2014 Summer Reading & Course Preparation

2014–2015

SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION The following pages will provide you with the information you need to take full advantage of the learning opportunities you will be offered in the next academic year. Your grade level and specific course enrollment will determine which parts of this booklet pertain to you.

It is important that you read, and follow, all the instructions carefully. We want you to perform at your best from the start of the year, and a thoughtful review of material and thorough reading of the prescribed books will help you do just that. We also have added some optional titles at the end of this booklet for your personal enjoyment, and we hope you’ll read as many as you can.

Have a great summer and we look forward to seeing you in September! www.williston.com

CONTACTS ACADEMIC DEAN

LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT HEAD

Greg Tuleja gtuleja@williston.com

Nat Simpson nsimpson@williston.com

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT HEAD

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HEAD

Lynn Magovern lmagovern@williston.com

Bill Berghoff wberghoff@williston.com

MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT HEAD

FINE & PERFORMING ARTS

Joshua Seamon jseamon@williston.com

DEPARTMENT HEAD

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES

Ben Demerath bdemerath@williston.com

DEPARTMENT HEAD

DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

Michael Fay mfay@williston.com

Jen Fulcher jfulcher@williston.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH

03 | ELL 03 | 9th Grade English 03 | 10th Grade English 03 | 11th Grade English 04 | 12th Grade English LANGUAGES

05 | AP Chinese 05 | AP French 05 | AP Latin 06 | AP Spanish HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES

07 | World Civilizations 07 | AP European History 08 | United States History 08 | AP United States History SCIENCE

09 | All Courses MATHEMATICS

09 | All Courses

2 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

MIDDLE SCHOOL

10 | 7th Grade English 10 | 8th Grade English 11 | Algebra Standard 11 | Algebra Honors OPTIONAL READING

11 | Departmental Recommendations

ENGLISH

Assignment The Williston English department wishes to inspire a lifelong love of reading, as well as provide the analytical tools needed to approach challenging texts with both confidence and curiosity. With these hopes in mind, we encourage you to read widely and regularly this summer, sharing your appreciation of and questions about your reading with friends and family. You may discuss possible texts with your teacher or visit the library’s suggested reading list available under “Summer Reading” on the library’s website.

In addition to the texts that you choose to read on your own, we require you to arrive in September having read the grade-specific texts from the list that follows. For your assigned texts, please annotate thoroughly as you read. Annotations are notes in the margins that ask questions, highlight recurring themes, or point to important shifts in the story. As part of your annotation you should also mark your favorite passages, ones that strike you in some way, perhaps because of their interesting use of language, intriguing ambiguity, or symbolic significance.

You should bring your texts to class on the first day of school. Be prepared to use the texts for the opening weeks of the course. They have been chosen specifically for their thematic and stylistic connections to the material of the course, so they will serve as important springboards to discussion and writing—experiences for which you should be fully prepared.

ELL-ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

ENTERING 11TH GRADE

International students’ level of English study will be determined according to a placement test administered during international student orientation in September. Based on the results of this test, students will be placed in an ELL or standard English section appropriate to their grade level. Every student should read the required texts in English for his or her incoming grade level and attempt the summer reading assignment, regardless of whether she or he expects to be placed in an ELL class.

• Into the Wild

by Jon Krakauer • The Roundhouse

by Louise Erdrich ENTERING AP ENGLISH 11 (LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION)

• The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

ENTERING 9TH GRADE

• The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne (“The Custom House” introduction is optional)

• The Borrower

by Rebecca Makkai

• Into the Wild

by Jon Krakauer

• Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand

• Barron’s AP Language and Composition 1. Read chapter 1 and complete the multiple choice section of the diagnostic test 2. Review the answer explanations and create a list of terms and concepts unfamiliar to you

ENTERING 10TH GRADE

• The Complete Persepolis

by Marjane Satrapi • Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

3 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

ENGLISH

Assignment ENTERING 12TH GRADE (INCLUDING PGS)

• The Things They Carried

by Tim O’Brien • The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls ENTERING AP ENGLISH 12 (LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION)

• The Things They Carried

by Tim O’Brien • The Tempest

by William Shakespeare • Invisible Man

by Ralph Ellison

4 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

LANGUAGES Assignment

AP CHINESE

AP FRENCH

Chinese students are encouraged to do a quick review of the basic words covered in Chinese I, II, III, and possibly IV. You should make a list of the words and phrases and review them by categorizing them. For example, you should group all the family member words together, all the fruit names, dish names, body part names, and words for means of transportation. There are many ways of categorizing these vocabularies and you can choose whatever is your favorite.

When you group the words, make sure that you can pronounce them correctly, understanding their meanings, and are able to use them in a sentence.

AP Chinese students are encouraged to watch one or two Chinese movies during the summer vacation. Try to capture the main idea of the movie but not get stuck by expressions that you do not understand. In addition, if you are an AP Chinese student you are encouraged to write a weekly journal about your life. You can write about anything you do or your family does during the summer vacation. You will be expected to turn in at least three weekly journals at the beginning of the school year. You can either handwrite or type these journals.

AP Chinese students are encouraged to read some daily news through one of the following online newspapers: The Beijing News, China. com.cn, China Press, or China Youth Daily. Be prepared to report on 10 news items you have covered in the summer during our first class.

Students should practice typing Chinese, study the "HSK" vocabulary provided by the teacher, and e-mail the instructor a biweekly journal throughout the summer. Each journal should have thirty sentences and it should be sent to hjones@williston.com.

Incoming AP French student, you are expected to review the formation and usage of all regular and irregular verbs found in the Ensemble Grammaire textbook in the following tenses: présent, imperatif, passé composé, imparfait, conditionnel et conditionnel passé, futurs proche, simple and anterieur, subjonctif and plus-que-parfait. In addition, you should keep a journal in which you write eight times over the course of the summer, for 20 minutes each session. Sessions should be dated.

You should listen to a new French song or watch a French film of your choosing over the course of the summer, and it should be the subject of at least one of the journal entries.

You should choose a song or film that interests them.

5 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

AP LATIN

Read Vergil’s Aeneid (Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12) and Caesar’s Gallic Wars (Books 1, 6, and 7) in any translation. Read a few pages first, and select a translation that appeals to you. For the Aeneid, translations by Mandelbaum, Knox, Fagles, or West are suggested; for the Gallic Wars, translations by Hammond or Handford are suggested. You will need copies for the entire school year. It is recommended that you study the course-specific vocabulary available from your teacher, or, for the Aeneid, purchase Vergil Vocabularly Cards for AP Selections by Dennis De Young.

LANGUAGES Assignment

AP SPANISH

Read an article from an online Spanish newspaper each month (June, July, and August) and submit a summary of the article, including the day the article was read and the name of the newspaper, to Mr. Garcia at egarcia@williston. com. In addition, email the answers to the following questions: (a) Why did you choose to read this article? (b) What did you learn from the article? (c) What did you think about the article?

Online newspapers: www.elmundo.es, www. ideal.es, www.elpais.es, or any other e-publication from a Spanish-speaking country.

You should read a short story of your choice in Spanish and be ready to share your thoughts about it during the first week of classes.

6 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES Assignment

WORLD CIVILIZATIONS

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

By Yousafzai, Malala and Lamb, Christina You are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1. Malala describes her life with her friends: watching Twilight movies, listening to Justin Bieber, and lightening their skin. Were you surprised to learn that these young Pakistani girls are so immersed in western culture?

What surprised you the most about Malala and her friends?

2. Discuss Malala’s relationship with her mother. What influence does she have on Malala? In what ways does her relationship with her mother compare with her relationship with her father?

3. Throughout the book, Malala discusses the history of the Swat Valley. Why is the telling of this history significant? How do Malala’s descriptions differ from what you already thought or knew of Pakistan?

4. Malala provides reactions to 9-11 from the views of Pakistani people. What do you make of these insights? What do you feel is the state of relationship between America and Pakistan today? Based on reading this book, what do you foresee as a possible future?

5. Malala has said, “Let us pick up our book and our pens. They are our most powerful weapon.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

Explain the significance of this quote in the context of her experience as a girl in the Swat Region of Pakistan as well as a member of the global community.

6. Malala became an activist when she was very young. Discuss how you felt when reading about her experience and compare it to your life now. What are the similarities and differences? What lessons did you take away from Malala’s story?

Longitude

By Dava Sobel You are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1. Explain how longitude is measured and why it was so difficult to measure at sea prior to the 18th century.

2. Explain why it was critical to measure longitude and what kinds of people were concerned with finding an accurate and reliable method for measuring longitude.

3. Compare the different methods that astronomers and mechanics tried to measure longitude at sea and the different challenges they faced.

4. Explain the economic, cultural, and personal challenges that Harrison faced while building his clocks.

5. What is John Harrison’s legacy?

7 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

The Return of Martin Guerre

By Natalie Zemon-Davis You are expected to provide typed responses to the following questions on the first day of class.

1. Explain the methods and sources Davis used in writing her book.

2. What did we learn about peasant villages, traditions, and lifestyles in 16th century France from reading this book?

3. What did you learn about gender roles in 16th century France from reading this book?

4. What did we learn about the 16th century French system of justice from this book?

5. Davis had to make some assumptions about the feelings and motives of the main characters in this story. Choose TWO characters and explain what Davis thought his or her feelings and motives were and why Davis made these assumptions? – Martin, Bertrande, Pansette, or Coras.

HISTORY & GLOBAL STUDIES Assignment

6. Why is the story of Martin Guerre so legendary?

STANDARD UNITED STATES HISTORY

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America

By Steven M. Gillon You are expected to prepare a typed response to the question below which is due on the first day of class, and be ready for a quiz on the events described in the book during the first week.

1. Are social forces or individuals are more responsible for history? In 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America, Steven M. Gillon explores this essential question and suggests that “individuals, sometimes by design, but often by accident, can change the course of history� (5). Using three examples from the book, explain whether you agree or disagree with his claim. Write a five paragraph response with a clear introductory paragraph, one separate paragraph for each of the three examples and a concluding paragraph.

AP UNITED STATES HISTORY

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America

By Steven M. Gillon You are expected to prepare a typed response to the question for standard level United States History which is due on the first day of school.

In addition, please complete the following assignment using: American History, Connecting With the Past, AP Edition, 14th Edition, Alan Brinkley, McGraw Hill Publisher (Textbook) 2. Read: Chapters 1-4 (includes everything contained in the chapters: drawings, maps, photos, cartoons, side-bar information).

3. Define all of the terms/people/places/events listed at the end of each chapter.

8 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

4. Write detailed answers to the Recall and Reflect Questions at the end of each chapter.

These answers will be submitted on the first day of class. Answers should be written in complete sentences. Questions should be written as a statement. Edit your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes.

5. Be prepared for a test covering Chapters 1-4 during first week.

SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS Assignment

AP SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS

There is a significant amount of material to cover prior to the AP exams next May. Being successful is the result of thoughtful preparation and consistent effort on the part of both you and your teacher. We ask that you begin this process during the summer by reviewing topics covered in your previous courses. In addition, you should access http://www.williston.com/ Summer-Coursework and see detailed information pertaining to your class. You can expect to be tested on the assigned material during the first week of classes.

Next fall you will be starting a new math class.

We hope that you will find the class interesting and challenging. Being successful is not an accident; it is the result of good preparation. To help you next year, please review the topics that you have studied in your previous math courses. All summer review work can be found on WillyNet (see directions below). There you will find: 1. Homework problems that are due on the first day of classes.

2. More examples and practice problems, with answers relating to each topic.

3. Directions to mathematics summer review webpage: http://www.williston.com/ Summer-Coursework. Your questions and their answers are listed under “Assignments

by Class.�

Please print out the problems, complete them as best you can, check your answers, and bring your work on the first day of school. Please note that the problems on this webpage are intended for review purposes only and should not be used as any sort of placement guide.

