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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 __ ﻿﻿﻿﻿Reading the novels //Fire Bringer//, //The Sight//, and //Fell// by David Clement-Davies was a worthwhile decision. When I tried to read those books several years ago, I did not finish them or understand the metaphors used. For example, the first time I read //Fire Bringer//, I was not aware of the symbolism of the character Rannoch's personality; he hated violence and even tried to persuade a wolf to stop hunting his kind (the deer). After I re-read the book this summer, I realized that Rannoch was a metaphor for people who avoid conflict and fighting at all costs. Even though Rannoch saved his life, the wolf declared "'we are enemies, you and I...Nothing may change that...I will hunt you...and your kind'" (Clement-Davies 252); by having Rannoch fail to 'tame' the wild wolf, Clement-Davies showed that not all fighting can be avoided and that people cannot be forced into change.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

Clement-Davies, David. //Fire Bringer//. New York: Dutton, 1999. Print. Be sure that you paragraph clearly focuses on one main idea. For this paragraph, you need to stick to why you chose the book, but you go a bit off-topic when you explain your lack of understanding when you read the book previously. I wonder why you chose to read these books again. __ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ ﻿﻿After reading //The Sight//, I saw a belief of mine confirmed in a theme of the book: it can be incredibly difficult to forgive, even if the person needing forgiveness is a loved one. The primary characters are a family of wolves led by the alpha wolves Huttser and Palla; through a tragic accident, their son Fell is swept away down a river and dies. Weeks later, Fell's mother Palla "still blamed [Huttser] for what happened to Fell...[she] could not say that...she missed Huttser too" (Clement-Davies 302-321). Huttser and Palla did not want to be so distant from one another, but pride and anger kept Palla from forgiving him though she knew it was not Huttser's fault. It takes time for the wolves to get over their grief and reach out to each other again, in much the same way that humans can struggle to set aside blame and forgive.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

Clement-Davies, David. //The Sight//. New York: Dutton, 2002. Print. Better use of the power paragraph structure here. Good evidence chose as well. __ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __ I selected the books by David Clement-Davies because I knew they fit in my favorite book genre, fantasy, and because they explore philosophical subjects using the tribulations of animals. //The Sight// and //Fell//, especially, "challenge[d] and change[d] my beliefs about the world" (Reading Proposal 1) by questioning the validity of legends and religion; they then go on to state that even if our various faiths are fictional, we have to believe in something bigger than ourselves. This convinced me, as I hope it convinces others, that it does not matter what we believe in, as long as it guides us to lead fulfilling lives. Anyone who enjoys gripping suspense and mystery, along with attempts at explaining the truths of life, will love David Clement-Davies' books. Be sure to answer the prompt in the paragraph. You really do not get to the prompt until the last sentence. With relatively minor revision, you could have a great paragraph.
 * *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