CASS students are required to read one assigned book over the summer. Study guides are available for download below. Students are expected to carefully read their assigned book before the start of the year. Please bring the book to class on the first day of school. Class discussion and assignments in the first several weeks of the year will utilize the summer reading selections.
Summer Reading
9th Grade
Mythology
Hamilton, Edith
ISBN 978-0316223331
Edith Hamilton’s classic retelling of all the primary Greek myths serves as a great introduction to the Greek world that is the backdrop to the freshman literature sequence. Students will learn the Greek origin myth and several memorable cautionary tales. Also, these short stories introduce the Greek gods as well as all the major Greek heroes, such as Hercules, Pericles, Theseus and Jason. This is a must-read for students to prepare for the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid and Greek dramas covered in the freshman literature curriculum.
**Note: Read Parts I-III of the Hamilton book only. Reading further actually begins to preclude the subject matter of the Iliad and Odyssey which we read during the year.**
10th Grade
Myths of the Norsemen
Green, Roger Lancelyn
ISBN 978-0141345253
With the slow fall of Rome that is covered in the sophomore history sequence, the gravitational center of the Christian world shifts northward, and the original Christian themes and ideals of the ancient word are retold against a new Germanic cultural backdrop. Roger Lancelyn Green's retelling of these Norse myths sets the stage for Beowulf, the Song of Roland and the Arthurian legends that are studied in the 10th grade.