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Language2-Day Institute

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AP® is a registered trademark of the College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production of and does not endorse this product. Copyright © 2014 National Math + Science Initiative, Dallas, Texas. All rights reserved. Visit us at www.nms.org or at www.nmsiteachers.org.

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NMSI Two-Day Conference

AP Language and Composition Learner Outcomes ..............................................................................................................................3

Contextualizing Pre-Twentieth Century Arguments .........................................................................4

Claims in Pre-Twentieth Century Images ..............................................................................8

Close Reading: “The Great Nation of Futurity,” John L. O’Sullivan ....................................13

Close Reading: “Memorial of the Cherokee Nation” ............................................................15

Pre-Twentieth Century Texts and Modern Pairings ..........................................................................20

Steinbeck’s Letter to His Son ................................................................................................21

Lord Chesterfield’s Letter to His Son ...................................................................................24

Teacher Training Activity: Lord Chesterfield Student Samples ............................................32

Understanding Syntax in Pre-Twentieth Century Texts

Close Reading Exercise: “Self-Reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson .......................................35

Multiple Choice: “Self-Reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson ....................................................43

Understanding Satire: Terms .............................................................................................................46

Satire Warm-Up: Identifying Humor in Animated Films ......................................................47

Contextualizing Satire ........................................................................................................................49

Close Reading: “The Passion of Parenting,” Charles M. Blow .............................................52

Close Reading: “Where Did My Little Girl Go?” Dave Barry ..............................................57

Writing Task: Style Comparison ...........................................................................................61

Close Reading: Annoying, Excerpt Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman ........................................62

Close Reading: “Good Folks,” Dorothy Parker ....................................................................64

Writing Task: Drawing on Knowledge from Two Texts .......................................................69

Teaching Satire via Images and Cartoons ..........................................................................................70

Close Reading: “A Generation Hobbled by Soaring Cost of College” .................................72

Close Reading: Political Cartoon: Monsters’ Inc. College Debt ...........................................75

Writing Task: Taking a Position about College Debt ............................................................77

Teaching Satire via Video ..................................................................................................................78

“Hashtags Skit,” The Tonight Show staring Jimmy Fallon ...................................................79

Close Reading: “#InPraiseOfTheHashtag,” Julia Turner ......................................................80

Writing Task: The Role of Social Media in Modern Society ................................................83


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Teacher Training Exercise: Contextualizing Satire ...........................................................................84

Multiple Choice Strategies Overview ................................................................................................86

MC Strategy One: Three Close Readings .........................................................................................88

Passage: “Wind,” William Least Heat-Moon

MC Strategy Two: Teacher Marked Pre-Reading .............................................................................95

Passage: “Ellen Terry,” Virginia Woolf

MC Strategy Three: Three Readings, Two Discussions, One Class Grade .......................................101

Passage: Unsigned Review in Leader, George Eliot

MC Strategy Four: Student Created Multiple Choice Questions.......................................................110

Passage: “On Compassion,” Barbara Ascher

Full Length Multiple-Choice Exam Reminders .................................................................................116

Rhetorical Analysis Everyday Overview ...........................................................................................117

Exercise #1: Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand ...........................................................................118

Exercise #2: Five Days at Memorial, Sheri Fink ...................................................................120

Exercise #3: The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls ......................................................................122

Exercise #4: Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan ........................................124

Exercise #5: Muck City, Bryan Mealer ..................................................................................126

Exercise #6: The Emerald Mile, Kevin Fedarko ....................................................................128

Exercise #7: Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, Dan Fagin ...............................130

Exercise #8: Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo .................................................132

Rhetorical Analysis Everyday: Teacher Training Exercise ...............................................................134


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National Math and Science Initiative

AP English Language and Composition Two-Day Workshop

This two-day workshop for AP English Language teachers offers strategies, lessons, and

resources designed to address common challenges teachers and students face in the AP English

Language classroom. During the interactive work sessions, participants will explore techniques

and materials to improve students’ analysis of pre-20th

century prose and visual texts, with

special emphasis on syntactical analysis and commentary development. Participants also will

examine lessons and materials that strengthen students’ understanding of satire and humor, and

they will consider a range of strategies designed to support students’ understanding of tone in a

variety of genres. In addition, participants will explore strategies and techniques to embed

rhetorical analysis and argument skills into routine classroom practice as well as to improve

student performance on multiple-choice items. An important focus of the workshop is an

exploration of how to build students’ cultural and archival knowledge so that they can approach

the argument free response question with confidence and skill. Participants will receive original,

classroom-ready lessons designed to improve students’ skill and confidence in analyzing

complex texts, as well as a variety of teacher and student resources, student samples for free-

response prompts, and original multiple-choice items.

Learning Outcomes:

After attending this workshop, participants will be able to

support students in their close reading and analysis of pre-20th

century texts.

apply a range of strategies to address commentary development and comparison writing.

help students analyze satire and humor.

pair passages effectively to improve students’ comparison reading and writing skills.

apply techniques to improve student performance on the multiple choice section of the

AP English Language exam.


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Contextualizing Pre-Twentieth Century Arguments Before delving into longer close reading passages from the pre-twentieth century, it can be

important to contextualize the time period. One way to accomplish this task is by providing

students with brief close reading exercises from time period appropriate authors, painters, etc.

Origin: United States Primary Source Documents Focus Area: Westward Expansion

Close Reading Warm-Up—Begin your study of this pre-twentieth time period by completing

the close reading exercises below.

Close Reading #1

Made up as it is of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of

government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship, it

would appear that the union of such a people was impracticable; but by the simple operation of

constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty

retires, and all the parts are brought into cordial unison.

—Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

1. In Paine’s statement above, he argues that the United States is based on difference. For each

category Paine identifies, explain why the difference could make unification difficult.

a). “from different Nations”

b). “accustomed to different government”

c). “speaking different languages”

d). “different in their modes of worship”

2. While the categories above should make unification “impracticable” or unrealistic, the United

States government, founded on the rights of man, “retire” struggle and create “cordial

unison.” For each of the phrases below, explain what the word choice suggests.

a). “every difficulty retires”

Hint: Why use the word retires? Why not disappears?

b). “all the parts are brought into cordial unison”

Hint: If cordial means warm or friendly, what is Paine implying?


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Close Reading #2

It is a thorough process, this war with the wilderness—breaking nature, taming the soil,

feeding it on oats. The civilized man regards the pine tree as his enemy.

—Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 1852.

1. Thoreau uses a series of phrases to describe how the human race tries to mold/change nature.

Examine each phrase. Explain what is argued about man’s relationship with nature.

a). “thorough process”

b). “war with wilderness”

c). “breaking nature”

d). “taming the soil”

e). “feeding it on oats”

2. Thoreau employs irony when he says, “the civilized man regards the pine tree as his enemy.”

a). Why choose to use the phrase “civilized man?” Why not just use the word man?

b). Why does Thoreau choose to use the “pine tree” as an example of man’s enemy? Why not

a wild animal?

c). Explain what Thoreau hopes to accomplish by using this type of irony in his writing.


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Close Reading #3

America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change

seems an improvement.

—Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835

1. Alexis de Tocqueville argues that the United States is a “land of wonders.” Explain what this

phrase is meant to suggest about the U.S. in regards to the categories below.

a). Citizens

b). Industry

c). Landscape

2. Alexis de Tocqueville describes the United States as a nation that is in “constant motion.”

Explain what this this phrase suggests about each of the categories below.

a). Citizens

b). Industry

c). Landscape

3. Explain what Alexis de Tocqueville is arguing about progress in the United States when he

says, “every change seems an improvement.”


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Close Reading #4

We were content to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and

would change the mountains and rivers if they did not suit them.

—Chief Joseph, in a speech about the relationship between

the Nez Percé and the United States, 1877

1. Chief Joseph characterizes Native Americans, specifically the Nez Percé, as “content to let

things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them.” Describe what each phrase suggests about

the Nez Percé.

a). “content to let things remain”

b). “as the Great Spirit Chief made them”

2. Chief Joseph uses a semicolon to abruptly stop his thought without separating it from the rest

of the second sentence. Explain the effect of the phrase, “they were not.”

3. Chief Joseph employs several phrases to characterize the “they” to whom he refers. For each

phrase explain how he characterize these people.

a). “change mountains and rivers”

b). “did not suit them”


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Claims in a Visual Text Read the definition of Manifest Destiny. Then, examine the painting American Progress (1872)

by artist John Gast. Complete the accompanying questions.

Manifest Destiny—the belief, during the nineteenth century, that settling the United States from

coast to coast was the destiny or purpose of American citizens. Westward

expansion was meant to bring about economic growth as well as

industrialization.

Examining the Image-Answer the questions below to build knowledge and understanding.

1. List one detail presented in the painting for each of the categories below. Be sure to provide

description for how the detail is depicted.

Landscape

People

Animals

Industry and “Civilization”


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2. Examine the movement or action in the painting. How is action portrayed?

3. Examine the light and dark shading present in the painting. What do you notice about the role

of lightness and darkness?

4. Examine the size and organization of objects within the painting. Explain how the painting is

organized.

Analyzing the Argument 5. Identify two key issues surrounding the United States’ Western Expansion that are apparent in

the painting. For each, provide a detail from the painting that supports the issue.

Issue Detail from the Painting

6. Gast titled this painting American Progress. What does the title suggest about the painting?


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Synthesizing Sources to Create Original Argumentation

Reexamine the quotations from the warm-up. Identify a quotation that supports/extends Gast’s

argument in the painting. You will also identify a quotation that challenges Gast’s argument.

Defending—From the warm-up, choose the quotation that you believe best conveys the

argument present in the painting.

Quotation:

Explain what the speaker in the quotation is claiming about America, Manifest Destiny, or the

concept of Progress.

Responding in Writing—Write a brief defense of how the painting reflects the claim you

identified above. Use an appropriate detail from the painting as support. A template is provided.

Sentence #1: (author of the quotation) argues that

(paraphrase the quotation’s argument) in order to suggest

(describe the quotation’s purpose) .

Sentence #2: Gast’s painting, American Progress, embodies the same argument by

(describe the painting’s argument) .

Sentence #3: American Progress establishes this argument by focusing on

(describe element of the painting) .

Sentence #4: This aspect of the painting suggests (describe the purpose) .

Sentence #5: Together, (author of the quotation) and Gast create arguments that are meant to

(describe the overall effect/purpose of these similar arguments) .


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Response:

Challenging—From the warm-up, choose the quotation that you believe challenges the

argument present in the painting.

Quotation:

Explain what the speaker in the quotation is claiming about America, Manifest Destiny, or the

concept of Progress.


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Responding in Writing—Write a brief response of how the painting challenges the claim you

identified above. Use an appropriate detail from the painting, different from the one used in your

defense, as support. A template is provided.

Sentence #1: (author of the quotation) argues that

(paraphrase the quotation’s argument) in order to suggest

(describe the quotation’s purpose) .

Sentence #2: Gast’s painting, American Progress, challenges this argument by suggesting

instead (describe the painting’s argument) .

Sentence #3: American Progress accomplishes this by primarily focusing on

(describe element of the painting that is at odds with the quotation) .

Sentence #4: This aspect of the painting suggests (describe the purpose) .

Sentence #5: Of the two arguments, (identify the argument/author you believe is strongest)

is the most significant since (describe your reason for this evaluation) .

Response:


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"The Great Nation of Futurity1,”

John L. O'Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839

The American people having derived their origin

from many other nations, and the Declaration of

National Independence being entirely based on the

great principle of human equality, these facts

demonstrate at once our disconnected position as 5

regards any other nation; that we have, in reality, but

little connection with the past history of any of them,

and still less with all antiquity, its glories, or its crimes.

On the contrary, our national birth was the beginning

of a new history, the formation and progress of an 10

untried political system, which separates us from the

past and connects us with the future only; and so far as

regards the entire development of the natural rights of

man, in moral, political, and national life, we may

confidently assume that our country is destined to 15

be the great nation of futurity.

It is so destined, because the principle upon which a

nation is organized fixes its destiny, and that of equality

is perfect, is universal. It presides in all the operations

of the physical world, and it is also the conscious law of 20

the soul -- the self-evident dictates of morality, which

accurately defines the duty of man to man, and

consequently man's rights as man. Besides, the

truthful annals of any nation furnish abundant

evidence, that its happiness, its greatness, its 25

duration, were always proportionate to the

democratic equality in its system of government. . . .

What friend of human liberty, civilization, and

refinement, can cast his view over the past history of

the monarchies and aristocracies of antiquity, and 30

not deplore that they ever existed? What

philanthropist can contemplate the oppressions, the

cruelties, and injustice inflicted by them on the

masses of mankind, and not turn with moral horror

from the retrospect? 35

America is destined for better deeds. It is our

unparalleled glory that we have no reminiscences of

battle fields, but in defence of humanity, of the

oppressed of all nations, of the rights of conscience,

the rights of personal enfranchisement. Our annals 40

describe no scenes of horrid carnage, where men were

led on by hundreds of thousands to slay one another,

dupes and victims to emperors, kings, nobles, demons

Guiding Questions

1. O’Sullivan argues, in lines 4-6, that the United

States is in more of a “disconnected position”

than other nations. What is the reason for his

argument?

2. O’Sullivan argues, “our country is destined to be

the great nation of futurity.” Explain how

O’Sullivan supports this argument.

3.Examine the words “happiness,” “greatness,” and

“duration” in lines 25-29. What is O Sullivan’s

argument about these terms?

4. O’Sullivan makes use of two rhetorical questions

in lines 30-37.

a). Identify his arguments.

b). Explain why he chooses to use rhetorical

questions instead of making statements.

5. He argues that America is “destined” for better

deeds.” Examine lines 38-53. List his reasons.


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in the human form called heroes. We have had

patriots to defend our homes, our liberties, but no 45

aspirants to crowns or thrones; nor have the

American people ever suffered themselves to be

led on by wicked ambition to depopulate the land,

to spread desolation far and wide, that a human

being might be placed on a seat of supremacy. 50

We have no interest in the scenes of antiquity,

only as lessons of avoidance of nearly all their

examples. The expansive future is our arena, and for

our history. We are entering on its untrodden

space, with the truths of God in our minds, 55

beneficent objects in our hearts, and with a clear

conscience unsullied by the past. We are the nation

of human progress, and who will, what can, set

limits to our onward march? Providence is with us,

and no earthly power can. We point to the everlasting 60

truth on the first page of our national declaration, and

we proclaim to the millions of other lands, that "the

gates of hell" -- the powers of aristocracy and

monarchy -- "shall not prevail against it."

The far-reaching, the boundless future will 65

be the era of American greatness. In its magnificent

domain of space and time, the nation of many nations

is destined to manifest to mankind the excellence of

divine principles; to establish on earth the noblest

temple ever dedicated to the worship of the Most 70

High -- the Sacred and the True. Its floor shall be a

hemisphere -- its roof the firmament of the star-

studded heavens, and its congregation an Union of

many Republics, comprising hundreds of happy

millions, calling, owning no man master, but 75

governed by God's natural and moral law of

equality, the law of brotherhood -- of "peace and

good will amongst men.". . . 1Events that will occur in the future.

Guiding Questions 6. He argues that the United States is “the nation of

human progress.” Explain what he is arguing.

7. What is the effect of describing the future as

“boundless?”

8. Explain what each phrase below suggests about

the United States.

a). “hundreds of happy millions”

b). “calling no man master”

c). “governed by God’s natural and moral law of

equality”

d). “the law of brotherhood—of ‘peace and good

will amongst men’”

9. What is O’Sullivan’s purpose in writing this

essay?


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Memorial of the Cherokee Nation, December 1829

Memorial—Within this context, a memorial is a letter meant to serve as part of a large petition

or request to lawmakers. This letter was published first in the Cherokee Phoenix, the first

American Indian newspaper, and then in the Niles Weekly Register, a newspaper in Baltimore,

Maryland.

To the honorable the senate and House of Representatives of the United States of

America, in congress assembled:

The undersigned memorialists, humbly make known to your honorable bodies, that they

are free citizens of the Cherokee nation. Circumstances of late occurrence have troubled our

hearts, and induced us at this time to appeal to you, knowing that you are generous and 5

just... By the will of our Father in heaven, the governor of the whole world, the red man of

America has become small, and the white man great and renowned. When the ancestors of the

people of these United States first came to the shores of America, they found the red man

strong—though he was ignorant and savage, yet he received them kindly, and gave them 10

dry land to rest their weary feet. They met in peace, and shook hands in token of

friendship. Whatever the white man wanted and asked of the Indian, the latter willingly

gave. At that time the Indian was the lord, and the white man the suppliant. But now the

scene has changed. The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbors

increased in numbers, his power became less, and now, of the many and powerful tribes who 15

once covered these United States, only a few are to be seen—a few whom a sweeping pestilence

has left. The northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly extinct.

Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who are remnants, share the same

fate?

Brothers—we address you according to usage adopted by our forefathers, and the great 20

and good men who have successfully directed the councils of the nation you represent—we now

make known to you our grievances. We are troubled by some of your own people. Our neighbor,

the state of Georgia, is pressing hard upon us, and urging us to relinquish our possessions for her

benefit. We are told, if we do not leave the country, which we dearly love, and betake ourselves

to the western wilds, the laws of the state will be extended over us, and the time, 1st of June, 25

1830, is appointed for the execution of the edict. When we first heard of this we were grieved

and appealed to our father, the president, and begged that protection might be extended over us.

But we were doubly grieved when we understood, from a letter of the secretary of war to our

delegation, dated March of the present year [1829], that our father the president had refused us

protection, and that he had decided in favor of the extension of the laws of the state over us.—30

This decision induces us to appeal to the immediate representatives of the American people. We

love, we dearly love our country, and it is due to your honorable bodies, as well as to us, to

make known why we think the country is ours, and why we wish to remain in peace where

we are. The land on which we stand, we have received as an inheritance from our fathers, who 35

possessed it from time immemorial, as a gift from our common father in heaven. We have

already said, that when the white man came to the shores of America, our ancestors were

found in peaceable possession of this very land. They bequeathed it to us as their children,


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and we have sacredly kept it as containing the remains of our beloved men. This right of

inheritance we have never ceded, nor ever forfeited. Permit us to ask, what better right can 40

a people have to a country, than the right of inheritance and immemorial peaceable

possession? We know it is said of late by the state of Georgia, and by the executive of the United

States, that we have forfeited this right—but we think this is said gratuitously. At what time have

we made the forfeit? What crime have we committed, whereby we must forever be divested

of our country and rights? Was it when we were hostile to the United States, and took part with 45

the king of Great Britain, during the struggle for independence? If so, why was not this forfeiture

declared in the first treaty of peace between the United States and our beloved men?...

In addition to that first of all rights, the right of inheritance and peaceable possession, we

have the faith and pledge of the U. States, repeated over and over again, in treaties made at

various times. By these treaties our rights as a separate people are distinctly acknowledged, and 50

guarantees given that they shall be secured and protected. So we have always understood the

treaties. The conduct of the government towards us, from this organization until very lately, the

talks given to our beloved men by the presidents of the United States, and the speeches of the

agents and commissioners, all concur to show that we are not mistake in our interpretation.—

Some of our beloved men who signed the treaties are still leaving [ sic, living], and their 55

testimony tends to the same conclusion. We have always supposed that this understanding of the

treaties was in accordance with the views of the government; nor have we ever imagined that any

body would interpret them otherwise. In what light shall we view the conduct of the United

States and Georgia, in their intercourse with us, in urging us to enter into treaties, and cede

lands? If we were but tenants at will, why was it necessary that our consent must be 60

obtained before these governments could take lawful possession of our lands? The answer

is obvious. These governments perfectly understood our rights—our right to the country,

and our right to self government. Our understanding of the treaties is further supported by the

intercourse law of the United States, which prohibits all encroachments upon our territory. The

undersigned memoirists humbly represent, that if their interpretation of the treaties has been 65

different from that of the government, then they have ever been deceived as to how the

government regarded them, and what she asked and promised. Moreover, they have uniformly

misunderstood their own acts.

In view of the strong ground upon which their rights are founded, your

memorialists solemnly protest against being considered as tenants at will, or as mere 70

occupants of the soil, without possessing the sovereignty. We have already stated to your

honorable bodies, that our forefathers were found in possession of this soil in full

sovereignty, by the first European settlers; and as we have never ceded nor forfeited the

occupancy of the soil and the sovereignty over it, we do solemnly protest against being

forced to leave it, either [by] direct or by indirect measures. To the land of which we are 75

now in possession we are attached—it is our father’s gift—it contains their ashes—it is the

land of our nativity, and the land of our intellectual birth. We cannot consent to abandon it,

for another far inferior, and which holds out to us no inducements. We do moreover protest

against the arbitrary measures of our neighbor, the state of Georgia, in her attempt to extend her

laws over us, in surveying our lands without our consent and in direct opposition to treaties and 80

the intercourse law of the United States, and interfering with our municipal regulations in such a

manner as to derange the regular operations of our own laws. To deliver and protect them

from all these and every encroachment upon their rights, the undersigned memorialists do

most earnestly pray your honorable bodies. Their existence and future happiness are at


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stake—divest them of their liberty and country, and you sink them in degradation, and put 85

a check, if not a final stop, to their present progress in the arts of civilized life, and in the

knowledge of the Christian religion. Your memorialists humbly conceive, that such an act

would be in the highest degree oppressive. From the people of these United States, who

perhaps, of all men under heaven, are the most religious and free, it cannot be expected.—Your

memorialists, therefore, cannot anticipate such a result. You represent a virtuous, intelligent and 90

Christian nation. To you they willingly submit their cause for your righteous decision.


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Deconstructing Language to Determine Argument For each section of text from the Cherokee Nation Memorial, choose a specific piece of language to examine closely.

Text

Examine the text below. Go back to the full

excerpt to read the section in context.

Deconstructing Language

Choose one of the bolded words/phrases

from the section of text. Discuss its

importance.

Determining Argument

Identify the argument in this section of

text. Explain, how the language you’ve

discussed in the previous box supports this

argument.

Circumstances of late occurrence have

troubled our hearts, and induced us at this

time to appeal to you, knowing that you

are generous and just... (lines 4-6)

When the ancestors of the people of these

United States first came to the shores of

America, they found the red man strong—

though he was ignorant and savage, yet he

received them kindly, and gave them

dry land to rest their weary feet. They

met in peace, and shook hands in token of

friendship. Whatever the white man

wanted and asked of the Indian, the

latter willingly gave. (lines 8-14)

We love, we dearly love our country, and

it is due to your honorable bodies, as well

as to us, to make known why we think the

country is ours, and why we wish to

remain in peace where we are. (lines 31-

34)


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Text

Examine the text below. Go back to the full

excerpt to read the section in context.

Deconstructing Language

Choose one of the bolded words/phrases

from the section of text. Discuss its

importance.

Determining Argument

Identify the argument in this section of

text. Explain, how the language you’ve

discussed in the previous box supports this

argument.

We have already said, that when the white

man came to the shores of America, our

ancestors were found in peaceable

possession of this very land. They

bequeathed it to us as their children, and

we have sacredly kept it as containing the

remains of our beloved men. This right of

inheritance we have never ceded, nor

ever forfeited. Permit us to ask, what

better right can a people have to a

country, than the right of inheritance

and immemorial peaceable possession.

(lines 36-42)

To deliver and protect them from all

these and every encroachment upon

their rights, the undersigned memorialists

do most earnestly pray your honorable

bodies. Their existence and future

happiness are at stake—divest them of

their liberty and country, and you sink

them in degradation, and put a check, if

not a final stop, to their present progress

in the arts of civilized life, and in the

knowledge of the Christian religion.

Your memorialists humbly conceive, that

such an act would be in the highest degree

oppressive. (lines 82-88)


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Pairing Pre-Twentieth Century Texts with Modern Equivalents Often, students struggle with pre-twentieth century texts because they do not understand the

author’s argument due to sentence structure and vocabulary. Using modern pairings that embody

similar arguments can provide important scaffolding and confidence. See the examples below.

Focus Area: Letters from Writers to Fans

Rhetorical Analysis Free Response, 2001 AP Language Exam

George Eliot’s Letter to American Fan about Writing, 2001

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2001%20Q1%20RA%20

George%20Eliot.pdf

Modern Pairings

C.S. Lewis’s Letter on Writing to American Fan, 1956

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/04/c-s-lewis-on-writing.html

Stephen King on Books that Influenced Him, 1992

http://static.squarespace.com/static/4f576e2a24aca8d4f8e9b846/50a3b0d9e4b0be719cc2

51ba/50a3b0dce4b0be719cc2546e/1335323832008/1000w

J.K. Rowling Letter to Fan about Harry Potter, 2006

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/07/i-will-treasure-your-letter.html

Focus Area: Letters to Presidents


Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1791

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/2010-Rhetorical%20Analysis.pdf

Supplemental: Jefferson’s Response to Banneker,1791

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h72t.html

Modern Pairing

Jackie Robinson’s Letter to President John F. Kennedy, 1961

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/jackie-robinson/images/letter-1961-01.jpg

Focus Area: Letters from Parents to Children


Lord Chesterfield’s Letter to his Son, 1746

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2004%20Q1%20RA%20

Lord%20Chesterfield.pdf

Modern Pairing

John Steinbeck’s Letter to his Son, 1958

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/nothing-good-gets-away.html

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2001%20Q1%20RA%20George%20Eliot.pdf

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2001%20Q1%20RA%20George%20Eliot.pdf

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/04/c-s-lewis-on-writing.html

http://static.squarespace.com/static/4f576e2a24aca8d4f8e9b846/50a3b0d9e4b0be719cc251ba/50a3b0dce4b0be719cc2546e/1335323832008/1000w

http://static.squarespace.com/static/4f576e2a24aca8d4f8e9b846/50a3b0d9e4b0be719cc251ba/50a3b0dce4b0be719cc2546e/1335323832008/1000w

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/07/i-will-treasure-your-letter.html

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/2010-Rhetorical%20Analysis.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h72t.html

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/jackie-robinson/images/letter-1961-01.jpg

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2004%20Q1%20RA%20Lord%20Chesterfield.pdf

http://www.nmsiteachers.org/library/filelib/amludwig/APELA%2004%20Q1%20RA%20Lord%20Chesterfield.pdf

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/nothing-good-gets-away.html


21

John Steinbeck’s Letter to His Son Thom, 1956 The letter below was sent from author John Steinbeck to his son Thom. Thom was a teenager

away at boarding school.

New York

November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine

will from hers.

First—if you are in love—that’s a good thing—that’s about the best thing that can happen to

anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you. 5

Second—There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing

which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an

outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the

social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique

and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in 10

you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply—of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you

wanted me to help you with is what to do about it—and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it. 15

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone—there is no possible harm in saying so—only you must remember that

some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another—but that 20

does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such

arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too

and maybe she can give you more help than I can. 25

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens—The main thing is not to hurry.

Nothing good gets away.

Love,

30

Fa

from Steinbeck: A Life in Letters by John and Elaine Steinbeck. New York: Penguin Books, 1989. Permission Pending.


22

Understanding Steinbeck’s Argument and Tone Complete the exercise below to analyze Steinbeck’s argument and language.

1. Steinbeck sets up the body of his letter by identifying two major arguments.

First—if you are in love—that’s a good thing—that’s about the best thing that can happen to

anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

a) How do the phrases “good thing” and “best thing” help to develop Steinbeck’s tone?

b) Explain how Steinbeck’s last sentence in this section, an imperative or command, helps aid

his fatherly tone and advice.

c) Steinbeck could have easily used a comma instead of a dash. How does the dash allow him to

adopt a kind, patient, fatherly tone?

Second—There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing

which uses love for self importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an

outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the

social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as

unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can

release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

a) Steinbeck describes the first type of love as dangerous and dishonest. Choose the most

important word he uses to describe this type of love and discuss the impact of the language.

Word:

Impact of the Language:

b) Steinbeck describes the second type of love as precious and positive. Choose the most

important word he uses to describe this type of love and discuss the impact of the language.

Word:

Impact of the Language:

c) What is Steinbeck’s purpose in identifying and discussing two types of love with his son?


23

2. Steinbeck’s letter transitions in lines 13-14.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you

wanted me to help you with is what to do about it—and that I can tell you

a) Steinbeck makes use of the phrase you repeatedly. What is the purpose of this repetition?

3. Steinbeck creates a series of response to being in love. The items are numbered below.

(1) Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

(2) The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

(3) If you love someone—there is no possible harm in saying so—only you must remember

that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into

consideration.

(4) Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

(5) It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another—but

that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

(6) Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

a) Choose one of the items in the list from above. Identify Steinbeck’s most important word or

phrase in the sentence. Discuss how it demonstrates his tone toward his son and love.

Item #

Most Important Word/Phrase:

Explain how this phrase proves the author’s tone:

4. Steinbeck ends with a brief closing argument about being deliberate and thoughtful.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right it happens—The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing

good gets away.

a) Explain the bolded phrases above. Explain what Steinbeck is arguing.

b) Describe how Steinbeck seems towards his son throughout the course of this letter.


24

Rhetorical Analysis Using Lord Chesterfield’s Letter to his Son Consider Steinbeck’s letter to his son. Then, examine Lord Chesterfield’s letter to his son.

Consider how tone, argument, content, and purpose differ.

Analyzing the Prompt

This free response prompt and passage were included on the 2004 AP English Language exam.

Read the prompt and the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

The passage below is an excerpt from a letter written by the eighteenth-century author Lord

Chesterfield to his young son, who was traveling far from home. Read the passage carefully.

Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the rhetorical strategies that Chesterfield uses to reveal his

own values.

1. This passage is excerpted from a letter. What assumptions can you make about the tone,

content, and purpose of this form of writing?

2. Lord Chesterfield is writing to his son in the excerpted passage. What tone can you assume a

father might adopt in a letter to his son?

3. What worries might a parent have about their child traveling “far from home?”

4. How might those parental concerns be different when the parent has an important title or

public position in a community?

5. Identify the task sentence. Remember, it includes the phrase, “in a well-written essay.”

Paraphrase the task sentence below.


25

Reading and Reacting

Read the letter below. In the margins, note any initial reactions, comments, or questions.

Highlight or underline areas where you are confused or lost.

Bath, October 4, 1746

Dear Boy,

Though I employ so much of my time in

writing to you, I confess I have often my

doubts whether it is to any purpose. I know

how unwelcome advice generally is; I know

that those who want it most, like it and 5

follow it least; and I know, too, that the

advice of parents, more particularly, is

ascribed to the moroseness, the

imperiousness, or the garrulity of old age.

But then, on the other hand, I flatter myself, 10

that as your own reason, though too young

as yet to suggest much to you of itself, is

however, strong enough to enable you, both

to judge of, and receive plain truths: I flatter

myself (I say) that your own reason, young 15

as it is, must tell you, that I can have no

interest but yours in the advice I give you;

and that consequently, you will at least

weigh and consider it well: in which case,

some of it will, I hope, have its effect. Do 20

not think that I mean to dictate as a parent;

I only mean to advise as a friend, and an

indulgent one too: and do not apprehend that

I mean to check on your pleasures; of which,

on the contrary, I only desire to be the guide, 25

not the censor. Let my experience supply

your want of it, and clear your way, in the

progress of your youth, of those thorns

and briars which scratched and disfigured

me in the course of mine. I do not, therefore, 30

so much as hint to you, how absolutely

dependent you are upon me; that you neither

have, nor can have a shilling in the word

© 2004 The College Board. All Rights Reserved.

but from me; and that, as I have no 35

womanish weakness for your person, your

merit must, and will, be the only measure of

my kindness. I say, I do not hint these things

to you, because I am convinced that you will

act right, upon more noble and generous 40

principles: I mean, for the sake of doing

right, and out of affection and gratitude to

me.

I have so often recommended to you

attention and application to whatever you 45

learn, that I do not mention them now as

duties; but I point them out to

you as conducive, nay, absolutely necessary

to your pleasures; for can there be a greater

pleasure than to be universally allowed to 50

excel those of one’s own age and manner of

life? And, consequently, can there be

anything more mortifying than to be

excelled by them? In this latter case, your

shame and regret must be greater than 55

anybody’s, because everybody knows the

uncommon care which has been taken of

your education, and the opportunities you

have had of knowing more than others of

your age. I do not confine the application 60

which I recommend, singly to the view and

emulation of excelling others (though

that is a very sensible pleasure and a very

warrantable pride); but I mean likewise to

excel in the thing itself; for, in my mind, one 65

may as well not know a thing at all, as know

it but imperfectly. To know a little of

anything, gives neither satisfaction nor

credit; but often brings disgrace or ridicule.


26

Identifying Authorial Purpose through Close Reading

After reading the entire excerpt from Lord Chesterfield’s letter, complete the exercise below.

Though I employ so much of my time in writing to you, I confess I have often my doubts whether

it is to any purpose. I know how unwelcome advice generally is; I know that those who want it

most, like it and follow it least; and I know, too, that the advice of parents, more particularly, is

ascribed to the moroseness, the imperiousness, or the garrulity of old age.

1. Underline or highlight Chesterfield’s repetition of the word “I.” How many times does he

repeat the word?

2. What does this repetition tell you about Chesterfield’s attitude towards his son and the purpose

of this letter?

3. Chesterfield says that he “doubts” whether his advice has any “purpose” for his son. Explain

what argument he is making.

4. Chesterfield describes parental advice as being thought of “moroseness,” “imperiousness” and

“garrulity of old age.”

a). Define each word/phrase.

Moroseness—

Imperiousness—

Garrulity of old age—

b). Explain what these phrases suggest about how parental advice is seen by children.


27

5. How would you describe the tone of the letter’s opening? Reference the text specifically.

But then, on the other hand, I flatter myself, that as your own reason, though too young as yet to

suggest much to you of itself, is however, strong enough to enable you, both to judge of, and

receive plain truths: I flatter myself (I say) that your own reason, young as it is, must tell you,

that I can have no interest but yours in the advice I give you; and that consequently, you will at

least weigh and consider it well: in which case, some of it will, I hope, have its effect.

6. Why does Lord Chesterfield employ the repetition “I flatter myself” when referring to his

son’s ability to recognize and take good advice?

7. How does Chesterfield characterize himself in this excerpt? How does he characterize his son?

8. How does Chesterfield attempt to anticipate and counter any objections his son might have to

receiving parental advice?

Do not think that I mean to dictate as a parent; I only mean to advise as a friend, and an

indulgent one too: and do not apprehend that I mean to check your pleasures; of which, on the

contrary, I only desire to be the guide, not the censor.

9. In this section of the letter, Chesterfield sets up two juxtapositions. Discuss what each

juxtaposition suggests and why Chesterfield implies about his power as a parent.

a). “indulgent friend” versus someone who “check[s] pleasures

b). “guide” versus “censor”


28

Let my experience supply your want of it, and clear your way, in the progress of your youth, of

those thorns and briars which scratched and disfigured me in the course of mine.

10. Why does Chesterfield choose to describe his youth as full of “thorns and briars?”

11. What is the effect of this metaphor on your understanding of Chesterfield’s purpose for

writing the letter?

I do not, therefore, so much as hint to you, how absolutely dependent you are upon me; that you

neither have, nor can have a shilling in the world but from me; and that, as I have no womanish

weakness for your person, your merit must, and will, be the only measure of my kindness. I say, I

do not hint these things to you, because I am convinced that you will act right, upon more noble

and generous principles: I mean, for the sake of doing right, and out of affection and gratitude to

me.

12. What is ironic about Chesterfield’s comments about his son’s motives in listening to and

adopting his father’s advice?

13. Explain how Chesterfield’s use of irony might be effective in motivating his son to adopt his

advice.

I have so often recommended to you attention and application to whatever you learn, that I do

not mention them now as duties; but I point them out to you as conducive, nay, absolutely

necessary to your pleasures; for can there be a greater pleasure than to be universally allowed

to excel those of one’s own age and manner of life?

14. Paraphrase the rhetorical question Chesterfield poses in this excerpt.


29

15. What is the effect of the rhetorical question on your understanding of what values

Chesterfield finds important?

And, consequently, can there be anything can there be anything more mortifying than to be

excelled by them? In this latter case, your shame and regret must be greater than anybody’s

because everybody knows the uncommon care which has been taken of your education, and the

opportunities you have had of knowing more than others of your age.

16. Chesterfield uses another rhetorical question, which is included in this excerpt. How does

this question expand upon Chesterfield’s argument about his son’s education?

17. Chesterfield employs the words “mortifying,” “shame,” and “regret” as possible outcomes

for falling behind one’s peers. What are these words meant to advise his son of in terms of

failure and family?

. . . for in my mind, one may as well not know a thing at all, as know it but imperfectly. To know

a little of anything, gives neither satisfaction nor credit; but often brings disgrace or ridicule.

18. Chesterfield argues about excelling in education and those opportunities afforded to the son

of an important man. He suggests that knowing something “imperfectly” can bring “disgrace

or ridicule.” What is the effect is this language meant to have on how his son treats his

education and/or opportunities?

19. What value or values are reflected in this excerpt?

20. How does the language help you understand the values Chesterfield wishes to communicate

to his son?


30

Analyzing the Argument The writing prompt you deconstructed at the beginning of the lesson asks you to consider how

Chesterfield uses rhetorical strategies to communicate his values to his son. The passage has

been divided in half. For each section, identify the Chesterfield’s primary argument, support that

argument with direct reference to the text, and analyze Chesterfield’s rhetorical choices.

Section #1—Lines 1-43

Argument

What does

Chesterfield

value?

Evidence #1

What textual

evidence

supports your

conclusion?

Effect

How are the

examples you

identified

above

persuasive?

Evidence #2

What other

piece of

textual

evidence

supports your

conclusion?

Effect

How are the

examples you

identified

above

persuasive?


31

Section #2—Lines 44-69

Argument

What does

Chesterfield

value?

Evidence #1

What textual

evidence

supports your

conclusion?

Effect

How are the

examples you

identified

above

persuasive?

Evidence #2

What other

piece of

textual

evidence

supports your

conclusion?

Effect

How are the

examples you

identified

above

persuasive?


32

Teacher Training Activity

Lord Chesterfield’s Letter to his Son

The bulleted list below includes some of the most important issues identified by readers and the

Question Leader during the 2004 AP Language Reading.

Overarching Issues

Many students wrote about either rhetorical strategies or Chesterfield’s values.

Many students used their own experiences as children—they tended to not see the irony.

The readers of this question rewarded students for their discussion strategies even if the

student writer didn’t analyze Chesterfield correctly. Students were given wide latitude.

Low Range Essays

The low scoring papers offered little analysis into Chesterfield’s values. These students

often knew the terms, but that knowledge didn’t seem to help them understand what

Chesterfield’s values were.

Most students had no trouble both paraphrasing and summarizing the letter.

Middle Range Essays

Middle range papers provided a rudimentary analysis of Chesterfield’s rhetorical

strategies.

Middle range papers often recognized the change in tone and the rhetorical questions in

the passage.

High Range Essays

High range papers recognized the irony and understatement in the passage. These

students expressed familiarity with eighteenth-century prose.

The high range papers recognized that a writer’s choices convey meaning and

complexity.

High range papers often demonstrated rhetorical sophistication.


33

Deconstructing Student Essays Examine the two essays below. One is an upper half essay, the other a lower half essay. Using

the guided questions below each sample, discuss each question with your partner or group.

Student Sample A

Lord Chesterfield begins his letter by being frank with his son: “I know how unwelcome

advice generally is,” he admits. He sets up a tone of honesty and candor that one should see in a

father-son letter. Chesterfield also understands the detachment from youth that comes with age,

yet pleads, “I can have no interest but yours in the advice I give you.” By immediately

establishing his purpose and being open to a hesitant reaction from his son, Chesterfield is

wisely anticipating the said reaction, and by doing so, hoping to enrapture his son in the letter.

The author continually tries to emphasize his care without coming across as a doting and

bothersome parent. He characterizes himself instead as a “guide,” and a “friend.” As a guide,

Chesterfield draws from his own past mistakes to steer his son away from them. To express this

sentiment, the author uses a metaphor of “thorns and briars which scratched and disfigured me .

. . .” by using a metaphor that provokes images of disfigured bodies and scars, permanent

symbols of folly, the author is emphasizing the danger and lasting effects of adolescent mistakes.

Chesterfield’s second maneuver involves emotional appeal; more specifically: guilt. The

author pushes “noble and generous principles” on his son by prematurely asserting that he will

do the right thing, “out of affection and gratitude to me.” Presenting this image of the morally

ideal son puts pressure on his young son to uphold the image and not disappoint his expectant

father.

In the closing paragraph, Chesterfield addresses the knowledge his son must strive to gain.

Implying a richly educational upbringing, the author states that “attention and application” is

no longer a duty but necessary to life. This reveals knowledge to be a highly-esteemed value in

Chesterfield’s eyes. The author goes on to use rhetorical questions to emphasize the significance

of learning: “Can there be a greater pleasure than to be universally allowed to excel?”

Continuing, Chesterfield warns that “To know a little of anything gives neither satisfaction nor

credit.” His tone here is stern and dignified, showing this is a matter he takes seriously.

Through the letter, Chesterfield eased his way from an understanding friend to a preaching

parent and everything in between. “I have often my doubts whether it is to any purpose,” he

confesses, yet with his expertly written letter, he should sleep soundly.

1. Identify in Student Sample A what led readers to assign a high score to this essay.

2. How could you use this essay with students as a revision activity?

3. Identify sections of the essay in which the student offers commentary that analyzes how

Chesterfield’s rhetorical strategies reveal his values. How would you help the student expand

or revise their commentary?


34

Student Sample B

In his letter to his traveling son, the Lord Chesterfield gives his son some guidance which

clearly reflects his own opinions about value. Chesterfield is both suggestive and condescending,

but his views are clearly expressed.

Lord Chesterfield, trying to seem as a friend more than a father, suggests that his son should

apply himself to what he does. “I have so often recommended to you attention and application to

whatever you learn.” He then goes on to describe this trait as “necessary to his son’s

pleasures.” Clearly, Chesterfield admires complete attention and application, as he suggests that

it is important for enjoyment of life! This rather forceful suggestion does not agree with his

aforementioned point of view,” as a friend.”

The Lord also expresses what values he expects from his son through his condescension.

Chesterfield suggests that “(his son’s) shame and regret must be greater than anybody’s,

because . . . of your education . . . and opportunities.” The implication here is that as his son was

so fortunate in his upbringing and preparation for life, he should excel in every aspect of it.

Since he as yet has not exceeded expectation, his life has thus far been shameful in his father’s

eyes. Lord Chesterfield feels his son should not “know a little of anything,” because this “often

brings disgrace or ridicule.” Here, the Lord suggests his son is a disgrace because he has not

applied himself in a manner befitting his excellent opportunities and upbringing. After all, this is

obviously a trait held in high esteem in the Lord Chesterfield.

1. Identify in Student Sample B what led readers to assign a low score to this essay.

2. How would you counsel the student to revise the thesis statement?

3. Identify sections of the essay in which the student offers commentary that analyzes how

Chesterfield’s rhetorical strategies reveal his values. How would you help the student expand

or revise the commentary?


35

Syntax Exercise Using “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The following passage comes from “Self-Reliance” (1841), an essay by American writer and

speaker Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read the passage carefully and note the author’s claims about

the importance of nonconformity.

There is a time in every man’s education

when he arrives at the conviction that envy

is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he

must take himself for better for worse as his

portion; that though the wide universe is full 5

of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can

come to him but through his toil bestowed

on that plot of ground which is given to him

to till. The power which resides in him is

new in nature, and none but he knows what 10

that is which he can do, nor does he know

until he has tried. Not for nothing one face,

one character, one fact, makes much

impression on him, and another none. This

sculpture in the memory is not without 15

preestablished harmony. The eye was placed

where one ray should fall, that it might

testify of that particular ray. We but half

express ourselves, and are ashamed of that

divine idea which each of us represents. It 20

may be safely trusted as proportionate and

of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted,

but God will not have his work made

manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and

gay when he has put his heart into his work 25

and done his best; but what he has said or

done otherwise shall give him no peace. It is

a deliverance which does not deliver. In the

attempt his genius deserts him; no muse

befriends; no invention, no hope. 30

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that

iron string. Accept the place the divine

providence has found for you, the society of

your contemporaries, the connection of

events. Great men have always done so, and 35

confided themselves childlike to the genius

of their age, betraying their perception that

the absolutely trustworthy was seated at

their heart, working through their hands,

predominating in all their being. And we are 40

now men, and must accept in the highest

mind the same transcendent destiny; and not

minors and invalids in a protected corner,

not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but

guides, redeemers and benefactors, obeying 45

the Almighty effort and advancing on Chaos

and the Dark.

. . . A foolish consistency is the

hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little

statesmen and philosophers and divines. 50

With consistency a great soul has simply

nothing to do. He may as well concern

himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak

what you think now in hard words and to-

morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in 55

hard words again, though it contradict every

thing you said to-day.—‘Ah, so you shall be

sure to be misunderstood.’—Is it so bad then

to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was

misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and 60

Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and

Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that

ever took flesh. To be great is to be

misunderstood.


36

Directions: Read the sentences from each excerpt and answer the questions that follow each to

determine how Emerson’s sentence constructions reinforce his argument about the importance of

self-reliance.

Excerpt A

There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is

ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion;

that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but

through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.

1. Look at the underlined clauses. Below, write the independent clause that is underlined:

2. Below, write the dependent clause that is underlined:

3. Look at the highlighted clauses that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide.

A. Parallel structure refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or

parts of a sentence. Explain why the highlighted clauses represent parallel structure.

B. What do you notice about the length of these highlighted clauses, compared to the other

clauses in Excerpt A? How does the length of these clauses compare with other clauses in

the passage?

C. What is the effect of the length and structure of the highlighted clauses on the tone of

Excerpt A? In other words, what do you think is Emerson’s attitude about conformity,

based on the length and structure of the highlighted clauses?


37

4. Excerpt A contains a series of noun clauses that are connected by semicolons, each beginning

with the word that. Writers use semicolons to join two or more independent clauses or to

clarify a list of items. Below, paraphrase the list of convictions, or beliefs, that Emerson

states individuals learn as they mature:

There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction . . .

…that

…that

…that

…that

5. What is the effect of having Emerson’s series of reasons connected by semicolons? What

would happen to the effect of the sentence if Emerson’s thoughts were separated by periods or

connected by the word “and”?


38

Excerpt B

(a) A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what

he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace. (b) It is a deliverance which does not

deliver. (c) In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.

6. Paraphrase Sentence (a) below:

7. Sentence (a) is an example of juxtaposition, in which two opposite ideas are presented in the

same sentence for effect.

A. What are the two contrasting ideas presented in Sentence (a)?

B. What is the effect of Emerson’s sentence structure on his argument about nonconformity?

8. Sentence (b) plays on the reader’s understanding of the words deliverance and deliver. Define

deliverance and deliver below:

9. What “deliverance” does the individual who conforms to other people’s expectations seek to

find?

10. Read Sentence (c). Why does conformity fail to “deliver?”


39

11. What is the effect of the repetition of the different forms of deliver on Emerson’s point about

conformity?

12. Look again at Sentence (c). As the sentence progresses, words are omitted from each clause.

Fill in the blanks below with a word or phrase that could accurately complete the ideas

Emerson presents:

In the attempt __________________________________________his genius deserts him;

no muse befriends________________; no invention_______________________________,

no hope____________________________.

13. The deliberate omission of a word or words that are readily implied by the context is known

as ellipsis. Why do you think Emerson deliberately leaves out words from Sentence (c)? How

does the omission of words impact the meaning or tone of the paragraph in which Sentence

(c) appears?

Excerpt C

(a) Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. (b) Accept the place the divine

providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

14. Sometimes writers use a colon between independent clauses when the second clause

explains, illustrates, or expands on information included in the first clause. Examine

Sentence (a). Then, explain how the underlined clause explains or expands Emerson’s claim

about the importance of nonconformity.


40

15. Sentence (b) contains an example of asyndeton, which is the deliberate omission of

conjunctions in a series of related clauses or phrases. In the box above, note where a

conjunction has been omitted. Then, in the space below, explain the effect of removing this

conjunction on the meaning of the sentence.

16. Re-read Paragraph 3 (lines 31-47). Highlight the shortest sentence in the paragraph. Below,

explain how sentence length helps the writer emphasize Paragraph 3’s main idea.

17. Read the following sentences, which are based on ideas found in Paragraph 3:

And we are now men.

We must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny.

We are not minors and invalids in a protected corner.

We are not cowards fleeing before a revolution.

We are guides, redeemers, and benefactors.

We obey the Almighty effort.

We advance on Chaos and the Dark.

Without referring to the passage, combine these sentences into one, omitting words, changing

word forms, and using colons and semicolons to connect information that lists or expands

upon the main idea.

Which is more effective—the seven sentences or the one that combines them? Why?


41

Excerpt D

(a) Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard

words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. (b)—‘Ah, so you shall be sure to

be misunderstood.’— (c) Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? (d) Pythagoras was

misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton,

and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. (e) To be great is to be misunderstood.

18. Mark any repetitions and parallel structures in Excerpt D.

19. How does Emerson’s repetition of the words “hard words” and “to-morrow” reveal his

attitude about nonconformity?

20. Writers use dashes to add emphasis, signal an interruption in thought, or to suggest a change

in thought. Given this explanation, describe how Emerson is using dashes in Sentence (b).

21. How does Emerson’s use of the dash help you understand his thoughts or feelings at this

point in the passage?

22. Sentence (d) contains an example of polysyndeton, which is the deliberate use of many

conjunctions for special emphasis. Circle the conjunctions in Sentence (d). Then, explain the

effect of using multiple conjunctions on the tone of the paragraph.

23. Explain the effect of sentence structure on the meaning of Sentence (e).


42

Writing assignment: Read the following excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay

“Self-Reliance.” In a well-supported response, analyze how Emerson’s sentence structure helps

him achieve his purpose.

There is a time in every man’s

education when he arrives at the conviction

that envy is ignorance; that imitation is

suicide; that he must take himself for better

for worse as his portion; that though the 5

wide universe is full of good, no kernel of

nourishing corn can come to him but

through his toil bestowed on that plot of

ground which is given to him to till. The

power which resides in him is new in nature, 10

and none but he knows what that is which he

can do, nor does he know until he has tried.

Not for nothing one face, one character, one

fact, makes much impression on him, and

another none. This sculpture in the memory 15

is not without preestablished harmony. The

eye was placed



express ourselves, and are ashamed of that 20

divine idea which each of us represents. It




manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and 25

gay when he has put his heart into his work




attempt his genius deserts him; no muse 30

befriends; no invention, no hope.




your contemporaries, the connection of 35

events. Great men have always done so, and




their heart, working through their hands, 40

predominating in all their being. And we are




not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but 45

guides, redeemers and benefactors, obeying


and the Dark.


hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little 50

statesmen and philosophers and divines.




what you think now in hard words and to-55

morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in




to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was 60

misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and




misunderstood. 65

Copyright © 2014 National Math + Science Initiative, Dallas, Texas. All rights reserved. Visit us at www.nms.org or at www.nmsiteachers.org.

43

Multiple Choice Exercise

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”

This passage is excerpted from “Self-Reliance” (1841), an essay by nineteenth-century writer

and thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson. After reading the passage carefully, choose the best answer

to each question. Pay particular attention to the requirement of questions that contain the words

NOT, LEAST, or EXCEPT.

There is a time in every man’s education

when he arrives at the conviction that envy

is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he

must take himself for better for worse as his

portion; that though the wide universe is full 5

of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can

come to him but through his toil bestowed

on that plot of ground which is given to him

to till. The power which resides in him is

new in nature, and none but he knows what 10

that is which he can do, nor does he know

until he has tried. Not for nothing one face,

one character, one fact, makes much

impression on him, and another none. This

sculpture in the memory is not without 15

preestablished harmony. The eye was placed



express ourselves, and are ashamed of that

divine idea which each of us represents. It 20




manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and

gay when he has put his heart into his work 25




attempt his genius deserts him; no muse

befriends; no invention, no hope. 30




your contemporaries, the connection of

events. Great men have always done so, and 35




their heart, working through their hands,

predominating in all their being. And we are 40




not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but

guides, redeemers and benefactors, obeying 45


and the Dark.


hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little

statesmen and philosophers and divines. 50




what you think now in hard words and to-

morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in 55




to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was

misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and 60




misunderstood.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. from “Self Reliance” (1841). Public Domain.


44

1. In the passage, the writer’s overall attitude toward the concept of nonconformity can be

described as

(A) cautious and appreciative

(B) dismissive and contemptuous

(C) disinterested and apathetic

(D) nonjudgmental and objective

(E) supportive and enthusiastic

2. Which of the following best describes the function of the first sentence (lines 1-9) in the first

paragraph?

(A) It provides a personal anecdote to establish the writer’s credibility.

(B) It establishes the main idea, which is developed through the passage.

(C) It offers a concession to those who oppose the writer’s argument.

(D) It highlights a rhetorical shift in the writer’s argument.

(E) It qualifies the writer’s central claim.

3. The stylistic feature most evident in lines 1-9 (“There is a time . . . till”) is the use of

(A) historical allusion

(B) repeated syntactical patterns

(C) juxtaposition of opposing ideas

(D) hypothetical examples

(E) counterargument

4. The extended metaphor in lines 6-9 (“no kernel . . . till”) BEST serves to

(A) reinforce the idea that individuality must be nurtured and tended

(B) provide an illustrative example of the growth cycle

(C) support the claim that education is vital to an individual’s development

(D) strengthen the assertion that education leads to conformity

(E) elaborate on the claim that imitation is essential to the learning process

5. In lines 24-27, the writer indicates that individuals find happiness when

(A) they collaborate with like-minded individuals

(B) they follow social norms and expectations

(C) they accept their place within the social system

(D) they pursue their creative and intellectual impulses with enthusiasm

(E) they seek peaceful and positive relationships with others.


45

6. The purpose of the second paragraph (lines 31-47) is to do all of the following EXCEPT

(A) explore negative consequences of pursuing nonconformity

(B) challenge readers to take intellectual risks

(C) argue that great men trust in their abilities and talents

(D) encourage readers to pursue their calling willingly

(E) show the connection between self-confidence and individuality

7. Which best describes the syntax of lines 31-32 (“Trust . . . string”)?

(A) a juxtaposition of opposing ideas

(B) repetition of key phrases

(C) a complex sentence that makes use of allusion

(D) one independent clause that elaborates upon another

(E) parallel structure emphasizes the main idea

8. The effect of the repetition in lines 53-57 (“Speak . . . to-day”) is to stress that

(A) problems occur when individuals change their minds

(B) great individuals are recognized for their disciplined and consistent thinking

(C) great thinkers are willing to revisit and re-evaluate their positions

(D) it is difficult work to produce innovative and creative ideas

(E) great thinkers frequently contradict one another as they share ideas

9. Which of the following sentences best represents the author’s main point in the passage?

(A) “We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us

represents.” (lines 18-20)

(B) “A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best . . .”

(lines 24-26)

(C) “In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.” (lines

27-30)

(D) “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and

philosophers and divines.” (lines 48-50)

(E) “To be great is to be misunderstood.” (lines 63-64)

10. The effectiveness of the final paragraph is primarily a result of its use of

(A) ironic commentary

(B) conversational tone

(C) specific examples

(D) complex sentences

(E) clever rebuttal


46

Understanding Satire

Terms and Examples

Satire is the use of humor to critique the shortcomings or follies of a specific person,

characteristic, location, event, situation, etc. Satire reveals the foolishness of human nature. By

making an audience laugh at their own follies, satirists hope to change human behavior. Satire

often falls into one of the two categories listed below.

Horatian—This form of satire is playful, light hearted, and gentle. Often, this type of

satire identifies shortcomings as a way to create amusement and

acknowledge the flawed nature of the human condition.

Authors: Dave Barry, David Sedaris, Mark Twain

TV/Film: The Simpsons, The Office, Pixar Films (i.e. Toy Story, Monsters, Inc.)

Juvenalian—This form of satire is often sharper/stronger and examines the corruption of

society, especially contemporary society. Knowledge of the time

period/events during which this satire was written or produced is necessary

to understand the scathing critique.

Authors: Jonathan Swift, George Orwell

TV/Film: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, South Park*

* While each TV show above uses Juvenalian satire in some segments, the entire

program shifts between Horatian and Juvenalian satire.

Rhetorical Devices Associated with Satire

Hyperbole—the use of exaggeration to draw attention to an issue, event, or person. While

hyperbole can be used for the purpose of satire/humor, this device does not solely

exist in satire. Satirical exaggeration is dependent on word choice, tone, and

authorial purpose.

Parody—imitating or mimicking a specific form of art, literature, music, etc. in order to create

amusing/humorous commentary about the original work. The terms lampoon and

spoof are synonyms for parody.

Pun—using words in a humorous way to suggest multiple meanings. Puns create amusing

wordplay that is meant to exploit different meanings of a word or phrase.

Sarcasm—language that is meant to evoke laughter by mocking or insulting someone or

something. Since sarcasm is often in the form of quick witty remarks or one-liners, it

relies upon adopting an appropriate tone to convey humor/insult.


47

Satire Warm-Up

Identifying Humor in Animated Films Satire in animated films tends to gently mock aspects of daily life, human behavior, and even

elements of popular culture. As a class, we will watch a film clip from one of the animated films

below and discuss the satire it contains.

Lego Movie

Despicable Me

Monsters, Inc.

The Incredibles

Directions: Watch the film clip. For each category below, identify and discuss an example of the

clip’s dialogue, sound effects, and visual imagery that is supposed to provide humor. Then,

decide if the example you have chosen is satirizing an aspect of society, popular culture, or the

human condition and explain. If your example isn’t satire but just a gag, explain your reasoning.

OBSERVATIONS

Words/Phrases/Dialogue What Makes it Funny?

Is it Satire?

Put a check next to the appropriate category below. Then, explain your choice and the purpose

of this element in the film clip.

Satirizes society Satirizes popular culture

Satirizes human behavior Does not contain satire

Explanation:


48

Music/Sound Effects What Makes it Funny?

Is It Satire?





Explanation:

Images What Makes it Funny?

Is It Satire?





Explanation:


49

Contextualizing Satire One reason students struggle to understand satire is that they don’t fully understand the context.

Below are some examples of how to partner texts to give students the contextual background

necessary to understand the argument/purpose found within satire.

Topic: Parenting* Contextualizing the Issue: The New York Times

“The Passion of Parenting,” Charles M. Blow

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/opinion/blow-the-passion-of-parenting.html

Satirizing the Issue: Miami Herald

“Where Did My Little Girl Go?” Dave Barry

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/01/3963294/dave-barry-where-did-my-

little.html

*This pairing is included in the training materials and includes accompanying lessons/activities.

Topic: Role Of Athletes in Popular Culture Contextualizing the Issue: Sports Illustrated

“Lebron James: I’m Coming Back to Cleveland,” as told to Lee Jenkins

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers

Satirizing the Issue: Borowitz Report

“Lebron Congratulates People of Cleveland On Having Him Back,” Andy Borowitz

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/lebron-congratulates-people-of-

cleveland-on-having-him-back

Topic: Television and Illegal Downloads Contextualizing the Issue: CNN

“Game of Thrones’ Finale Breaks Illegal Download Records,” James Hibberd

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/showbiz/tv/game-of-thrones-illegal-downloads/

Satirizing the Issue: The Onion

“Shocking ‘Game of Thrones’ Finale Concludes with Arrest of 5 Million Viewers For Piracy”

http://www.theonion.com/articles/shocking-game-of-thrones-finale-concludes-with-

arr,36286/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/opinion/blow-the-passion-of-parenting.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/01/3963294/dave-barry-where-did-my-little.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/01/3963294/dave-barry-where-did-my-little.html

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/lebron-congratulates-people-of-cleveland-on-having-him-back

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/lebron-congratulates-people-of-cleveland-on-having-him-back

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/showbiz/tv/game-of-thrones-illegal-downloads/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/shocking-game-of-thrones-finale-concludes-with-arr,36286/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/shocking-game-of-thrones-finale-concludes-with-arr,36286/


50

Topic: Science/Technology

Contextualizing the Issue: The Los Angeles Times

“Massive Hack Shows Users Still Don’t Know How to Create Safe Passwords,” The LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-massive-hack-passwords-

20131204-story.html#axzz2mcuJXiFa

Satirizing the Issue: Satire Wire

“Hacked Facebook Accounts May Explain Billions of Inane Posts” http://www.satirewire.com/content1/?p=5589

Topic: Annoyance and Human Behavior *

Contextualizing the Issue: Annoying: The Science of What Annoys Us

Excerpt From Annoying, Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman

Satirizing the Issue: Dorothy Parker

“Good Folks,” Excerpt


Pre-Twentieth Century Pairings

When teaching pre-twentieth satirical pieces, consider providing a modern companion piece.

Providing background for students is important, however pre-twentieth texts in essay collections

include enough context prior to reading.

Contextualizing the Issue: Satirical Companion Piece from The Onion

“Industrial Revolution Provides Millions of Out-of Work Children with Jobs”

http://www.theonion.com/articles/industrial-revolution-provides-millions-of-

outofwo,2877/

Satirizing the Issue: Jonathan Swift

“A Modest Proposal”

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/30827_modestproposal.pdf

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-massive-hack-passwords-20131204-story.html#axzz2mcuJXiFa

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-massive-hack-passwords-20131204-story.html#axzz2mcuJXiFa

http://www.satirewire.com/content1/?p=5589

http://www.theonion.com/articles/industrial-revolution-provides-millions-of-outofwo,2877/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/industrial-revolution-provides-millions-of-outofwo,2877/

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/30827_modestproposal.pdf


51

Example #2

Contextualizing the Issue: Satirical Companion Piece from The Onion

“Scientists: Rich People, Poor People May Have Shared the Common Ancestor”

http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-rich-people-poor-people-may-have-

shared,36547/

Contextualizing the Issue: The New York Times

“Poverty in America is Mainstream” Mark R. Rank

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/

Satirizing the Issue: William Hazlitt

“On Want of Money”

http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/english/ap06_frq_english

_lang.pdf

http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-rich-people-poor-people-may-have-shared,36547/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-rich-people-poor-people-may-have-shared,36547/

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/

http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/english/ap06_frq_english_lang.pdf

http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/ap/students/english/ap06_frq_english_lang.pdf


52

The Passion of Parenting

Charles M. Blow I’ve been a single dad for 13 years. As with most single parents — and indeed with most

parents — it hasn’t always been easy.

People sometimes say that parenting is the toughest job you’ll ever love. But I believe

that parenting is sometimes so tough — and exhausting — that you don’t always remember to

slow down enough to love it. Sometimes the love is registered in retrospect. 5

We jockey to give our children the best without giving them so much that they can’t

appreciate what they have. We try to encourage them without coddling them. We lavish gifts

upon them while simultaneously trying to nurture grit within them.

Parents walk a thin line between oppositional forces, never knowing if we are truly

getting it right, judging ourselves and being judged by others. 10

And we are inundated by studies and books and advice: do this or that if you want your

child to succeed and not spend his or her 20s on your sofa.

I try to tune most of it out. When I feel overwhelmed, I call my mother. She always

seems to know what to say. I guess that’s why they call it “mother’s wit.”

When my three children were younger, and the strain of taking care of them seemed as 15

though it would overwhelm me, my mother would tell me what an elderly babysitter once told

her when she too felt overwhelmed: “Baby, one day they’ll be able to get themselves a cup of

water.”

It was a simple way of saying that children grow up and become more self-reliant and

eventually they set out on their own to chart their own course. You won’t always have to wait on 20

them hand and foot.

She told me to remember that the more people a child has who truly loves him or her, the

happier that child will be. So I work hard to maintain and expand their circles of love.

She taught me that parenting was a lot like giving a hug: It’s all about love and pressure

and there is no one way to do it. 25

She taught me that sometimes you have to make time for yourself so that you will have

energy to give to your children. Allow them to have a pizza night every now and then. An

occasional treat won’t hurt them, but working yourself to a frazzle will surely hurt you. Rest.

She taught me that you must allow yourself time to find stillness and so you can be

moved by it. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget why we’re busy. We have so many things 30

on our list of priorities that we lose sight of what’s really important.

