Books

Students are encouraged to obtain personal copies of the texts we will study in English 5 IB HL so they can highlight and/or mark them with their own notations.

Below are brief descriptions of the English 5 IB texts.

Ian McEwan, Atonement (Summer Reading). A magisterial novel of England during WWII, Atonement is a love story, a war story, a study of social class, and surprisingly, an insightful exploration of writing and why it matters.  Our IB journey comes full circle in McEwan’s moving tale.

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. A murder is committed in broad daylight with the whole town looking on.  But this is far from an open-and-shut case, as one witness goes back in time to uncover some disturbing truths in this story by the master of magic realism.

Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis. How does a young girl cope when her country is plunged into chaos during the Islamic Revolution? Well, one way is to write and illustrate perhaps the world’s most famous comic book!

James Joyce, Dubliners. The greatest collection of short fiction ever written in English? You be the judge.

Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway.  I don’t know how she does it! Clarissa is planning a party, and as usual, she has her act together…or does she?  Nothing is as it seems in this brilliant Modernist novel.

Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day.  Don’t let the name fool you:  Ishiguro is thoroughly English. In this modern novel of manners and missed opportunities, a butler goes for a drive and considers the larger meaning of his life’s journey.

 

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An attic room: a place for Mr. Nigro's IB Seniors to ponder the emptiness at the heart of life.

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