Summer Reading 2012

2012–2013 Summer Reading & Course Preparation

2012–2013 Summer Reading & Course Preparation

Introduction The following pages will provide you with the information you need to take full advantage of the learning opportunities you will be offered in the next academic year. Your grade level and specific course enrollment will determine which parts of this booklet pertain to you.

It is important that you read, and follow, all the instructions carefully.

We want you to perform at your best from the start of the year, and a thoughtful review of material and thorough reading of the prescribed books will help you do just that. We also have added some optional titles at the end of this booklet for your personal enjoyment, and we hope you’ll read as many as you can.

Have a great summer and we look forward to seeing you in September!

Contacts Academic Dean Greg Tuleja gtuleja@williston.com

Language Department Head Nat Simpson nsimpson@williston.com

Upper School English 02 ELL 02 9th Grade English 02 10th Grade English 03 11th Grade English 03 12th Grade English Languages AP Chinese AP French AP Latin AP Spanish

04 04 04 04

History & Global Studies World Civilizations AP European History United States History AP United States History

05 05 06 07

Science All Courses

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Mathematics All Courses

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English Department Head Lynn Magovern lmagovern@williston.com

Science Department Head Bill Berghoff wberghoff@williston.com

Mathematics Department Head Elizabeth Anderson eanderson@williston.com

Fine & Performing Arts Department Head Ben Demerath bdemerath@williston.com

History & Global Studies Department Head Michael Fay mfay@williston.com

Middle School Head Jen Fulcher jfulcher@williston.com

Middle School 09 09 10 10

7th Grade English 8th Grade English Algebra Standard Algebra Honors

Optional Reading 10

Departmental Recommendations

ENGLISH Assignment

For the required text(s): Identify at least four passages (a significant group of sentences or a paragraph) that are intriguing, complex, and worthy of further analysis.

These analytical passages should differ from ones that are simply exciting moments in the plot. This type of identification in itself demonstrates analytical abilities and is a practice often used in classes during the year. The passages will be used for in-class discussions and writing assignments when you return to school. Please bring the book with you on the first day of class, and be prepared to use this text for the first few weeks of school.

For the second book, please choose a text you have not read and be prepared to identify passages, participate in small and large group discussions, and complete short writing assignments related to the reading.

Beyond these required texts, the English department encourages you to read as many additional books as you wish, hoping that you will discover engaging and challenging books on your own. Please discuss possible texts with your teacher or visit the library’s suggested reading list available under “Summer Reading” on the library’s website.

ELL-English Language Learners International students’ level of English study will be determined according to a placement test administered during international student orientation in September. Based on the results of this test, students will be placed in an ELL or standard English section appropriate to their grade level. Every student should read in English the required texts for his or her incoming grade level and attempt the summer reading assignment, regardless of whether she or he expects to be placed in an ELL class.

2 Summer Reading and Course Preparation

Entering 9th Grade The Life of Pi

by Yann Martel 1) Complete the summer reading passage identification (see left) 2) Read (at least) one book of your choicefrom the following list: • Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya • Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris • Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston • Outside Rules by Claire Robson, editor Entering 10th Grade The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger 1) Complete the summer reading passage identification (see left) 2) For 10th grade standard English, read (at least) one book of your choice from the following list: •T he Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

by Sherman Alexie •T he Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance •T he God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy • P rep by Curtis Sittenfeld 3) Entering 10th graders who anticipate applying for 11th grade AP English in the spring should select one of the following books for their book of choice: • The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Diaz • Collected Stories by Andre Dubus • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison • Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald • A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway • On the Road by Jack Kerouac • The Road or All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy • Sula by Toni Morrison • Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck • The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Entering 11th grade One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