And she taught me that my children are not truly mine. They don’t belong to me; they’ve

simply been entrusted to me. They are a gift life gave to me, but one that I must one day give

back to life. They must grow up and go away and that is as it should be.

But as the time with my children in my home draws to a close — my oldest is away at 35

college and my twins are 16-year-old high school juniors — I’m beginning to feel the pains in

my chest that all parents feel when their children move away.

I thought that this would be a celebratory time, a time when I would relish the idea of

getting back to me, of working late without worry and taking last-minute weekend jaunts.

But I don’t. Letting go is hard for me to do. I must let go, but my heart feels hollow. I 40

can’t imagine me without them.

Lately there are times that I find myself just staring at my children, that kind of look that

says, “I see you, really see you, and I love you with an all-consuming love, the kind of love that

envelops you and sustains me.” It’s the kind of look that invariably draws from my children a


53

“What? What are you looking at?” They speak the words through the slightest smile, a barely 45

registered one, the kind of smile a teenager manages when they know that they are loved, but

feel that they are too old for hugs or tears.

Life gave them to me. I’m preparing myself, as best I can, to give them back to life.

from “The Passion of Parenting” by Charles M. Blow. The New York Times, November 6, 2013. Permission Pending.


54

AP Language and Composition

SOAPSTONE: Question Resource

Using SOAPSTone

Being able to understand multiple layers of meaning in a text is an expected AP English skill.

Every time you read, SOAPSTone should be one of the ways you approach annotating the text.

Use the questions below to focus your thoughts. You should be able to answer a majority of these

questions every time you have completed a close reading.

SPEAKER- Remember that the speaker is not always the author.

What are his/her values?

What kind of person does he/she seem to be?

What is his/her education or experience?

o Identify textual proof for all questions above.

OCCASION

What caused this text to be written?

o What specific event or issue forced the author to write?

AUDIENCE

What type of person does the text reach? Be specific.

How can the audience be described specifically?

o Think: age, socioeconomic status, education, experience, etc.

PURPOSE

What is the ultimate goal of the author?

What “change” does he/she want to accomplish?

o This should be a complex statement of purpose.

An answer like “change immigration” might be right but it’s still too broad.

Define the goal specifically.

o Example: Motivate changes in immigration policy

o Example: Improve healthcare opportunities for immigrants

SUBJECT

What is the topic of this text?

o Think: Under what category would this text be filed?

Example: Environmentalism Climate Change

TONE

What is the author’s attitude?

What emotions does he/she rely upon within his/her argument?

o Identify specific textual evidence as proof.


55

SOAPSTONE Assignment Reread the editorial by Charles Blow. Then, referring to your SOAPSTONE reference when necessary, identify specific examples in

Blow’s writing that exemplify each element of SOAPSTone.

Elements of

SOAPSTONE

Examples

Identify examples directly from the text. Commentary

Explain what can be determined about speaker, occasion, audience, purpose,

subject or tone based on the evidence.

Speaker

Occasion

Audience


56

Elements of

SOAPSTONE

Examples

Identify examples directly from the text. Commentary

Explain what can be determined about speaker, occasion, audience, purpose,

subject or tone based on the evidence.

Purpose

Subject

Tone


57

Where Did My Little Girl Go?

Dave Barry

Girls do not go through puberty the way boys do. For boys, puberty is a gradual process

— it took me decades — and it’s not all that drastic. When the boy is done undergoing puberty,

he’s hairier and smellier, but still basically the same.

Female puberty is a whole different kettle of biological fish. For years my daughter was

this sweet, innocent little girl who played with dolls, slept with stuffed animals and viewed me as 5

a wise authority figure because of all the amazing things I knew how to do, such as tell time.

Then one day at about 4:30 in the afternoon Sophie went into her bathroom (which is pink) and,

WHOOM, some kind of massive hormone bomb went off in there. She emerged maybe 45

minutes later having aged, biologically, at least seven years. Suddenly she was this woman, with

legs and everything, walking around. The same thing happened pretty much simultaneously to 10

her friends — all of them were suddenly beautiful, feminine, poised, sophisticated, and several

linear feet taller than the boys their age.

The day the hormone bomb detonated marked the end of the era wherein my daughter

viewed me as an authority. These days, pretty much the only time she turns to me for guidance is

when she can’t find the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. When she needs to discuss anything more 15

important — school, relationships, hair, clothes, makeup, hair accessories, and biological matters

I don’t even want to think about — she confers with her several hundred closest girlfriends or

my wife, who is also a woman. I am way out of the loop. I don’t even know where the loop is.

Nevertheless I am, legally, Sophie’s father, and I have certain fundamental obligations, the main

one being to protect her from harm, with “harm” defined as “men.” As a lifelong male myself, I 20

am well aware of the way we think, and I don’t want anybody thinking things like that within a

1,000-yard radius of my daughter.

The problem I am facing right now is boys, which, biologically, are nothing more than

short men. My daughter’s school is infested with them. Lately they have taken to hanging around

our house, darting around out there on bicycles and skateboards and trying to act as though they 25

are not thinking about what they are thinking about, which we all know is exactly what they are

thinking about.

Here’s what really bothers me: Sometimes they get inside the house.

I blame my wife. If it were up to me, our house would be surrounded by giant (but humane) traps

baited with some kind of bait that would be attractive to 13-year-old boys, such as fireworks or 30

shorts that are even baggier than the shorts they’re already wearing. Every now and then we’d

hear the loud THWONK of a steel door slamming shut, indicating that a 13-year-old boy had

come too close to the house. I would then go outside and, after a stern warning, drive the boy out

to the Everglades and release him into the wild.

from You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little

About” by Dave Barry. New York: Putnam Adult, 2014. Permission Pending.


58

Dave Barry’s Perspective

Understanding Satire and Identifying Implicit Issues After reading Dave Barry’s essay about his daughter, consider the ways in which he satirizes

being a father. Complete the exercises below to examine his writing specifically.

Hyperbole

Dave Barry’s writing style relies upon repeated exaggeration of himself, his daughter, and the

boys that show up at his home. Underline every example of exaggeration in the excerpt below.

Then one day at about 4:30 in the afternoon Sophie went into her bathroom (which is

pink) and, WHOOM, some kind of massive hormone bomb went off in there. She

emerged maybe 45 minutes later having aged, biologically, at least seven years. Suddenly

she was this woman, with legs and everything, walking around. The same thing happened

pretty much simultaneously to her friends — all of them were suddenly beautiful,

feminine, poised, sophisticated, and several linear feet taller than the boys their age.

Phrase

Identify an example of

hyperbole from the excerpt.

Paraphrase

Explain what this

exaggeration means.

Effect

Explain why Barry chooses to

exaggerate in this way.

Writing Extension

Why might Barry choose to employ hyperbole when he describes being the dad of a teenage

daughter? Construct an argument about how Barry’s exaggeration helps him make an argument

about being a parent.


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Sarcasm and Syntax

Answer the questions below to understand how Barry’s use of syntax adds to his satire.

Example #1—Nevertheless I am, legally, Sophie’s father, and I have certain fundamental

obligations, the main one being to protect her from harm, with “harm” defined as

“men.”

1. Barry offsets the word legally with two commas. Why does Barry choose to include the word

“legally” at all?

2. Why create a one-word dependent clause by putting “legally” between commas?

3. Pay specific attention to Barry’s use of quotation marks. Define both of the words in quotation

marks based on their context.

a). “harm”—

b). “men”—

4. Why does Barry choose to put these two words, harm and men, in quotations?

5. Using your syntactical knowledge from above, consider the following:

a). What is Barry’s attitude/tone towards parenting a teenage girl?

b). How does Barry’s syntax help to build this attitude/tone?

Example #2—Here’s what really bothers me: Sometimes they get inside the house.

6. Barry could use a period instead of a colon. Why does he choose to link these two ideas in one

sentence?

7. Why does Barry choose to use the pronoun “they” instead of the word “boys” in this sentence?


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Understanding Barry’s Arguments and Purpose

Examine Barry’s essay as a whole. Then, choose one of Barry’s topics to discuss in a brief

written response.

Check the topic you plan to discuss.

Parenting

Teenage Girls

Teenage Boys

Responding in Writing

Use the assertion template below, if necessary, to construct an argument about Barry’s writing.

Barry’s argues that (topic from above) is/are

(describe Barry’s attitude towards this topic) in order to suggest

(describe Barry’s purpose in discussing this topic) .

Final Conclusions

Dave Barry chooses to use satire to discuss parenting, teenage girls, and teenage boys. Why

might a father choose to use satire to discuss his role as a parent?


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Style Comparison: Dave Barry and Charles M. Blow Reread both excerpts below and underline all of the language that describes, explicitly and

implicitly, how each author feels about parenting. Then answer the accompanying questions.

“The Passion of Parenting” Excerpt

But as the time with my children in my home draws to a close — my oldest is away at

college and my twins are 16-year-old high school juniors — I’m beginning to feel the pains in

my chest that all parents feel when their children move away.

I thought that this would be a celebratory time, a time when I would relish the idea of

getting back to me, of working late without worry and taking last-minute weekend jaunts.

But I don’t. Letting go is hard for me to do. I must let go, but my heart feels hollow. I

can’t imagine me without them.

1. What causes the author to feel a “pain in his chest” when he considers his children “moving

away?”

2. What is his argument about being a parent?

“Where Did My Daughter Go?” Excerpt

If it were up to me, our house would be surrounded by giant (but humane) traps baited with some

kind of bait that would be attractive to 13-year-old boys, such as fireworks or shorts that are even

baggier than the shorts they’re already wearing. Every now and then we’d hear the loud

THWONK of a steel door slamming shut, indicating that a 13-year-old boy had come too close

to the house. I would then go outside and, after a stern warning, drive the boy out to the

Everglades and release him into the wild.

3. Why does Barry want to “drive the boy[s] out to the Everglades” who hang around his home?

4. What does Barry’s argument seem to be about parenting?

Writing Extension

Both authors make similar arguments about parenting but use very different writing styles and

authorial voices to achieve their goals. Write a response that analyzes the rhetorical strategies

each writer uses to achieve his purpose and explain which passage offers a more persuasive case.


62

Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us

Author’s Note Excerpt

Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman

The trouble with investigating the science of annoyance is that unlike simple topics such

as string theory or molecular genetics, the science of what’s annoying is highly complex,

drawing on multiple disciplines from physics, chemistry, and biology in the natural sciences to

psychology, sociology, anthropology, and linguistics in the social sciences to history, literature,

philosophy, and art in the humanities. 5

Indeed, the expert in annoyingness, if such a person existed, would be a true polymath1.

Of course, we all have some expertise in the sensation—both in generating it in others and

feeling it within ourselves. In fact, when you tell somebody you’re writing a book about the

science of what’s annoying—after you get the guffaws out of the way—you often hear a long

diatribe about the annoying thing that happened just the other day. It’s paradoxical—we don’t 10

like being annoyed but seem to enjoy thinking about what annoys us. Although everyone can tell

you what’s annoying, few, if any, can explain why. That’s why we turned to science.

It may seem like a trivial pursuit, but think about it for a moment. Feeling annoyed seems

to be a universal trait. Can you think of anyone who is immune to it? Although as a species

modern humans appear to have become exquisitely sensitive to annoyances, other species look to 15

be at risk as well. While animal behaviorists and microbiologists may disagree with the

terminology, it’s difficult to argue with the statement that at least something remarkably similar

to annoyance occurs across a broad swath of the animal kingdom. Older dogs become annoyed

with pesky puppies; fruit flies are smart enough to avoid irritants; even bacteria will switch on

their flagellums and move away when faced with the microbiological equivalent of fingernails 20

on a blackboard. In the great tradition of reductionism, understanding these annoyances will

surely tell us something about our own.

from Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us, by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman. New York: Wiley, 2011. Permission Pending.

1 A person who has a wide variety of

knowledge, expertise, and education


63

Annoying: The Science of What Annoys Us

Understanding Argument Palca and Lichtman set up a series of observations and arguments about what annoys

individuals. Examine the examples below and complete the accompanying exercises.

Example Explanation

“…the science of what’s

annoying is highly

complex.”

Task: Why might understanding what annoys be “highly

complex?”

“…we all have some

expertise in the sensation—

both in generating it in

others and feeling it within

ourselves.”

Task: What does it say about individuals that they are experts in

generating annoyance in others?

Task: What does it say about individuals that they are also

experts at experiencing annoyance?

“It’s paradoxical—we

don’t like being annoyed

but seem to enjoy thinking

about what annoys us.”

Task: Why might we enjoy thinking about what annoys us? Why

not just let go of annoyance?

“Feeling annoyed seems to

be a universal trait. Can

you think of anyone who is

immune to it?”

Task: What argument is being made about annoyance and the

human condition?


64

“Good Souls”

Dorothy Parker Directions: As you read underline all of the words/phrases that Parker uses to describe and

satirize “good folks.” Reconsider/reread the excerpt from Annoying: The Science of What Bugs

Us. Determine if Parker’s level, albeit satirical, of annoyance with “good folks” is simple

annoyance or something more.

All about us, living in our families, it may be, there exists a race of curious creatures.

Outwardly, they possess no marked peculiarities; in fact, at a hasty glance, they may be readily

mistaken for regular human beings. They are built after the popular design; they have the usual

number of features, arranged in the conventional manner; they offer no variations on the general

run of things in their habits of dressing, eating, and carrying on their business. 5

Yet, between them and the rest of the civilized world, there stretches an impassable

barrier. Though they live in the very thick of the human race, they are forever isolated from it.

They are fated to go through life, congenial pariahs. They live out their little lives, mingling with

the world, yet never a part of it. They are, in short, Good Souls.

And the piteous thing about them is that they are wholly unconscious of their condition. 10

A Good Soul thinks he is just like anyone else. Nothing could convince him otherwise. It is

heartrending to see him, going cheerfully about, even whistling or humming as he goes, all

unconscious of his terrible plight. The utmost he can receive from the world is an attitude of

good-humored patience, a perfunctory word of approbation, a praising with faint damns, so to

speak--yet he firmly believes that everything is all right with him. 15

There is no accounting for Good Souls.

They spring up anywhere. They will suddenly appear in families which, for generations

have had no slightest sigma attached to them. Possibly they are throw-backs. There is scarcely a

family without at least one Good Soul somewhere in it at the present moment--maybe in the form

of an elderly aunt, an unmarried sister, an unsuccessful brother, an indigent cousin. No 20

household is complete without one.

The Good soul begins early; he will show signs of his condition in extreme youth. Go

now to the nearest window, and look out on the little children playing so happily below. Any

group of youngsters that you may happen to see will do perfectly. Do you observe the child

whom all other little dears make "it" in their merry games? Do you follow the child from whom 25

the other little ones snatch the cherished candy, to consume it before his streaming eyes? Can

you get a good look at the child whose precious toys are borrowed for indefinite periods by the

other playful youngsters, and returned to him in fragments? Do you see the child upon whom all

the other kiddies play their complete repertory of childhood's winsome pranks--throwing bags of

water on him, running away and hiding from him, shouting his name in quaint rhymes, chalking 30

coarse legends on his unsuspecting back?

Mark that child well. He is going to be a Good Soul when he grows up.

Thus does the doomed child go through early youth and adolescence. So does he progress

towards the fulfillment of his destiny. And then, some day, when he is under discussion,

someone will say of him, "Well, he means well, anyway." That settles it. For him, that is the end. 35

Those words have branded him with the indelible mark of his pariahdom. He has come into his

majority; he is a full-fledged Good Soul.

The activities of the adult of the species are familiar to us all. When you are ill, who is it

that hastens to your beside bearing molds of blanc-mange, which, from infancy, you have hated


65

with unspeakable loathing? As usual, you are way ahead of me, gentle reader--it is indeed the 40

good Soul. It is the Good Souls who efficiently smooth out your pillow when you have just

worked it into the comfortable shape, who creak about the room on noisy tiptoe, who tenderly

lay on your fevered brow damp cloths which drip ceaselessly down your neck. It is they who ask,

every other minute, if there isn’t something that they can do for you. It is they who, at great

personal sacrifice, spend long hours sitting beside your bed, reading aloud the continued stories 45

in the Woman's Home Companion, or chatting cozily on the increase in the city's death rate.

In health, as in illness, they are always right there, ready to befriend you. No sooner do you sit

down, than they exclaim that they can see you aren’t comfortable in that chair, and insist on your

changing places with them. It is the Good Souls who just know that you don’t like your tea that

way, and who bear it masterfully away from you to alter it with cream and sugar until it is a 50

complete stranger to you. At the table, it is they who always feel that their grapefruit is better

than yours and who have to be restrained almost forcibly from exchanging with you. In a

restaurant the waiter invariably makes a mistake and brings them something which they did not

order--and which they refuse to have changed, choking it down with a wistful smile. It is they

who cause traffic blocks, by standing in subway entrances arguing altruistically as to who is to 55

pay the fare.

from The Portable Dorothy Parker, by Dorothy Parker and Brendan Gill. New York: Viking, 1988. Permission Pending.


66

Deconstructing Vocabulary to Understand Satire and Style Dorothy Parker employs unusual combinations of language to describe “good folks.” Examine

the quotation and definition. Complete the task for each vocabulary word.

Quotation: “They are fated to go though life, congenial pariahs (line 9).

Definition(s): To be congenial is to be pleasant, easy-going, or agreeable. To be a pariah is to

be an outcast.

Task: The definition for congenial and pariah seem to be at odds with each other. Why does

Parker choose to use them together?

Quotation: “The utmost he can receive from the world is an attitude of good-humored patience, a

perfunctory word of approbation, a praising with faint damns, so to speak--yet he firmly

believes that everything is all right with him” (lines 13-15).

Definition(s): To be perfunctory is to be hurried, careless, or hasty. Approbation is approval,

respect, or esteem.

Task: Perfunctory and approbation seem to be at odds with one another. To approve of

something takes time and is often not careless. What is the effect of putting these two

words together to describe “good folks?”

Quotation: “…maybe in the form of an elderly aunt, an unmarried sister, an unsuccessful

brother, an indigent cousin” (lines 20-21).

Definition(s): To be indigent is to be poor, needy, or destitute.

Task: Parker employs the following adjectives, “elderly,” “unmarried,” “unsuccessful,” and

“indigent,” to describe “good folks.” Why does she end save “indigent” for last?


67

Understanding Parker’s Perspective on Good Folks Examine each of Parker’s descriptions of “good folks.” Then, deconstruct her language and

explain her satire.

Good Folks Parker’s Purpose

“wholly

unconscious of their

condition”

Paraphrase—Summarize Parker’s description.

Importance—Explain why Parker chooses to describe good folks this

way.

Satire—Explain how Parker’s language is satirical in nature.

“Though they live

in the very thick of

the human race,

they are forever

isolated from it”



way.



68

"Well, he means

well, anyway."



way.


“It is they who, at

great personal

sacrifice, spend

long hours sitting

beside your bed, …

chatting cozily on

the increase in the

city's death rate.


Importance—Explain why Parker choose to describe good folks this way.


Writing Extension and Classroom Discussion

1. Parker uses the phrase “good folks” satirically. The people she describes are not “bad folks”

but they aren’t technically good folks either. Define “good folks” according to Parker.

2. Why would Parker choose to satirize this type of person?

3. What does this satire tell you about Parker as an author/writer?


69

Writing Task

Drawing on Knowledge from Two Texts

Directions: After reading the excerpt from Annoying and “Good Folks,” respond to the argument

prompt below. Use your knowledge from both texts as a place from which to start your response.

PROMPT

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and

resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

--Mark Twain

Consider this quotation about humor and irritation by Mark Twain. Then, write an essay that

takes a position on Twain’s assertion that humor saves individuals from being inhibited by the

annoyance present in everyday life. Support your argument with appropriate evidence from your

reading, observation, or experience.


70

Teaching Satire via Images and Cartoons Satirical images present students with the stratified and difficult task of appropriately

deconstructing images, understanding cultural references, and considering the purpose of

employing satire to construct arguments about current events. Since this intensifies the task of

image deconstruction, it is important to offer students context and scaffolding.

Resources for satirical images are listed below along with models of text to image pairings. The

goal of such pairings is not only to contextualize the issue satirized in the image but to also help

students engage in synthesis tasks that require them to examine differing points of view.

Cagle Post Political Cartoons The Cagle Post is an online syndicate of political cartoons from across the United States. The

website groups political cartoons by current event topic and is searchable by keyword. See the

pairing below as a model for contextualizing political cartoons.

Website: http://www.cagle.com/

Topic: Student Debt*

Contextualizing the Issue: The New York Times

“A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College,” Andrew Martin and Andrew Lehren

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-

generation-with-heavy-debt.html?pagewanted=all

Satirizing the Issue: Cagle Post

“Student Loans,” Nate Beeler

http://www.cagle.com/tag/monsters-university/


The New Yorker Covers The New Yorker covers offer a weekly satirical take on current events and popular culture. You

can examine new covers each week by visiting The New Yorker’s Tumblr page. The cover is

highlighted at the top of blog post. By clicking the image of the cover you will be taken to an

online post, called “Cover Story,” that describe the artist’s work and showcases other covers. See

the pairing below as a model for contextualizing The New Yorker covers.

