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Nolan Catholic High School
Summer Reading
2020-2021
Nolan Catholic English teachers look forward to beginning the 2020-2021 school year with engaging discussion, insightful analysis, and prepared students. With this in mind, please see the following assigned books for this year’s summer reading:
9th Grade: Black Ships before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff. (ISBN-10: 055349483X or ISBN-13: 978-0553494839)
10th Grade: True Grit by Charles Portis. (ISBN-10: 159020459X or ISBN-13: 978-1590204597). Please see parent letter below regarding this selection.
11th Grade (including ENG III Dual Credit): Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translated by Burton Raffel; Signet Classic edition)
12th Grade (including ENG IV AP): Ignatius Critical Edition: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818 edition). (ISBN-10: 1586171380 or ISBN-13: 978-1586171384)
12th Grade ENG IV Dual Credit: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (ISBN-10: 9780449213940 or ISBN-13: 978-0449213940)
Nolan Catholic English teachers expect students to read the assigned book and annotate the text. When school begins, you will sit for a timed essay, comprising one full class period. You will be allowed to use your book with annotations for the essay, which will need to include relevant and purposeful quotations. The essay will count for your first major grade of the quarter.
We plan to prepare you for the kind of focused reading you will need to do all year in order to be successful. The kind of annotations you make in your book will determine the ease with which you are able to discuss the book, reference scenes, and then write an essay that defends the thesis with quality, relevant evidence. You should have a minimum of one annotation every two pages.
Literature is essential to our curriculum. Through literature, authors express truths about our humanity in multiple forms (genres), from epic and tragedy to lyric and comedy, giving form to our dreams, longings, struggles, suffering, aspirations, and joys. As Flannery O’Connor said, “A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way.” When students encounter this type of literature, these works have the power to move and order the soul towards the things that are true, good, and beautiful. These experiences help form the poetic imagination of our students, which leads them to see the world and humanity how God created them and thus to see creation for all its beauty and integrity. A well-formed poetic imagination is integral to a well-formed mind and soul.
We look forward to seeing you in August and hope you enjoy this year’s summer reading.
Esto Dux,
NCHS English Department