by Ken Kesey 1) Complete the summer reading assignment 2) For 11th grade standard English, read (at least) one book of your choice from the following list: • The Awakening by Kate Chopin • A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry • A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway • The Road by Cormac McCarthy • Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton • Fences by August Wilson AP students only: (a) read and complete the summer reading assignment for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (The Custom House introduction is optional) (b) In Barron’s AP Language and Literature, read Chapter 1 and complete the full diagnostic test in Chapter 2. Review the explanations and determine your score at the end of the chapter. (c) Read at least one book of choice from the following list: • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote • On the Road by Jack Kerouac • All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy • The Shipping News by Annie Proulx • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Entering 12th grade (including PGs) The Things They Carried

by Tim O’Brien 1) Complete the summer reading assignment 2) For 12th grade standard English, read (at least) one book of your choice from the following list: • The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr • The Color of Water by James McBride • The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls • This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff AP students only: (a) complete the summer reading assignment for The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. (b) Read at least one book of choice from the following list: • Endgame by Samuel Beckett • Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert • The Iliad by Homer • Black Swan Green by David Mitchell • Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko • Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Writers’ Workshop Read The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.

Please bring the book with you on the first day of class.

Summer Reading and Course Preparation 3

Languages

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES

Assignment

AP Chinese AP Chinese students are encouraged to do a quick review of the basic words covered in Chinese I, II, III, and possibly IV. You should make a dictionary of the words and phrases while you review them by categorizing them. For example, you should group all the family member words together, all the fruit names, dish names, body part names, and means of transportation names together. There are many ways of categorizing these vocabularies and you can choose whatever is your favorite. When you group the words, make sure that you can pronounce them correctly, know their meanings, and are able to use them in a sentence.

AP Chinese students are encouraged to watch one or two Chinese movies during the summer vacation. Try to capture the main idea of the movie but not get stuck by some expressions that you do not understand. In addition, AP Chinese students are encouraged to write a weekly journal about your life. You can write about anything you do or your family does during the summer vacation. You will be expected to turn in at least three weekly journals at the beginning of the school year. You can either handwrite or type these journals.

AP Chinese students are encouraged to read some daily news through one of the following online newspapers: The Beijing News, China.com.cn, China Press, or China Youth Daily. Be prepared to report on ten news items you have covered in the summer during our first class.

AP French Incoming AP French students are expected to review the formation and usage of all regular and irregular verbs found in the Ensemble Grammaire textbook in the following tenses: présent, imperatif, passé composé, imparfait, conditionnel et conditionnel passé, futurs proche, simple and 4 Summer Reading and Course Preparation

Assignment

anterieur, subjonctif and plus-que-parfait. In addition, students should keep a journal in which they write eight times over the course of the summer, for 20 minutes each session.

Sessions should be dated.

Students should listen to a new French song or watch a French film of their choosing over the course of the summer, and it should be the subject of at least one of the journal entries. Students should choose a song or film that interests them.

AP Latin Read Vergil’s Aeneid and Caesar’s Gallic War in any translation. Read a few pages first, and select a translation that appears to you. For the Aeneid, translations

by Mandelbaum, Knox, Fagles, or West are suggested; for the Gallic War, translations by Hammond or Handford are suggested. You will need copies for the entire school year. It is recommended that you study the coursespecific vocabulary available from your teacher, or, for the Aeneid, purchase Vergil Vocabularly Cards for AP Selections by Dennis De Young.

AP Spanish Read an article from an online Spanish newspaper each month ( June, July, and August) and submit a summary of the article, including the day the article was read and the name of the newspaper, to Mr. Garcia at egarcia@williston.com. In addition, email the answers to the following questions: (a) Why did you choose to read this article? (b) What did you learn from the article? (c) What did you think about the article?

Online newspapers: www.elmundo.es, www. ideal.es, www.elpais.es, or any other e-publication from a Spanish-speaking country.

Students should read a short story of their choice in Spanish and be ready to share their thoughts about it during the first week of classes.

World Civilizations The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer Prepare written answers for the following questions and be ready for a quiz during the first week of classes.

1) Could you imagine living without electricity? What would your life be like? How did the villagers compensate for not having electricity, telephones, or most of the modern conveniences we take for granted? What did electricity and the creation of the windmill mean for William, his family, and his village?

2) What is the role of magic in the story?

What about education? Contrast the two.

Is there room for both in a culture? What about education and religion? How do the two impact each other? How did William’s religion influence his outlook?

3) Malawi is an extremely poor nation. What are the causes of this poverty and what exacerbates it? How might these causes and influences be overcome? What role might western nations and/or western citizens play in helping Malawi?

4) William writes of the corruption, greed, nonexistent services, and lack of empathy that turned the drought into a disaster for average people like him and his family.

What role should or could the government of Malawi play in times of national crisis?

Imagine what a handful of Williams might accomplish with some encouragement and financial backing from government and private sources. Offer some ideas.

5) William was desperate to stay in school but could not because of money. Think about American students. Why do you think with all the opportunities for schooling, some students are disinterested in learning? In your opinion, what accounts for the differences between William and his American counterparts? Might William’s

life be different if he had access to education without having to pay? How so?

6) What lessons did you take away from William’s story?

AP European History Year of Wonders

by Geraldine Brooks Prepare written answers for each question and be ready for a test in the first week of classes.

1) How did the plague first come to Eyam?

How did it spread? What do we learn about the nature of the plague from reading this story?

2) What theories did the villagers of Eyam have about the causes of the plague? How did they try to treat the plague?

3) What was the role of the Gowdie women in the novel? What was it about these women that drove their neighbors to murderous rage? How did their nonconformity lead to their becoming scapegoats?

4) Who were the Bradfords? Why did they leave the village? Were you surprised that they left? Explain.

5) How and why did Mompellion convince most of the village to stay? What challenges existed in the village after they decided to isolate themselves?

6) Can we relate the story of this town’s extraordinary sacrifice to our own time? Is it unrealistic to expect a village facing a similar threat to make the same decision nowadays?

What lessons might we learn from the villagers of Eyam?

Candide: A Norton Critical Edition (It must be this version.)

by Voltaire Prepare written answers for each question due on the first day of school and be ready for a test in the first week of classes.

Summer Reading and Course Preparation 5

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES Assignment

1) The Anabaptist James makes this statement to Candide and Pangloss: “Men have somehow corrupted Nature, for they are not born wolves, yet that is what they have become. God gave them neither twentyfour-pound cannons nor bayonets, yet they have manufactured both in order to destroy themselves.” (p. 9) Do you agree with Voltaire’s assessment of human nature? Do you think Voltaire believed there is only evil in the world or are there redeeming qualities to the characters in Candide?

2) Even in his naiveté, Candide knows that nothing in his world can be obtained without money, and so he takes jewels with him when he leaves Eldorado. In what instances does Voltaire show that greed is an intricate part of human nature? Is Candide greedy for taking the jewels with him? Do you agree with Voltaire that greed is one of the main causes of evil in the world?

3) Immediately upon leaving Eldorado, Candide and Cacambo encounter a slave who has had a leg and a hand cut off. He tells them, “It is the price of the sugar you eat in Europe” (p. 40). What relationship is Voltaire suggesting here between happiness and suffering, between the best of all possible worlds and the worst of all possible worlds?

How might Voltaire make this point if he were writing today?

4) The old woman tells Candide: “Imagine, if you will, the situation of a pope’s daughter, fifteen years old, who in three months’ time had experienced poverty, slavery, had been raped almost every day, had seen her mother quartered, had suffered from famine and war, and who now was dying of pestilence in Algiers” (p. 22). What does this passage, and others like it, suggest about the reality of women’s lives during the Age of Reason?

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5) At the end of the novel, Martin says, “Let us set to work and stop proving things, for that is the only way to make life bearable” (p. 93), echoing the Turkish farmer who says, “our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity” (p.92). Do you think Voltaire is endorsing this view? Why would doing physical work be preferable to the life of a philosopher?

6) Through the adventures of Candide and his friends, Voltaire illustrates the supposed ridiculousness of the philosophy that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” Does he achieve this? What are the main targets of Voltaire’s satiric wit? Is Candide an effective satire?

