LaGrange High School

Casey Lewis Wagner, Instructor

Casey.lewis@lgisd.net
979-968-4800 EXT 6215

English I Pre AP Summer Reading Assignment for 2021

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

In order to remain in English I PreAP, students must complete the attached research essay requirement, one literary essay
and dialectical journal and artistic project assignments and submit the writing pieces to www.turnitin.com. The research
assignment is due on or before Thursday, July 1st, 2021. The dialectical journals and the literary essay are both due on
or before Monday, August 2, 2021. On the first day of school all students will need to turn in their artistic project.
Students must also pass a test given the second day of school over the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
Students who fail to complete the historical background essay, ONE literary essay, dialectical journals, and artistic project
on time or fail the novel test will be dropped from the class. This project is broken down into sections that make it doable.

If a student should decide over the course of the summer not to stay enrolled in PreAP English I, he/she should call the
high school office at 968-4800 as soon as possible and notify the school of the decision to drop the class.

The research essay should be well crafted using outside sources and our online database for external sources. All sources
should be properly cited using MLA format. The essays must be a minimum of 500 words. (WHY DO I WRITE THIS:
This is not a book or a graduate thesis paper. It shows me that you can do research, not copy and formulate your writing
with purpose.) Please proofread your final draft before submitting for spelling and grammar errors. Responses must be
typed in Time New Roman, 12 point font. Double space your essays. DUE Thursday, July 1st, 2021 by midnight to
turnitin.com.

The literary essay you will only pick ONE of the 6 topics to write about. Your essay should be answered thoroughly using
specific details, examples, and quotes from the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. All quotes should include
the book’s page number. The essays must be a minimum of 300 words. (WHY DO I WRITE THIS: Again… this isn't a
long essay..The purpose of this essay is to show me that you understand what a thesis is and that you can transfer your
thoughts about literature into a well developed literary analysis.) Please proofread your final draft before submitting for
spelling and grammar errors. Responses must be typed in Time New Roman, 12 point font. Double space your essays.
DUE Monday, August 2, 2021 by midnight to turnitin.com.

The dialectical journals - As you read, you will read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. As you read, you will create
a dialectical journal to annotate your understanding of the novel. You must have at least TEN entries in your journal. You
should develop the journals spastically as you read the novel; this makes this 9128347192 times easier. (WHY DO I
WRITE THIS: These journals show me that you understand the provided literary terms using the literature I have assigned
you by choosing appropriate quotes and thinking outside the box.) DUE Monday, August 2, 2021 by midnight to
turnitin.com.

The artist project- You will choose ONE of the following artistic projects to complete and turn in on the first day of
school. You have a lot of freedom here but you need to put in effort in order to get credit. I have been doing this a long
time… I can tell when things were put together last minute. Your peers will see your work on display when we create an
Art Gallery during the first 6 weeks of class. Also, your project could make it on display in the library! Remember this is
about creativity and it’s your time to shine. Show me what you got! :) DUE: (First day of school)

Writer’s Corner:
● Alternate Ending to the novel (4-5 pages)
 ● A look at Pip 20 years later, after the end of the novel. Pip is a man then. What does he look like 20 years after
that? (4-5 pages)
Artist’s nook:
● Create a diorama (look up what diorama means…)
● Comic Strip (12-15 strips that follow the novels plot)
● Recreate Great Expectations as a children’s book (should follow the same plot, 15-20 pages)
● Pip or Estella’s secret diary. If Pip or Estella had a diary what would it look like: aesthetic, contents.. 10 entry
minimum.
Tech Savvy:
● Create a blog about Miss Havisham, Pip, Joe, or Estella. (6-7 blog posts, about 1-2 paragraphs each, can use
Smore as a platform)
● Create a website for Great Expectations (content could be: traveling, relationship advice, cooking
instructions/victorian recipes, Love advice column, ect. Feel free to be creative and create pages that apply to the
book that you come up with.)- can use Weebly or another free platform. Be Creative.

