Freshman Reading Assignments

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians:

We are pleased that you have committed yourself to a challenging academic year by enrolling in Honors English .   It is our hope that this rigorous course will be an exciting and intellectually stimulating experience.   In preparation for this class, you will complete two reading assignments and a study of literary terms.  This project is designed to prepare you for the rigors of honors level English while at the same expanding your  knowledge and love of literature.  It's also going to be fun!

Each student will read two novels.  One of the texts, The Old Man and the Sea, will be read by all students.  The exam on The Old Man and the Sea, which will be given on the first day of class, will count as a major grade. This first-day exam will also assess your knowledge of basic literary terms.  You can access the glossary of literary terms here. 

You may choose the second novel from the list below.   You will turn in an analytical reading journal for the self-selected novel on the first day of class.   Directions for completing the journal are at the bottom of this page.  Students who do not turn in a reading journal on the self-selected novel and/or who do not pass the first-day exam will be strongly discouraged from taking the course. 

If you have any questions about these assignments, please contact us through email (dheverly@chs.carteret.k12.nc.us).  

Sincerely,

The Croatan High English Department

Þ     All students who take Honors World Literature must read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.  You will be tested on this novel on the first day of class.

Þ     You must also pick one novel from the list below.  You will complete an analytical reading journal for this novel and turn it in on the first day of class. 

• Life of Pi                                                               Yann Martel                               Canadian

• Cry the Beloved Country                                  Alan Paton                                  African

• Things Fall Apart                                                Chinua Achebe                          African

• All Quiet on the Western Front                        Erich Maria Remarque             German

• Kaffir Boy                                                             Mark Mathabane                       South Africa  

• The Count of Monte Cristo                               Alexander Dumas                      France 

• The Kite Runner                                                 Khaled Hosseini                          Afghanistan  

• Tuesdays With Morrie                                       Mitch Albom                              American 

• The Secret Life of Bees                                       Sue Monk Kidd                          American

• Sophie's World                                                    Jostein Gaarder                           Scandinavian

Guide for the Double Entry Journal

The Double Entry Journal allows you to record your responses to a text as you read. In the left-hand page or column, you copy or summarize an excerpt from a text which you find intriguing, puzzling, or moving, or one which connects to a previous entry or situation. In the right-hand page or column, you react to the quotation or summary. The entry may include a comment, a question, a connection made, or analysis. Entries are made whenever a natural pause in the reading occurs so that the flow is not interrupted constantly.  This is a crucial part of your learning, as it engages you with the texts critically and thoughtfully and allows the instructor to monitor your progress.

• Good journals look beneath the surface of the text; they explore its ideas, patterns, and implications; they show the fruits of close reading; they demonstrate a mind engaged with literature.  They may not have all the answers, but they are asking good questions and searching …searching …searching. 
• Bad journals are unacceptably brief, show little or no real thought, tend to merely summarize the plot, are general and shallow, sometimes quite sloppy, and show little active engagement with the text. 
• Directions:  Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper, creating two equally sized columns.  See the example below. 
• How many entries: You must create at least fifteen double entries for your selected novel.

Double Entry Journal Checklist

• Always record book titles, authors, and chapter titles

• Always put quotation marks around the author's words

• Record page numbers in parentheses () following the quote/note

• Take notes in an organized and sequential manner

• Leave spaces between notes

• Match responses to notes.  Design your note taking so it is obvious which note/quote corresponds to your response.