Glencoe
iterature
The Reader’s Choice
Active Learning and
Note Taking Guide
Course 5
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Acknowledgments
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permission to reprint the following copyrighted material. Every effort has been made to determine
copyright owners. In case of any omissions, the Publisher will be pleased to make suitable acknowledgments in future editions.
TIME © Time, Inc. TIME and the red border design are trademarks of TIME, Inc. used under
license.
Copyright © by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to
reproduce the material contained herein on the condition that such material be reproduced only for
classroom use; be provided to students, teachers, and families without charge; and be used solely in
conjunction with Glencoe Literature: The Reader’s Choice. Any other reproduction, for use or sale,
is prohibited without written permission from the publisher.
Send all inquiries to:
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
8787 Orion Place
Columbus, OH 43240-4027
ISBN-13: 9780078763557
ISBN-10: 007876355X
Printed in the United States of America.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 024-BA 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
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Table of Contents
To Students and Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Douglas Fisher
The Cornell Note Taking System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
How to Use This Book: Note Taking Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Active Reading Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
How to Use This Book: Active Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . .xv
UNIT 1
Note Taking
Introductory Text: The Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Encountering the Unexpected . . . . . . . . 11
Active Reading
Joyce Carol Oates
Literary Perspective on the Short Story:
“Storytelling Is as Old as Mankind” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Making Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Active Reading
Carl Safina
TIME: “Cry of the Ancient Mariner” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Part 3 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Life Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
UNIT 2
Note Taking
Introductory Text: Nonfiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: The Power of Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Active Reading
Carolyn T. Hughes
Author Perspective on Angela’s Ashes:
from Looking Forward to the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Quests and Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
TA B L E OF CON TEN TS
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Part 3 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Keeping Freedom Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Active Reading
Barack Obama
TIME: “What I See in Lincoln’s Eyes” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
UNIT 3
Note Taking
Introductory Text: Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: The Energy of the Everyday . . . . . . . . . . 80
Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Loves and Losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Active Reading
Roger Ebert
Historical Perspective on “Ballad of Birmingham”:
“4 Little Girls” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Part 3 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Issues of Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Active Reading
Chang-rae Lee
TIME: “We Are Family” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
UNIT 4
Note Taking
Introductory Text: Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Loyalty and Betrayal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Literary History: Classical Greek Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Active Reading
Maryann Bird
TIME: “Ever Alluring” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Note Taking
Literary History: Elizabethan Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
iv
TA B L E O F CO N T E N T S
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Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Portraits of Real Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Active Reading
Harold Pinter
Literary Perspective on That’s Your Trouble:
“Writing for the Theater” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
UNIT 5
Note Taking
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Acts of Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Active Reading
Amanda Ripley
TIME: “What Makes a Hero?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: Rescuing and Conquering . . . . . . . . . . 167
Active Reading
Joseph Campbell
with Bill Moyers
Cultural Perspective on Theseus:
“The Hero’s Adventure” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
UNIT 6
Note Taking
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Part 1 Note Taking
Introductory Text: The Extraordinary and Fantastic . . . . . 188
Active Reading
William J. Broad
Scientific Perspective on “What I Have Been Doing Lately”:
“One Legend Found, Many Still to Go” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Active Reading
Adam Cohen
TIME: “The Machine Nurturer” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Part 2 Note Taking
Introductory Text: The Uncanny and Mysterious . . . . . . . 207
TA B L E OF CON TEN TS
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To Students and Parents
Welcome to the Active Learning and Note Taking Guide. This portable book is
designed for you to write in. It is interactive: the book prompts, and you
respond. The Guide encourages, questions, provides space for notes, and
invites you to jot down your thoughts and ideas. You can use it to circle
and underline words and phrases you think are important, and to write
questions that will guide your reading. Also, the Guide provides more
support in earlier lessons than in later ones to reflect your growing skill
development.
The Active Learning and Note Taking Guide helps you develop skills for
reading informational text—skills such as identifying main ideas,
previewing, sequencing, and recognizing organizational patterns in text.
