Honors Reading List for Third Trimester

Reading Assignment

Honors History

Morris—2013

Third Trimester

Select one of the following books from the list below and read it before the end of May.  You must then do one of the following about the book:

1.        Present a Powerpoint telling the basic plot, theme, and premise of the book, as well as a brief biography of the author, and tell how the book affected the development of Western Civilization.  If the book is a biography, tell how the individual affected the history of Western Civilization from both the author’s point of view and your own.

2.       Create a tri-fold display about the book, showing illustrations and listing the main points and ideas of the book, as well as why the book was/is important to Western Civilization.

3.       Make a movie about the book, in which you pretend to be the author and you explain the book to the class, telling why you wrote it, and why you feel it is still important.  Include at least one scene from the book, either illustrated with images or acted out.

4.       Select your own method of presenting, and get it approved by Mr. Morris

Books to Choose From:

Nonfiction

Dante, The Divine Comedy.  Allegorical trip through hell, purgatory and heaven.  First great book in the Italian vernacular.  (150 points)

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales.  Stories of everyday people on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.  The first great work in the English vernacular.  (150 points)

Voltaire, Candide.  Great Renaissance work by the brilliant French satirist.  (100 points)

Cervantes, Don Quixote.  First great novel written in the Spanish vernacular.  (200 points)

Unknown Saxon author, Beowulf (translation by Chickering, Liuzza, or Heaney)  An epic saga that forms some of the origins of Tolkien’s work. (100 points)

Unknown German Author, Nibelungenlied. An epic poem from Germany. (100 points)

Unknown Author, Song of Roland.  Oldest surviving French work.  Knights and warfare. (75 points)

St. Augustine, Confessions.  The most famous Catholic apologist of the early church tells of his path to spirituality.  (100 points)

Leonardo da Vinci, Complete Notebooks.  The ideal Renaissance Man reflects on all things. (150 points)

Unknown Author, Dukus Horant, the first extended work in Yiddish. 14^th century. (100 points)

William Langland, Piers Plowman, very early tale about life in the Feudal Middle Ages.  (100 points)

Fiction

White, T.H.   The Once and Future King.  King Arthur Legend.  (100 points)

Louis L’Amour.  The Walking Drum.  Crusades.  (100 points)

Any teacher-approved book about the Middle Ages or the Renaissance.

Honesty and Ethics

Reading a synopsis or watching a movie of the book is a form of academic dishonesty.  As Honors students, you are expected to conduct yourself with honor and integrity.  You are expected to read the book chosen in its entirety, beginning to end.  Any plagiarism or shortcutting will result in a zero.

Strategy

Because many of the books are long, you need to start right away. 

Grading

150 points Total:

·         Book difficulty  (50-125 points)

                Standard length book 50 points, longer and/or more difficult book:  an additional 25-75 points

·         Presentation:  50 points.  Extra credit for additional elements or extraordinary effort.

·         Reading Log:  50 points.  A summary of the main ideas in each chapter, with dates each chapter read. 

Detach and return the bottom portion to Mr. Morris.

I understand there is a reading project in Mr. Morris’s Honors World History class and that it is due by the end of Third Trimester.

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Student                                                                         Parent/Guardian