1. Summer Reading and Work
English 12, Tollefson
Summer 2012
Seniors – do not order your English 12 summer reading until you know
which section you will be in. You will be notified by July 1.
Seniors! There are three phases to the English 12 summer reading assignment:
1) Please read ONE (or all!) of the four books below, and have your assignment completed by
the first full day of classes, August 22, 2012. I advise against looking for the shortest or easiest
book here because there isn’t one. (Welcome to English 12!) Look at the books themselves and
decide which story interests you most. You must buy a hard copy; e-book readers will not be
permitted.
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (do not confuse this with the book of the same title by H.G. Wells)
Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon
You are expected to read actively and therefore to ANNOTATE your PHYSICAL book (NO ebooks
in the summer or during the year). That means as you read, you mark or highlight passages that are
significant. You write your thoughts in the margins. You have a CONVERSATION with your
book, with the author, the characters, with yourself. This helps you recognize themes, important
plot points, characterization, patterns of repeated imagery or phrasing, the way diction points to
subtext and themes, what the author leaves hidden as well as what he/she reveals, narrative structure,
etc. In short, you will understand it better. I will be grading your annotations of the above books.
2) The third phase of the summer reading assignment is found below, but there’s a hitch. You need to
choose a novel that was NOT ever assigned for school to compare with one of the four novels
named above in your ten responses. OR, you may choose a film that you think is worthy of
comparison to one of the four novels named above. Be sure to choose a work that has clearly
related themes and is worthy of discussion in English 12. If you aren’t sure, email me and ask. To
give you an idea, I would say no to Pokemon and yes to The Shawshank Redemption. I would say no
to Twilight and yes to The Lovely Bones. You will NOT be discussing which work you liked better,
or which author is better. Your responses should not be a review or a summary, but a comparative
analysis of themes, symbols, imagery, diction, syntax, pacing, style, tone, point of view, etc. between
the two works.
3) I kindly ask that you find ten passages from the novel I assigned (not the one you picked) and
comment on those passages, comparing them to your chosen work, in a paragraph each.
Number your passages so I don’t have to count them, type them in completely and cite the page
numbers. You can include passages from the other novel if you wish. Here are some rules and
also, some helpful tips:
1. THIS IS NOT A PAPER. Don’t write a paper. Write ten separate responses to passages.
1a. The first sentence and last sentence of the book are off limits for obvious reasons.
2. 2. Don’t be clever and slyly choose the second sentence of either book. Be sly in some other
way.
3. In other words, carefully select your passages—they should reflect that you have
assiduously read the ENTIRE book(s), not just the first 50 pages, not just the first half, not just
sort of skimmed it the last three days of break. Get the drift?
4. In your responses, look in both of your works for themes of identity and identity
formation in terms of culture, family, community, historical time period, ethical and moral
questions, and to what extent we have control over who we become. And YES, you should
notice anything else you think is important, revealing, or insightful.
5. Your paragraphs should not be one sentence paragraphs or one page papers. They should
be legitimate, coherent, and unified units of thought that compare the two works. (We’re talking
Times New Roman 12 point font, so a good double-spaced paragraph should measure
somewhere between 3 and 4 inches. Hey, you asked.)
6. Don’t ask rhetorical questions or even non-rhetorical questions about the quotations or
scenes you have selected. Your commentary should consist of your insights about the passages in
the assigned novel and analytical comparisons (or contrasts) with the other work you chose.
7. This summer’s reading books are so dang cool that you’re not even going to believe it. But
try to make your comments a little more academic than the previous sentence. So, don’t praise
the authors. Show your critical thinking and writing skills instead.
8. Lastly, this is due the first full day of class, no ifs, ands or buts. You will need to be ready
to use the passages and your responses to speak to your classmates about the book(s) or films in
a formal fashion.
9 Do not even consider using Sparknotes or anything like it on this assignment (or any other
assignment). We will be looking for any type of similarities. Just think for yourself.
10. Start the year off right with this assignment. Don’t wait to the last minute. Do not cheat.
Nike says just do it, and by Nike I mean the Winged Goddess of Victory who is watching you
right now. That’s right. Invisible, man.
