2008 Summer Reading
Grade 12 (Honors and On-level)

Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist (English 12, English 12-Honors)

Some things to think about while reading:

1. Paulo Coelho has sold over 30 million books worldwide and has been translated into 42 different languages. After reading The Alchemist, why do you think Coelho, and in particular The Alchemist, are so popular? What makes the story so accessible to so many different people?
    
2. Which characters are important to Santiago’s physical and spiritual journey? How do they contribute to his evolution?
    
3. Coelho has been both praised and criticized for his simple, poetic and fable-like language. Is the story really as simple as it appears? What other stories, or kinds of story, does The Alchemist remind you of?
    

Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (Honors English 12)

The following link will take you to questions about The Things They Carried. Please use this site for further reflection about the reading.
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767902892&view=rg

Focus for reading:

As you read, note the dominant point of view in each chapter and make notes concerning why you think O’Brien uses this point of view to tell the story. Is it an effective point of view? Why? Would the story be equally effective if it were told in another point of view? Why?

You will use these notes to write an essay during the first few weeks of school.