Website: http://newyorker.tumblr.com/

Topic: Body Image and the Media Contextualizing the Issue: The Atlantic and The New York Times

“Body Image Pressure Increasingly Affects Boys,” Jamie Santa Cruz

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-increasingly-

affects-boys/283897/

http://www.cagle.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-heavy-debt.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.cagle.com/tag/monsters-university/

http://newyorker.tumblr.com/

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-increasingly-affects-boys/283897/

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-increasingly-affects-boys/283897/


71

“The Limits of Plastic Surgery,” Catherine St. Louis

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/the-limits-of-cosmetic-surgery/

Satirizing the Issue: The New Yorker Cover

“Oscars 2014”

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CVC_TNY_03_03_14_580.jpg

The Oatmeal The Oatmeal is run by Matthew Inman who is a cartoonist and website designer. While some of

the cartoons are not appropriate for classroom use, Inman often parodies popular culture in a way

that it is relevant for AP Language. See the pairing below as a model for contextualizing The

Oatmeal comics.

Website: http://theoatmeal.com/

Topic: Action Heroes and Steroid Use

Contextualizing the Issue: Men’s Journal and The Hollywood Reporter

“Building a Bigger Action Hero,”

o http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/building-a-bigger-action-hero-20140418

“Hollywood and Steroids: When A-List Actors Go the A-Rod Route,” Tatiana Siegel

o http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-steroid-use-a-list-609091

Satirizing the Issue: The Oatmeal

“The Evolution of Hugh Jackman’s Upper Body”

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/hugh_jackman

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/the-limits-of-cosmetic-surgery/

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CVC_TNY_03_03_14_580.jpg

http://theoatmeal.com/

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/building-a-bigger-action-hero-20140418

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-steroid-use-a-list-609091

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/hugh_jackman


72

“A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College”

Andrew Martin and Andrew Lehren

Directions: Read the article and annotate specifically about how college debt impacts

students.

ADA, Ohio — Kelsey Griffith graduates on Sunday from Ohio Northern University. To start

paying off her $120,000 in student debt, she is already working two restaurant jobs and will soon

give up her apartment here to live with her parents. Her mother, who co-signed on the loans, is

taking out a life insurance policy on her daughter.

“If anything ever happened, God forbid, that is my debt also,” said Ms. Griffith’s mother, 5

Marlene Griffith.

Ms. Griffith, 23, wouldn’t seem a perfect financial fit for a college that costs nearly

$50,000 a year. Her father, a paramedic, and mother, a preschool teacher, have modest incomes,

and she has four sisters. But when she visited Ohio Northern, she was won over by faculty and

admissions staff members who urge students to pursue their dreams rather than obsess on the 10

sticker price.

“As an 18-year-old, it sounded like a good fit to me, and the school really sold it,” said

Ms. Griffith, a marketing major. “I knew a private school would cost a lot of money. But when I

graduate, I’m going to owe like $900 a month. No one told me that.”

With more than $1 trillion in student loans outstanding in this country, crippling debt is 15

no longer confined to dropouts from for-profit colleges or graduate students who owe on many

years of education, some of the overextended debtors in years past. As prices soar, a college

degree statistically remains a good lifetime investment, but it often comes with an unprecedented

financial burden.

About two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients borrow money to attend college, either 20

from the government or private lenders, according to a Department of Education survey of 2007-

8 graduates; the total number of borrowers is most likely higher since the survey does not track

borrowing from family members.

By contrast, 45 percent of 1992-93 graduates borrowed money; that survey included

family borrowing as well as government and private loans. 25

For all borrowers, the average debt in 2011 was $23,300, with 10 percent owing more

than $54,000 and 3 percent more than $100,000, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports.

Average debt for bachelor degree graduates who took out loans ranges from under $10,000 at

elite schools like Princeton and Williams College, which have plenty of wealthy students and

enormous endowments, to nearly $50,000 at some private colleges with less affluent students 30

and less financial aid.

*HOBBLED means to holdback, impede, and/or obstruct.

from “A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College,” by Andrew Martin and Andrew Lehren. The New York Times, May

12, 2012. Permission Pending.

http://topics.nytimes.com/your-money/loans/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

http://topics.nytimes.com/your-money/insurance/life-and-disability-insurance/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/student_loans/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/forprofit_schools/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2012/03/grading-student-loans.html


73

Understanding the Issue:

“A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College” After reading the excerpted article, complete the accompanying questions.

1. Reread the first paragraph of the article excerpt.

a). Make a list of the things that Kelsey Griffith and her parents are doing to deal with her

college debt.

b). Based on the list you’ve created, what does the Griffith family’s attitude toward debt seem?

2. Kelsey Griffith comments that, “as an 18 year old, it sounded like a good fit” but that she did

not understand the concept of owing “900 dollars a month.” What argument is being made

about college debt and a person’s age?

3. The article argues that, “a college degree statistically remains a good lifetime investment, but

it often comes with an unprecedented financial burden.” Explain the impact of the phrase

“unprecedented financial burden.” What should college students realize?

4. Examine the statistics from 2011 about college debt.

Average debt in 2011 was $23,300

10 percent owed more than $54,000

3 percent owed more than $100,000

Considering the data, what role does college debt play in life after college?

5. Examine the title of the piece. Pay particular attention to the words “hobbled” and “soaring.”

What are the authors arguing about college debt and a college education?


74

Visual Text Reference Close reading skills are important not only for printed text but for images as well. While a

speaker crafts a speech for a larger purpose, political cartoonists do the same with the images

they capture and present to the public.

When you are examining an image, use the annotation guide below to construct useful images.

Visual Text Annotation Guide

Landscape and Color

o How does the landscape create the image’s tone?

o How does this color choice affect the meaning in the image?

Facial Expressions, Body Language, Attire

o What argument can be made about the individuals based on their facial

expressions, body language, and clothing?

o Political Cartoons: Consider what is overblown/larger than life in the cartoon.

What is the purpose?

Organization, Size, Arrangement

o How are the elements arranged?

What is in the foreground?

What is in the background?

o How does the organization of the image establish a sense of setting?

Argument and Purpose

o What argument is created?

o What purpose does an image like this have for the general public?

Image Response

Use the format below to respond in writing to any photograph.

Claim: Identify the image and the argument it presents.

Evidence: Identify one element from the image that supports this argument.

Commentary (two sentences minimum): Discuss the importance of this element within the

image. Discuss how it contributes to the argument. Be sure to address tone.

Evidence: Discuss a second element from the image that supports the same argument.

Commentary (two sentences minimum): Discuss the importance of this element within the

image. Discuss the purpose of the image in its entirety. Be sure to address meaning.


75

Deconstructing Political Cartoons Examine the political cartoon. Deconstruct the image using the visual reference overview.

Landscape/Color Observations

Describe how color is used and the background. Pay particular attention to any contrasts.

Facial Expressions, Body Language, Attire

Describe facial expressions/body language/attire and how these elements differ between the

monsters and the congressman.

Organization, Size, Arrangement

Describe how are the elements are arranged/sized/organized. Explain how this organization

helps the cartoonist make an argument.

from Joe Heller’s Political Cartoons. Green Bay Press-Gazette, July 2, 2013. Permission Pending.


76

Deconstructing Political Cartoons: Turning Observations into Commentary Use your observations from the previous page to answer the questions below thoughtfully.

1. Why does the cartoonist choose to make an allusion to the animated film Monsters, Inc. when

talking about the reality of college-related debt?

2. What is ironic about the phrase, “who’s that scary creepy guy?”

3. Why is the Congressman depicted in bland colors and with a smirk on his face?

4. Why is there no landscape in the background of the political cartoon?

5. What argument is being made about college debt?

6. What are the pros and cons of this cartoon? What works well? What is missing?


77

Responding in Writing: Taking a Position on College Debt Now, that you have read/examined two texts about college debt, synthesize your own argument

based on the information presented. You must refer to both sources in your response.

Claim: Construct an original argument about college debt based on your reading/viewing.

Evidence: Identify an aspect from the article that you will discuss.

Commentary (two sentences minimum): Discuss the importance of this element. What does

this prove about college debt?

Evidence: Identify an aspect from the political cartoon that you will discuss.

Commentary (two sentences minimum): Discuss the importance of this element. What does

this prove about college debt?


78

Satire in Video When using video in the classroom, it is important to give students focused segments from

longer satirical programs so that they are able to truly understand the satire without getting lost.

It also of importance to provide students appropriate contextualization to deepen their

understanding. Below are examples of useful video pairings.

Understanding Smart Phone Applications Contextualizing the Issue: Tech Crunch

“Why a Stupid App Like Yo May have Billion Dollar Platform Potential,”

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/why-a-stupid-app-like-yo-may-have-billion-dollar-

platform-potential/

Satirizing the Issue: The Colbert Report

Yo Smart Phone App Segment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b23LSEX6qzY

The Role of Twitter Contextualizing the Issue: The New York Times

“#InPraiseOfTheHashtag,” Julia Turner

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/in-praise-of-the-

hashtag.html?pagewanted=all

Satirizing the Issue: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Hashtags Skit*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

The last ten-fifteen seconds may need to be cut because of language that is bleeped.

Watch the video first to make a determination.


Popular Music Performers and Power Contextualizing the Issue: CNN

“Beyonce: Forbes Most Powerful Celebrity,” Breeana Hare

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/beyonce-forbes-100/

Satirizing the Issue: Saturday Night Live Digital Shorts

The Begency

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxe83lXgJg

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/why-a-stupid-app-like-yo-may-have-billion-dollar-platform-potential/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/why-a-stupid-app-like-yo-may-have-billion-dollar-platform-potential/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b23LSEX6qzY

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/in-praise-of-the-hashtag.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/in-praise-of-the-hashtag.html?pagewanted=all


http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/beyonce-forbes-100/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGxe83lXgJg


79

Understanding Satire via Video

Hashtags Skit: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Watch the skit. Then, complete the accompanying assignment. Begin by looking for allusions to

other aspects that are meant to be satiric. When looking for allusions, be sure to find allusions

that create satire about people’s behavior, popular culture, use of hashtags, etc.

Video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

Allusion

Identify the reference that

Fallon/Timberlake make to

another aspect of popular

culture.

Purpose

Explain how this reference adds satire to the skit. How does it

critique human nature?

1.Describe the “characters” that Fallon and Timberlake are playing. How do they seem?

2. Why might Jimmy Fallon have chosen to satirize hashtags?

3. What argument is being made about Twitter?

4. What argument is being made about the use of hashtags?

5. Describe the satire in this skit. What is the purpose using satire to discuss this topic?



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“#InPraiseOfTheHashtag”

Julia Turner

Directions: As you read the excerpt of Turner’s article, annotate specifically for her argument

about the role of hashtags in society.

The pound sign is a typographical symbol with ambitions. For decades, it was an

afterthought on our telephone keypads, mashed occasionally in frustration during prolonged

customer-service calls. But lately, it is conquering new territories, visible on our TV screens

(#debates, for example, during the most recent presidential debate); at the box office

(#holdyourbreath, plugging the title of a recent horror movie); even spray- painted on your 5

favorite football teams’ turf (#GOHOGS at the 25-yard-line in Razorback Stadium).

For this, of course, we can thank Twitter. Five years ago, Twitter’s users invented what’s

now known as the hashtag: a pithy phrase, preceded by that hungry octothorpe, used to either

label or comment on the preceding tweet. (Pretend this sentence is a tweet.

#thiswouldbethehashtag.) 10

In the early days, hashtags were primarily functional — a way of categorizing tweets by

topic so that members of the Twittersphere could follow conversations of interest to them by

searching for a list of similarly tagged tweets. The first hashtag, proposed by the user Chris

Messina, was intended to collate conversations about the tech conference BarCamp, so the

hashtag was #barcamp. Other tags in the early days served as straightforward metadata, directing 15

people to tweets about news, events and user interests: #sandiegofires, #roseparade, #education

and so on.

Over time, though, the hashtag has evolved into something else — a form that allows for

humor, darkness, wordplay and, yes, even poetry. During this same period, Twitter as a

corporation recognized the power of the hashtag, which has now become a part of the site’s 20

design, lingo and sales pitch to advertisers. Your particular hashtag, for example, can let the

whole world know who’s talking about the release of #Halo4.

As a result, we’ve arrived at a strange moment for the hashtag. The people at Twitter are

fond of saying that the hashtag is the new URL — and it’s true that you’re just as likely to see

the former as the latter these days on-screen at the end of a movie trailer. 25

Yet the rise of the hashtag’s commercial possibilities shouldn’t lead us to overlook what

is truly remarkable about it. This bit of utilitarian Web ephemera, invented with functionality

squarely in mind, has blossomed into a marvelous and underappreciated literary device.

For anyone who has been irked by the more irritating examples in circulation —

#awkward, #winning and #fail all come to mind — these literary pretensions may sound lofty. 30

You’re unlikely to spot much wordplay in the “trending topics” highlighted on Twitter, where

the hashtags tend to be event-driven: #Steelers, #Halloween, #WalkingDead. Occasionally you’ll

also see a form known as “the Mad Lib hashtag”: Trending topics like #IWannaKnowWhy or

#willgetyouslapped, which are basically punch lines in search of crowd-sourced setups. These

hashtags tend to generate a ton of response, turning Twitter into a giant slumber-party game, 35

where half the guests get a little too earnest (#Iwannaknowwhy my boyfriend doesn’t love me)

and half just make class-clown cracks (#IWannaKnowWhy girls actually want boyfriends. . . .

Trust me, they suck).

But the hashtag, for the dexterous user, is a versatile tool — one that can be deployed in a

host of linguistically complex ways. In addition to serving as metadata (#whatthetweetisabout), 40

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23awkward&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23winning&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23fail&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23IWannaKnowWhy&src=typd

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23willgetyouslapped&src=typd


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the hashtag gives the writer the opportunity to comment on his own emotional state, to

sarcastically undercut his own tweet, to construct an extra layer of irony, to offer a flash of

evocative imagery or to deliver metaphors with striking economy. It’s a device that allows the

best writers to operate in multiple registers at once, in a compressed space. It’s the Tuvan throat

singing of the Internet. 45

The resulting juxtapositions can be spare, goofy, poignant or elegant. Consider Conan

O’Brien: “Have you ever noticed that you never see me and Ryan Gosling in the same room at

the same time? #gullibleladiespleaseread.” Or the theater critic Jesse Oxfeld: “Oh, you know,

standing in front of Whole Foods, on the phone with Mom, answering her question about how to

spell Holocaust. #nevermisspell.” Or the writer Susan Orlean: “My 7 yo has taken to calling me 50

‘Lady,’ as in, ‘What’s for dinner, lady?’ #wheredidigowrong.”

These constructions all tend toward the particular — a sardonic twist to the tweet. But the

hashtag can also be a joke about itself, as when the HBO wunderkind Lena Dunham tweets,

“What’s my place in it all? #questionsevenmymomcantanswer.” Part of the joke is that her

hashtag is so elaborate, so concatenated, that no one else would ever conceive of using it. 55

from “#InPraiseOfTheHashtag,” by Julia Turner. The New York Times, November 2, 2012. Permission Pending.

https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/122806928681345025

https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/122806928681345025

https://twitter.com/joxfeld/status/232653316604194816

https://twitter.com/susanorlean/status/231142104141803520

https://twitter.com/lenadunham/status/233871111148929025


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Opposing Point of View: “#InPraiseOfTheHashtag” After you have read the article, complete the accompanying exercises.

1. Turner argues that the purpose of hashtags has changed over the past several years. Describe

how, according to Turner, the purpose of hashtags has changed.

Original Purpose Of Hashtags Current Use of Hashtags

Evaluate

What does this shift say about technology, human behavior, and the relationship between the

two?

2. Turner argues that tweets can be used to, “sarcastically undercut… to construct an extra layer

of irony…” Explain why Twitter users would want to use hashtags this way. What does this

type of hashtag allow a person to accomplish?

3. Take a position on Turner’s argument. Are hashtags a viable form of satire or are they just a

basic form of humor?


83

Current Events: The Role of Social Media in Modern Society

Developing an Argument

Directions: After viewing the Jimmy Fallon hashtags skit and reading the excerpt

“#InPraiseOfTheHashtag,” respond to the argument prompt below. Use your knowledge from

both texts as a place from which to start your response.

PROMPT

Much has been made of the role that social media plays in modern society. Some argue that it is

a selfish form of self-promotion and narcissism. Others argue that social media strengthens

relationships and provides personal and corporate transparency.

Write an essay that takes a position on the role of social media and its value within today’s

society. Support your argument with appropriate evidence from your reading, observation, or

experience.


84

Teacher Training Exercise: Part One Using the pairings throughout the training materials as a model, create your own satirical pairing.

Identify a topic area and then find two sources. The first should contextualize the issue for

students. The second should satirize the same issue. For each source, provide the appropriate

information below so that it can be used as a classroom resource for teachers.

Topic:

Contextualizing the Issue

Source:

Title:

Web Address:

Summary:

Satirizing the Issue

Source:

Title:

Web Address:

Summary:


85

Teacher Training Exercise: Part Two Once you have identified your topic area and two pieces, one to contextualize an issue and the

other to satirize the issue, construct a lesson that incorporates both pieces. Use the checklist

below to organize your tasks. Examine the considerations below as you construct your materials.

Lesson Creation Checklist

Scaffolds for a Variety of Learners

Engages Students in Close Reading

Asks Student to Identify Argumentation and Purpose

Allows Students to Contextualize the Topic

Helps Students Understand Satire about the Topic

Asks Students to Respond in Writing

Creatively and Rigorously Engages Students

Lesson Design Considerations

Lesson Length

The lesson should fit either within the span of one double blocked class (approx.75-90 minutes)

or two shorter periods (approx. 40-50 minutes).

Lesson Design

While the lessons in the training materials take a “pen-to-paper” format, you may choose to

design a lesson that implements technology, partner or small group work, round robins, etc.

Determine the format that will work best based on a diverse student audience. Remember as well

that this lesson should provide enough scaffolding to make all types of students comfortable.

AP Rigor and Engagement

It is important that the lesson asks students to practice AP Language and Composition skills.

Students should be engaged in close reading, identifying authorial style, argument, and purpose.

Students should also wrestle with the role of satire within the topic and within culture. It is also

important that the lesson offers the right amount of engagement and creative/critical thinking

practice.


86

AP Language Multiple-Choice Strategies

Two-Day Training 2014 Overviews of the multiple-choice strategies included in the training are provided below.

Strategy #1—Three Close Readings

Often students struggle with multiple-choice because they do not know what to identify in the

accompanying passage. This exercise asks students to read the passages three times before

viewing, reading, and answering the multiple-choice questions. In this way students become

intimately familiar with the passage before trying to delve into multiple-choice questions and

answer choices.

First Reading

Students read the passage and construct a preliminary set of annotations. Annotations for

a first reading are often an attempt to find meaning. Students do not have to identify

every important aspect of the passage, but they should try to identify, mark, and discuss

elements of the passage that strike them as important.

Second Reading Template

This template is specific to the multiple-choice passage. It asks students to examine,

deconstruct, and respond to specific elements present in the text. The areas of focus and

deconstruction questions are based on most of the multiple-choice questions that

accompany the passage.

Third Reading Template

This template can be used with any multiple-choice close reading passage for AP

Language. Students examine the argument, purpose, and style of the passage as a whole.

The third reading of the passage is meant to help students answer those multiple-choice

questions that require synthesis of ideas throughout the entire passage. After completing

this third reading, students should feel comfortable with answering the accompanying

multiple-choice questions.

Strategy #2—Teacher Marked Pre-Reading

Once students are familiar with the format, question types, and expectations for AP Language

multiple-choice, it can be helpful to provide students with a pre-marked multiple-choice passage.

See the example in the training materials as a model. The classroom teacher marks up the

multiple-choice passage in advance and asks students to read the passage and to create a series of

annotations based specifically on the marked sections of text. In this way, students are practicing

annotation and considering the types of multiple-choice questions assigned to the passage. See

the bulleted list below for one way to implement this strategy into a class.

Student Reading and Annotations

o Teachers may also choose to send the pre-marked passage home for

reading/annotating homework.

Partnered Discussion and/or Whole Class Discussion

Students Complete Multiple-Choice Assessment


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Strategy #3—Three Readings, Two Discussions, One Class Grade

This exercise/multiple choice game relies upon students having an understanding of and comfort

with the format of AP Language multiple-choice questions. First, students complete a series of

multiple-choice questions. This may be done during the class prior to implementing this

multiple-choice strategy. Then, students discuss their answers to those multiple-choice questions

in small groups. The goal of small group discussion is to create consensus and to have peer

teaching and re-teaching of multiple-choice skills. Small groups must determine, through

discussion, the best possible answer choices for each multiple-choice question. The final step is

to use an entire class discussion format to determine the correct answer for each multiple-choice

question. Again, the role of this discussion is to encourage peer teaching of multiple-choice

concepts. After consensus is reached, the entire class receives the same grade on the multiple-

choice assessment.

Strategy #4—Student Created Multiple-Choice

Having students create multiple-choice questions can be beneficial for deepening close reading

skills. Successfully completing this type of task requires that students are familiar with multiple-

choice questions, skills, and expectations. Since this is the case, this strategy is best saved for a

time, usually midway through the school year, when students have spent a significant amount of

time practicing multiple-choice. While it is tempting to use student multiple-choice as exams and

quizzes, remember that multiple-choice creation and implementation is often a process that takes

years of vetting and revision in order to be as fair as possible. This strategy is best implemented

as a way for students to practice close reading from a different angle.

Full Length Exam Reminders

These reminders should be discussed with students prior to taking a full-length multiple-choice

exam. These tips are meant to have students begin with the multiple-choice passages and

questions that they believe are easiest for them. Students should work their way from easiest to

most difficult questions, regardless of how the multiple-choice passages are arranged. In this

way, students build confidence and momentum as they work their way through a full-length

multiple-choice exam.


