SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS – UPPERCLASSMEN

2009

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT—SUMMER READING 2009

ALL STUDENTS IN EVERY YEAR

A Long Way Gone --Ishmael Beah

Global History and Literature

The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)

The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli)

English II

Linda Fairstein-- Entombed

Jon Krakauer -- Into Thin Air

John Steinbeck – Of Mice and Men

English II Honors Summer Reading Assignment

Answer the questions that correspond to each novel.  All responses should be the best work you are capable of doing and should be representative of your writing ability.  This assignment will be collected the FIRST day we meet for class in September.  Late papers will not be accepted.  All work should be typed and double spaced.

A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini

How did you view Mariam at the beginning of the novel?  Did your view of her change as the novel progressed?  Justify your response by using specific examples from the text.

Life of Pi – Yann Martel

The novel Life of Pi is, among other things, the art of storytelling.  When the Japanese men at the end of the novel interview Pi, they do not believe the story Pi recounts about his adventure.  Pi tells them, “You want a story that won’t surprise you.  That will confirm what you already know.  That won’t make you see higher or further or differently.  You want a flat story.  An immobile story.  You want dry, yeastless factuality” (302).  He then tells them a factual version of his adventures.  How does Pi’s first story (the one with animals) make the reader “see higher or further or differently”?  Why is the second story “flat” and “immobile”?  Why does he call the second story “dry, yeastless factuality”?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon

Write a one page letter describing Christopher from the point of view of another character in the novel.  Use specific examples from the novel to make your letter realistic.  Be creative.

English II Advanced

The Kite Runner      Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns     Khaled Hosseini

Dispatches from the Edge      Anderson Cooper

Be prepared to write a comparison and contrast literary analysis about the two Hosseini novels.

English III

It's Not About the Bike-Lance Armstrong 
A Lesson Before Dying-Ernest Gaines

English III Honors

 T.H. White                           The Once and Future King             

Stephen King                        On Writing                              

Jeremy Jackson                   Life at These Speeds                     

 W. Strunk and E.B. White The Elements of Style        

AP English Language and Composition

1984 by George Orwell

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

AP Literature and Composition

The following are recommended readings.  I expect you to read at least TWO books from this list by September, and to be ready to discuss your impressions.  You have probably read some of these books before—great!  Read new ones!  In addition to your choice of two books from this list, you are also required to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.  You will be held accountable for this reading (3 books total, at least) in September.

The best preparation for the AP course and test is to read, read, and read some more.  I hope you look forward to delving into the classic plays and novels on this list, which is based primarily on my own favorites and incorporates titles that come up again and again on the AP.  Look on this list as a gift, and enjoy some of the best forays into the imagination ever recorded on paper!

A word of advice:  You will be required to write a research paper on a work of your choice next year.  You might want to keep that in mind when choosing your summer reading, for many of these texts would be excellent research subjects.

• Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima (1940’s rural New Mexico)
• Atwood, The Blind Assasin (a mystery, and mysterious, novel)
• Austen, anything (an amazing story-teller and satirist)
• Beckett, Waiting for Godot (an absurdist masterpiece)
• Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (sci-fi, relatively easy read)
• Bronte, Wuthering Heights (dark and brooding, and the AP loves it)
• Camus, The Stranger (existentialist—popular with last year’s AP class)
• Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (classic Russian drama)
• Chopin, The Awakening (New Orleans, “feminist” but don’t let that stop you)
• Cervantes, Don Quixote (the original Man of La Mancha)
• Dante, Inferno (which layer of hell would you put your enemies in?)
• Dickens, anything (long-winded but worth it, and the AP loves him)
• Dostoevski, Crime and Punishment (Russian soap-opera, and the AP loves it)
• Ellison, Invisible Man (race, and the AP loves it)
• Faulkner, Light in August (southern) or Absalom, Absalom (his “major work”)
• Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (much better than the movie)
• Heller, Catch-22 (WWII)
• Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls (Spanish Civil War)
• Hilton, Lost Horizon (fantasy)
• Ibsen, A Doll’s House (one of literature’s best endings)
• James, Turn of the Screw (are the ghosts real, or is she mad?)
• Joyce, The Dubliners (short stories)
• Kafka, The Trial (legitimizes paranoia)
• Kerouac, On the Road (the road trip you wish your parents would let you make)
• Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia (not just “children’s literature”)
• Melville, Moby Dick (a big whale, loved by the AP) or Billy Budd (sailor)
• McCarthy, anything from The Border Triology
• Miller, Death of a Salesman (don’t graduate high school without reading this!)
• Miller, The Crucible (Salem)
• Milton, Paradise Lost (the devil as hero?)
• Morrison, Beloved (sad and deeply moving)
• O’Brien, The Things They Carried (Vietnam)
• Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (WWI)
• Rose, Twelve Angry Men (the jury must decide . . .)
• Shakespeare, anything (the master—we’ll read The Tempest and Hamlet during the year)
• Shelley, Frankenstein (there are so many reasons to love this book!)
• Solzhenitsyn, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (a rare short Russian novel)
• Sophocles, Antigone (she dared to stand alone against the state)
• Spiegelman, Maus (a brilliant graphic novel about the Holocaust)
• Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath (long, but lovely), or, really, anything by Steinbeck
• Stoker, Dracula (sex and murder, Victorian-style)
• Tolkien, anything (see if the movies got it right)
• Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (a recommendation from last year’s class)
• Twain, Huck Finn (the American classic)
• Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (WWII and alien abductions)
• Wells, War of the Worlds (the Martians invade!)
• Wharton, Age of Innocence (old New York)
• Wilder, The Ides of March (epistolary novel about the death of Julius Caesar)
• Williams, The Glass Menagerie (delicate exploration of dream and reality)
• Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (an extraordinary account of an ordinary day)
• Wright, Native Son (a young man’s struggle to achieve equality in 1930’s Chicago)
•  

