English 1 Honors

Summer Reading Assignment

Required Reading: Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck A selected autobiography / biography (Please choose thoughtfully.)

Welcome to Righetti High School and the ninth grade Honors English class. This class is designed to challenge you and prepare you for continuing in the Honors and AP English program at Righetti High School. This class will require a lot of independent reading and responsibility on your part. The expectations are set high, but you will be given the tools to be successful as long as you are willing to take on the challenge. You will need to be prepared for class discussions and be willing to share what you think. As you see above, you will be required to read one novel and one autobiography / biography for summer homework. (Note: You may not choose a biography that has been taught at the middle school level such as The Diary of Anne Frank.) Summer reading is a prerequisite to taking this class. You need to complete the assigned reading and take thorough Cornell notes. If you are not familiar with Cornell note taking, please see the attached page for the proper format. You will turn in these notes during the first week of the school year. Your notes must be handwritten and include information on major characters, plot, themes, vocabulary, symbolism, and social / political significance. These notes should be much more detailed than a simple summary. I expect approximately one complete page of notes per chapter. For those of you reading a particularly long biography please do not exceed 10 pages of notetaking. Any notes taken from Mr. Spark (aka Cliff notes, Pink Monkey, Sparknotesetc.) will not be accepted. I want to know what you are thinking as you read. It is preferable that you buy your own copies of the books and make readers marks throughout. For example, you may highlight or underline key points and make notations in the margins. These will help a lot when you come back to school in August. If you are unable to do this, I recommend going to the public library or you can check it out from the RHS library. You will be given activities to complete and tested on your summer reading during the first week of class. You will have a comprehension based test as well as an essay test. Failure to complete the notes, project, or earn a passing grade on the comprehensions test during the first week of the school year will lead to you being dropped from the honors program. Im looking forward to meeting you. I hope you enjoy your summer. Sincerely, English Departments, RHS