Incoming IB Seniors
IB Lit/Lang Summer Reading Assignment - 2026
Title: The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game
Author: C. Thi Nguyen
This is a non-literary text focusing on the concept of “value capture” by philosopher C. Thi Ngyuen. His website and link to other publications is https://objectionable.net/ . The book will be available at Watermark. They will have all our texts.
We will be using this as an anchor text for our studies next year, exploring what holds value for us and why. His primary focus in the book is the art of games. You have 3 assignments associated with the text.
First: Read, annotate, and thoughtfully reflect on the book. The text is broken into 5 parts. After reading each part, write a page of reflection - typed, MLA format. If you don’t remember how to do MLA format, please go to https://owl.purdue.edu/ to see samples and refresh yourself on the expectations of the format. These reflections are informal, but all writing is practice, so be thoughtful about your writing, and remember to proofread. This is the first chance I will have to see your writing. Show me your best! As they are not analytical, but reflection, I don’t require an argument, and you may find, as you reflect, that questions are raised, rather than answers or conclusions.
Things to consider as you reflect:
- What stood out to you the most?
- What made you look at the world around you in a different way?
- What was confusing and made you seek clarification?
- How did what you read connect to you, other things you have read or watched, or the world in general?
- What frustrated you or conflicted with the way you perceive the world?
Second: Create or modify a game. Rules of games tell us what to value. Create a new game, or take a familiar game and change the rules. Establish or alter the values of the game. You may already have games you do this with, like house rules for Uno. Don’t just use those. Create new ones. Write the rules down. Be creative and have fun with this!
Third: Play your game. Set up a game session with others. This could be with friends, family, people in the neighborhood, or online. Teach those you are playing with the rules for your game. Maybe have a practice run, and then play the game in earnest. While playing, pay attention to the way what you have read about rules and value capture are displayed during the game session.
Write a reflection about the session that touches on three elements of value capture discussed in the book.
Your reflection should include details about the game and the session: what did you play, where, when, with whom. In your reflection you should include three quotes you pull from the text. Remember to embed and cite them. Purdue Owl can help with that too. For works cited, I like https://www.citationmachine.net/ . It is “free” meaning you may have to watch an ad or two! If we aren’t paying money for something, we pay in another way. In this case, with our time and attention. I am not giving a length for this reflection. Use your best judgment. Again, this should be typed in MLA format. Remember to proofread.
Use of AI: For your reflections please do not use AI beyond a spell check. Your words should all be your own. I want to see YOUR work, not ChatGPT’s. I’m not going to say no AI at all, for all I know, your game is an AI focused game! But your reflections need to be all you, all the time.
Your reflections should be printed. You will turn them on on the first day of Senior year!
Elizabeth Findling (Mlotkiewicz)
emlotkiewicz@usd259.net Room: W223
Other texts we will read next year - also available at Watermark Bookstore.
- Antigone by Sophocles - Fagles Translation. (I have a PDF for this, but some of you may want a physical copy)
- James by Percival Everrett
- The Crucible by Aruther Miller - Penguin version
- The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
- Kafka on the Shore - Murakami