Summer Reading 2016
All Brebeuf Jesuit students are required to read over the summer according to their upcoming class selection. Students may purchase the book (new or used), borrow from the public library, or read the selection on an e-reader; however, all students should have a copy of their required reading on the first day of class in August.
While there are no outside assignments attached to these readings, all teachers will be assessing students within the first few days of class. (Assessments may include, but are not limited to: essays; objective tests; written analyses; etc.) Thus, annotating and taking notes over the readings is recommended.
Questions? Contact Christina Neukam, Department Chair, at cneukam@brebeuf.org.
The summer reading list by course is below. You may also click here to access a PDF of this list.
English 9 and English 9 Honors
Required Reading: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
English 10
Required Reading: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (the novel, not the play)
English 10 Honors
Required Reading: Choose one play:
- Fences by August Wilson
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (there is a copy of this play in your Norton anthology, which you will purchase for class)
English 11
Required Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
Further Instructions: As you read, think about the following:
“The Other” is a common character in literature, film, television, etc. “The Other” is someone who doesn’t belong, someone who is different, someone who is an outcast. What does the monster in this text reflect? What does Grendel reveal about human nature, and how do the characters in the novel personify these moral lessons? Why is the Grendel the “other”?
AP English Language
Required Reading: Follow the links to read EACH essay:
- John Muir, “Strickeen”
- Jane Addams, “The Devil Baby at Hull House”
- H.L. Mencken, “The Hills of Zion”
- Richard Wright, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch”
- E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake”
- Katherine Anne Porter, “The Future Is Now”
- Donald Hall, “A Hundred Thousand Straightened Nails”
- John McPhee, “The Search for Marvin Gardens”
- Annie Dillard, “Total Eclipse”
- William Manchester, “Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All”
- Saul Bellow, “Graven Images”
Further Instructions: In addition to reading the essays, please:
- Look up and read biographical information about each author (Wikipedia will do.)
- Look up and learn the references and allusions in the essays that you do not understand
- Annotate each essay thoroughly.
- Bring all your notes and annotated copies of the essays to the first week or two of classes.
English 12
Required Reading: Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
AP English Literature
Required Reading: Read ALL of the following
- The Plague by Albert Camus
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- American Primitive by Mary Oliver
ACP
Required Reading: The Paradise of Bombs by Scott Russell Sanders
Further Instructions: As you read the book, look at how Sanders writes, the words he chooses, the organization of his essays, and the use of figurative language. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to just these items. Think about what makes his writing so distinctive. Don’t just look at one or two essays since Sanders uses a variety of different devices.