The Novel Exam- This exam will cover the entire novel. You are allowed to use one 3x5 inch note card on the day of the
test. I have never allowed this before, it is a courtesy. I have attached a review but it is not required that you complete it.
DUE Second day of school

You may email me at Casey.Lewis@lgisd.net if you have any significant questions during the summer. You must make
arrangements to purchase or attain a copy of the novel so that you can properly annotate it during your reading. You may
contact me privately with any concerns. I have an amazon link to an annotated version of the novel that will assist you in
understanding the text.

Please use the link to my 2021 summer project if you need help: https://lgisdpreap20192020.weebly.com

In order to submit the assignments, you must log on to http://www.turnitin.com to register for English I PreAP 2019-2020
class. This is where you will be submitting your summer research assignment and Dialectical Journals Also, many of
your assignments throughout the school year will be submitted in this fashion.

If you do not have a school email, you will need to ask your technology teacher for help.

Login or create an account by using your email address and password

www.turnitin.com

Section: English I Pre AP 2021-2022

**Class ID: 28454144 **Enrollment Key: Leopards2025

The first day of school, you should turn in a hard copy of all your written work.

Turnitin.com Instructions
 English I Pre-AP– Lewis Wagner

Create a Profile:

1. Go to www.turnitin.com in your internet browser

2. On the top of the home page, click Create Account
3. Toward the bottom, under ‘Create New Account’, click Student
4. Enter the following into the respective fields:
a. Class ID: 28454144
b. Enrollment Key: Leopards2025
c. Your first name
d. Your last name
e. Your email address
f. Create a password (must be 6 characters with a number & a letter)
g. Re-enter that password
h. Choose a secret questions for password retrieval
i. Input the answer to that question
j. Click the “I agree-create profile” button

Upload Paper:

1. Sign into the home page with your email address and password
2. Click on the class listed “ English I Pre AP 2021-2022 ”
3. Click on the “Submit” button next to the correct paper title.
4. Change “Cut & Paste” to “Single File Upload” from the blue drop-down*
5. Enter a title for your paper in the “Submission Title” field
6. Click “Choose from this computer” to locate and upload your paper
7. Find your paper either on your computer or on your flash drive (if you used email to send it to yourself, you’ll
have to first save it from your email to the computer’s desktop)
8. Click “Open”
9. Click the “Upload” button
10. Review your submission one last time, then click “Confirm”
11. Click on “Return to Assignment List”
12. After processed, click on the colored bar under “Similarity” next to your paper
13. A list of matching sources will appear on the right hand pane

* Remember to submit your research paper, literary essay and dialectical journals separately. There is a folder for each
of the assignments listed above.

Summer Research Essay

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens
The research essay should be well crafted using outside sources and our online database for external sources. All sources
should be properly cited using MLA format. The essays must be a minimum of 500 words. Please proofread your final
draft before submitting for spelling and grammar errors. Responses must be typed in Time New Roman, 12 point font.
Double space your essays. DUE Thursday, July 1st, 2021 by midnight to turnitin.com.

Dickens’s childhood had a significant effect on him and his writing. You may glean some of this information from the
biographical information included in the book.

Dickens is well-known as a social critic. His novels often pointed out the need for reform in the education, law, and
working conditions of his time. So what were education, law, and working conditions like in Dickens’s lifetime?
Research this time period in British (hint: Victorian Era) history. Focus on education, law, and working conditions. (hint
#2: Each of these should be a paragraph.)

Why did Dickens feel there was a need for reform based on your findings?

Document your sources on a Works Cited (bibliography) page, this needs to be in MLA format. You must have at least
three outside sources. Two can be from websites but 1 must be from a database. You can access this through the library
webpage. See the included MLA format guidelines for quoting and citing sources. Again, your essay should be a
minimum of 500 words with an introduction and conclusion after your body paragraph(s).

Please use the link to my 2021 summer project if you need help: https://lgisdpreap20192020.weebly.com

The Literary Essay

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

The literary essay you will only pick ONE of the 6 topics to write about. Your essay should be answered thoroughly
using specific details, examples, and quotes from the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. All quotes should
include the book’s page number. The essays must be a minimum of 300 words. Please proofread your final draft before
submitting for spelling and grammar errors. Responses must be typed in Time New Roman, 12 point font. Double space
your essays. DUE Monday, August 5, 2019

1. Developing a Dickens Episode (attached): Choose one of the example descriptions and using vividly descriptive
terms, depict that scene. Your grade will not only be based on how descriptive you are, but also on the
vocabulary you use and how well you are able to incorporate Dickens’ style into your writing. You should also
incorporate literary devices such as similes, metaphors, allusions, personification, etc.