Writing Seminar Honors

David Sheff            A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction                                                                                                

Nic Sheff             Tweak                                              

John Irving             The Imaginary Girlfriend

British Literature: Monsters and Madmen Honors

Mary Shelley            Frankenstein

Bram Stoker              Dracula

Quest Motif in Literature: Honors

Congratulations on heeding the Call.  Although our journey does not properly begin until September, there are a few things you will need to do in preparation for the Quest:

1)    Read Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.  It is dense.  It will require your close and careful attention.  You should know that Joseph Campbell is for many reasons a controversial figure, and that his theories are often criticized.  We will address these controversies and criticisms in September when we get the Quest underway.

2)   Read You Can’t Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe or The Alchemist (O A Alquimista) by Paulo Coelho.  It might be helpful to you to take some basic notes on the characters and plot of the novel, so that you can refer to them once we have come full circle.  You should take your notes on looseleaf, so that they might be included in your Quest binder.  I require that all students keep a binder for the course.

3)   Prepare brief biographical sketches for both Campbell and Wolfe or Coehlo.  For each piece that we read during the year, you will need to do some background research on the author and the work itself.  These biographical sketches should be brief and informal and will not be submitted.  There will generally be a qu’est (quiz/test) before we begin discussing a new piece.  These qu’ests will be based upon your reading as well as your background research.  Since  Hero with a Thousand Faces and You Can’t Go Home Again or The Alchemist are your summer assignments, you can expect the associated qu’ests straightaway in September.

4)   If you would like to get a head start on September’s work, you should know that our first reading assignment for the course will be Homer’s Odyssey.  As part of your research for the qu’est on this reading, I would ask that you not only prepare some background information on the figure of Homer and on the Odyssey itself, but that you also familiarize yourself with the names and stories of the more important deities and heroes of Greco-Roman mythology.  You are, of course, free to complete this work upon its official assignment in mid-September.

Happy reading! Until we meet once again at the beginning, I bid you glad æstivations.  

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

AP PHYSICS

SUMMER 2009

1. Read the book by Richard Feynman,

   Six Easy Pieces.

TASK:  After each lecture, write a brief reflection (150 words per reflection) for each of the six lectures on how the lecture’s particular topic may have taken on a new meaning for you, given Feynman’s perspectives.  DO NOT SUMMARIZE the chapter.  Reflections are subjective viewpoints. 

E-mail your paper to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by

July 20^th.  Use arial font, size 12, double spaced.  Limit to word document files only.  This paper will have the weight of one week’s worth of assignments (25 points). 

2.  Read the book by Michio Kaku, Hyperspace.

TASK:  Choose the three small chapters (not whole units/categories) that have caught your attention significantly and write a reflection (150 words per reflection) for each chapter.  These chapters may or may not be from the same unit.

E-mail your paper to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by August 20^th.  Use arial font, size 12, double spaced.  Limit to word document files only.  This paper will have the weight of one week’s worth of assignments (25 points). 

