Summer Assignments

EPHS students take Honors, Advanced, AP, or other college-level courses for more intellectually challenging content and atmosphere. The rigor of these high school courses is a major consideration by colleges in their admissions decisions. It demonstrates an ability and willingness to work hard and pursue academic excellence. All Honors, Advanced, and AP teachers expect you to learn at a faster pace than a Regular class. These courses cover similar content as Regular courses in a subject, adding more breadth and depth to the material.

Several EPHS Honors and AP courses require summer assignments (see the assignment links listed by department). The summer assignments engage students to promote critical thinking, expand background knowledge, and explore what it means to be human. To reach these goals, summer assignments will provide a wide range of learning experiences, encourage rigorous discourse and analysis, and help students develop their identities as independent thinkers.

Summer assignments are generally due at the end of summer break. EPHS wants students to continue and succeed in their courses even if they do not complete summer assignments by then. EPHS does allow students to complete and turn in the assignment during the course if they do not complete the assignment over the summer. Check in with your teacher to determine a reasonable due date.

Summer assignments for 2021-22 courses will be updated throughout the month of May.

Courses that have been updated:

AP Biology
APUSH
Honors English 9
Honors English 10
Honors English 11
Honors English 12: Humanities
AP English 12: Literature and Composition
Honors Geometry

English Summer Assignments

The Eden Prairie High School English Department believes in the power of reading and its ability to engage readers, promote critical thinking, and improve writing. It is in this spirit that we ask you to spend a part of your summer engaging in reading and writing activities that we believe will help develop your identity as a reader and prepare you for the year ahead.

English Department Summer Reading Philosophy

The Eden Prairie High School English Department believes in the power of reading. We will engage our students as readers in order to promote critical thinking, expand background knowledge, and explore what it means to be human. To reach these goals, we will provide a wide range of reading experiences, encourage rigorous literary discourse and analysis, and help students develop their identities as independent readers. We will offer choice and access to a variety of genres, perspectives, and cultures to create a community of learners.

To this end, our summer reading requirements will provide students with opportunities to…

Develop critical reading and vocabulary skills that increase overall academic achievement and prepare them for future endeavors
Improve reading comprehension and fluency
Read multiple perspectives to deepen insights into both new and familiar cultures
Develop a lifelong appreciation and enjoyment of reading
Create a community of readers through purposeful, skillful selection of texts by students and teachers
Improve student writing abilities through exposure to and study of quality texts
Challenge themselves with appropriately rigorous texts

Honors English 9 - UPDATED May 11, 2021

Greetings, Honors English 9 Students,

You will turn in the summer reading assignments as follows:

1^st semester Honors English 9 students: your teacher will address how to electronically submit your work on Wednesday, September 15, in class.
2^nd semester Honors English 9 students: email your summer reading assignments to the teacher currently on your schedule by Wednesday, September 15. Please save your work in case your assigned teacher changes.

REMINDER--Do not forget to clearly put the following on your work:

a. your first and last name
b. the semester you have Honors English 9
c. your assigned teacher's name

Thank you!

Honors English 9 Teachers:

Assignments:

Read one fiction book and one non-fiction book of your choosing. The assignments are described below. The book lists provided offer some suggestions.

Fiction Assignment
Nonfiction Assignment

Fiction Assignment

For your fiction book, use the signposts described below to process your thinking of the novel. You should complete 12 signpost entries, (two sets) one set for the first half of the novel and another for the second half of the novel.

Use a Google Doc or Word Doc.
Ensure you’ve included the title and author of your book at the top of your document.
Create an entry for each signpost. This will be a short paragraph per entry, for a total 12 entries. *Memory moments may be a bit tricky depending upon your novel. Do your best.
Use quotes and page numbers where appropriate, such as examples of tough questions, words of the wiser, etc.

The 6 Signposts for Close Reading

Contrasts and Contradictions: When the character does something different than what you might expect, ask yourself why the character is acting this way.
Aha Moment: When the character suddenly figures something out or understands something, how might this realization (for the character or reader) change things?
Tough Questions: When the character asks themselves or poses a tough question, what does this tough question make me wonder?
Words of the Wiser: What is the life lesson and how could it affect the character? This is often found in the advice that an older or wiser character give to the main character.
Again and Again: Why does this keep happening (or is a concept repeated) again and again? Why did the author think it was important to repeat it?
Memory Moment: When the action is interrupted to reference a memory, why might the memory be important?

