10th Grade Honors Summer Reading 2017-2018 Welcome to 10th Grade Honors Literature and Composition! To better prepare you for the literary works you will read this year, all rising 10th graders should purchase a new or used copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster (ISBN-13: 9780060009427). In his book, Foster explains how to approach a text and provides “a practical and amusing guide to literature” that can, and should, serve as a foundation for interpreting texts for years to come. Annotate your chapters well. You can highlight, develop a coding/color system, write in the text, use post-it notes, or keep a separate notebook. Your annotations should show a mind at work:

Consider your author’s word choices and purpose

Make connections between the concepts in How to Read Literature Like a Professor and other works you have read.

As you are reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor, reflect on all of the literary works you read during 9th grade and/or this summer. Choose two of the concepts Foster discusses in his book to apply to two works you read during 9thh grade and/or this summer. Consider the scenarios

Foster discusses while explaining a concept and make note of similar connections to works you have read. Assignment: After reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor, write a four paragraph essay in which you follow the format below. Support statements throughout your essay with integrated quotes from both texts and How to Read Literature Like a Professor. If you do not have physical copies of the literary works you wish to discuss, remember most can be found online. Please adhere to MLA format, avoid all personal pronouns and informal language, and remember your legal subjects and verbs. If you have any questions about MLA, quote integration, or writing in general, refer to the attached document, your 9th grade, handouts, and Purdue OWL. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/ 1st paragraph: Introduction – discuss Foster’s book in general, becoming more concise as you narrow your focus to the two concepts you are applying to two separate literary works. Your thesis statement should conclude your introductory paragraph (thesis reminders attached). 2nd paragraph: discuss one of the concepts from How to Read Literature Like a Professor and how it applies to a literary work you read in 9th grade. 3rd paragraph: discuss one of the concepts from How to Read Literature Like a Professor and how it applies to a different literary work you read in 9th grade. 4th paragraph: summary – conclude your essay by ending with a sense of completion versus summarizing or rewording your paper. Final Page: a correctly formatted works cited with your three sources. The attached rubric details how your essay will be graded. Be prepared to submit your work to Turnitin.com during the first week of school. The essay must be your own work. You may not work with other students or use any sources other than the two 9th grade primary sources you choose,

Purdue OWL, and How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

Helpful Hints: Surviving 10th Honors Literature

When stating thesis, remember that it is your main claim. Your warrants are your integrated quotes that prove your claim i.e. thesis. Your thesis should be the last sentence of your essay, and should be stated seamlessly and inconspicuously. In other words, do not write “The thesis is…” In your analysis:

Do analyze; do not paraphrase.

Use textual evidence to support warrants for you claims. You should have one claim in each of your body paragraphs and three warrants to support each claim.

All textual evidence must be integrated and documented with a correctly formatted works cited.

A sample of Legal Present Tense Action Verbs

suggests, hints, intimates, implies, questions, casts, sheds light, notes, observes, asserts, concedes, qualifies, affirms, criticizes, admonishes, challenges, emphasizes, minimizes, demonstrates, explores, lists, supports, establishes, evokes, draws attention to, calls attention to, describes, persuades, explains, exemplifies, illustrates, opens, begins, adds, connects, juxtaposes, draws a parallel between, foreshadows, turns to, shifts to, concludes, finishes, closes, ends, compares, contrasts, defines, narrates, chooses, quotes, reveals, refers to, hyperbolizes, foreshadows

Illegal Words/Phrases

am, is, are, was, were, uses, utilizes, writes, tells, basically, really, very, begins, concludes, the reader, in this quote, the writer, the theme is, any first or second person pronoun, ambiguous demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, those

A Few Reminders

No first or second person pronouns.

No typos or careless spelling errors.

No abbreviations.

No contractions.

Vary your sentence structures, types and patterns.

Do not ask a rhetorical question.

No cheerleading

No calling author by first name

Author and work must be introduced in the first two sentences.

No ambiguous this that these and those

No last name when documenting a single source

Document at the end of a sentence

Do not mention the reader, the audience, or the quote

Integrated Quotes All of you have instruction on integrating quotes but here are a few samples to make sure you remember all of the rules:

Bradbury foreshadows that the nursery will play a part in the main conflict and that there may be problems with the nursery when he has George wonder what a “psychologist” would “want with a nursery?” (1). As a result, this foreshadowing creates suspense.

Remember that you start with the narrator, doer, author, or character. Your second word is a present tense action verb. Your quote should melt into your sentence grammatically.

Composition Rubric

Organization- How effectively organized is the essay in developing an argument?

1 2 3 4 5 X 4 Total=

Does not establish an Establishes an appropriate Establishes an appropriate and organizational structure organizational structure effective organizational structure or maintain a coherent but does not maintain a that maintains a coherent focus focus throughout; little coherent focus throughout; throughout. Smooth transitions with or no transitions. primary transitions and/or topic sentences that support thesis. weak topic sentences. Style/Voice- How effectively does the writer reveal his/her voice?

1 2 3 4 5 X 4 Total=

Composed primarily of Ideas are clear, but sentence Analytical thought is evident; simple sentences; short patterns may be simplistic varied sentence structure; text choppy sentences; no sentence or repetitive; language is casual is fluid, polished, balanced, and pattern variety; poor word choice; or colloquial; some “be” verbs. graceful; well-selected language; overuse of “be” verbs; confusing effective verbs. syntax. Evidence- How effectively does the essay use specific text-based examples to support the claims?

1 2 3 4 5 X 4 Total=

Content is not supported. Content may be supported and Content is richly supported and Little to no textual evidence developed but is more general than developed. Textual evidence is and/or evidence is weak/ specific; attempt to incorporate effective and balanced throughout. irrelevant. adequate and appropriate evidence. Content/Claim- How effectively does your essay answer the question/respond to the prompt in an analytical, thoughtful, and original way?

1 2 3 4 5 X 4 Total=

No stated thesis; consists of Meaningful topic; adequate thesis, Interesting topic handled with unsupported generalities and/or though it may be too general or broad; insight; complex and/or original repetition of ideas; lacks originality ideas are evident though may be thesis; specific, superior development and insight; mostly summary; no limited; introduction and conclusion of writer’s original, analytic ideas, effective introduction or conclusion. evident though may be underdeveloped. introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Mechanics- Does the essay demonstrate clear writing and use proper grammar?

1 2 3 4 5 X 4 Total=

Displays little to no understanding Displays control of the English Displays mastery of the English of the conventions of language though careless errors language. the English language. are evident. Total Points Earned:_________/100