Late work will receive half credit only, at best. 

Enjoy the readings and have a great summer!!

Modern Language Department

Summer Assignment

Students skipping level I in Spanish

1-Students are to read the summaries for episodes 1-18 of Destinos in this packet.  Spanish II will begin with Episode 19.

2-Students are to complete the included on the Preterite Tense.

3-Students should hand in packet to Spanish II teacher the first day of class.

4-The Destinos link included is where students are to do vocabulary and grammar    exercises.

AP Spanish Literature, 2009

1-Students are to read La Casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca. (Book is provided.)

2-Write an essay of 200 words typed on:

            El tema de la represión de la mujer por la sociedad aparece en La Casa de

Bernarda Alba.  Escoge dos personajes de esta obra y compara y analiza

elementos que constituyen la represión de cada uno de ellos.  Contrasta la

forma en que cada uno responde a la represión que la sociedad le impone.

3-Essay is due the first day of class in September. Return book at that time.       

AP Spanish Language, 2009

1-Journal Writing

Students are to keep a journal consisting of 60 entries. 

Each entry should include the date, weather, activity and reaction to activity. 

Each entry should consists of a minimum of two paragraphs – 6 sentences in each

paragraph. The journals should be in a black and white marble notebook.

2-Movies

Students are to see three different movies in Spanish (Spanish the original language) and write an essay about each. Each essay should be three paragraphs consisting of 6 sentences in each.

3-Essays and journals will be collected the first day of class.

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS ONLY FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE SKIPPING FRENCH 1 AND GOING INTO FRENCH 2!

French 2 Summer Assignment 2009    LOG ON TO SITE BEFORE LEAVING FOR SUMMER!!!

Text: Débuts:  An Introduction to French

On-line work:  http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072897546/student_view0/

Material Covered: Leçon Prémininaire through Chapitre 7

Assignment:  Much of the summer assignment is review and study of vocabulary and verbs.  All of the exercises are online at a McGraw Hill student resource site for the textbook Débuts.  You may take the exercises as many times as you like, and submit to me only the best grades.  You may email the results to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  You should email the results to yourself as well to keep a record.  I should have received all of the results by the first day of school.

Use the textbook gently, but thoroughly.  Each grammar topic is covered by a “Structure”, typically three structures per chapter.  There are also usually two vocabulary sections per chapter.  For the study and review of verbs, please refer to Appendix B.  It is located, as you would expect, in the back of the book, before the dictionaries.  (Appendix A gives some grammar explanation, if you need help there, too.)

If you are having difficulty with a particular topic or exercise, please do not hesitate to email me.  While I will be away for part of the summer vacation, I will try to answer your messages as quickly as possible.

Please do the following on-line quizzes:

Chapter 1:      Vocabulaire 2                        Chapter 5:     Vocabulaire 1            

                        Structure 1                                        Vocabulaire 2                                                                                    Structure 2                                       Structure 1                                       

                        Structure 3                                       Structure 2                                                                                                                                       Structure 3

Chapter 2:     Vocabulaire 1             Chapter 6:     Vocabulaire 1

                        Structure 1                                        Vocabulaire 2

                        Structure 2                                       Structure 1

                        Structure 3                                       Structure 2

Chapter 3:     Vocabulaire 1             Chapter 7:     Vocabulaire 1

                        Vocabulaire 2                                                Structure 1

                        Structure 1                                        Structure 3

                        Structure 3

Chapter 4:     Vocabulaire 1                                    

                        Vocabulaire 2

                        Structure 1                                       

                        Structure 2                                                                                      

Use Verb Appendix to re-learn the following verbs in the present and imperative forms.

Regular Verbs:  

-er verbs, p. 52, including stem changing verbs (p. 139)

-re verbs, p. 181

-ir verbs, p. 255

Irregular Verbs

aller

avoir (and expressions like avoir faim,  p. 94)

boire

devoir

être

faire (and expressions like faire le ménage, p. 116)

mettre (and other verbs like mettre, p. 165)

partir (other verbs like partir, p. 189)

pouvoir

prendre (and other verbs like prendre, p. 165)

venir  (and other verbs like venir, p. 76)

vouloir

Students beginning French 3

Summer Assignment : Après l’Impressionnisme

Je m’appelle ______________________________

Les peintres :  Post-Impressionism : Seurat, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Rousseau ; French Connection : Vlaminck et Derain [les Fauves], Duffy, Matisse, Delauney, Macke

À donner à Mme Morris à la rentrée (with proof of visit to Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum, or another museum)

1. Which artist did you choose?  Why?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. What is the title of the painting?

