GRADE 9 SUMMER READING & SUPPLIES LIST

  • Heschel High School English Department
    2026-27 Ninth Grade Summer Reading

    Dear Students,

    Welcome to the Heschel High School!  We can’t wait to sit down with you and a good book to begin the four-year conversation we will have together.  

    In our 9th grade English course, we will be embarking on a quest to explore what it means to belong, to leave home, and to return. We begin the year with a dive into your summer read, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. This wonderful and gripping novel will set the stage for conversations that we’ll have throughout the year, as well as prepare you for important Hesed work with the Manhattan Children’s Center  which our 9th  grade commits to for the year.

    1. In preparation for the kind of close reading that is a hallmark of a Heschel English education, please complete the tables on this linked sheet by

    • Citing a passage in the text that stood out to you as beautifully written or moving, and writing a few sentences about why you chose it.

    • Citing a passage that confused or challenged you, and writing a few sentences about why you chose it..

    • Citing a passage that offers a point of connection to your own life, and writing a few sentences about why you chose it.

    • Listing (at least) two questions that this book raises for you that you would like to discuss.

    Print out your completed assignment to turn in on the first day of school. You may complete it by hand if you prefer. 

    _______________________________________________

    We will then turn to Homer’s The Odyssey, a story about an incredible, life-changing journey. In preparation for this text, we’d like you to brush up on your Greek mythology over the summer. Please explore the links below in order to familiarize yourself with the key mythological figures in this epic story and complete the linked worksheet.

    • Please use ONLY the following trusted sources for your research, and carefully cite each source that you use.

    NOVELny - statewide access to electronic resources, including Britannica.

    Britannica.com; Greek Mythology – Mythopedia; Theoi Greek Mythology

    • Please DO NOT simply cut and paste the ‘easy answer” that you get from Google AI at the top of a search page!

    1. Complete this worksheet with information about some of the mythological characters you will meet in The Odyssey. This assignment will help you keep track of names and relationships;  have this information at the ready in the fall. 

    Print out your completed assignment to turn in on the first day of school.  You may complete it by hand if you prefer.  In addition, you will have an open book/open note short assessment on your reading and comprehension of the novel during the first week of school - come prepared!

    We look forward to meeting you and ushering you into your exciting journey through high school as scholars and lovers of English. Until then, we wish you a wonderful summer!  Read much, relax much, and come ready for the challenges of 9th grade.

    Happy Reading!

    Penny Ratcliffe, David Karpel, Lesley Brown and Dorothy Weiss

  • A note on materials for taking notes... Note taking methods vary by class and by teacher. Some teachers require notes by hand, some teachers permit or require computer use. A few teachers require a 3 ring binder, some teachers will permit students to chooseeither a 3 ring binder or a notebook/section of a notebook. Teachers will clarify their unique requirements and suggestions regarding note-taking and supplies on the first day of class.

    Please be prepared with the following materials:

    • Computer and charger - information about laptop program can be found at heschel.org/laptops

    • Large 3 ring binder with dividers (1 for each class) and loose-leaf paper

    • If desired: a 3 section notebook

    • Pens (blue or black)

    • Colored pens

    • Pencils (mechanical)

    • Folder with pockets (1 per subject)

    • Graphing paper

    • Scientific Calculator

      • This should cost no more than $15 and is likely the same as you used in middle school.  

    And...a sense of wonder of and an excitement for learning!

GRADE 10 SUMMER READING

  • ELL10: Self & Other

    June 2026

    Dear Students,

    Congratulations on completing your freshman year! In preparation for tenth grade English, please read Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen. Please read this text towards the end of the summer so that it is fresh in your mind for the first day of school. Here are some questions to think about and annotate for while you read: 

    1. How do our relationships with our family members shape and influence our sense of self?

    2. How does our relationship with the community in which we live shape our thinking and feelings about our identity?

    3. How do cultural misunderstandings, biases and stereotypes impact us?

    4. What happens when we find our beliefs and sense of self at odds with our family? Community? 

    5. How does it feel to be an “outsider”?

    In addition to reading The Chosen, please read one additional book of your choice. As a suggestion, you might enjoy William Kent Krueger’s novel Ordinary Grace, Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys or Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half.

