Palisades Charter High School Summer Reading Assignment for

Transcription

1 Palisades Charter High School Summer Reading Assignment for Dialectical Journal Format The dialectical journal consists of three columns: Literary Device, Context/Evidence/Citation, and Explanation/Commentary. Please see the directions below that correspond with your incoming grade level. Before the first journal entry, write your heading and identify the title of the book (underline or italicize) and the author. Also, be sure to number each entry. Students taking AP Language and AP Literature are not required to complete dialectical notes, but they should be prepared to write about and discuss their reading during the first week of school. Directions for Summer Reading Assignment (incoming 9 th graders) Context/Quote/Citation Explanation/Commentary significance of the quoted passage. Do not restate the evidence. Analysis requires pulling apart the evidence and discussing its deeper meaning/significance. The following guiding questions will help you work through this process. While composing the commentary, please take care to fully answer the questions or questions contained in at least one of the bullet following points: 1

2 2 Directions for Summer Reading Assignment (incoming 10 th graders) Literary Device Context/Quote/Citation Explanation/Commentary Identify 10 total literary devices or techniques used in the passage. You MUST choose one of each of the following devices: diction, mood, imagery, conflict, and characterization. The other five are your choice. Focus only on explaining HOW a particular device conveys the meaning of the quote. significance of the quoted passage. Do not restate the evidence. Analysis requires pulling apart the evidence and discussing its deeper meaning/significance. The following guiding questions will help you work through this process. While composing the commentary, please take care to fully answer the questions or questions contained in at least one of the bullet following points: 2

3 3 Directions for Summer Reading Assignment (incoming 11 th graders) Literary Device Context/Quote/Citation Explanation/Commentary Identify 10 total literary devices or techniques used in the passage. You MUST choose one of each of the following devices: irony, symbolism, metaphor, opposition, and tone. The other five are your choice. Focus only on explaining HOW a particular device conveys the meaning of the quote. significance of the quoted passage. Do not restate the evidence. Analysis requires pulling apart the evidence and discussing its deeper meaning/significance. The following guiding questions will help you work through this process. While composing the commentary, please take care to fully answer the questions or questions contained in at least one of the bullet following points: 3

4 4 Directions for Summer Reading Assignment (incoming 12 th graders) Literary Device Context/Quote/Citation Explanation/Commentary Identify 10 total literary devices or techniques used in the passage (e.g. conflict, characterization, imagery, irony, metaphor, symbol, foreshadowing). You may use a device more than once. Focus only on explaining HOW a particular device conveys the meaning of the quote. significance of the quoted passage and explain how it helps convey a bigger theme of the novel. Do not restate the evidence. Analysis requires pulling apart the evidence and discussing its deeper meaning/significance. The following guiding questions will help you work through this process. While composing the commentary, please take care to fully answer the questions or questions contained in at least one of the bullet following points: How does the passage reveal a theme/big idea? 4

5 5 Student Name Teacher Last Name Class & Period Date Sample Dialectical Notes: Incoming 9th Graders Summer Reading Assignment The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown Context, Quote & Citation 1) While describing the Washington Varsity Crew Coach, Al Ulbrickson, Brown writes, In order to attend Franklin High School, he has to row a small boat two miles over to Seattle and back every day for four years. [At the University of Washington] he excelled in both areas [crew and classes], and when he graduated in 1926, Washington quickly hired him as the freshmen crew coach, and then as head coach (14). 2) Don Hume, the stroke seat of the Washington Olympic boat, got sick right before the team s Olympic qualifying races. He was able to race, and get the boat into the Olympics, but since getting sick he had never fully recovered. A few days before their first Olympic race, their coach, Al Ulbrickson, told the press, Hume means everything to us. Unless he recovers quickly and regains condition we don t have much chance (322). 3) An unnamed former coxswain who encounters the brilliance of George Pocock, University of Washington s boatbuilder and advisor to the crew team, describes him by saying, In his presence Washington crewmen always stood, for he symbolized that for which God s children always stand (48). 4) While observing the noticeable amount of freshman ceasing to attend practice, the protagonist Joe Rantz notes, The first to drop out had been the boys with impeccably creased trousers and freshly polished oxfords (51). Commentary/Response/Analysis This quote shows that something taxing and time consuming that Ulbrickson had to do was what brought him his success in life. The rowing he did everyday contributed to his ability to be so successful in rowing later in life. This expresses a theme common in many books; hard work will pay off. This theme is present in Ulbrickson s life because the hard work he put into rowing everyday led to a payoff a successful rowing and coaching career. One way this theme is present in other people s lives is if you put in the work of studying for a test, your pay off will come when you get a good grade. While the Olympic team did bring alternate rowers to fill in for anyone unable to compete, Ulbrickson was still very confident that they could not win without Hume. This goes to show how vital each and every person in that boat was to their success. Had Hume or one of the others not been able to race, they most likely wouldn t have won. Each boy was one part in this big machine, and with one of them changed, the whole thing would ve fallen apart. With this, the author is able to give insight into that concept of the boat and help readers better understand the team dynamics. The ex-rower s comments about George Pocock sufficiently summarize the man s stoic presence. It was such that commanded respect without a word, godly almost. The traits described exemplify those of an experienced mentor. Some of the greatest coaches of all time, such as Phil Jackson and John Wooden exhibit the same qualities as Pocock. Joe s observations revealed that rowing was not a sport for the feint of heart. The rich kids with fancy clothes and a lack of character could not endure something as strenuous as crew, and they threw in the towel because of it. They went in thinking it would just be something easy which would make them look socially appealing, but turned out to be much more challenging. Joe understood this and continued working to achieve his goal, while so many others did not. This shows Joe s determination, one of his most important qualities and a trait he utilizes several times in the novel. 5

