9th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Standard English I
2017-2018
All Standard English I students have the option of choosing one of the novels
listed below:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) and will
count as extra credit toward the first nine weeks’ average.
9th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Honors English I
2017-2018
All Honors English I students are required to read one of the novels listed below:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August
2017) and will count as a test grade factored into the first nine weeks’ average.
9th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
BCA English I
2017-2018
All BCA English I students are required to read the novel listed below:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August
2017) and will count as a test grade factored into the first nine weeks’ average.
10th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Standard English II
2017-2018
All Standard English II students are required to read the novel listed below:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) upon
which time students will take a test and write an analytical essay over the novel.
10th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Honors English II
2017-2018
All Honors English II students are required to read the novel listed below:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) upon
which time students will take a test and write an analytical essay over the novel.
.
10th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
BCA English II
2017-2018
All BCA English II students are required to read the novel listed below:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) upon
which time BCA students will take a test and write an analytical essay over the novel.
11th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Standard English III
2017-2018
All Standard English III students are required to read one of the novels listed
below:
Girls Stolen by April Henry
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
All Standard English III students will be required to keep a reading journal for the novel that will
include the following:
1. A summary of each chapter
2. The definition of three unknown or challenging words for each chapter.
3. One significant quote or excerpt from each chapter with an explanation of the
selection and the identity of the character, if applicable.
4. Answer the following questions as they pertain to the quote or excerpt: Why did you
select the passage? Why is this passage important?
All Standard English III students will submit the journal to their English III teacher the first week
of August 2017.
11th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Honors English III
2017-2018
All Honors English II students are required to read one of the novels listed below:
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
All Honors English III students will be required to keep and submit a reading journal for the
novel that will include the following:
1. Summary of each chapter
2. Three unknown or challenging vocabulary words with definitions for each chapter.
3. One significant quote or excerpt from each chapter with an explanation of the quote
and the identity of the character to which it pertains.
4. Answer the following questions regarding the quotes: Why did you select the quote?
Why is that quote so important?
5. All submissions are due the first FULL day back to school in August 2018.
6. All submissions must be in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
11th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Advanced Placement English III
2017-2018
All AP English III students are required to read both of the texts listed below:
All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
All AP English III students will be required to complete summer work regarding the assigned
readings above. Assignment details are attached and accessible on the BHS website. All
assignments are due on the first day of class. Students should organize and proofread all
assignments before submitting them to the teacher on the first full day of class. MLA format is
required; see the attachment for help.
AP English III students should also be prepared for an exam in the first week of school, which
may include identification, quotations, discussion, and analysis of both texts.
AP English III, 2017-18
Blackman High School
3956 Blaze Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37128
Blackman website (for school calendar and information): http://www.bhs.rcschools.net
College Board website (for questions about the AP program): https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/home
My email address (for questions about the assignment and class): [email protected]
Welcome to AP English Language and Composition!
I look forward to becoming acquainted with and teaching each of you. Please contact me via email with any
questions this summer. I expect you to have completed the following assignments and to be ready for testing in
the first week of class. Your performance on these tasks will be the first indicator, for you and me, of your
ability to perform college-level work on a college-level timetable, which is at the heart of the AP program.
Course Information
AP Language and Composition is a year-long, college-level course designed to engage you in studying language
and rhetoric by analyzing rich and diverse texts from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts.
You will simultaneously engage in becoming skilled writers who effectively compose for a variety of purposes.
Our study will focus on making you aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience, expectations,
and subjects, as well as the way generic conventions contribute to effective writing.
Purpose for Reading
The summer reading assignment is designed to begin familiarizing you with the material covered on the AP
Language and Composition exam as well as some of the techniques we will be studying this year. As AP
students studying language and composition, your purpose is not to study a novel simply as a work of fiction or
a nonfiction work as only a source of information, but to appreciate and understand them as masterpieces of
language. Your purpose for reading is to discover which elements of language these authors use and what effect
the elements have on the audience.
Ultimately, all of these elements combine to comprise an author’s style. Style involves the author’s choice and
arrangement of words and sentences (diction and syntax), the use of sensory and/or figurative language, the
tone, and the mood. Look at the length and complexity of the sentences; the use of words that are unusual,
sophisticated, or colloquial, and the use of literary elements such as allusion and irony.
I highly recommend that you annotate the text as you read; therefore, if you are borrowing a school or library
copy of the book, please use removable post-it notes so you may pseudo-annotate on those; see the following
example for guidance on annotations. Bring your texts to class with you on the first full day.
