DUE TO MS.

Conway in G207
WEST MESQUITE HIGH SCHOOL
DUAL CREDIT ENGLISH IV CONTRACT
The purpose of the summer reading program is to provide a foundation of literary experience that
will enable a student to be successful in all of his/her classes at the high school level and beyond. The
student is to do the assignment which has been given to him/her at his present school, or, if it occurs early
enough in the summer, he/she should contact someone at the other school to get the new assignment by
the first day of class.
Dual Credit English is a college course, and as a result, my expectations of you are extremely high.
(Essentially, I teach this class as an AP class.) Students are expected to have excellent attendance, to
complete all assigned work, and to participate fully in class. A heavy reading/writing load outside of class
can be expected throughout the year. In addition to student-selected works, other major pieces of literature
and nonfiction will be required reading during the school year.
Each student and one parent or guardian must sign a statement confirming that they fully
understand the requirements and expectations for participation in this program. An additional
acknowledgement has been signed by the student for the summer reading packet.
STUDENT STATEMENT
I,

, on this date

,
agree to read the works listed on the summer reading sheet and complete the related assignments
required for students enrolled in the Dual Credit English III at West Mesquite High School. I understand
that failure to complete these assignments will gravely impact my grade for the first six weeks of the school
year but will not release me from my enrollment commitment. I understand that the assignment and related
tests will count with first six weeks grades and will serve as the basis for other assignments throughout the
school year. I also understand that the materials and pace of the course are designed to prepare students
for college, and that the standards set are those required by the college to earn college credit.
I know that the required readings and the assignments are due on the very first day I go to
English class and will only be accepted with the heavy penalty of a 30 point deduction at the
second class meeting and a fifty point deduction at the third class meeting. I also understand that
after the third class my summer reading assignment will NOT be accepted. I understand that all work
submitted must be my work alone and represent my independent effort. I also understand that watching
movie versions of any works or using any printed or online study guides in place of reading the text itself is
not acceptable and is considered intellectual dishonesty.
Sign and return to Ms. Conway immediately. Dont forgetyou must take care of registration with Eastfield
College! See Ms. Hokett if you have any questions.
I have read the above and discussed the contents of these materials with my parents.
______________________________________
Printed name of student

______________________________________
Signature of student and date

_____________________________________
Students e-mail
____________________________________________________________________________________
Students complete address

Dual Credit English IV

Rhetoric, 1301/1302
Summer Reading 2016-2017

Jennifer Conway
Email: jconway@mesquiteisd.org
Website: jsconway.weebly.com
Part 1: Lord of the Flies William Golding
You will read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. You will locate 4 essential (meaningful and memorable) passages to analyze. The following will
help you determine what constitutes a strong close reading passage:
The passage must:

Be 2 -3 pages in length
Have powerful language and style
Have enough going-on so that it actually warrants multiple readings
Be significant to the work as a whole
Provide insight into Goldings philosophy
Provide the reader with insight to the human experience

Once you have located your four passages, please, complete the following with each:
1.

2.

Photo-copy the pages from your print book to create a clean, attractive copy. Label each section
Annotate all four excerpts using the following notation directions:

In the space at the top of your passage (or on the back), clearly answer the following: What is happening at this point in the text?
(By answering this question, you are proving to me that you understand the context of the passage. Make sure to include the 5 Ws
[who, what, where, when, why].) Write this response as a paragraph/summary not as bullet points.

Mark a minimum of the required number of devices on your excerpts:

5 Meaningful words (Diction is word choice. Find 5 words nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the passage.
Comment marginally on these words, considering the following questions as you formulate your marginal
responses: (1) What connotations/emotions/tones do the word choices create? (2) Are the word choices similar
throughout the passage or is there a shift? What do the words suggest about the people, setting, conflict, etc.? What is
the authors purpose in selecting these particular words? [Hint: In general, marginal comments will take the form of a
phrase such as: conveys ________, shows _________, suggests _________, fitting because _________ , or significant
because _________.]

Example: Douglass describes the separation of the slave-mothers and the slave-children as a way to
hinder a childs love for his/her parents and as a way to blunt and destroy the mothers love for her
child in order to ___________________________.
o 5 Meaningful punctuation choices (dashes, parentheses, ellipses, etc.). Comment marginally on one aspect of the syntax
that seems meaningful to you.

