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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 __ In //Fahrenheit 451//, Ray Bradbury did an excellent job on discussing how mass media has taken over the places of books to become so influential in the society; it totally surpassed my expectation. The meaning behind this novel, though hard to understand, is very insightful and can be applied in our daily lives today.Just like the way how recently more and more books are adapted into movies and TV shows and often times lose their originality, in the world of this novel, "Classics [are] cut to fit fifteen-minute radio shows, then cut again to fill a two-minute book column"(Bradbury 54). In my summer reading proposal, I explained the reason why I chose this book was because "Mr. Donelson recommended it and people say it is a classic"( Yang Summer Reading Proposal). A piece of literature becomes a classic when its theme crosses eras; //Fahrenheit 451// is definitely the book that won't be forgotten as time passes on.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **

Bradbury, Ray. //Fahrenheit 451//. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.

__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __ From this novel //Fahrenheit 451 //, I learned the value of books and how knowledge can be used as a powerful weapon. I never fully appreciated the importance of books until I read this novel and see the irony in the story: in a society that was supposedly created for people to have fun without using their brains, people were still not happy. In this story, Montag confessed to his wife, " Happiness is important. Fun is everything. And yet I kept sitting there saying to myself, I'm not happy, I'm not happy"(Bradbury 65). I came to value the power of knowledge after seeing this world that Ray Bradbury created in which not only books are gone, but people's faith, happiness, and hope perish as well.
 * *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **

__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it. __ Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, this book provided insightful but abstruse point of view and therefore is perfect for people who enjoy reading boring books. While the theme of this novel definitely deserves careful pondering, the story plot of this novel is kind of flat; people have to have patience to finish this book. However, after I finished this book, I can totally understand why Mr.Donelson said this is his favorite book, along with //To Kill a Mockingbird//, which is also a dull but meaningful book(I really don't mean to offend anyone who love those two books; I'm just stating my opinion)//.// For people who love to pull out deeper meaning from fictions, this is definitely the right book for them. I understand what you are saying, but can you focus on who would like the book instead of saying what you didn't like about it? I am not reacting to your criticism, it is well-founded, but this prompt asks you to describe a reader who would like the book. Your response will be stronger if you keep your focus more precise.
 * *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