READING AND PASSAGE ANALYSIS
I. Select ten meaningful, moving, beautiful, ironic, or especially well-written passages from the book and cite the paragraph, sentence, and page number on which each passage appears.
II. Explicate (explain and locate) each passage. (In other words, identify who, what, where, when, and why).
III. Next, choose five of the passages and respond to one of the prompts below for each passage.
Prompts:
1)Determine what qualities of character(s) are revealed in the passage, and analyze how the author reveals those qualities through diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax.
2)Analyze how the author uses diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax in the passage to describe the setting in the passage, and explain how the description of the setting helps to illustrate the conflict(s) and theme(s) of the book.
3)Determine what conflict(s) the passage develops, and analyze how the author uses diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax to show the conflict(s).
4)Analyze how the author uses diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax to establish a particular mood or tone in the passage, and explain how that mood or tone helps to develop the theme(s) of the book.
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VOCABULARY BUILDING
While you are reading, write down unfamiliar or intriguing words or terms with page numbers. Then, for each word, write down
1) the part of speech
2) a brief etymology of the word (the oldest language of origin, the original word(s) of derivation and original meaning).
3) the context-appropriate definition or synonym(s)
4) the sentence or independent clause in which the word appears, using proper quotation and citation format. Underline the word in the quotation.
5) other forms of the word and what part of speech they are.
Example from Candide
vicar (n.) [from the Latin vicarious from vicus=change, alternation]: a clergyman, a pastor
“. . . the village vicar was [the Baron’s] Grand Almoner” (Voltaire 16).
vicarage (n.)
vicariate (adj.)
vicarious (adj.)
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BASIC READING GUIDE
- Setting (time and place)
- Narrative Point of View (Describe who’s telling the story. Identify whether the narration is first person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient, and whether it’s being told in the present, recent past, or distant past.)
- Background Information [Describe what (if anything) has happened prior to the beginning of the story].
- Major Characters (Describe each main character and use quotes from the text to illustrate each; label the protagonist and antagonist)
- Minor Characters (Describe each minor character and use quotes from the text to describe each).
- Conflict [Explain what is/are the primary problem(s)/complication(s)/tension(s) in the story].
- Plot (In a few sentences of well-chosen words, retell the main details of the action of the story, in sequential order).
- Theme (Explain What message or insight is the author conveying).
- Record a favorite passage and explain why it’s your favorite. Describe the writing techniques the author uses in the passage (simile, metaphor, imagery, repetition, dialogue, more…)
- Evaluation (On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being low and 10 being high, give the book a rating and explain why).
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INTRODUCTORY ASSIGNMENT
Adjectives are descriptors of nouns (people, places, things, ideas).
They may be concrete (such as “big,” “blue,” “solid,” “feathery,”), or they may be abstract (“ridiculous,” “gorgeous,” “talented,” “horrifying”).
They may be compound (such as “blonde-haired,” “blue-eyed,” “pin-striped”), or they may be simple (see examples above).
To practice using adjectives and differentiating them from other parts of speech, and to gain familiarity with ourselves, each other, and our friends the dictionary and thesaurus,
Write an “I am” poem, with each word of the poem being an ADJECTIVE that describes you.
Your first line should be “I am,” and each additional word of the poem except your last should be an adjective. Your poem must include at least ten adjectives, and at least one compound adjective. Please use a dictionary and/or a thesaurus to help you, and be sure all the words you use are real words.
Example:
I am
powerful
praise-worthy
trust-worthy
tenacious
tireless
untenable
unbreakable
irreplaceable
irreverent
revolutionary
shameless
Danielle
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WRITING ASIGNMENTS and ESSAY QUESTIONS
“Dear Mr./Ms.___________”Letter (beginning-of-the-year assignment)
Using business letter format, write a letter in which you introduce yourself and your summer reading to me.
Use your own name and address at the top of the page.
Use my name, title, and address in the recipient spot.
Write today’s date beneath my name and address.
Use “Dear Mr./Ms.___________” as your salutation (opening greeting).
Use complete and varied sentences to describe yourself, your background, your values, interests, and strengths.
Discuss the book(s) you read over the summer.
Conclude your letter resolutely.
Use an appropriate closing.
Print and sign your name, as directed.
Demonstrate that you know how to use all conventions for writing a business letter from the backside of this page.
Write naturally in your letter, letting me hear your unique writing voice.
TYPE OR NEATLY WRITE THIS LETTER.
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WRITING SAMPLE (beginning-of-the-year assignment)
Write a well-developed, multiparagraph essay in which you explain whether or not it’s important to study English, social studies, science, and math and explain why you say so. Make sure to use specific examples to develop your argument.
EDUCATION
In his autobiography, Kaffir Boy, a memoir of growing up in Apartheid South Africa, Mark Mathabane describes the struggle that occurred between his parents over the importance of education and the effect it had on him. Mathabane’s mother values education and tells him, “Education will open doors where none seemed to exist.”
In an essay, explain what Mathabane’s mother might have meant by this statement. Then describe the role that education has played in your life so far and what role education might play in your life in the future. Use a figure of speech (as Mathabane’s mother did) somewhere in your essay to describe education as you see it.
COURAGE
The author Avi defines courage as “a moral action performed with the awareness that the result may well be failure.” Write a well-developed essay about courage according to the following guidelines.
