Honors English 2

Quarterly Outside Reading Assignment

General Assignment:

For each of the four quarters of the school year you will choose, and read, ONE of the novels on the provided list. You may NOT choose a book you have already read. If I find out you have chosen a book you have read at some other point in your life/academic career, I will consider it a violation of our Academic Honesty policy. If you have read all of the books in a particular subset please see me at the beginning of that quarter to arrange an alternate book choice.Books may be obtained from any source: public library, FHS library, online, e-reader, used book store, borrowed from a friend etc.

You MUST register your book with me. This means you must show me YOUR copy of the book so that I can record it (this may be an electronic copy if you wish). This allows me to know you have your own copy of the book and allows you to get started early. If you start too late you might not be able to find the book you wish to choose. Failure to show me your book by the deadline will result in a loss of 10% on your assignment.

While most of the reading will take place outside of school, you will have time one to two days a week for silent reading (block day and possibly Friday) depending on the schedule of the week. This means you must bring your outside reading book with you, and you are NOT allowed to read your core book (assigned reading for the class) during this time. Reading a school assigned book or doing any other activity during this time will result in a loss of points. If you finish your OR book, you MUST still bring a book to read for fun.

Quarterly Assignments:

For each of the quarters, you will produce a different product. More in-depth information on these products will be posted on the website; however, here is a brief description of each of the assignments.

Quarter 1: You will produce a written data sheet which analyzes several aspects of your chosen book, including overall meaning, opening and closing sequences and a connection to How to Read Literature Like a Professor – among other requirements.

Quarter 2: You will film or present live a creative and informative book trailer that introduces the text but does not give away the ending. Additionally, you will also research one lit crit piece about your book and then produce a one page literary review agreeing or disagreeing with the critic’s opinion of your novel. Note, you may use “extras” in your video to help you act out your book, but your literary review will be your own piece.

Quarter 3: This quarter will require you to read a book and do a research paper (I suggest you start early, possibly over Winter Break). Ultimately you will be using your book to determine an issue of the time period which you would like to further investigate. As you will talk about how your book addresses this issue, and in order to effectively complete the paper, you will need to do some research. You will be researching literary criticism on the book as well as the topic you choose (and possibly the author). For example, if you want to discuss women’s rights issues in the 1800s, then you may need to research what was going on in that time period, what the author has said about his/her own work/the issue and/or how the issue was used in the book. In other words, what is the issue your chose all about, why is it important and how does the author deal with your chosen issue.

Quarter 4: The last assignment for the year will be a business letter you write to Mrs. Allaman (Superintendent of Secondary Education) explaining how your book relates to the course, it’s overall meaning and it’s literary merit, and whether or not you would recommend the book to be added to the district reading list.

Book Choices for Outside Reading 2016-2017

Quarter / Choices
(unabridged novels only) / Quarter / Choices
(unabridged novels only)
1
Data Sheet
Due 10/13 / Questing/Foundation Literature:
  • The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
  • The Once and Future King (T.H. White)
  • The Last of the Mochicans (James Fenimore Cooper)
  • Watership Down(Richard Adams)
  • The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (any translation is fine)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
  • The Whale Rider (Witi Ihimaera)
  • The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)
  • The Eagle of the Ninth (Rosemary Sutcliff)
/ 3
Research Paper
Due
3/23 / World Literature:
  • All Quiet on the Western Front
(Erich Maria Remarque)
  • The Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Mark Haddon)
  • The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith)
  • Q & A (Vikas Swarup)
  • Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse)
  • Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)
  • North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)
  • Things Fall Apart(Chinua Achebe)
  • Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
  • Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)
  • Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
  • A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen)
  • Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)

2
Book Trailer Video and Lit Crit Review
Due 12/8 / Female Authors:
  • The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
  • Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson)
  • Sold (Patricia McCormick)
  • Obasan (Joy Kowaga)
  • The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
  • The House on Mango Street
(Sandra Cisneros)
  • Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
  • The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
  • The Bonesetter’s Daughter (Amy Tan)
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Aneglou)
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
/ 4
Business Letter
Due 5/18 / American Literature:
  • The Sirens of Titan (Kurt Vonnegut)
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)
  • The Secret Life of Bees
(Sue Monk Kidd)
  • Maus: A Survivor’s Tale AND Maus II: My Father Bleeds History (Art Spiegelman)
  • True Grit (Charles Portis)
  • The Sun Also Rises
(Ernest Hemingway)
  • All the Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy)
  • Kindred (Octavia Butler)
  • Farewell to Manzanar (James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston)
  • The Round House (Lousie Erdrich)

Note: While all these books come off the College Board or FCUSD website, some may not be appropriate for all students. Please choose another selection if you find your choice offends or is too much for you.
Reminder: When you quote directly from ANY text, make sure to use appropriate MLA formatting.

Outside reading will be worth 15% of your total grade. Your grade will be based on your participation in silent reading, the well-developed completion of your Data Sheet, lit crit review/video, research paper or business letter and/or any tests, quizzes or essays on your book as I see fit.

REMINDER:All work (as with any other assignment in this class) is due at the BEGINNING of the period on the date it is due. NO EXCEPTIONS/EXCUSES. Work turned in later that day, after school or the next morning will be considered late. You may always e-mail me your workat or if you are absent or experiencing computer failure. A hard copy will be expected upon your return from your absence or upon the fixing of your printer (there is also a printer in the library for a modest fee).