88

“Wind,” William Least Heat-Moon

Multiple-Choice (The following passage is excerpted from a nonfiction book published in the late twentieth century.)

Climatologists speak of thunderstorms pregnant

with tornadoes, storm-breeding clouds more than twice

the height of Mount Everest; they speak of funicular

envelopes and anvil clouds with pendant mammati and

(5) of thermal instability of winds in cyclonic vorticity,

of rotatory columns of air torquing at velocities up to

three hundred miles an hour (although no anemometer

in the direct path of a storm has survived), funnels that

can move over the ground at the speed of a strolling

(10) man or at the rate of a barrel-assing semi on the turn-

pike; they say the width of the destruction can be the

distance between home plate and deep center field and

its length the hundred miles between New York City

and Philadelphia. A tornado, although more violent

(15) than a much longer lasting hurricane, has a life

measured in minutes, and weathercasters watch it

snuff out as it was born: unnamed.

I know here a grandfather, a man as bald as if a

cyclonic wind had taken his scalp—something wit-

(20) nesses claim has happened elsewhere — who calls

twisters Old Nell, and he threatens to set crying

children outside the back door for her to carry off.

People who have seen Old Nell close, up under her

skirt, talk about her colors: pastel-pink, black, blue,

(25) gray, and a survivor said this: All at once a big hole

opened in the sky with a mass of cherry-red, a yellow

tinge in the center, and another said: a funnel with

beautiful electric-blue light, and a third person: It was

glowing like it was illuminated from the inside. The

(30) witnesses speak of shapes: a formless black mass, a

cone, cylinder, tube, ribbon, pendant, thrashing hose,

dangling lariat, writhing snake, elephant trunk. They

tell of ponds being vacuumed dry, . . . chickens clean-

plucked from beak to bum, water pulled straight up

(35) out of toilet bowls, . . . a wife killed after being jerked

through a car window, a child carried two miles and set

down with only scratches, a Cottonwood Falls mother

(fearful of wind) cured of chronic headaches when a

twister passed harmlessly within a few feet of her

(40) house, and, just south of Chase, a woman blown out of

her living room window and dropped unhurt sixty feet

away and falling unbroken beside her a phonograph

record of “Stormy Weather.”

First Reading

Annotations



89

Multiple-Choice: Second Reading Exercise Read the passage a second time. Pay attention to the specific elements in each of the paragraphs.

Then, complete the questions below to deepen your knowledge of the passage.

Paragraph #1

1. What type of language is being used in the first half of the paragraph?

2. What does the statement in parenthesis, lines 7-8, tell you about scientists and tornadoes?

3. Why does the author choose to use the distance between Philadelphia and New York City as a

point of reference in lines 11-14?

4. The first sentence of the passage is fourteen lines in length. List the ways, rhetorical and

otherwise, that this sentence conveys the power and diversity of tornadoes.

Paragraph #2

5. List four different effects that the language in lines 18-19 creates.

6. What is the reference to “under old Nell’s skirt,” in lines 23-24 meant to suggest?

7. Examine the last sentence of the paragraph (lines 32-43). What argument can be made about

these eyewitness “accounts?”


90

Multiple-Choice: Third Reading Exercise After you have read the passage for a third time, complete this assignment.

Passage Information

Time Period:_________________ Type of Writing:________________________

What assumptions can you make about the piece based on the time period and its genre?

Observations

Author

Describe the author. How does he/she seem? What type of person is he/she?

Describe the author’s attitude towards the topic.

Name the sources from which he/she gathers evidence.

Writing Style and Organization

How does the author develop and organize his/her entire argument?

Where does the passage shift? Line(s): _____-______

Section#1—Describe organization and argument. What is the tone at the end of the first section?

Section #2—Describe organization and argument. What is the tone at the end of this section?

Argument

List one argument the author makes about the topic.


91

“Wind,” William Least Heat-Moon

Multiple Choice Questions Answer the multiple-choice questions using your notes from the three different readings.

1. The author develops the passage primarily through

(A) accumulation of detail

(B) pro-and-con argument

(C) thesis followed by qualification

(D) assertion supported by evidence

(E) analysis of the ideas of others

2. The author is best described as

(A) a curious individual who seeks out diverse information from a variety of sources

(B) a serious scientist who is determined to learn more about the causes of these storms

(C) an excited eyewitness who is too distracted to fear for personal safety

(D) a confused novice who is unable to decide which claims are accurate

(E) an ironic interpreter who comments on the failures and follies of others

3. Compared with that of the rest of the passage, the diction of lines 1-8 (“Climatologists . . .

survived”) is

(A) informal and straightforward

(B) technical and specialized

(C) subjective and impressionistic

(D) speculative and uncertain

(E) understated and euphemistic

4. The statement “although . . . survived” (lines 7-8) is an admission that

(A) details about technical equipment are of interest only to specialists

(B) some tornadoes are so powerful that scientists cannot quantify them precisely

(C) scientists have abandoned the effort to measure the wind speed of tornadoes

(D) predicting the path a tornado will take is extremely difficult

(E) precise measurement of wind speed will aid climatologists in categorizing tornadoes

5. Which of the following is true of the comparisons in lines 11-14 (“they say . . . Philadelphia”)?

(A) They emphasize the unpredictable nature of tornadoes.

(B) They exaggerate the danger of tornadoes in order to make people cautious of them.

(C) They use technical terminology in order to ensure accuracy of description.

(D) They draw on familiar information to particularize an aspect of tornadoes.

(E) They clarify the distinctions between the language of climatologists and that of

weathercasters. © 2013 The College Board. All Rights Reserved.


92

6. The first sentence of the passage (lines 1-14) employs all of the following to convey the power

and variety of tornadoes EXCEPT

(A) abstract generalization

(B) the jargon of climatologists

(C) metaphor

(D) parallel construction

(E) varying degrees of formality

7. The passage implies that unlike hurricanes, tornadoes are not given human names because

(A) there are too many of them

(B) their destruction is not as great as that of hurricanes

(C) they last too short a time

(D) they move too erratically to be plotted

(E) they can appear in any area of the world

8. When the passage moves from the first paragraph to the second, it also moves from

(A) overview to illustration

(B) analysis to argumentation

(C) narration of the past to analysis of the past

(D) assertion to definition

(E) objective presentation to ad hominem argument

9. The phrase “as bald as if a cyclonic wind had taken his scalp” (lines 18-19) does all of the

following EXCEPT

(A) describe the grandfather with an image related to the cyclone

(B) suggest a lighter tone for the paragraph

(C) particularize the first of several sources of information mentioned in the paragraph

(D) suggest the power of the tornado

(E) express concern about the condition of the grandfather

10. In context, the image of being up under Old Nell’s skirt (lines 23-24) is meant to suggest

(A) safety

(B) confusion

(C) domesticity

(D) familiarity

(E) imprisonment



93

11. Which of the following best describes the images in the last sentence of the passage (lines

32-43)?

(A) A disdainful rehearsal of other people’s experiences

(B) A random listing of repulsive or frightening occurrences

(C) A thorough review of absurd legends

(D) A series of increasingly detailed and implausible events

(E) A chronological account of major storms

12. The second paragraph of the passage relies especially on the use of

(A) cautionary advice

(B) colorful anecdotes

(C) self-deprecating humor

(D) extended analysis

(E) terrifying juxtapositions

13. The passage ends on a note of

(A) utter exhaustion

(B) genuine relief

(C) catastrophic destructiveness

(D) ominous warning

(E) light hearted irony



94

“Wind,” by William Least Heat-Moon

Multiple Choice Answers

1. A

2. A

3. B

4. B

5. D

6. A

7. C

8. A

9. E

10. D

11. D

12. B

13. E


95

“Ellen Terry,” Virginia Woolf

Multiple-Choice Exercise Read the following multiple-choice passage. Areas of importance, or the areas that will be

examined by multiple-choice questions, have been highlighted and numbered. For each

numbered area, consider the importance, both explicit and implicit, and create a useful

annotation.

(The passage below consists of excerpts from an essay

published in the 1940s.)

Paragraph #1

It is the fate of actors to leave only picture postcards1

behind them. Every night when the curtain goes down

the beautiful coloured canvas is rubbed out. What

remains is at best only a wavering, insubstantial

(5) phantom2— a verbal life on the lips of the living.

3

Ellen Terry was well aware of it.4 She tried herself,

overcome by the greatness of Irving as Hamlet and

indignant at the caricatures of his detractors, to

describe what she remembered. It was in vain. She

(10) dropped her pen in despair. “Oh God, that I were a

writer!” she cried. “Surely a writer could not string

words together about Henry Irving’s Hamlet and say

nothing, nothing.” 5

It never struck her, humble as she

was, and obsessed by her lack of book learning, that

(15)she was, among other things, a writer. It never occurred

to her when she wrote her autobiography, or scribbled

page after page to Bernard Shaw late at night, dead

tired after a rehearsal, that she was “writing.” The

words in her beautiful rapid hand bubbled off her pen.6

(20) With dashes and notes of exclamation she tried to give

them the very tone and stress of the spoken word. It is

true, she could not build a house with words, one room

opening out of another, and a staircase connecting the

whole. But whatever she took up became in her warm,

(25) sensitive grasp a tool. If it was a rolling-pin, she made

perfect pastry. If it was a carving knife, perfect slices

fell from the leg of mutton. If it were a pen, words

peeled off, some broken, some suspended in mid-air,

but all far more expressive than the tappings of the

(30) professional typewriter.7


Annotations


96

Paragraph #2

With her pen then at odds and ends of time she has

painted a self-portrait. It is not an Academy portrait,

glazed, framed, complete. It is rather a bundle of loose

leaves upon each of which she has dashed off a sketch

(35) for a portrait8

— here a nose, here an arm, here a foot,

and there a mere scribble in the margin. The sketches

done in different moods, from different angles, some-

times contradict each other. . . . 9

Paragraph #3

Which, then, of all these women is the real Ellen

(40) Terry? How are we to put the scattered sketches

together? Is she mother, wife, cook, critic, actress,

or should she have been, after all, a painter? Each part

seems the right part until she throws it aside and plays

another. Something of Ellen Terry it seems overflowed

(45) every part and remained unacted. Shakespeare could

not fit her; not Ibsen; nor Shaw. The stage could not

hold her; nor the nursery. But there is, after all, a

greater dramatist than Shakespeare, Ibsen, or Shaw.

There is Nature. Hers is so vast a stage, and so

(50) innumerable a company of actors, that for the most

part she fobs them off with a tag or two.10

They come

on and they go off without breaking the ranks. But

now and again Nature creates a new part, an original

part. The actors who act that part always defy our

(55)attempts to name them. They will not act the stock

parts—they forget the words, they improvise others

of their own. But when they come on the stage falls

like a pack of cards and the limelights are extinguished.

That was Ellen Terry’s fate—to act a new part.11

And

(60) thus while other actors are remembered because they

were Hamlet, Phèdre, or Cleopatra, Ellen Terry is

remembered because she was Ellen Terry.12


Annotations


97


Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Which of the following statements is best sup-ported by information given in the passage?

(A) Terry never focused on one career; she was skilled at so many things that she did not

excel in any one thing.

(B) Terry was so clever an actress that her portrayal of a role seemed to change every night.

(C) Shaw encouraged Terry to become a play- wright by carefully tutoring her in creating

plots and characters.

(D) Because Terry lacked confidence in certain of her skills, she never fully realized she was a

person of rare talents and gifts.

(E) Because Terry did not have natural talent for either writing or acting, she struggled to

learn her crafts and became great through sheer willpower.

2. The author’s attitude toward Terry can best be described as

(A) superior and condescending

(B) unbiased and dispassionate

(C) sympathetic and admiring

(D) curious and skeptical

(E) conciliatory and forgiving

3. In line 1, “picture postcards” functions as a metaphor for the

(A) published text of a play

(B) audience’s impressions of the actors’ performances

(C) critical reviews of plays

(D) plays in which the actors in the company have previously performed

(E) stage designer’s sketches of sets and scenes

4. The passage implies that the primary enemy of the “beautiful coloured canvas” and the

“wavering, insubstantial phantom” (lines 3 and 4-5) is the

(A) cost of producing plays

(B) whims of critics

(C) passage of time

(D) incredulity of audiences

(E) shortcomings of dramatists



98

5.The phrase “a verbal life on the lips of the living” (line 5) suggests that

(A) performances live only in the memories of those who witness and speak of them

(B) actors do not take the trouble to explain their art to the public

(C) the reviews of critics have a powerful influence on the popularity of a production

(D) dramatists try to write dialogue that imitates ordinary spoken language

(E) audiences respond to the realism of the theater

6. What is the relationship of the second and third sentences (lines2-5)to the first sentence (lines

1-2) ?

(A) They are structurally less complex than the first.

(B) They are expressed in less conditional terms than the first.

(C) They introduce new ideas not mentioned in the first.

(D) They clarify and expand on the first.

(E) They question the generalization made in the first.

7. The pronoun “it” (line 6) refers to which of the following?

(A) “fate” (line 1)

(B) “curtain” (line 2)

(C) “canvas” (line 3)

(D) “phantom” (line 5)

(E) “life” (line 5)

8. The effect of italicizing the words “nothing, nothing”(line13) is to

(A) emphasize Terry’s sense of frustration

(B) indicate a sarcastic tone

(C) suggest the difficulty of writing great parts for actors

(D) link a clear sense of purpose to success in writing

(E) imply that Terry’s weakness in writing is her tendency to exaggerate

9. The words “bubbled off” (line 19) and “peeled off” (line 28), used to describe the way Terry

wrote, emphasize

(A) polish and sophistication

(B) thoughtfulness and application

(C) bluntness and indiscretion

(D) mystery and imagination

(E) ease and spontaneity



99

10. Which of the following stylistic features is used most extensively in lines 25-30?

(A) inversion of normal subject/verb/object order

(B) repetition of sentence structure

(C) periodic sentence structure

(D) sentence fragments for emphasis

(E) use of connotative meanings that add complexity

11. The effect of mentioning an “Academy portrait” (line 32) is to

(A) imply that Terry deserved to have her portrait painted by a great artist

(B) suggest that Terry was adept at self-expression both in writing and in painting

(C) clarify the informal nature of Terry’s self- portrait through contrast

(D) hint that Terry’s self-absorption prevented her from writing about herself dispassionately

(E) blame Terry for her rebellion against the conventions of art forms

12. The “sketches” (line 36) are most probably

(A) responses to reviewers who have criticized Terry’s acting

(B) paintings by Terry of other actors

(C) stage directions from playwrights

(D) self-revelatory remarks

(E) descriptions of characters Terry has portrayed

13. The author suggests that Shakespeare, Shaw, and Ibsen could not “fit” (line 46) Terry chiefly

because

(A) the parts they created did not allow Terry to make use of every aspect of her talents

(B) their dramatic talents were focused on plot rather than on character

(C) Terry was better at conveying certain kinds of characters and emotions than she was at

conveying others

(D) their plays were set in historical periods different from the one in which Terry lived

(E) the speeches they wrote for their female characters were written in accents and dialects

different from Terry’s



100


Multiple-Choice Answers

1. D

2. C

3. B

4. C

5. A

6. D

7. A

8. A

9. E

10. B

11. C

12. D

13. A


101

Three Readings, Two Discussions, One Class Grade

AP Language Multiple Choice Practice This passage and accompanying multiple-choice questions will be put through the “wringer”

three times. Follow the directions below to appropriately complete this assignment.

Step #1—Individual Test Taking

Read and annotate the passage.

Skim the multiple-choice questions.

Rank the multiple-choice questions in terms of difficulty.

Answer the multiple choice questions from easiest to most difficult.

Record your answers on the three columned answer sheet.

Step #2—Small Group Discussion, Assessment, and Decision Making

Discuss the passage as a small group.

Discuss where there was difficulty/struggle in the text.

Your discussion must be at least 5-7 minutes in length.

Small group discussion is meant to improve each member’s understanding of the author,

argument, purpose, etc.

Look up any vocabulary with which the entire group is unfamiliar.

Each individual should improve their annotations based on the small group discussion

Discuss your multiple-choice answers.

Discussion is meant to help every group member understand the multiple choice and

correct answer choices better. Be kind, thoughtful, and thorough.

You must come to a group consensus about the correct answer choice for each question.

Once consensus has been reached for a question, construct a brief rationale for the correct

answer. This is not meant to be incredibly detailed. It is meant to provide the group

talking points/leverage when discussing their answer choices with the entire class.

Each individual should record the group’s answers on the three columned answer sheet.

Step #3—Large Group Discussion and Debate

The entire class will get the same grade based on the final answer choices that they

collectively agree to in discussion.

Each group should record their answer choices on the board/chart paper. These answers

should be written legibly so the entire class can see the answer choices.

For those questions that every group answers the same, those choices will automatically

become the class’s answer choice

For those answer choices where there is dissention between groups, there must be a

classroom discussion and consensus must be reached about the correct answer.

o Discussion should be kind, thoughtful, and thorough. Small group rationales will be

used to aid discussion.

Each individual should record the class’ answers on the three columned answer sheet.


102

George Eliot Unsigned Review in Leader

Multiple-Choice Passage (The passage below is excerpted from an essay written in

nineteenth-century England.)

It has been well said that the highest aim in

education is analogous to the highest aim in

mathematics, namely, to obtain not results but

powers, not particular solutions, but the means by

(5) which endless solutions may be wrought. He is the

most effective educator who aims less at perfecting

specific acquirements than at producing that mental

condition which renders acquirements easy, and leads

to their useful application; who does not seek to make

(10) his pupils moral by enjoining particular courses of

action, but by bringing into activity the feelings and

sympathies that must issue in noble action. On the

same ground it may be said that the most effective

writer is not he who announces a particular discovery,

(15) who convinces men of a particular conclusion, who

demonstrates that this measure is right and that

measure wrong; but he who rouses in others the

activities that must issue in discovery, who awakes

men from their indifference to the right and the

(20)wrong, who nerves their energies to seek for the truth

and live up to it at whatever cost. The influence of

such a writer is dynamic. He does not teach men how

to use sword and musket, but he inspires their souls

with courage and sends a strong will into their

(25) muscles. He does not, perhaps, enrich your stock of

data, but he clears away the film from your eyes that

you may search for data to some purpose. He does

not, perhaps, convince you, but he strikes you,

undeceives you, animates you. You are not directly

(30) fed by his books, but you are braced as by a walk up

to an alpine summit, and yet subdued to calm and

reverence as by the sublime things to be seen from

that summit.

Such a writer is Thomas Carlyle. It is an idle

(35) question to ask whether his books will be read a

century hence: if they were all burnt as the grandest

of Suttees1 on his funeral pile, it would be only like

cutting down an oak after its acorns have sown a

forest. For there is hardly a superior or active mind

(40) of this generation that has not been modified by

Carlyle’s writings; there has hardly been an English

Annotations



103

book written for the last ten or twelve years that

would not have been different if Carlyle had not lived.

The character of his influence is best seen in the fact

(45) that many of the men who have the least agreement

with his opinions are those to whom the reading of

Sartor Resartus was an epoch in the history of their

minds. The extent of his influence may be best seen in

the fact that ideas which were startling novelties when

(50) he first wrote them are now become common-places.

And we think few men will be found to say that this

influence on the whole has not been for good. There

are plenty who question the justice of Carlyle’s

estimates of past men and past times, plenty who

(55) quarrel with the exaggerations of the Latter-Day

Pamphlets, and who are as far as possible from

looking for an amendment of things from a Carlylian

theocracy with the ‘greatest man’, as a Joshua who is

to smite the wicked (and the stupid) till the going

(60) down of the sun.2 But for any large nature, those

points of difference are quite incidental. It is not as a

theorist, but as a great and beautiful human nature,

that Carlyle influences us. You may meet a man

whose wisdom seems unimpeachable, since you find

(65) him entirely in agreement with yourself; but this

oracular man of unexceptionable opinions has a

green eye, a wiry hand, and altogether a Wesen, or

demeanour, that makes the world look blank to you,

and whose unexceptionable opinions become a bore;

(70) while another man who deals in what you cannot but

think ‘dangerous paradoxes’, warms your heart by the

pressure of his hand, and looks out on the world with

so clear and loving an eye, that nature seems to reflect

the light of his glance upon your own feeling. So it is

(75) with Carlyle. When he is saying the very opposite of

what we think, he says it so finely, with so hearty

conviction—he makes the object about which we

differ stand out in such grand relief under the clear

light of his strong and honest intellect—he appeals

(80) so constantly to our sense of the manly and the

truthful—that we are obliged to say ‘Hear! hear!’ to

the writer before we can give the decorous ‘Oh! oh!’

to his opinions.

1 A suttee is a now-obsolete Hindu funeral practice.

2 Carlyle believed that great men, or heroes, shaped history through their

personal actions and divine inspiration. Joshua, a military leader and

successor of Moses, led the Jewish people to the Promised Land.

Annotations



104


Multiple-Choice Questions

1. What is the relationship between the two paragraphs in the passage?

(A) The first paragraph describes strengths of a writer that Carlyle exhibits, and the second

discusses his legacy.

(B) The first paragraph surveys various types of writers, and the second focuses on Carlyle.

(C) The first paragraph describes Carlyle’s critics, and the second depicts his supporters.

(D) The first paragraph considers who influenced Carlyle, and the second lists those he

influenced.

(E) The first paragraph explains Carlyle’s major ideas, and the second evaluates his

predictions.