___________________________________________________________________________

1. When was it painted?

___________________________________________________________________________

1. To which collection does it belong ?

___________________________________________________________________________

1. What is going on in the painting?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1. What specific detail(s) do you notice in this painting?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1. Do you like this painting?  Why?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1. Which painting is to the right of this one?  How does it compare?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1. Which painting is to the left of this one?  How does it compare?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10.  Do you see any connection between this painting and the painting you chose for your first artist project?  Do you see any connection between the two painters?  Why do you think you chose these two painters?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

11.  How is this painting representative or not representative of the artist’s work?

Which books did you consult?

What did they tell you about this painting?

SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies Department

American History Honors:  Summer 2009 Assignment

Welcome to American History Honors.  During the 2009-2010 academic year this course will cover a hefty quantity of information and themes that go a long way to helping one understand the history of the United States of America.

The summer assignments are three unique and purposeful tasks that will help you prepare for the class.  The first is to give a brief overview of the pre-colonial and colonial history of North American with a particular focus on the relations of the colonists with their environment and the people inhabiting the New World.  The second assignment will simultaneously further explain the colonial origins of our nation while introducing you to Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, a text in which we will utilize throughout the year.  The final assignment will require you to complete a dialectical journal while reading Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers.  The journals will assist you in understanding Ellis’ text, preparing for class discussions focusing on the book and the major historical figures credited with the founding and formation of the United States, and as a tool to assist you with the assessments that you will encounter the first week of school.

Assignment #1:

·         Read JMC Readings 1, 2, and 3:  These can be found on the American History Honors Moodle page after July 1, 2009.  NOTE:  If you cannot access Moodle email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

·         There will be a test on the three readings the second day of class. (50 pts.)

·         The readings cover approximately 38 pages

Assignment #2:

·         Democracy in America will be a required text throughout the year.  You are not required to purchase the book (it can be found in its entirety online); however, it be helpful to own a copy.

·         Read Tocqueville’s (not the editor’s) introduction and chapters 1-4 in Volume 1 of Democracy in America:

1.      Introduction:  begins approximately with the phrase “Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States…”

2.      Chapter 1:  “Exterior Form of North America”

3.      Chapter 2:  “Origin of the Anglo-Americans, and Importance of this Origin in Relation to Their Future Condition”

4.      Chapter 3:  “Social Condition of the Anglo-Americans”

5.      Chapter 4:  “The Principle of Examining the Condition of the States Before That of the Union at Large”

·         Complete one dialectical journal while reading the above selections.  (25 pts.)

·         Depending on your edition or chosen medium to read the selections, the readings while more dense and complicated than some cover approximately 50 pages.

Assignment #3:

·         Read Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis (copies can be found in your local library; it is not necessary to purchase)

·         Complete on dialectical journal while reading the book.  (50 pts.)

What is a dialectical journal?

While reading the assigned selection choose quotations / passages that you find interesting or important (it does not have to be a quote from a particular character in the book).  In all, you should have a minimum of 50 items from the book and minimum of 5 items from each of the chapters in Democracy in America.  While landscape format can be helpful, a dialectical journal is set up in the following manner…

I. Intro Pp 13-17
II. The Economic Revolution  pp 18-41

Submit typed answers, in essay form, to each of the following:

1. Describe 3 ways man has organized society to guard against extinction.

2. Discuss 3 “agents (factors) of production” used to fuel economy

3. How did the market system evolve?

III. The Wonderful World of Adam Smith pp. 42-75

Discuss Smith’s background and the prevailing economic ideas of the late 18th century.

Explain Smith’s “Laws of the Market” as best you can.

3. What does Smith have to say about population, accumulation and government with relation to economics?

Global II
Summer Reading List-2009

(PRESENT FRESHMEN GOING INTO GLOBAL II)

Students will read TWO BOOKS. Read one from Category A, and one from Category B.  Students will be given tests on the books from category A and category B that they have chosen during the first cycle of the school year in September 2009.

