AICE Summer 9th Grade Reading Assignments
The following assignments are due on the first day of school in the AICE office. You will also need to return the books when you turn in your assignments. If you have any questions regarding any of the elements of the assignment, please email Ms. McDonald at mcdonmk@bay.k12.fl.us
Anthem
After reading Ayn Rand’s Anthem, you will need to identify five objects that have a relation to the book. You will create a chart to explain their significance. The grading standard is below. You may illustrate the items or put them in a container with your name on each item.
- Your name should be written visibly on the upper right-hand corner of the chart.
- You must select five significant items that depict some portion of the novel. These items may be anything you think is appropriate. Use your imagination!
- A detailed written explanation of each significant item selected in a chart format. The title of the chart should read “Anthem: My Representations.” The chart should have the name of the item on the left side and the explanation on the right. The explanation should clearly explain both why you chose the item and how it relates to the book. You might want to make these separate columns.
- If you choose to illustrate your items, you may include an extra column on your chart.
Alas, Babylon
After reading Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon, you will need to create TWO separate brochures for Fort Repose, Florida: one depicting life before the apocalypse and one depicting life after the apocalypse. These should look like an authentic brochure. The grading standard is below.
- Your name should be in the bottom right-hand corner of each brochure.
- The first brochure should have at least five clearly explained details accurately depicting life in Fort Repose, Florida, before the apocalypse.
- The second brochure should have at least five clearly explained details accurately depicting life in Fort Repose, Florida, after the apocalypse.
- The brochures (tri-fold or bi-fold) should truly look like brochures and include colorful images and lettering.
Be prepared for a test on both summer reading assignment books.
AICE Summer 10th Grade Reading Assignments
The following assignments are due to your teacher on the third day of school. You will also need to have your books in class with you beginning with the first day of school. All assignments should include your first and last name and the assignment title (Summer Assignment Pre- AICE 10th Grade) as well as the book title if applicable. If you have any questions regarding any of the elements of the assignment, please email Ms. Morris morric@bay.k12.fl.us
A Separate Peace
Questions: After reading A Separate Peace by John Knowles, please complete the following questions. Your answers should be written in complete sentences. Although content is most important, correct usage and mechanics will be a part of your grade. Write in ink on one side of the paper.
1. Why do you think Knowles opens the story with Gene returning to the Devon School 15 years after he graduated instead of having Gene tell the story as it happens?
2. Compare and contrast Gene and Phineas. What are the strongest traits of each? How does Phineas feel about Gene? How does Gene feel about Phineas? Of the two, which one do you like better? Why?
3. How does his fall from the tree affect Phineas? How does it affect Gene? Do you think Gene is responsible for the Phineas’s fall? Explain, citing examples from the story.
4. What does the fall from the tree symbolize for Phineas?
5. How does Gene react to Leper’s enlisting in the ski troops? Later, what effect does Leper’s telegram have on Gene? Why, in your opinion, couldn’t Leper adjust to life in the army?
6. Why does Phineas claim that the war isn’t real?
7. Describe the war trial that Brinker Hadley organizes. Why does Brinker do this? How does Gene feel about the trial? Why does Phineas react the way he does?
8. In your opinion, who is responsible for Phineas’s second fall? Explain.
9. Do you think Phineas’s death affects the typed of man Gene becomes? Explain.
10. A Separate Peace has been widely acclaimed as a great novel. Do you agree or disagree and why do you feel this way?
Journal: Select ten of the following topics and write journal entries of at least 150 words each. Please write in ink on one side of the paper only. Start a new page for each entry. Include your name on every entry as well as the topic number from the assignment topics below. Although the content of your entries is most important, correct usage and mechanics will be considered in the evaluation of your journal.
1. You have been visiting in Maycomb for a week. Write a letter describing the town and the people you have met.. Include specific people you met and your reaction to those people.
2. You are Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline. Write a letter home describing your first day as a teacher in Maycomb.
3. Write a conversation that might have taken place between Burris Ewell and his father when Burris returned from school early on the first day of school.
4. Write a diary entry for Jem in which he expresses his ideas about the gifts in the tree knothole and who put them there.
5. You have a modest law practice in Maycomb. You, instead of Atticus, have been asked to represent Tom Robinson. Write about your feelings concerning this. Think about the dynamics of a small town and what you will face. Also think about your children and their reactions to town talk.
6. You are Jem or Scout and have been going to Mrs. Dubose’s house for a couple of weeks. Describe her home, the way she acts, things she says, the sensory details, how you feel about her and the strange fits she has.
7. Jem risks his life by going back for his pants so that Atticus won’t find out what the children have done. Scout doesn’t understand Jen’s behavior. Do you? What would you have done if you were Jem?