    These books, along with The Chosen, are books we love, which we think you will love as well. Use the guiding questions and read actively: note passages that move you, reveal a character’s nature, reflect significant themes, challenge your preconceived notions, or relate to your life in some other way. Pay attention to the point of view and write down your reactions to it. This is the kind of reading you practiced in 9th grade, and it is the sort of reading that you will use throughout high school and beyond. 

    For the first day of class, please complete this assignment or use your own lined notebook paper. Bring a hard copy of your work with you to class. For The Chosen and your choice book:

    • Annotate in your book and cite a passage that confused or challenged you. Cite the page(s). Write the context of the passage, and, in a few sentences, explain why you chose it. 

    • Annotate in your book and cite a passage that moves you or is especially beautiful. Cite the page(s). Write the context of the passage, and, in a few sentences, explain why you chose it

    • Annotate in your book and cite a passage that offers a point of connection to your own life. Cite the page(s). Write the context of the passage, and, in a few sentences,  explain why you chose it. 

    • Write two specific questions you would like to discuss about a character, tension or conflict in the book. Be sure to provide context for each question.

    To cite a passage (a few sentences to a paragraph), cite the first four and last four words and include a page number reference. Ex: “We batted and threw the ball around, and it was warm and sunny, and there was the smooth, happy feeling of the summer soon to come, and the tight excitement of the ball game” (Potok 6).  You will use this worksheet for an assessment during the first full week of school.

    Your questions and observations will enrich and guide our class discussions upon returning to school in September. We hope that your summer is filled with relaxation and self-discovery. 

    Happy reading!

    Jodi Posner, David Karpel, Lesley Brown

  • Summer Reading for the Rising Tenth Grade, 2026-2027

    At the end of your ninth grade social studies course, you evaluated how eighteenth century revolutions took inspiration from Enlightenment ideals such as liberty and equality but also fell short of those ideals in some ways. This coming year, in our tenth-grade social studies course covering the nineteenth century, we will see how Americans grappled with perhaps the greatest failure of their revolution – the failure to abolish slavery. No one in the nineteenth century more eloquently demanded that the US live up to its founding ideals than Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery in 1818. Reading the words of someone who experienced it firsthand and escaped to tell his story allows us to understand the reality of slavery.

    Your social studies reading for the summer, and the subject of your first essay in the fall, will be the 1845 edition of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. You have been provided with a copy of the Dover Thrift Edition. If you lose your copy, make sure you purchase and use that edition so that we can all refer to the same pages during discussions.

    Before the first day of class, read the entire book (though you may skip the prefaces and begin on page 1 – the whole book is only 76 pages!). Then use the questions below to guide your reading and your annotation of the book. You will be graded on your annotations. But note! The goal here is not to annotate as thoroughly as a four page homework assignment. You should try to annotate in a way that answers the guiding questions and also highlights parts of the text that you think will be important to discuss in class when we return in the fall. You do not need to have every page fully marked up, but we should be able to see that you found relevant passages for each question and noted thoughts about many of them. 

    When you return, your first writing assignment of tenth grade will be on this book. So, use the summer to set yourself up well for a strong start to the year. 

    *Note that the book contains descriptions of both physical and verbal violence and cruelty. Specifically, Douglass wrote out the “N-word” when directly quoting others in order to accurately report the insults and abuse that he and other enslaved people faced. 

    Chapters 1-2

    1. How does Douglass describe his relationship with his mother? What might this help us understand about life in slavery?

    2. Why does Douglass’s “master” brutally whip Aunt Hester? How does witnessing this “bloody transaction” affect Douglass?

    3. What are working and living conditions like on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation?

    4. How does Douglass describe and interpret the songs that he hears enslaved people sing? 

    Chapters 3-4

    1. Douglass claims that the enslaved quickly learn that “a still tongue makes a wise head.” What does he mean?

    2. What reasons did Douglass say that enslaved men often speak highly of or even boast about their “masters,” even to the point of brawling among themselves? 

