English Grade 12
Assignment
The grade 12 IB A1 English summer reading assignment is intended to prepare students for Parts 2 and 3 of their A1 syllabus.
I. Nonfiction (Higher Level, only)
To fulfill the nonfiction requirement in the A1 syllabus, Higher Level students should read the book listed below. Students should read actively, annotating the text, taking thorough notes, and making insightful connections. Students will be expected to do an in-class essay on this text during the week of August 20.
- Orwell, George, A Collection of EssaysISBN-13: 978-0156186001
II. Literary Terminology (Required)
Below is a list of one hundred terms and concepts relevant to the study, analysis, and discussion of literature. Students are expected to research, study, and become familiar with these terms over the summer -- although many, if not all, of these terms should already be familiar to IB students going into grade 12. Students should be prepared for a test on these terms during the week of September 4. Though some terms may be found in their copy of Robert DiYanni's Literature anthology, we recommend that the student purchase a more specialized literary handbook.
Some suggestions:
- Abrams, M.H., ed. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. New York: Heinle, 1998.
- Baldick, Chris, ed. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Oxford, 1990.
- Cuddon, J. A., ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. 4th ed. New York: Penguin, 2000.
- Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holmon, eds. A Handbook to Literature. 9th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Terms
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Antagonist
- Antithesis
- Apostrophe
- Assonance
- Atmosphere
- Caesura
- Catharsis
- Character
- Cliché
- Climax
- Conceit
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Convention
- Couplet
- Denotation
- Denouement
- Deus ex machina
- Dialogue
- Dichotomy
- Diction
- Double Entendre
- Dramatic Irony
- Dynamic Character
- Elision
- End rhyme
- End stop
- Enjambment
- Equivocation
- Euphony/Cacophony
- Exposition
- Falling Action
- Fiction
- Figurative Language
- Flashback
- Flat Character
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Free Verse
- Genre
- Hero
- Hyperbole
- Iambic Pentameter
- Imagery
- Interpretation
- Irony
- Italian Sonnet
- Juxtaposition
- Lexical Field
- Metaphor
- Mood
- Motif
- Narrative
- Narrator
- Octave
- Omniscient
- Onomatopoeia
- Paradox
- Parallel Structure
- Parody
- Plot
- Point of View
- Protagonist
- Quatrain
- Recognition/Epiphany
- Repetition
- Resolution
- Reversal
- Rhetoric
- Rising Action
- Round Character
- Satire
- Sestet
- Setting
- Shift
- Shakespearean Sonnet
- Situational Irony
- Slant Rhyme
- Soliloquy
- Static Character
- Structure
- Style
- Subplot
- Subtext
- Symbol
- Synaesthesia
- Syntax
- Tension
- Theme
- Tone
- Tragedy
- Unity
- Verbal Irony
- Voice