Example: Douglass repeated uses commas in this sentence to create a long list of injustices he
experienced while enslaved in order to overwhelm the reader with the horror of his life as a slave.
o
5 Meaningful narrative strategies and/or rhetorical devices. (I have listed ideas in the boxes on the reverse side; the list is
not comprehensive.) Label the strategy or device marginally and briefly comment on its effect on the reader.

Example: Douglass employs imagery in this sentence in order to make it possible for his reader to
visualize the horrors he experienced as a child.
o Bracket around two 5-10 line blocks of text within the passage; for each, identify the main tone of that chunk of text.
Explain how tone (authors attitude towards the subject) is conveyed by the text. Again, make sure that you write in
complete sentences.

Answer the five questions of rhetorical analysis, in complete sentences. (See the next page.)
Five questions of rhetorical analysis:
1. What is the central point, the major idea, that the author wants readers to understand about the subject? (The texts central claim
or thesis the take-home idea).
2. What is the authors primary purpose? What does the author want to do for the readers: Inform them about something they need to
know? Convince them to accept a proposition? Persuade them to think or act differently? Clarify an unclear concept? Amuse?
3. What attitude toward the subject matter does the author want to convey to her or his readers? Serious about the subject?
Whimsical? Reverential? Ironic? Angry? This is the tone of the piece.
4. How does the author convince the readers that the author is credible, trustworthy, worth listening to? (His ethos)
5. What emotional effect does the author want to have on his readers? Does the author want to make readers happy? Angry? Satisfied
or dissatisfied? Comfortable or uncomfortable? (Pathos)

For use with Notation Directions

Some strategies and devices for narrative writing:
Point of view
Figurative Language
Flash forward and flashback
Imagery
Events/actions/thoughts
Voice (of narrator)
Pacing
Verb tense
Conflicts / Tension / Suspense
Sentence length (rhythm, pacing)
Some rhetorical devices:
alliteration or assonance
antithesis
oxymoron
allusion
metaphor or simile
parallelism
analogy
juxtaposition
personification
For an exhaustive list of devices visit: http://rhetoric.byu.edu/

Irony
Language (colloquial, informal, jargon, etc.)
Humor
Repetitions
Focus (of a chapter, of a paragraph, etc.)
rhetorical question
paradox
extended metaphor

Part 2: Self-Select Novel

Choose from the list of novel titles below. Read and annotate (write your thoughts on the text) as you read. You will be glad later that you did when
you begin to write your essay.
Novels you may use These are novels written for adults and may contain mature themes or content. Research the synopsis of any book before
you purchase or read it if youre worried about being offended by the subject matter.
Heart of Darkness (Conrad)
Jane Eyre (Bronte)
Pride and Prejudice (Austen)
To the Lighthouse (Woolf)
Brave New World (Huxley)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)

Howards End (Forster)
Wide Sargasso Sea (Rhys)
Tess of the dUrbevilles (Hardy)
Sons and Lovers (Lawrence)
Or email me to propose another canonical work.

After reading, select one of the big questions from the on the other side of this page that you feel applies to your novel. Apply this question as you
respond to the following essay prompt, using your self-selected novel.
Essay Prompt: Critic Roland Barthes has said, Literature is the question minus the answer. Choose a novel and consider Barthes observation;
then write an essay in which you analyze the big question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the authors
treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Your essay must be a MINIMUM of four pages handwritten or two pages typed. Essay is due the first day of class.
Potential BIG Question(s) addressed by the authors:
What is the meaning of life?
How should I live?
How can I accept the idea that someday my life will end?
What does it mean to be a good person?
What is truth?
Am I brave, or a coward? Does courage matter?
Do the rewards of life balance or outweigh its pain?

How should people treat each other?

Is it right to resist or oppose authority?
How can one find meaning in life?
What is the responsibility of parent to child or creator to creation?
Can one recapture or relive the past?
How can one learn his identity?
How can one prevail against the pressure of his society?

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE YEAR:

Students MUST purchase a 5 subject spiral notebook and bring it to school on the first day of class.

Join my Remind group:

o
Text number: 81010

o Text message: @fe746d

Be prepared to purchase a second nonfiction text for the second semester, that reading selection will be announced well before
Christmas.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Email me with any questions this summer. My email address is: jconway@mesquiteisd.org

I will like hold a prep and workshop session towards the end of this summer, which will help you to prepare for the rigors of the next
school year. If you would like to attend, please be sure to join my Remind group because I will send information about this session
via those platforms.

My website, where you can find a copy of this summer reading assignment, as well as other helpful information is:
o
Jsconway.weebly.com