Hayden+J--Sum+Reading

Home Summer Reading Assignment Students

Given the nature of the 2011 summer reading program, you had significant autonomy in selecting the books you would read. While you were responsible for completing a proposal, you were not given other assignments to complete over the summer. As indicated on your proposal form, you are required to write a letter to your 2011-12 Language Arts teacher that demonstrates your thoughtful reading of your book. We have chosen to break this down further into three focused "Power Paragraphs" for two reasons, one, to introduce you to the idea of a power paragraph, and two, to assist you in covering all aspects of the assignment.

__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __ **//Citizen Soldiers// was exactly how I though it would be and more, it contained accurate war stories from people who were there. Stephen E. Ambrose did a fantastic job at obtaining all the stories and statistics form the landing on Normandy to the surrender of the German army. He did a great job of detailing the American and German perspectives, this was interesting for me because I had a Grandfather on both sides of the war. All the facts presented in this book made for an unforgettable read.** Ambrose, Stephen E. //Citizen Soldiers: the U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Print. You have a good start here. Take a look at your first sentence though, could it be revised to focus more on the prompt? You are explaining what drew you to the book and how the book met your expectations.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ Your last sentence would be a good topic sentence for this prompt and your first sentence would be better in the first paragraph.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **
 * I chose to read //Citizen soldiers// partly because I had a grandparent and great uncles and a great grandfather on the american and german sides of the war. My dad also suggested the book to me. The whole book was about WW2 in Europe starting with D-day where my great grandpa fought on Omaha beach. My german grandfather fought against the russians and then went to Africa and was captured. One of my great-uncles was in the SS and the other was in the Luftwaffe. By reading this book i not only better understood the american side but i also learned a lot about the German side of the war. It really makes me wonder what the point is of war when you realize how alike humans are. This book helped me understand what WW2 was like for the every day soldier and how insane war truly is.**

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ ﻿**Anyone who likes reading about war specifically WWII will love //Citizen Soldiers//. My Dad recommended the book to me having read it before and knowing how interesting I find WWII he thought it would be a perfect book for me. The book follows the allies through the entire war within Europe and occasionally Stephen Ambrose gives you a taste of what the Germans were doing and thinking on the other side. If you are someone who is interested in WWII or enjoys first person war stories you will love C//itizen Soldiers.//** This paragraph is pretty good. The only issue I see is in the second sentence, it should develop the idea started in your topic sentence.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **


 * Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **

// An outstanding response to the prompts will include the following: //
 * A strong topic sentence that clearly establishes the focus on the prompt
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book ( put this citation at the end of paragraph one)
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning