PRE-AP SUMMER READING
8th Grade
Welcome to 8th grade Pre-AP!
In English Language Arts (ELA) next year, you will continue building upon the foundation of literary skills you began developing in your 6th and 7th grade ELA classes, and I will continue to prepare you for the more challenging advanced courses you will take when you get to high school. In this packet, I have included some of the characteristics of good readers; these characteristics will help you compose your journal entries or take notes. Please make sure you have finished your reading assignments by the beginning of school. I will be assessing your reading when you return to classes in the fall, and these assessments/activities will count as major test grades for the first six weeks.
✰✰ You are required to read three novels during the summer for 8th Grade Pre-AP English and complete a dialectical journal containing entries from all three:
Books you will need to read:
The Diary of Anne Frank by: Anne Frank
- Understanding the Qur'an's Style, Narrative Structure, and Running Themes BP128.17 Reda, Nevin 297.1/22721 Advancing Studies in Religion Reshaping the Boundaries The Christian Intersection of China and the West in the Modern Era BR1288.R47 2016eb Christianity-China.,East and West. 266.00951 BD311 Weaver Press Southern Illinois.
- Understanding the Qur'an's Style, Narrative Structure, and Running Themes BP128.17 297.1/22721 Advancing Studies in Religion Reshaping the Boundaries The Christian Intersection of China and the West in the Modern Era BR1288.R47 2016eb Christianity-China.,East and West. 266.00951 BD311 Weaver Press Southern Illinois University Press.
- Reading this note inspires Ponyboy to write The Outsiders as his semester theme for English class. In the note, Johnny says to 'tell Dally' about staying gold, but Ponyboy knows it is too late, since Dally is already dead by the time he reads it. So Ponyboy feels compelled to share what he has learned from his own experience as a Greaser with.
The ELA ⅞ class has been very busy while reading The Pearl. Some things that we have to do are the dialectical journal, theme sheet, and the character trait worksheet. In the dialectical journal, we choose a quote, and then we analyze it. We write why it was significant/important to the story. Understanding the Qur'an's Style, Narrative Structure, and Running Themes BP128.17 Reda, Nevin 297.1/22721 Advancing Studies in Religion Reshaping the Boundaries The Christian Intersection of China and the West in the Modern Era BR1288.R47 2016eb Christianity-China.,East and West. 266.00951 BD311 Weaver Press Southern Illinois.
Anne Frank is a Jewish girl who has to go into hiding during World War II
to avoid the Nazis. Together with seven others she hides in the secret annex
on the Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. After almost 2 years in hiding they
are discovered and deported to concentration camps. Anne's father, Otto
Frank, is the only one of the eight people to survive. Homeless bird unitmrs. parkers 6th grade l.a. class. After her death Anne becomes world famous because of the diary she wrote while in hiding.
The Fault in Our Stars by: John Green
Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley), a 16-year-old cancer patient, meets
and falls in love with Gus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a similarly afflicted teen from
her cancer support group. Hazel feels that Gus really understands her. They
both share the same acerbic wit and a love of books, especially Grace's
touchstone, 'An Imperial Affliction' by Peter Van Houten. When Gus scores an
invitation to meet the reclusive author, he and Hazel embark on the adventure
of their brief lives.
Any novel of your choice listed on the Lone Star Award list Lone Star Reading Lists (2012-2015)
✰Dialectical Journal for each novel - due August 26, 2015✰
Write down important facts over each of the novels.
Dialectical(die-uh-LEKT-i-cul), n. : the art or practice of arriving at the truth through logical arguments
Journal (JUHR-nul), n. : a personal record of events, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary.
What is a Dialectical Journal?
A dialectical journal is another name for a double-entry journal or a reader-response journal. A dialectical journal is a journal that records a dialogue, or conversation between the ideas in the text (the words that you are reading) and the ideas of the reader (the person who is doing the reading). This is what you must do in your journal-keep a dialogue with yourself. In your journal, have a conversation with the text and yourself. Write down your thoughts, questions, insights, and ideas while you read. A dialectical journal can include all sorts of things: class notes, notes on discussions, notes on papers, reactions to readings. The important part is that you, the reader, are reading something and then responding to it with your feelings and ideas!
What type of Notebook Should I Use?
Your journal must be a composition notebook.
