Benjamin+P--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 __ My reasons to read __Treasure Island__ as my summer reading book were simple, but they were also fairly legitimate. The reason for this is because I was not interested in any of the books on the list. An example of one of my simple reasons is how my book, “is a book I can discuss with many of my friends and family members.”(Perez, 1) This example is a simple reason to read such a book, but it proved to be true due to how my summer was filled with book discussions with my friends and family members.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

Great job working your ideas into this power paragraph structure. I appreciate your unique desire to be able to discuss what you read, I wish all students shared your passion!

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ While reading __Treasure Island__, I learned that many popular fantasy/adventure movie adaptions of classic novels tend to leave out many of the grotesquely violent scenes contained in the original text. This not only applies to the book I read, but also to many fairy tales such as __Cinderella__ or __The Little Mermaid__. For example, the text from __Treasure Island__ reads, “both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. They did not fall alone; with a choked cry, the coxswain loosed his grasp upon the shrouds, and plunged head first into the war.”(Stevenson, 222) This is a violent example of when Jim, a teenage boy, murdered a grown man. The example stated above would obviously be excluded from any film adaptation of the book.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

Good observation, again I appreciate your insight. This paragraph needs to be a little tighter though. Does it make sense that "while" you read this **one** book you "learned that many popular... adaptations leave out...original text"? This might seem like a small point, but when you are trying to economize your language and structure, it is important to be precise.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ __Treasure Island__ is an essential book for reader who wants to be entertained. This is because the book is a classic novel filled with exciting adventures in unknown places with the most interesting characters. The novel reflects on its content as well, where the prelude to the text states, “And all the old romance, retold exactly in the ancient way, can please, as they pleased of old, the wiser youngsters of today...”(Stevenson, Prelude) In this excerpt, Stevenson tells of how his novel entertains the young just as it entertained the old, and how the story is completely unabridged. This means that the story can be told from generation to generation and still remain entertaining after years of storytelling. Great use of the text to support your point. I wonder if your first sentence could be stronger though. I don't think you would say that this book is merely entertaining, it belongs on every "good reader's" must-read list.
 * *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) Please cite your book!
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning