a separate peace summer reading packet

8/12/2019 A Separate Peace Summer Reading Packet

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A Separate PeaceBy John Knowles

UNIVERSAL SCHOOL SUMMER READING PACKET10 th Grade Literature

“The tree was not only stripped by the cold season, it seemed weary from age, enfeebled, dry. I was thankful,

very thankful that I had seen it. So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all….

Changed, I headed back through the mud. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the

rain”

-A Separate Peace



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For this novel, we will not just read and discuss. For the most part, you are doingthe reading and analyzing on your own as you read the novel at home, and then wewill discuss it when you get back. However, you will have a focus and guided questionsto help steer you in the direction we will follow in class. This is a book-noting packet,which means whatever directions or questions that are posed in this packet will not be

answered on a paper. You will highlight, mark up, and tab them in your own book. Iwill collect the book for an assignment grade. I know it sounds like a lot of work, butit’s actually not.

Now, of course, we will not discuss everything in John Knowle’s A Separate

Peace —that’s not possible with the time we have—but that’s the point of this packet. Itbasically tells you what our focus is. So what do you have to do? It’s simple. Buy booktabs and a highlighter. Yes, you must use tabs. It’s easier for both you and me. It’sorganized, and it’s required. Then read the notes in the packet and follow the directionsin highlighting, noting, and/or tabbing anything on the Tasks page.

I’m sure you will enjoy reading this novel. It’s a realistic depiction of the dark sideof human nature and the change two friends undergo when innocence is lost.

NOTES: for you to read

Background Material on the Author:

Author John Knowles was born in 1926 in Fairmont, West Virginia, deep in the heart of coal-miningcountry. Although some of his works reflect his West Virginia roots—in A Vein of Riches, for example, he tthe story of an early twentieth-century miners strike—Knowles’s best-known works are set in New EnglandHis father and mother were originally from Massachusetts, and the family often spent summer vacationsthere.

Knowles’s love of New England stems from his experiences as a student. At the age of fifteen, heapplied to an elite New Hampshire boarding school, Phillips Exeter Academy. Much to his surprise, he was

All of my books are based on places, places I know very well and

feel very deeply about. I begin with that place and then the

characters and the plot emerge from it. . . A Separate Peace

began with a playing field at Exeter Academy. —John Knowles



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admitted. At first, Knowles felt out of place. He has said that his classmates seemed “too eastern for me, tooYankee, too tough,” and that he found the New Hampshire winter “breathtakingly cold.” Moreover, his gradwere not the best. He admits: It quickly seemed probable that I would flunk out.

. . . Then somehow or other I knuckled down, learned by myself how to study, discovered I had a brawhich had more potential than a knack for writing, and by the end of that first term, I was passing everycourse comfortably. . . . Meanwhile, I was falling in love with Exeter.

Knowles’s affection for the school is reflected in his first—and most famous—novel, A Separate Peace.Shortly after Knowles entered Exeter, the United Sates declared war on Japan and entered World WarII. Like other young men of the time, Knowles went into the military after he graduated from high school. Htrained to be a pilot in the United States Army Air Force aviation program, but when the war ended hedecided to go back to school. He attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he received abachelor’s degree in 1949.

During his twenties, Knowles traveled and earned a living as afreelance writer. He wrote the stories “Phineas” and “A Turn in the Su

which were to form the core of A Separate Peace. Knowles then took a job as an associate editor of a travel magazine. Early each morning,before going to the office, he worked onA Separate Peace.

The novel, which was first published in England in 1959 andthe United States in 1960, proved to be a success—so much thatKnowles was able to resign from his job and devote his time to writingand to travel. Since then, Knowles has written a variety of novels, ashort story collection, a travel book, and several essays. None of theseworks has been as successful as A Separate Peace, but the fact does noseem to trouble him. He says that because he does not write with aparticular audience in mind he is delighted that he has found anyaudience at all. Knowles may be too modest. He is likely to continue tohave an audience for many years to come. Today, Knowles lives in For

Lauderdale, Florida, where he still writes.

Setting : The work is set at Devon, a private boarding school in NewHampshire on the Atlantic Coast during World War II. Two rivers run through the

school's campus, one is the Devon River (fresh water) and the other is theNaguamsett River (salt water, swamp like consistency). Some of the work's actionrevolves around a predominate oak tree overhanging a creek.

In the middle of a war…



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Themes : Guilt: Gene feels remorse but cannot come to terms with

what he did. Insecurity and identity : Gene is insecure about his own

ability and intelligence. Friendship and Jealousy: Gene and Finny are friends but

have different values for friendship. Innocence vs Growing up: The narrator has a different

perspective upon returning to Exeter years later and

notices how he is now is different than how he was, achild of “careless peace”

Conformity

Symbols: The marble staircase The tree Finny’s fall Blitzball

Essential Questions: for you to think about…

What causes jealousy between friends?What factors seem to be a threat to friendship?Is war a necessary evil?Is sin inevitable?

Is redemption possible?How should we deal with guilt?Does competition bring out the best or worst in people?Is the loss of innocence inevitable?What does the author’s attitude toward war seem to be?What does the author’s attitude toward human nature seem to be?How do the effects of war on this generation compare to the effects on the boys in the novel?Do we need to accept the reality of evil in the human heart & world to survive?



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Related Reading: XL. "Into my heart an air that kills..."

by A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

Into my heart an air that killsFrom yon far country blows:What are those blue remembered hills,What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,I see it shining plain,The happy highways where I went

And cannot come again.

In this poem, the speaker looks back on his younger days with painful nostalgia.



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VOCABULARY LISTHighlight the following vocabulary words in yellow any time you come across them.Chapters 1-5

1. anarchy n. disorder; absence of rules2. enfeebled adj. weakened; depleted3. indulgent adj. permissive

4. inure v. to become used to something unpleasant5. inveigle v. to entice; to trick into something6. nondescript adj. uninteresting; drab7. sedate adj. calm; serene8. tacit adj. unspoken

Chapters 6-109. extrovert n. outgoing person who enjoys the company of other people10. funereal adj. solemn as befitting a funeral

11. gullible adj. easily tricked; naive12. idiosyncratic adj. peculiar; eccentric

13. implausibility n. unlikeliness; unbelievability14. sinecure n. position, usually salaried, that requires little or no work15. sultriness n. humidity; heat

Chapters 11-1316. forlornly adv. miserably; desolately17. impervious adj. resistant; inaccessible

18. incarnate adj. in the flesh19. incomprehensible adj. not understandable; mysterious

20. incongruity n. inconsistency; disharmony21. latent adj. potential; inactive22 timbre n. the quality of a sound; tone



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TASKS

Here’s an example of a booknoted page.

1. Identify and tab the beginningand end of each flashback thatoccurs in the novel and briefly

comment on its purpose andimportance. PINK

2. After reading each chapter,make up a relevant title for eacchapter. Actually write this inyour book.

3. As you read Chapters 11through 13, look for the climaxwhich will suddenly change thcourse of events for the maincharacters. Place a tab whereyou believe the climax occursand briefly comment in theactual book) on why you belieso. PINK

4. Conflict: Highlight in GREENany instance that an externaland internal conflict occurs.Make sure you dedicate adifferent color for the two typeof conflicts.

5. Review the themes of 1) Friendship, 2) Identity, and 3) guilt and highlight inBLUE any quotes that support these themes. Also label them 1, 2, or 3

6. Highlight and tab any important details about three symbols—the marble staircasethe tree, and Finny’s fall. ORANGE

*Please pay attention to the highlighter colors in the tasks. You will be responsible for keepingup with this.

**Not every page will be marked. Please do not go overboard. These are six simple things andlet’s keep it simple and just focus on these things.



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Sources:http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/peace.html http://thinston.deviantart.com/art/A-Separate-Peace-Part-4-175059858 www. glencoe.com/.../litlibrary/pdf/ separate _ peace .pdf www. cibacs.org/teacherpages/jbronkar/PDFs/A%20Separate www.mbakerenglish.blogspot.com/2007/11/separate-peace



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a separate peace summer reading packet

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