2015-2016 Summer Reading Assignment

Wichita Falls High School

Pre-AP English I

Required Novel:

House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, 1984

House on Mango Streetis a coming-of-age novel made up on vignettes. A vignette is short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment like a snapshot.

Part One:During your reading - annotating the novel

Annotate means to add notes to a text giving explanation or comment. During your reading, annotate the text using the following directions. Make sure that you fully annotate each page of the novel.

You MUST use the color codes below to annotate your novel. Find rhetorical devices and then highlight them using the color beside the devices listed

below. Use highlighters rather than markers so that the color is less likely to bleed through the page. Next to the highlighting, name the device and in

a few words state its significance. You won’t have room for sentences here. Ex: Highlight some imagery in blue. Next to it write: Imagery: carries

out danger/security theme or Symbol: color – blackness of despair

******RHETORICAL DEVICES******

Comparisons & Contrasts: Orange

House on Mango Street and promised house

Marriage vs. autonomy

Innocence and experience

Characterization: YellowSymbolism: Pink

E= EsperanzaFalling

S=SallyWindows

N=Nenny Shoes

Ma=MamaTrees/plants

P=Papa Poetry

A=Alicia Names

CC=Carlos Houses

K=Keeky

C=Cathy

L=Lucy

R=Rachel

AL=Aunt Lupe

MO=Meme Ortiz

M=Minerva

Si-Sire

Theme Ideas: Green

Identity Dreams, Hopes, and Plans

Society and class Innocence

Gender Language

Foreignness and “The Other” The Home

Family Friendship

Language Devices/Imagery: Blue

Syntax (sentence Structure)

Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, allusion, irony, etc)

Diction (Choice of words, speech: colloquial, formal, etc)

Point of view (first-person, third-person, etc)

Tone (the attitude of the author toward the subject such as humorous, serious, grave, didactic, etc.)

Here is a sample of an annotated page:

Part Two: After your reading -Three Levels of Reading

After you finish reading the novel, choose your favorite vignette and complete the following three levels of reading assignment.

Directions:

  1. Across the top of the paper, write the title of the work and the author’s name.
  1. Draw three large concentric circles (one circle inside another circle inside a larger circle).
  1. For the innermost circle, concentrate on the concrete level of meaning – reading on the lines.
  1. Write the most significant word from the vignette you chose.
  1. Quote the entire sentence in which the word appears. Document the page number of the quotation in parenthesis.
  1. Write multiple dictionary definitions of the word (denotation).
  1. Explain why the word is important to the meaning of the work by placing it in the context of the narrative.

Example:

  1. In the middle circle, concentrate on the abstract level of meaning – reading between the lines.
  1. Referring to the text, draw four images from the assigned part of the reading. These images must be hand drawn and colored.
  1. Write an explanation of the link between each image and the word you have written in the innermost circle.

Example:

  1. In the outer circle, concentrate on the thematic level of meaning – reading beyond the lines. Write two thematic statements drawn from the significant word you wrote in the innermost circle and the images you drew in the middle circle. These should be universal thematic statements and should not refer directly to the text.

Writing a thematic statement:

1.Select an important topicfrom your chosen vignette. Topic ideas include: freedom, love, trust, death, forgiveness, and many others.

2.Now finish the statement by adding what the author reveals about the topic.

3.Both parts of the thematic statement relate to the inner and middle circle you’ve already completed.

Example:The topic is bolded.

A Matter of Presentation – Please remember that you are given the entirety of the summer to complete these assignments. Assignments that are turned in carelessly drawn on lined notebook paper, stained and crumpled, hastily torn out of a notebook, etc. do not put forth the effort and professionalism expected of a Pre-AP student.

Academic Honesty –These assignments are independent work. While discussing your interpretation of the novel is encouraged, the assignment is individual work. Highlights and wording of annotations must be unique. To ensure that your work is unique, do not work in groups for these assignments.

We are excited to have you as part of our Pre-AP program. Enjoy your summer, and we will see you in August!

Mrs. Scheffe (Leopold)

Pre-AP English I