2. Dynamic characters are those who change as a result of a conflict. These changes are most noticeable when you
compare a character’s first appearance with the last. Explain why both Magwitch and Miss Havisham are
dynamic characters. Then identify five characters from the novel who are static, unchanging. Describe their
unchanging natures.

3. One of the major themes of Great Expectations is that appearances often do not reflect reality. Dickens reveals
this theme both in the way he portrays individual characters and in the way he makes a particular character a foil
to another. A foil is a character that intensifies the characteristics of another by possessing opposite traits. In what
ways do the following characters’ appearances not reflect the reality of their personalities: Estella, Magwitch,
Joe.

4. Imagine that you are a scriptwriter and that you are proposing Great Expectations for a television mini-series.
Choose the scene that you consider the most dramatic in the novel, and adapt it into a television script. Your
script should include both detailed stage directions and the characters’ dialogue.

5. Great Expectations is divided into three stages, corresponding to the three stages of Pip’s spiritual journey on the
road to manhood. Write an essay in which you identify what these three spiritual stages are. Explain the events
and changes in Pip that mark his progression from one stage to the next.

6. Part of Dickens’s style lies in his use of humor. Identify the situation or language that makes these scenes
humorous. What serious points is Dickens making despite the humor?
Consider the following scenes:
*Mr. Wopsle’s great-aunt’s classroom (chapter 10)
*Pip’s fight with the “pale young gentleman” (chapter 11)
*Joe’s meeting with Miss Havisham (chapter 13)

DIALECTICAL JOURNALS
The term “Dialectic” means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and
answer.” Think of your dialectical journal as a series of conversations with the texts you read. The process is meant to
help you develop a better understanding of what you have read by thinking critically about the text.

PROCEDURE:
o As you read, choose passages that stand out to you and record them in the left-hand column of a T-chart
(ALWAYS include page numbers). I have provided a Google form for you with the set up.
o In the right column, write your response to the text (ideas/insights, questions, reflections, and comments on each
passage)
o Label your responses using the following codes:
o (A) Author’s Purpose – Question the writing of the author
● question the diction
● question figurative language
 ● question the tone

o (S) Symbolism – identify and explain symbols or potential symbols in the novel.
● What is the significance of the symbol?
● What does it reveal?

o (Th) Theme – make predictions as to the theme of the novel, or sum up the theme of a marking
period.
● What life lesson is being presented?
● What’s the tone toward that life lesson?
● What are you learning from the actions/thoughts of the character?

o (Ch) Characterization – identify character traits based on a character’s thoughts, actions,

appearance; you can also look at the things they say and the way other characters treat them.
● How does the character’s trait affect the conflict or resolution of the novel?

o (C) Connect –the world, or another text

● Discuss how text connects to another text or world (similarities/differences)

Sample Dialectical Journal entry: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien
Passages from the text Citation Comments & Questions

“-they carried like freight trains; (A) O’brien chooses to end the first section of the novel with this
they carried it on their backs and O’Brien, 2 sentence in order to draw the reader into the experience of battle. He
shoulders-and for all the provides excellent visual details of what each soldier in Vietnam
ambiguities of Vietnam, all the would carry for day-to-day fighting. He makes you feel the physical
mysteries and unknowns, there weight of what soldiers have to carry for simple survival. When you
was at least the single abiding combine the emotional weight of loved ones at home, the fear of
certainty that they would never death, and the responsibility for the men you fight with, with this
be at a loss for things to carry” physical weight, you start to understand what soldiers in Vietnam
dealt with every day. This quote sums up the confusion that the men
felt about the reasons they were fighting the war, and how they clung
to the only certainty - things they had to carry - in a confusing world
where normal rules were suspended.

CHOOSING PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:

Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought provoking, or puzzling. For example, you might record:

o Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices

o Passages that remind you of your own life or something you’ve seen before
o Structural shifts or turns in the plot
o A passage that makes you realize something you hadn’t seen before
o Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols or motifs.
o Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar vocabulary
o Events you find surprising or confusing
o Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting

RESPONDING TO THE TEXT:

You can respond to the text in a variety of ways. The most important thing to remember is that your observations should
be specific and detailed. You can write as much as you want for each entry.