7) In what ways does Voltaire’s satire extend beyond his own time? What would Voltaire think of our own age, for example? What aspects of our thought and behavior might he satirize most fiercely? What kinds of political, philosophical, and religious hypocrisy are most prevalent today?

Standard US History The Old American

by Ernest Herbert Students are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1) What does Nathan decide not to do during his initial days in captivity? Why does he make this choice?

2) How did Samuel Allen, Captain Warren, and Nathan Blake experience the Gauntlet?

What status did each achieve?

3) What does St. Blein want from CaucusMeteor and how is that related to the phrase “Canada for Canadians?”

4) What is the main source of tension within the village of Conissadawaga?

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES Assignment

5) What tests must Nathan Blake pass to earn “citizenship” in the tribe?

6) How does Caucus-Meteor orchestrate the “succession?” Who emerges as his successor?

7) Why is it both satisfying and disturbing for Nathan to build a house for Conissadawaga?

8) How does Nathan eventually gain return to his original family?

9) Where does Nathan take Great Stone Face? Why? 10) What truths do Nathan and Elizabeth share upon her deathbed?

AP US History Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

by Nathaniel Philbrick Students are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1) What is the significance of the word “accommodation” as it relates to the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in the 1620s? How did their accommodation of each other change over the years?

2) The author tells this story mostly through the writings of William Bradford, Edward Winslow and Benjamin Church, as found in “Of Plymouth Plantation” and “Mourt’s Relation,” among many other documents. Which of these men do you feel you have come to know best? Why? 3) Who are the people among those that Philbrick portrays that you would most like to meet? Why? 4)There are many details describing the efforts that the Puritans made to book passage on a ship to the New World. Some members of the group gave up and decided to stay in Leiden, Holland. Others came later. What are some of the issues that made this passage so complicated?

5) It is fascinating to learn in detail what some Puritans felt about each other. Which relationships among the settlers intrigues you most and why?

6) It is a certainty that Puritan and Indian women played a crucial role in Pilgrim life in their display of courage, community involvement, and leadership. Yet their stories are less obvious in many early historical narratives. Which women in this story intrigue you? Which women had you been unaware of ? Which women would you like to know more about?

7) What is a “memory hole”? What kind of importance did the Indians attach to such landmarks? What parallels do you think exist in 21st century geography?

8) What do you think of Massasoit as a leader? How does his style compare with King Philip?

9) Which local area of Massachusetts and/ or Rhode Island discussed in the book would you like to become more familiar with?

Which areas, if any, still convey a sense of history to you?

10) Which scenes stand out as being the saddest, most touching, or poignant to you?

Founding Brothers

by Joseph Ellis Students are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1) Outline an explanation for the title of each chapter including the specific event, as well as the broader significance of that event in American history.

2) Evaluate this quotation from the Preface: “Lincoln once said that America was founded upon a proposition that was written

by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded upon an argument about what that proposition means.”

Summer Reading and Course Preparation 7

Science & Mathematics Assignment

SCIENCE Welcome, AP science students! You have chosen a challenging course that that we hope you will find interesting and fulfilling.

There is a significant amount of material to cover prior to the AP exams next May. Being successful is the result of thoughtful preparation and consistent effort on the part of both you and your teacher. We ask that you begin this process during the summer by reviewing topics covered in your previous courses.

In addition, you should access http://www. williston.com/summerscience and see detailed information pertaining to your class. You can expect to be tested on the assigned material during the first week of classes.

MATHEMATICS Next fall you will be starting a new math class. We hope that you will find the class interesting and challenging and that you succeed in it. Being successful is not an accident; it is the result of good preparation.

To help you next year, please review the topics that you have studied in your previous math courses. All summer review work can be found on WillyNet (see directions below).

There you will find: 1) Homework problems that are due on the first day of classes, and 2) more examples and practice problems, with answers, relating to each topic.

Directions to Mathematics summer review webpage: http://www.williston.com/math summerreview. Your questions and their answers are listed under “Assignments

by Class.” Please print out the problems, complete them as best you can, check your answers, and bring your work on the first day of school. Please note that the problems on this webpage are intended for review purposes only and should not be used as any sort of placement guide.

