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Re: Required Summer Reading
The English Department of the Shelby County Board of Education requires honors
students to read two selected books during the summer.
You are responsible for reading the required summer reading selections and for
submitting the required information when you enter the high school in the fall.
The pre-9th selections include:
Mythology, Edith Hamilton
Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Ann Burns
The Ditchdigger’s Daughters, Dr. Yvonne S. Thornton
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Choose two selections for your summer reading. Then respond to the following
(either typed or printed legibly on unlined paper):
1. Forgiveness is one dominant theme topic in all of these novels. Pull five quotes
from one novel which illustrate this topic. In a well-organized essay, explain your
choices and give your theme statement in regard to the topic of forgiveness. A theme
statement is one sentence which reflects a truth about human nature (for example, if
the topic is love, a theme statement might be “Love enables people to overcome all
obstacles”). Try to avoid cliches. Another way to approach theme is to imagine the
author telling you in one sentence what he/she wanted you to learn about forgiveness
from reading the novel.
2. From the other novel, gather information on one character whom you particularly
enjoy. Write a well-developed character essay on this character including his physical
traits, actions, words, thoughts, and what others say or think about him. Use as many
examples from the text as you can find which help define this character.
BE PREPARED FOR A READING CHECK TEST WHEN YOU ENTER SCHOOL IN AUGUST
-- DAY ONE OR TWO!!!