8th Grade English Summer Reading Assignment 2015
Part I: Core Novel
All students must read:
I Am Malala: How one Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young
Readers’ Edition) by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
ISBN: 978 1 78062 2149
“In this young readers edition of Yousafzai's best-selling memoir, the Nobel Peace Prize winner
retells her experiences at home and at school and discusses the impact of the Taliban presence in
Pakistan. Her strong voice and ideals come across on every page, emphasizing how her surroundings
and supportive family helped her become the relevant figure she is today. Yousafzai highlights the
importance of school and how it was the only space where she felt empowered. . . .Yousafzai
effectively summarizes her story and her advocacy for girls' education, peace, and human rights.
Above all, she stresses that she doesn't want to be known as the girl shot by the Taliban but rather
as a young person who actively fought for education. “ School Library Journal
Assignment: You will also keep a dialectical journal of your response to I Am Malala as you read.
Detailed instructions for this assignment are included.
PART II: Select two choice novels from list
You will also read two novels from the following list. You will give a brief book talk about each one
of your selections during class the first week of school.
Choose TWO of the novels from this list to read in addition to the Core Novel:
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare
Football Genius by Tim Green
The Boy who Saved Baseball by John Ritter
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
True Grit by Charles Portis
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (challenge)
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
1 The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien
Some questions to think about as you prepare for your book talk: (you may bring notes)
What was your overall response to the novel?
What did you like best about the book?
What, in your opinion, was the author’s greatest strength?
Would you recommend this book to a friend?
If you disliked the novel: why?
What, in your opinion, would make it a better book?
Comment on the author’s writing style. Did he or she use a lot of imagery? Short or long sentences?
What was the vocabulary level?
Was the tone serious or light-hearted? From whose point of view was the story written?
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ENGLISH 8: SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT
Dialectical journal directions for core novel:
Simply put, a dialectical journal is merely a double entry journal. The purpose of such a journal is to
identify and consider important passages of text. It should be used to think about, digest,
summarize, question, clarify, critique, and remember what is read. It is a way to take notes on what
is read using the actual text. In effect, you will be holding a discussion with yourself on key points,
asking questions, and reacting to particular phrases that drew your attention.
• Divide your paper into two columns:
Title the left-hand column “quotes”
Title the right-hand column “commentary”
• As you read your book, selectively highlight passages of interest to you.
Margin notes will also help you when you choose your passages. This step is part of your grade!
From these passages, choose one to five sentences that seem significant or meaningful to quote in
the left column.
•
Write the page number in parentheses after each quoted passage you select.
2 •
As soon as you take a note, move to the right-hand column and write freely
what your mind says about that quote. Listen to your own thoughts.
•
Write a quote; write a note. Continue as you read.
•
After three or four entries, stop and reflect on what you have discovered.
•
Your dialectical journal for I Am Malala must contain at least 18 entries (one for
every two chapters, including epilogue.
The types of entries may include reactions to events, characterization, relationships, or setting, or
any questions that come to your mind. You may also include personal reflections on the text or
connections that you have been able to make between what is happening in the work and your own
experiences. Further, you may want to comment on the author’s use of imagery, figurative language,
plot development, characterization or predictability. Finally, you may wish to interpret what the
author is trying to say in a particular passage.
Please read a few entries from the model student example on the following page to make
sure you understand the expected form and content of your journal for I Am Malala
Typed journals are preferred (standard font, 12 pt.; two column table)
•
TITLE YOUR JOURNAL AS FOLLOWS AT THE TOP OF YOUR FIRST PAGE:
Name
English 8
Date
Dialectical journal: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
3 STUDENT EXAMPLE:
Student X
DIALECTICAL JOURNAL: Uglies by Scott Westerfied
September 1, 2015
“Tally looked up at Dr. Cable’s cruel beauty, . . .. She
remembered all the tricks Special Circumstances had
played on her today—how they’d kept her waiting for an
hour in the hospital, waiting and thinking she would soon
be pretty, the brutal flight here, and all the cruel faces in
the halls---and she decided” (p.109).
I think that the cruel beauty of the Special Circumstances
people fits them well.
Tally can’t help but notice their beauty, but the perfect
faces cannot hide their coldness and inhumanity. Tally
wants to resist their questions about Shay, but will she pay
a price for her decision?
“A shudder of relief and exhaustion went through her. She
had it now, an excuse to break her vow. She’d made that
promise to Peris, just as real, before she’d ever met Shay.
She had known him for years, and Shay for only a few
months” (p.126).
Tally is trying to justify why she should give in. She isn’t
being that great of a friend to Shay. Peris was kind to her
when she had the operation cancelled, and that was nice as
a friend who’s a “pretty,” but she is betraying Shay with a
huge secret. What for, anyways? Just so she can be pretty?
