Sophomore English Summer Assignment
Required Reading: Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
Keep Track of your Reading: As you read Sophocles’ tragedy, keep track of the following elements. Use journal format. Write at least 4 one-page journals.
-opinionated reactions (to the plot, characters, language, format,
literary elements, ect.)
-enjoyable quotes
-connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-society)
-emerging themes
-page numbers
Required Film (watch at least one production of at least two of the plays listed below)
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Othello. William Shakespeare
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Keep Track of your Thoughts: As you watch the film(s), keep track of the following elements. Use journal format. Write at least 4 one-page journals.
- opinionated reactions (to the plot, characters, acting, language, ect.)
- enjoyable quotes
- connections (film-to-self, film-to-text, film-to-film, film-to-society)
- emerging themes
Suggested Reading: The Odyssey, Homer
Suggested Resources / Practice Materials:
The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr.
Vocabulary Workshop, Jerome Shostack (Level E)
Grammar Workbook for the SAT, ACT … and More, George Ehrenhaft
Looking for More?
Summer Enrichment (suggested)
Mythology, Edith Hamilton
Beowulf, Author Unknown
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Candide, Voltaire
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Final Study Questions
FINAL EXAM DATE: FRIDAY, JUNE 12
1. The following line from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven contains an example of assonance. What is assonance and how does it work?
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
2. An example of ____________________ in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner would be when Assef gives Amir his birthday present and Amir thanks him. It is __________________ because Amir doesn’t like Assef and would not actually feel thankful to Assef at any point in the novel.
3. The following excerpt from William Dalrymple’s City of Widows contains an example of personification and a simile. Identify and analyze the personification and simile.
‘If I were to sit under a tree,’ said Kamala Ghosh, a local women’s rights activist, ‘and tell you the sadness of the widows of Vrindavan, the leaves of that tree would fall like tears.’
4. The following lines from William Butler Yeats’ poem The Second Coming contain an example of the poetic device repetition. What words are repeated and what is the effect of the repetition?
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight…
5. What is the major turning point, or climax of Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress? Explain.
6. The following excerpt from Valmiki’s The Ramayana indicates to the reader that this tale is an example of what literary genre?
The woman I speak of was a yaksha, a demigod of great valor, might, and purity. She was beautiful and full of wild energy. When she grew up she was married to a chieftain named Sunda. Two sons were born to them—Mareecha and Subahu—who were endowed with enormous supernatural powers in addition to physical strength..
7. What are some examples of internal, man versus himself conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart?
8. The following lines from Octavio Paz’s poem Wind and Water and Stone contain two examples of metaphor. Identify the metaphors and analyze their meaning.
The wind sculpted the stone,
the stone is a cup of water,
the water runs off and is wind.
9. What are some examples of internal, man versus himself conflict in Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner?
10. The following lines from Anne Winter’s poem Night Light provide an example of imagery and sensory description. What does this mean and what is the effect?
…a hand above your cradle
to feel the humid tendril1 of your breathing.
Outside, the night rocks, murmurs … Crouched
in this eggshell light, I feel my heart
slowing, opened to your tiny flame
as if your blue irises mirrored me
as if your smile breathed and warmed…
* Read the following excerpt taken from Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner to answer the next three questions:
(1)I don’t know at what point I started laughing, but I did. (2) It hurt to laugh, hurt my jaws, my ribs, my throat. (3) But I was laughing and laughing. (4) And the harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me, punched me, scratched me. (5) “WHAT’S SO FUNNY?” Assef kept roaring with each blow. (6) His spittle landed in my eye. (7) Sohrab screamed.
11. The selection illustrates which type of conflict?
12. What is verbal irony? Which sentence from the passage contains an example of situational irony?
13. From which point of view is The Kite Runner told? How do we know? What is the effect?
14. The following excerpt from Amy Tan’s vignette, “The Moon Lady” illustrates which type of conflict?
…firecrackers exploded, and I fell into the water not even hearing my own splash… But in the instant that I began to choke, I knew she would not come. I thrashed my arms and legs under the water. The sharp water had swum up my nose, into my throat and eyes and this made me thrash even harder.
15. What are some examples of a internal, man versus himself conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart?
16. What are some examples of man versus society conflict in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is:
17. What are the characteristics of anecdotes? What is their effect, when they precede a chapter in a novel?
18. The following lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven contain an example of which poetic device? Explain.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…
19. In what historical context did we study Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
20. What are the five elements of characterization we used to analyze fictional characters?
21. Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is studied in what historical context?
22. What are some examples of foreshadowing in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
23. The following excerpt from Hosseini’s The Kite Runner provides an example of what type of irony?
“While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed, polished my shoes, ironed my outfit for the day, packed my books and pencils. I’d hear him singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed, singing old Hazara songs in his nasal voice.”
24. The sentence, “Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water,” contains an example of which literary device? What does it mean?
25. The following excerpt from Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress expresses the setting of Yong Jing. What moods are conveyed by the setting?