8. Jem cries when he discovers the tree knothole is filled with cement. Why is Jen so upset?
9. Miss Maudie tells the children her only concern about the fire that destroyed her home is the damage to the neighborhood. How would you react if everything you owned were destroyed? What does Miss Maudie’s attitude reveal about her character?
10. Atticus tells Jack he hopes his children get through Tom Robinson’s trial without bitterness and without “catching Maycomb’s disease.” What is Atticus referring to? What is “Maycomb’s disease”?
11. In Chapter 10, Atticus says that “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Miss Maudie explains to the children that mockingbirds don’t do anything harmful; they simply “sing their hearts out.” Comment on this idea. How do you think this statement might apply to the novel thus far (chapter 10)? What characters in the book might be ‘mockingbirds”? In what way? How is the town trying to “kill” them?
12. Atticus tells Jem it is his job not to let Mrs. Dubose make him mad. Jem, of course, at this point doesn’t know what Mrs. Dubose is going through. Are a person’s reactions to others and to situations his or her own responsibility? If you become angry, according to Atticus’s theory, who is to blame? Why? Discuss.
13. Aunt Alexandra believes that “gentle Breeding” is a result of heredity: that some people are better than S folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had.” What do you think?
14. If you could invite one character from the book to dinner, whom would you invite? Why? What would you serve? Why? What would you talk about with this person?
15. Design a bedroom for one of the characters in the book. Describe the color scheme, the furniture, the wall decorations, etc. Explain your choices and how they “fit” the character.
16. If you could visit with Harper Lee, what three questions would you ask her? Why would you ask these questions? What would you hope to find out?
17. Why do you feel this is an important book for high school students to read? How would you answer people who want to ban this book from high schools?
18. What do you think happens to Boo after the book ends? Does his life change in any way?
19. Write a conversation between Dill and a psychologist. The psychologist is probing Dill’s relationship with his parents and the effects on him of his parents’ divorce.
20. How would this book have been different if it were narrated by someone other than Scout?
Letter to Teacher
Write a letter to the teacher including a paragraph for each of the following topics:
· Your activities, hobbies, and interests
· Your learning style – how you learn best, classroom activities that help you learn
· Things that might interfere with your academic success that you would like for the teacher to know (responsibilities outside of school such as a job or caring for siblings; learning disabilities; physical challenges such as poor vision or health problems, etc.)
· Two or more instructional goals that you have for Pre-AICE English this year
· Anything else that you would like to share (optional)
Please be prepared for a test on both A Separate Peace and To Kill a Mockingbird when you return to school.
AICE Summer 11th Grade AICE English Language Assignments
The following assignments are due on the first day of school to your AICE English Language class. You will also need to return the books when you turn in your assignments. If you have any questions regarding any of the elements of the assignment, please email Ms. Morris at morricm@bay.k12.fl.us
The House on Mango Street
After reading The House on Mango Street, please complete the following assignment.
CONTRAST ESSAY: How is Esperanza different from the girls/women in her neighborhood? What sort of life do you think she wants? Write an essay that contrasts the vision Esperanza has for her life as opposed to the lives she sees of girls/women in her neighborhood. Be sure to cite specific examples from the novel to support your statements. Your essay should be approximately 300-350 words in length. Please word process and double space essay.
Refer to the following chapters for material—Select two chapters from each category to establish the different mindset and goals Esperanza has from the others.
CATEGORY 1. Other neighborhood girls/woman
What Sally Said
Minerva Writes Poems
Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut and Papaya Juice on Tuesdays
Alicia Who Sees Mice
CATEGORY 2. Esperanza
Beautiful and Cruel
Born Bad
The Three Sisters
Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes
The Crucible
While reading Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, please complete the following assignment for the first day of school:
- Keep a reading journal in a loose-leaf binder in which you create the following:
- a character chart with each character’s name and important details about them
- a timeline of events
- a setting description
- at least one reflective journal entry about themes and issues of the play (intolerance, hysteria, and reputations)
- Be prepared for a test on this play on the first day of school
Supplies you will need for the class
- three-ring binder to keep notes, handouts, tests, and other assignments
- blue and black pens
- post-it notes and index cards
- travel drive for computer lab
AICE Summer 11th Grade AICE US History Assignments
The following assignment is due on the first day of school to your AICE US History class. You will also need to return the book when you turn in your assignments. If you have any questions regarding any of the elements of the assignment, please email Ms. Fowler at fowlecl@bay.k12.fl.us
The Case for Southern Secession
After reading The Case for Southern Secession, including the introduction and reflections, answer the following questions in well-developed paragraphs. Use word-processing [double spaced and 12 font] or blue or black ink.
