Summer 2008 Required Reading

ENGLISH 2H:

The following required reading has been chosen to prepare you for next year's foray into European Literature, the British Invasion. You are required to read a total of three works; two are mandatory and one is a free choice based on the author list that appears below. The two works that you MUST read are:

	Beowulf--Seamus Heaney's new verse translation
	Grendel by John Gardner

Students must take copious notes on all texts. These will be reviewed in September as part of your summer reading assessment.

For Beowulf and Grendel:

It is strongly suggested that you pay careful attention to the narrative point of view and how it affects one's perception of the tale that is at the center of both works. In addition to being a source for your first writing in September, Beowulf and Grendel will be the focus of our first unit of study, Anglo-Saxon Literature.

Below is a list of some celebrated English authors, all of whom played a pivotal role in the development of English Literature; as an alternative, you may select a European author. In any event, you must choose one author and read one of his or her full-length works. You may choose to use this text as a basis for your research requirement that will be assisgned in the spring. You will also receive an assessment on this work in the fall.

The Bronte Sisters--Charlotte, Emily, or Anne
H. G. Wells
Joseph Conrad
Rudyard Kipling
J. R. R. Tolkien
Jules Verne
Robert Louis Stevenson