    3. How does Douglass describe Austin Gore in his role as an overseer on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation? 

    4. Why does Mr. Gore feel he must shoot Demby? How does the community react to Mr. Gore’s logic? 

     

    Chapters 5-6

    1. How does Douglass describe the experience of childhood as a plantation slave? How does this shape how he views leaving Colonel Lloyd’s plantation?

    2. How does Sophia Auld initially treat Douglass? How and why does her behavior change?

    3. Why does Hugh Auld forbid his wife to teach Douglass to read? What effect do his words have on the boy?

    4. Douglass notices a “marked difference” in the treatment of those enslaved in towns or cities like Baltimore. How was this different from the treatment of those enslaved on plantations, and why? 









    Chapters 7-9

    1. What early readings make the most impression on Douglass? What moral does he draw from The Columbian Orator?

    2. How does Douglass describe the valuation and division of enslaved people after Captain Anthony’s death? What does it demonstrate about the institution of slavery?

    3. According to Douglass, why are outwardly devout Christians often the cruelest in their dealings with the enslaved?

    4. Why does Thomas Auld decide to send Douglass to the “slave-breaker” Edward Covey? How did Covey get his reputation, and how does he benefit from it?

     

     Chapter 10

    1. Why does Douglass decide to fight back against Covey? For the enslaved, striking a White man is punishable by death. Yet Covey never reports the fight. Why, according to Douglass?

    2. How did enslavers encourage the enslaved people to spend the Christmas holidays? In what ways does Douglass argue that these holidays helped to maintain the system of slavery, discouraging rebellion or escape?

    3. What significance does Douglass give to his “Sabbath school” that he ran for other enslaved people? 

    4. Why do White workers at the Baltimore shipyard so oppose having Douglass and other African Americans, enslaved or free, work alongside them? What sort of effect do you think this reality would have on an escaped slave?

     

    Chapters 11

    1. For what reasons does Douglass change his name?

    2. Why is Douglass “disappointed” with the appearance of New Bedford, Massachusetts? What did he expect to find in a free society?

    3. How does Douglass become involved in the abolition movement? How does his involvement build on his earlier life experiences?

GRADE 11 SUMMER READING

  • Dear Students,

    Welcome! Eleventh grade awaits you and you are in for a treat. If you know the experience of finishing a book and envying those who have yet to read it, you’ll understand how we feel about eleventh grade English. Our year, which focuses on American literature, includes writers who rank among the best conversation partners we’ve had. These are texts we never tire of reading and rereading. We can’t wait to sit down with you, a book, and a pencil to begin the discussion. 

    There are two required reads this summer:

    I. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien

    This book is a wonderful read. We are confident that it will offer you excellent company over the summer. Please read it towards the end of the summer so that it will be fresh in your mind when we discuss it.

    If you don’t know very much about the Vietnam War, we would strongly encourage you also to watch one (or more!) of the following films or documentaries about the war for important context. All are available for free or to rent on one or more of the streaming services.

    • The brilliant 2017 documentary series The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, especially episodes 4, 5 and 6.  

    • The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino, 1978

    • Platoon, Oliver Stone, 1986

    • Full Metal Jacket, StanleyKubrick, 1987

    • Born on the Fourth of July, Oliver Stone, 1989

    Vocab list for The Things They Carried

    II. One of the books listed below:

    Franny and Zooey – J.D Salinger; The History of Love – Nicole Kraus;  How Much of These Hills Is Gold – C Pam Zhang; Zeitoun - David Eggers; Their Eyes Were Watching God –Zora Neale Hurston

    For each book, bring the following completed assignment to school on the first day to submit in hard copy. You may use this linked sheet to complete the assignment by hand or use lined notebook paper. 

    • Cite a passage that stood out to you as beautifully written or moving, and offer a reason.

    • Cite a passage that confused or challenged you, and offer a reason.

    • Cite a passage that offers a point of connection to your own life, and offer a reason.

    • List two questions that the book raises for you that you would like to discuss.

