Required Summer Reading Assignment-Night by Elie Wiesel
9th Grade Accelerated History (pre-IB/pre-AP)
Purchase this book and write your comments directly in the book as you read, or check
out a copy from Mrs. Erickson/ Mrs. Sloan and mark your book up with sticky notes.
This summer’s reading assignment will be to:
1. Read the book Night, by Elie Wiesel
2. Annotate the book (100 points) Annotations will be graded. Please make Approx. one
annotation per page.
Annotate= making notes directly onto a text such as a book, a handout, or another type of publication.
Some students read the book uninterrupted, then go back and annotate (make
comments and observations).
Some students make comments about what they are reading in the book during the first
reading. Students should mark any particular passages of historical significance,
questions they have, vocabulary that is new to them. Any ideas, connections,
annotations students can make concerning the book, will aid them in discussion.
We will discuss the book on the first day of class in August.
Annotating the book

Make brief comments regarding symbolism, cause and effect, conflict, turning
point, theme, setting, culture in the margins (if the book is yours to keep or on
sticky notes). Use any white space available: inside cover, random blank pages,
etc. A pencil is better than a pen because you can make changes. Even
geniuses make mistakes, temporary comments, and incomplete notes.

While you read, use marginal notes to mark key material. Margin notes can
include check marks, question marks, stars, arrows, brackets, and written words
and phrases. Create your own system for marking what is important, interesting,
quotable, questionable, and so forth.

Imagine yourself having a conversation with the text. If you disagree/agree or
question something said, write down your reaction on that page. If something
surprises or moves you, write down your reaction. Note symbolism, metaphor,
foreshadowing, injustice, inconsistencies, powerful connections you make with
text.

By annotating you can deliberately engage the author in conversation and
questions, maybe stopping to argue, pay a compliment, or clarify an important
issue—much like having a teacher or storyteller with you in the room. If and when
you come back to the book, that initial interchange is recorded for you, making an
excellent and entirely personal study tool.-The College Board













Especially identify areas dealing with SPRITE-Social, Political, Religious,
Intellectual, Technological, Economic:
Social-cultural, friendships, family relationships, prejudices, values, taboos,
expectations, traditions, customs, celebrations
Political-government, judicial system, prisons, political parties, power, military,
rules, laws, rules, leaders, politicians, rulers, types of government
Religious- belief systems, meaning of life, faith, scripture, prayer, festivals,
holidays, traditions, God, Christianity, Judaism, Islam…
Intellectual- scientific, education, reason, thought, philosophy
Technological-new ideas or inventions, medicine, physics, chemistry
Economic-to do with money, profit, production, manufacturing, trade
Make brief comments between or within lines of the text. Do not be afraid to mark
within the text itself.
Circle an unfamiliar term and write a definition/synonym for the word
Use abbreviations or symbols – brackets, stars, exclamation points, question
marks, numbers, etc.
Underline – CAUTION: Use this method sparingly. Underline only a few words.
Always combine with another method such as comment. Never underline an
entire passage. Doing so takes too much time and loses effectiveness. If you
wish to mark an entire paragraph or passage, draw a line down the margin or use
brackets.
Create your own code.
Use post-it notes only if you have exhausted all available space (unlikely).
Unless you cannot write in the book!
-Adapted from Kathy Graham
Sample Annotation you could write in the margin for pg. 7
Moishe foreshadows a dire military situation rising. He tries to warn his village about
his own deportation experience and no one listens to him. No one dares to believe that
what he is warning them about could be true.
Sample Annotations for pg. 8.
Hope of Russians defeating Hitler and an end to the political power of the Nazis.
Social: Elie’s village in denial about Nazi military and political power and their own
fate.
Purchase These Required Books 2012-2013 School Year:
Summer Reading

Night by Elie Wiesel
Fall Semester



A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
Spring Semester


Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's
Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals