College Prep Literature Summer Assignment / Summer 2021
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College Prep Literature
Summer Assignment /
Summer 2021
I am so excited that you have decided to take College Prep Literature. This is one of my absolute favorite courses to teach, and our
first novel The Great Gatsby provides us with many opportunities to engage our analytical thinking skills and participate in
classroom discussions. Since The Great Gatsby is the first unit in College Prep Literature, it’s important that students read the novel
prior to the start of class. Please follow the instructions below to make sure you are as prepared as possible for the start of the
class! The directions on the following slide will walk you through all parts of the assignment. Join our Google Classroom with the
code q2ppc72 to find more resources, including the rubric and MLA guides.
Email me with any questions. -Ms. Moore, kristi.moore@jcschools.us
On the first day of class, your entire assignment needs to be typed and ready to share on Google Drive as a
Google Doc (not Pages or Microsoft Word) prior to class. Papers that are not turned in on the first day of class will be
subject to the late policy, losing 10% per day.ACADEMIC HONESTY: All work in the
Table of Contents summer assignment should be original.
● Overview Using words from an outside source without
● Suggested Reading Schedule providing credit is plagiarism. If you use
● Symbol Log Directions insights, quotations, definitions, etc. from an
● Symbol Log Example outside source, credit that source
● Symbol Log Page 1 appropriately. All submissions will be run
● Symbol Log Page 2 through turnitin.com, a plagiarism checker.
● Symbol Log Page 3 As a note, Sparknotes, Shmoop, and
● Literary Analysis Essay Overview
LitCharts are not great sources in terms of
● Literary Analysis Suggested Structures
credibility and reliability. At this point, I’ve
● Literary Analysis Essay Outline Part 1
read so many symbol logs and essays
● Literary Analysis Essay Outline Part 2
● Thesis Statements curbed from these sources, that I might be
● Topic Sentences able to recite the entries from memory. If
● Body Paragraphs you are struggling or looking for guidance
● Introductions with regards to the summer assignment,
● Conclusions please email me rather than using one of
● Grammar and Work Cited these websites.Overview The Summer Assignment: the summer assignment has two parts. ● A symbol log to be completed while reading The Great Gatsby ● A literary analysis essay to be completed after reading The Great Gatsby Both parts of the summer assignment are required and should be ready to turn in on the first day of class. The symbol log should be created as a means of helping you write the essay, so not turning in a completed symbol log will result in the loss of 10% of the essay’s total score. For this reason, I strongly encourage you to complete the symbol log as you read. Don’t save the symbol log until after you have read. The essay must be typed and ready to post on Google Classroom as a Google Doc.
Suggested Reading Schedule To complete the reading, you will need a copy of The Great Gatsby. This can be a hard copy or a digital copy. Since the novel has nine chapters, I suggest reading one chapter a day for nine days. As you read, I strongly encourage you to complete the symbol log. The symbol log should help set up your paper.
Symbol Log Directions For each symbol on the chart on the next several slides, keep track of the symbol’s meaning as it evolves throughout the book The Great Gatsby. To do this, you may record impressions, connections, questions, theories, or quotations. For each symbol, collect at least three impressions, connections, questions, theories, or quotations. Page numbers will be invaluable when it is time to write your essay. An example symbol log entry from To Kill a Mockingbird is provided on the next slide. The symbol log is on the next several slides, but if you would prefer a Google Doc version of the symbol log, click this link.
Symbol Log Example
Mockingbird Disease
-Atticus remarks about “Maycomb’s usual” disease,
-Scout and Jim get rifles from their uncle as which he implies is racism or prejudice. Could this
Christmas presents, but Atticus tells them not to disease also be gossip?
shoot any mockingbirds because they don’t harm
anyone (127). -Tim Johnson, the dog, is rabid. He has a literal
disease, and Atticus has to shoot him. His name
-Miss Maudie says “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” sounds a lot like Tom Robinson’s name.