    In addition, you will have an open book/open note short assessment on your reading and comprehension of the novel during the first week of school - come prepared!

    We hope, of course, that you will read more than these two required books. If you are at a loss for what your other reads should be, you may want to browse our suggested reading list at this link. We also invite you to stop by and chat with us about our recommendations. 

    Enjoy your summer! Relax. Breathe. Play. Read. We look forward to seeing you in the fall.

    Penny, Ari, Stefan, and Lesley

  • Summer Reading for Social Studies - Rising Grade 11


    Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns, Vintage Books, 2011

    You can purchase this book through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, bookshop.org, or your local neighborhood bookstore. We recommend that you order a copy as soon as possible. You may also want to search for a used copy through other vendors listed on Amazon, eBay, etc. 

    NOTE: YOU MUST PURCHASE AND READ A PHYSICAL COPY OF THE BOOK; YOU SHOULD NOT READ THIS AS AN E-BOOK.

    Dear Rising Eleventh-Graders:

    Your reading this summer, and the subject of your first essay in the fall, will be Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.

    Trapped in poverty, subjected to daily humiliations, often terror, and denied a political voice guaranteed to them in the Constitution, more than five million African-Americans voted with their feet between 1910 and 1970. They left the Jim Crow South for uncertain futures in the cities of the North and West, thereby profoundly changing the country’s demographics and culture. Much of our subsequent history makes little sense without understanding this exodus. Wilkerson narrates the Great Migration through close study of three people: Ida Mae Gladney, who settled in Chicago; George Starling, who found his way to Harlem; and Robert Forster, who lit out for Los Angeles.

    We highly recommend that you read the entirety of this Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, but, given the length of the book, you MAY choose to skip the story of Robert Foster. The pages about Foster are listed on the next page. 

    As you read, keep in mind the broad questions below. For your first graded assignment upon your return in September, you will submit annotations on relevant material. You may take notes in the book itself (including Post-its, if you wish) or by hand in a spiral notebook. 

    • Wilkerson writes of the “absurdities” of the caste system in the South while fully understanding the brutal logic that underlay it. What social functions(s) did that caste system serve?

    • The book stresses the “push” factors that forced African-Americans out of the South. What factors also “pulled” them to destinations outside of it?

    • How did life, whether in the North or the West, both fulfill, and profoundly disappoint, these migrants?

    • How did the de jure [legally mandated] segregation of the South differ from the de facto [not legally mandated but existing in fact] segregation of cities like New York?

    • How did the life paths of the migrants and their children differ from those of the families and neighbors they left behind?

    • How does the Great Migration help to explain race relations today?

    IF you choose to skip Foster’s life story, you may jump over these pages. 

    Robert Joseph Pershing Foster: 113–22; 139–48; 157–60; 160–4; 172–6; 177–9; 186–9; 193-6; 199–213; 215–6; 216–221; 230–7; 238–41; 253–9; 260–7; 280–4; 297–301; 309–14; 327–31; 345–8; 348–50; 361–3; 364–70; 381–4; 401–5; 407–19; 422–31; 441–7; 451–4; 460–4; 471–3; 477–80; 488–90; 494–506; 527–38; 539–43.

GRADE 12 SUMMER READING

  • June 2026

    Dear Incoming 12th Graders, 

    Welcome to our senior elective, The Silenced Speak. I am looking forward to a wonderful and exciting year of learning together. To get us started, this summer, please read Circe by Madeline Miller. You may remember Circe, a beautiful witch goddess with great powers whom Odysseus meets on his travels home (and who turns men into pigs, the animal they most resemble in their boorish behavior). In The Odyssey, Circe is the enemy, threatening Odysseus’ return to his loving family. Miller retells this myth from Circe’s perspective as an assertive woman in a male dominated world.  

    As  you read, consider the following questions:

    • The novel begins, “When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.” Why might this be?

    • Circe needs to create a voice for herself. Note the various ways Miller describes Circe’s voice. Why might Miller imbue Circe’s voice with these particular qualities?

