ENGLISH 8

Your summer assignment involves both reading and writing.  It is due the first day of school in the fall.  Here it is:

READING

You will read two books this summer for English class.

All of you will read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 

In addition, each of you will choose one book from the following list:

Julia Alvarez: How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents

Ray Bradbury: Farenheit 451

Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Nick Hornby: About a Boy

Jon Krakauer: Into the Wild 

Jack London: White Fang

Art Spiegelman: The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale

Bram Stoker: Dracula

Amy Tan: The Joy Luck Club

WRITING

You will write two responses for each book.  Each response should be about one page typed (about 250 words).

At the top of each response, write the following:

Your Name

English 8

the name of the book you are writing about (Huck Finn or the book you have chosen from the list)

the number of the response topic below that you have chosen

Choose from among the following topics (two for each book; you can choose the same topics for both books, if you wish).

1.   Pretend that you are a character from the book and write a page from the perspective of that character.  Explain your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.  Try to capture the style of speaking that the character displays in the book.

2.   Find a moment in one of the books when a character faces a dilemma (such as when Huck has to decide whether or not to help Jim escape).  Write a letter to a character in the book, giving him or her advice. 

3.   Imagine that you are the author of the book and write a page about something that happens to one of the characters either before or after the events of the book.  (For instance, write about Huck when he grows up or about Jim after he becomes free.)

4.   You are an investigative reporter interviewing one of the characters from the book.  Write a transcript for your interview.  (The transcript should include the questions asked by the interviewer and the responses of the person being interviewed.)  What do readers really want to know about these characters?

5.   What do you think is the most important theme from the book?  Refer to details from the book to support your point.