1. How had the North and South evolved in different ways since 1787?
2. Explain the problem Southerners had with the tariff system.
3. What was the significance of Fort Sumter? Why was the possibility of Southern free ports of concern to Northerners?
4. Discuss Lincoln’s unconstitutional actions and account for Congress’ lack of action (impeachment).
5. Why has the war been labeled “the rich man’s war?”
6. How did the British press view the war?
7. Was slavery the cause of the war? Explain.
8. Did Confederate soldiers view the war as a “Just War?” Explain.
9. Explain “Negrophobia” from a Southern point of view and a Northern point of view.
10. Account for the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and discuss its goals.
11. Who were the Copperheads and what were their views of the war?
12. Why was the arrest of Clement Vallandingham in 1863 so controversial?
13. What is the author’s, Charles Adams, thesis? Did he adequately prove it? Explain.
AICE Summer 12th Grade AICE Literature in English Assignments
Required Reading: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
12th Grade AICE – Summer Reading Assignment on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Leitmotif, a term used to refer to a recurring musical theme, can also be used to refer to the significant repetition of any element in a book, play, novel, film, or other artistic work. In literature, a leitmotif is used as a recurring event, image, object or character in a story, poem or play. Leitmotifs (or motifs) become significant to the meaning of the overall work when they develop thematic importance.
Three images (leitmotifs) that are repeated throughout Jane Eyre are fire (or heat), ice (or cold), and birds. All three are significant to the development of the characters, theme, and mood of the work. As you read the novel, record at least 4 passages for each motif that contain the motif or a reference to the motif (a total of twelve passages).
Your quotes should be presented in groups. Quotes should represent the novel as a whole, not just one or two chapters. For each quote give the following information:
- The exact quote in quotation marks
- The location of the quote (Chapter number and page number)
- The context or situation in which each quote is found. Be sure to indicate who the speaker is and to whom he/she is speaking if the quote is from dialogue rather than description.
- What you think the author is trying to achieve by using this image at this point in the novel [Does the image contribute to the atmosphere/mood of the novel? Does the image help reveal a character’s personality or inner feelings? Does the image seem to foreshadow or echo events in the novel? Explain any figurative language.]
Example from the play Macbeth [Note: The reader knows that Lady Macbeth has been an accomplice to her husband in the murder of the king. In the process her hands were covered with blood.]
Motif: Disease/Sickness
“Foul whisp’erings are abroad. Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than the physician.” Act V, scene I, lines 66-69 [For a novel, you would give the chapter number and page number.]
Context: After watching Lady Macbeth sleepwalk and act out repeatedly washing her hands, the doctor comments to a waiting-gentlewoman on Lady Macbeth’s condition.
Explanation: The Doctor points out that actions (“deeds”) that are “unnatural” (in this case a murder, although the doctor does not know this for sure, he only knows of the “whisp’erings”) not in harmony with nature, lead to problems which are out of the natural order such as sickness, loss of health. He follows with a metaphor that compares minds disturbed by such actions (what Lady Macbeth has done) to “infected” or diseased minds, and says that secrets that trouble such sick minds will come out, sometimes in sleep (“to their deaf pillows”).
College Application Essays:
Almost every college requires applicants to submit personal essays as part of their application process. Some colleges limit the essays to 250 words, and others allow 500 or more words. To prepare you for this process and to help me to get to know you, you must submit one 250-word essay and one 500-word essay on the topics below by the second day of school. The essays must be word-processed and double-spaced. Do not exceed the word length. Google “personal statements for medical school” to view samples. An extended anecdote works well.
250 words
Why have you selected this college?
OR
Describe your educational goals and motivation to attend college.
500 words
Tell us of an experience that has changed your perspective on any subject matter.
OR
How has your family history, culture, or environment influenced who you are?
Vocabulary:
Collect ten new words that you encounter this summer to share with the class next year. You should have your word list ready to turn in on the second day of school. Record the word, the pronunciation, the sentence and context in which you encountered the word, as well as the part of speech and definition that fits the use of the word as you encountered it.
Supplies you will need for the class:
(1) three–ring binder or folder to keep notes, handouts, tests, and other assignments
(2) blue and/or black ink pens
(3) highlighters (any color)
(4) USB drive
AICE Summer 12th Grade Reading Assignments - AICE Classical Studies
The following assignments are due on the first day of school in your AICE Classical Studies class. You will also need to return the books when you turn in your assignments. If you have any questions regarding any of the elements of the assignment, please email Mr. Vallas at vallajt@bay.k12.fl.us
The Aeneid
After reading The Aeneid by Virgil, please complete the following two assignments:
- Plot the journey of Aeneas on the map provided. If you do not have the map, please use a geographical map without geo-political lines.
- Use two column notes to summarize each chapter of The Aeneid and be prepared to discuss it in class.
Please be prepared for a test on this text when you return to school.