    • We also hear from a variety of other women, like Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, the goddess Athena, Circe’s sister Pasiphae, and our favorite “barbarian” Medea. Are these women successful in creating a voice for themselves outside the shadow of men? Do they give us new insight into characters who did not have much of a voice in the dominant narrative?

    • We see physical, emotional and intellectual transformations in the novel. What purpose do these transformations serve? 

    • What central challenge does Circe grapple with in the novel?

    • Consider the appearance of witchcraft in the novel. What do the powers displayed by Helios’ children reflect about human nature? Society’s fascination with witches and witchcraft? Sexuality and power?

    • In the original myth, it seems that it is men’s right to exercise control over women and their bodies. How does Miller respond to this misogynistic fantasy? 

    • Do women still face any of Circe’s challenges today?

    In addition to Circe, you will read The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel-in-verse centered around the life of 15 year old Xiomara. She, like Circe, faces many challenges and grapples with how to find her  voice. Both texts center around the themes of silence, identity, sexuality, family expectations, and transformation. I hope you find each of these narratives stirring and powerful. We will put these two texts in conversation to start our year together. 

    Please read Circe and The Poet X actively. Note passages that move you, reveal a character’s nature, relate to your life, or push you to rethink your preconceived notions. Ask questions about each text during and after reading. Pay attention to the point of view, and write down your reactions and feelings to it. Consider how each text questions societal and familial norms to offer us a new or overlooked perspective and why it matters.  I encourage you to complete your summer reading in August, so it is fresh in your minds for our class discussions and your first writing assignment. Here is a worksheet that you must complete and upload to Schoology on our first day of class. Your questions and observations will enrich and guide our conversation upon returning to school in September. 

    Enjoy a summer filled with relaxation, self-discovery and transformation.

    Jodi

  • Rabbi Heschel: “To do justice is what God demands of every man: it is the supreme commandment, and one that cannot be fulfilled vicariously.” 

    Dear Seniors, 

    Welcome! I  am so looking forward to meeting you in the fall, digging into the rich material that awaits us, and exploring, through literature, the concept of justice together.  Here are some of the essential questions we will consider in this course: 

    • What exactly IS justice? 

    • What are the characteristics of a “just” society? 

    • How should mercy temper justice?  

    • Do we believe in “an eye for an eye” punitive justice, or restorative justice that seeks to rehabilitate offenders? 

    • What do we do about injustice, both current and historical, political and personal? 

    • How do we navigate situations in which we witness or experience unjust treatment of ourselves or others?

    In preparation for our dive into these complicated discussions, please read Truman Capote’s famous and beautifully written “true-crime” novel In Cold Blood (we might call it creative non-fiction). It’s best to read it towards the end of the summer, so that it is fresh in your mind.  The book explores a chilling case of murder in a small Kansas town and its aftermath.   Consider the following questions as you read and annotate, make some notes about each question in a new notebook, (provided) and list two or three more that you would like to address when we talk about the novel in class: bring these notes to class to submit on the first day.  

    1. The novel’s epigraph is a quote from the medieval French poet François Villon’s poem Ballade des pendus (“Ballad of the Hanged Men”), written - it is believed - as he awaited his execution.  Here is a translation:

    Brothers in humanity who live after us,

    Do not harden your hearts against us,

    For, if you take pity on us poor men,

    God will sooner have mercy on you.

    Why do you think Capote chose this as the epigraph for In Cold Blood?

    1. How does the structure of this novel, switching back and forth between the Clutter family, the investigation, and the murderers, suit Capote’s purposes here?

    2. How did (a) the autobiographical statements and (b) the psychiatric evaluations of Smith and Hickock affect your view of them? Were they sane? Should they have been held accountable? 

    3. Research the M’Naghten Rule  (and here’s another link) that prevented the psychiatric evaluations being used by the defense in court.  Should these evaluations have been admitted in your view? Why/not?

    In addition, you will have an open book/open note short assessment on your reading and comprehension of the novel during the first week of school - come prepared!

    As we consider issues of social justice in our own country, we also want you to engage books from writers whose work directly addresses these issues. 

