Name__________________________Class___________________Date_________________
8th grade English
Summer Reading
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Read the book Johnny Tremain (ISBN # 0-440-94250-0) and complete the following before
the first day of school in August. Bring the book, this page, and your completed, typed
answers with you to English class the first full day of school.
Part I. Personal Response and Literature Analysis
Answer in complete sentences, and answer each part of the question thoroughly. ANSWERS
MUST BE TYPED ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER.
Personal Response:
1.What is your opinion of Johnny before the accident? Use one quote from the book (with page
number) to support your answer. Does your opinion of Johnny change after the accident? If so, how?
2.In this book, Johnny becomes involved in some important historical events. What aspect of his
involvement made the strongest impression on you? Use one quote from the book (with page
number) to support your answer.
Literature analysis:
3.Explain the British tax on colonial tea. What response is planned by Sam Adams and the other
Observers? How does Johnny help implement these plans? Be specific.
4.At the end of the novel, what decision does Johnny make about his future? What does this decision
reveal about his values and his character? How do the words of James Otis contribute to this
decision? Give the specific quote by Otis with the page number.
5.According to Johnny, at sixteen he is “a boy in time of peace and a man in time of war.” Give two
specific examples each which support Johnny as a boy and as a man in the novel, with page numbers.
Part II: Vocabulary for Johnny Tremain
A. Write a brief definition of each of the following vocabulary words. Type the words and their
definitions on a separate sheet of paper:
Chapters 1-5
1. belligerent
2. exuberant
3. unobtrusive
4. venerable
Chapters 6-8
5. commandeer
6. divulge
7. inflammatory
8. inundate
Chapters 9-12
9. converge
10. dilapidated
11. punctilious
12. sedition
B. Use each of the vocabulary words above in an original sentence, underlining each word in
the sentence. (example: The coach called a mandatory meeting for all players to attend.) Type
these twelve sentences on the same sheet as the vocabulary definitions.