I think that’s really selfish.
“As the tributary climbed its way into the mountains, the
fields around her filled with flowers. Soon the brilliant
white bonnets were as thick as grass, driving every other
color from the landscape” (p.168).
I think the white tiger orchids are a metaphor. They look
beautiful, but are actually bad, messing up the whole
ecosystem and destroying other plants. I think the orchids
represent the city Tally lives in; the life there seems
wonderful because you get a makeover that transforms
you and makes you extremely beautiful, while a cold
government lies behind the glamour.
“Halfway around she reached a blackened patch where the
fire had already passed. The brittle stems of flowers
crunched under her shoes, and the heat coming off the
scorched earth stung her eyes” (p.173).
The author uses vivid sensory imagery to paint a contrast
between the thick as grass landscape of white flowers, and
then a few pages later, the blackened scorched earth that is
left behind after the orchids are burned to control their
rapid growth.
“The Boss was an old ugly. Tally had spotted a few (uglies)
from a distance on the way in, but had managed to turn
her eyes away. But here was the wrinkled, veined,
discolored, shuffling, horrific truth, right before her eyes.
His milky eyes glared at then as he berated whoever was
on the phone, in a rattling voice and waving at them to go
away . . .. ‘Pretty wild, huh? He’s like, forty! Wait until you
talk to him.’
Tally swallowed, trying to erase the image of his sagging
features from her mind. These people were insane to
tolerate that, to want it” (p.197).
It was funny to see Tally’s horrified reaction to a normal
forty -year old man, thinking he was completely ugly.
Later when she and Shay look through old magazines and
see what people used to look like, she wonders how they
could smile and laugh and not be ashamed of their
“deformities.” She is glad that anorexia as a disease doesn’t
exist because no one has to worry about getting fat.
What problems would be solved if everyone was beautiful
and no one was overweight? What new problems would
be created?
REMINDER!
“Put the line from the text in quotes” (page).
Your comment should be your reaction, question,
challenge to the thought, or advance the thought of the
author. It should NOT REPEAT or just RESTATE what
the author said.
4 •
Don’t forget to insert page numbers into your document!
•
Entries must be in chronological order.
•
DUE on the second day of class (Wednesday), August 19, 2015
•
This journal will be the basis of our class discussion of the book, and will count as a
test grade.
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE YOUR OWN ORIGINAL THOUGHTS, WORK AND
WRITING. ANY EVIDENCE OF PLAGIARISM OR LACK OF AUTHENTICITY WILL
RESULT IN a “0” ON THE ASSIGNMENT!
•
Your journal will be graded according to the following rubric.
Rubric for Dialectical Journals:
GRADE POINTS
QUOTATIONS
AND PLOT DETAILS
INTERPRETATION
AND RESPONSE
Level 4
(90 – 100 points)
Student copy of book reveals
evidence of effective selective
highlighting. (Step 1)
Well-chosen passages that are
specific and meaningful
Correctly formatted with proper
punctuation.
Page number cited for each
quotation
Journal contains at least 20 entries
with at least 18
entries of excellent quality
Thoughtful, fresh and insightful comments;
avoids clichés
Intelligent questions or predictions
Various literary elements are discussed
throughout journal: theme, point of view,
setting, figurative language, imagery, author’s
style, plot, characterization, conflict, etc.
(Each response does NOT have to include all)!
Clear syntax and correct grammar
Precise wording; rich and fluent use of
vocabulary
Writer’s voice is compelling and authentic
Opinions are supported by close examination
of the text
Level 3
(80 – 89 points)
Some especially well-chosen
passages
Many interesting or insightful comments,
questions, or predictions
Few, if any, punctuation errors
Some discussion of various literary elements.
Correctly formatted;
Page number cited for each quote
Sentence structure is clear with precise
wording.
Journal contains 20 entries with at
least 15 strong entries
Writer’s voice is fresh and original
Opinions are relevant and clearly based on a
close reading of the text
5 Level 2
(70 – 79 points)
Some selected passages carelessly
chosen or taken out of context
Comments lack depth; too general or simplistic
Little discussion of literary elements
Not enough quoted detail
Minor punctuation errors
Awkward sentence structure; grammatical
errors that interrupt flow
Page citations incomplete
Vague or confusing wording in places
Attempts to support opinions with textual
evidence
Level 1
Incomplete/vague quotes
Comments too vague, brief, general, or random
Poorly selected quoted passages
Little to no discussion of literary elements
Errors in transcribing; incorrect
format
Meaning unclear due to poor word choice;
punctuation and grammatical errors; run-ons,
fragments, misspelled words, etc.
(60– 69 points)
Several punctuation errors
Page citations missing or
incomplete
“Surface only” or trite response/ Opinions lack
support or relevance
6