9 Honors Summer Assignment for the 2009-2010 School Year

9 Honors English/9 Honors World History
Summer Work
English: Mrs. Hatler (ehatler@hpregional.org)
History: Ms. Sutton (jsutton@hpregional.org)

Directions. All students in 9 Honors English and/or 9 Honors World History must complete parts I, II, and III.

Part I: “How to Mark a Book”

Read Mortimer J. Adler’s “How to Mark a Book.” This essay is about the different ways to take notes while reading an article or book. Based on the techniques given in the article, you will use a note-taking technique that works for you when doing parts II and III of your summer work. You will find the essay on the following website: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/adler.html


Part II: World Literature

Choose a full-length work of nonfiction or historical fiction by a foreign author that pertains to a non-American culture. The work cannot be a fantasy or a mystery novel. The work must take place in a country other than the United States and should be rich in cultural information that can be compared and contrasted with the American culture. Take a visit to your local book store or head to the library and search the shelves for something that may interest you. Read reviews on your choice to make sure it is World Literature, not American Literature, and to make sure it is age appropriate. Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) is a good website to read a brief summary and reviews of different works. Your parents must consent to your chosen work. To prove their consent, write your name and the name of the work and author on a notecard and have your parents sign the notecard. The signed notecard needs to be handed in on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

You are to take notes on the culture you are learning about while reading your chosen work. If it is your own book, you can “mark it up” based on ideas found in “How to Mark a Book.” You may use post-it notes to mark off important sections rich in culture. If it is not your own book and it needs to be returned to the library, take notes in a notebook. In any case, you must provide evidence of your note taking abilities.

These notes will be helpful for the activities we have planned for the first week of school. You will be having a book talk and you will be writing a persuasive letter as an in-class writing the first week of school.

Due Dates:
· Reading is to be completed by Tuesday, September 1, 2009.
· Class discussion on books will begin on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.
· In-class writing will be on Friday, September 4, 2009.

Make sure you pick your work at the beginning of the summer. This will make it easier to complete Part III of your summer assignment.


Part III: Current Events

This current events section of your summer work will correspond with the culture found and discussed in your chosen work from Part II. Each week from the week of July 5 through the week of August 16 read a reputable newspaper, magazine, or an internet news website. The following are examples of reputable sources:

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Star Ledger
Time
Newsweek
The New Yorker
cnn.com
foxnews.com
aldaily.com
msnbc.com

As you read, collect articles that offer a global (world) perspective regarding a variety of current events on the culture discussed in your chosen work. For example, if your work is about a young boy living in Iran, your articles may focus on political, social, and economic stories from that same country. You may also choose stories that are related to the humanities – art, literature, and music. Avoid sports related articles.

Requirements:

You must have seven articles, each dealing with a different topic related to your work’s culture. These seven articles include one from each of the seven weeks from July 5 through August 16.
You are to mark up the articles based on the techniques found in “How to Mark a Book.” You must bring in the marked up articles, including the dates and the sources, to English and/or World History class on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.
Be prepared to discuss the contents of your articles both orally and in writing during the first week of school.

The Week of June 1

We will be viewing Osama this week. You should be reading your literature circle novel at home while we are viewing the film in class. You will have your book discussion on Friday. You will need to have the following items typed: 5 Discussion Questions, 1 Connection, and 1 Researched Item. Please look for your vocabulary packets. I would like you to bring them to class on Monday, June 8. Have a great week!