Central High School

2019-20 Outside Reading Program

Overview

Committees of teachers work together at each grade level to determine the most appropriate outside reading program to prepare and support students through the honors and AP coursework. Works selected have a direct connection to the instruction in the school year. For AP courses, works selected have been identified by the College Board as acceptable texts for summer and semester reading through the AP course syllabus audits.

Alignment

Teachers have vertically aligned the English program from 9-12, so students’ skills build from one year to the next. Each course has a specific skill set and analytical expectation.

Expectations

Students will read the assigned texts. Students should be ready for assessments on the first full day of classes. Students should contact teachers through email if questions arise over the summer. In addition to keeping the mind active and preventing the usual reading skill loss, summer reading assignments also provide an opportunity for early assessment for data-based course planning.

Alternate Texts

If parents or students find a text objectionable, they should contact the teacher as soon as possible, and the teacher will provide an alternate title of similar text structure and Lexile measure. Sometimes teachers travel over the summer and cannot be reached for a few days. They will respond as quickly as they are able. If after a week there is no response, parents may contact the department chair, Judy Sullivan, at  judith.sullivan@knoxschools.org, and she will help resolve the issue.

Principal

Andrew Brown

Central High School
2019-2020 Outside Reading List

Alternate titles will be provided at parents’ request. An asterisk* beside a title indicates possible objections.

English I students should read both titles listed and complete the written assignments.  English II students should read both titles listed for them.   AP Language (11th grade) should read three titles and complete the other written assignments, and AP Literature (12th grade) should read all three titles listed.

English I Honors

*To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (language and content)

In Harper Lee’s classic coming of age novel, young Scout Finch witnesses her small Southern town deal with class differences and racism in the 1930s.  With the guidance of her gentle yet powerful father, she learns how to see the world through the eyes of others and “walk around in their skin.”

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Golding’s book features a group of choir boys stranded on a deserted island by a plane crash.  With no adults, they must form their own society in order to survive.  Two groups emerge and struggle for dominance as Golding explores how quickly society’s structures can devolve.

*********See attached sheet for the remaining assignments.

English II Honors

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

In Bradbury’s dystopian novel, books are burned and television (or its equivalent) is celebrated.  Firemen start fires, and reading must be done in secret for fear of government reprisals.

*The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd (possible controversial content)

This coming-of-age story focuses on a young woman who journeys to a new home to find her true self.

English III AP Language and Composition

The Radium Girls:  The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Kate Moore 

A nonfiction account of the women who worked in radium-dial factories during the years of the First World War, their illnesses, the scandal, and the cover-up, resulting in a scramble for workers’ rights and women’s rights that echoes to this day.

*I am Malala:  The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Christina Land and Malala Yousafzai (violence)

An autobiographical and inspiring account of the Pakistani teenager- the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize-- who fought for the right to an education.  

Read ONE of the four choice novels (The Unthinkable, by Amanda Ripley; In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote; The Girls of Atomic City, by Denise Kiernan; or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot) and choose ONE of the three writing options to complete about the book you chose to read. 

*********See attached sheet for the remaining assignments.

English IV AP Literature and Composition

A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry

This work won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Best Play Award in 1959, the first by an African-American woman.  Hansberry’s story of the Younger family’s decision to leave their Chicago apartment is fraught with the racial, gender, and economic tensions of her time that are still relevant today.
  
Macbeth, William Shakespeare

This classic tragedy highlights the dangers of unchecked ambition. A Scottish nobleman hears a prophecy of greatness and then takes matters into his own hands to assure his success. The consequences of his actions can be traced through his rise and fall; much slaying and bloodshed ensues before order is restored at the end of the play.
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

This first science fiction novel focuses as much on the moral and philosophical realms as on the scientific questions of creating new life. A brilliant doctor sets out to create a new being from spare parts and electricity, then runs away in horror when he succeeds. The creature at first seeks only his creator—both father and god—but when rebuffed by society and his maker, turns to revenge. This frame narrative also includes an adventurer pushing the boundaries of Arctic exploration as it attempts to answer questions of responsibility and hubris.