You will be tested on the topics related to your particular course within the first week of classes.

Calculators A TI-84+ graphing calculator is required for all math courses. It is the only model for which classroom instruction is provided.

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Middle School ENGLISH Assignment

7th Grade Choose one book from List 1 and one book from List 2. You should choose books that you have not read before.

Book 1 For your book from List 1, answer the following short-answer questions: 1) Who are the main characters?

2) What makes them important in the story?

3) Where does the story take place?

4) When does it take place?

5) Who do you think is telling the story?

6) What is the problem facing the major character or characters?

7) How does the problem get resolved?

7th Grade List 1 • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury • The Good Earth by Pearl Buck • Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz • The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

by Ernest Gaines • Call of the Wild by Jack London • Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery • The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Book 2 For your book from List 2, pretend you are a character from the book.Write a paragraph describing either of the following situations: 1) How you feel about an event in the book.

2) What your life is like after the story ends.

7th Grade List 2 • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams • Watership Down by Richard Adams • The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie • Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card • And Then There Were None

by Agatha Christie • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier • Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle • Number the Stars by Lois Lowry • The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan • Holes by Louis Sachar • Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli • The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien • Briar Rose by Jane Yolen 8th Grade Choose two books from the following list and read them before school starts in September. For each book you choose, select two passages (a significant group of sentences or a paragraph) that are intriguing, complex, and worthy of further analysis.

These analytical passages should differ from ones that are simply exciting moments in the plot. This type of identification in itself demonstrates analytical abilities and is a practice often used in classes during the year. The passages will be used for in-class discussions and writing assignments when you return to school.

8th Grade List • The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury • Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd • The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver • Into Thin Air by John Krakauer • Walkabout by James Vance Marshall • Monster by Walter Myers • My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Summer Reading and Course Preparation 9

Middle School MATH Assignment

Pre-Algebra 7th graders enrolled in Pre-Algebra do not have summer math work.

Algebra Standard or Algebra Honors Students taking Algebra Standard or Algebra Honors are required to complete the problems on the Mathematics website.

Directions to Mathematics website: http://www.williston.com mathsummerreview Your questions and their answers are listed under “Assignments by Class.” Please print out the problems, complete them as best as you can, check your answers, and bring your work on the first day of school.

19 Payson Avenue, Easthampton, MA 01027 (413) 529-3000, www.williston.com

OPTIONAL

Departmental Recommendations Fine and Performing Arts • Frederick by Leo Lionni • The Alchemist by Paul Coelho • Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman • Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron More titles can be found at Williston’s Clapp Memorial Library website: www.williston. com/library. Follow the link for Summer Reading.

History and Global Studies • Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989

by Michael Beschloss • The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson • The Garden of Martyrs by Michael C. White • A Partial History of Lost Causes

by Jennifer DuBois ’02 • Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell • The Life of Pi by Yann Martel • A Border Passage by Leila Ahmed • The Autobiography of Malcolm X • Baraka (film), directed by Ron Fricke 10 Summer Reading and Course Preparation

Languages: Films • Spanish: El Viaje de Carol, directed by Imanol Uribe, NR • French: Les Comperes, directed by Francis Veber, PG • Latin: I, Claudius, directed by Herbert Wise (television miniseries), PG •C hinese: Mulan, directed by Tony Bancroft, G Mathematics • Fantasia Mathematica by Clifton Fadiman, ed.

• The Mathematical Magpie

by Clifton Fadiman, ed.

• Proof by David Auburn Science • Backyard Ballistics by William Gurstelle • Leonardo’s Mountain of Clams, Diet of Worms

by Stephen J. Gould • The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

by George Johnson • The Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif and F. Gonzalez-Crussi • What is Life? by Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan

Have a great summer!

You may download and print this book and use the bookmarks on the last page.

Summer Reading and Course Preparation 11

summer reading

The more that you read the more things you will know the more that you learn the more places you’ll go DR SEUSS