Example of a signpost entry

Again and again in chapter 8 of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys state: "The head is for the beast. It's a gift" (137). At this point, the author has referenced the beast several times throughout the novel. This recurring symbolism points to the idea of the loss of civilization and innocence. The boys have come to worship something that doesn’t actually exist. By continually using the symbol and imagery of the beast, Golding is directing the reader to moments in which an evolution has occurred with the boys. This evolution is leading to the demise of their innocence, as well the concept of civilization. I think...

Fiction Book

Please choose one fiction book that offers you a perspective other than your own. Consider the author, subject matter, time period, etc. when choosing your book.

Here are some questions to consider when choosing books from varying perspectives:

Do the author and illustrator present authentic perspectives?
Is the culture portrayed multidimensionally?
Are cultural details naturally integrated?
Are details accurate and is the interpretation current?
Is language used authentically?

Titles from this list include authors and topics from varying perspectives. You are free to choose from books that are not on this list. However, please refrain from reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Night, Maus, Of Mice and Men, and Romeo and Juliet. Those readings are currently a part of the Honors 9 curriculum.

Many of these titles are available at the EPHS Media Center and Hennepin County Library.

Book titles are linked to www.goodreads.com, outside the EPHS website. We are not responsible for this content.

ADICHI, CHIMAMANDA NGOZI Americanah

ALEXIE, SHERMAN Flight

ALVAREZ, JULIA How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents

BACKMAN, FREDRIK A Man Called Ove

BACKMAN, FREDRIK Beartown

BALDWIN, JAMES Go Tell it on the Mountain

BOYLE, T.C. The Tortilla Curtain

BRONTE, EMILY Wuthering Heights

CATHER, WILLA My Antonia

CERVANTES, MIGUEL Don Quixote

CISNEROS, SANDRA The House on Mango Street

DICKINS, CHARLES Great Expectations

ERDRICH, LOUISE The Round House

GYASI, YAA Homegoing

HASHIMI, NADIA When the Moon is Low

HURSTON, ZORA NEALE Their Eyes Were Watching God

HUTCHINSON, SHAUN DAVID The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley

JACKSON, MITCHELL S. The Residue Years

JONES, EDWARD P. The Known World

KINGSOLVER, BARBARA The Bean Trees

LAHIRI, JHUMPA The Namesake

MARTEL, YANN Life of Pi

MCKINNEY, CHRIS The Tattoo

MORRISON, TONI Beloved

OTSUKA, JULIE When the Emperor was Divine

OWENS, DELIA Where the Crawdads Sing

PICOULT, JODI Small Great Things

REYNOLDS, JASON, and BRENDAN KIELY All American Boys

RUSSO, MEREDITH If I was your Girl

STOWE, HARRIET Uncle Tom’s Cabin

UCHIDA, YOSHIKO Picture Bride

WALKER, ALICE The Color Purple

WOUK, HERMAN The Caine Mutiny

ZUSAK, MARKUS The Book Thief

Nonfiction Assignment

For your non-fiction book, you will be asked to write three different types of questions. Your goal is to develop well-thought out, critical questions about the text.

Use a Google Doc or Word Doc.
Ensure you’ve included the title and author of your book somewhere in the document.
Break your book up into thirds.
Write 3 FIG questions for each third of your book. (one fact, one interpretive, and one global).
Write a justification for each question. Explain why it is a critical question to be asked.
You will have a total of 9 questions and justifications at the end of your book.
It is not necessary for you to answer the questions.

FIG Questions

Fact (Level 1)

These questions can be answered definitely with facts found in the text or by information readily available in outside sources. These questions tend to have correct answers, and while they require someone to have read the work, they require little thought or understanding.

Example: Name the feuding families in Romeo and Juliet.
- Justification: This is a critical question because without it, one could not understand the context of the play as setup by the prologue. It is essential to know which character is a Montague and a Capulet in relation to the ongoing feud.

Interpretive (Level 2)

The answers to these questions may be implied rather than stated directly in the reading. This requires students to make inferences based on information they can cite to back up their conclusions. It requires students to do the reading and consider what they’ve read.

Example: What is Romeo’s concept of love at the start of the play?
- Justification: This is a critical question as love is a central theme in the play. It helps to define Romeo as a character, as well as impact the course of events in the play.

Global (Level 3)

These questions are more abstract; they go outside the text and present issues for discussion. Notice that while these questions will probably promote the most discussion, they may not necessarily require that students have carefully read the text. Global questions should not be framed as questions which have Yes/No answers.

Example: Under what conditions would arranged marriages be beneficial to society?
- Justification: The concept of marriage is critical to the time period and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet.