6 6 Sample Dialectical Notes for Grades Student Name Teacher Last Name Class & Period Date Summer Reading Assignment Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and Rumble by Ellen Hopkins *The bolded portion of each dialectical note connects the use of the device to a theme. This is a requirement for 12 th graders only. Note: Two books were cited to show examples of different types of commentary and a variety of devices. Literary Device Context, Quote & Citation 1) Metaphor When Eleanor and Park share their first kiss, Park immediately believes that he would spend the rest of his life kissing her "If she weren't made of so many other miracles" (Rowell 250). 2) Simile The moment that Eleanor tells Park that she has to leave town to escape her abusive stepfather, Park thinks, "It felt like someone had turned the world upside down and was shaking it" (Rowell 289). Mr. Carpenter, the 3) Characterization principal of Matthew s school, expresses concern over the tone of Matthew s essay, which Matthew describes, Angry? Yeah, but more. Bitter? Closer, but not quite. Acerbic? Commentary/Response/Analysis The author uses metaphor to describe in depth the feelings Park has towards Eleanor, and to mark the newfound seriousness of their relationship. To be" made of miracles" means that Park sees Eleanor as more than just a girl; he sees her as divine, goddess-like. Park's notion that Eleanor is more than human makes readers wonder if he is being honest, or if he is more caught up in the idea of being young and in love, than he is in truly loving Eleanor. This passage conveys that sometimes love is rooted more in expectations that it is in true feelings. By comparing Park's conflicted feelings about Eleanor skipping town to this scenario, of his entire life being shaken upside down, Rowell illustrates Park's confusion, regret, and sorrow. Just a few hours before, on the date, Park had felt genuinely accepted and complete for once, due to his relationship, and he is now having all of that joy ripped away from him. He feels angry but also lost, as he struggles to understand the way in which happiness can come and then vanish in just a matter of time. This passage supports the idea that, more often than not, love comes at a cost. When Matthew describes his writing style as caustic and acerbic, it suggests that he is self-loathing. In his essay, he attacks religious views in a very blunt and sarcastic way, expressing his resentment towards them because of the homophobia they inflict, which leads to his brother s suicide. By describing his own writing style as caustic and acerbic, however, he is expressing how he also blames himself for his brother s death. He was unable to protect his brother from the crassness of his peers when his brother was outed, and as such feels the need to reflect that tone 6

7 Almost. Caustic? That s it (Hopkins 19). 4) Diction Matthew wishes his mother were warm and caring, but rather, she is pierced, heart and soul, by fragmented dreams and splintered memories (Hopkins 87). 5) Conflict As Matthew falls asleep one night, he thinks, Forgive yourself. And where did that come from? Forgive myself for what, exactly, you bastard internal voice Luke. Luke. Luke (Hopkins 210). and attitude onto those he believes are responsible, himself included. He can t stand himself or what he did, so he verbally and emotionally attacks himself. Matthew s selfloathing hints at the theme when people feel guilty for their actions, they will try to deflect blame onto others. He feels incredibly guilty about his brother s suicide, so Matthew tries to place the blame on his environment s strong religious tendencies. He is justifying his own involvement with his brother s depression by making religion seem as abhorrent as he believes himself to be. The use of the word pierced to describe the effect dreams have on Matthew s mother expresses a very cynical view on life. Matthew tells that his mother s dreams and memories have pierced his mother s heart and soul, causing emotional destitution. By using the word pierced, dreams and memories are given a negative connotation, as something that can cause physical harm to someone. Readers feel the desolation his mother s dreams and memories cause her. This suggests the theme if one cannot move on from the past and appreciate the present, they will cause their own suffering. His mother was not able to let go of her past mistakes nor her unsatisfied dreams, which leads her down a spiraling path of alcohol abuse and self-destruction. If she instead focuses in the present, she will be able to recognize the value of her relationships with her son and husband rather than enervate herself over the events leading to her other son s death. Following Luke s suicide, Matthew is in a constant man versus self conflict. He blames himself for Luke s death, for not being there for him, and for not being able to stop him. Subconsciously, he knows this, but he just can t admit it to himself that he feels to blame. He is only able to confront himself with the thoughts of his guilt when he is in an almost-asleep, half-delirious state. By calling his internal voice a bastard, Matthew expresses his disdain for himself. He cannot stand that he is a contributor to Luke s decision to end his own life. Because he can t admit his own guilt, he wastes away blaming everyone in his town and their religious beliefs, alienating his friends and family. Matthew s man versus self struggle reveals the theme if one cannot let go of the past and move forward, they will cause their own suffering. Even though Luke is dead and there is nothing Matthew can do about it, he still dwells on the what ifs. He doesn t admit to himself he feels to blame and doesn t allow himself to forgive anyone. This leaves him lying sleepless at night, having night terrors, panic attacks, and reliant on anxiety medication. If he can t move on from the past, he will continue to suffer. 7 7