All assignments are due on the first full day of class (8/9/17). Be prepared for an exam in the first week
of school which may include identification, quotations, discussion, and analysis of both texts. Organize
and proofread all assignments, which should be typed, before submitting them to me on the first full
day of class. MLA format is required; see the attachment if you need help.
Enjoy your summer!
Mrs. Melissa Price
Summer Assignments, AP English Language and Composition, Blackman High School
Part I
 Learn and memorize the first list of rhetorical terms found at http://bit.ly/2oSh13Y, as you will be tested on these in
the first week. These terms are frequently found on the AP exam. Quizlet, the site hosting the list, offers free study tools
and an app for Apple and Android devices that you may find helpful.
Part II
 Read All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg, a memoir about his life growing up in the South.
 Compose an original essay responding to the following prompt.
 Prompt: Choose three episodes from Bragg’s childhood (these should be found throughout the book). How did Bragg’s
childhood experiences shape his adult choices, and which was most powerful in its influence on the adult man?
Annotation Example
Part III
Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, annotating as above, and complete a Dialectical Reading Journal, as described below.
Dialectical Reading Journal
This must include at least one response to each chapter, totaling at least 20 different rhetorical devices from the book. These
devices should be functioning to reveal syntax, images, diction, descriptive language, subject, occasion, audience, purpose,
argumentative devices, tone, style of writing, audience appeals, and/or author style. Quotations must include MLA
parenthetical/internal citations for each quotation. Please type your journal, including a chart like the example below.
 The journal should also include an additional 20 entries of vocabulary words you did not previously know, but
identified and defined over the course of the book. An example has also been included below.
Rhetorical Device and Definition
Quote
Explanation
Chapter 2
“His presence made it both the field
of blood and of blasphemy. From
the rising till the going down of the
sun, he was cursing, raving, cutting,
and slashing among the slaves of the
field, in the most frightful manner”
(Douglass 14).
This passage uses parallel structure to
emphasize the overseer’s brutality
and inhuman disregard for the slaves.
The characteristics emphasized by the
structure are foul and would be
thoroughly repugnant to Douglass’
audience.
Intimation—(vocabulary) The
noun intimation means a hint or
an indirect suggestion
(vocabulary.com).
Chapter 1
“Called thus suddenly away, she left
In an example of understatement,
me without the slightest intimation
of who my father was” (Douglass 4). Douglass refers to his mother’s death
as ‘being called suddenly away’ and
uses it to reinforce his inability to
know his father’s identity.
Independent clause—a clause
that contains a complete idea and
can stand alone grammatically
because it has both a subject and
a verb.
Chapter 3
“This plan worked well; the slaves
became as fearful of tar as of the
lash” (Douglass 20).
Chapter
and Page
Parallelism / parallel
structure— Where several parts
of a sentence or several sentences
are expressed similarly to show
that the ideas in those parts are of
equal weight or importance,
adding balance, rhythm, and clarity
to the sentence.
This sentence contains two
independent clauses joined with a
semicolon: 1. This plan worked well,
and 2.The slaves became as fearful of
tar as of the lash. The compound
sentences allow Douglass to link
relevant ideas together, for
comparison and emphasis of the
progression of ideas.
Works Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Austin, TX, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000.
12th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Standard English IV
2017-2018
All Standard English IV students have the option of choosing one of the novels
listed below:
Grendel by John Gardner
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding*
This I Believe II edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman
For Love of Country by Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) and will
count as extra credit on your first nine weeks’ grade.
*Contains moderate violence.
12th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Honors English IV
2017-2018
All Honors English IV students are required to choose one of the novels listed
below:
Grendel by John Gardner
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding*
This I Believe II edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman
For Love of Country by Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance **
Summer reading will be evaluated during the first few weeks of school (August 2017) and will
count as a grade on your first nine weeks’ grade.
*Contains moderate violence.
** This is the text that MTSU requires its incoming freshmen to read for summer reading.
12th Grade Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
Advanced Placement English IV
2017-2018
All AP English IV students are required to read the following texts:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor (REVISED EDITION) by Thomas C. Foster
* Reading log (instructions attached) must be submitted on the 1st Full Day
of School
AND
Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley
* Major Works Data Sheet (MWDS) due by 2nd week of school
All AP English IV students will be required to complete summer work regarding the assigned
readings above. Assignment details are attached and accessible on the BHS website.
English Composition I (Dual Enrollment)
Summer Reading List
for Blackman High School
2017-2018
All English I Composition Dual Enrollment students are required to read the novel
listed below:
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
All English I Composition Dual Enrollment students’ summer reading will be evaluated during
the first few weeks of school (August 2017).