English 12 Summer Reading Assignment – 2016
Welcome to English 12. The Liberty High School English Department encourages students to
become life-long readers and learners by asking them to read during non-instructional time.
Summer reading provides students an opportunity to enhance their reading skills and enjoy a
book they’ve selected. Our philosophy is that summer reading should be both pleasurable and
thought provoking. With that in mind, we have provided a range of selections reflecting student
interests.
We believe that students who read over the summer:
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Maintain or improve reading comprehension and vocabulary.
Broaden their experience, knowledge and understanding of topics that are of personal
interest.
Experience personal and academic success by developing their literacy skills.
Become lifelong readers by choosing a book and reading at their own pace.
Important Things to Know:
1. You will be expected to read the novels and complete the assignment neatly and thoroughly.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Use your best judgment.
2. This assignment is due the first week of school. It is a pre-assessment for the summer reading
essay, which will be given during the first week of school.
3. If you misplace your summer reading assignment, extra copies will be available at the front
desk and on the school website: www.libertyhighpatriots.com.
4. If you have questions regarding the assignment, please email:
Mrs. Burdett: [email protected]
Ms. Pryer: [email protected]
12 Honors/AP Summer Reading Assignment – Summer 2016
Pick ONE of the following titles and complete before the first day of class. Take notes as you
wish while reading, and complete the literary element exercise on the next page when finished.
Note that all books have been selected for their accessibility and fast-paced content. Enjoy!
(Additional writing tasks and assessments will take place upon your return to school in the fall.)
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Seth Grahame-Smith) – As our story opens, a mysterious
plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life!
Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon
distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful
comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even
more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of
Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with
romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually
want to read.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson (John Greene) –It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but
Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets.
When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives
overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old
- including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical
theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-ofheart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.
What Happened to Goodbye (Sarah Dessen) – Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her
dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her
mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past
behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to
drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be
herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.
The Stand (Stephen King) – This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error
in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain
letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its
institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky
survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the
108-year-old Mother Abagail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a
lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) – Born a generation apart and with very different
ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war,
by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them—in their home as
well as in the streets of Kabul—they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and
mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives
but of the next generation
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to thoroughly read and analyze at
least two works of literary fiction.
This assignment is due on the first full day of school (8. No exceptions.
Read ONE of the assigned novels. Although annotating is recommended, it is not required.
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You will select 10 passages that contain a specific literary device.
You will type or neatly write the passage and include the page number.
Identify the literary device you will be analyzing.
Write or type a paragraph that explains WHAT literary device the author uses and the
EFFECT it has on the passage. Do not just identify the literary device. ASK YOURSELF:
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What is the purpose of the technique? (Why did the author choose to use it?)
How is it used?
How do I know?
Why is it important?
How does it relate to a theme?
The passage should be at least 35 words and should clearly demonstrate use of a specific technique.
The passages should be chosen from throughout the novel; not just all from one section or chapter .
The analysis paragraph should be well organized, containing a topic sentence, textual support, and careful
study of the literary technique used. It should be from four to eight sentences-no more than half a page.
Each type of figurative language can only be used ONCE. (For example, simile can only be used once)
Each page of your assignment will have one passage and the accompanying paragraph.
If you handwrite this, use black or dark blue pen only. If it is illegible, you will not receive credit. If it is
in pencil, you will have to write it over in pen.
If typing, use MLA format. The title of your assignment is:
2016 Summer Reading Assignment:
Title of Novel
If a student is caught plagiarizing, they will receive both an “F” on the assignment, and will also be
referred to the dean’s office for academic dishonesty.
How to avoid plagiarism:
A. Read the book. READ. THE. BOOK. The actual book. Digital or real copy
B. Complete the assignment on your own
C. Write about what you know
SAMPLE PASSAGE AND ANALYSIS
Follow this format for your assignment
PASSAGE:
“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not
through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond
everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out
with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man
will store up in his ghostly heart.”
Pg 162
Literary technique: TONE
Sample analysis:
The tone in this passage suggests that Gatsby’s feeling for Daisy are reckless or out of control.
The word “thrown” indicates his actions are rushed or disorganized. This leads the reader to believe that
Gatsby has not really premeditated out the “how’s and why’s” of his relationship with Daisy. He is more
concerned with the “illusion” of a perfect relationship with Daisy than he is with having a “real”
relationship with her, even when she “tumbles short of his dreams” or disappoints him because of his
unrealistic “illusion” of her, where he places her on a pedestal. This passage connects to the idea that
much about Gatsby was a facade, an “illusion”, which would eventually shatter.
List of common literary elements used in literature (You are not limited to this list):
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Alliteration: The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants, at the beginning of words.
Allusion: A reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place, or event.
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Foreshadowing: An author’s deliberate use of hints or suggestions to give a preview of events or themes that do not develop
until later in the narrative.
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Hyperbole: An excessive overstatement or conscious exaggeration of fact.
Idiom: A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from its literal meaning.
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Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words.
Cliché: An expression” that has been used and reused so many times that it has lost its expressive power.
Epiphany: A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life changing realization that a character experiences in an otherwise
ordinary moment.
Imagery: Language that brings to mind sensory impressions.
Irony: Broadly speaking, irony is a device that emphasizes the contrast between the way things are expected to be and the way
they actually are.
Metaphor: The comparison of one thing to another that does not use the terms “like” or “as.”
Onomatopoeia: The use of words like pop, hiss, or boing, in which the spoken sound resembles the actual sound.
Oxymoron: The association of two terms that seem to contradict each other, such as “same difference” or “wise fool.”
Personification: The use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas.
Sarcasm: A form of verbal irony (see above) in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of
what he or she says.
Simile: A comparison of two things through the use of the words like or as.
Symbol: An object, character, figure, place, or color used to represent an abstract idea or concept.
Theme: A fundamental, universal idea explored in a literary work.
Tone: The general atmosphere created in a story, or the author’s or narrator’s attitude toward the story or the subject.