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Fairview High School > Academics > Language Arts > Pages > LanguageArts.aspx  

Language Arts Home 

Fairview High School > Academics > Language Arts
 

 

The Department of Language Arts offers students the highest level of education in the fields of literature, composition, communications, grammar, philosophy, and the practical arts. In addition to the traditional classroom setting, Fairview utilizes the latest in technology in the Fairview Internet Writing Center, where students can use computers to conduct research and write compositions as well as receive helpful tutoring and editing advice from faculty members, senior students, and volunteers from the University of Colorado. Classes at Fairview are offered at basic, standard, AP, and PIB/IB levels.

 

Web Destinations
  Yearbook

Department Chair
  Sara Doolittle

Department Faculty

 Christa Adkisson
 Susan Bean
 Tracy Brennan
 Paul Bursiek       Emily Cosmos
 Paul DiBlasi
 Sara Doolittle
 Eric Henson
 James Lewis

  Angie Luper
  Karen Nieb
  Tracy Pearce
  Mara Radis
  Carla Roitz
  Jay Stott
  Sarah Zerwin
 

 LA Dept. Summer Reading (scroll down to find your class)

 

Fairview Language Arts Department

Summer Reading and Supplemental Texts

2009-2010

 

Below is a list of texts that students will need to purchase for each of the following classes. 

While the exact editions listed aren’t mandatory, they are highly recommended to best facilitate study and discussion. If a work is translated, students must have the translation listed here.

 

Please note that this is not a complete listing of material to be covered in each class, merely the texts requiring purchase.  Full course descriptions and syllabi will be distributed when school begins.

 

For those requiring assistance, scholarships are available; please contact the IB Office.

 

PIB 9 Language Arts

REQUIRED SUMMER READING:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Publisher: Penguin Classics

ISBN: 9780141439563

 

Instructions for summer reading:

Please carefully read the novel.  No annotating is required.  There will be a comprehension exam in the first week of school.  We will read the novel a second time during the school year to give direct instruction in the fundamentals of annotation.

 

ADDITIONAL TEXTS TO PURCHASE:

The Odyssey by Homer (trans. Fagles)

Publisher: Penguin Classics

ISBN: 9780140268867

 

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (ed. Gibson)

Publisher: Cambridge School Edition (Cambridge University Press)

ISBN: 9780521618700

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Publisher: Harper Perennial

ISBN: 9780060838676

 

PIB 10 Language Arts 2009-2010

 

REQUIRED SUMMER READING:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Publisher: Penguin Classics

ISBN: 9780141439600

 

Instructions for A Tale of Two Cities:

Read the novel carefully; you may wish to use the notes beginning on page 448 to assist you in comprehension. No annotation is required. However, please identify several significant passages for discussion, and be prepared for a reading exam on the first day of class. In addition, keep an eye out for motifs that you might wish to annotate on your second read-through, when we study the book as a class during the school year.

 

OPTIONAL SUMMER READING:

 

Students who wish to enhance their preparation for the school year may choose to read any or all of the texts listed below. If you choose to do so, we recommend that you do not annotate; simply read and enjoy.

 

ADDITIONAL TEXTS TO PURCHASE:

 

Macbeth by William Shakespeare (ed. Aibson)

Publisher: Cambridge School Edition (Cambridge University Press)

ISBN: 9780521606868

 

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

Publisher: Dover Thrift Editions

ISBN: 9780486290300

 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Publisher: Harcourt Books

ISBN: 9780156027328

 

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (trans. H.T. Willets)

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Classics

ISBN: 9780374529529

 

 

IB 11 Language Arts

REQUIRED SUMMER READING:

Please purchase and read the following novels. Be prepared for an exam on both texts on the first day of class.

 

Crime and Punishment. By Fyodor Dostoevsky (trans. Pevear &Volokhonsky)

Publisher: Vintage Classics

ISBN: 9780679734505

 

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Publisher: Vintage International

ISBN: 9781400033423

 

SUGGESTED SUMMER READING:

Although there will be time to read The Tempest during the school year, you may want to get ahead by purchasing, reading, and annotating during the summer months:

 

The Tempest by William Shakespeare (ed. Gibson)

Publisher: Cambridge School Edition (Cambridge University Press)

ISBN: 9780521618786

 

ADDITIONAL TEXTS TO BE PURCHASED:

All classes (Stott and Bursiek)

Chronicle of a Death Foretold. By Gabriel Garcia Marquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa)

Publisher: Vintage International

ISBN 9781400034710

 

The following novels are different based on instructor. 

Please DO NOT purchase until you are positive which instructor you will have.

 

Bursiek’s Class

The Stranger by Albert Camus (trans. Matthew Ward)

Publisher: Vintage International

ISBN 9780679720201

 

Stott’s Class

The Assault by Harry Mulisch (trans. Claire Nicholas White)

Publisher: Pantheon Books

ISBN 9780394744209

 

Some classes will read The Stranger (Bursiek), some will read The Assault (Stott). Check with the instructor of particular sections for which work is on the syllabus for that section.

