Class of 2018 Summer Reading Assignment

Happy summer, Sweet Pickles!

I'm reposting your summer reading assignment here, and you should leave your blog posts attached to this entry. 

Over the summer, each of you will select one book of choice that you will read, and you will be held accountable for that text when we return in August.  The chart below lists your choices.  There will be no output associated with the book of choice, although there will be meetings in the fall to discuss them.  There will also be incentives (re: prizes) for anyone who manages to read all seven books independently over the course of the 2017-18 school year.

Teacher	Book Title	Author
Dougherty	The Sun is Also a Star	Nicola Yoon
Hennessey	So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed	Jon Ronson
Landsman	Assassin’s Apprentice	Robin Hobb
Meadows	All the Pretty Horses	Cormac McCarthy
Rayburn	The Golem and the Jinni	Helene Wecker
Sheridan	Ready Player One	Ernest Cline

You will also read Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.  For this text you will have a written assignment, and its requirements are below.

 

 

 

BEFORE reading, please thoughtfully address the following:

·        What are the arguments for and against capital punishment (the death penalty)?

·        Research. How do the laws regarding capital punishment vary from state to state in our country?  How do other countries around the world punish the worst offenders?  Analyze and evaluate statistics regarding age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and so on.

·        What is your stance on capital punishment?

AFTER reading (and in the same paper), please thoughtfully address the following:

·        What do Stevenson identify as the primary problems associated with the current American justice system?  In your written response, take a stance that includes a proposed solution to addressing the problems you feel are most pertinent.

·        Whose story did you find most compelling in Stevenson’s text?  Why?

·        How has reading this text shaped, changed, or reinforced your opinions about capital punishment?

 

 

To summarize, your deliverables are:

·        Thorough annotations of Just Mercy.

·        A written response to Bryan Stevenson’s TED talk, We Need to Talk About an Injustice, on Rayburn’s blog (no matter which English teacher you are assigned), www.rayburnenglish.blogspot.com, by 10 p.m. on Wednesday, August 9, 2016.  This should be a minimum of 250 words. 

·        A paper between 750-1,000 words that addresses the elements listed in the box on the previous side. This will be due on the first day of school and must be submitted in hard copy.

·        Intelligent conversations about both your readings when we return to school in August.