Sophomore Summer Reading: What factors influence how individuals are perceived as different within a community, and how does society respond to differences?

All Sophomore Summer Reading is focused on a single, essential question: What factors influence how individuals are perceived as different within a community, and how does society respond to differences?  This open-ended essential question invites you to think about your own community and its members. What shapes our perceptions of others? What does it mean to be "different?" What are the consequences and effects of being seen as "different?" Exploring the resources on this site will help you begin to answer these questions. 

Our English Department has worked to create a curated list of resources related to our essential question.  These resources are presented here in a variety of modes: narratives, poems, articles, videos, and podcasts.  Each of these resources is accessible to all students through the links on these pages. We encourage each student to explore at least FIVE of these resources, one from each category (short stories, poems, articles, videos, and podcasts). Of course, students are encouraged to work with more.  Along with each category, there is a supplemental activity that students can use if they choose.  We have found these activities helpful for students to take notes and engage more closely with the sources.  These are similar to activities that many teachers will use in class. 

At the beginning of the Fall semester, all Sophomore English classes will spend the first couple of weeks working with this essential question "What factors influence how individuals are perceived as different within a community, and how does society respond to differences?"  Teachers will use some of the resources included here along with other supplemental activities and resources.  The daily assignments and early assessments during the first few weeks of school will focus on the essential question. 

Along with these resources, Samohi students are encouraged to continue reading on their own over the summer.  Parents, please help your student make time to read -- a half-hour a day is perfect -- and ask your child regularly about what they've read or encourage them to write about it.