Wauconda High School Reading Programs

 

Students are responsible for being aware of and properly following through on the summer reading option that is designed for their age and ability.

 

Option A:  Incoming sophomores, juniors and seniors, may sign up to read and discuss a book over the summer with a teacher and other students.  This procedure is organized in the last month of school.  If a student chooses not to exercise this option, then he or she needs to choose option B.

 

Option B:  Students should choose a book from the level they will be entering next school year (i.e. current 8th graders should choose from the freshmen list), not the level they are currently at.  Honors students are required to participate in the alternative summer reading program.  Enrollment for this program begins during the last month of the school year.  The following titles will be available in limited quantities at the public library for summer reading for Wauconda High School:

 

 

Freshmen Level – (Honors Freshmen see separate list)

 

·        It’s Nothing to a Mountain                          Sid Hite

·        A Light in the Forest                                   Conrad Richter

·        Make Lemonade                                        Virginia Euwer Wolff

·        Warriors Don’t Cry                                    Melba Pattillo Beals

 

Sophomore Level – (Honors Sophomore have separate requirements.)

 

·        Anthem                                                      Ayn Rand

·        Ordinary People                                         Judith Guest

 

Junior Level

 

·        I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings             Maya Angelou

·        A Raisin in the Sun                                      Lorraine Hansberry

 

Senior Level – (A.P. English see separate list)

 

·        The Autobiography of Malcolm X               Malcolm X

·        Rebecca                                                     Daphne DuMaurier

 

Honors Freshmen Summer Reading List

 

The incoming honors freshmen will need to make his/her reading selection from the following list and complete one of the three Honors Freshmen Summer Novel Projects before the start of the school year (see next page).  If there are any questions regarding these requirements, please contact Mr. Cittadino, the English Department Coordinator at 526-6611, Ext. 140.

 

 

All Creatures Great and Small                                                   James Herriot

Brave New World                                                                    Aldous Huxley

The Children of Sanchez                                                           Oscar Lewis

Christy                                                                                     Catherine Marshall

The Chosen                                                                              Chaim Potok

Coming of Age in Mississippi                                                    Anne Moody

The Crystal Cave or The Hollow Hills                                       Mary Stewart

Dune                                                                                        Frank Herbert

Exodus or Trinity                                                                      Leon Uris

Farewell to Manzanar                                                               Jeanne Wakatsuki

The Good Earth                                                                        Pearl Buck

The Hobbit                                                                               J.R.R. Tolkien

Inherit the Wind                                                                        Jerome Lawrence

I, Robot                                                                                   Isaac Asimov

Martian Chronicles                                                                   Ray Bradbury

My Antonia                                                                              Willa Cather

1984                                                                                        George Orwell

Oliver Twist or A Tale of Two Cities                                         Charles Dickens

On the Beach                                                                           Nevil Shute

The Ox-Bow Incident                                                               Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Tess of the D’Urbervilles                                                          Thomas Hardy

Tristan and Isuelt                                                                      Rosemary Sutcliff

Winterdance                                                                             Gary Paulsen

Warriors Don’t Cry                                                                  Melba Pattillo Beals

Wuthering Heights                                                                    Emily Bronte

Honors Freshmen Summer Novel Projects

 

After reading a novel from the Honors Summering Reading list, choose one of the following projects to be completed by the beginning of school.

 

Collage

 

Pictures and words cut from periodicals should completely cover a standard-sized poster board (none of the poster board should show).  This collage should illustrate the central theme, conflict, and/or plot of the novel.  There should be more than just pictures representing the characters.  Variations of this would include a word collage (no pictures) or a picture collage (no words).

 

Literature Meets Life

 

As you read your novel, think about how characters, events or ideas might parallel yours or others.  Some books might have more obvious connections than others; however, a bit of thinking and reflecting by you is bound to point out at least some relevance.

 

CHOOSE TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:

 

Find a news article that reminds of you some aspect of your reading.  Cut out that article, attach it to a sheet of paper or poster, and write an explanation of how your reading connects to this news article.

 

Find a cartoon, poem, advice column, song lyric, etc. that relates to any aspect of your reading.  Attach it to a sheet of paper or poster and write an explanation of how your reading connects to it.

 

Explain how and why a character from this novel reminds you of a character you read about earlier.  This explanation can be in the form of a poem, dialogue, letter or other format.

 

Interview

 

Publish an interview in which you ask the central character(s) questions.  You need to generate a minimum of twenty thought-provoking and informative questions that you would ask this character, and the character must respond.  Do not ask trivial questions with one-word answers.  The questions and answers should reveal certain characteristics of the novel like plot, conflict, setting, theme, etc. as well as the personality of the character.  A variation of this would be a talk show format like Oprah! in which this character is being interviewed.

 

A.P. English Reading List

 

The following books are available through the English Department for summer use.  They may be checked out from Mr. Cittadino before the end of the school year.  These books are also available at area public libraries, but you may wish to purchase them so that you can annotate them if you wish.

 

v     A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain

v     Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmund Rostand

v     Hard Times, Charles Dickens

v     Macbeth, William Shakespeare

v     Moby Dick, Herman Melville

v     The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

v     Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

v     Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

v     The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe

v     Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

v     Tartuffe, Moliere

v     Heart of Darkness, Josef Conrad

v     The Stranger, Albert Camus

v     A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen

 

 

A.P. English Summer Reading Assignment

 

Great literature should be reread.  To give you a fine start toward that end, this assignment sheet has been created for your convenience.  Included you will find a reading list for Advanced Placement English Literature. 

 

The summer assignment is divided into two parts, one required and one optional.  Selected required readings of ancient myths, legends, and the Judeo-Christian story will go a long way toward providing you with the background necessary to deal with the allusive nature of the literature that you will be reading during the year.  By completing as much of the optional reading as you can during the summer, you will attain an immeasurable advantage, particularly because much of the work of the course involves analysis and evaluation of each work after a prior reading.  Advanced reading of the course texts will obviously eliminate much of the pressure involved in preparing for the discussions and your writing assignments.

 

Required:

 

  1. Read Mythology, by Edith Hamilton (provided)
  2. Read The Odyssey, by Homer (provided)
  3. Read Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift (provided)
  4. Create a Response Portfolio, due the first week of class for all the required works.  Please note that each number listed above counts as one work.  Plan accordingly for your portfolio.  The focus of your responses should be geared toward your emotional reactions to the literature.  There are no page limits, show me your understanding of the works.  This portfolio must be done electronically (Word, PowerPoint, webpage, etc.) and will be submitted on a CD.

 

Optional:

 

  1. Read any other forms of epic literature i.e. Beowulf, The Illiad, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Dune, etc.

 

  1. Read additional myths from Greek and Norse mythology.
  2. Read the following books from the Old Testament (King James Version):

v     Genesis

v     II Samuel

v     Exodus

v     I Kings

v     Leviticus

v     II Kings

v     Numbers

v     Job

v     Deuteronomy

v     Jonah

v     I Samuel

 

 

  1. Read the following selections from the New Testament (King James Version):

v     The Gospel according to Matthew

v     The Book of Revelations