10 Honors

HeLa at a Glance

Welcome to the 10^th Grade English Honors Program. You have been admitted to this course based upon your ninth grade English teacher’s recommendation and your past academic performance. It is assumed that students enrolled in this program possess a love of reading and demonstrate appreciable skill in expository writing. As an honors student, we hope to offer you not only a very challenging curriculum, but also an enjoyable program. The summer reading assignment will enable you to explore literature independently and provide you with the opportunity to make connections to our contemporary society and your own experiences.

The following describes your summer reading assignment, which must be completed by the first day of the class. There is one work of literature which is required reading. You are encouraged to annotate, or take notes, while reading the novel, as well. Since you are not allowed to write in the books, post-it notes can be used instead.

The title of this year’s 10 Honors text is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot which addresses many ethical issues. After you read the book, research and find one article or experiment that relates to the ethical issues presented within it. In a well-developed essay, explain how the article or experiment you found relates to the ethical issues that were discussed in the book. Make sure to use specific, relevant, textual evidence from both the article or experiment and the book to discuss how these ethical issues are demonstrated. To help you accomplish this, you will find a worksheet by clicking here. You must complete this worksheet which will help you pull evidence from the texts and create a conclusion based on the ideas presented within the book and your article or experiment. The worksheet should be completed first and can be used as a guide to help you write your essay. Find more information about the book and assignment here.

Enjoy the reading. Have an enjoyable, safe, and productive summer, and we will see you in September!