Download Humanities 1 2015-16 Summer Reading Assignment ALL students

Humanities 1 2015-16 Summer Reading Assignment
ALL students who are taking English 10 and World History and Geography 2 (Humanities 1) in
the fall must complete BOTH the English and the history assignments below. Please contact
Denise Castaldo ([email protected]) or Rebecca Schgallis ([email protected]) with any
questions.
Honors English 10 Assignment
All rising sophomores need to read at least one text written by a global author. In this context,
a “global” author means one from outside the U.S.—not because the U.S. isn’t an important
part of global culture, but because TJ, like most schools, reserves American literature for junior
year.
The text students choose should meet the criteria below:
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It should be a work of writing that you expect to enjoy reading.
It should be substantive. The Little Prince may be charming, but it’s too short.
Although you’re welcome to choose genre fiction (mysteries, science fiction novels,
romances), the book you choose should challenge you a bit.
You should not choose any of the titles listed below, simply because you may encounter
them in one of your Hum 1 classes during the school year:
Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Beowulf
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
Dante, The Inferno
Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations
Dostoyesvsky, Notes from [the] Underground
Gardner, Grendel
Greene, The Power and the Glory
Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
Shakespeare, Macbeth and Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shelley, Frankenstein
Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Turgenev, Home of the Gentry
Voltaire, Candide
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We recommend that you consider one of the following options:
 12/21 by Dustin Thomason
Thomason is a TJ grad, and he coauthored the blockbuster bestseller The Rule of Four.
12/21 addresses the Mayan apocalypse as well as the problems encountered by
doctors faced by a biotech nightmare. Although written by an American author, we’ve
included this book on our short list because it’s a great read, because it was written by
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one of our own, and because it shows Thomason’s perspective as a medical doctor. It
also provides insight into the pre-Columbian period in Central America.
 Survival at Auschwitz by Primo Levi
This memoir is mostly a straightforward narrative, beginning with Primo Levi's
deportation from Turin, Italy, to the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland in 1943.
Levi, then a 25-year-old chemist, spent 10 months in the camp. In this
underappreciated jewel of Holocaust literature, Levi’s perspective as a scientist makes
the reading experience special.
 Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
For a gritty, real take on the meaning of race and color, this book is a must read.
Adichie is a Nigerian woman who tells the story of the exodus of Africans to America
and back. As a student of Chinua Achebe, she addresses many of the same themes but
with a contemporary freshness that seems irresistible. Note that there are a few
scenes that involve adult situations, so please make sure your parents approve of this
choice, or pick another text.
 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
With the plight of women overseas in the news every day, this novel will bring home
the reality of women caught in the cultural crosshairs of their male-dominated
societies. Hosseini has single-handedly made Afghanistan real to many young people
through The Kite Runner and does it again in this book. Note that there are a few
scenes that involve adult situations, so please make sure your parents approve of this
choice, or pick another text.
Honors World History & Geography 2 Assignment
World History/Geography I traces the origins of major non-US cultures, customs, beliefs, and
traditions from leading ancient civilizations through the twentieth century until the present.
The first eight weeks of this course focuses on the ancient world and the remainder of the year
will be spent studying world history after 1500. In an effort to introduce our study of ancient
history, students will read Stewart Gordon's When Asia Was the World and complete an essay
on the prompt listed below. Gordon’s book uses the narratives of individuals that traveled
throughout Asia between the years of 500-1500 to illuminate the role of geography, religion,
trade, travel, political and social structure, and culture in the ancient world.
Please write a 500-600 word essay addressing the following prompt:
Besides the experience of travel itself, identify one theme or pattern that seems to be repeated
throughout the text. Examples of themes include political systems, economic development, or
religion, among others. What significance does this theme or pattern play in shaping the
ancient world? Are there any chapters/people/events that contradict your pattern or theme?
Include specific supporting examples from the text and include parenthetical citations with
page numbers (MLA). See the Purdue Online Writing Lab for assistance
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Please underline your thesis and bring a
hard copy to class.
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