Honors English 1—Summer Reading Letter5/25/18

Hello Future Student,

I hope your summer is going well. Below is your summer reading assignment. Lord of the Fliesmust be read and studied before we meet for school in August. Also, you will find information pertaining to a novella and play that must be acquired within the first couple of months of school.

Make sure you read Lord of the Flies and thoroughly prepare for an in-class assessment during the first week of school. It is not beneficial to do all of this in one week now, forget about it, and then return to school with little knowledge of the work you did. Find a system that works best for you. I highly recommend you take notes (write in your books, use Post-it notes, etc.).You should underline important passages, think about and analyze what you are reading, and have a very critical eye; leave no stone unturned. I often check students’ notes to see what they were thinking about over the summer, specific ideas they came up with, questions that they had, etc. Please understand that the more work you do now, the more you will be in-stride with me when we start class in August.

Take notice of the author and the historical context of Lord of the Flies. There are multiple movies and online summaries for the novel. Although they provide a guideline and/or visual representation, they cannot substitute for the work itself. Understand that I know the movies well and I always review online sites like Sparknotes, Shmoop, Cliffsnotes, and eNotesto see what is on them and decide how I can form questions to properly assess whether students actually did the work required. The bottom line equals this: have the assigned material read when you walk into our classroom. The task of summer reading is part of being in an Honors English class at Ottawa Township High School and will be required in future Honors or AP English classes as well.

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT BOOK:

1. Read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This book deals with multiple issues: coming-of-age, decision making, good vs. evil. It is a favorite among a diverse group of readers—followers, leaders, and those aspiring to lead. Be open-mindedand enjoy reading the novel. You will have to purchase this book to read this summer and you will need it for the first few weeks of class.Please be sure to bring it to class on the first day back to school. The version of the book that you will need has a picture of a boy on it who is in a school uniform with a large fly hovering over him—there is a forest canopy in the background. There is a picture of a pair of broken glasses below the title of the book—see the image above as a reference. The ISBN# for the book is 978-0-399-50148-7. Although the above copy is preferred, if you have problems acquiring this specific version of the book, please feel free to purchase a different version. Because of our approach to studying the piece, you should be fine with whatever copy you purchase.

FUTURE ASSIGNMENTS (books to get your hands on within the first couple months of school):

2. Purchase or acquire The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories (Signet Classics) by Mark Twain. Multiple versions of this novella have been published. The one I use has a yellow cover with a picture of a frog hopping above the title. Under the title, you will see “With a New Introduction by Jeffrey Nichols”. The ISBN# on the barcode of the book is 978-0-451-53220-6. This will be the last book we read in Honors English 1.You do not need to read this book before school starts in August.

Although the above copy is preferred, if you have problems acquiring this specific version of the book, please feel free to purchase a different version. Because of our approach to studying the piece, you should be fine with whatever copy you purchase.

3. Purchase or acquire King Lear (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare. There are publication companies that produce works by Shakespeare. This Folger Library version has a purple cover with King Lear in cursive across the front. It is the one I will be using and referencing in class.

The ISBN# on the barcode of the book is 978-0-7434-8276-9.

Again, although the above copy is preferred, if you have problems acquiring this specific version of the book, please feel free to purchase a different version. Because of our approach to studying the piece, you should be fine with whatever copy you purchase.

Remember, this is Honors English 1. We will study various pieces of world literature with a very analytical approach. We will examine an author’s tone and style along with the various rhetorical/literary elements used in pieces we study. We will express and share the analytical ideas we have about literature through class discussion and various written assignments and tests. We will do all of this in an open-minded manner and environment.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you. Please email me with questions if you have them—do not be shy about asking questions regarding the summer material. Note that a copy of this letter is available on my school website at -- click on the Honors English 1 tab on the left hand side of the page. My email address is below.Enjoy your summer reading!

Mr. Mark Cartwright