Summer Reading Lists

2023 Summer Reading Assignments

In addition to the assignments below, all students will be tested on the book(s) and terms upon returning to school in September.

English 9- Regents & Honors

9 Regents must read:

  • The Boy In the Striped Pajamas (John Boyne)

9 Honors must read:

  • The Boy In the Striped Pajamas (John Boyne) AND
  • Alas Babylon (Pat Frank)

Assignment(s):

Define and study the following literary terms:

1. antagonist
2. character
3. characterization
4. conflict
5. exposition
6. figurative language
7. flashback
8. foreshadowing
9. genre
10. literal
11. narrator
12. plot
13. point of view
14. protagonist
15. setting
English 10- Regents and Honors

10 Regents must read:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

10 Honors must read:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) AND
  • Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)

English 10 R and 10H Lit. Terms for Mastery:

English 9 terms AND...

  1. Alliteration
  2. Allusion
  3. Assonance
  4. Consonance
  5. Dialogue
  6. Hyperbole
  7. Imagery
  8. Metaphor
  9. Oxymoron
  10. Personification
  11. Simile
  12. Sonnet
  13. Symbol
  14. Symbolism
  15. Theme
English 11- Regents

English 11 Regents must read:

  • A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry)

English 11R Terms for Mastery:

All English 9 & 10 terms AND...

  1. Connotation

  2. Couplet

  1. Denotation

  2. Epitaph

  1. Foil

  1. Irony

  1. Monologue

  1. Mood

  2. Motif

  3.  Parallelism

  4.  Shift

  5.  Soliloquy

  6.  Style

  7.  Syntax

  8. Tone

English 11- AP English Language and Composition

AP English Lang and Comp must read:

  • On Writing (Stephen King) AND
  • Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson) ** (Students will need a copy of this book in class during the months of September and October)

AP Lang. Rhetorical Devices for Mastery:

  1. Allusion

  2. Anaphora

  3. Antecedent

  4. Anecdote

  5. Asyndeton

  6. Chiasmus

  7. Connotation

  8. Denotation

  9. Diction

  10. Ellipsis

  11. Ethos 

  12. Euphemism

  13. Figurative Language

  14. Irony

  15. Jargon

  16. Juxtaposition

  17. Logos (logical)

  18. Loose (cumulative) sentences

  19. Metaphor

  20. Metonymy

  21. Paradox

  22. Parallelism (parallel structure)

  23. Parenthetical Idea  

  24. Pathos (emotional)

  25. Polysyndeton

  26. Rhetoric

  27. Rhetorical Question

  28. Satire

  29. Shift

  30. Synecdoche

  31. Syntax

  32. Thesis

  33. Tone

  34. Understatement 

  35. Vernacular

English 12

English 12 must read:

  1. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)

English 12R Literary Terms for Mastery:

All terms from English 9R, 10R and 11R

English 12- AP English Literature and Composition

AP English Lit and Comp must read and prepare for assessments on:

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mark Haddon) AND
  • How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Thomas C. Foster)
    • Students will need a copy of Foster's book in class in September

AP Literature Lit. Terms for Mastery:

An extensive list of literary elements with definitions can be accessed at https://literarydevices.net/, which AP Lit seniors will be responsible for on an assessment in the fall.