    Please choose at least ONE of the following books to read: 

    • The Central Park Five - Sarah Burns

    • The Other Wes Moore - Wes Moore

    • A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest P Gaines

    • Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson

    In addition to these, as you prepare for the rigor of a senior English elective, we strongly recommend that you read one other book (at least!) of your choosing this summer.  Browse the English Department goodreads website in making your choice, or visit our newly stocked school library.  I have a few suggestions that would fit well with the elective, but you are welcome to pick anything you fancy.  Here are my suggestions: anything by Scott Turow; John Grisham: The Pelican Brief or The Client; Kamila Shamsie: Home Fire; Colm Tóibίn: House of Names; Asim et al: Not Guilty: Twelve Black Men Speak Out on Law, Justice, and Life; William B. Crawford: Justice Perverted; Stephen King: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.

    Can’t wait to see you all - in the meantime, enjoy the summer! Read much! Relax much! Enjoy much!

    Penny

  • Dear Rising Seniors,

    I’m so excited to dive into The Stories We Retell - Remixes, Adaptations and Transformations with you this fall. This course will explore how and why artists inspire one another to retell old stories in new ways, and why we tell and retell so many of the same tales again and again and again. 

    To get us started, please read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë this summer—ideally in August, so it is fresh in your mind. That said, this is not a short novel, so give it some time, and give Brontë’s long, descriptive passages a chance, for what unfolds is a juicy tale of love, independence and self-respect. 

    I urge you to resist the temptation to find a shortcut through this classic novel that pioneered so many of the tropes we see repeated today. Once we settle in in the fall, we’ll read Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys’ post-colonial transformation of Jane Eyre, and examine how she remade Brontë’s story. So grab a blanket, go to the Great Lawn, and spend some afternoons with Jane Eyre. 

    Read the book with a pencil in hand. If you love annotating—great, go to town! If you don’t love annotating, here’s what you should do: Jot down some symbols in the margins: an asterisk (*) for a passage worth noting, a question mark (?) for a puzzling moment; circle meaningful phrases; underline passages that strike you; or just react (a well-placed “WTF?” is welcome!). Finally, scribble a few words at the end of each chapter: this will go a long way towards helping you keep track of events in a lengthy narrative when we’re in school and you have to do a passage analysis one week in (don’t say I didn’t warn you!).

    In a fresh notebook (this will be the notebook you use for the elective throughout the year), answer the following questions (you should write a couple of paragraphs in response to question 1 and a paragraph each for questions 2 and 3):

    1. How do you feel about this book? What surprised you? What inspired you? What challenged you? What infuriated you? Write in some detail about your reactions along the way.

    2. There are footnotes throughout the text. Choose two that are interesting to you and explore why they strike you (some are about Biblical references that might be familiar to you; feel free to bring your own knowledge of the Torah to bear). 

    3. If you were to take a piece of this story—a character, a setting, a storyline, for example—and transform it into a new story, how might you do this? What would you focus on? Why would you choose these elements? What form would it take (novel, film, TV, painting, music, etc.), and why? What would be the point of your transformation of this story?

    4. Write three questions you would like for us to discuss in class.

    In addition to Jane Eyre, you will choose one of the following novels, which were inspired by stories from the Torah:

    A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet: This is a quick, wild, funny, and dark read set in a near-future apocalypse that evokes many biblical events (including from the New Testament). Think Lord of the Flies but in the Hamptons. 

    God Knows by Joseph Heller: the story of King David told with a 20th-century, Jewish sensibility—meaning, it is funny, sad, and perhaps sacreligious. 

    East of Eden by John Steinbeck: A sweeping retelling of Cain and Abel set in newly settled California. Choose this one if you want another long but juicy read. For a 100-year-old book, it is surprisingly tawdry and fun! It’s actually coming to Netflix this fall as a limited series starring Florence Pugh and Christopher Abbott, so this is a great chance to prepare to watch that adaptation. In the meantime, there is a wonderful, classic, Elia Kazan-directed film version from 1955, starring James Dean, but that only covers the last section of the novel. 


