Idea Transcript
English III Honors Required Summer Reading Project A student’s decision to take English III Honors reflects his or her deep commitment to going beyond the literal reading of a text and moving toward meaningful analysis of American Literature while continuing to enhance their skills as readers, writers, and speakers. At the honors level, students will engage in reading and writing experiences with the purpose of analyzing text in deep and thoughtful ways and becoming more sophisticated writers. The students in this course are expected to read closely and write actively, to come to class prepared to discuss the works on a meaningful, conceptual level, and to write frequently. Over the summer, students enrolled in English II Honors are required to read the 2012 satirical novel Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple and to complete a dialectical journal to demonstrate close reading of passages emphasizing the satirical elements of the text, a focused discussion of text concepts, and a satirical response/stylistic emulation, all of which will be due upon their return to school in August. Student summer work will be due, printed (all student responses must be typed) and stapled, on the first day of their English class. Students can expect to work with this text during the first quarter, discussing, analyzing, speaking, writing, thinking about the text and its form in a meaningful way. Reviewer Patrick DeWitt exclaims that in Where’d You Go, Bernadette “Maria Semple dissects the gory complexities with a deft and tender hand” and that the novel “is a triumph of social observation and black comedy by a skillful chronicler of moneyed malaise”, making it not only a pleasurable summer read but also an engaging, relevant introduction to American Literature and its reflection of our ever-changing and complex American society.. Copies of Where’d You Go, Bernadette are available at local libraries, bookstores and from online sellers, including Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com . Please be mindful that you will need to have access to the text during the first few weeks of school - be sure to bring this text with you to class.
I.
Dialectic Journal (Satirical Elements of the Novel):
This part of the task will require you to revisit the elements of satire you learned about in English II. Create a chart in the style of the one below in which you record a comprehensive list of butts, norms and accompanying passages from the novel as you read. You must include at least 5 entries in the chart. I have provided a model as an example. SATIRICAL BUTTS: PASSAGE FROM THE TEXT (Targets that the satirist ILLUSTRATING THE BUTT: clearly mocks or desires (Copy the passage with the page #.) to change. May take the form of characters, settings, ideas, behaviors, etc.)
SATIRICAL NORMS: (Keep in mind that the norms of a satire are often the opposite of the butts and represent an idea, behavior, etc. that the satirist supports.)
BUTT: elitism
The novel clearly supports the educational mission of the Galer Street School as a place that supports student
“You received some impressive big-media coverage for the cows you bought for the Guatemalans and the solar cook-stoves you sent
to the African villagers. While raising small sums of money for people you’ve never met is commendable, you need to start raising large sums of money for your own children’s private school. To do this you must emancipate yourselves from what I am calling Subaru Parent mentality and started thinking like Mercedes Parents.” (Semple 12-13)
creativity, fosters a sense of community, and encourages students to becoming caring citizens of the world.
II. Setting Comparison: Create a chart in which you compare two of the most significant settings in the novel in accordance with the criteria listed below. You may choose two of the four most significant settings: the Branch home (formerly the Straight Gate school for wayward girls), Seattle at large, Microsoft Corporation, and Antarctica. SETTINGS:
PASSAGES DEPICTING THE SETTING (Underline tone-bearing words describing the setting.)
CONCEPTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SETTING
PURPOSE OF THE SETTING IN CONVEYING A PRIMARY MESSAGE OF THE NOVEL:
SETTING #1:
SETTING #2:
III. Creative Satirical Response: Write a letter (1-2 double-spaced pages) to your hometown in which you highlight (as Bernadette Branch does Seattle) the elements of the town that bother you most or that you would most like to change. Be sure to apply at least 3 of the following satirical devices in your letter: hyperbole, parody, understatement, caricature, reduction to absurdity, sarcasm, humor, etc.