Eng. 2 Honors Summer Reading

Summer Reading Assignment
English 2 Honors 2015-2016
All students will read two books. The following is to be completed by THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. All
students should be prepared for a test on the required book and a project on their chosen book within the first TEN
days of school.
Book 1 –Reading and Response Log (Required)
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Book 2 (Your choice)
Read any book of your choosing that deals with a culture other than your own. The book must have a minimum of
200 pages. Some suggested titles are:
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas; Girl in Translation, by Jean
Kwok; The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver; The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan; The Absolute True Diary of a Parttime Indian by Sherman Alexie; Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay; Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
**Parents please review your student’s book choice as some may contain mature subject matters.
Directions for Response Log
All students will create a response log for the required reading, The House on Mango Street.
Select a minimum of 20 of the short chapters (vignettes) from the text and complete a response log entry
for EACH.
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Use notebook paper (one‐side only) or you may type it
Must have two columns (divide the page in 1/2)
Title the column on the left “Quotation from the Text”
Title the column on the right “Commentary/Response to the Text”
Responses may start:
 “The imagery reveals…”
 “The setting gives the effect of…”
 “The tone of this part is…”
 “The character(s) feel(s)…”
 “This is ironic because…”
 “The detail seems effective/important because…”
 “An interesting word/phrase/sentence/thought is…”
 “This reminds me of…”
 Or you may start with something else you feel is appropriate
Each response to a quotation should be 3‐5 sentences and must include the page number and/or percentage of the
novel read. You will have a total of 20 entries. In no circumstances should your quote be longer than your
commentary.
Sample Response Log: To Kill a Mockingbird
Quotation from the Text
“ ‘He might have hurt me a little,’ Atticus conceded,
‘but son , you’ll understand folks a little better when
you’re older. A mob’s always made up of people,
no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob
last night, but he was still a man….So, it took an
eight-year old child to bring ‘em to their senses
didn’t it?’” (159-160)
Commentary/Response to the Text
The tone here is matter of fact. Atticus admits that Mr.
Cunningham could have harmed him, but he explains that
Mr. Cunningham’s actions were not entirely his own; he
was influenced by the crowd as is common for many
people. It takes Scout recognizing him and talking to him
to make Mr. Cunningham realize that what he is doing is
wrong.