Nonfiction Book

Please choose one nonfiction book that offers you a perspective other than your own. You are free to choose from books that are not on this list. Consider the author, subject matter, time period, etc. when choosing your book.

Here are some questions to consider when choosing books from varying perspectives:

Do the author and illustrator present authentic perspectives?
Is the culture portrayed multidimensionally?
Are cultural details naturally integrated?
Are details accurate and is the interpretation current?
Is language used authentically?

Many of these titles are available at the EPHS Media Center and Hennepin County Library.

Book titles are linked to www.goodreads.com, outside the EPHS website. We are not responsible for this content.

BROWN, DEE Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

CHANG, JUNG Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

COATES, TA-NEHISI Between the World and Me

CONNOLLY, DANIEL The Book of Isaias: A Child of Hispanic Immigrants Seeks His Own America

HALEY, ALEX ed. Autobiography of Malcolm X

HART, KITTY Return of Auschwitz

HERSEY, JOHN Hiroshima

IGGIAGRUK HENSLEY, WILLIAM L. Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People

KAMKWAMBA, WILLIAM The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

KIKUCHI, CHARLES The Kikuchi Diary: Chronicle from an American Concentration Camp

MOORE, WES The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

NAZARIO, SONIA Enrique’s Journey

STEVENSON, BRYAN Just Mercy

TIRADO, LINDA Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America

WEISSMANN KLEIN, GERDA All But My Life

WOODWARD, BOB and CARL BERNSTEIN All the President’s Men

WRIGHT, RICHARD Black Boy

Honors English 10 - UPDATED May 4, 2021

Summer Reading Assignment
Honors English 10
2021

The purpose of reading the novel over the summer is to prepare you to make connections to literature we will read and discuss throughout the course. After the first few weeks of Honors English 10, you will write a short comparison essay about your choice novel and another text read in class, noting similarities and/or differences. You will have time to prepare notes that will help you compare these texts. You will be given one class period to write two paragraphs comparing the two novels.

Assignment: Read a BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE

Cannot be a novel you have previously read
200 pages MINIMUM
Lexile level of 800 or greater (Google or Amazon search the title to find this information)
ABSOLUTELY NO BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES!
NO GRAPHIC NOVELS

Questions can be directed to any of the following Honors English 10 teachers:

Mr. Axtman - Joshua_Axtman@edenpr.k12.mn.us
Mrs. Beutz - Kari_Beutz@edenpr.k12.mn.us
Mr. Organ - Todd_Organ@edenpr.k12.mn.us

Honors English 11 - UPDATED May 5, 2021

Each Honors English 11 student will be required to read ONE choice reading book by an American author this summer.

Students may choose their book from any of the genres listed below. Please make sure your choice is written by an American author.
If you are not sure if an author is American, please use the internet to verify before you begin reading.
You will be completing various activities with the book when class begins, so please mark favorite lines, quotes, scenes, or descriptions as you read. Read and enjoy the book without additional requirements.
Bring your book with you on the first day of class.
You will eventually choose two additional books from different genres below for Term A and Term B.

Honors English 11 Summer Work 2021
OPTIONS	GENERAL REQUIREMENTS	RESOURCES
Option #1: Nonfiction	Nonfiction is about people, topics, and situations that are true, not imagined, and include memoir, biography, autobiography, and other writings about real life.	Best Books by American Authors Minnesota Book Awards list American Scholar 100 Best American Classics National Book Awards Great American Reads (not all authors on this list are American. Choose carefully.) Choices Reading Lists New York Times Bestsellers American Library Association book lists: Best Fiction for Young Adults Quick Picks Teens’ Top Ten Hennepin County Library Staff Reviews **You can always search “Best American ______ (genre)” to find additional ideas.
Option #2: Historical Fiction	Historical Fiction explores history through story. The story is based on history, but is fictionalized.
Option #3: Parent Choice	Readers often like to share ideas and titles with other readers. Maybe your parents, or other adults in your life, have a particular book by an American author they think you might enjoy.
Option #4: Contemporary Fiction	Contemporary fiction books are generally written from the 1990’s to today.
Option #5: Classics	A classic has stood the test of time by remaining interesting, challenging, relevant, and is beautifully written. Most classics are written before 1980, but there are exceptions.
Option #6: Your Favorite Genre	Maybe your favorite genre is not included in the above options. Do you like science fiction, adventure, thrillers, or mysteries?

Contacts:

AP English 11: Language and Composition

Read Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs

(Some copies are available in the ERC.)

ADDING THIS BOOK TO YOUR FUN SUMMER PLANS IS WORTHWILE BECAUSE . . .

Please get some sunscreen and some camping dirt on your book—that will mean that you opened it during the summer. The reading will open some mental doors for your own exploration of persuasive communication, and you will have a better experience in the class if you learn about verbal jujitsu from Heinrichs now. When we start class, you will already be observing the world through a rhetorical lens, and we’ll all be able to jump in with some common vocabulary. Please get some sunscreen and some camping dirt on your books—that will mean that you opened them during the summer. The reading will open some mental doors for your own exploration of persuasive communication, and you will have a better experience in the class if you learn about verbal jujitsu from Heinrichs now. When we start class, you will already be observing the world through a rhetorical lens, and we’ll all be able to jump in with some common vocabulary.

TASK #1 Read and summarize the book

For each of the four main categories—Offense, Defense, Advanced Offense, and Advanced Agreement—write a ½ page summary. You will write four summaries. Do not summarize each chapter; instead, write an overview capturing the main ideas of the entire category.

TASK #2 Choose one chapter from each category and write a ½ page reflection (four total)

Use any combination of the following to reflect on applications for Heinrich’s ideas about persuasion: your strengths and weaknesses, your personal experience, how you could apply the information to your writing, what makes sense, what is still confusing, and what you want to explore further.

Your assignment should be typed using MLA format (see EPHS English Dept. website) and will be due the second day of class. If you have class 2^nd semester, your work will be due on the second day of 2^nd semester.

I look forward to a great semester!

Mrs. Nebeker (lnebeker@edenpr.org)

Honors English 12 Humanities - UPDATED May 12, 2021

Assignment & Guidelines:

The intent of the summer reading requirement is to expose students to literature for enjoyment and for knowledge and application in the class. For the Honors English 12: Humanities course, the student will read one book over the summer of his/her choice that is at a college reading level T.

The book should not have previously been covered in a different EPS course or have been read by the student prior to this summer.

Choose a book that interests you (see the list below, should be a higher reading level- no YA novels or previously studied books).
- While the focus of this course is World Literature, this is not necessarily a required emphasis for summer reading, although it is highly recommended.
- Recommendations and resources that align with the course curriculum are provided on the choice book link.
- Check out what is available in the EPHS Media Center as well as the Hennepin County Libraries.
Read the book – keep notes as you see fit (you will be expected to remember your book, so you may want to write some things down).
Send an email to your teacher (tim_welshons@edenpr.k12.mn.us) introducing yourself and the book you are reading for this assignment.
Bring a copy of your summer reading book to the first day of class—be prepared to discuss your summer reading book. This book will become the subject of your first essay and other assignments in this class.

Please email your teacher should you have any questions or concerns!

Tim Welshons

Humanities Summer Reading Recommendations

The following are summer reading recommendations based on genre, focus, and culture from National Endowment for the Humanities “Recommended Reading List for College-Bound Students” and the 100 Most Often Recommended Works:

Humanities Non-Fiction Recommendations

Afghanistan, Middle East

Zoya’s Story, Zoya
The Bookseller of Kabul, Seierstad
Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, Amiry

Africa

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller
Aman, Barnes

India, Pakistan

Touching My Father’s Soul, Norgay

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Cambodia

Life and Death in Shanghai, Cheng
Wild Swans, Chang
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Fadiman
Bound Feet and Western Dress, Chang
Crossing Three Wildernesses, U Sam Oeur
Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang
Falling Leaves, Yen Mah
Still Life With Rice, Lee
Nothing to Envy, Demnick

Central/South America

The Heart that Bleeds, Guillermoprieto

Global Viewpoints

The Post American World, Zakaria
The World is Flat, Friedman
The World is Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Friedman
With Speed and Violence, Pearce

Humanities Fiction Recommendations / World Lit Emphasis

Afghanistan, Middle East

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini
Forgotten Fire, Bagdasarian
Gardens of Water, Drew

Africa

July’s People, Gordimer
Zenzele, Maraire
Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga
I Do Not Come to You by Chance, Nwaubani
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

India, Pakistan

The God of Small Things, Roy
White Tiger, Adiga
The Guide, Narayan
The Namesake, Lahiri
Midnight’s Children, Rushdie
City of Joy, Lapierre

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Cambodia

The Samurai’s Garden, Tsukiyama
A Corpse in The Koryo, James Church
Hidden Moon, James Church
Bamboo and Blood, James Church

