Summer Reading Assignment:
10th Grade Pre-AP World Literature 2015
Contact Ms. Jackie Williams for questions or concerns:
[email protected]
2 required Novels:
 The Stranger by Albert Camus
 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Stranger by Albert Camus. Through the story of an ordinary man
unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus
explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."
First published in English in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew
Ward.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan explores the clash between Chinese
culture and American culture. One way of understanding the
difference is to look at communication in these cultures. Chinese
culture can be classified as a high-context culture and American
culture as a low-context culture. More discussion will follow in class.
First I will define these terms, then explain the significance of these
two categories, and finally apply them to The Joy Luck Club.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS:
 You should save an electronic copy of your paper. Be prepared to submit your work to turnitin.com
during the first week of school. Your English teacher will give you instructions for this in class.
 DUE DATE: Bring a hard copy of your summer reading assignment to class on the first day of school:
Monday, August 10, 2015. Your teacher will then give you instructions about how to submit your
electronic copy to turnitin.com.
 LATE WORK POLICY: All late work will incur a 50% late penalty. If the late work is not submitted
within 24 hours of the original due date, the summer work will not be accepted, and a zero will be
recorded in the grade book.
 PLAGIARISM POLICY: Any student found guilty of plagiarism will receive a zero for the assignment,
will have their parents contacted, will be referred to the honor council, and will be stripped of any
academic honors for a full calendar year.
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Respond to each statement or question in Microsoft Word. Make sure that your save your work as
you progress. This document will be uploaded to Turnitin.com when you return to school in
August. Do not rewrite the statement/question of the entry. Place the number of the entry in the
upper right-hand corner of the page of the document. Each response is to be 10 - 50 words or
more, unless indicated otherwise. The word count must be typed at the bottom of the entry.
Note: If your response runs short, please connect the response to some aspect in your life or some
aspect of the world around you. Responses should be complete sentences that are grammatically
correct, well organized, and coherent. The entries should be numbered and typed in Times New
Roman font, size 12, single spaced.
1. What is existentialism? Google this word and read several definitions before typing your
answer. (10 words or more)
2. Are you an existentialist? Why or why not? (Explain in 25 words or more)
3. Describe or define what you believe to be your purpose or man’s purpose on earth. Think hard
about your response before typing your answer. (50 words or more)
4. What is the Absurd? Google this word and read several definitions before typing your answer.
(10 words or more)
5. Using the definition from #4 do you believe that life is meaningless or absurd? Support your
answer using information from the book or by supplying real life examples. (100 words or more)
6. When a crime is committed, such as the one committed by Meursault, do people deserve second
chances? Explain. (50 words or more)
7. How does Camus use existentialism and the absurd in The Stranger? (20 words or more)
8. In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault is condemned to die, not for his act of murder, but for
violating the standards of society. A rebel must of command total disrespect from by stepping on
society’s conventions (beliefs), but he (the rebel) must also have and live by a “higher” moral code
which is totally his own. Is Meursault a rebel or is he just a young man without direction? Use
information from the novel to support your answer. (100 words)
9. What do the symbols Camus uses in the novel represent? Use the Internet to help you with these
answers. Type the symbol in bold (ex. Light/Heat) and then type the meaning of the symbol.
Double space between each entry.
Light/Heat
Dark
the Sun
Salamano and his dog
the Sea
Tar
Robot
Black/White
Weather
Crucifix
The Courtroom
Laughing and Swimming
Arabs
The beatings
10. Is Meursault capable of love and is he redeemable? Explain. Support your answer using
examples from the novel. (50)
11. Why do you think that Camus chose to title of the novel The Stranger, and if you could choose
another title what would it be and why? (25)
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Find a significant quote (the length is up to you) from 10 of the twenty sections of The Joy Luck
Club. The quote can relate to the development of a character, a theme, or something else. After
copying the section, the quote, and its page into a chart, type a 30 – 50 word (or more) reflection
over the quote’s significance or how the quote applies to you or the world around you. Remember
to type in the present tense about literature. Type the first four words of the quote, next use the
ellipse, and then type the last four words of the passage. The page number should be placed at the
end of the passage.
Section
Quote (page #)
Example:
The Twenty-Six Malignant
Gate
“What are they then?” The girl
demanded. Tell me…”You don’t
know anything!” (87)
Sections in The Joy Luck Club
*Feathers from a Thousand Li Away
*The Joy Luck Club
*Scar
*The Red Candle
*The Moon Lady
*The Twenty-Six Malignant Gate
*Rules of the Game
*The Voice from the Wall
*Half and Half
*Two Kinds
*American Translation
*Rice Husband
*Four Directions
*Without Wood
*Best Quality
*Queen Mother of the Western Skies
*Magpies
*Waiting Between the Trees
*Double ace
*A Pair of Tickets
Reflection (word count)
Who is right in this argument-mother
or the daughter? The daughter should
have listened to her mother. Children
should respect their parents. Still the
mother infuriates her daughter with
the silent treatment. Had the mother
explained the twenty-six bad things
the daughter never would have been
angry. (47 words)