Informational text is nonfiction. It presents facts, explanations, and
opinions, and is often accompanied by charts, diagrams, and other
graphics that make information easier to grasp. Among the types of
interesting and challenging texts in this Guide, you’ll find:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Biographical sketches
Memoirs
Literary history
Criticism
Surveys
Award-winning nonfiction book excerpts
Primary source documents
High-interest articles from TIME magazine
The Active Learning and Note Taking Guide helps you study the background
articles found in the Unit and Part Introductions of your textbook, Glencoe
Literature: The Reader’s Choice. The Guide includes two types of lessons:
• Note Taking on Informational Text Lessons present a tried-andtrue method of note taking—called The Cornell Note Taking
System—along with prompts to help you preview, record, reduce,
and summarize the introductory articles in your textbook. Using
the book will help you learn this valuable note-taking method, so
you can make your own Cornell notes whenever you study.
• Active Reading of Informational Text Lessons are lessons based
on the Perspectives and TIME magazine articles in your anthology.
In this part of the book, you’ll practice identifying important
passages, writing paragraphs, and completing graphic
organizers—all tools that expert readers use to help them
comprehend informational texts.
Note to Parents and Guardians: Ask your students to show you their
work periodically, and explain how it helps them study. You might want to
talk to them about how the skills they are learning cross over to other
subjects.
vi
TO STU D E N T S A N D PA R E N T S
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The Cornell Note Taking System
By Douglas Fisher, Ph.D.
Are you secretly asking yourself, “Do I really have to take notes?” Are you
wondering what you will write down and how you’ll know if you’re
doing a good job of taking notes? If you are, don’t worry. The note-taking
lessons in this book will guide you to take good notes that will help you
remember what you read. These lessons are based on the Cornell Note
Taking System.
Note Taking and Active Learning
The ability to take notes can make a difference in your life. Research shows
that students who take good notes perform better on tests, and note-taking
skills are crucial if you plan to attend college. They are also important in a
variety of jobs and careers. Notes provide an opportunity to put what you
read into your own words. You can organize your notes in ways that will
help you understand them, including creating diagrams and graphic
organizers. When you take notes you become more actively engaged in
what you read by constantly looking for main ideas, supporting details,
and key relationships. Having a process for taking notes is particularly
useful in understanding informational text—nonfiction that presents facts,
explanations, and opinions.
Previewing the Note Taking Steps
The note-taking pages in this book are divided in two columns, one wide
and one narrow. This format provides a way to organize your thinking. It
is based on the Cornell Note Taking System, first developed at Cornell
University to help students take more effective notes. The following list
previews the steps of the Cornell Note Taking System. You’ll use this
system as you complete the note-taking lessons, in which you’ll be taking
notes on Unit Introductions, Part Introductions, and Literary Histories in
your textbook, Glencoe Literature, The Reader’s Choice.
Record First, you will Record notes in the right (wide) column as you
read. Your notes will take a variety of forms, including summaries,
bulleted lists, and graphic organizers. They will help you understand what
you read and will be useful later on when you need to write an essay, read
a literary selection, or study for a test.
Reduce Once you’ve taken notes in the Record column, you will Reduce
your notes into key words, phrases, and questions in the left (narrow)
column. This step will help you clarify meaning, find information within
your notes, and trigger your memory when you study.
Recap At the end of significant parts of a Unit Introduction, such as a
Genre Focus, you will use the bottom portion of the page to Recap what
you’ve learned. This step helps strengthen your grasp of what you just
read before you move on to the next part.
TH E COR N E L L NOTE TAKI N G SYSTEM
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At the end of each lesson there’s space to Summarize your notes, often by
using a graphic organizer. You will also Apply your notes by taking a brief
test.
Recite To increase your ability to recall your notes, you will cover the
Record column and Recite—or read aloud—the facts and ideas in your
notes by using the key words, phrases, and questions in the Reduce
column as cues. Check to see how well you can Recite the information in
your Record column from memory.
Reflect After you complete the Recite step, you will Reflect on your notes.
Consider how your notes relate to what you already know, your other
classes, and your life experiences.
Review Finally, you will Review your notes periodically. By following the
Cornell Note Taking System you will produce valuable notes that you can
refer to when you study or write.
Developing Your Note Taking Habits
Learning to take efficient notes can be hard work. One motivation to
improve this skill is that good note takers do better in school. They
remember more and can use that knowledge in a variety of ways. In
addition, good note takers develop habits that they can use later in their
life—whether during a job-related meeting or a lecture in a college class.
Once you’re able to complete the lessons in this book, you’ll be able to use
the Cornell Note Taking System when you read other books, listen to a
lecture in class, attend a meeting, or even as you watch a film.
viii
T H E CO R N EL L N OT E TA K I N G SYST E M
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How To Use This Book:
Note Taking Lessons
The note taking lessons lead you through the process of taking Cornell
notes on the Unit Introductions, Part Introductions, and Literary Histories
in your textbook, Glencoe Literature: The Reader’s Choice. You’ll be learning
to record important information in your own words, to reduce it to key
words that will help you remember your notes, and to apply your notes as
you read the literature in your textbook. You’ll also learn to recognize
patterns of organization in informational text, use graphic organizers to
take notes, and write summaries to help you remember what you read.
Not only will you have a record of the ideas about the historical contexts
and literary movements in which the authors wrote, but you will also be
learning a note taking skill you can use in all your classes.
Record
In this column you’ll be
identifying main ideas
and relationships,
creating diagrams,
graphing information,
and making outlines,
among other skills. Use
the prompts to take
notes that follow the
organizational pattern of
the text.
Preview
This text helps you know what to expect as you read.
Unit 2
Reduce
Prompts such as Any
Questions?, To the
Point, and My View
provide cues to help you
process and remember
information as you read.
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Looking Ahead
(p. 299)
Preview
• What is nonfiction?
• What types of literature
are nonfiction?
• Why might you want to
read it?
Reduce
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking System
to record important points and remember what you have read.
Record
TO THE POINT Write key words.
real subjects
gives information
3 Big Ideas:
Looking into Lives
On the Move
Finding Common
Ground
To the Point
These cues help you
condense your notes
into key words to help
jog your memory later
on.
This introduction prepares you for the nonfiction you will read
in a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes nonfiction as a
literary form and explains its value. It describes the elements
within nonfiction that create meaning. It also offers
suggestions on how to read nonfiction.
6 Literary Elements:
autobiography
biography
personal essay
expository essay
persuasive essay
speech
➥
What are some of the characteristics of nonfiction?
All nonfiction is about real subjects and conveys
information.
Unit 2
Preview
➥
Literary Analysis
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
Looking into Lives
On the Move
Finding Common Ground
U N IT 2
(p. 303)
Reduce
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Use them to
organize your notes. Ask,
Who?, What?, Where?,
When?, How? Then briefly
answer
some
or all
of those
➥ Which literary elements will you learn about
in this
unit?
One
questions.
has been written for you.
Who?: Alvarez
What?: found her voice
Where?: Bread Loaf
When?: in the ’80s
How?: by meeting other
writers
Autobiography and Biography
Personal and Expository Essays
Persuasive Essays and Speeches
40
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
MY VIEW What might be
another good name for this
essay? Why?
NONF ICTION
“Comunidad,” since
it’s12:05:55 PM
5/23/06
the subject of the
essay.
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Recap
You’ll review your notes every few pages and then recap
the main ideas. Your recaps, then, become a tool for
both writing a summary at the end and applying your
notes as you read the selections in your textbook.
➥
What is Alvarez’s thesis? Can you show her thesis and
supporting details in an argument chart? One of them has been filled
in for you.
Thesis: Alvarez and writers like her are forging a new
tradition.
• Supporting Detail: Alvarez and others met at Bread
Loaf to discuss their work.
• Supporting Detail: Alvarez and others do not want to be
caged in a definition of their style.
• Supporting Detail: Alvarez finds comfort and aid in
her “comunidad” of writers.
Use Charts and Other
Graphic Organizers
Complete or create charts
and other organizers to track
information and to develop
a strong study skill.
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the Literary Analysis. Then sum up this section using
a thinking tree. Some of it has been filled in for you.
Autobiography
first-person
44
U N IT 2
Personal Essay
memory
informal
Persuasive Essay
argument
thesis
NONFICTION
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HOW TO U S E TH I S BOOK : NOTE TA KI N G LESSON S
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My View
Active readers respond
personally to texts. These
notes suggest ways you
can respond to what you
read and help you
remember it.
U nit 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Literary Analysis
(p. 962)
Reduce
Record
MY VIEW Why do you think
modern-day people study
ancient stories?
How is The Journey of Gilgamesh an epic?
➥
Why is The Journey of Gilgamesh a valued epic? On whom is
it based?
The Journey of Gilgamesh is a valued epic because it
may be one of the oldest known stories ever to be
written down. It is based on a historical Babylonian
king.
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
apply what you learned on
previous pages to what you are
currently reading. Here is an
example: “What is Gilgamesh’s
quest?”
Any Questions?
Notice how this note
helps you write
questions that give you a
focus when you study.
You’ll read to find the
answers to your
questions.
➥
What qualities make Gilgamesh a typical epic hero?
He is proud, beautiful, and ambitious, and he loves to
learn about life.
➥
What is one reason Gilgamesh is a typical character of a myth or
epic?
He is descended from the gods.
➥
Where does Gilgamesh travel?
He travels beyond Mount Mashu to find Uta-Napishtim.
Un it 2
148
UNIT 5
Introductory
L E GE N DS AN D MYTHS
Summarize
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Informational
Text: Nonficti
Text
on
6/14/06 12:45:30 PM
➥ Review your note
s on this introdu
information and
ction. Then use
identify key char
the classificatio
acteristics of the
An example has
n chart on this
different types
been provided
page to sort
of nonfiction you
for you.
learned about.
Nonfiction
Autobiography
and Biography
Summarize
Here you’ll find varied activities, including graphic
organizers, to polish your skill of summarizing.
Informal essays
Autobiography
:
• story of a
person’s life
• first person
Formal Essays
Personal Essays
• often first
person
• shares
experiences
Biography
• story of a
person’s life
• third person
Informational
Expository Essa
ys
• meant to exp
lain
or inform
• often use
evidence or
logic to support
Persuasive Essa
ys
or Speeches
• contain
arguments
• may appeal
to emotion,
logic, or both
Text
Un it 2
Introductory
Apply
Get double-duty from your notes
as you review the introduction and
also practice test-taking skills.
Recite your notes, Reflect on
them, and Review them. Add to
your notes as you learn more
about the ideas in your textbook.
on
Text: Nonficti
Matching
Apply
ches each
on that best mat
Choose the opti
below.
nonfiction type
U N IT 2 NON
FICT ION y _____ B.
3. personal essa
D.
speech _____
4. persuasive
NTG_9_u2_p0
40-077.indd
_____ E.
48
5. biography
A. letter
A.
__
___
t
6. argumen
B. speech
hy _____ C.
y
7. autobiograp
C. personal essa
ence
A. relies on evid
D. news article
rmal
info
B.
ory
E. biography
writer’s mem
C. based on
persuasive
purpose of a
tional appeals
2. What is the
D. includes emo
life
on’s
essay? D.
ther pers
n
E. explores ano
A. to entertai
onal experience
B. to share pers
on’s life
events in a pers
C. to recount
ons
ce ideas or acti
D. to influen
E. to inform
e
Multiple Choic
following
answer for the
Choose the best
48
questions.
“On
is
on
ficti
of non
1. What type
C.
ter”?
OL_AL
Becoming a Wri
Short Answe
r
?
oming a Writer”
is of “On Bec
thes
8. What is the
t Alvarez and
The thesis is tha
other writers are
5/23/06 12:05:5
7 PM
ing tradition.
writ
creating a new
erent?
y alike and diff
uses on a
personal essa
sonal essay foc
life, while a per
y of an entire
stor
the
s
tell
Autobiography
.
nce
erie
re an exp
fiction?
small part to sha
purpose.
for reading non
tifying author’s
es you learned
fiction by iden
some strategi
10. What are
nt types of non
inguish differe
dist
to
ned
I lear
biography and
9. How are auto
ite your
duction? Rec
of
l in this intro
a quick review
and the materia
your notes for
the
er and underst
can also use
n more about
better rememb
You
.
lear
you
you
them
can
As
.
How
Review
ured in this unit
on them, and
feat
ect
are
Refl
s,
note
ents that
or literary elem
the Big Ideas
your notes.
FIC TIO N
unit, add to
U N IT 2 NON
ideas in the
49
7 PM
5/23/06 12:05:5
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x
_u2_p040-077
.indd 49
H OW TO U S E T H I S B O O K : N OT E TA K I NG L E S SON S
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Active Reading Skills
Active reading is smart reading. When you read actively, you don’t just let
your eyes roll across the text and turn the page when you get to the
bottom. When you read actively, you pause, reflect, ask yourself questions,
and use many skills that help you understand what you read. Active
reading is a part of active learning. The more you refer to the chart, the
more these active reading strategies will become a natural part of the way
you read.