You will be tested on the topics related to your particular course within the first week of classes.

CALCULATORS

A TI-84+ graphing calculator is required for all math courses. It is the only model for which classroom instruction is provided.

9 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH Assignment

7TH GRADE BOOK LISTS

Choose one book from List 1 and one book from List 2. You should choose books that you have not read before.

7TH GRADE BOOK LIST 1

• • • •

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Good Earth by Pearl Buck The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

by Ernest Gaines • Call of the Wild by Jack London • Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery • The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings For your book from List 1, answer the following short-answer questions: 1. Who are the main characters?

2. What makes them important in the story?

3. Where does the story take place?

4. When does it take place?

5. Who do you think is telling the story?

6. What is the problem facing the major character or characters?

7. How does the problem get resolved?

• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli • The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien • Briar Rose by Jane Yolen For your book from List 2, pretend you are a character from the book. Write a paragraph from that character's perspective describing either of the following situations: 1. How "you" feel about an event in the book.

2. What "your" life is like after the story ends.

8TH GRADE BOOK LIST

Choose two books from the following list and read them before school starts in September.

For each book you choose, select two passages (a significant group of sentences or a paragraph) that are intriguing, complex, and worthy of further analysis. These analytical passages should differ from ones that are simply exciting moments in the plot. This type of identification in itself demonstrates analytical abilities and is a practice often used in classes during the year. The passages will be used for in-class discussions and writing assignments when you return to school.

7TH GRADE BOOK LIST 2

8TH GRADE BOOK LIST

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams • Watership Down by Richard Adams • The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie • Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown • Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card • And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier • Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle • Number the Stars by Lois Lowry • The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan • Holes by Louis Sachar

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury • Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd • The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver • Into Thin Air by John Krakauer • Walkabout by James Vance Marshall • Monster by Walter Myers • My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith • Any Agatha Christie novel (except And Then There Were None) • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

10 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH Assignment

PRE-ALGEBRA

7th graders enrolled in Pre-Algebra do not have summer math work.

ALGEBRA STANDARD OR ALGEBRA HONORS

Students taking Algebra Standard or Algebra Honors are required to complete the problems on the mathematics website.

DIRECTIONS TO MATHEMATICS WEBSITE:

http://www.williston.com/Summer-Coursework Your questions and their answers are listed under “Assignments by Class.” Please print out the problems, complete them as best as you can, check your answers, and bring your work on the first day of school.

OPTIONAL

Departmental Recommendations FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS

• LANGUAGES: FILMS

• Frederick by Leo Lionni • The Alchemist by Paul Coelho • Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman • Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron More titles can be found at www.williston.com/ library. Follow the link for Summer Reading.

•

spanish:

Entre Nos directed by Gloria La Morte and Paola Mendoza, NR • french: Les Comperes, directed by Francis Veber, PG • latin: I, Claudius, directed by Herbert Wise (television miniseries), PG • chinese: Mulan, directed by Tony Bancroft, G MATHEMATICS

HISTORY AND GLOBAL STUDIES

• Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989

by Michael Beschloss • The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson • The Garden of Martyrs by Michael C. White • A Partial History of Lost Causes

by Jennifer DuBois ’02 • Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell • The Life of Pi by Yann Martel • A Border Passage by Leila Ahmed • The Autobiography of Malcolm X • Baraka (film), directed by Ron Fricke

11 SUMMER READING AND COURSE PREPARATION

• Fantasia Mathematica

by Clifton Fadiman, ed.

• The Mathematical Magpie

by Clifton Fadiman, ed.

• Proof by David Auburn SCIENCE

• Backyard Ballistics by William Gurstelle • Leonardo’s Mountain of Clams, Diet of Worms

by Stephen J. Gould • The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

by George Johnson • The Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif and F. Gonzalez-Crussi • What is Life? by Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan