Sophomore+Honors+Summer+Reading

FOR A PRINTABLE (PDF) COPY OF THIS, CLICK Dear Sophomore Honors English Student,

Congratulations on your choice to enroll in Olympus High Honors English program. Sophomore Honors English is a rigorous course designed to prepare you to read critically and to write well. Our work, in and out of class, will focus on learning and practicing different forms and styles of writing, while reading and interpreting works of high literary merit.

Although you will receive a full disclosure statement and syllabus when school begins, you and your parents should know of a few policies and expectations before you begin the program.

**ATTENDANCE:** Honors courses demand consistent, probing discussion and class participation. Your attendance every day relates to your performance in the course. While personal illness and family emergencies qualify as excused absences, all other absences (non-emergency appointments, vacations, etc.) must be scheduled outside of class time.

**READING:** In addition to the regular sophomore curriculum, honors students are asked to read literature which will introduce important literary elements, eras, styles, and themes. We carefully select our reading for high literary value; we also strive to select readings with positive social messages. Some of your reading will be challenging, requiring maturity. We ask you to enter our program with an open mind and with the trust that we want you to grow, learn, and succeed.

**SUMMER READING:** This summer’s required reading is **//Dandelion Wine// by Ray Bradbury**. You will have an exam on this novel within the first week of school. It is your responsibility to make any notes or markings that may help you remember the details for the exam. We will also use this novel to begin discussions and writing assignments. Please obtain a copy of the book and complete the assigned reading and accompanying assignments. Remember that failure to complete these assignments, if you are currently registered for the class, is not grounds for dropping the class during the summer, and your first-quarter grade will reflect your lack of effort and completion.

**ASSIGNMENT:** In addition to carefully reading //Dandelion Wine,// you will need to **complete the three assignments**. These exercises should assist in a more personal, reflective reading. We will collect your writing assignments the first day of class. Please see the instructions on the following pages for more specific details.

We are excited to meet each of you this fall and to work with you during the 2017-2018 school year.

Sincerely,

Stacey Oppermann soppermann@graniteschools.org

Debbie Littlefield dlittlefield1@graniteschools.org

** THREE SOPHOMORE HONORS SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS **
==== **1. Text Annotation:** As you come upon interesting, important, curious moments in the novel, underline or highlight the lines, and more importantly, write comments in the margins responding to what you notice about the content, even if it only generates a question. Your annotations may range from personal, informal connections to analyses of how specific literary devices further overall meaning. You could highlight key events, main character descriptions, significant ceremonies and revelations, ideas that lead to the development of themes (ideas about life), and any passages that you connect to your own life. ====

For tips on how to make effective annotations, visit this website: @http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic33378.files/interrogatingtexts.pdf


 * Please bring your marked text to class with you to school each day until discussion of the book has ended (including the first day of school). **

==== **2. Summer Notebook:** As Douglas does in //Dandelion Wine//, please keep a notebook this summer. Your entries should be similar to those Douglas makes in his notebook. He explains the notebook and the categories and gives examples in the beginning of __Chapter 6__ of //Dandelion Wine//. ====

You will need to have two categories in your notebook: Rites and Ceremonies and Discoveries and Revelations. You will need to have __at least eight entries__ in Rites and Ceremonies and an accompanying __eight entries__ in Discoveries and Revelations, for __a total of sixteen entries__.

Douglas says to his brother in the text, “You realize that every summer we do things over and over we did the whole darn summer before?" Your Rites and Ceremonies should be detailed paragraphs describing normal things you do “over and over” every summer, including this summer. To clarify Rites and Ceremonies to his brother, Douglas lists some examples: “like making dandelion wine, like buying these new tennis shoes, like shooting off the first firecracker of the year, like making lemonade, like getting slivers in our feet, like picking wild fox grapes. Every year the same things, same way, no change, no difference.”

Your Discoveries and Revelations should be detailed reflections of what you learn or discover as you reflect on these normal, everyday summer activities or events. Douglas defines the reflection process: “Thinking about it [the rite or ceremony], noticing it, is new. You do things and don't watch. Then all of a sudden you look and see what you're doing and it's the first time, really.”

Douglas reviews the whole idea for his notebook this way: “In other words you do an old familiar thing, like bottling dandelion wine, and you put that under Rites and Ceremonies. And then you think about it, and what you think, crazy or not, you put under Discoveries and Revelations .” These entries can be handwritten in an actual notebook, or they may be typed and printed. The format of the notebook entries is not important—the content of the entries is.


