|
|
Riverside Brookfield High School Summer Reading List At Riverside
Brookfield High School we value reading
for both recreational and
curricular purposes. In addition, students
are encouraged to choose |
|
| Answers to some of your questions: | ||
| The
Assessment in your English class |
To buy or to borrow the book? | Advanced Placement Requirements |
| Contact information, if you have other questions | ||
| Required Reading List for English | |
|
AP U.S. History
letter to students about requirements |
AP Literature |
|
AP European History letter to students about requirements |
AP Language & Composition |
The Assessment: All students will be assessed (tested) in their English class during the first week of school. Students are encouraged to note such things as character descriptions, themes, setting, plot, mood, tone, symbols, the significance of the title, and author's techniques. Historical context, relationship to personal or world events, and evidence of author bias are other aspects to consider. Students may be permitted to refer to their notes during the assessment. If the student owns the book, he/she is encouraged to take notes, or to highlight important aspects or passages during a second reading -- the first time through should be just for pure enjoyment.
You may wish to use the attached graphic organizer to gather notes to use on your assessment. Click HERE to download the Word document.
To Buy or To Borrow the Book?: The local public libraries will purchase copies of all our required books, and they encourage our students to visit them and borrow the books. Students may certainly do well on the assessment if they read a book from a library and take notes on paper to help them remember important aspects. The RB Library will also own at least two copies of each required book as well as all of the titles on the "free choice" list, but students should not count on those being available if they wait until school begins in the fall to begin their reading.
If a student wants to make notes directly on the pages of the book, he/she must purchase a personal copy. Students may visit any of a number of local bookstores - they have been notified of our list, and may have extra copies on hand. (See list of participating bookstores below.) Online bookstores also are sources for purchasing a new or used copy.
Borders Books of LaGrange, Oak Park, and Oakbrook Barnes and Noble, Oakbrook Books-A-Million in Western Springs Magic Tree in Oak Park Anderson's Bookshops in Downers Grove and Naperville
Advanced Placement Requirements: Students enrolled in all Advanced Placement classes must read the specific book(s) required for that class. Students enrolled in more than one AP class need to fulfill the requirements for all of their AP classes.
Contact Information: If you have further questions
| Doreen Fritz Department Chair of Library & Instructional Technology E-mail: fritzd |
George Miller Department Chair - English E-mail: millerg |
John Beasley Department Chair - Social Studies E-mail: beasleyj |
Gayle Brankin Department Chair - Special Education Services E-mail: branking |
| All e-mail addresses are @rbhs208.org | |||
|
PHILOSOPHY: The English Department believes in developing
life-long good reading habits. We respect the summer months as a
time to unwind from the stresses of the academic year and as such
have governed our selection of summer novels as a synthesis of high
interest novels that offer compelling narratives coupled with
socially relevant topics. The selection process is always difficult,
and we hope you enjoy the selections. Each student is required to read ONE novel. At each grade level a book is assigned specific to the student's enrollment in a class. A distinction is made between regular versus honors English and regular level versus an Advanced Placement English course. Students will be assigned an objective assessment on the book during the first week of the school year. Many teachers will plan additional lessons or activities centered upon the books. All of the selections have been read by multiple teachers. We have tried to be as sensitive to problematic language and subject matter as possible, but in some instances the novel's overall value has encouraged our selection. We respect a parent's right to request an alternative selection due to content or language. The alternative reading selection for all students for the 2010 summer is Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. A student may read Wharton's novel rather than the assigned book and will simply notify the teacher in the fall. |
||
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
| See letter with specific instructions about your summer requirements | |
 |
1453:
The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and
the West, by Roger Crowley On May 29, 1453, Ottoman forces, under the leadership of Mehmet II, concluded their long and bloody siege of Constantinople by storming the city and overtaking it. According to Crowley, who works in publishing in England; the Ottoman conquest of the city brought to an end centuries of conflict between the Byzantine Empire and Islam. Crowley chronicles the story of an ancient city and its attraction to members of two major religions. Before Mehmet's conquest, Constantinople had faced various unsuccessful sieges. The most destructive events came between 1341 and 1371, when earthquakes and the Black Death devastated the city, turning it into a forlorn series of villages. Although the Byzantine capital recovered enough of its former glory to entice Mehmet to its walls, even he felt tremendous disappointment, finding the city didn't live up to its reputation. Perhaps the author's most instructive point, made by others as well, is that Mehmet turned the city into one where religious toleration and multiculturalism flourished. amazon.com |
| OR | |
|
|
The Artist, the
Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da
Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped,
by
Paul
Strathern This book follows Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia, three of Renaissance Italy's most brilliant minds, through the mountains, remote villages and hill towns of the Italian Romagna. This was a period of extreme significance and considerable danger, not just for themselves, but for the country they were helping to shape. Borgia has become a byword for brutal and inhuman deeds, marred with the suspicion of incest. Depicted as a savage whose eyes were fixed on the prize of his own kingdom - a province in which he ruled supreme. But he was an educated savage and an unrivalled tactician, relying on surprise and patience. Leonardo, possessed of the most inquisitive mind of his generation, is the exemplar of the Renaissance man. His paintings and drawings are among the finest and most famous in the world and his notebooks portray intricate scientific and technological investigations. But what led this master thinker to work for the tyrannical Borgia and how did he become involved with Machiavelli? Machiavelli was the infamous author of The Prince - a work that was the culmination of all he had learnt throughout his long political career. Driven by an uncanny understanding of human nature, and the way people behave rather than how they ought to behave, Machiavelli became a master politician and diplomatic negotiator, unrivalled in Renaissance Italy. The legacies of these three men shaped the Renaissance and all that came after it, and their impact is still felt today. Paul Strathern's new book is a vivid and gripping account of what happened in one short season in 1502. amazon.com |
| AND | |
 |
outline Chapter 12 in McKay (History of Western
Society), our textbook. See letter with specific instructions about your summer requirements |
| also, purchase for the school year: Dennis Sherman's Western Civilization, Renaissance to the Present, 7th edition, (purple and black cover) | |
| AP United States History |
|
| See letter with specific instructions about your summer requirements | |
 |
|
|
OR |
|
 |
|
|
AND |
|
 |
|
last updated July 2010