Category A- Read one of the following:
Cry, The Beloved Country- Allan Paton
A Tale of Two cities - Charles Dickens

Category B- Read one of the following:
Paddy’s Lament- Thomas Gallagher
The Sunflower- Simon Wisenthal
Hitler – Albert Marrin
Mazzini- Denis Mack Smith
Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling-Ross King
My German Question- Peter Gay
Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther- Roland Bainton
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe- Laurence Bergreeen

GLOBAL II HONORS

SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT


READ:

A) THE SUNFLOWER- BY SIMON WISENTHAL

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF THE FIRST PART OF THE BOOK
WRITE A ONE PAGE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION POSED IN THE BOOK, “WHAT WOULD YOU DO AND WHY?”

THE PRINCE- NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE A ONE-PAGE SUMMARY OF THE MAIN IDEAS OF MACHIAVELLI.
EXPLAIN WHAT MACHIAVELLI MEANS BY:
“THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS” 
DO YOU THINK ANY PART OF MACHIAVELLI’S PHILOSOPHY APPLIES IN TODAY’S WORLD?  EXPLAIN

READ ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

HITLER- BY ALBERT MARRIN  

A TALE OF TWO CITIES- CHARLES DICKENS

CAVOUR- DENIS MACK SMITH

THE GREAT IRISH POTATO FAMINE- JAMES S. DONNELLY JR.

THE COMING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION-GEORGE LEFEBVRE

BISMARCK- A.J.P TAYLOR




THERE WILL BE A TEST ON THE BOOK FROM THIS CATEGORY AT THE END OF THE FIRST CYCLE IN SEPTEMBER

ADVANCED PLACEMENT MACROECONOMICS

2009-2010 SCHOOL YEAR

SUMMER ASSIGNMENT



READ FREAKONOMICS BY STEVEN D. LEVITT AND STEPHEN J. DUBNER

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:
- WRITE A ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF EACH CHAPTER (TYPED)
(THERE ARE SIX CHAPTERS)
WRITE A ONE PAGE ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING:
“WHAT DID THIS BOOK TEACH YOU ABOUT ECONOMICS?”


READ ECONOMICS BY MCCONNELL AND BRUE 18th EDITION.
READ CHAPTER ONE “THE NATURE AND METHOD OF ECONOMICS” 
END OF CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS 1-4

TRY TO READ SOME ECONOMIC PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS THE WALL ST. JOURNAL, BUSINESS WEEK, MONEY MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS SECTION, ETC. OCCASIONALLY TO BEGIN TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING.



DUE DATES:  ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON THE SECOND DAY OF CLASS IN SEPTEMBER.  FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENTS INDICATES THAT YOU PROBABLY SHOULD NOT BE IN THE CLASS.

AP World History

First thirteen chapter of the text - Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past

AMERICAN HISTORY

SUMMER READING ASSIGMENT-2009

(PRESENT SOPHOMORES GOING INTO REGULAR AMERICAN HISTORY)

I.     Read any TWO of the books listed in category A below. To check your knowledge of your two selections there will be a test on each of them during the first cycle of the school year in September 2009.

A.   

1. 1776- David McCulloch

2. Killer Angels- Michael Shaara

3. Autobiography of Malcolm X- Alex Haley

4. The Jungle- Upton Sinclair

5. Flags of Our Fathers- James Bradley & Ron Powers

6. Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South
by Don Yaeger, Sam Cunningham ,John Papadakis 

7. The Last Stand of Fox Company- Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

II.    Read any number of books listed below in category B for EXTRA CREDIT

(You will be required to submit a 3 to 5 page typed paper for each selection, which must include:

(1)    A summary of the book

(2)    What you learned about the historical period the book covered

B.    

1. All the Presidents Men- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

4. Only Yesterday- Frederick Allen

5. The Twenties- George Mowry

6. The Longest Day- Cornelius Ryan

7. Day of Infamy- Walter Lord

8. Patriot Chiefs- Alvin Joseph

9. Last of the Mohicans -James Fennimore Cooper

10. Johnstown Flood- David McCullough

11. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin -Benjamin Franklin

12. A Night To Remember- Walter Lord

13. Man Without a Country- Edward Everett Hale

14. To The Last Man- Jeff Shaara

15. The Quiet American- Graham Greene

All of the EXTRA CREDIT REPORTS are due by September 30, 2009.

AP US HISTORY

Summer Assignment 2009

The AP US History course begins NOW! There is so much material to cover and so few days in the school year that your work must begin over the summer and you must work diligently in order to keep from falling behind.  And, in a sense, we are behind    because our school year begins later compared to many schools in other parts of the country that begin  in August. Ultimately, it is your individual work ethic that will carry you to a good grade in this course, so enjoy and get going.