 * EXAMPLES: **

==== **3. Narrative Piece:** Turn one of the rough-draft notebook Rites and Ceremonies and the accompanying Discovery and Revelation into a personal narrative. You will need to tell your story in such a way that the audience learns a lesson or gains insight—just as you did from the experience you are narrating. ====

** Narrative format guidelines: **

 * typed
 * double-spaced
 * 12 pt. font
 * approximately a page-and-a-half to two pages.

** Elements to consider and include in your narrative: **

 * **Include all the parts of the story**: introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.
 * **The narrative should have a purpose**: Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is no point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?
 * **The narrative should be written from a clear point of view**: Since you are writing about a personal experience, you will most likely write in 1st person—from your own point of view. Try to develop a distinct and clear voice as you write.
 * **Show, don’t tell**: Narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Try to create pictures for your reader, using all the senses in your description.
 * **Figurative language** such as similes and metaphors help your reader visualize what you are telling and add thematic depth.
 * In addition, you should use **dialogue** when the characters in your story speak to each other. Use //Dandelion Wine// to find an example of dialogue. What does the author do to create dialogue? How does he punctuate it? How does he use indentation? You should be able to determine the rules and tools for writing dialogue by looking at Bradbury’s dialogue in the novel.
 * As always, **be organized**: Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. **The beginning of the story should grab the reader’s attention** and draw him or her into the story. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the narrative, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

** EXAMPLE NARRATIVE (BASED ON THE STUDENT SUMMER NOTEBOOK EXAMPLE) **
Canoeing is a gentle and quiet pastime, yet also thought hazardous. The art of stroking the water causes it to ripple and send back tiny whirlwinds through a vast lake. The canoe glides like an ice skate, beautifully swaying in the breeze yet striking the water head on like a farm cat snatching a field mouse. But it’s not the canoe that’s deadly. It’s who controls it--the paddler, the captain of the vessel, can be a monster.

I love to canoe; I find it entertaining and vigorous. My love for the art is why I was encouraging the idea in the first place. Yes, I supported the vision of lashing more than one boat together to make the definitive craft that would lead us to our victory in the war on water. Some of the scouts and their leaders had recently challenged me and a crew of seven other staff members to a canoe swamping competition. One of the scouts in the troop made the suggestion, “I bet our troop could beat the camp staff in a swamping competition.”

Not the type of boys to turn down a challenge, we responded confidently, “Right. You could beat us? We have been canoeing for years!”

The troop’s leader suggested, “Well, then let’s give it a shot. Our troop against the camp leaders.”

“You’re on!” we laughed, knowing we had them beat before we ever launched into the water.

Our lake was colossal and was ideal for the activity suggested. We equipped our boat with lashings and prepared to push off the dock. The hand-crafted ship was about 25 feet in length, had a tremendous mast with flying colors, and carried a crew ready to defend and attack the opposing force. I myself came aboard as a torpedo, a person who would leap into the water and decelerate or empty the enemy’s ships.

The battle began. The water was frigid, just under 40 degrees. Nevertheless, the sun was shining vividly, and the temperature would not be stopping me. The enemy was equipped with five boats all advancing at once, slicing the water like a steel knife enters an onion’s layers. The noses of the canoe seemed like bloodhounds sniffing out our scent and pressing forward on our starboard side. “Jump and slow them down,” my team yelled to the torpedoes. We did as commanded and attacked the conflicting force, removing three battleships from their small armada.

Two boats kept tailing our ship. Amongst them were three boys and two older men. One of them was bald with a claret beard and a plump face, the other tall with long russet hair and shady eyes. The men jumped in the water and tried to board our ship. I pursued one of them, and a staff member on my team went after the other. We were shoved away with an elbow and a fist, but we advanced again while the other torpedoes sank another of the boats.

I pushed red beard off the port side. In retaliation, he head-locked me and dove deep towards the plants on the lake’s bottom. I could barely breathe! I kicked him hard, and he let go. I could see that it was hopeless. My friend and I were getting thrashed. Already one of our friends was pushed by a leader, her knee cut open and swelling with blood.

Team work became the only logical thought to my mind, so we combined our forces and pushed the men back into the water. They tried to get back on our ship, but their boat was floating away, overturned. If their boat was lost, they could not attack. As a team we had won the battle and fought off those men. Those men had mammoth force; I couldn’t defend them by myself. They were controlling and acerbic towards our crew. All of us had battle scars to prove it. They acted as paddlers, men who tried to control and change a vessel’s course. Our team acted as the canoe. We were kind, swift, and worked together, yet we still sliced the water. Reflecting on the experience, I could have injured the man if I had chosen to. But I decided to work with my team to find strength, and is so doing, I prevailed in the battle.