    For the second book, record the following in your notebook:

    1. Write a response paragraph: What did you make of your chosen book? How did it make you feel? 

    2. Use some of your Heschel-given knowledge of the Torah as a lens through which to evaluate an aspect (of your choice) of the book. Place the Torah in conversation with the book. 

    3. Cite a passage that moves you, challenges you or confuses you - and explain why.

    4. List two or three questions that you would like to explore further in class.

    I can’t wait to see you all in class soon. Have a great summer!

    Truly,

    Ari Karpel

  • Twelfth Grade 2026-27

    Dear Seniors,

    Welcome to your final Heschel English class! I’m excited to share it with you. In this course we will explore human nature by focusing on individuals and their stories, looking at how they shape and are shaped by the society they inhabit, and the experiences they undergo. Here are some essential questions we will consider.

    • What are the influences that shape individuals?

    • How is a person’s understanding of the world shaped by these influences?

    • How do people make sense of and create meaning from their experiences?

    • How do the choices made by individuals affect society as a whole?

     

    By delving into the psyche of individual characters, we will perhaps better understand ourselves and find more compassion for each other and the world around us.


    Your required summer reading is The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls. I encourage you to read the book with curiosity and a pen in your hand. As you read, mark passages that describe key incidents in Jeannette’s development. When you finish the book, choose three of those incidents. In a new notebook (provided), write a paragraph for each incident describing what occurred and how you think it shaped Jeannette’s thinking or feelings towards her family members and how it influenced her life choices. 

    In addition, you will have an open book/open note short assessment on your reading and comprehension of the book during the first week of school. Come prepared!

    You will also read one of the following:

    • Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

    • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

    For the second book, record the following in your notebook. Include the page numbers for the passages you choose.

    1. Copy out a passage that you find particularly beautiful, moving or disturbing. Write a few sentences about your reaction to it.

    2. Copy out a passage that connects to your own life. Explain in a few sentences.

    3. List two questions that you would like to explore further.

    I will check your annotations and collect your notebooks on the first day of class. 

    I am so looking forward to our work together. 

    In the meantime, happy summer!

    Anna

  • Dear Incoming 12th Graders,

    I'm delighted to welcome you to our senior elective, Moral Dilemmas in Literature, and I look forward to exploring some of the deep moral questions that great literature offers.  To get us started, please read over the summer Kamila Shamsie's 2017 novel Home Fire.  I encourage you to read it in August, so that it is fresh in your mind.


    Read the book actively.  Note passages that move you, reveal a character's nature, reflect significant themes, relate to your life, or push you to rethink your preconceived notions.  Ask questions of the text during and after reading.  On some clean notepaper, answer the following questions:

    • Characters in the novel make life-altering decisions that have consequences both for themselves and for others whom they love.  Within the context of the novel, consider the competing demands of family loyalty and political action; is there ever a way to navigate both successfully?

    • Isma's sister Aneeka asks, "What would you stop at to help the people you love most?"  Is there a limit to the actions you should take to help a loved one?  What do you make of the actions Aneeka takes to help her brother?

    • Shamsie dedicates her novel to Gillian Slovo, a writer whose parents were active in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa; her mother was assassinated by South African forces in 1982.  The 1987 film A World Apart is a memoir of the family's journey, and Slovo also wrote a memoir called Every Secret Thing: My Family, My Country, published in 1997.  Shamsie's novel in part explores the responsibilities of a parent to their children if called by what seems a greater vocation.  Once you have read the novel, where do you think Shamsie lands in her view of these responsibilities?

    You should write at least a paragraph in response to each question.  Please also make a list of 2–3 additional questions that you would like to discuss when we talk about the novel in class.  You will turn in these notes on the first day of class.

    In addition, you will have an open book/open note short assessment on your reading and comprehension of the novel during the first week of school — come prepared!