TEXTS and READINGS

We will use Bailey and Kennedy's The American Pageant as our primary text, which is a New York State supplied book that you can get from Mr. Lauber ASAP. But you also need to purchase a review book by John J Newman and John M. Schmalbach, United States History- Preparing For the Advanced Placement Examination (revised edition), an Amsco publication. You have to read the Introduction of this book as part of the summer assignment, so you will have to get it before class begins in September.

SUMMER ASSIGNMENT READING                        

Read and take notes (these notes will be handed in the first day of the class because they will count for a grade. They must be handwritten as opposed to typed or “downloaded”) on the American Pageant chapters 1-8. There will be an in-class multiple-choice test on these readings the first day of class. The site below will prove helpful in preparing for the test questions. http://college.hmco.com/history/us/bailey/american_pageant/11e/students/ace/index.html, It has online quizzes for you to test your knowledge. These multiple-choice questions will give you an idea of the type of questions you will be expected to answer and the depth of understanding necessary to do well.

Also read the Introduction of the Amsco book in order to give you an overview of the AP test and aid you in writing the summer essays.

You will also write 2 free response essays that can be found below.  These essays will be graded. They should be typed, double-spaced and no less than 2 pages in length. They are due the first day of class.

Summer Essays

1.     “ The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having the direct object of establishing an absolute tyranny over these states.”  Evaluate the validity of this accusation made against King George III in the Declaration of Independence.

2.  Though there were many differences in the development of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies, they had much in common. Assess the validity of this statement.

Advanced Placement European History

2009 Summer Assignment

The Western Heritage (Since 1300)  Eighth Edition

Kagan, Ozment, and Turner;  Pearson  Prentice Hall, New Jersey;  2004

pp. 290-315

The Ascent of Money (A Financial History of the World)

Niall Ferguson

Penguin Press, New York;  2008

Read the assignment in the text and the Ferguson book.

During the first three days of school in September, you will be tested on the two assignments.  These tests will comprise a minimum of one-third of your First Quarter grade.

Penguin Press, New York;  2008

Read the assignment in the text and the Ferguson book.

During the first three days of school in September, you will be tested on the two assignments.  These tests will comprise a minimum of one-third of your First Quarter grade.

AP GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

This summer students taking AP Government and Politics should buy A More Perfect Constitution by Larry Sabato.   This book is available in both hard cover and paperback and is available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  It is not necessary to read the book until class begins in September however students should visit    http://amoreperfectconstitution.com/   online during the summer and become familiar with the sight. The text The Challenge of Democracy should NOT be purchased during the summer as we are still determining what edition we will use.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

RELIGIOUS STUDIES II

SUMMER 2009 ASSIGNMENT

The focus of the first semester of Religious Studies II is the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Specifically, we grapple with the question he poses to his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” As a way for you to begin to ponder that question:

1. View the complete video series “Jesus of Nazareth” produced by Franco Zeffirelli (approximately 6 hours in length). The DVD can be rented at most video stores and are available for purchase in most Catholic bookstores and online.
2. To prepare for our discussions, take note of scenes in which Franco Zeffirelli portrays Jesus Christ as one who heals, one who teaches, and one who suffers.
3. In a well-written paragraph, identify your favorite scene in the film. It might be the scene that is most startling to you, most challenging, most moving, most revealing, etc. Be ready to explain why the scene you have chosen is your favorite. (N.B. During the first quarter you will be asked to research and reflect on the Gospel roots of this scene.) Finally, if your parents are able to watch with you, ask them what their favorite scene is too.
4. Prepare for a short test (objective questions and essay) soon after you return in September.
5. Print this page, read the statement below, sign it, and ask your parents to sign it, verifying that you have viewed “Jesus of Nazareth.”

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

In the spirit of integrity and responsibility appropriate to a student of Fordham Preparatory School, I hereby verify that I have viewed the video series “Jesus of Nazareth” in its entirety.

STUDENT SIGNATURE: __________________________________________________

DATE: _________________________________________________________________

I hereby verify that my son has viewed the video series “Jesus of Nazareth” in its entirety.

