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Given the nature of the 2011 summer reading program, you had significant autonomy in selecting the books you would read. While you were responsible for completing a proposal, you were not given other assignments to complete over the summer. As indicated on your proposal form, you are required to write a letter to your 20http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/Mitchell+N-Sum+Read11-12 Language Arts teacher that demonstrates your thoughtful reading of your book. We have chosen to break this down further into three focused "Power Paragraphs" for two reasons, one, to introduce you to the idea of a power paragraph, and two, to assist you in covering all aspects of the assignment.//

//__ Prompt for Paragraph One - A Reflection of Your Choice __// //** *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Wednesday, 8/24 **// // ** click edit and paste your response here ** // Over the summer I started the book //Black Hawk Down// by Mark Bowden because of a "recommendation from my history teacher" (Summer Reading Proposal), yet managed to switch my book to //The Beach House// by James Patterson due to the fact that my first book was rather boring and hard to understand. After vehemently reading through this book, I really enjoyed the suspenseful and thrilling plot. Jack Mullens, a 29 year old lawyer from the Hamptons, goes through trials and tribulations in order to prove that his brother’s murder on the beach was being covered up. Watching Jack persevere into discovering what really happened on the night of his brothers murder made me really enjoy this book. “Patterson, James. The Beach House. New York City: Warner Books, 2002. Print.”

//__ Prompt for Paragraph Two - A Discussion of What You Gained by Reading Your Book __// //** *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Thursday, 8/25 **// // ** click edit and paste your response here ** // After reading //The Beach House,// I questioned if money can really buy off a society. The antagonist in the story, Barry Neubauer, simply uses his fame, fortune, and money to buy off their society, including the police, judges and witnesses, into covering up the murder of a young man. After torment, a police officer finally came out and told Jack that “Neubauer paid his goons not only to help kill your brother, but to cover it up too!” (Patterson 308). Although this book is fiction, this evidence still clearly shows money can buy off a society.

//“Patterson, James.// The Beach House//. New York City: Warner Books, 2002. Print.”// Clarify what you mean by "buy off a society."

//__ Prompt for Paragraph Three - What to do With it... __// //** *Must be posted to the WIKI by midnight on Sunday, 8/28 **// // ** click edit and paste your response here ** //

The perfect reader for //The Beach House// is any high school student or above (only due to some sexual content) that is interested in the topic of murder and the court of law. The basic moral of this story is to show the many faults in the court system, so in order to enjoy this book you must know a little bit about what goes on in a court. The reason I chose not to read an “action and war book” (Summer Reading Proposal) was because my favorite genre of books are mystery, and because I highly enjoy crime shows and movies. If the topics of murder, crime, law, or mystery sound appealing, then I would without a doubt recommend //The Beach House// to you.

//“Patterson, James.// The Beach House//. New York City: Warner Books, 2002. Print.”//

//** Scoring: Your three paragraphs will be given one overall grade, and the timeliness of your posts will be reflected in your "timeliness" grade. **//

An outstanding response to the prompts will include the following: //
 * A strong topic sentence that clearly establishes the focus on the prompt I'd like to know why you chose your second book; was it recommended by someone?
 * Evidence that clearly supports the topic sentence Be sure to include details from the book(s) as well.
 * Correct use of internal citations and a properly formatted MLA citation for your book (put this citation at the end of paragraph one)
 * Strict adherence to the Power Paragraph format Good job staying within the limits of this format.
 * Mechanics are clean and do not detract from meaning