2. Which of the following best represents the author’s intended audience?

(A) individuals who are fairly well acquainted with Carlyle’s writing

(B) readers who are having trouble understanding Carlyle’s prose

(C) writers who hope to produce books that are like Carlyle’s

(D) instructors looking for different ways to teach Carlyle

(E) scholars seeking information about Carlyle’ s personal life

3. Lines 5-12 (“He is . . . noble action”) contrast

(A) the acquisition of skills and the possession of aptitude

(B) the labor of reasoning and the exhilaration of acting

(C) the dissemination of knowledge and the cultivation of intellectual and moral powers

(D) the traits of practical students and those of creative thinkers

(E) the benefits of learning and the rewards of teaching

4. The author uses the phrase “On the same ground” (lines 12-13) to set up a comparison

between

(A) the aims of mathematics and those of education

(B) conceptually powerful writers and exemplary educators

(C) intellectual challenges faced by writers and those faced by readers

(D) the formulation of solutions and the identification of problems

(E) scientific writing and inspirational writing

5. On the basis of the first paragraph, Thomas Carlyle is best characterized as a writer who is

(A) ambitious, seeking to increase the number of people buying his books

(B) revolutionary, agitating his readers to adopt a radically new worldview

(C) charismatic, enticing his readers to support his views and beliefs

(D) provocative, compelling his readers to reach their own conclusions

(E) masterful, overpowering his readers with a sense of awe and veneration



105

6. The “acorns” (line 38) represent

(A) Carlyle’s young children

(B) Carlyle’s less prominent contemporaries

(C) ideas in Carlyle’s books

(D) books written about Carlyle

(E) those who are critical of Carlyle

7. In lines 47-48, the author refers to “an epoch in the history of their minds” to

(A) illustrate the ways in which other intellectuals disagreed with Carlyle

(B) define the meaning of the title Sartor Resartus

(C) question the continued relevance of Carlyle’s ideas

(D) describe the major impact that Carlyle had on other people

(E) characterize the arduous process of reading Sartor Resartus

8. The author mentions the Latter-Day Pamphlets (lines 55-56) primarily to

(A) provide an example of what is indisputably “good” (line 52)

(B) identify the book that discusses “past men and past times” (line 54)

(C) acknowledge some of the concerns held by the “plenty” (line 54)

(D) justify Carlyle’s desire for “an amendment of things” (line 57)

(E) explain Carlyle’s inspiration for the theory of the “‘greatest man’” (line 58)

9. In context, it can be inferred that the author’s attitude toward “a Carlylian theocracy” (lines

57- 58) is

(A) disdainful

(B) skeptical

(C) inquisitive

(D) supportive

(E) reverential

10. Which rhetorical strategy does the author adopt in lines 44-63 (“The character . . . influences

us”)?

(A) She goes on the offensive, berating opponents of Carlyle for their absence of wisdom,

judgment, and foresight.

(B) She acknowledges but discredits other arguments, accusing Carlyle’s critics of

misunderstanding the originality of Carlyle’s ideas.

(C) She claims that most people do not recognize Carlyle’s genius, suggesting that only a

discerning few are capable of doing so.

(D) She cites facts to counter opposition to Carlyle’s eminence, claiming that all of Carlyle’s

judgments are unassailable.

(E) She gives examples of Carlyle’s far-reaching influence, noting that even criticism of

Carlyle implies praise.



106

11. What purpose do lines 63-74 (“You may . . . own feeling”) serve?

(A) They contrast the appeal of a writer who merely confirms his readers’ views with that of

a writer who boldly challenges them.

(B) They develop an analogy between the kinds of individuals people are attracted to and the

kinds of writing they prefer.

(C) They challenge the idea that writers modify their ideas to appeal to a wide range of

readers.

(D) They examine whether relationships based on shared ideas and interests are rewarding to

both parties.

(E) They provide examples from various writers in which the appearance of good and evil is

deceptive.

12. In lines 75-83 (“When he . . . his opinions”), the author develops her rhetorical purpose by

(A) contrasting “he” and “we” to set Carlyle apart and show how he is critical of everyone

else

(B) inserting dashes to highlight Carlyle’ s most influential ideas and opinions

(C) employing dramatically urgent adverbs to create a surprising conclusion for the reader

(D) delaying the conclusion of the independent clause to build up the reader’s sense of

anticipation

(E) utilizing the parallel “Hear! hear!” and “Oh! oh!” to imitate a chorus of approval for

Carlyle



107

Multiple-Choice Answer Sheet Record your answers on this sheet for each of the three times you work with the multiple-choice.

Question

#

Individual

Answers

Group

Answers*

Entire Class

Answers

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

*Complete the brief rationale assignment for each question when you are working in small

groups. You will need to be able to defend your small group answer choices to the class.


108

Multiple Choice Rationales Construct a series of talking points that can be used, if necessary, for the whole class discussion.

Question # Rationale

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.


109


Multiple-Choice Answers Question nine has been discarded because of difficulty based on wording/structure. You

may choose to have students skip this question when using this multiple-choice practice

in class.

1. A

2. A

3. C

4. B

5. D

6. C

7. D

8. C

9. —

10. E

11. A

12. D


110

Student-Created AP Multiple Choice Use the provided passage to create seven useful multiple-choice questions.

Passage Deconstruction

Read the passage and annotate.

o Treat your first reading the same as you would any other reading for AP

Language.

Read the passage a second time and identify areas of the text that would be appropriate

for a multiple-choice question.

Multiple-Choice Reminders

There are no plot summary questions.

o AP Language Multiple Choice is not meant to test if you have read the passage. It

is meant to test if you have read the passage closely and carefully.

You must have five answer choices for each question.

o Each answer choice must be a viable choice. While there might an answer choice

that is clearly wrong, answer choices should not be silly/foolish.

o Remember that some answer choices are often partially correct.

o Remember that the correct answer choice is the most correct of the choices.

Be sure that your multiple-choice questions and answer choices are appropriate and

accurate.

o Be careful when you are identifying authorial style, technique, purpose, and

argument that you are on the right track. Seek help if you are uncertain.

Assignment Requirements

Seven Multiple Choice Questions

Five Answer Choices per Multiple-Choice Question

Typed and Appropriately Organized

Required Multiple-Choice Questions

Rhetoric

Argument

Purpose

Inference—Words, Phrases Lines

Inference—Paragraphs/Sections

Inference—Entire Passage

Organization/Grammar

*See the Types of AP Language Multiple-Choice Resource for example question stems. You may

also use returned multiple-choice practice for question formatting.


111

AP Language and Composition Types of Questions Below are broad categories of AP Language and Composition multiple-choice questions and

question stems.

1. Rhetoric

Questions about rhetoric ask that students examine devices and style.

What dominant technique/rhetorical strategy is the speaker using in lines…

All of the following may be found in the passage EXCEPT

The rhetorical strategy employed in lines…is best described as….

The style of the passage is best determined as…

2. Argument & Purpose

Questions about argument and purpose require a thorough examination of the

passage. Examine the first and last sentence of each paragraph and the first and last

paragraph of the passage.

The speaker asserts that…

The most apparent goal is…

The most probable reason…

The first paragraph of the passage serves to…

The point of the speaker’s statement is…

The speaker’s primary purpose in the passage is…

The speaker accomplishes all of the following EXCEPT

3. Inference

Inference questions ask students to define words, read for main ideas and understand

tone.

Words, Phrases, Lines

Remember to read around the line numbers in order to establish context.

In context line 28 most nearly means…

In line 22, the word “other” most probably refers to…

Paragraphs/Sections

These questions require close reading over the course of a section.

The metaphor developed in the second paragraph suggests primarily that…

The speaker emphasizes in lines 20-30 that…

Which of the following ideas can be inferred from…


112

Entire Passage

These questions can ask about tone, mood, attitude or how the passage is

characterized.

The tone of the passage is best described as…

The atmosphere established in the passage is mainly one of…

The author’s attitude towards the topic is…

The passage as a whole is best characterized as…

4. Organization/Grammar

Questions of this sort examine the patterns, order and grammar in the passage.

The phrase_______ signals a shift from______to______....

The phrase_____refers to which of the following…


113

“On Compassion,” Barbara Ascher

Multiple Choice Passage Creation Create a series of seven multiple-choice questions to accompany this passage. Follow the

directions provided on the assignment sheet.

The man’s grin is less the result of circumstance

than dreams or madness. His buttonless shirt, with

one sleeve missing, hangs outside the waist of his

baggy trousers. Carefully plaited dreadlocks bespeak

(5) a better time, long ago. As he crosses Manhattan’s

Seventy-Ninth Street, his gait is the shuffle of the

forgotten ones held in place by gravity rather than

plans. On the corner of Madison Avenue, he stops

before a blond baby in an Aprica stroller. The baby’s

10)mother waits for the light to change and her hands close

tighter on the stroller’s handle as she sees the man

approach.

The others on the corner, five men and women waiting

for the crosstown bus, look away. They daydream a bit

(15) and gaze into the weak rays of November light. A man

with a briefcase lifts and lowers the shiny toes of his right

shoe, watching the light reflect, trying to catch and balance

it, as if he could hold and make it his, to ease the heavy

gray of coming January, February, March. The winter

(20) months that will send snow around the feet, calves,

and knees of the grinning man as he heads for the shelter of

Grand Central or Pennsylvania Station.

But for now, in this last gasp of autumn warmth, he is

still. His eyes fix on the baby. The mother removes her

(25) purse from her shoulder and rummages through its

contents: lipstick, a lace handkerchief, an address book.

She finds what she’s looking for and passes a folded dollar

over her child’s head to the man who stands and stares even

though the light has changed and traffic navigates around

(30) his hips.

His hands continue to angle at his sides. He does not

know his part. He does not know that acceptance of the gift

and gratitude are what makes this transaction complete.

The baby, weary of the unwavering stare, pulls its blanket

(35) over its head. The man does not look away. Like a

bridegroom waiting at the altar, his eyes pierce the white

veil.

The mother grows impatient and pushes the stroller

before her, bearing the dollar like a cross. Finally, a black

(40) hand rises and closes around green.

Was it fear or compassion that motivated the gift?

Annotations


114

Up the avenue, at Ninety-First Street, there is a small

French bread shop where you can sit and eat a buttery,

overpriced croissant and wash it down with rich

(45)cappuccino. Twice when I have stopped here to stave

hunger or stay the cold, twice as I have sat and read and

felt the warm rush of hot coffee and milk, an old man has

wandered in and stood inside the entrance. He wears a

stained blanket pulled up to his chin, and a woolen hood

(50) pulled down to his gray, bushy eyebrows. As he

stands, the scent of stale cigarettes and urine fills the

small, overheated room.

The owner of the shop, a moody French woman,

emerges from the kitchen with steaming coffee in a

(55)Styrofoam cup, and a small paper bag of . . . of what?

Yesterday’s bread? Today’s croissant? He accepts the

offering as silently as he came, and is gone.

Twice I have witnessed this, and twice I have

wondered, what compels this woman to feed this man?

(60)Pity? Care? Compassion? Or does she simply want to

rid her shop of his troublesome presence? If expulsion

were her motivation she would not reward his arrival with

gifts of food. Most proprietors do not. They chase the

homeless from their midst with expletives and threats.

(65) As winter approaches, the mayor of New York City

is moving the homeless off the streets and into Bellevue

Hospital. The New York Civil Liberties Union is

watchful. They question whether the rights of these

people who live in our parks and doorways are being

(70) violated by involuntary hospitalization.

I think the mayor’s notation is humane, but I fear it is

something else as well. Raw humanity offends our

sensibilities. We want to protect ourselves from an

awareness of rags with voices that make no sense and

(75) scream forth in inarticulate rage. We do not wish to

be reminded of the tentative state of our own well-being

and sanity. And so, the troublesome presence is removed

from the awareness of the electorate.

Like other cities, there is much about Manhattan now

(80) that resembles Dickensian London. Ladies in high-

heeled shoes pick their way through poverty and

madness. You hear more cocktail party complaint than

usual, “I just can’t take New York anymore.” Our citizens

dream of the open spaces of Wyoming, the manicured

(85) exclusivity of Hobe Sound.

And yet, it may be that these are the conditions that

finally give birth to empathy, the mother of compassion.

Annotations


115

We cannot deny the existence of the helpless as their

presence grows. It is impossible to insulate ourselves

(90)against what is at our very doorstep. I don’t believe that

one is born compassionate. Compassion is not a character

trait like a sunny disposition. It must be learned, and it is

learned by having adversity at our windows, coming

through the gates of our yards, the walls of our towns,

(95) adversity that becomes so familiar that we begin to

identify and empathize with it.

For the ancient Greeks, drama taught and reinforced

compassion within a society. The object of Greek tragedy

was to inspire empathy in the audience so that the common

(100) response to the hero’s fall was: “There, but for the

grace of God, go I.” Could it be that this was the response

of the mother who offered the dollar, the French woman

who gave the food? Could it be that the homeless, like

those ancients, are reminding us of our common humanity?

(105) Of course, there is a difference. This play doesn’t

end—and the players can’t go home.

from The Habit of Loving, by Barbara Lazear Ascher. New York: Random House, 1989. Permission Pending.

Annotations


116

Full Length Multiple-Choice Exam

Reminders Review these reminders to prepare for a full-length multiple-choice exam.

Time Management

Examine all of the passages and questions in the exam booklet. Choose the passage you

understand the best.

o Then, after you’ve completed the passage and questions, choose the next passage

you understand the best. This means you will not go out in numerical order.

o Save the most difficult passage for last.

Monitor your time for each passage.

o If necessary, write a stop/start time at the top of each multiple-choice passage to

hold yourself accountable.

o Consider that with four passages you should spend 15 minutes per passage/set of

questions.

Monitor your time for multiple-choice questions.

o Be sure that you do not spend more than a minute trying to determine the answer

for a multiple-choice question.

Approaching the Passage

For each passage, read ONLY the questions stems FIRST in order to focus how you

approach the passage.

Read the passage and mark for:

o Main Ideas

o Shifts in Tone, Argument or Topic

o Rhetorical Devices and Style

Answering the Questions

Cross out wrong answers immediately.

Do not linger too long over any one question.

o Guess if necessary.

If Time Runs Out

With a minute or two remaining, pick a letter and bubble in any remaining answers. This

step is only to be used if you run out of time.

o The goal is to answer all of the questions thoughtfully but do not leave an answer

blank.


117

RA Everyday!

Finding Time to Scaffold Student Rhetorical Analysis and Argumentation

Close Reading and Responding

Students often argue that they either can’t find anything to annotate or don’t know what to

annotate in close reading passages. Their struggle is twofold. They struggle to know what to

annotate and they struggle to unlock the meaning and purpose in their annotations.

Daily close reading exercises are necessary in order to build those student skills but often

classroom teachers feel pressed for time. Deconstructing the first paragraph of the prologue or a

chapter from a long form nonfiction work provides students with much needed practice. Since

the close reading passages are brief, they keep students from getting lost or overwhelmed. They

also help to develop student confidence and scaffold close reading and critical thinking skills for

larger close reading passages

These brief exercises are meant to teach students that no matter the length of the passage, there is

always something of importance to which they should pay attention. These types of exercises

also provide students the “what” and “why” of close reading. Narrowing student focus and

identifying significant language provides ample scaffolding for student writing. Exercises of this

nature teach students how to eventually find those “rhetorical moves” on their own and, more

importantly, how to deconstruct that rhetoric for meaning and purpose.

Implementation and Time Management

Over the course of a week and in this short form, students can engage in several brief guided

close-reading assignments. In the models provided, students would complete the first page of the

assignment during the first ten minutes or last ten minutes of class.

The second page of each model assignment, a writing response with possible revision extensions,

could be used for the following:

Students complete two-three close reading exercises over the course of a week. On the

final day of the week, students choose one of the close reading passages for which they

will construct the accompanying well-developed paragraph.

o Teachers only grade student observations/writing from the passage they choose.

With a partner, students examine the passage deconstruction exercises they have

completed over the week. Together, they choose the passage where their joint

observations are the best and they construct the accompanying well-developed paragraph.

These exercises can also be used for longer assignments. Since all of the sample passages

showcase the opening paragraph of a nonfiction text, consider adding the three to five paragraphs

that follow the passage for a full-length rhetorical analysis. Students can then use this exercise as

a prewrite/warm-up.


118

Close Reading Exercise #1

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand Read and annotate the passage. Answer the accompanying questions.

Passage

In the predawn darkness of August 26, 1929, in the back bedroom of a small house in

Torrance, California, a twelve-year-old boy sat up in bed, listening. There was a sound coming

from outside, growing ever louder. It was a huge, heavy rush, suggesting immensity, a great

parting of air. It was coming from directly above the house. The boy swung his legs off his bed,

raced down the stairs, slapped open the back door, and loped onto the grass. The yard was

otherworldly, smothered in unnatural darkness, shivering with sound. The boy stood on the lawn

beside his older brother, head thrown back, spellbound.

1. The first sentence consists of four clauses. They are numbered below.

Sentence: In the predawn darkness of August 26, 1929,1 in the back bedroom of a small

house in Torrance, California, 2

a twelve-year-old boy sat up in bed,3 listening.

4

a). How is “predawn darkness” different from early evening darkness or middle of the

night darkness?

b). What importance is there in describing the house as “small” and the boy’s bedroom as

in the “back” of the house?

c). Why might it be important to identify the boy’s age? Why is twelve a significant age?

d). What type of emphasis does Hillenbrand create by separating the word “listening”

from the rest of the sentence?

2. Hillenbrand makes uses of a series of verbs to describe the boy’s actions. He “swung,”

“raced,” “slapped,” and “loped” from his bedroom to the backyard. What do these verbs tell

you about the boy’s character?

from Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand. New York: Random House, 2010. Fair Use.


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Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand Task: Examine your responses to the close reading questions that accompany the passage.

Construct a written response that makes use of those observations.

Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze the rhetorical strategies Hillenbrand uses to

characterize the house and the boy.

Writing Revision: Your topic sentence or claim should appear at the beginning of the

paragraph. Revise it so that it includes better vocabulary and a stronger argument.


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Five Days at Memorial, Sheri Fink Read and annotate the passage. Answer the accompanying questions.

Passage

At last through the broken windows, the pulse of helicopter rotors and airboat propellers set

the summer morning air throbbing with the promise of rescue. Floodwaters unleashed by

Hurricane Katrina had marooned hundreds of people at the hospital, where they had now spent

four days. Doctors and nurses milled in the foul-smelling second-floor lobby. Since the storm,

they had barely slept, surviving on catnaps, bottled water, and rumors. Before them lay a dozen

or so mostly elderly patients on soiled, sweat-soaked stretchers.

1. What does the phrase “at last” suggest about the state of affairs at the hospital?

2. Fink describes those marooned at the hospital as surviving on “catnaps, bottled water, and

rumors.” Explain what the items in the list convey about the mental and physical state of the

doctors and nurses.

3. The final sentence of the paragraph is a fragment.

Sentence: Before them lay a dozen or so mostly elderly patients on soiled, sweat-soaked

stretchers.

a). Why might Fink choose to save the description of hospital patients, the reason the

hospital exists, for the end of the paragraph and then provide only a fragmentary

description?

b). Instead of describing the “elderly patients,” Fink describes the stretchers. Explain the

effect of Fink’s description and why she chooses to describe objects instead of

people.

from Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. New York: Crown, 2013. Fair Use.


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Five Days at Memorial, Sheri Fink

Task: Examine your responses to the close reading questions that accompany the passage.


Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Fink’s language contributes to her

argument about hospital, its employees, and its patients.

Writing Revision: Examine how you have incorporated evidence in your writing. Rewrite your

lease effective evidence sentence so that it more concisely introduces the evidence and cites a

brief reference to the text.


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The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls

Passage

I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the

window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was just after dark. A blustery March

wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks

with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading.

1. In the first sentence, Jeanette Walls omits using the pronoun “my” when describing her

mother. She also chooses to capitalize “Mom” when she doesn’t need to do so. What do these

two rhetorical choices tell you about how Walls’ views her mother?

2. The phrase “wondering if I had overdressed for the evening” is completely at odds with the

phrase “saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.” What is the effect of this contrast and why

does Walls choose to juxtapose her thoughts about eveningwear against her mother’s

dumpster diving?

3. Examine the bolded language in the sentence below.

Sentence: A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and

people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up.

a). What does this language tell you about the setting of Walls’ story?

b). Explain why the setting is of such importance when introducing Walls’ mother who is

“rooting around in a Dumpster.”

from The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls. New York: Scribner, 2005. Fair use.


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The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls



Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how the rhetorical strategies employed by

Walls characterize this unexpected sighting of her mother.

Writing Revision: Highlight your first piece of evidence and the commentary that follows it.

Identify what your analysis is lacking and revise/rewrite your commentary.


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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan

Passage

The Last Indian of Seattle lived in a shack down among the greased piers and coal bunkers of

the new city, on what was then called Wet Street, her hovel in the grip of Puget Sound, off plumb

in a rise above the tidal flats. The cabin was two rooms, cloaked in a chipped jacket of

clapboards, damp inside. Shantytown was the unofficial name for this part of the city, and if you

wanted to dump a bucket of cooking oil or a rusted stove or a body, this was the place to do it. It

smelled of viscera, sewage and raw industry, and only when a strong breeze huffed in from the

Pacific did people onshore get a brief, briny reprieve from the residual odors of their labor.

1. The first sentence provides a stark contrast between the “Last Indian of Seattle” and the place

where she actually lives.

a). Consider, by itself, the phrase “the last Indian of Seattle.” Where does one expect the

last representative of any culture to exist and how do we expect they should be

treated?

b). Egan uses the words/phrases “greased,” “coal bunkers,” and “hovel” to describe her

home. Explain how this language contrasts with the phrase “the Last Indian of

Seattle.”

