An invitation to parents ...

Your Appalachian State University freshman will be participating in an exciting innovation in Appalachian's orientation of new students to life on our campus. In order to enhance incoming students' academic experience during the summer and during Phase II Orientation which takes place right before classes begin in the Fall semester, Appalachian has developed the Summer Reading Program. By participating in this program our new students will be encouraged to emphasize and focus more fully on academics at Appalachian as well as to participate in a common experience that will help develop a sense of community with other new students, both from having a shared reading experience and from participating in the discussion of the book planned for Phase II Orientation.

The Process

During the Phase I Orientation, your student will receive a copy of Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies as well as some study guide material. Between the time of Phase I Orientation and Phase II Orientation in August, the student will read the book and think about the study questions and guide material. As part of Phase II Orientation, the students will participate in a session that will answer many of their questions about academic life at Appalachian and will, through discussion of Alvarez's book, simulate the manner in which many university level discussion classes are conducted. This reading will also enable students to be prepared ahead of time for the discussion and assignments that may be developed in classes such as Freshman Seminar and English 1000 and 1100, Expository Writing and Introduction to Literature.

The Book

A committee of faculty, representing a variety of academic departments, selected Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies for the 1997 summer reading. This book was selected because of the powerful and important ideas about personal development, freedom, and courage that it presents. Based on an actual historical event, the martyrdom of three sisters under the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic in 1960, Alvarez's story shows how each sister takes her separate path to the martyrdom that results from standing firm in personal belief in the face of a repressive dictatorship. The love and support of family and friends is a central theme in the novel and in Julia Alvarez's life. Alvarez's family immigrated to the United States to escape Trujillo and the story of the Mirabal sisters reflects both Julia Alvarez's first hand knowledge of life under Trujillo and her research into the history of her former country. Alvarez is also one of a group of Latin American women writers, known as "Las Girlfriends," who are beginning to make a dramatic impact on the contemporary American literary scene. We think that reading this book will not only encourage our students to begin to think about important personal issues, but will also introduce them to an important emerging voice in our culture.

The Payoff

As a result of the Summer Reading Program, new students, will enter Appalachian with at least one intellectual experience in common. This will provide a way to have the Phase II Orientation to academics at Appalchian move beyond simply answering questions about such things as attendance policies to actively engaging students in a simulation of one type of intellectual activity in which they will be engaged in their university careers. In addition students will have a head start on dealing with this book in courses which choose to incorporate the summer reading into the regular curriculum. The process will serve to remind students about how strongly Appalachian values their intellectual and academic development. Reading and discussing the book will also begin to reinforce the communication skills which Appalachian plans to hone in all of its students to enable them to become outstanding students and to excel in their chosen careers.

In conclusion, we are tremendously excited by the opportunity that the Summer Reading Program will provide for us, you as parents and us as faculty, to "jump start" our students' academic development for the next few years. We hope that you will encourage your student to follow through with the reading so that she or he is fully prepared to participate in the discussion that will be part of Phase II Orientation and, perhaps, of other courses. The summer reading program is one way we hope to work together to provide our students with a stimulating academic experience that will help them prepare for a successful career.

For more information, please contact us at SummerReading@rocketmail.com
Copyright © 1997 Appalachian State University Summer Reading Program