SUMMER+READING+2009

== = = googleimages.com

=**INDEPENDENT READING BOOKS 2013**=

=CP ENGLISH 2: INDEPENDENT READING GROUPS=

This wiki page is designed for the use of Drakakis's CP English 2 classes.

// One of the requirements for your participation in this English class is to engage in the reading of independently selected texts over the course of the year. The purpose of this is not only to encourage you as a student to enjoy reading, but also to give you opportunities to explore literature that may be outside the scope of the school’s curriculum. The goal of independent reading is to read something you enjoy, so take the time to find something that genuinely appeals to you. //

Requirements
You must read at least ONE independent reading selection each marking period from the following genres: fiction, nonfiction, biography, and a genre of your choice. You may read in any order you choose, but you must read **one selection in each genre** by the end of the year.


 * GOAL**

The primary goal of the independent reading is to encourage students to develop a life-long interest in reading so that they can read actively and read often. The benefits of becoming an active, fluent reader are many. //The New Jersey Core// //Curriculum Content Standards// for language arts literacy indicates that students who read actively and often:
 * experience greater success in school by developing their literacy skills
 * actively engage and develop higher-order thinking skills
 * broaden their experience, knowledge, and understanding of topics that are of personal interest
 * develop the ability to make connections between their own personal experience and the experience of others
 * develop life-long reading habits that they carry into adulthood

We will begin to explore the benefits of the independent reading by creating our first wiki page: **Independent** **Reading Book Club 2013.**

Guidelines

 * Headings, like the one above, should be Heading 2
 * Use a horizontal line under big headings, like the one above, to create organization and style
 * Use **Bold** to make categories under bigger headings stand out
 * Use bullets to keep lists and links organized
 * Write your own summaries to everything you add to the pages including links, rss feeds, videos, etc.
 * Use appropriate grammar with all work on this wiki including discussions.
 * Use MLA citations when appropriate
 * This site is monitored at all times. Be class appropriate and do not tamper or alter any information.
 * Any person who inappropriately tampers with the information contained on this wiki will lose all credit and be subject to disciplinary action.

**TASK**
Your task is to create GROUP WIKI PAGES on your respective INDEPENDENT READING BOOKS. Follow the examples, format, and categories below, before you begin to create your class pages.

Each group is responsible for maintaining a wiki page on your INDEPENDENT GROUP READING BOOKS. Wiki pages will be organized by Fonts, Font sizes, and Bullets following the **Guidelines** above. Use bullets and horizontal rule to keep the space organized.


 * All groups will gain an appreciation of their books by creating a wiki page for their respective Independent Reading books that will include information on**:


 * background on author
 * genre
 * setting of story (research historical time period)
 * brief summary of story
 * round and flat character analysis
 * themes
 * inference and analysis
 * favorite quotes with explanations
 * literary terms (e.g., symbols, motifs, internal/external conflicts, climax, resolution, etc., )
 * connections to other books/real life/movies/tv

**WIKI additions should be CLASS APPROPRIATE and include:**
1. Web pages 2. Articles 3. Blog posts 4. Pictures 5. Videos 6. Podcasts/iTunes/iMovies/other 7. Corresponding Criticism

**USE OF SCHOLARLY SOURCES (refer to our LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER PAGE)**
>
 * Databases that include scholarly journals and trade magazines
 * Refer to the hard copy packet entitled, "Questions for Any Book" that was provided by Mrs. Maniscalco

**LINKS**
For each new link, put a small summary of the content along with a brief analysis on how it corresponds with your INDEPENDENT READING book analysis. **Make certain to USE YOUR OWN WORDS, and MLA citation when appropriate. Verify that every link works properly and make certain to proofread for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.**

**DISCUSSION QUESTIONS**
In addition to the main page, **each group will create 2-4 discussion questions based upon their topic and post for class response.** Focus on your topic and share interesting and unique knowledge. **All group participants must initiate discussions regarding their books by responding to their posted questions before the rest of the class gets to respond.**

**GRADING**
See
 * Each group wiki grade will consist of the following:**
 * 1. Overall wiki page organization- 20 points**
 * 2. At least 10 appropriate links (link, summary, analysis) - 25 points**
 * 3. Wiki discussion questions - 10 points**

INDIVIDUAL WORK
Individual Wiki Work will consist of your discussion response. You need to have multiple postings to one discussion question from another group. The goal is to create an online discussion for the various books.**Individual Wiki discussion responses will earn you additional points.**

Go to your respective class and period and click on the title of your BOOK
 * QUICK INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CREATE A WIKI**

CP ENGLISH 2


 * PERIOD 2**

SAFE HAVEN WATER FOR ELEPHANTS CATCHING FIRE HUNGER GAMES FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS LORD OF THE FLIES BLOW INTO THE WILD THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON


 * PERIOD 3**

WORLD WAR Z BLOW 3
 * THE LOVELY BONES**
 * THE HUNGER GAMES PERIOD 3**
 * AMERICA AGAIN**
 * ANNOYING**
 * ADORATION OF JENNA FOX**
 * THE FAULT IN OUR STARS**
 * THE TIME MACHINE**


