Summer is the ultimate time of the year to relax. Just think: popsicles (and ice cream and frozen yogurt and all of the best fruits only available this season to top them off with), road trips, late nights followed by late mornings, watching thunderstorms from the porch (a personal favorite), bicycles, picnics, going barefoot...and...
Then your soon-to-be Honors/AP English teacher thrusts an ominously thick packet at you before you can escape, squishing the sense of freedom in which you'd been hoping to roll around the moment the bell rings on the final day of school.
Don't get me wrong, I love reading. I have a massive list of books I hope to read before school starts, and that includes rereading all seven Harry Potter books. But--and I'm sure even the most intense bookworm would agree with me--summer reading projects are a drag.
Usually by the time summer is over, I never want to open that darned classic book again because I've spent hours and days and weeks identifying character, motifs, plot, setting, defining a hundred vocabulary words, rereading each chapter three times, and answering fifty questions. And, without the hardcore analysis, I probably would have enjoyed the book, too!
Summer is the one time I can read for days on end without being inturrupted by homework and studying. It's the one time I can read a million books from my list and enjoy them.
Teachers need to seek the most dedicated students, and a project outside of school is the perfect way for them to do this, so the assignment is understandable. However, the problem is that both of the projects I heaved to my new teacher on the first day of school for both my eighth and ninth grade years were just glanced at. I recieved a check-plus. No comments, no filled-out rubric, nothing. I could have done a horrible job and still recieved a credit grade.
Anyway...
What do you think about summer projects? Are they beneficial or just a waste of time?
What book are you reading for your summer project?
On a brighter note, what books are you going to read for pleasure this summer?
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Don't complain. ;) I have 150 pages of reading to do in two days next week for a lit class. It's almost enough to make me believe in hell.
ReplyDeleteConsidering we rarely do anything with these projects once school actually starts, I'd say they're a definite waste of time. This summer I'm reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Granted, it's a fantastic book that I've already read, so I shouldn't be complaining too much. I'm just hoping the project doesn't ruin the book for me.
ReplyDeleteAs for what I'm reading this summer, I really need to start making a list, because people keep insisting I read this or that. So far I've got Crime and Punishment, Fahrenheit 451, Sophie's List, Gulliver's Travels, The Story of B, and My Ishmael.
Crime and Punishment is a LONG read--12th grade English at Ferris, we had to read it over the summer, and I HATED it. Fahrenheit 451 on the other hand was a good book--so was the movie of it (Julie Christie was REALLY good). The His Dark Materials series was really good, as long as you remember that it is a work of fiction (switch off your religious mind and switch on your secular mind when you read it).
ReplyDeleteCrime and Punishment was a hard one for me to get through too...but still one of my favorite examples of one of those books that you'll find in your grandparent's closets and discover that it's kinda good. :)
ReplyDeleteMy summer project just basically involves as much reading as possible! Plus, working on the school zine is an ongoing project. Love it!
I'm working on Crime and Punishment right now and it's pretty good...I just reached Part 5, which is apparently where it gets more interesting. Sometimes it's really difficult to understand and I find myself counting the pages I have until the next chapter, but I'm hoping the end will speed up nicely...
ReplyDeleteMy summer project is to read Sister Carrie and do this whole analysis thing. I'm hoping Sister Carrie is a pleasant read.
Raskolnikov's redemption is really a thought-provoking part...I'm thinking like the last part where he's in prison. If you like Dostoyevsky, Emi, trying reading The Brothers Karamazov.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely add it to my infinite list. ;)
ReplyDeleteAny other recommendations? I welcome them with open arms and will gladly give some recommendations of my own if anyone wants them.
well...right now i'm reading 'wicked' by gregory mcguire.
ReplyDeletenot so much a 'classic', but ahhhmazing none-the-less! i love it when an author can really take a childhood story and make it something completely new.. :) ..plus - i'm a total sucker for a musical and 'wicked' rocks the house..
Well if you were a guy, I'd say The Illiad and The Odyssey, but you're not, so those are out. I'll gladly swap your summer assignment for my summer class. ;)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved The Odyssey! The Illiad still sits on my shelf...probably try to tackle that this summer, but The Odyssey was a really fun read...
ReplyDeleteBut - just for fun - I'll also probably reread a Harry Potter or two...:D can't resist!
yeah slow down with the stereotyping there, J! I'm a huge Homer fan. Greek epics are exciting and artful at the same time (perhaps it's a reflection of my personality hahaha)
ReplyDeleteThis summer I have 3 assignments
English: Read and Study The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
AP History:Read and outline the first two chapters of our history book,Read and write an essay on two excerpts
AP Bio- Answer questions and read The Beak of the Bird.
yay summer....
Oh, shoot, I forgot that I'll probably have to do something for AP History....
ReplyDeleteSorry Katie. :( *retreats under his rock* Herodotus, Livy, Thucydides. Good stuff.
ReplyDelete