• E208 Poetry and Independent Reading  

    Summer Reading Information 

     

    Welcome to 208! 

    Throughout the year, we will be examining motivation and decision-making. 

     

    We will ask the question:

    To what extent does fear motivate humanity?

     

     

    As a sophomore entering an E208 class in the fall, you will be responsible for completing TWO summer reading assignments.

    Please read through the information on this handout. If you have any questions over the summer, please contact:

     

    Mr. Cavalieri scavalieri@d211.org 

    Mrs. Micheletto  jmicheletto@d211.org

    Mrs. Selleck kselleck@d211.org

    Mrs. Serafini tserafini@d211.org

     

    There is also a schoology group where you can find additional materials and resources.

    Group Code: 4T34-Q9TT-R3M6X

     

    Assignment #1: Poetry:

    1. Choose TWO of the FIVE attached poems 

    2. Read and analyze each of your chosen poems by completing a TPCASTT chart on each (template can be located on Schoology, too). 

    Here is a sample chart done by a student: TPCASTT Sample

    These TPCASTT charts will be collected on the first day of class and graded; they should be hand-written. No credit will be given to typed charts so we can best ensure it is your own work.   

    Need help with literary analysis or elements? (Use this list of terms to help you)

     

    Assignment #2: Novel: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo


    1. Read the novel with an analytical eye; you can annotate it, but it is not necessary. Below are questions to guide your reading.

    2. Be prepared to complete an in-class assignment/essay AND a multiple-choice test during the first week of class that will prove you read the book.

     

    Questions to ponder while reading:

    1. The author writes the first part of the book switching between the sisters’ points of view in each chapter. In the last section of the book, however, their perspectives are combined, and we often have to figure out who is speaking by context clues. Why do you think the author chose to structure the book in this way? How does your understanding of the sisters change when you start seeing them through each other’s perspective?

    2. Camino and Yahaira both have complicated feelings about suddenly having a sibling. What are some examples of their conflicting feelings in the text? How do these feelings change over time?

    3. Both Camino and Yahaira have close, trusting relationships with other female friends, family, and/or girlfriends. What are some moments in the book where women show up, protect, and care for one another? How do Camino and Yahaira define sisterhood? How do these views change throughout the book? 

    4. What are some of the ways that Camino and Yahaira describe the way they feel after losing their father? What are the similarities and differences in how the sisters grieve for their father while trying to understand him? How does their grief change over time and throughout the book? The plane crash in this book does not impact only Camino and Yahaira. How does the island react when Camino’s papi passes? How is Yahaira’s neighborhood affected by the crash? How are Dominican people everywhere affected?

    5. “My father was the one who always threw the get-togethers, & even in death, he brings us all home” (Acevedo 134). How does their father’s death bring everyone “home”? How can death bring people together, both literally and figuratively? How can death and grieving change relationships between the people who are left behind? How is this shown in the book?

    6. What does Yahaira mean when she says “in the real world I am not treated as a lady or a queen, as a defender or opponent but as a girl so many want to strike off the board” (Acevedo 94)? How are Yahaira and Camino treated by the men in this novel? How does the way you see yourself differ from who the world believes you to be? What do you do when those two things don’t match up?

    7. How does grief complicate Yahaira and Camino's love for their father? What does the reader learn about Papi through his relationships with the women in his life? Why do these women  and daughters love him and hold him in high esteem despite his flaws?

    1. What silences both sisters when they want to talk with the adults in their lives about what’s happening to them?

    2. How do the motifs of chess and water contribute to the meaning of the text?

    3. In the author’s note at the end of the book, Acevedo shares the details behind the tragic November 2001 plane crash that inspired her novel. She talks about “who matters and deserves attention in the media.” Were you aware of this history before reading the novel? If not, did reading about it at the end change your thoughts about the book? 
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