Summer Reading Assignment Essay

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Summer Reading Assignment
Honors Ninth Grade Literature and Composition

Purpose of Assignment:
The intention of the summer reading assignment is to promote literacy, to introduce the topics and themes for our first unit of study, to continue the rigorous workload and high expectations of Elite Scholars Academy during the summer break, and to encourage student ownership of their own learning experiences.
This assignment counts as your first test grade in the class and will be due the first week of school. Don’t start off behind.
Text: Description of A Separate Peace by John Knowles
An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war. Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world. A bestseller for more than thirty years, A Separate Peace is John Knowles's crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.
Text Availability:
The text is available at Barnes and Noble for $12.99 brand new. There are copies on Amazon available for about $7. You may also read the text for free from the PDF online. The link is below. If, for whatever reason, the PDF goes down over the break, you are expected to find another online copy or a physical copy of the book to complete the assignment. https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/8ny7amdaOeVlPWH9P2Sx9GJhOZDZvZVh4kwDQqnsXqAXVDsu.pdf Description of Assignment:
You are to read A Separate Peace and complete the reading log below (over). The reading log needs to include at least ten entries: five of them need to be from various parts of the first half of the book (chapters 1-7) and five need to be from various parts of the second half (chapters 8-13). To complete the log, choose a topic from the list below (over), find a quote or event within the novel where that topic is seen, and explain what message or insight about the topic the author might be trying to provide through this quote or situation. You may also include other thoughts or speculations they have about the passage they chose in the explanation section. Don’t be afraid of being wrong; an active reader always thinks through many possibilities as he or she reads, and some of those possibilities will be incorrect. The important part is that you’re being attentive to the details and thinking about what you’re reading. Your explanation section needs to be three to five sentences for each entry.
The reading log may be handwritten (you may draw the chart as seen below) or typed. I will post a copy of the chart on my Elite Website as an additional resource for this assignment, but the log does not have to be created in my version of the chart.

Topics List: Pay attention to these when they show up. If you notice a topic that’s not on the list, you’re welcome to write down your observations about it as well. Friendship Jealousy Sin Redemption Loneliness Growing Up War Loss Identity Expectations Seasons Innocence Rivalry Leadership Fear Honesty Youth Strength Survival Ignorance Competition Popularity Power Goodness Education Self-Image

Reading Log Should Look Like:

Topic
Quote from text with page number in parenthesis
Explanation: what do you think the author is saying about the topic through this quote and event within the novel? What new insight do we gain about this topic? What effect does this passage have on the novel as a whole? What are your thoughts about this passage?
Example Entry:
*You may not use my example quote for your entry.
Fear
“Now here…preserved along
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