important and interesting information about the author should
include the time period in which they live(d), where they were born and raised,
experiences that may have influenced his/her writing, etc. A picture of the author should
also be included on the visual)
*Grammar, punctuation, diction, and syntax are very important when providing this
information on your visual.
All researched information should be in your own words and the original source
of the information should be included on a separate MLA formatted Works Cited
Page.
Significant Quotes ​(​The visual should include two significant quotes from the work with
proper MLA documentation​.)
Overall appearance of your visual aid
(​Honors Level Appropriate!​)
Total​ ​(out of 40)
Oral Presentation of Summer Work (15 Points)
Student shares his/her visual aid with other students in the class while discussing
their summer reading choice. Student is expected to speak loudly and clearly ​and
show confidence when sharing his/her book choice to others.
(out of 15 possible
points)
A = EXCELLENT (​This means you really wowed me on every aspect of your summer work - Way above and beyond
expectations!​)
B = ABOVE AVERAGE ​(This mean you did very well on almost all aspects of the summer work, but still have a few areas
that may need a bit of improvement. You may need to work on elevating your diction and syntax to make it Honors
appropriate, or you may need work on making your visual project more appealing and Honors appropriate.)
C = AVERAGE ​(This means you did what was required of you, but some things might be missing or not Honors appropriate.
This could also mean that you have way too many issues with grammar, punctuation, etc. and/or typing errors or even
issues with the overall appearance and neatness of the project.)
D = BELOW AVERAGE ​(This means you may not have fully completed what was asked of you, or you rushed the project to
simply get it done. This is not how an Honors level student should think. A below average grade means you may not have
made your project neat and visually appealing and the syntax and diction of your assignment was not Honors appropriate.)
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