Please read the book you have chosen from the Junior/Senior Summer READ list.
To find the book for which you are signed up to read, go to the following link and look for the titles of the books you selected as first, second, and third choice. Find your name there:
You should be prepared to participate in a discussion with juniors, seniors, and faculty members when we return in the fall. Please have the book with you the first week of school.
It is recommended that you buy the book so that you can annotate as you read. If you can't buy the book, you can use sticky-notes to annotate. Here are a few suggestions about annotation:
Annotation Guide for Critical Reading
Step 1: As you read, look for places where a passage in the novel seems significant for some reason:
1. a key conflict
2. a moment when the protagonist is irrevocably changed for better or worse
3. a moment that is particularly suspenseful
4. a moment when the character (major or minor) has to make a choice about his/her
life or the lives of those around him/her
5. a moment where the writer is spending time to observe and carefully walk the
reader through the setting
6. you have a strong emotional reaction to the passage as a reader
7. a moment where the imagery seems to be connected in some way due to a
sense (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound). For example, there might be lots of
images of light, or visual images that make a pattern (birds, waves, violent
animals, armlessness)
8. a moment where the writer has used a simile or metaphor to compare a character,
scene, or setting to something quite unusual or startling (a comparison that
makes you uncomfortable or a comparison that seems beautiful)
9. a moment where the word choices (diction) the writer is using are similar—they
are words that have lots of emotional connotations (either negative or positive)
10. a passage you just like because it scared you, made you laugh, cry, stop and think
Step 2: Underline the passages above. For each chapter, look for 3-5 significant places such as those described above.
Step 3: Take notes right in the margins of the book! Yes, WRITE all over your book. Make a note to yourself about what you see in the passage. Then, at the end of the chapter, jot down some notes about plot (key events you want to remember) and some other notes about one or two of the passages you noted in part one.
Step 4: (Advanced—optional) On a separate piece of paper, start to pull some of these things together—how do these word choices, images, etc. connect to what seems to be the theme or deeper meaning in the novel? Ask yourself, why does the writer create “this conflict” or “this particular image” in the novel—what do you think he/she is trying to show you? Do this for every other chapter (or every third chapter for longer novels).
WHY ANNOTATE?
1. It will help you begin thinking about the novels a little bit differently—it will start you on the road to real analysis that I will be asking you to do next year.
2. Close reading gives you a deeper understanding of texts—helps you to appreciate the real work that writers do to create a meaningful story.
3. It gives you an easy way to find passages for your discussion.
Please read the book you have chosen from the Junior/Senior Summer READ list.
To find the book for which you are signed up to read, go to the following link and look for the titles of the books you selected as first, second, and third choice. Find your name there:
http://yhssummerread2010.wikispaces.com/Home+%26+Project+Info
You should be prepared to participate in a discussion with juniors, seniors, and faculty members when we return in the fall. Please have the book with you the first week of school.
It is recommended that you buy the book so that you can annotate as you read. If you can't buy the book, you can use sticky-notes to annotate. Here are a few suggestions about annotation:
Annotation Guide for Critical Reading
Step 1: As you read, look for places where a passage in the novel seems significant for some reason:
1. a key conflict
2. a moment when the protagonist is irrevocably changed for better or worse
3. a moment that is particularly suspenseful
4. a moment when the character (major or minor) has to make a choice about his/her
life or the lives of those around him/her
5. a moment where the writer is spending time to observe and carefully walk the
reader through the setting
6. you have a strong emotional reaction to the passage as a reader
7. a moment where the imagery seems to be connected in some way due to a
sense (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound). For example, there might be lots of
images of light, or visual images that make a pattern (birds, waves, violent
animals, armlessness)
8. a moment where the writer has used a simile or metaphor to compare a character,
scene, or setting to something quite unusual or startling (a comparison that
makes you uncomfortable or a comparison that seems beautiful)
9. a moment where the word choices (diction) the writer is using are similar—they
are words that have lots of emotional connotations (either negative or positive)
10. a passage you just like because it scared you, made you laugh, cry, stop and think
Step 2: Underline the passages above. For each chapter, look for 3-5 significant places such as those described above.
Step 3: Take notes right in the margins of the book! Yes, WRITE all over your book. Make a note to yourself about what you see in the passage. Then, at the end of the chapter, jot down some notes about plot (key events you want to remember) and some other notes about one or two of the passages you noted in part one.
Step 4: (Advanced—optional) On a separate piece of paper, start to pull some of these things together—how do these word choices, images, etc. connect to what seems to be the theme or deeper meaning in the novel? Ask yourself, why does the writer create “this conflict” or “this particular image” in the novel—what do you think he/she is trying to show you? Do this for every other chapter (or every third chapter for longer novels).
WHY ANNOTATE?
1. It will help you begin thinking about the novels a little bit differently—it will start you on the road to real analysis that I will be asking you to do next year.
2. Close reading gives you a deeper understanding of texts—helps you to appreciate the real work that writers do to create a meaningful story.
3. It gives you an easy way to find passages for your discussion.