[ENGLISH]-2022-23

[ CLASS VIII ]: SUMMER VACATION HOMEWORK

Name: _______________________________ Class: _____________________

ENGLISH HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: GRADE VIII

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

● Your holiday homework consists of 4 parts. All 4 parts are compulsory.

● Part A - Novel Study (A Christmas Carol)
● Part B -Thesis Outline
● Part C - Reading Comprehension (Two worksheets)
● Part D - Grammar (One worksheet on Homophones)
● Part E - English Creativity Project – Book Cover Design
The best book cover designs will be used as the front cover for the Term-2 English
Reader. The rubric is attached below.
● Submission of Holiday Homework: July 4, 2022.
● A reading list with books based on Indian Mythology is shared. Give it a read during
the break as some of the competitions during the Literary festival scheduled in July
will be based around these novels.
● Take printouts of reading and grammar worksheets and paste them in the language
notebooks post completion.
 Part A - Novel Study

❖ Read the novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens and subsequently

watch the movie (2009 film) available on the Internet. The movie is available on
Hotstar ‘A Christmas Carol’ - Jim Carey.

❖ Annotate the book as per the instructions discussed in class. Prepare

annotations using post-its and make the legends of the annotation symbols on
the first page as a ready reckoner.

❖ Attempt the graphic organiser and the questions given on page 54 and 55
respectively in the English workbook.

Part B – Thesis Outline

❖ STEP 1-: Read the novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ and annotate the novel using the
symbols discussed in class.

❖ STEP 2-: Based on the thesis statements given by your teachers prepare the guiding
questions for the same. For this, group members need to coordinate amongst
themselves to complete these tasks as a crew.

❖ STEP 3-: Work on the ‘Outline’. An outline is a “blueprint” or “plan” for your paper. It
helps you to organize your thoughts and arguments. The format and sample of an
outline is given below.
 ❖ STEP 4-: Research: Three Secondary Sources - Conduct your own thorough
research on three secondary sources (books, movies, documentary, case study etc.)
which works best as comparative study for your primary text which is ‘A Christmas
Carol’

❖ The thesis paper outline containing the secondary sources should be emailed to the
teacher by the 20th of June 2022 by only one student from each group/crew.
Feedback on this outline will be given when you join school after which you will work
on the first draft of the thesis paper.

Note : The Thesis Writing PPT is shared on Teamie in the section THESIS WRITING in
your respective English classrooms in case you need further clarity on any of these steps.
 Part C – Reading Comprehension

Learning Targets

● I can understand and apply content/academic vocabulary critical to the meaning of

the text, including vocabularies relevant to different contexts, cultures, and
communities.
● I can analyse the main idea in a given work.
● I can locate information; skim materials to answer questions; use outlines.
● I can comprehend material other than the prescribed text.

Worksheet-1

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

1. An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave
the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his family. He would
miss the pay cheque, but he needed to retire. The employer was sorry to see his
good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal
favour. The carpenter said ‘yes’, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not
in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior material. It was an
unfortunate way to end his career.

2. When the carpenter finished his work, his employer handed over the key of the
house to the carpenter— “This is your house, my gift to you.”
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own
house, he would have done it all so differently! Now he had to live in a poorly built
house. So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our
best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we
have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But you cannot go
back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or
erect a wall. Someone once said, your attitude, and the choices you make today,
help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely!

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer the following
questions:
1.What did the carpenter tell his employer?
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
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2.What favour did his employer ask from the carpenter?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3.What surprise did the employer have for the carpenter?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4.Why was the surprise a ’shame’ for the carpenter?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

5.Which word in the first paragraph means the same as ‘art of skill of a workman’?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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 WORKSHEET-2

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

1. The culture of nuclear families is in fashion. Parents are often heard complaining about
the difficulties in bringing up children these days. Too much of freedom in demand, too
much independence; overnight parties; excessive extravagance, splurging pocket
money; no time for studies and family all this is a common cry of such families. Aren’t
parents, themselves, responsible for this pitiful state? The basic need of a growing
youth is the family, love, attention and bonding along with moral values. One should
not forget that ‘charity begins at home’.

2. Independence and individuality both need to be respected, in order to maintain the

sanctity of family. Children, today are to be handled with tact in order to bridge the
ever-widening generation gap. Only the reasonable demands need to be fulfilled, as
there are too many expenses to be met and top many social obligations to be taken
care of by the parents. Our forefathers lived happily in joint families. Children loved to
live with their cousins, learnt to adjust within means. There was perfect harmony
between the generations. There never existed the concept of old-age homes. There
was deep respect for the family elders and love, care and concern for the youngsters.
Even the minor family differences were solved amicably.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer the following
questions:

1.Mention any two major common concerns of a nuclear family.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2.Who, according to the passage, are responsible for them?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3.Explain the expression ‘charity begins at home’.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4.Describe the atmosphere in joint families.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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5. Which word in the passage means ‘Holiness of life’?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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 Part D – Grammar
Learning Targets