Skill/Strategy
What Is It?
Why It’s Important
How to Do It
Preview
Previewing lets you
begin to see what you
already know and
what you’ll need to
know. It helps you set
a purpose for reading.
Look at the title,
illustrations, headings,
captions, and
graphics.
Previewing is looking
over a selection before
you read.
Look at how ideas are
organized.
Ask questions about
the text.
Predict
Predicting is taking an
educated guess about
what will happen in a
selection.
Predicting gives you a
reason to read. You
want to find out if
your prediction is
verified in the
selection. As you read,
adjust or change your
prediction if it doesn’t
fit what you learn.
Guess at what will be
included in the text by
combining what you
already know about
an author or subject
with what you
learned in your
preview.
ACTIVE R EAD I N G SKI LLS
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What Is It?
Why It’s Important
How to Do It
Activate Prior
Knowledge
Activating prior
knowledge draws on
your own resources
and helps you get the
“I can do this” feeling.
It also helps you
connect new ideas
and information to
what you already
know.
Pause and recall your
knowledge and
feelings about a topic.
Ask yourself
questions such as
these: How does this
fit my understanding?
Does it agree with
what I know? What
part of this do I
recognize?
When you ask
questions as you read,
you’re reading
strategically. As you
answer your
questions, you’re
making sure that
you’ll get the main
ideas of a text.
Have a running
conversation with
yourself as you read.
Keep asking questions
such as these: Is this
idea important? Why?
Do I understand what
this is about? Might
this information be on
a test later?
Visualizing is one of
the best ways to
understand and
remember information
in fiction, nonfiction,
and informational
text.
Carefully read how a
writer describes a
person, place, or
thing. Ask yourself
questions such as
these: What would
this look like? Can I
see how these steps or
events proceed?
The whole point of
reading is to
understand a piece of
text. When you don’t
understand a
selection, you’re not
really reading it.
Keep asking yourself
questions about main
ideas, people, and
events. When you
can’t answer a
question, review, read
more slowly, or ask
someone to help you.
You have knowledge
from your own
experiences and from
what you have read
or learned in the past.
That can help you
understand what you
are reading. When
you activate this prior
knowledge, you tap
into it.
Question
Questioning is asking
yourself whether
information in a
selection is important.
Questioning is also
regularly asking
yourself whether
you’ve understood
what you’ve read.
Visualize
Visualizing is
picturing a writer’s
ideas or descriptions
in your mind’s eye.
Monitor
Comprehension
Monitoring your
comprehension means
thinking about
whether you’re
understanding what
you’re reading.
xii
AC T I V E R EA D I N G S K I L L S
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What Is It?
Why It’s Important
How to Do It
Respond
When you react in a
personal way to what
you read, you’ll enjoy
a selection more and
remember it better.
As you read, think
about how you feel
about the information
or ideas in a selection.
What’s your reaction?
Are you astonished?
Pleased? Disgusted?
Motivated to do
something? What
grabs your attention
as you read?
You’ll get into your
reading and recall
information and ideas
better by connecting
events, emotions,
ideas, and characters
to your own life and
world.
Ask yourself
questions such as
these: Do I know
someone like this?
Have I ever felt this
way? How is this like
something I’ve heard
about? What else have
I read that is like this
selection?
Reviewing is
especially important
when you have new
ideas and a lot of
information to
remember.
Filling in a graphic
organizer, such as a
chart or a diagram, as
you read helps you
organize information.
These study aids will
help you review later.
Every reader
constructs meaning on
the basis of what he
or she understands
about the world.
Finding meaning as
you read is all about
you interacting with
the text.
Think about what you
already know about
yourself and the
world. Ask yourself
questions such as
these: What is the
author really trying to
say here? What larger
idea might these
events be about?
Responding is telling
what you like, dislike,
find surprising, or
find interesting in a
selection.
Connect
Connecting means
linking what you read
to events in your own
life, to contemporary
issues, or to other
selections you’ve read.
Review
Reviewing is going
back over what
you’ve read to
remember what’s
important and to
organize ideas so
you’ll recall them
later.
Interpret
Interpreting is when
you use your own
understanding of the
world to decide what
the events or ideas in
a selection mean.
ACTIVE R E AD I N G SKI LLS
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What Is It?
