Summer Reading for 2007

Students enrolled at Christopher Dock are required to complete a Summer Reading assignment. Our objectives for this assignment are two-fold: to keep your minds intellectually engaged in the “off” months and to enjoy reading a good book. Our book list is diverse; it includes classic and contemporary texts, and represents a wide variety of authors and subject matter. 

To begin the process of selecting a title, review the reading list and then ask others—friends, upperclassmen, and/or parents—for recommendations. You may use amazon.com or other book-sellers' websites to read about the book and also to read reviews by other readers. The book you select must be from the list. Please choose a book that you have not read before. We are requesting that you purchase a copy of the book so that you can annotate it and bring it to class with you the first day of school.

Rather than writing a formal paper prior to the first day of classes, the department is recommending that you read thoughtfully, responding to the text as you read with a system of notation that works for you. Underlining key lines, jotting notes in the margins, using sticky tabs, and completing a reading journal are all useful methods of reading and responding. You will be required to write during the first few days in response to your reading, using your text and your notes. An oral presentation or group exercise may also occur.

Please refer to the following breakdown of grades and classes for particular book selection guidelines:

English Study Skills:
Click here

Sophomores:

Standard – choose any book from the list

Honors – read The Once and Future King, TH White

Juniors:

Standard – read any book on the list

Honors – choose any title from the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction list

Seniors:

Standard – choose any book from the list

Honors Senior English – choose one of the following options:

·         A book that someone you know personally was glad he/she read at college or wished that he/she had read before going off to college.

·         A book written by an author whose works you have read before and whose works you enjoy, perhaps as your favorite author.

·         A book related to a personal line of inquiry that you have been following during your years in school.