2. Examine Egan’s language in the sentence below.

Sentence: Shantytown was the unofficial name for this part of the city, and if you wanted to

dump a bucket of cooking oil or a rusted stove or a body, this was the place to

do it.

a). Look at the bolded language in Egan’s list. What types of objects get “dumped” in

shantytown?

b). What does the phrase, “this was the place to do it,” suggest about Seattle’s

shantytown?

from Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan. New York: Mariner Books, 2012. Fair Use.


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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan



Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Egan’s language allows him to make an

argument about the treatment of Seattle’s last Indian.

Writing Revision: Examine the final sentence of your paragraph. Determine what you have

inadvertently omitted. Revise. Add another sentence that extends your final thought.


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Muck City, Bryan Mealer

Passage

One of the greatest high school football programs in America, one that has supplied the NFL

with an average of one prospect per year, does not have a booster club. There is no team bus or

multimillion-dollar stadium in which they play. There are no parents who volunteer their time for

raffle drawings and car washes, or to decorate the windows of Main Street on game days. There

are no steak nights or bumper stickers, and no water tower or welcome sign along the highway

that boasts of their achievements.

1. Mealer sets up a contrast in his first sentence.

a). Examine the phrases below. Then, explain how an athletic program described in this way

should be treated.

“one of the greatest high school football programs”

“has supplied the NFL with an average of one prospect per year”

b). Why does Mealer choose to contrast the descriptions above with “does not have a booster

club?” What argument is he making?

2. What does Mealer’s repetition of the words “there is no” or “there are no” have on his

description of this football team? What type of people could survive this type of team?

3. Mealer’s list of what this football team lacks moves from “multimillion-dollar stadium” to

“steak nights” to “welcome sign.” What does his list suggest?

from Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town by Bryan Mealer. New York: Three Rivers Press. Fair Use.


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Muck City, Bryan Mealer



Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Mealer uses rhetorical strategies to

construct an argument about this football team.

Writing Revision: Your topic sentence or claim should appear at the beginning of the

paragraph. Revise it so that it includes better vocabulary and a stronger argument.


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The Emerald Mile, Kevin Fedarko Passage

On any given evening in summer, but most notably in late June, there comes a moment just

after the sun has disappeared behind the rimrock1, and just before the darkness has tumbled down

the walls, when the bottom of the Grand Canyon gives itself over to a moment of muted grace

that feels something like an act of atonement for the sins of the world. This is the fleeting

interregnum1 between the blast-furnace heat of the day and the star-draped immensity of the

night, and when it arrives, the bedrock bathes in a special kind of light, the pink-and-orange

blush of a freshly opened nectarine. 1sharp rock wall at the upper edge of the Grand Canyon

2a lapse or pause

1. The first sentence consists of five clauses. The first four clauses work together to create a

sense of time and place. Describe what each clause adds and explain why it is important to

separate these ideas with commas.

On any given evening in summer

but most notably in late June

there comes a moment just after the sun has disappeared behind the rimrock

and just before the darkness has tumbled down the walls

2. Fedarko creates contrast by describing the Grand Canyon during the day as similar to “blast-

furnace heat” and in the evening as a “star-draped immensity.”

a). What is the difference between heat and “blast-furnace heat?”

b). What is the difference between full of starlight and “star-draped immensity?”

c). What is Fedarko arguing about the Grand Canyon?

from The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by

Kevin Fedarko. New York: Scribner, 2013. Fair Use.


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The Emerald Mile, Kevin Fedarko



Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Fedarko’s description of the Grand

Canyon supports his argument about its magnificence.

Writing Revision: Examine how you have incorporated evidence in your writing. Rewrite your

lease effective evidence sentence so that it more concisely introduces the evidence and cites a

brief reference to the text.


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Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, Dan Fagin Passage

The towering fact of Michael Gillick’s life was that he had cancer. He had always had cancer.

When he was three months old, Michael was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a fast-spreading

cancer of the nervous system. By that time, the disease was already so far advanced that it was

apparent that he had been afflicted even while still inside his mother’s womb. The doctors had

told Linda and Raymond (Rusty) Gillick that Michael had only a fifty-fifty chance of reaching

his first birthday. They missed their guess by decades, but survival came at a terrible price.

Tumors cost Michael the full use of his left eye and ear, ruined his balance, and shifted the

location of his internal organs. Steroid drugs stunted his growth and bloated his face, while

chemotherapy weakened his heart and lungs, destroyed the lining of his stomach, and dissolved

his bones to the point that walking was painful. When he was younger, Michael’s body was so

sensitive that he would scream if anyone so much as touched him. Now, he mainly just felt

exhausted, breathless, and nauseated—and that was on a pretty good day.

1. The first two sentences of the paragraph work together to tell an awful truth: Michael Gillick

has cancer.

a). What is the effect of the phrase “towering fact” when describing Gillick’s cancer?

b). The second sentence is simple and straightforward. What is the effect of the using the

phrase “had always had” to describe the Gillick’s cancer?

2. Fagin describes Michael Gillick’s life as coming at a terrible price. Examine the bolded verbs

in the sentence below. Describe how they develop Fain’s argument.

Sentence: Steroid drugs stunted his growth and bloated his face, while chemotherapy

weakened his heart and lungs, destroyed the lining of his stomach, and dissolved his bones

to the point that walking was painful

3. Examine the last sentence of the paragraph.

a). Michael Gillick’s existence is described as “exhausted, breathless, and nauseated.” What

does this simple list tell you about his everyday life?

b). Explain why Fagin choose to use a dash in the final sentence to say, “—that was on a

pretty good day.” Why not begin the sentence with that phrase? from Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin. New York: Bantam Books, 2013. Fair Use.


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Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, Dan Fagin



Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Fagin uses rhetorical strategies to

characterize the extreme nature of Gillick’s cancer.

Writing Revision: Highlight your first piece of evidence and the commentary that follows it.

Identify what your analysis is lacking and revise/rewrite your commentary


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Close Reading Exercise #8 Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo

Passage

Let it Keep, the moment when Officer Fish Lips met Abdul in the police station. Rewind, see

Abdul running backward, away from the station and the airport, toward home. See the flames

engulfing a disabled woman in a pink-flowered tunic shrink to nothing but a matchbook on the

floor. See Fatima minutes earlier, dancing on crutches to a raucous love song, her delicate

features unscathed. Keep rewinding, back seven more months, and stop at an ordinary day in

January 2008. It was about as hopeful a season as there had ever been in the years since a bitty

slum popped up in the biggest city of a country that holds one-third of the planet’s poor. A

country dizzy now with development and circulating money.

1. Katherine Boo briefly flashes forward in her description of Abdul and the police station and

then backtracks seven months to 2008 when she will begin her story.

a). Boo tells her reader to “let it keep” when describing Abdul’s encounter at the police

station. What is the effect of giving the reader valuable information and then asking them

to wait?

b). Boo asks her reader to “rewind” and “keep rewinding.” What does this language allow her

to do as an author?

2. As Boo “rewinds” she makes use of the word “see” to describe the most important events over

the past seven months. Why does she choose the word “see?”

3. The last two sentences work together to discuss the setting, a slum in India.

a). Boo describes the slum as “bitty” in contrast to the “biggest” city in a country that holds an

enormous amount, “one third,” of those in poverty globally. Compared to those “big”

descriptions, why discuss a “bitty slum?”

b). The last sentence of the paragraph is a fragment. Examine the language. How does her

message become more meaningful in fragment form?

from Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. New York: Random House, 2012. Fair Use.


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Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo Task: Examine your responses to the close reading questions that accompany the passage.


Prompt: In a well-developed paragraph, analyze how Boo makes use of rhetorical strategies to

develop her setting.

Writing Revision: Examine the final sentence of your paragraph. Determine what you have

inadvertently omitted. Revise. Add another sentence that extends your final thought.


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Rhetorical Analysis Everyday: Teacher Training Activity It is important to have a cache of passages and close reading exercises on the ready for classroom

use. While you have been provided with eight models, a classroom teacher would need

approximately fifteen to fill a quarter and thirty to fill a semester.

Below are fifteen paragraphs from fifteen different works. With a partner, construct a close

reading exercise similar to those modeled in the training materials. The goal of this exercise is to

provide the entire training group with a wider range of quick close reading lessons so that they

can continue to implement them over the course of the school year.

Step #1—Creation and Construction

Read, annotate, and discuss the passage you have been assigned. Use the checklist below to

organize your work. Type your exercises so that they can readily be exchanged with your

colleagues. Use the file-labeling example below for ease of access.

File Labeling: Book Title (before the colon), dash, RA Everyday

Example: The Emerald Mile-RA Everyday

RA Everyday Day Exercise Checklist

Vocabulary Definitions—if necessary

Close Reading Questions

Provides Detail and Scaffolding for Student Focus

Focuses on Two Different Aspects of the Paragraph

Writing Task

Focuses on Author’s Purpose and Argument

Revision Task

Focuses on Revising a Component of Student Writing

Step #2—Peer Editing

Once you have constructed your student exercise, find another small group and exchange your

exercises. Each group should “work” the lesson as though they were students. The goal is to

identify questions that need revision and/or require more scaffolding.

Step #3—Revision

Once you have received feedback from your colleagues, reread your lesson and revise for clarity

and ease of implementation.

Further Considerations

Consider how you might use this passage as a springboard for another assignment in your

classroom. Ask yourself the following:

How might this passage and assignment partner with a preexisting assignment?

How might this passage/assignment introduce a unit, concept, or skill that you already

planning to teach?


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Teacher Training Exercise

Nonfiction Passages Each group will be assigned one passage.

Passage #1

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, Sidddhartha Mukherjee

In a damp fourteen-by-twenty-foot laboratory in Boston on a December morning in 1947, a

man named Sidney Farber waited impatiently for the arrival of a parcel from New York. The

“laboratory” was little more than a chemist’s closet, a poorly ventilated room buried in a half

basement of the Children’s Hospital, almost thrust into its back alley. A few hundred feet away,

the hospital’s medical wards were slowly thrumming to work. Children in white smocks moved

restlessly on small wrought-iron cots. Doctors and nurses shuttled busily between the rooms,

checking charts, writing orders, and dispensing medicines. But Farber’s lab was listless and

empty, a bare warren of chemicals and glass jars connected to the main hospital through a series

of icy corridors. The sharp stench of embalming formalin wafted through the air. There were no

patients in the rooms here, just the bodies and tissues of patients brought down through the

tunnels for autopsies and examinations. Farber was a pathologist. His job involved dissecting

specimens, performing autopsies, identifying cells, and diagnosing diseases, but never treating

patients.

Passage #2

Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison, Nell Bernstein

Curtis had mixed feelings when he learned he was headed for the California Youth Authority:

“terrified and petrified.” A sprawling system of violent and poorly managed state institutions, the

Youth Authority was home to California’s most serious Juvenile offenders and, at the time, held

wards as old as twenty-five. Curtis was ten years old.

Passage #3

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, Carlos Eire

The world had changed while I slept, and much to my surprise, no one had consulted me.

That’s how it would always be from that day forward. Of course, that’s the way it had been all

along. I just didn’t know it until that morning. Surprise upon surprise: some good, some evil,

most somewhere in between. And always without my consent.

Passage #4

Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, Kevin Boyle

The migrants filled the train stations of the South every day in the summer of 1925, waiting

on ramshackle wooden platforms of crossroads towns such as Opelousas, Louisiana, and

Andalusia, Alabama, and in cantilevered cavers such as Atlanta’s Union Station. When the

northbound trains pulled in, hissing and steaming, the travelers picked up cardboard suitcases

bought at five-and-dimes or battered trunks carried since freedom came. Summoning up their

courage, they strode past the Pullman porters—race men like themselves—making their way

down the platforms to the grimy Jim Crow cars, settling into their seats for long rides north.


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Passage #5

The Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations on Landscape, Art, and Spirit, Ellen Meloy

Winter on the Colorado Plateau has not been arduous, only a thin cold without storms, a lucid

map of stillness. Caught in the abrupt instant of its rising, our faces take the tangerine sun, our

backs dissolve to silhouette in the brilliant dazzle of its incandescent beam. The nights come less

as a smooth pause than as a steep enduring purity of eye-blind dark. The mesas creak and strain

the frigid air, audible only if I lay my ear to them. The colors in their flanks—terra cotta, blood-

red, salmon, vermilion—bear the temperament of iron.

Passage #6

To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care, Cris Beam

It was an unusually warm October in Brooklyn; the men had switched their puffy coats for

crisp white tank tops, and the young mothers pried back the plastic casings on their strollers. All

two thousand people from the Roosevelt housing projects seemed to be tumbling outdoors,

leaning on cars or gathering at the bodegas, slanting their faces toward the sun to soak in the last

bits of warmth before winter. You couldn’t tell on a clear morning like this, that the Roosevelt

Houses still tipped the scales in the 81st Precinct with their homicide rates, that by nightfall the

bodegas would fill with toothless addicts busying loosies for a quarter. A bright morning like this

could make anybody grateful.

Passage #7

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Michael Moss

John Harvey Kellogg had one thing in mind when he created his sprawling health complex on

the prairie of Michigan in the late 18002. He wanted to cure people of what one observer had

called “Americanitis”—or the bloated, gaseous stomachache caused by the ailment otherwise

known as dyspepsia. The whole country seemed to be suffering from it, thanks in large part to

what they were eating for breakfast. Nineteenth-century Americans typically started their

mornings with sausages, beefsteaks, bacon, and fried ham, to which as the day progressed, they

added salt pork and whiskey. Grease, in effect, had become the national condiment.

Passage #8

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Pollan

If you spent any time at all in a supermarket in the 1980s, you might have noticed something

peculiar going on. The food was gradually disappearing from the shelves. Not literally

vanishing—I’m not talking about Soviet-style shortages. No, the shelves and refrigerated cases

still groaned with packages and boxes and bags of various edibles, more of them landing every

year in fact, but a great many of the traditional supermarket foods were steadily being replaced

by “nutrients,” which are not the same thing. Where once the familiar names of recognizable

comestibles—things like eggs or breakfast cereals or snack foods—claimed pride of place on the

brightly colored packages crowding the aisles, now new, scientific-sounding terms like

“cholesterol” and “fiber” and “saturated fat” began rising to large-type prominence. More

important than mere foods, the presence or absence of these invisible substances was now

generally believed to confer health benefits on their eaters. The implicit message was that foods,

by comparison, were coarse, old-fashioned, and decidedly unscientific things—who could say

what was in them really?


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Passage #9

The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature, David George Haskell

The New Year starts with a thaw, and the fat, wet smell of the woods fills my nose.

Moisture has plumped the mat of fallen leaves that covers the forest floor, and the air is suffused

with succulent leafy aromas. I leave the foot trail that winds down the forest slope and scramble

around a house-sized piece of mossy, eroded rock. Across a shallow boulder, cresting out of the

leaf litter like a small whale. This block of sandstone defines one edge of the mandala.

Passage #10

Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People

Looking at Animals in America, Jon Mooallem During the Cold War, a joint U.S.-Canadian military installation was built outside the tiny

northern town of Churchill, Manitoba, at the western edge of Hudson Bay. Those stationed at

Fort Churchill had several jobs to do, like be ready to repulse the Soviets if they invaded over the

North Pole and figure out how to lob nuclear warheads at Moscow through the Aurora Borealis,

which was proving, mysteriously, to muck up the guidance systems on their rockets. A lot of the

soldiers’ time was also spent dealing with a nuisance: hundreds of polar bears that ambled across

the tundra there every fall.

Passage #11

The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, Luis Alberto Urrea

Five men stumbled out of the mountain pass so sunstruck they didn’t know their own names,

couldn’t remember where they’d come from, had forgotten how long they’d been lost. One of

them wandered back up a peak. One of them was barefoot. They were burned nearly black, their

lips huge and cracking, what paltry drool still available to them spuming from their mouths in

salty foam as they walked. Their eyes were cloudy with dust, almost too dry to blink up a tear.

Their hair was hard and stiffened by old sweat, standing in crowns from their scalps, old sweat

because their bodies were no longer sweating. They were drunk from having their brains baked

in the pan, they were seeing God and devils, and they were dizzy from drinking their own urine,

the poisons clogging their systems.

Passage #12

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America,

Erik Larson

How easy it was to disappear:

A thousand trains a day entered or left Chicago. Many of these trains brought single young

women who had never even seen a city but no hope to make one of the biggest and toughest their

home. Jane Addams, the urban reformer who founded Chicago’s Hull House, wrote, “Never

before in civilization have such numbers of young girls been suddenly released from the

protection of the home and permitted to walk unattended upon the city streets and to work under

alien roofs.” The women sought work as typewriters, stenographers of seamstresses, and

weavers. The men who hired them were for the most part moral citizens intent on efficiency and

profit. But not always. On March 30, 1890, an officer of the First National Bank placed a

warning in the help-wanted section of the Chicago Tribune, to inform stenographers of “our

growing conviction that no thoroughly honorable business-man who is this side of dotage ever

advertises for a lady stenographer who is a blonde, is good-looking, is quite alone in the city, or


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will transmit her photograph. All such advertisements upon their face bear the marks of

vulgarity, nor do we regard it safe for any lady to answer such unseemly utterances.”

Passage #13

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, Steven Rinella

In the past week I’ve become something of a buffalo chip connoisseur. The perfect specimen

has the circumference of a baseball cap, with folded layers like a sheik’s turban. It’s as dense as a

gingersnap cookie, with the color and texture of old cardboard that’s been wet and dried out

again. Of course, when I say “buffalo chip,” I’m talking about buffalo dung, or what’s left of

vegetation after it passes through the digestive circuitry of North America’s largest native land

animal, also known as American bison (Bison bison). These chips will burn with an orange-

colored halo of flame surrounding a coal black center; they let off a good heat, not many sparks,

and a blue-hued smoke that smells nothing like you’d expect it to. At times I’ve dipped my face

into the smoke and picked up the odors of cinnamon and cloves, dried straw and pumpkins, and

sometimes the smell of walking into a bathroom after someone smoked a joint.

Passage #14

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II,

Denise Kiernan

There have long been secrets buried deep in the southern Appalachians, covered in layers of

shale and coal, lying beneath the ancient hills of the Cumberlands, and lurking in the shadows of

the Smokies at the tail end of the mountainous spine that ripples down the East Coast. This land

of the Cherokee gave way to treaties and settlers and land grants. Newcomers traversed the

Cumberland Gap to establish small farms and big lives in a region where alternating ridges and

valleys cradle newborn communities in the nooks and crannies of the earth. Isolated.

Independent. Hidden.

Passage #15

Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell

Going to Ford’s Theatre to watch the play is like going to Hooters for the food. So I had

intended to spend the first act of 1776, a musical about the Declaration of Independence,

ignoring the stage and staring at Abraham Lincoln’s box from my balcony seat. Then I was

going to leave intermission. Who wants to hear the founding fathers break into song? Me, it turns

out. Between eloquent debates about the rights of man, these wiseacres in wigs traded

surprisingly entertaining trash talk in which a deified future preside like Thomas Jefferson is

deplored as a “red-headed tombstone.” George Washington’s amusingly miserable letters from

the front are read aloud among the signers with eye-rolling contempt, followed by comments

such as “That man would depress a hyena.” Plus Benjamin Franklin was played by the actor who

played the Big Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. I was so sucked into 1776 that whole production

numbers like “But, Mr. Adams” could go by and I wouldn’t glance Lincolnward once, wrapped

up in noticing that that second president could really sing.


139

Acknowledgements

RA Everyday! Teacher Training Activity

Cris Beam. Excerpt from To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care. New York:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Copyright © Cris Beam, 2013. Fair Use.

Nell Bernstein. Excerpt from Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison. New York: The New

Press. Copyright © 2014 by Nell Bernstein. Fair Use.

Kevin Boyle. Excerpt from Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age.

New York: Henry Holt and Company. Copyright © 2004 by Kevin Boyle. Fair Use.

Carlos Eire. Excerpt from Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy. New York: The

Free Press. Copyright © 2003 by Carlos Eire. Fair Use.

David George Haskell. Excerpt from The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature. New York: Viking

Press. Copyright © 2012 by David George Haskell. Fair Use.

Denise Kiernan. Excerpt from The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win

World War II. New York: Touchstone. Copyright © 2013 by Denise Keirnan. Fair Use.

Erik Larson. Excerpt from The Devil in White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that

Changed America. Copyright © 2003 by Erik Larson. Fair Use.

Ellen Meloy. Excerpt from The Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations of Landscape, Art, and Spirit.

New York: Pantheon Books. Copyright © 2002 by Ellen Meloy. Fair Use.

Jon Mooallem. Excerpt from Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About

Looking at People Looking at Animals in America. New York: Penguin Press. Copyright © 2013 by Jon

Mooallem. Fair Use.

Michael Moss. Excerpt from Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York: Random

House. Copyright © 2013 by Michael Moss. Fair Use.

Siddhartha Mukherjee. Excerpt from The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. New York:

Scribner. Copyright © 2010 by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Fair Use.

Michael Pollan. Excerpt from In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. New York: Penguin Press.

Copyright © 2008 by Michael Pollan. Fair Use.

Steven Rinella. Excerpt from American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon. New York: Spiegel and Grau.

Copyright © 2008 by Steven Rinella. Fair Use.

Luis Alberto Urrea. Excerpt from The Devil’s Highway: A True Story. New York: Little, Brown, and

Company. Copyright © 2004 by Luis Alberto Urrea. Fair Use.

Sarah Vowell. Excerpt from Assassination Vacation. New York: Simon and Schuster. Copyright © 2005

by Sarah Vowell. Fair Use.

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