What makes it sinful? What does the mockingbird Coincidence?
represent? Innocence? The loss of innocence? (202)
-What are the symptoms of prejudice? The lynch
-At the end of the novel, Scout remarks that mob? The court scene? The treatment of Boo and
arresting Boo Radley would “like shootin’ a Tom?
mockingbird” (300). If Boo is a mockingbird, then
mockingbirds probably represent innocence. Has -Not a coincidence. Tom and Tim are both killed by
Boo’s brother taken his brother’s innocence by transmittable but preventable disease, racism and
treating him poorly? rabies, respectively.Symbol Page 1 East Egg and West Egg The Midwest
Symbol Page 2 Valley of Ashes Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg
Symbol Page 3 The Green Light Cars, Driving, Vehicles
Literary Analysis Essay Overview
For the literary analysis essay, analyze how F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary devices to support and
develop one of the novel’s themes. The next several slides will walk you through how to develop,
organize, and format your essay. While use of this outline is not required, it is strongly encouraged.
1. Choose a theme from the novel. A theme is not one word like “prejudice” but is a complete
thought like “prejudice kills innocence.”
2. Analyze how F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary devices to support and develop the theme.
a. Consider substantive or “meaty” literary devices like symbolism, tone, mood,
characterization, point of view, allusion, and metaphor. Avoid “smaller” or minor figurative
devices like simile, hyperbole, and personification.
3. Use specific examples from the text to support the analysis. Include a Work Cited entry for the
novel.
4. Structure: Five paragraphs with a clear introduction, including a gripping hook and strong thesis;
three body paragraphs with at least two pieces of (cited) evidence in each paragraph; and a
conclusion. Suggested structures are on the next page.
5. Use honors-level spelling, grammar, and vocabulary throughout.Literary Analysis Essay Outline: Start with Structure Ultimately, this essay will have 5 paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Please create a new Google Doc in which to type your essay. Rather than writing the essay top to bottom, I encourage you to begin with the structural elements: the thesis and topic sentences. Use the structure suggestions on the next slide to choose a thesis statement that suits your essay, and then proceed to the following slides.
Literary Analysis Essay Suggested Structures
Suggested Essay Structures and Example Thesis Statements.
1. Choose one theme and three 2. Choose one theme 3. Choose three themes 4. Choose three themes that are
different literary devices that and three instances of and three different all supported by the same
Fitzgerald uses to support the the same literary literary devices, literary device, which makes
theme. device being used to connecting each theme one theme per paragraph.
support that theme. to one literary device.
Ex: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Ex: In To Kill a Mockingbird,
Harper Lee uses symbolism, Ex: In To Kill a Ex: In To Kill a Harper Lee uses symbolism to
metaphor, and characterization Mockingbird, Harper Lee Mockingbird, Harper Lee suggest that prejudice kills
to support the theme that uses the symbols of the uses symbolism to innocence, empathy requires
prejudice kills innocence. mockingbird, the gun, suggest that prejudice courage, and integrity is not
and disease to reveal kills innocence, heroic.
that prejudice kills characterization to
innocence. reveal that empathy
creates courage, and
point of view to
emphasize that integrity
is not heroic.
Undoubtedly, there are alternative organizations. If you have an alternative you would like to try, just ask!Literary Analysis Essay Outline
● Intro
○ Hook: Anecdote or Figurative Language (no questions, no quotes, no “universal statements”)
○ Context
○ Transition to thesis
● Body Paragraphs 1-3
○ Transition and topic sentence that ties to the thesis
○ Context for the upcoming quote
○ Quoted evidence that supports the topic sentence
○ Provide an (in-text) citation for the evidence
○ Analysis of how the evidence supports the topic sentence and why the theme is relevant to readers
■ Explain the quote
■ Tell readers how the quote supports the topic sentence
■ Tell readers why they theme is relevant. Why should readers care?
○ Quoted evidence that supports the topic sentence
○ Provide an (in-text) citation for the evidence
○ Analysis of how the evidence supports the topic sentence and why the theme is relevant to readers
■ Explain the quote
■ Tell readers how the quote supports the topic sentence
■ Tell readers why they theme is relevant. Why should readers care?
○ Concluding sentence that transitions and restates the topic sentence
● Conclusion
○ Transition and restate the thesis
○ Emphasize the importance of your writing
○ Connect back to the hook to bring the paper full circleLiterary Analysis Essay Outline: Thesis Statements Example Thesis: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses symbolism to suggest that prejudice kills innocence, characterization to reveal that empathy creates courage, and point of view to emphasize that integrity is not heroic. The thesis has four parts: ● Transition ● Content of body paragraph 1 ● Content of body paragraph 2 ● Content of body paragraph 3 The templates on the Suggested Structures slide are very helpful! Please choose a template to use!