...What is more, Yong Jing had electricity instead of the oil lamps we were used to. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that our visits to town had become an obsession, but at least having to trudge across the mountain to see a film meant getting four days off from labouring in the fields, from carrying human and animal dung on our backs, or from toiling in the paddy fields with water buffalo whose long tails whacked you across the face.
26. The following quotes from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart are examples of proverbs. What does this mean? What are some other examples of proverbs? What are the effects of proverbs in a literary work?
“If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings."
"A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."
“An old man is there to talk.”
27. All of the chapters in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club are considered _________________ because they are short, illustrative stories that can be read alone or in the context of an entire novel.
28. The following lines from Ommateum by A.R. Ammons contain three examples of personification? Identify these lines. What do they mean? What is the effect of personification in a literary work?
Turning to the sea I said
I am Ezra
but there were no echoes from the waves
The words were swallowed up
in the voice of the surf
or leaping over the swells
lost themselves oceanward.
29. The epic story of Sundjata is part of the _____________________ because it has been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
30. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story, “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” eating and food is used as a motif, which works to develop the story’s theme. What themes are developed through motifs in the text?
31. This sentence from “By Any Other Name” by Santha Rama Rau contains examples of which literary element?
Her rimless half-glasses glittered, and the precarious bun on the top of her head trembled as she shook her head.
32. The following passage from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake best illustrates what thematic idea(s)?
At the end of his first day he is sent home with a letter to his parents from Mrs. Lapidus, folded and stapled to a string around his neck, explaining that due to their son’s preference he will be known as Gogol at school. What about the parents’ preference? Ashima and Ashoke wonder shaking their heads. But since neither of them feels comfortable pressing the issue, they have no choice but to give in….
33. Does the narrator in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake illustrates a subjective or objective tone in the excerpt below.
The name, Nikhil, is artfully connected to the old. Not only is it a perfectly respectable Bengali good name, meaning “he who is entire, encompassing all,” but it also bears a satisfying resemblance to Nikolai, the first name of the Russian Gogol.
34. The game of chess is used as a vehicle for which themes are conveyed in Amy Tan’s “Four Directions” and “Rules of the Game.” Because of this, chess boards and playing chess are considered_____________________.
ZIP, RUSTLE, GARGLE, BUZZ, MOO, HISS, SWISH, BOOM, CRASH, SPLAT, TAP
35. The following words are examples of which literary device?
36. Setting, in fiction is analyzed in terms of what elements?
37. How do the following words and phrases relate to one another: parable, greedy sons, father, gold, lesson.
38. What are some major themes about community contained in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” ?
39. What do kites represent in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
40. From which point of view is the following passage, from Jhumpa Lahiri’s “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine” told?
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1971 a man used to come to our house, bearing confections in his pocket and hopes of ascertaining the life or death of his family. His name was Mr. Pirzada, and he came from Dacca, now the capital of Bangladesh, but then a part of Pakistan.
1. The following line from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven contains an example of assonance. What is assonance and how does it work?
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
2. An example of ____________________ in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner would be when Assef gives Amir his birthday present and Amir thanks him. It is __________________ because Amir doesn’t like Assef and would not actually feel thankful to Assef at any point in the novel.
3. The following excerpt from William Dalrymple’s City of Widows contains an example of personification and a simile. Identify and analyze the personification and simile.
‘If I were to sit under a tree,’ said Kamala Ghosh, a local women’s rights activist, ‘and tell you the sadness of the widows of Vrindavan, the leaves of that tree would fall like tears.’
4. The following lines from William Butler Yeats’ poem The Second Coming contain an example of the poetic device repetition. What words are repeated and what is the effect of the repetition?
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight…
5. What is the major turning point, or climax of Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress? Explain.
6. The following excerpt from Valmiki’s The Ramayana indicates to the reader that this tale is an example of what literary genre?
The woman I speak of was a yaksha, a demigod of great valor, might, and purity. She was beautiful and full of wild energy. When she grew up she was married to a chieftain named Sunda. Two sons were born to them—Mareecha and Subahu—who were endowed with enormous supernatural powers in addition to physical strength..
7. What are some examples of internal, man versus himself conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart?
8. The following lines from Octavio Paz’s poem Wind and Water and Stone contain two examples of metaphor. Identify the metaphors and analyze their meaning.
The wind sculpted the stone,
the stone is a cup of water,
the water runs off and is wind.
9. What are some examples of internal, man versus himself conflict in Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner?
10. The following lines from Anne Winter’s poem Night Light provide an example of imagery and sensory description. What does this mean and what is the effect?
…a hand above your cradle
to feel the humid tendril1 of your breathing.
Outside, the night rocks, murmurs … Crouched
in this eggshell light, I feel my heart
slowing, opened to your tiny flame
as if your blue irises mirrored me
as if your smile breathed and warmed…
* Read the following excerpt taken from Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner to answer the next three questions:
(1)I don’t know at what point I started laughing, but I did. (2) It hurt to laugh, hurt my jaws, my ribs, my throat. (3) But I was laughing and laughing. (4) And the harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me, punched me, scratched me. (5) “WHAT’S SO FUNNY?” Assef kept roaring with each blow. (6) His spittle landed in my eye. (7) Sohrab screamed.
