Reformation of Summer Reading Assignments

Towards the end of junior year, my English teacher along with another English teacher introduced the idea of letting the classes roll a dice to decide which summer reading book we would be assigned to out of 6 options. The book that I was assigned was “Orlando” by Virginia Woolf. 

During summer vacation, I opened the book for the first time. While flipping through the pages, a sense of dread filled my body. Before the story of “Orlando” commenced, a ten page preface and a thirty-three page introduction needed to be read. Once I got to the main story, I was met with old English and complex phrasing that filled the pages making it hard to keep track of the events happening in the story. Needless to say, I did not enjoy reading “Orlando”.

Entering my senior year, my English teacher held a discussion about me and my classmates’ summer reading books. After our discussion, I learned that a lot of my classmates didn’t enjoy their summer reading books either. Out of the six books (Virginia Woolf: “Orlando”, Toni Morrison: “Song of Solomon”, Jane Austen: “Emma”, Bharati Mukherjee: “Jasmine”, Louise Erdrich: “The Round House”, and Brit Bennett: “The Vanishing Half”), most of the comments that were brought up during the discussion were either about the confusion my classmates felt while reading the book, not understanding the reasoning behind a character’s actions, or just pure boredom from the book. Throughout the discussion, however, we were able to discover the meanings behind our books and clear up details we were confused about. Even so, the clarification after reading didn’t make up for the confusion and boredom I’d faced over the Summer while reading the book alone.

In my previous years in high school, I was always assigned one summer reading book, and each year, I found it enjoyable. My senior year of high school is the only year where I felt immense pain from my summer reading. However, the difference between my previous summer reading books and my senior summer reading book comes down to genre. All of my previous summer reading books were meant to educate about immigration, discrimination, etc. My senior year was the only time where I and my classmates were given books concerning multiple themes (love, revenge, identity, etc.) The new range in genres provided to me and my classmates was the only thing I like about my summer reading. Keeping this variety and making subtle changes could allow for future summer reading assignments to be more enjoyable.

For summer reading assignments in the future, the way in which the books are chosen and assigned needs to change. Before the end of a school year, Summer reading options could be provided on a Google form along with their summaries. Based on the options students picked, summer reading books should be ordered and handed out accordingly. The random chance selection last year left me and a lot of my classmates unsatisfied with our choices. By providing the incentive of choosing your own book, students will be more motivated to read and enjoy their summer reading. This suggestion is only an example, but taking these steps could make summer reading assignments something to look forward to instead of a chore.

By: Kayla Beasley