Literary Analysis Essay Outline: Topic Sentences
Once you have a thesis, you can write topic sentences.
The content of each topic sentence is determined by the thesis. The order in
which items appear in your thesis is the order in which items will appear in the
body of your paper.
Example: To begin, Harper Lee uses symbolism to suggest that prejudice kills
innocence.
At times, the topic sentences
The topic sentence has two parts:
might feel repetitive for you.
● Transition However, for your readers,
● Preview the topic of this paragraph the repetition will create
cohesion.Literary Analysis Essay Outline: Body Paragraphs
Once you have topic sentences, you are ready to write your body paragraphs! Obviously, this body
paragraph does not match the rest of this essay, but this was a stronger example.
Foremost, the author uses the green light to symbolize the life that Gatsby yearns for with Daisy, showing that luxury is not
happiness. Right after Nick has moved in next door to Gatsby, before the two have met, Nick spots Gatsby standing alone in the dark.
He describes that Gatsby “stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn
he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light” (Fitzgerald 16). This was
the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. To Gatsby, it symbolized her and her life without him. As he reaches his hands out toward
the light, he feels as if he is reaching for her. He has such a deep need to be with her that she seems to be the only thing that could make
him happy. Even with all his money, he still does not have her, because the one thing he cannot buy is love. An important lesson that
Gatsby never quite learned is that this best way to build lasting relationships is to treat people with kindness and respect, which signals
to readers that they should learn from his mistakes and recognize that possessions are not the same as emotional happiness. Near the
end of the story, Nick is contemplating why Gatsby was often found staring out at the green light. He thinks, “Gatsby believed in the
green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes us” (Fitzgerald 115). Yet again, Nick shows the reader an image of Gatsby
reaching for, and failing to grasp Daisy, or at least the idea of her that he has built up in his head. At this point, to Gatsby, she is no
longer a person. She is simply a physical manifestation of the happiness that he can never achieve. Daisy’s transition from a person to
an object in Gatsby’s mind shows his great pitfall in his plan to win her back. It is simply not acceptable or likable to treat people like
objects. The fact that Gatsby was able to stand in front of his expensive mansion, and still long for some great future with Daisy shows
that, even with all his money, he was unable to find the happiness he had hoped for. In other words, the luxuries Gatsby possesses
cannot replace true happiness. Overall, Gatsby’s experiences with the green light symbol help readers understand that happiness does
not come from material goods, possessions, or luxuries.Intro Example The small town worked hard to build the pyre. Soon, the sun would set, and the fire would begin: crackling wood, thick smoke, and the screams of a burning witch cutting through the night. In the small town, the church elders had found a witch. She did not look like the other people in town, so she must be a witch. She did not have the same religious beliefs as other people in town, so she must be a witch. She did not get married like she was supposed to, so she must be a witch. In other words, the “witch” did not meet the town’s expectations for what it meant to be be “normal.” The witch was the victim of discrimination and prejudice, which are the same problems that Scout Finch encounters in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Like the witch, Scout lives in a small town where she feels and experiences sexism. In addition, Scout witnesses the grim consequences of racism and hatred. With guidance from her father Atticus and brother Jem, Scout learns important life lessons about innocence, empathy, and integrity. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses symbolism to suggest that prejudice kills innocence, characterization to reveal that empathy creates courage, and point of view to emphasize that integrity is not heroic.
Conclusion Example Ultimately, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that prejudice kills innocence through the use of symbolism, reveals that empathy creates courage through characterization, and integrity is not heroic through point of view. While Scout Finch lived during the 1930s, these lessons remain relevant in the modern world. In the modern world, Black men and women are still victims of prejudice and discrimination, which shows that readers should still continue learning these lessons. In fact, the importance of these lessons reach back through time. If humans learned these lessons earlier, then maybe the witch would never have burned.
Grammar and the Work Cited Page A few grammar reminders: -Book titles are italicized. -There are no personal pronouns in formal writing (you, I, me, we, us, our, your). -This is formal writing, so avoid vague wording, conversational phrases, and slang. To format your paper and complete the Work Cited page, please watch this video.
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