Use the side navigation to find the Summer Reading assignments for Upper School English and History courses.
All rising 9th grade students should complete the assignment for English IX.
All rising 10th grade students should complete the assignments for English X.
Rising 11th and 12th grade students should complete any assignments for their scheduled electives.
Independent reading is an integral part of the Upper School curriculum in general and the English curriculum in particular. The more we read, the farther we travel. Reading fires the imagination, stretches the mind, and opens the heart. When we read, we exercise skills that improve our critical thinking, comprehension, creativity, and vocabulary. And reading is the surest way to improve your writing skills. Throughout the school year, we expect students to find some time for independent reading, and during the summer we ask all Upper School students to read at least four books, including any books required for classes.
You will find links here for detailed information on required reading as well as creative reading questions about some of the required texts to help you read them thoroughly, thoughtfully, and imaginatively. See also the "Active Reading Guidelines" below, which will help you get the most out of your reading and remember what you've read in September, when you will work with required texts in classes and discussion groups.
ACTIVE READING GUIDELINES
The practices suggested here will help you read more attentively and imaginatively. They will also help you, later on, recall the details of the text and your readerly response to them. We recommend these active reading practices for all your required reading– any text that you will be expected to recall and work with in September:
Mark significant details or moments in the text and make brief comments in the margin to help you recall what you've marked and why.
In a separate notebook or on a blank page at the beginning or end of the book, make a running list of key passages (page number and brief, identifying phrase) that you want to be able to find quickly.
With any text, but especially with works of fiction, make note of recurrent words, images, or ideas; moments in the text that echo earlier moments; or a main character's preoccupations or patterns of thought as they emerge (especially if that character is telling the story, as for example, in the case of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye).
Making connections and recognizing patterns entails reading backward and forward at the same time.When some detail reminds you of some earlier detail or triggers an echo, it may prompt you to leaf back and make note of that earlier moment in the text, as well.
The aim is to make annotating part of the pleasure of reading. Our minds love to make connections and recognize patterns. We honor that predilection of the mind by taking note of it! Make yourself some notes, but don't let the note-taking be a burden, a distraction, or an end in itself. Enjoy the book.
Inevitably, we see more of the pattern and make further connections when we re-read. That's why we spend some time working with the summer reading texts in the opening weeks of the school year. Think of some place where you love to walk or hike: you come to know it better over time, and the better you know it, the more you see. There's a pleasure all its own in re-reading a good book. The first time through, you are getting the lay of the land, making some notes and marking the trail so you can find your way back again.
Now and then, when some passage moves, puzzles, or strikes you with a strong idea, take a few minutes to free-write in your journal or writer's notebook (or even on your computer). It's not just that you will have these notes later on. The very act of thinking-by-writing about your reading, "talking back to the text" now and then in your journal or writer's notebook, will help you remember later on, not just what you read, but how the story unfolded in your mind and heart.