CP English 11 Summer Reading Assignments for the 2014-2015 School Year
 Choose one of the following books.
 Please be proactive about doing cursory level research before you select your titles; get an idea of what
your book is about before you buy them at Half Price Books, Amazon, Half.com, or EBay. I would
even see if they are PDFs online before you buy them. You may check them out from the library, but
you will need to have the copy of the book to use during the first few weeks of class.
For each book, you must complete the following:
1. Divide your book into fourths by taking the number of pages and dividing by four.
2. I strongly urge you to annotate your books while you are reading. This helps you with your thinking
about the book, as well as piecing critical ideas together for your writing. There are instructions for
annotating novels in this packet. You should bring your annotated novels to class on the first day. (If
you check your book out of the library, use post-it notes)
3. Choose a total of two (2) passages or quotes from your book that correspond to each fourth. That’s a
total of 8 passages or quotes from the novel.
4. Type your passages, making sure to use the proper citations for each quote. On the same page, select
two (2) of the following reading prompts for EACH passage or quote. Make sure to copy down the
selected reading prompt. Each response should be at least a paragraph in length (min. 5-7 sentences).
You will answer sixteen (16) prompts for each book.
5.
MLA format is required. If you need a refresher on how to do this, please go to:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. MLA format is my expectation for all writing
assignments and part of your grade on rubrics.
6. Assignment is due--Wednesday, August 20, 2014 (the first day of the school year).
7. If you would like to email your completed summer reading assignment(s) before the school year begins,
please feel free to do so. In fact, we will offer 5 points extra credit for each completed and emailed
assignment received by Monday, August 18, 2014. This is not required though. Remember to “share”
and “unlock” Google docs.
8.
Email address [email protected] and [email protected] if you have any
concerns or questions.
Reading Prompts for novels
1. Who is speaking? Where does this particular scene take place (setting)? Explain the character’s
thoughts, motives, and actions; (i.e., What does the person mean?)
2. How would you summarize the idea expressed here?
3. What does this excerpt reveal about the characters(s) or ideas (themes) in the book? What is your
opinion of the character(s)? Use textual evidence to substantiate your claim.
4. Whit literary device/technique (i.e., symbolism, flashback, irony, simile, personification, allusion, etc.)
does the author use to convey the meaning?
5. I really don’t understand why….
6. I (dis)agree wholeheartedly with the idea/statement that…
7. I think the message that the author is trying to convey is…
8. This passage is similar to a time in my life when….
9. This passage reminds me of the character ____________________ from the literary work,
___________________. (Include the character’s name and title of work.)
10. If I were (character in book), I would have said/done... OR, If I were (specify the situation/dilemma), I
would have said/done…
11. This passage/quote/excerpt is significant because….
Books--- choose one title:
*****Some books may have mature content. *****

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their
curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they
lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Later,
when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the
dismal West Virginia mining town.
As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for
themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally,
found the resources and will to leave home. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also
a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her
the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged
landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it
is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if
anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the
lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and
each other.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending
on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco,
begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and
hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to
gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost.
Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue.
With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always
deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to
unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast
or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable
tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse
themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated bibles, each
other. And if they made it home alive, they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that
history is only beginning to absorb. Since its first publication, The Things They Carried has
become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American literature, and a
profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart
and soul.
Instructions for Annotating a Text: Use this for your novels
Annotate – v. To furnish (a literary work) with critical commentary or explanatory notes
Inside Front Cover: Keep a character list with a small space for character summary and for page
references for key scenes, moments of character development, etc.
Inside Back Cover: Make note of your thoughts about themes, allusions, images, motifs, key scenes,
plot line, epiphanies, etc. List and add page references and/or notes as you read.
Additional Markings:
Chapter summaries/titles: At the end of each chapter, write a brief summary of the plot as it occurred
in that chapter. This does not have to be long or greatly detailed, but should include all relevant
incidents. Use plot-related language (TP, cf, Cx, RA, etc.), see below, whenever possible in your
summary. Supply an instructive title for each chapter of the book. This may prove useful for books in
which chapters are already titled. This practice will help you solidify your understanding of a chapter in
just a few of your own words.
Underline: Within the text of the book, and as you read, underline or otherwise note anything that
strikes you as important, significant, or memorable. If possible and profitable, write brief comments
within the side margins that indicate your motivation in underlining. Focus on essential stylistic devices
(diction, syntax, imagery, literary devices, tone) and elements of literature (plot, setting,
characterization, point of view and theme). Often, I underline isolated words and phrases. Occasionally,
I connect such underlinings with a line, in essence creating a new sentence, a distillation of ideas or
meaning.
Brackets: Use brackets, as you read, together with abbreviations and symbols to indicate passages (too
long to underline) that contain important themes, wonderfully nuanced descriptions, especially
delightful phrasing and/or syntax, provocative assertions, and figurative language. And, of course, write
comments and analytical snippets to clarify your thinking.
Vocabulary/unusual diction: Within the text of the book, circle words that are unfamiliar to you or
whose use strikes you as unusual or inventive. Look up words in a dictionary that seem essential to an
understanding of the meaning or the sense of the author. If it helps to do so, jot a brief definition or
synonym nearby.
Questions: Actively engage the text and further/confirm your understanding of each chapter by writing
at least two open-ended questions for each. Short essay questions are most useful.
Shifts: The Process: Note all shifts in point of view. Note all shifts in time. Note all shifts in diction
and syntax.
There are a number of procedural expectations that make annotation practical and
effective.
1. Implement a consistent system. Use the same abbreviations/symbols every time you annotate (See
Below).
2. Use one color ink or pencil to make initial markings while reading; then go back with another color
or colors to mark more thoroughly once you have finished a larger section and have had time to
think about it. Why? You may change your mind or get it wrong the first time, or subsequent
discoveries may prompt a reevaluation of earlier findings.
3. Do underlining, bracket notations, and circling as you read.
4. At chapter or section ends, stop to index page numbers on your front cover list of character
information and traits as well as on your back cover list of themes, images, allusions, etc. Also, write
chapter summaries at that time.
5. Be neat and be disciplined.
Some suggested ABBREVIATIONS/SYMBOLS:
b/c = because
↑= increase, improvement, rising
S = setting
+ = and
↓ = decrease, decline, falling
** = very important
w/ = with
* = important
POV = point of view (mention type: 1st person, limited omniscient, etc.)
w/o = without
Δ = change
b/t = between
info = information
cf = conflict
e.g. = for example
Ch = characterization
info = information
ex = example
info = information
b4 = before
Th = theme
LT = literary term (identify the term by name: irony, tone, foreshadowing, personification, metaphor,
symbol, etc.)
Final Thoughts on Annotation: Think critically about what you are reading. While the
amount of annotation may vary widely from page to page, any thoughtful notes you add
to a text will help you to read more critically – any thoughtful attempt to annotate your
book will help you to understand the reading as you read – and, as I hope these
instructions made clear, will help you return to the reading with confidence later.