Dear English 9 Honors Student, - Mrs. Petrovitch Cousino ...

Dear English 9 Honors Student,

Welcome to English 9 Honors! This will be an exciting class for several reasons, but mostly because it will challenge you and focus on your skills of analysis. This means that we will work together to create a class that is both exciting and thought provoking. This fall will be my 18th year of teaching, and I have taught English for all of those years. I look forward to guiding you through our reading and writing journey during your first year of High School.

Because this is an advanced class, you will need to complete some work over the summer. Please go to for all of the required materials. The assignments are due the first week of class by Friday. After completing the reading, complete the following written responses for submission towards your Quarter 1 grade:

Two Annotated Short Stories (Printed from website) Two Reading Focused Responses One Dialectical Journal (Printed from website) One Narrative based on a horrific experience

Short Story Reading: All stories can be found on my website. 1. Read "The Black Cat". Write a Reading Focus Response that answers ONE of these questions: a. Conflict: Describe in detail one conflict in the story. Make sure to include what type of conflict it is (man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. nature, man vs. society). Use at least two direct quotes from the story to support the type of conflict. Be sure to explain how the quotes support your point. Complete a plot diagram of 5 of the events in the story (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution). The diagram is available on the website. b. Visualization-Imagery: Cite a passage that provides strong, detailed imagery (lots of descriptive adjectives). Describe how this imagery helps create the mood of the story. Use at least two direct quotes from the story to support your response. Be sure to explain how the quotes support your point. Draw a picture of what you mentally see.

2. Read "The Tell-Tale Heart." Write a Reading Focus Response that answers the following: a. Characterization: Describe the protagonist in the story. Make sure to include a physical description as well as personality traits. Also, be sure to address direct characterization and indirect characterization. Use at least two direct quotes from the story to support your response. Be sure to explain how the quotes support your point. Provide a picture (drawn or from a magazine/newspaper/website) of what you think the protagonist looks like.

Each response must be typed in 12 point font with 1 inch margins.

Nonfiction Reading: The selection can be found on my website. Read "I Have a Dream" from Martin Luther King, Jr. Complete a Dialectical Journal (on the website). You may print out the journal and hand-write your response, or you may type your response in the template and print it.

Writing Write a personal narrative horror story (2 pages typed, 12 point font, 1 inch margins). Be sure to include characterization (direct and indirect), plot, mood (emotions a selection arouses in a reader), and tone (author's attitude about a subject). Use Poe's pieces to motivate your style and descriptions. This is a personal narrative, not an essay, so you should share a true story with me about a "horrific" personal experience. A personal narrative horror story that I might write would be about the time I found a mouse in my pantry!

Good luck, and enjoy your summer!

Required Materials:

Sincerely,

Roxanne Petrovitch petrovit@

1 spiral Notebook 1" Binder (English Class Only) Pens and Pencils Pack of Sticky Notes (to be kept in class)

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