PARENT SIGNATURE: ___________________________________________________

DATE: _________________________________________________________________

Religious Studies III

Summer 2009 Assignment

Religious Studies III, an examination of the history of the Catholic Church, begins with the Acts of the Apostles and continues through the present day. Throughout the course we will encounter many men and women who have dedicated themselves to live according to the ideals of the Christian life. That life has taken different forms in different people depending on their time and place in history. In Jesuit high schools today, these ideals are described in a document known as the “Grad at Grad,” i.e. the “Profile of the Graduate of a Jesuit High School at Graduation” produced by the Jesuit Secondary Education Association. You should be somewhat familiar with this document already. As you begin your journey through the history of the Church, we want you to reflect on the ideals of the Grad at Grad, by applying them to the men and women you study, and most importantly to yourself.

This summer we ask you to read the full Grad at Grad document, which is available with the summer assignments on the Fordham prep website: 

http://www.fordhamprep.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=291&Itemid=487

Refamiliarize yourself with the six characteristics of the “Grad at Grad.” Write an essay (introduction, body, conclusion) about how you would assess your own development with respect to each of the characteristics now that you’ve completed two years at Fordham Preparatory School. Identify briefly one tangible example of how each of the five characteristics is currently a strength or needs to be developed in the future. We hope your study of Church history will help with that development. That essay will be collected at the start of the year.

We’re looking forward to being in class with you next year!

CLASSICS

Latin III Advanced Honors – Summer Assignments and Grading

Assignments

1.     Read Bks. 1-6 of the Aeneid.  There are many translations available online, in libraries, on Amazon.com, and in bookstores; you may choose any of these.  My recommendation is that you get the book which we will be using in class next year – David West’s translation (which you can find here). 

2.    Complete the following quizzes on Moodle:

a.    assignment #1 – complete Vocabulary I Quiz at least thirty times (30x).  This quiz will be based on only one vocabulary list – AP Virgil Vocabulary (15 Times or More) – and will be due on August 1, 2009.

b.    assignment #2 – complete Vocabulary II Quiz at least thirty times (30x).  This quiz will be based on two vocabulary lists – AP Virgil Vocabulary (15 Times or More) and AP Virgil Vocabulary (9 to 14 Times) – and will be due on August 15, 2009.

c.    assignment #3 – complete Vocabulary III Quiz at least thirty times (30x).  Questions on this quiz will come from three sources – AP Virgil Vocabulary (15 Times or More), AP Virgil Vocabulary (9 to 14 Times), and your reading of Bks. 1-6 of the Aeneid – and will be due on August 31, 2009.

Grading

For each of the three Moodle quizzes, you will have an unlimited number of attempts and only your last attempt will be graded.  In order for your grade to qualify, though, you must meet the minimum number of attempts (30).  Once you have met this requirement, only your last attempt will be graded.  So, if you have taken assignment #1 thirty times, but your last attempt was only a 6.8/10, try again until you get a grade with which you are satisfied.  If, however, you have only attempted assignment #1 twenty times and your last attempt was a 10/10, despite the fact that your score was high, the attempt would not count because you have not met the minimum number of attempts.

These assignments will count as quiz grades and will be calculated in your first quarter grade.  Doing well on these certainly will help you start the year off with three good quiz grades.

NB  If, for some reason, you have trouble completing these assignments, send me an email and we will work something out.   

Sophomore Group Guidance

Summer Assignment 2009

READ:   Fighting Invisible Tigers: A Stress Management Guide for Teens by Earl Hipp;

   Free Spirit Publishing, 2008

   Due Date:  1^st group guidance class

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW after completing the reading.  Please note that all of the questions have multiple parts, and all parts must be answered.  Be specific in all of your answers.  This assignment should be typed (12 pt.) with your name and date at the top of the page.

               Due Date:  2^nd group guidance class

1.)       What was your reaction to the book, Fighting Invisible Tigers?  What ideas did you find most helpful?   Least helpful?

2.)      What causes you the most stress at Fordham Prep?  How did you manage/cope with your stressors last year?  Briefly describe two techniques discussed in this book that you can use to better deal with your school-related stress.

3.)      How can effective time management skills reduce your stress?  What did you do to manage your time as a freshman?  List some ways that you can better manage your time as a sophomore.

4.)      What is positive self-talk?  Give an example of how you might use it as a stress management tool.

5.)      Identify an important goal that you want to achieve, and using the 5-step model on pages 82 and 83 in the book, identify the steps you will take to reach your goal.

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worse.”

- William Penn