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Two of these listings will be required for the CP 12 summer reading assignment. The texts should be read before you return in September when testing will be conducted to demonstrate that the assignment has been completed. One of your selections may be required for the research project which will be assigned later in the year. Thus, this assignment will greatly affect grades in two marking periods. Many of these novels and plays can be found in the school and public library. However, if you wish to purchase a copy, which is a good idea for the book to be used for the research project, you will find that the classics are fairly priced. The text descriptions provided on the next two pages are designed to help you make selections that suit your taste and needs. If you have questions, the CP 12 teachers will be happy to provide the answers.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare	perhaps Shakespeare's most appropriate comedy for a modern audience, this play deals with elements of mistaken identity, practical jokes, and a charming love triangle that is finally resolved through intricate plot manipulation. This play has something entertaining to offer to every reader.
King Lear by William Shakespeare	a distressing Shakespearean tragedy centering on the betrayal of a king by treacherous daughters. This is one of Shakespeare's most "shocking" plays and uses a subplot of additional betrayal of a lord by his son. Critics have called this drama too powerful to be performed on stage.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens	an early Dickens novel dealing with the horrible treatment of orphans in prosperous Victorian England. The tale later transforms into a mystery plot which takes the reader into London's criminal underworld with a group of fascinating and grotesque characters.
Silas Marner by George Eliot	a realistic look at 19th century rural England with the moral and the elements of a fairy tale. Mary Ann Evans (pseudonym Eliot) tells of secrets, resentment, love, and role reversals as she shows the reader that justice comes to all, as good is eventually rewarded.
Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy	a tragic romance which is set in the industrial revolution of England. Tess serves as an independent woman, ruled by her passions. This powerful novel builds upon the great Victorian tradition and creates a heroine who refuses to yield to the devastating elements of fate.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte	a novel of good turned to evil. Engaging elements of love, hate, suspense, jealousy, and revenge, Bronte goes beyond the simple narrative of passion between two characters by using symbols, imagery, and vivid descriptions which are all open to a reader's interpretation.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift	a four-part satiric 18th century novel which powerfully attacks the Whigs and Tories of the English government. Swift's Gulliver travels to strange, fantasy worlds where politics, philosophy, culture, and religion come under attack. In the end, Gulliver questions the superiority of mankind to other living creatures.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte	a novel of poetry and tension, which creates two unlikely central figures as the romantic heroes: a young woman possessing intelligence and passion but lacking charm and beauty and also an eerie and moody, even violent man who must suffer through great tragedy. Influenced by the romantic poets and the early Victorian novelists, this psychological romance is always popular.
Hard Times by Charles Dickens	a social protest novel dealing with the harsh realities of English industrialization. While Dickens attacks the polluters and exploiters of his society, he creates an environment where reason and rationalism fail to serve as substitutes for the simple, emotional pleasures of life. Coketown is a center of pain and suffering that will continue until these people rediscover the really important things in their community.
Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy	a novel of romantic tragedy set in the English rural heathlands. Hardy develops a natural woman who hates the rural setting and will do anything to live in the city and a sophisticated man who wants to retreat from urban society to a life of peace in the country. The unwise marriage of these opposites destroys them as well as destroying others related to them. This work is packed with symbolism and rich imagery.
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence	a psychological novel set in the impoverished mining communities of England. This semi-autobiographical work follows the growth of a talented young man striving to establish his own identity. His relationships with a farm girl and a separated-but-married woman cause continual struggles resulting from the young man's close attachment to his mother.
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy	the tale of a man who lets emotions lead himself to destruction. Michael Henchard, while drunk, sells his wife and child to a passing sailor. Later in life, when he finds his fortune in Casterbridge, the implications of his foul deed begin to haunt him. This selection may have the most interesting plot development and characterization in all of Hardy's novels.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen	Elizabeth lives in an era when marriage was the only way for a woman to secure a stable future, but Elizabeth refuses to play the marriage game in spite of the motivation of her step-mother and the flirtations of her sisters. Determined to meet the right man or marry no man, Elizabeth discovers that one must look beyond pride and prejudice to see true human nobility.
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells	a turn-of-the-century scientist, the Time Traveler, courage- ously steps out of his machine for the first time and finds himself in the year 802,700--where everything has changed. Expecting to find progress and superior people, he discovers a world in decay instead. H.G. Wells's famous novel of one man's astonishing journey is regarded as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins	a mystery featuring sensibilities untypical of the Victorian era. Collins unmasks a restrictive society in his depiction of sexual and imperial domination. Finally, through his manipulation of the narrative itself, facts, identities and memory become question marks. With constantly shifting perspectives, the marvellously intricate mystery of the Moonstone diamond unfolds.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll	a tale of Alice’s unusual adventures, including falling down a rabbit hole and stepping through a mirror with a variety of characters. Lewis Carroll's sound reasoning is translated into an unusual and entirely delightful way, combining know- ledge and the understanding of the mind of the child. His work is fiilled with allusion, symbolism and mysterious meanings.