To: All Rising Freshmen
From: The CCHS English Department
Date: School Year 2008-2009
WELCOME TO CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC!
The CCHS English Department firmly believes summer reading complements our curriculum and benefits our students by providing challenging, interesting literature that stimulates the intellect and the imagination. Like athletes training in the off-season, students continue reading to exercise the skills required for doing their best. Further, these selections provide common bases for diagnostic assessments of student performance, from basic reading comprehension to the identification and application of literary terms to the more formal analysis of imagery, themes, and genres. By providing engaging, provocative stories, summer reading books set the academic tone and expectations for the upcoming school year.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (ISBN 0-399-50148-7) explores the theme of man’s dual nature, asserting that all human beings are capable of both nobility and depravity. When a group of young boys is stranded on a deserted island, the battle between good and evil begins. Students should purchase their own copy, read it carefully, and then complete the following assignment:
*** Answer the study questions available at http://www.gocougars.org/ for guiding your critical reading of Golding’s novel. These should be answered in typed, complete sentences. To enhance your reading, please try to annotate your text as you read.
ANNOTATING A TEXT: Marking and highlighting a text is like having a conversation with a book. It allows you to ask questions, comment on meaning, and mark events and passages you want to revisit. Annotating is a permanent record of your intellectual conversation with the text. Annotating will enable you to discuss the novel with more support, evidence, and proof. Ideas of key importance should be underlined/highlighted, which will stand out from the page and allow you to scan quickly for information. Do not mark everything—if you do, nothing will stand out! More instructions about this will be explained in your Freshman English Class.
Study questions are due the second day of classes. In addition to this assignment, you will be assessed on your understanding of the novel in the first week of school, so read actively and come prepared.
Have a safe and restful summer. We look forward to seeing you in August!