 

 

AP Language and Composition

Ms. Mara Radis and Mrs. Karen Nieb

 

REQUIRED SUMMER READING:

Instructions for Angela’s Ashes and Black Boy  - annotate and make interactive reading visible by underlining, writing margin notes, posing questions using tabs and post it notes. 

 

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Publisher: Scribner

ISBN 9780684842677  

Be prepared for a timed writing August 17.

 

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN 9780061130243

Be prepared for timed writing on  September 14 with discussion to follow.  See instructions above.

 

This course is designed to explore American Literature as a rhetorical anchor so the following texts will be included first semester:

 

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (October 2009)

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN 9780553213300

Instructions for novel:  Annotate for point of view and  narrative style.  Be prepared for timed writing in September with discussion to follow.  Be sure to include in your study, the author’s background and time period. 

 

Scarlet Letter  by Nathaniel Hawthorne  (November 2009)

Publisher: Norton Critical Edition

ISBN# 9780393979534

Instructions for the Scarlet Letter  include annotating for imagery, patterns of light and dark, good and evil.  Make active reading visible by underlining, writing in margin notes, posing questions, identifying passages include imagery, language patterns. 

 

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is the companion piece with the Scarlet Letter. (November 2009)

Publisher: Penguin Classic

ISBN 97801424373399

 

Additional required texts:

 

Language of Composition textbook will be provided. Students will be asked to purchase a supplemental grammar workbook for $10.00.  In addition, we are recommending students purchase either A Writer’s Reference 6th edition  or A Pocket Style Manual 4th edition  Both  will be available after school starts.    Either reference manual will be an invaluable tool your senior year at FHS as well as in college.

 

 

Advanced Journalism

 

REQUIRED SUMMER READING

Pick two to read: 

Life of Reilly:  The Best of Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly by Rick Reilly

ISBN 9781603207812

 

Dave Barry Talks Back by Dave Barry  

ISBN 9780517588680

 

The Art of Column Writing

ISBN 9781933338262

 

Understanding Media:  the Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan  

ISBN 9780262631594

 

Additional Assignment:

 

Journaling – Write for 5 minutes several times a week.  Respond to news, views, opinions, and observations

 

 

IB 12 Language Arts

Summer Reading:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (ed. Gray)

Publisher: Norton Critical Edition

ISBN: 9780393976045

 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Publisher: Harper Perennial Classics

ISBN: 9780060932138

 

Reading/Annotation Instructions:

Give both of these novels a thorough reading.  We will study them second semester but will begin the fall semester with a reading check on both novels.

 

If it is helpful to you, annotate and/or tab so that you can remember the details of the work better when you read through them a second time.  As you read, pay attention to the writer’s craft.  Some questions to keep in mind are:

How does the author use characterization?

What kinds of patterns can you find in the themes, symbolism, and narrative structure?

How does the writer achieve his/her effects—for example, can you see how contrasts, juxtapositions, repetitions, and progressions work?

How do the language and syntax reinforce the ideas in the novel? 

How does the author create the structure, style, and tone of the novel?

What is the author’s overall purpose?

 

Also, think about the cultural context of each work—when were the works written, who were the authors, and what were their aims?  Do some internet research to get a better understanding of the cultural, intellectual, and social backgrounds of the works.  Knowing a bit about the cultures reflected in these works will make them even more interesting to read.

 

Additional texts to purchase:

Dubliners by James Joyce

Publishers:  Norton  (Norton Critical Edition)

ISBN: 9780393978513

 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Publisher: Scribner and Sons

ISBN: 9780743273565

 

Hamlet by William Shakespeare (ed. Andrews and Gibson)

Publisher: Cambridge School Edition (Cambridge University Press)

ISBN: 9780521618748

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (ed. Goonetilleke)

Publisher: Broadview

ISBN: 9781551113074

AP Literature and Composition

Summer Reading:

Please purchase, read, and annotate the following novels:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Publisher:  Scribner Paperback Fiction

ISBN: 9780743273565

 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (ed. Gray)

Publisher: Norton Critical Edition

ISBN: 9780393976045

 

Please annotate for plot, characterization, setting description, as well as imagery, symbolism, and key motifs.

 

Other texts to purchase:

Our class will be conducting a close study of the following books later in the year.  Although there will be time to read these books during the school year, you may want to get ahead by purchasing, reading, and annotating these books during the summer months:

 

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Publisher: Vintage

ISBN: 9781400033416

 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Publisher: Penguin Classics

ISBN: 9780141439471

                           

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Publisher: Vintage

ISBN: 9780679732761

 

Othello by William Shakespeare (ed. Coles)

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 9780521618762

 

 

Additional Suggestion:

It is highly recommended that all AP Literature students see a live performance of Shakespeare this summer.  Colorado Shakespeare Festival will be performing plays all summer, and they can be seen for a discounted ticket price at preview performances. Tickets can be obtained through the web site: www.coloradoshakes.org