11. The selection illustrates which type of conflict?
12. What is verbal irony? Which sentence from the passage contains an example of situational irony?
13. From which point of view is The Kite Runner told? How do we know? What is the effect?
14. The following excerpt from Amy Tan’s vignette, “The Moon Lady” illustrates which type of conflict?
…firecrackers exploded, and I fell into the water not even hearing my own splash… But in the instant that I began to choke, I knew she would not come. I thrashed my arms and legs under the water. The sharp water had swum up my nose, into my throat and eyes and this made me thrash even harder.
15. What are some examples of a internal, man versus himself conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart?
16. What are some examples of man versus society conflict in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is:
17. What are the characteristics of anecdotes? What is their effect, when they precede a chapter in a novel?
18. The following lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven contain an example of which poetic device? Explain.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…
19. In what historical context did we study Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
20. What are the five elements of characterization we used to analyze fictional characters?
21. Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is studied in what historical context?
22. What are some examples of foreshadowing in Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
23. The following excerpt from Hosseini’s The Kite Runner provides an example of what type of irony?
“While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed, polished my shoes, ironed my outfit for the day, packed my books and pencils. I’d hear him singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed, singing old Hazara songs in his nasal voice.”
24. The sentence, “Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water,” contains an example of which literary device? What does it mean?
25. The following excerpt from Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress expresses the setting of Yong Jing. What moods are conveyed by the setting?
...What is more, Yong Jing had electricity instead of the oil lamps we were used to. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that our visits to town had become an obsession, but at least having to trudge across the mountain to see a film meant getting four days off from labouring in the fields, from carrying human and animal dung on our backs, or from toiling in the paddy fields with water buffalo whose long tails whacked you across the face.
26. The following quotes from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart are examples of proverbs. What does this mean? What are some other examples of proverbs? What are the effects of proverbs in a literary work?
“If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings."
"A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."
“An old man is there to talk.”
27. All of the chapters in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club are considered _________________ because they are short, illustrative stories that can be read alone or in the context of an entire novel.
28. The following lines from Ommateum by A.R. Ammons contain three examples of personification? Identify these lines. What do they mean? What is the effect of personification in a literary work?
Turning to the sea I said
I am Ezra
but there were no echoes from the waves
The words were swallowed up
in the voice of the surf
or leaping over the swells
lost themselves oceanward.
29. The epic story of Sundjata is part of the _____________________ because it has been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
30. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story, “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” eating and food is used as a motif, which works to develop the story’s theme. What themes are developed through motifs in the text?
31. This sentence from “By Any Other Name” by Santha Rama Rau contains examples of which literary element?
Her rimless half-glasses glittered, and the precarious bun on the top of her head trembled as she shook her head.
32. The following passage from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake best illustrates what thematic idea(s)?
At the end of his first day he is sent home with a letter to his parents from Mrs. Lapidus, folded and stapled to a string around his neck, explaining that due to their son’s preference he will be known as Gogol at school. What about the parents’ preference? Ashima and Ashoke wonder shaking their heads. But since neither of them feels comfortable pressing the issue, they have no choice but to give in….
33. Does the narrator in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake illustrates a subjective or objective tone in the excerpt below.
The name, Nikhil, is artfully connected to the old. Not only is it a perfectly respectable Bengali good name, meaning “he who is entire, encompassing all,” but it also bears a satisfying resemblance to Nikolai, the first name of the Russian Gogol.
34. The game of chess is used as a vehicle for which themes are conveyed in Amy Tan’s “Four Directions” and “Rules of the Game.” Because of this, chess boards and playing chess are considered_____________________.
ZIP, RUSTLE, GARGLE, BUZZ, MOO, HISS, SWISH, BOOM, CRASH, SPLAT, TAP
35. The following words are examples of which literary device?
36. Setting, in fiction is analyzed in terms of what elements?
37. How do the following words and phrases relate to one another: parable, greedy sons, father, gold, lesson.
38. What are some major themes about community contained in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” ?
39. What do kites represent in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner?
40. From which point of view is the following passage, from Jhumpa Lahiri’s “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine” told?
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1971 a man used to come to our house, bearing confections in his pocket and hopes of ascertaining the life or death of his family. His name was Mr. Pirzada, and he came from Dacca, now the capital of Bangladesh, but then a part of Pakistan.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Note to Absentees on Writing Portfolio Day
Any student who was absent in class today, June 5th, will need a doctor's note in order to submit his or her portfolio on Monday. Portfolios without a doctor's note will not be accepted. No exceptions.
Check the blog this weekend for study/review questions for the final exam, which is Friday, June 12.
Check the blog this weekend for study/review questions for the final exam, which is Friday, June 12.
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