AUC Summer 2024-25 Reading Lists

THEME: Technology

This year, Archimedean Upper Conservatory’s summer reading list will revolve around the theme of technology. Worldwide, people have never had greater access to technology than they currently do. With the modern development and access to generative artificial intelligence in full force and this generative AI rapidly infiltrating all aspects of society (chat-to-image models, language models, machine-learning models, A.l.-enhanced smartphone apps, and alike proliferating at rates not possible before), people’s lives have never been more influenced by technology as they currently are and will be in the future ahead. However, since these innovations will play a critical role in transforming civilization and humankind’s lived experience, it’s worth asking if we should consider these technological developments unquestionable positive forces for good or formidable enough to warrant a healthy degree of skepticism.

Rising 9th- and 10th-grade students will contemplate and discuss technology’s impact on human knowledge and empathy after reading classics within the dystopian genre. Rising 11th-grade students will engage with nonfiction texts in order to explore the positive and negative forces social media has on the masses. Rising 12th-grade students will delve into selections of science fiction from across the decades that paint unique (and at times harrowing) portraits of what unchecked technological development can do to a society that welcomes such shifts without second thought or hesitation.

All students will complete specific assignments on their required readings. These assignments will be posted in and communicated through Archie.

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

Grade 9

Everyone must read both texts from the provided list.

1984 by George Orwell (Mandatory Reading)

AUC Reading Lists 1984 by George Orwell.

1984 by George Orwell
ISBN-10: 9780451524935
The iconic dystopian novel where Big Brother watches your every move!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury ( Mandatory Reading)

AUC Reading Lists Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
ISBN-10 : 9781451673319
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse,…

Grade 10

Everyone must read both texts from the provided list.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Mandatory Reading)

AUC Reading Lists Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
ISBN-10: 0060850523

Technology can be used for surveillance, but how else can it be used to control the people? In this classic novel, Huxley imagines how far a totalitarian government can go – even so far as to control reproduction.

 

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick (Mandatory Reading)

AUC Reading Lists Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep By Philip K. Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick
ISBN-10: 0345404475

In this world, men and androids coexist and, get this, are indistinguishable from one another. We’re following our main guy, Rick Deckard, as he is tasked to ‘retire’ the remaining androids – can he do it, or will he learn a valuable lesson along the way?

Grade 11


For your summer assignment, you will have one required novel AND a second novel of your choice from the provided list.

 

Required (everyone must read)

They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 5th Edition, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein (Mandatory Reading)

AUC Reading Lists They Say, I Say The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 5th Edition, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 5th Edition by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
ISBN: 0393538702

Used and loved by millions of students for its lively and practical advice, this is the book that demystifies academic writing and shows how to engage with the views of others.

 

Optional (everyone MUST read 1 of the titles below)

Writing on the Wall: Social Media, the First 2000 Years by Tom Standage (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists Writing on the Wall, Social Media, the First 2000 Years by Tom Standage

Writing on the Wall: Social Media, the First 2000 Years by Tom Standage
ISBN: 1408842084

Standage chronicles the increasingly sophisticated ways people shared information with each other, spontaneously and organically, down the centuries. With the rise of newspapers in the nineteenth century, then radio and television, “mass media” consolidated control of information in the hands of a few moguls. However, the Internet has brought information sharing full circle, and the spreading of news along social networks has reemerged in powerful new ways.

Because Internet, Understanding the new rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists Because Internet, Understanding the new rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch

Because Internet, Understanding the new rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
ISBN: 0735210942

The internet and the technological platforms we use to communicate are changing the way we speak and share ideas, these technology used for communication acting as enormous workshops where new words, symbols, and ways of using language are created. Social media lets us observe language evolving in real time. In this book, the author delves into why these changes happen and why new structures spread so rapidly.

Anti-Social Media by Siva Vaidhyanathan (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists Anti Social Media by Siva Vaidhyanathan

Anti-Social Media by Siva Vaidhyanathan
ISBN: 0190056541

How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy the author takes a floodlight to the very roots of the platform and demonstrates with careful, piercing analysis how it has eroded one of the hallmarks of a democracy: the ability of the public to have reasoned, informed discourse.

Grade 12


For your summer assignment, you will have one required novel AND a second novel of your choice from the provided list.

Required (everyone must read)

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster (Mandatory Reading )

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
ISBN: 978-0062301673

A thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Thomas C. Foster’s classic guide—a lively and entertaining introduction to literature and literary basics, including symbols, themes and contexts, that shows you how to make your everyday reading experience more rewarding and enjoyable.

Optional (everyone MUST read 1 of the titles below)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
ISBN: 9781451673319

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
ISBN: 0060850523

Aldous Huxley’s profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (2nd Novel to choose)

AUC Reading Lists I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
ISBN: 9780553382563

Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world – all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asmiov’s trademark