Basic Responses
o Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text
 o Give your personal reactions to the passage
o Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
o Tell what it reminds you of from your own experiences
o Write about what it makes you think or feel
o Agree or disagree with a character or the author

Sample Sentence Starters:

The writer’s use of _____ and ______ convey a sense of ______
The connotation of _______ creates a __________ by the writer
The image of ______ communicates that ______
The author’s language is _____ giving the text a feeling of ______
The repetition of pattern/word _____ emphasizes ______
The writer’s point of view reveals___
The symbol reveals___

Higher Level Responses

o Analyze the text for use of literary devices (tone, structure, style, imagery)
o Make connections between different characters or events in the text
o Make connections to a different text (or film, song, etc…)
o Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the author or character(s)
o Consider an event or description from the perspective of a different character
o Analyze a passage and its relationship to the story as a whole

YOUR ASSIGNMENT: For summer projects, you will read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. As you read, you
will create a dialectical journal to annotate your understanding of the novel. You must have only TEN entries in your
journal. You should develop the journals spastically as you read. (Use the Novel Reading Form to help you find key
elements through the book.) Throughout the book, you must include author’s purpose and theme, the third entry is your
choice:

● Symbolism (2), Characterization (2), Theme (2), Author’s Purpose (2), Connect (2)

The length of each entry may vary, but no entry should be less than five sentences. Some of your responses should be
significantly more than three sentences.

You may choose to keep your notes in a journal, on notebook paper, or on sticky-notes in your text. However, the final
product must be a WORD DOCUMENT OR GOOGLE FORM and MUST BE submitted to turnitin.com. Below is
a format that you may copy and use to complete the assignment.

Your dialectical journals will be due at 11:59pm on Monday, August 2, 2021. Your grade will be based not only on
following the instructions, but also on the depth of insight shown in your notes.

You may copy this format and use it to create your journals in a Google Document.

Name:___________________________ Jane Eyre by C. Bronte: Dialectical Journal Format

Passages from the text Citation Comments & Questions

 Characters List for The Exam: Great Expectations by Dickens

These materials are to help you prepare for the test. This is not required but may help you to succeed in studying and
understanding the most important parts of the book.

Pip

Joe Gargery

Mrs. Joe Gargery

Uncle Pumblechook

Mr. Wopsle
Miss Havisham

Estella Havisham

Mr. Jaggers

Dolge Orlick

Biddy

Herbert Pocket

John Wemmick

Molly

Bentley Drummle

Startop

Compeyson

Abel Magwitch

Mr. Hubble

Mr. Wopsle’s Great Aunt

Mr. Trabb

Trabb’s boy

Sarah Pocket, Georgiana Pocket, Mr. Raymond, and Mrs. Camilla

Matthew Pocket

Clara Barley

The Aged Parent

Miss Skiffins

WRITING RESOURCES
The following pages are used as a guide or reference for your writing. It is merely to help you if you
don’t understand how to technically write or add quotes or text evidence. Email me if you have questions
but please look over the following information first.
Embedded Citation
Titles of References (books, plays, long poems, newspapers, magazines, films)- Capitalize first letter of all
principals and italicize
EX. Lee’s Early Sketchbooks

Poems, Articles, Essays, Songs, Short Stories are in quotation marks

EX “Ode to a Nightingale”

Not underlined! Sacred texts (Bible, Koran, Talmud…)

Web sites are capitalized and include only main title of site
EX According to RickRiordan.com, he…

Direct Quotation –
Use only vivid, apt, interesting quotes that support your thesis
1. Short quote – embed within text and reference the author
 EX “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” wrote Charles Dickens of the eighteenth
century (121).

