Summer Reading Assignments: Getting Ready to Start the Year

* Any work completed by the end of the first day of school (September 1) will be considered on time!

* Any work completed by the day after Labor Day (September 8) will be accepted with a slight grade reduction

* The summer work constitutes a single term one summative assessment project grade.
Here is all the summer work in one place...
 
All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald
5=Choose five scenes in MacDonald's memoir that are significant to the development of important ideas in the book. (A scene is an event that occurs in one place at one time.) Summarize each scene, including key details and page numbers. Then, explain how each scene contributes to the development of an important idea (or ideas) in the book. (Quoting key details is often necessary to support explanations.) (Write the summaries with page numbers in the left column; write your explanations in the right column.)  

(Note: you should choose scenes from throughout the book--not just the beginning.)

4=Choose four people who are characterized in MacDonald's memoir. Find a significant passage for each of the four people. Explain how in each passage MacDonald reveals something significant about the character that also contributes to the development of an important idea (or ideas) in the book as a whole. (Write the passages with page numbers in the left column; write your explanations in the right column.)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

3=Choose three different places that are characterized in MacDonald's memoir. Find a passage that describes each of the three places. Explain how in each passage MacDonald reveals something about the place that is also contributes to the development of an important idea (or ideas) in the book as a whole.(Write the passages with page numbers in the left column; write your explanations in the right column.)

The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit

1. Look at the whole book. Explain how each chapter contributes to the development of ideas in the book. (Demonstrate an understanding of the contents of each chapter. Explain how each chapter relates to the other chapters in a particular order and how each chapter contributes to the overall meaning and effect of the book.) [300+ words]

2. Choose a significant paragraph (perhaps a paragraph that you like). Explain how each sentence in the paragraph contributes to the development of ideas in the paragraph and how the paragraph contributes to the development of ideas in the chapter. (Show an awareness of what each sentence means, how each sentence relates to the other sentence in a particular order, how each sentence contributes to the overall meaning and effect of the paragraph, and how the paragraph contributes to the chapter.) [300+ words]

3. Choose a sentence with meaning, word choice, and syntax (word order) that interest you. Explain how each word and each punctuation mark contributes to the development of the sentence's meaning. (Show an awareness of what each word means. Think about denotation and connotation. Think about what each punctuation mark is doing. Think about how each word and/or phrase relates to the other words in a particular order that creates meaning and has a particular effect on the reader.) [100+ words]

4. Choose a particular object that recurs in the book. How does the object contribute to the overall meaning and effect of the book? (Use direct quotation in your response.)

OR
4. Look at the text at the bottom of each page. How does the text running along the bottom of each contribute to the overall meaning and effect of the book? (Use direct quotation in your response.)
OR
4. Look at the way Solnit weaves together seemingly unrelated stories to convey a theme. Choose two or more stories that Solnit weaves together. How do the stories contribute to the overall meaning and effect of the book?
OR
Choose a description of a person or place. Direct description. Direct characterization. Indirect characterization. How does the description/characterization contribute to the overall meaning and effect of the book?

Words Like Loaded Pistols by Sam Leith

1. Read & take notes:
p. 43-44 Five Parts of Rhetoric

p. 45-72 First Part: Invention (subsections: Ethos, Pathos, Logos)

p. 81-106 Second Part: Arrangement (subsections: Exordium, Narration, Division, Proof, Refutation, Peroration)

p. 119-136 Third Part: Style (subsections: Decorum, Jokes, Sound Effects, Controlling the Tense, The Figures)

Use Google Slides to create a PowerPoint-style presentation that (1) demonstrates an understanding of each concept in bold above and (2) demonstrates an understanding of at least one example from the book of each concept in bold above. (If you cannot use Google Slides, then create an outline that (1) demonstrates an understanding of each concept in bold above and (2) demonstrates an understanding of at least one example from the book of each concept in bold above.)

2. Also, read & take notes on the "Champions of Rhetoric":

p. 73-80 fiction "Satan"

p. 107-118 Cicero

p. 137-146 Abraham Lincoln

p. 163-178 Hitler & Churchill

p. 207-218 Martin Luther King Jr.

p. 231-248 Barack Obama

p. 263-278 The Unknown Speech Writer

Choose one rhetorical strategy/technique/choice from each of the seven "Champions of Rhetoric" sections. Identify the strategy and then explain how the strategy contributes to (or detracts from) the argument being made. (Quote from Sam Leith's analysis to support your response, and explain the quotations to show that you understand Leith's analysis.) Each analysis should be the length of a proficient or advanced MCAS-style open response.