(12th Grade) Summer Reading

Dear Future IB English HL II Students:
Welcome to IB English HL II! This course will build upon your skills as analytical readers, thinkers,
and writers. In order to "hit the ground running," you must read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
You will also need your copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. During
the first week of school, expect to be assessed in a variety of ways on your reading, including
quizzes, graded discussions, written essays, and presentations
In addition to reading Jane Eyre and reviewing How to Read Literature Like a Professor ,
you are required to begin a writing journal. Please purchase a composition notebook (no spirals),
and answer the questions below. You will use this composition notebook throughout the year to
practice your analytical writing skills. Journal writing is handwritten unless otherwise indicated.
Journals will be checked during the first week of school.
We highly encourage you to purchase your own copies of the text so that you can begin the
scholarly work of annotation; however, both Jane Eyre and How to Read Literature Like a Professor
will be available to check out in room 2157 beginning after school on May 26 and ending on May 28.
These texts will provide the springboard for instruction in the fall. Those who complete the reading
with a high degree of comprehension and analysis will have a definite advantage over those who do
not.
Summer reading requirements and materials will be available on the “Summer Reading” link of the
Millard North Home Page beginning May 26. Please contact Mrs. Leslie Irwin or your current
English teacher with any questions.
Jane Eyre
Journal Prompts for the Composition Notebook
Journal prompts should be HANDWRITTEN and at least three pages in length
Utilize textual evidence (brief spot quotes and paraphrasing) to support your points—ALWAYS.
Tape your prompts into the notebook.
Prompt #1: Characterization
1. Describe Jane’s growth and maturation throughout the novel. How does each of the following
characters contribute to and/or highlight aspects of her character? Utilize brief spots quotes as
evidence of Jane’s character development.
a. Mrs. Reed
b. Helen Burns
c. Miss Templeton
d. Adele
e. Rochester
f. The Rivers Sisters
g. St. John
Prompt #2: Weather and Seasons
“Weather is never just weather. It’s never just rain. And that goes for snow, sun, warmth, cold, and
probably sleet, although the incidence of sleet in my reading is too rare to generalize” (Foster 75).
1. Re-read “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” and “So Does Season” in How to Read Literature Like
a Professor.
2. Annotate key scenes featuring weather and/or seasons in Jane Eyre.
3. How do the seasons function in the text? What philosophy does Jane seem to have about
nature? How do the seasons reflect Jane’s experiences and feelings?
Prompt #3: Geography/Setting/Quest
“Geography is setting, but it’s also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry—anything that
place can forge in the people who live there. Geography in literature can also be more. It can be
revelatory of virtually any element in the work. Theme? Sure. Symbol? No problem. Plot? Without a
doubt” (Foster 166).
1. Re-read “Every Trip is a Quest” and “Geography Matters” in HTRLLAP.
2. Annotate key scenes featuring setting/journey.
3. Compare and contrast the various settings. Who lives there? What experiences does Jane have
at each? How does each place contribute to her self-knowledge?
Prompt #4: More Geography (and some symbolism)
“…when writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok. The effects can be tragic or comic,
but they generally follow the same pattern…they run amok because they are having direct, raw
encounters with the subconscious…do they fall under the influence of warmer climes, or do those
welcoming latitudes express something that’s already been trying to make its way out?” (Foster 171).
1. Re-read chapter 27, especially the scene when Rochester confesses his past with Bertha.
2. Briefly research the region described in this section (Jamaica).
3. How does Bronte utilize symbolism and imagery in this scene to develop meaning? How does
this scene contribute to the overall meaning or message of the novel?
Prompt #5: Blindness
“…when literal blindness, sight, darkness, and light are introduced into a story, it is nearly always the
case that figurative seeing and blindness are at work” (Foster 204).
1. Though Jane’s is the obvious journey in this novel, Rochester also must complete a quest in
order to gain self-knowledge. How do Rochester’s experiences prepare him for a “true”
relationship with Jane? What is the significance of his literal blinding?
Prompt #6: Politics and Class Structure
“…writers tend to be men and women who are interested in the world around them. That world
contains many things, and on the level of society, part of what it contains is the political reality of the
time—power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice and rights, interactions between the
sexes and among various racial and ethnic constituencies” (Foster 115).
1. Re-read “It’s All Political” in HTRLLAP
2. How does this story function as a political comment on the social class structure of 19th Century
England?
-----------------------------------------------------------------OR-----------------------------------------------------------3. How does this story function as a feminist text?