● I can apply conventions, using integrated structures with accuracy and fluency.
● I can use targeted grammatical structures meaningfully and appropriately in oral and
written production.
● I can demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Worksheet

HOMOPHONES: A Homophone is a word that is

pronounced the same as another word but has a
different meaning and different spelling as well. They
are also known as sound-alike words e.g. they’re and
their; sun and son; which and witch;

Let’s Practice!!!!
Choose the word from the word bank that best matches each sentence.

brake steal piece stationery heel peace die isle creek steel
creak duel aisle dye base bass complementary heal dual
stationary break complimentary

1. My friend had to ________________ the seal to open the jar.

2. How thoughtless of them! I’ll give them a ________________ of my mind.
3. The teacher walked down the ________________ between the rows of desks.
4. I like to visit the ________________in the park that I visit in Raleigh. The water is always
so clean and sparkling.
5. The deserted ________________ was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
6. The airplane has________________ controls, for the pilot and co-pilot.
7. The driver applied the ________________ suddenly.
8. From inside came the________________and moan of a swinging door.
9. She wrote thank-you letters on personalized ________________.
10. Many restaurants serve ________________ bread with the meal.
11. Marie liked to ________________ her short hair with exotic colours.
12. The tourists sat at the ________________ of the statue.
13. All that I am looking for is happiness and ________________of mind.
14. I watched the crow ________________ food from the picnickers.
15. She plays ________________ clarinet in the orchestra.
16. Many skyscrapers have ________________ frames.
17. If properly treated, the wound should ________________ within a few weeks.
18. A ________________ is not a good way to settle an argument.
19. My new shoes gave me a blister on my right ________________.
20. The gambler picked up the ________________ and threw a six.
21. The rabbit remained ________________ to avoid being seen.
22. In the logo, the blue contrasts well with its ________________ colour, yellow.
 Part E - English Creativity Project – Book Cover Design
Learning Targets:

• Appreciating a work of fiction/prose or poetry and discovering your

creativity within to design an exemplar book cover.

Skills in Focus:

• Reading for deeper understanding.

• Creativity in drawing and painting, digital/hand drawn artwork is permissible.

BOOK COVER DESIGN RUBRIC: (Attached below)

BOOK COVER DESIGN RUBRIC:

CATEGORY BASIC PROFICIENT ADVANCED

Cover Art and An illustration is An illustration is An illustration is

Creativity included that has included that has included that has
(6 Marks) no relevance to some relevance to relevance to the
the the story. The story. The
theme. illustration shows illustration shows
some effort. effort,
through both
colour and
complexity of
drawing by
hand/digital
prowess.

Presentation The work has The format is The format,

and Timely been done in a correct; every overall design
Submission (4 poor section of visual and
Marks) manner. The space is designed Presentation are
project has not and well balanced, perfect and create
been including colour a powerful impact.
submitted on time. harmony and font The project has
choices. The been
project has been submitted on time.
submitted on time.
 COMMENTS:

Important Note: It is absolutely imperative that your work should reflect your own
individual creativity in terms of content and visual appeal. Plagiarism in ANY form will
result in disqualification of your work.

Summer Reading List

2022-23

Novels based on Indian Mythology

1. The Palace of Illusions : Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

2. The Shiva Trilogy : Amish Tripathi

(This is a collection of the following books listed below)

● The Immortals of Meluha
● The Secret of the Nagas
● The Oath of the Vayuputras
3. Lanka’s Princess : Kavita Kane
4. Dharmayoddha Kalki: Avatar of Vishnu : Kevin Missal
5. Satyayoddha Kalki:Eye of Brahma - Sequel to Dharmayoddha Kalki : Kevin Missal
6. Narasimha: The Mahaavatar Triology Book 1 : Kevin Missal
7. Sindbad: And The Trumpet of Israfil (Indo-Arabian) : Kevin Missal
8. Myth = Mitya : Devdutt Pattanaik
9. Jaya : Devdutt Pattanaik
10. Sita (Ramayana) : Devdutt Pattanaik
11. Ram Chandra Series (Scion of Ikshvaku, Sita : Warrior of Mithila, Raavan: Enemy of
Aryavarta) : Amish Tripathi
12. Devlok : Devdutt Pattanaik
13. The Forest of Enchantments- : Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
14. The Ramyana Secret : Anurag Chandra
15. The Mahabharata Secret : Christopher Doyle
16. My Gita : Devdutt Pattanaik
17. The Pregnant King : Devdutt Pattanaik
18. Asura: Tale of the Vanquished : Anand Neelakantan
19. Women Of Ramayana: The Untold Stories : Kunal Kaushal
20. Unusual tales from Indian Mythology : Sudha Murty
(This is a collection of the following books listed below)

● The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata

● The Upside-Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna
● The Man from The Egg: Unusual Tales About The Trinity
● The Daughter from a Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales about Women in Mythology
● The Sage with Two Horns: Unusual Tales from Mythology