Last year many of our students were thrilled when they heard the answer to, “May I have my own copy of the novel?” The students who chose to have a personal copy of a novel used in English classes found annotating throughout their reading quite useful. This reading strategy actively prepares the students for a college level expectation of critical reading and thinking. Although there are many ways in which notations can be made throughout a novel, writing directly next to the text, underlining, and circling within the text is invaluable.
But there were a few other questions. “Do I have to have my own book?” “No,” this is not a requirement, but merely a suggestion. Copies of whole class novels are available through the school Media Center and methods such as post-it-notes can be used for annotating. Sometimes students are asked to select a book from a “choice” list. Those books students obtain on their own, whether that is a copy from our Media Center, the local library, the used book store, or a new copy is completely up to the student.
The second question that arose was, “Which books?” Novels are only one form of reading used in the English classroom. Some novels are read whole class, some small group, and some independently. Because families want to be shopping for the titles (used book stores, grandma’s bookcase, garage sales, etc.) in advance we are publishing a list of the novels, plays, memoirs, etc. that will be addressed whole class. Again, other novels will be used that involve student choice for small groups or independent reading. The list (see below) is only those that will be used by everyone in the class.
Building a personal library of significant works of writing will benefits your student beyond high school. It is an investment. The Horizon English curriculum is directly aligned with the programming the universities see as prerequisites. Novels used in high school will be referred to, referenced, or used again in college, so an annotated and studied personal copy could be a tool for many years to come.
9th Grade (Survey Course)
To Kill A Mockingbird – Lee Harper
The Odyssey – Homer
Midsummer’s Night Dream – William Shakespeare
Antigone-Sophocles
Narrative of the Life – Frederick Douglass
Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Alborn
9th Grade Honors (Survey Course)
To Kill A Mockingbird – Lee Harper
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
The Odyssey – Homer
Midsummer’s Night Dream – William Shakespeare
Antigone-Sophocles
Black Boy – Richard Wright
Narrative of the Life – Frederick Douglass
Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Alborn
10th Grade (Survey Course)
Animal Farm – George Orwell
Macbeth – William Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare
Night – Elie Wiesel
10th Grade Honors (Survey Course)
As You Like It – William Shakespeare
Macbeth – William Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare
Night – Elie Wiesel
Maus – Art Spigelman
11th Grade (American Literature)
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Crucible – Arthur Miller
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry
11th Grade Honors AP Literature
The Crucible – Arthur Miller
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Othello – William Shakespeare
(additional titles may be added to this list)
12th Grade (British & World Literature)
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Othello – William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw
1984 – George Orwell
The Importance of Being Earnest (3 act version) – Oscar Wilde
12th Grade Honors (British Literature complimenting College Level Composition)
1984 – George Orwell
The Importance of Being Earnest (3 act version) – Oscar Wilde
Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare
Richard III – William Shakespeare