Central/South America

The House of Spirits, Allende
Eva Luna, Allende
The Weight of All Things, Benitez
Bless Me Ultima, Anaya
Chronicle of Death Foretold, Garcia-Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia-Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera, Garcia-Marquez

Humanities Fiction Recommendations / Humanities Emphasis

Honors English 12 Psych of Lit

Assignment and Guidelines:

Choose a book that interests you (see the list below, should be a higher reading level- no YA novels or previously studied books).
- While the focus of this course is World Literature, this is not necessarily a required emphasis for summer reading, although it is highly recommended.
- Recommendations and resources that align with the course curriculum are provided on the choice book list (below).
Check out what is available in the EPHS Media Center as well as the Hennepin County Libraries. Read the book – keep notes as you see fit (you will be expected to remember your book, so you may want to write some things down)
Once you receive your class schedule/teacher assignment, send an email to your teacher introducing yourself and the book you are reading for this assignment.

Teacher emails (make sure you send your introduction and book title to the correct teacher):

4. Bring a copy of your summer reading book to the first day of class—be prepared to discuss your summer reading book. This book will become the subject of your first essay and other assignments in this class.

Please email your teacher should you have any questions or concerns!

Contacts:

Joe Carpenter

Psych of Lit Summer Reading Recommendations

Psych of Lit Non-Fiction Recommendations

Afghanistan, Middle East

Zoya’s Story, Zoya
The Bookseller of Kabul, Seierstad
Sharon and My Mother-in-Law, Amiry

Africa

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller
Aman, Barnes

India, Pakistan

Touching My Father’s Soul, Norgay

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Cambodia

Life and Death in Shanghai, Cheng
Wild Swans, Chang
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Fadiman
Bound Feet and Western Dress, Chang
Crossing Three Wildernesses, U Sam Oeur
Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang
Falling Leaves, Yen Mah
Still Life With Rice, Lee
Nothing to Envy, Demnick

Central/South America

The Heart that Bleeds, Guillermoprieto

Global Viewpoints

The Post American World, Zakaria
The World is Flat, Friedman
The World is Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Friedman
With Speed and Violence, Pearce

Psych of Lit Fiction Recommendations / World Lit Emphasis

Afghanistan, Middle East

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini
Forgotten Fire, Bagdasarian
Gardens of Water, Drew

Africa

July’s People, Gordimer
Zenzele, Maraire
Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga
I Do Not Come to You by Chance, Nwaubani
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

India, Pakistan

The God of Small Things, Roy
White Tiger, Adiga
The Guide, Narayan
The Namesake, Lahiri
Midnight’s Children, Rushdie
City of Joy, Lapierre

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Cambodia

The Samurai’s Garden, Tsukiyama
A Corpse in The Koryo, James Church
Hidden Moon, James Church
Bamboo and Blood, James Church

Central/South America

The House of Spirits, Allende
Eva Luna, Allende
The Weight of All Things, Benitez
Bless Me Ultima, Anaya
Chronicle of Death Foretold, Garcia-Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia-Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera, Garcia-Marquez

Psych of Lit Fiction Recommendations / Humanities Emphasis

AP English 12: Literature and Composition - UPDATED May, 26, 2021

AP Literature 2021-2022 Letter of Introduction to the Course and the Summer Assignment

The following are the three required novels for AP English 12:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

2022 AP Summer Reading Rubrics

2022 AP Lit Short Answer Questions -- WORD DOC

2022 Dobie's Reading & Writing article

NOTE: BOTH SEMESTERS--TURNING IN THE SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Regardless if your AP Lit course runs first or second semester, the copies of the following assignments are due Monday, Sept. 13, 2021.

a.) the three annotated AP Lit Summer Reading Novels (A Prayer for Owen Meany, Pride & Prejudice, and A Tale of Two Cities)
b.) the WA 1 Quote Pondering Journal and
c.) the AP Lit Short Answer Questions

Whether you have AP Lit 1st semester or 2nd semester, turn in the summer work to the dedicated, clearly-marked bins/baskets outside my classroom 269 on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021--(right at the top of the large staircase by the old Commons). There are pens, post-its, rubber bands and extra rubrics for you to use.

Link to the AP Home Page 1st Semester

Link to the AP Home Page 2nd Semester

Contact: Linda Wallenberg.

Math Summer Assignments

Honors Geometry - UPDATED May 27, 2021

Honors Geometry - UPDATED May 27, 2021

Social Studies Summer Assignments

AP US History - UPDATED May 3, 2021

AP US History - UPDATED May 3, 2021

Science Summer Assignments

AP Biology - UPDATED May 18, 2021