Write an introduction in which you define courage by comparing or contrasting your definition with Avi’s definition.
Write three body paragraphs; in each one, introduce a character whose courage you describe and exemplify (with direct evidence from the text). In each of your three body paragraphs, write a topic sentence that mentions the character (with title and author) that you will discuss in that paragraph, and how that character shows or does not show courage. Continue each paragraph with examples the character actions that show courage, or do not show courage. Be sure to cite the page numbers of the examples.
In the conclusive paragraph, discuss why and how courage is important and mention some examples of real-life courage in the world.
ANTIGONE
I. Life is full of instances where you have to choose between doing what you feel is right and doing what others say is right.
First, describe a situation in your life when you had to make a decision like this. Use figurative language, imagery, and interior monologue, dramatic monologue, and/or dialogue to establish the conflict. (Note: if you cannot think of a situation in your own life, write in the persona of someone else who had to make a decision like this, for example, write as if you were Rosa Parks).
Next, answer: What did you choose to do? Why?
Last, after reading Antigone, compare or contrast your decision with the one Antigone makes in the tragic play by Sophocles. Would you have made the same decision as she does? Explain why or why not. Show that you understand Antigone’s decision.
II. Choose one of the main characters of Antigone (either Antigone, Ismene, Creon, or Haimon), and write a multi-paragraph essay in which you describe his/her qualities and motivations and argue whether his/her end is due to fate or free will. Be sure to seamlessly integrate and properly cite direct textual evidence from the play in your essay.
LORD OF THE FLIES
I. At one point in the novel, the boys discuss “the beast”, and Simon proposes “`maybe it’s only us.” He then becomes “inarticulate in his effor to express mankind’s essential illness” (Golding 89). In a well-developed essay, articulate what Golding implies is “mankind’s essential illness” in Lord of the Flies. Support your interpretation with direct evidence from the text.
II. At another point in the novel, Eric repeatedly asks, “What is the good?” (Golding 163). In a well-developed essay, articulate what Golding implies is good in the individual and in society through the novel Lord of the Flies. Support your interpretation through direct evidence from the text.
THINGS FALL APART
I. Write a well-developed essay in which you argue whether or not Okonkwo qualifies as a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle in Poetics. Be sure to discuss Okonkwo’s “greatness”, his hamartia (mistake), his reversal of fortune (downfall), his recognition of error, and the audience’s catharsis (movement to feel pity and fear).
II. Explain how, in Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses narrative voice, an allusion to Yeats’s poem, “The Second Coming”, and characterization of Okonkwo to portray the conflict between Umuofian traditional values and British colonial values.
ROMEO AND JULIET
In a well-developed essay, explain who or what is ultimately responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Fully explain the reasons for your and support those reasons with direct evidence from the text.
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
I. Explain whether you think that hunting is an acceptable sport or hobby. Then use support from the story to prove that the following statement is true:
“The Most Dangerous Game” challenges the opinion that hunting is an acceptable sport or hobby.
II. In the story, Zaroff claims that “Reason is greater than instinct.” Explain whether you agree or disagree with that statement, and be sure to support your answer with evidence and examples.
III. Explain the double meaning of the title of the story.
IV. Explain the importance of the following quote in developing a theme of the story:
“Who cares how a jaguar feels?”
V. Write a paragraph to explain how the character of Rainsford changes in the story. Be sure to use direct evidence from the text in your answer.
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CHARACTER PROFILE
What is the character’s name, age, profession, and background?
How would you describe the character’s personality, habits, likes, dislikes, beliefs, values, outlook, approach to life?
What dreams or goals does this character have?
What has this character achieved in life?
What relationships does this character have with others and what do they mean to him/her?
What do the other characters think about this character and why?
Why is this character important to the narrative you’re going to relate?
What is this character’s conflict(s)?
Imagery is sensory words and phrases that cause your reader to imagine the sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes of an experience.
Use imagery to write a description of a place. Complete the exercises below to help you get started.
Pre-Writing Step 1
List three or more places you might describe. You might choose a favorite place; a place you visit regularly; or a place that you visited once that left you with memories, good or bad.
Pre-Writing Step 2
Choose one of the places you listed. Draw it and its details on a separate sheet of paper. What would you see if you were there? What would you hear? What would you smell? What could you touch? If the place includes something you could taste, what could you taste and how does it taste? What happens in or at the place? Use imagery when exploring your place with words.
Pre-Writing Step 3
Draw a web of the sensory details you would include in a description of your place and number each circle with the order you will include the details in your paper.
Example: Circle 1: warm sun on my back
Circle 2: dry, brown pine needles on the flat, smooth rocks I sit on
Circle 3: bubbling, shimmering creek far below
Circle 4: dark green treetops
Pre-Writing Step 4
What feelings do you have when you think about the place? Why? How did you feel when you were there? Why? What remarkable experience(s) have you had there?
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POETRY ANALYSIS
Choose from one of the following poems, and explain how the poet uses an extended metaphor to illustrate a theme.
“A Poison Tree”, by William Blake
“The Author to Her Book”, by Anne Bradstreet
“A Valediction Forbidding Mourning,” by John Donne
“Nature”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“On Being Brought from Africa to America”, by Phyllis Wheatley