Randallstown High School Grade 12

First Quarter Reading

Standard and Honors 2015-2016

To encourage reading over the summer and outside of school, Randallstown High School participates in a First Quarter Reading Assignment. Each summer, all students who attend Randallstown will receive a reading assignment that will be due on September 25, 2015. Each grade level has an assigned text or set of texts. The books have been specifically chosen based on their content and their relationship to their English course and/or Social Studies course. The books are available online, through Google Play, through iBooks, from the school’s website, from Randallstown’s Library, or through the Baltimore County Public Library System. In addition to reading the book, students will be required to complete the assignment below, and students will be assessed upon returning to school.

English 12: First Quarter Reading Assignment (each part is explained in detail below):

1.  o Choose a book from the list below, and then pick up a copy or download your book.

2.  o As you read, complete 30 dialectical journal entries that demonstrate your personal connection to the text.

3.  o After you read, complete a SOAPSTone Analysis.

4.  o When your assignment is due, you will have an in-class assessment that tests your familiarity of the novel.

Title / Author / Level / Book Description
The Coldest Winter Ever / Sistah Souljah / AD, LANG, AUD, GO, IBKS / The renowned hip/hop rebel captures the allure and danger of Brooklyn's streets in this, her first novel. The daughter of a Brooklyn drug lord, Winter's got the “stuff to strut” and she knows it. When her father's empire is involved in a drug war, Winter uses her aggressive attitude, sexual power, and family philosophy to stay ahead of the game.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot / AD, BIO, NF, AUD, ON, GO, IBKS / Documentsthestoryofhow scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendantoffreed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X / Alex Haley / BIO, NF, AUD, ON, GO, IBKS, / Malcolm X--once called the most dangerous man in America--challenged the world to listen and learn the truth as he experienced it, and his enduring message is as relevant today as when he first delivered it. In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley . In a unique collaboration, Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years, interviewing, listening to, and understanding the most controversial leader of his time.
The World According to Garp / John Irving / AD, AUD, LANG, GO, IBKS, ON / This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of extremes. It is a novel rich with lunacy and sorrow, yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust.
AD=Adult / AUD= Audio Available at Public Library / YA=Young Adult / NF =Nonfiction / BIO= Biography
LANG= Racially Charged or Mature Language / ON=Available online / GO= Available through Google Play / IBKS=Available through iBooks
***Book descriptions by Bristol Public Schools: High School English Recommended Reading – 2011, bcplonline.org, and/or Amazon.com

Part I: Dialectical Journals

Directions: A dialectical journal is used to arrive at the “truth” of a written work through a written response to quotations from that work. As you complete your assigned reading, choose passages that standout to you, record them, and evaluate each with your ideas, insights, questions, reflections, and/or comments. Record your responses in a T-chart as in the example provided.

What do I record?

Quotation (page #) / Reaction / Response
Sentence, line, phrase, or paraphrase that:
1. May remind you of something; make you think or question
2. May reveal insight about theme, character development, etc.
3. May be an example of pleasing or disturbing writing style / Explanation of why you chose the quotation/passage:
• Question/Predict: Ask questions while you read and try to predict.
• Making a Connection: to personal experiences, life, other literature, etc.
• Interpret/Evaluate: Determine the meaning of what you’ve read; Form opinions both while you’re reading and after you’ve finished. Develop your own judgments about the characters and your own ideas about events.
• Extend the Meaning: What does the quote say about all people and humanity?
• Challenging the Text: Form questions about the validity of implied/explicit connections or claims, reliability of narrator, development of plot, character, style, etc.

Part II: SOAPSTone Analysis

Directions: After you finish reading House on Mango Street, complete a SOAPSTone organizer to analyze the text. In your response, you should write between 2-5 sentences for each aspect of SOAPSTone, and utilize textual support in your responses.

Explanation
S / Subject: What is the context of the text?
O / Occasion: What has prompted the novel, book, or play to be written? There are two occasions: the larger occasion, which is the broad issues or topic which has inspired the text, and there is the immediate occasion, which is the moment in time or culture in which the author is focused.
A / Audience: Toward whom is the text directed? Who is the assumed audience and what are the characteristics of that audience? How do you know?
P / Purpose: What is the author’s purpose for writing the text? Does the author have more than one purpose? Why type of reaction is the author trying to evoke from the audience and how does the author try to accomplish that? What is the intended effect of the article?
S / Speaker: Who is the speaker? Are there assumptions you can safely make about the speaker? Be careful – the speaker and the author are not always the same. What is the point of view of the text? Does the speaker display any bias?
Tone / Tone: What is the author’s attitude toward the subject? How has the author used syntax and diction to display that tone? Where is the tone the strongest?

2 Randallstown High School: English 12 Reading Assignment