 * PERIOD 7**

TWISTED MONEYBALL A CHILD CALLED IT SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH A WALK IN THE WOODS




 * After you click on 'Edit This Page', you are free to edit as you like in accordance to the guidelines established for our class. Refer to our class home page for general rules and guidelines that need to be followed when constructing all of our class wiki pages. Any person who tampers or alters any pages will lose all credit ~ Drakakis, 2013**
 * To make a link to another web page, create a new bullet, and write your summary of the website in the appropriate category below. Highlight the word or phrase you wish to make a link of and click on the 'Insert Link' button at the top of the page. Then, click the 'External Link' button and paste in the website URL in the space provided. Click 'OK', and you are ready to go.
 * To include an image, first put your cursor where you want the picture to go and then create a new bullet. Click on the 'Insert Images and Files' button at the top of the page. Paste in the URL of the picture you want to use. Click 'Load' and then double click the picture to have it pasted on the wiki page.
 * To include a Youtube video, first place the cursor at the spot on the page you want the video to be, then create a new bullet. Next, click on the 'Embed Widget' button at the top of the page - this looks like a TV set. Click on the word 'Video' on the left side, and then click the 'Youtube' button. In the space provided, paste the code you copied from the Youtube page. Click 'save' and you are ready to go.

//Life of Pi// by Yann Martel [[image:Life_of_Pi.jpg width="124" height="157" align="left"]]
//"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams..."// Martel- //Life of Pi//

googleimages.com


 * LINKS**

[|Amazon.com] Read a quick summary and editorial reviews on the book referred to as "a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith..."


 * VIDEOS**

media type="youtube" key="CQhwAvW2nWA" height="344" width="425"

Award-winning online promo for the book//, Life of// Pi, published by Canongate books in 2001. Narrated by Yann Martel.


 * QUESTIONS TO PONDER**

1. Can the context of a fantastical story such as //Life of// Pi be factual? 2. Can "truth" exist in fiction? 3. Do your experiences influence your interpretation of what you read, view, or hear? 4. Does knowing Pi's background bring us closer to his story or drive us further away from it? 5. How do the morals of some fables use truths about animals to reveal truths about humans? 6. What is symbolism? What role does symbolism play in this story? Do we all have a Richard Parker? 7. How might YOU have coped with Pi's situation? Describe your personal strategies for facing fear.

== =GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck=


 * "//In every bit of honest writing in the world, there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love//.”**

John Steinbeck, 1938 Journal Entry
>
 * QUESTIONS TO PONDER (Taken from Penguin Classics)**
 * 1) Explain the importance of the contrast between the dryness of the first part of the novel and the floods of the final part. Note also the frequent references to the sun as a "large red drop" that made a cloud look like a bloody rag and the earth look bloody. How do those images contribute to the meaning of the novel?
 * 2) Describe the role women play throughout this novel. Pay particular attention to the dialog between Ma and Pa Joad on page 467, and be sure to comment on the significance of Rose of Sharon's final act in the novel.
 * 3) Explain how Tom's imprisonment affected the way he behaved during the journey and throughout his search for work in California.
 * 4) Steinbeck describes the migrants as "homeless, hardened, intent, and dangerous" (p. 257). Write a newspaper editorial about those migrants as if you were the editor of a small town newspaper in California.
 * 5) Steinbeck admired the poor migrants and believed that from their enduring qualities "will grow a new system and a new life which will be better than anything we have had before." Was he right? What kinds of changes have come about because of the suffering of those migrants of the '30s? In our society today, what similar problems exist? What problems in recent times have been exposed by writers the way Steinbeck did in //The Grapes of Wrath//?
 * 6) Each of the characters in the novel had a dream of what he or she wanted in the future. Describe your own dreams and expectations for the future and explain how you intend to go about attaining them.
 * 1) Some Americans believe this novel is dirty, blasphemous, advocates a communistic society, and therefore should not be taught in high schools. Explain to parents in your town why you feel the novel should be read and studied in your high school, or explain to a group of teachers why you feel the novel should not be required.

**MORE QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE (Taken from Penguin Classics)**
 * 1) To learn of the angry reactions of Californians to //The Grapes of Wrath//, read Frank J. Taylor's "//California's Grapes of Wrath//," published in 1939. Similarly interesting is Martin Shockley's "//The Reception of// //The Grapes of Wrath// in Oklahoma," which appeared in 1944. Both are reprinted in The Viking Critical Library Edition of //The Grapes of Wrath//: //Text and Criticism//, edited by Peter Lisca.
 * 2) Read a simpler view of migrant workers in Steinbeck's //Of Mice and Men//, or about a strike of migrant workers in his //In Dubious Battle//.
 * 3) Research the requirements for and the other recipients of the Pulitzer Prize (for fiction) and the Nobel Prize, both of which were awarded John Steinbeck. Read his Nobel Prize speech.
 * 4) Who are the migrant workers today in California? Are they better organized than the "Okies" were? What are the typical wages paid today for picking peaches, lettuce, and other farm produce? Research the housing and living conditions for migrant workers in your state.
 * 5) Who picks cotton today? Find out about the capabilities of today's modern tractors and harvesters.
 * 6) What is the percentage of small farms in the U.S. today? How do today's small farmers compete against the gigantic land-owners, and what are their relationships with today's bankers? What has changed for farmers since the 1930s and what problems still exist?
 * 7) View the 1940 film based on this novel (available on video tape). How closely do Nunnally Johnson's screenplay and John Ford's direction follow the events and the spirit of the book?
 * 8) Write an advertisement for jobs for migrant workers of the '30s. To what would you want to appeal?