Upon start of class, there will be only a small window of opportunity to make up any of this reading, so be sure to do as much as possible in the summer so that you are prepared for the rigor of the year's curriculum.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Required Poetry:
Beowulf (Seamus Heaney translation)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Burton Raffel translation)
Required Drama:
Everyman
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Required Foundational Reading:
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
Suggested Foundational Reading:
The Book of Genesis and The Book of Job - King James Version (Judeo-Christian teachings)
The Qur'an (Islamic teachings)
The Tao Te Ching (Taoist teachings)
The Bhagavad Gita (Hinduist teachings)
The reading of religious texts is recommended, i.e., not required, and such reading is solely for the purpose of understanding the symbols and references in literary works.
As the bulk of the year's texts are by British and American authors, the Biblical references are many, so a reading of The Book of Genesis and The Book of Job is highly recommended.
We will, however, also read a few texts written by recent immigrants, so an understanding of the fundamental writings of the various world religions is preferred.