    In addition to Home Fire, please read one (or more!) of the books listed below:

    • The Children Act (Ian McEwan)

    • An American Marriage (Tayari Jones)

    • Reunion (Fred Uhlman)


    As with Home Fire, read your chosen book actively.  On some notepaper, please copy out a passage that moves you, a passage that challenges or confuses you, and a passage that relates in some way to your life or your world.  (Make sure to note the page numbers for each passage.)  Finally, write down two questions you'd like to discuss.  I will collect all  your work on the first day of class.

    I hope you have a summer filled with relaxation and self-discovery.

    Stefan

  • Twelfth Grade 2026-2027
    Summer Reading: The Modern Age in Verse

    “It is difficult
    to get the news from poems
    yet men die miserably every day
    for lack 
    of what is found there” 

    ~ William Carlos Williams

    Dear Seniors,

    Welcome to the poetry elective! Poetry has always been of its times.   In this course, we’ll explore how poetry and individual poets react to and reflect the literary, social, and political movements of modern history (WWI - present). We’ll also closely examine the ways in which poets achieve their poetic intentions through the application of particular skills of form and figurative language, among others. Furthermore, we will learn concrete skills with which to read poetry and also to write poetry of our own.  

    To prepare for our course, please read XX: Poems for the Twentieth Century, by Campbell McGrath, and The Education of a Young Poet, by David Biespiel. While McGrath’s poems track the history of the 20th century, mostly through persona poems (poems that take the voice and personality of the subject, usually an historical figure, place, or moment), Biespiel’s memoir is his story of becoming a poet and writer. 

    A composition book has also been provided. You may use this to record your thoughts in response to the questions below. Additionally, I would hope that you might use it as a journal of musings and fill its pages with your own rough verses of poetry, creative descriptions, and  collections of lyrics, lines, and sentences you might come across. Keep in mind that we will spend time producing and sharing our own work in this class. Keeping your creative juices flowing and exercising your writing skills will serve you well. 

    While reading McGrath’s poems, consider these questions and make notes to share  in your notebooks provided:

    1. McGrath presents 101 poems, each centered on a different figure, place, or moment. What is the cumulative effect of this structure? Does the collection feel like a coherent narrative of the 20th century, a fragmented collage, or something else entirely? What patterns or themes begin to emerge across the poems? And why do you think he opens the collection with “Epilogue (2016)”?

    2. Many of the poems adopt the persona of historical or cultural figures. How does writing in the voice of someone else affect your reading experience? Does it create intimacy, distance, irony, or skepticism? Where did you feel the persona was especially convincing—or intentionally unstable? What kinds of stories dominate? Which voices or perspectives seem underrepresented or absent? How does this shaping influence your understanding of the “story” of the century?

    3. Did any poems prompt you to look up a person, place, or event? If so, which ones—and what did you discover that changed or deepened your reading? If not, why do you think the poems stood on their own (or didn’t invite further inquiry)?

    4. How does McGrath adjust diction (word choice, level of formality, imagery) to match different speakers or contexts? Identify a poem where the language feels especially tailored to its subject. What specific choices create that effect?

    5. Examine McGrath’s use of form—line length, rhythm, structure, and pacing. How do these formal elements contribute to meaning in individual poems and across the collection? Are there moments where form mirrors historical chaos, control, fragmentation, or unity?

    While reading Biespiel’s memoir, consider these questions: 

    1. In what ways does the memoir define the "education" of a poet as something outside of formal university education?

    2. What is the significance of place in the book? How do different locations (schools, cities, writing environments) shape the speaker’s identity and voice?

    3. By the end of the memoir, what has the speaker truly “learned”? Is the education complete, or does the book suggest that becoming a poet is an ongoing process?

    4. What assumptions about poetry or poets does the book reinforce or challenge? Did your understanding of what it means to be a poet change after reading?

    5. How does the memoir balance personal storytelling with reflections on poetry as a craft? Which moments feel more like storytelling, and which feel more like instruction?

    Additionally, please read the article “Think for Yourself,” by Dan Chiasson. Record your thoughts and responses on the blank first page in order to prepare for a discussion and brief reflection soon after you return.

    I look forward to seeing you in class and I hope you have a wonderful summer!

    Best,

    David

    CLICK HERE FOR YOUR SUMMER READING WORKSHEET