Summer Reading—English IV Honors
Hello! My name is Mrs. McLaughlin, and I am so excited to be your English IV Honors teacher next
year! I know we are going to have a great year. Below is your summer reading assignment. Read it
over soon. Start it soon. This will allow you plenty of time to clear up any questions you may have.
As I am new to the district, my district school email is not yet established. Please email me at
[email protected] if you have any questions. Have a fabulous summer Happy
reading!
Assignment 1:
This assignment requires that you obtain a copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by
Thomas C. Foster if you do not already have one. You may also access it online at:
http://www.sparkascreen.com/files/APFiles/HowToReadLiteratureLikeAProfessor.pdf
For Assignment 1, you should read or reread the first chapter of the book, “Every Trip is a Quest
(except when it’s not). Familiarize yourself with the traits of a quest. After you have done so, read
Beowulf, an anonymous epic poem originally written in Old English. While you read, annotate the
poem. Pay attention to how Beowulf aligns with the traits of a quest. When you are finished
reading, write a one page essay in MLA format over the following prompt:
In the first chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster states that “the real reason for a quest
never involves the stated reason…[the] quest is educational. [The quester] doesn’t know enough about the
subject that really matters: themselves. The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge.”
Describe how Beowulf’s quest aligns with Fosters “real reason” for questing. What self-knowledge does he
gain? If you feel it does not align with this idea, write an essay that thoroughly explains why not.
Though text evidence is not required, it is usually a good idea.
Assignment 2:
Read Grendel. While you do not have to fully annotate the novel, you may wish to make notes/mark
pages where Gardner achieves his task of sympathizing the reader to the monster.
Additional Information
Beowulf, Goodreads
“Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the classic Northern epic of a hero’s
triumphs as a young warrior and his fated death as a defender of his people. The poem is about
encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on, physically and psychically
exposed in the exhausted aftermath. It is not hard to draw parallels in this story to the historical
curve of consciousness in the twentieth century, but the poem also transcends such considerations,
telling us psychological and spititual truths that are permanent and liberating.”
Grendel, Staff Pick, Powell’s Books, Portland, Oregon
“It’s easy to find oneself in the thrall of hanks of blond hair and mead-fueled heroism, but it is a
more difficult task to regard, with care, the heart of a monster. The monster (but is he?) in question
is Grendel, an introspective animal who loves his mother and also has a taste for Danes. Gardner’s
novel is an accounting of the tale of Beowulf from Grendel’s perspective; it’s a story of a monster’s
hunger, love, and grief, and also those of men. Consider the original poem Beowulf: How is it that
the happy endings of men and their stories are those that are soaked in blood?”
Recap:
The first day of school:
-turn in your one page essay
-have an annotated copy of the poem (if you use an e-reader, annotations on a separate sheet
of paper are fine)
-be prepared to discuss Beowulf and Grendel
The first week of school:
-be prepared to take a test over both works of literature
-be prepared to write about both