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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 __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

I read //A Day No Pigs Would Die// by Robert Newton Peck, which was enjoyable, but not in the way I expected. I assumed that this book would be alluring perhaps because of its moral, its characters' depth, or because of its good use of figurative language. This is what I had in mind while stating in my proposal, “[//A Day No Pigs Would Die// is on the ALA Banned and/or Challenged Classics list], and usually the books on that list are good pieces of literature…” (K. Wu reading proposal). Nonetheless, I realized while reading this book that the controversial language made it a one-of-a-kind story. Commencing the first chapter with a "lovely" scene of calf birth, he writes, “she showed me her swollen rump. Her tail was up and arched high, whipping through the air with every heave of her back. Sticking out of her was the head and one hoof of her calf. His head was so covered with blood and birth-sop that I had no way telling he was alive or dead” (Peck 3). With the first read, I gawked at the intense descriptions, but when I read in between the lines, I could feel that Peck respected his young adult audience's maturity. After reading this book, I hold the utmost admiration for this author as he enhanced my reading experience in the most controversial sections of this story.

Citation

Peck, Robert. //A Day No Pigs Would Die.// New York: Laurel-Leaf, 1972. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

The book, //A Day No Pigs Would Die,// by Robert Newton Peck taught me a little something about birth and death. I should be afraid of neither, as they are unavoidable. When Rob brings up the future of his pig Pinky in chapter twelve, his father must tell him the truth; Pinky is destined to be sausage. What has to happen has to happen, and the truth is that “‘[d]ying is dirty business. Like getting born.’…You got to face what is” (Peck 115). Instead of spending hours, days or weeks of being afraid of the "dirty business", I have realized that I can smell the roses of life, and that birth starts the celebration of a new life, and the pain of death begins the celebration of what was a worthwhile existence. This story reminds me that I should not fear what pain is to come in life, as fearing it won't make it hurt any less; birth and death are no exceptions to this rule.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **

In order to really "get" the book, those who read the story should either be adults or teens. Adults can read for the lessons, and teens can read to make connections. However, as a general statement, a person who should read //A Day No Pigs Would Die// by Robert Newton Peck should be mature as there is "profanity" in this story (the shortness of the book is misleading, it's NOT for little kids). Like //To Kill A Mockingbird,// Peck's book is one of those stories where a young reader might not really grasp the importance of the lessons taught or quotes said, but as an adult, they start to notice the significance of certain details and the little things that someone of a younger age might overlook. Towards a younger audience, I think that teens could relish in themes such as the death of a loved ones, family bonds, growing up, the effect of economic hardships, etc. These lessons learned and connections made bring readers closer to the story and makes the narrative more realistic and enjoyable.

Great job conveying your ideas and using evidence from the text to support them. Now you need to review the power paragraph format to determine how it can help you to write more clear and focused responses to a prompt. I know it is difficult to cut anything from your work, but you will see that what you keep is much stronger than what you had before. Give it a try!
 * Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **

Hi Mrs. Buchholtz, I don't know if you will read these paragraphs again, but I tried cutting some things out that I now thought might be unnecessary. If you are going to look at these again, could you give me some more feedback? Kathy Wu // 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