EX Joseph Conrad writes of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, “He

obeyed, yet he inspired neither love nor fear, more event respect” (85).
(period goes after the parenthetical page number reference)

2. Long quote – if more than four lines, start a new line and indent 10 spaces, double space and do not
use quotation marks

EX. At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other

boys realize the horror of their actions:

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He

gave himself up to them now for the first time on

the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that

seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose

under the black smoke. (186) notice parentheses are outside the period

Parenthetical Citations
● Includes page number (56)
● Includes author’s last name if not stated in sentence (Shakespeare 24)
● If more than one page number (186 – 87)

Transitions
Definition – words, phrases, sentences that make clear connections between ideas
***Use these words to link your body paragraph to the next paragraph
To indicate more information: To indicate an example:
Besides For example
Furthermore For instance
In addition In particular
Indeed Particularly
In fact Specifically
Moreover To demonstrate
Second...Third..., etc. To illustrate

To indicate a cause or reason: To indicate a result or an effect:

As Accordingly
Because Finally
Because of Consequently
Due to Hence
For So
For the reason that Therefore
 Since Thus

To indicate a purpose or reason why: To compare or contrast:

For fear that Although
In the hope that However
In order to In comparison
So In contrast
So that Likewise
With this in mind Nevertheless
On the other hand

To indicate a particular time frame or a shift from one time period to another:

After Initially
Before Lastly
Currently Later
During Meanwhile
Eventually Next
Finally Previously
First, . . . Second, . . ., etc. Simultaneously
Formerly Soon
Immediately Subsequently

To summarize: To conclude:
Briefly Given these facts
In brief Hence
Overall In conclusion
Summing up So
To put it briefly Therefore
To sum up Thus
To summarize To conclude

Standard MLA Research Paper Guidelines

MARGINS:
- Except for page numbers, leave margins of one inch at the top and bottom and both sides of text.
- Indent the first word of each paragraph ½ inch or 5 spaces (TAB) from left margin.
- Indent set off quotations one inch or 10 spaces (TAB twice) from left margin.

SPACING:
- A research paper must be double spaced throughout including quotations and works cited.

TITLE PAGE: (12 pt Times New Roman)

- Centered on firs page include in order: title of paper, student name, date of submission, and teacher’s
name
- Double spaced with normal capitalization, no quotations marks or underlining
- Date formatted without commas

The Many Influences on Edgar Allan Poe

 John Jones

17 May 2015

Mrs. Lewis

PAGE NUMBERS:
- Number all pages of paper, starting with page after title page, in upper right hand corner ½ inch from top
margin and flush with right hand margin one inch from side
- Insert your capitalized last name before page number
- No punctuation at all
- Text begins one inch from top margin

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jones 3

Poe’s influences included his destructive adult life, struggling financially and professionally.

WORKS CITED:
- Start a new page at the end of your paper, continuing the page numbers from your text
- Center the title Works Cited an inch from the top of the page
- Double space between the title and the first entry
- Begin each entry flush with the left margin; if the entry runs more than one line, indent each subsequent
line ½ inch from the left margin (5 space)
- Double space entire list both between and within entries
- Alphabetize entries by the author’s last name
- If author’s name is unknown, alphabetize by title, ignoring A, An, The

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jones 8
Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Pendant Publishing, 2003. 15-56, 80-98,

106.

Brindle, Reginald Smith. “The Search Outwards: The Orient, Jazz, Archaisms.” The New

Music: the Avant-Garde since 1945. New York: Oxford UP, 1975. 133-45.

Burnett, James. “Ellington’s Place as a Composer.” Gammond 141-55.

Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human

Culture. New York: Pantheon, 1998.

Hannon, Patrice. 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen. New York: Adams

Media, 2007. 82, 87.

 Jones, Jonathan. “Exploring Austen’s World.” The New York Times. 15 April 2008: 5.

Print.
Whalen, Pamela. Understanding the Society in which Jane Austen Sets Pride and

Prejudice. Jane Austen Society of Australia: Study Guide. 7 Sept. 2003. Web. 11

May 2012. <http://www.jasa.net.au/study/indivsoc.htm>.

Basic Book Citation

The author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for
a book citation is:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of

Publication.

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Websites Citation
Cite by listing the article's author, putting the name of the site in italics, and including the association’s name. Follow
with the date of publication as well as the date accessed and the url. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic
format is as follows:

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008. ‹http://classics.mit.edu/›.

Article in a Magazine Citation

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title.
Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Article in a Newspaper Citation

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is
more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition
following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007:

LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.