What NOT to use:
Loose-leaf paper
spiral-bound notebooks
folders
How Do I Keep A Dialectical Journal?
Your journal will use a two-entry form:
Fold the page in half.
Write the page number you are referring to in the margin to the left for easy reference.
In the LEFT COLUMN, write down parts of paragraphs from our books and articles, quotes, or notes that you think are interesting or important. In the RIGHT COLUMN, write down YOUR OWN thoughts, commentary, and questions about the information you wrote in the LEFT COLUMN.
When I am writing a dialectical journal, is there a right or wrong answer?
Dialectical Journal: Theme Quotesms. Schroll's Ela Classes Offered
No, a dialectical journal shows your own thoughts and questions as you are reading. When you are writing, you should always be as creative and as detailed as you can, and note as many connections to your own life as possible.
✰✰✰SAMPLES OF DIALECTICAL JOURNALS INCLUDED AT THE END OF THIS PACKET✰✰✰
While completing your Dialectical Journal, please use these thoughts to guide your entries.
Dialectical Journal: Theme Quotesms. Scrolls Ela Classes Grade
Remember that good readers:
I love trainsgraffiti movies & documentaries. ✰ jot down words and phrases that are new to you
✰ identify main problems, events, ideas, or themes in the book
✰ think about the importance of the setting
✰ pay attention to characters, their motives, and how they change
✰ understand the devices of style (alliteration, metaphor, symbolism, etc.)
✰ determine the author's purpose and point of view
✰ examine the tone and mood
✰ consider how the text is organized (chronologically, cause and effect, etc.)
✰ think critically about the text – predict, infer, distinguish between facts/opinions
✰ compare the book with other books you have read or movies you have seen
Plot: What central conflicts drive the plot? Are they internal (within the character) or external (between characters or between a character and a force)? How are the conflicts resolved? Why are events revealed in a particular order?
Setting: Does the setting (time and place) create an atmosphere, give an insight into a character, suggest symbolic meanings, or hint at the theme of the work?
Character: What seems to motivate the central characters? Do any characters change significantly? If so, what – if anything – have they learned from their experiences? Do sharp contrasts between characters highlight important themes?
Point of view: Does the point of view – the perspective from which the story is narrated – affect our understanding of events? Does the narration reveal the character of the speaker, or does the speaker merely observe others? Is the narrator perhaps innocent, naïve, or deceitful?
Dialectical Journal: Theme Quotesms. Scrolls Ela Classes Online
Theme: Does the work have an overall theme (a central insight about people or a truth about life)? If so, how do details in the work serve to illuminate this theme?
Language: Does language – such as formal or informal, standard or dialect, prosaic or poetic, cool or passionate – reveal the character of speakers? How do metaphors, similes, and sensory images contribute to the work? How do recurring images enrich the work and hint at its meaning? To what extent do sentence rhythms and sounds underscore the writer's meaning?
Historical context: What does the work reveal about the time and place in which it was written? Om namah shivaya mp3 song 320kbps download. Does the work appear to promote or undermine a philosophy that was popular in its time?
Class: How does membership in a social class affect the characters' choices and their successes or failures? How does class affect the way characters view – or are viewed by – others? What do economic struggles reveal about power relationships in the society being depicted?
Culture: Are any characters portrayed as being caught between cultures: between the culture of home and work or school, for example, or between a traditional and an emerging culture? Are any characters engaged in a conflict with society because of their background? To what extent does the work celebrate a specific culture and its traditions?
Gender: Are any characters' choices restricted because of gender? What are the power relationships between the sexes, and does anything change during the course of the work? Do any characters resist the gender roles society has assigned to them? Do other characters choose to conform to those roles?
Archetypes: Does a character, image, or plot fit a pattern – or archetype – that has been repeated in stories throughout history and across cultures? (For example, nearly every culture has stories about heroes, quests, redemption, and revenge.) How does an archetypal character, image, or plot line correspond to or differ from others like it?
Have a great vacation and remember – 'The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn the more places you'll go.' – Dr. Seuss
Sincerely,
Ms. Amanda Bexley
abexley@rockdaleisd.net
Dialectical Journal: Theme Quotesms. Schroll's Ela Classes For Beginners
Exemplary Sample of a Dialectical Journal Entry
Inadequate Sample of a Dialectical Journal Entry
