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

I heard from all different age groups that Katherine Stockett's //The Help// was a must-read and after finishing it, I agree. This book has an accurate historical element and at the same time a realistic fiction-type plotline that kept my interest throughout the novel. I mentioned in my summer reading proposal that "a lot of my friends liked [//The Help//]" (Miller reading proposal). My friends and relatives were right in recommending it to me because it gave me a new and interesting perspective on southern America in the 1950s that I could not have gained in a more enjoyable way. Good job working with the power paragraph format. I wonder if you could make some changes to help with the flow of ideas.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ //The Help// left me with a new perspective on, as well as knowledge of, southern America in the 1950s. After reading it, I realized how poorly white southern women treated the African American domestic servants who looked after their children and I questioned why society accepted their behavior. If these women had acknowledged the role that their "help" had in raising their children, would they still have treated them as inferior? Why, for example, would a white woman tell her children that blacks were "diseased" when blacks were the ones taking care of her children all day? The maids in the book write their own book describing their experiences so that other people would understand how unfairly they were treated. One of the characters describes the point of the book as "for women to realize, we are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought" (Stockett 418). The help enhanced my knowledge of the extent of racial segregation during that time period, specifically the treatment and hardships that domestic servants endured.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

Stockett, Kathryn. //The Help.// NY, New York: Penguin books, 2009. Print.

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

People of all ages would enjoy reading and appreciate //The Help.// This story, about the influence of African American domestic help on the children they looked after in pre-Martin Luther King Jr. America, is emotionally moving and the developed character relationships are both deep and funny. I believe that the focus on different relationships between women- black and white, high-class and low-class, mother and daughter, maid and employer- makes this book more relevant for women. However the moral lessons would benefit anyone regardless of gender. Southern American culture in the 1950s is examined in a way that makes the reader empathize for the characters in a personal way and deeply question why society condoned this behavior. Anyone who is looking for an emotionally engaging, purely educational, witty, engrossing story would enjoy reading //The Help.// Your topic sentence should have a "big" idea in response to the prompt. You limit yourself by specifying "ages" only. Your last sentence is strong, use it as a model for your topic sentence.


 * 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