Why It’s Important
How to Do It
Analyze
Analyzing helps you
look critically at a
piece of writing.
When you analyze a
selection, you’ll
discover its theme or
message, and you’ll
learn the author’s
purpose for writing.
Your analysis becomes
a tool for your
evaluation of the text.
To analyze any piece
of writing, look
carefully at its parts.
Where does the
introduction end?
Find the parts that
make up the middle.
Recognize the ending.
Identify the main
idea, and supporting
details. Examine each
step in a process or
each event that leads
to an outcome.
Evaluating helps you
become a wise reader.
For example, when
you judge whether an
author is qualified to
speak about a topic or
whether the author’s
points make sense,
you can avoid being
misled by what you
read.
As you read, ask
yourself questions
such as these: Is this
realistic and
believable? Is this
author qualified to
write on this subject?
Is this author biased?
Does this author
present opinions as
facts?
Analyzing is looking
at separate parts of a
selection in order to
understand the entire
selection.
Evaluate
Evaluating is making
a judgment or
forming an opinion
about something you
read. Is the text
reliable? Accurate?
Persuasive? The
answers to such
questions are
examples of
judgments.
xiv
AC T I V E R E A D I N G SK I L L S
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How To Use This Book:
Active Reading Lessons
The notes and features in the active reading lessons will direct you
through the process of reading and making meaning from each selection.
As you use these notes and features, you’ll be practicing and mastering the
skills and strategies that good readers use whenever they read.
Get Set to Read
Building Background
Read to learn about the author and the cultural and
historical events that shaped the selection. Building
Background will help you become a more
knowledgeable reader.
Informational Text
B E F O R E YO U R EA D
T H E DRU MS OF WA SH I NGTON
Setting Purposes for
Reading
What will you learn from
reading the selection?
This feature will help you
connect your own
experiences to the
selection. It will also help
you determine your
reasons for reading.
Building Background
In 1961 John F. Kennedy became the youngest person
elected president of the United States. Known for his
charisma, vision, and diplomacy, Kennedy managed to
make progress in foreign and domestic policy despite
crises abroad. During Kennedy’s presidency, Arthur M.
Schlesinger, Jr., served as his adviser and later as a
special assistant for Latin American affairs. His study of
the Kennedy administration, A Thousand Days, John F.
Kennedy in the White House, won the Pulitzer Prize. In
this selection from that book, Schlesinger explores the
grief that overwhelmed the world after President
Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Experiencing a loss is never easy, but it can be
particularly difficult to deal with if it seems unjustified.
Before you read, discuss the following questions with a
partner:
•
•
Have you ever experienced a personal loss? What
helped you accept that loss and move on?
How do people accept a loss that they feel is
unjustified?
Read the selection to learn more about how
Schlesinger dealt with the news that the President had
been assassinated.
Reading Strategy
This feature will improve
your understanding of
the reading strategies
taught in your textbook.
Reading Strategy
Recognizing Bias
When you recognize bias, you determine if an author
has an inclination toward a certain opinion or position
on a topic, possibly stemming from prejudice.
Active Reading Focus
Summarizing
When you summarize, you state the main ideas of a
selection or passage in your own words in a logical
sequence. Keep in mind that the summary will always
be shorter than the passage, as it includes only the
main ideas.
Active Reading Focus
32 U N I T your
1 , PA RT 3
Active reading strategies improve
ability to comprehend and appreciate
each selection.
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T H E D R U M S O F WA S H I N G T O N
Literary Element
Parallelism
Literary Element
Learn about a literary
element important to
this selection before you
begin reading.
Parallelism is a rhetorical device in which a series of
words, phrases, or sentences have similar grammatical
form. Parallelism emphasizes the items that are
arranged in similar structures.
Big Idea
Dreams and Reality
Big Idea
Read about one of
the Big Ideas from
your textbook to
better understand
how each selection
relates to a broader
historical or literary
topic.
Reality can intrude upon the dreams of a person, a
nation, or the world. What people do with their dreams
in the face of harsh realities reveals much about who
they are.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from A Thousand
Days. When you come across an unfamiliar word, you
can often break it down into parts—prefix, root, and
suffix—for clues to its meaning.
amiable (ā mē ə bəl ) adj. good-natured; sociable;
p. 34 The man’s amiable personality made him a town
favorite.
incomprehensible (in´ kom pri hen sə bəl ) adj.
incapable of being understood; unknowable; p. 34 Dan
found his neighbor’s speech nearly incomprehensible due to
her thick accent.
incredulously (in krej ə ləs le¯ ) adv. disbelievingly;
skeptically; p. 35 When the judge awarded the boy the
prize, he just stared at her incredulously.
imperishable (im per i shə bəl ) adj. unable to die;
immortal; p. 38 Although Lincoln has died, his ideas are
imperishable.
inaugural (in ô yer əl ) n. a speech made by the
President of the United States at his or her
inauguration; p. 38 The President finished his inaugural
address to loud applause.
Vocabulary
Here you’ll preview the
selection vocabulary
words and vocabulary
skill. Each word is
highlighted and defined
again in the selection.
5/24/06
1:39:47 PM
HOW TO U S E TH I S BOOK : ACTIVE R E A DI N G LESSON S
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Read, Respond, Interpret
Informational
Text
Informational
Focus
Active Reading
in a
the main ideas
Summarize State your own words.
in
logical sequence
with
York
in New
Schlesinger was
he learned that
friends when
ted.
edy was assassina
President Kenn
news,
dn’t believe the
At first he coul
had
Kennedy
given the trials
life, but then he
endured in his
true.
realized it was
ton
s of WashiJr.ng
The DrumM.
Schlesinger
Arthur
e
with Katharin
n to New York
before, for
ning I had flow
three months
On Friday mor
Philip had died
k. Kenneth
1 whose husband
swee
New
e
,
Graham
her magazin
We
the editors of
the occasion.
Cambridge for
a luncheon with
d of
2
come down from
an amiable moo
Galbraith had
re luncheon in
n a young
ing drinks befo
relaxation whe
e
were still sipp
gam
ely, “I
ale
e-Harvard-Y
, a little tentativ
Friday-before-th
room and said
ves entered the
w that the
man in shirtslee
you should kno
flash one
in, but I think
a
k
For
brea
s.”
to
y
am sorr
head in Texa
w it
. Then we kne
been shot in the
stly office joke
President has
some sort of gha
nd the nearest
thought this was
desperately arou
The minutes
and huddled
and appalling.
d
could not be
ital.
fuse
con
hosp
rything was
s came from the
television. Eve
felt
nsible bulletin
through me: I
g. Incomprehe
h
dragged alon
viction flowed
ds3 and so muc
ne surge of con
insa
Islan
an
ly
mon
Sudden
it,
ived the Solo
d it, enhanced
who had surv
that the man
d life, embodie
had
shadow as he
ny, who so love
4
ld escape the
illness and ago
wou
He
d.
.
wor
now
le
sibly die
irrevocab
could not pos
we received the
ham’s
immediately
Katharine Gra
before. Almost
and I were on
ney of one’s
ents Galbraith
the saddest jour
In a few mom
hington. It was
mingled
ss
Was
tine
for
nd
emp
,
plane bou
into
uish, disbelief
s, shame, ang
, almost blindly,
life. Bitternes
en I stumbled
D.
one’s mind. Wh
was Franklin
inextricably in
I encountered
se
the first person
my White Hou
with
t
the East Wing,
wen
I
e
Forc One
In a short time
return of Air
5
Roosevelt Jr.
d to await the
k, McNamara,
Andrews Fiel
ting in the dus
colleagues to
crowd was wai
ly looking very
ll
den
sma
sud
A
s.
and
6
from Texa
riman, haggard
as the
ly
Har
t,
lous
silen
edu
stunned and
al
We watched incr
taken to the Nav
n everywhere.
old, desolatio
of the plane and
. My
fully lifted out
in Georgetown
t to my house
casket was care
pened to
esda. Later I wen
, what has hap
ddy
“Da
,
Hospital at Beth
a said
want to
ghter Christin
have, I don’t
weeping dau
of country we
on their way
If this is the kind
were already
our country?
older children
The
e.”
mor
live here any
ton.
ege to Washing
, including
of news media
back from coll
r and publisher
Cross-Curricular Link
You bring all that you know to
the reading task. Often,
information learned in other
school subjects can help you
understand literature.
Text
Cross-Curricu
lar Link
History Early
efforts to slow
whaling
were met with
resistance. It wasn
until 1946 that
’t
whaling nations
created the Inter
national Whaling
Commission to
regulate the indu
At the time it
stry.
was created, this
commission reco
mmended a
decrease in the
number of wha
les
harvested each
year. However
,
because the com
mission was not
given the abilit
y to
who violated this punish people
recommendat
ion,
whaling was left
largely unaffecte
Then, in 1986
d.
, nearly all of the
whaling nations,
with some
exceptions (incl
udin
to close the indu g Japan), agreed
stry down. Wha
t
might Japan have
to
a stop to the wha gain by bringing
ling industry?
boats are taki
ng care not to
kill albatrosses.
by trapdoors
Turtles are bein
in shrimp nets
g saved
so they can esca
pe.
Joining Togethe
r to Help the
Seas
The oceans’ futu
re depends mos
t of all on inte
cooperation.
Working thro
rnational
ugh the U.N.,
outlawed gian
the world’s nati
t drift nets. Oth
ons have
er treaties to
fish in them are
protect the seas
in the works,
and the
though not all
enthusiastic abo
nations are
ut signing them
. Among top
relies heavily
fishing nations,
on seafood and
Japan
yet is exceptio
toward the ocea
nall
y disrespectfu
n. It has disagree
l
catches of sou
d with internat
thern bluefin
ional limits on
tuna and used
phony justifica
“scientific rese
tion for hunting
arch” as a
whales in the
Commission’s
International
Antarctic San
Wh
ctua
aling
ry. A world lead
ways, Japan wou
ck
er in so many
ld greatly imp
✔ Reading Che
rove its moral
to heal the seas
position by help
singer when
.
Where was Schle assassination
ing
A good place
edy’s
to start that hea
news of Kenn
ling
futu
Japa
re
wou
n
coul
with
ld
d not only impr
be to give alba
more food and
reached him?
ove its
trosses a
less plastic tras
marine-pollutio
h to swallow.
“moral position,”
York City.
n treaty makes
A U.N.
but also help
He was in New
dumping plas
policing at sea
to
tics illegal, but
is impractical.
guarantee the
Nonetheless,
existence of wha
to carry up-to-da
ships could be
les,
te
equ
ipm
required
ent for handlin
and so too, the
liquid waste
g garbage and
whaling industry.
that might othe
storing
rwise be dum
Routine discharg
ped into the wat
es put more oil
er.
into the sea than
We should exp
major spills.
and our idea
Vocabulary Prac
of
of
zon
an
ing from land
ocean free-for
tice
to sea. Instead
-all, we should
with traps and
mark some area
Context clues
hooks and line
s
can also be exam
for
fish
ing only
s, and others
As we’ve seen
ples
of the unfamilia
as wildlife sanc
with once rich
r word. What exam
tuaries.
cod grounds,
some areas clos
ple
of zoning does
if we don’t decl
the author give
ed by foresigh
are
in
t, they will decl
this paragraph
by collapse. The
to help us unde
are
themselves clos
map of the land
rstand
what this word
ed
minds the sea
has many colo
means?
is still the blan
rs, while in mos
k space betw
t
Student response
coloring in that
een continents.
s should indic
blue expanse
Let’s start
ate
and map a mor
the sea.
the following:
e sensible futu
“inst
ead
ry
re
of an ocean
for
Vocabula
Four centurie
s ago, poet John
free-for-all, we
should mark som
island entire
Donne wrote
ə bəl ) adj. good
e
to himself. On
that no man is
amiable (ā mē
owne
areas for fishin
Midway an alba
an
–2001) was an
toothbrush taug
g only with traps
and
natured; sociable
Graham (1917
tross gagging
ht me that no
ssador to India
1. Katharine
and
on a
pri
islan
Post.
served as an amba
is
kom
d
trul
hook
who
ington
is
in´
(
y
an
mist
Wash
s
mor
and lines, and
ible
island. In the
the
e: less trash, less
) is an econo
incomprehens
others as
oceans, less
g
aith (1908–
habitat destruct
fish now will
edy was
istration.
incapable of bein
2. Kenneth Galbr
ion, and catching
In 1943 Kenn
wildlife sanctuari
mean more food
the Kennedy admin
hen sə bəl ) adj.
e in the U.S. Navy.
es.”
Japanese
an adviser during
fewer
later on for both
owable
The oceans mak
Kennedy’s servic
was sunk by a
understood; unkn
r is referring to
people and wild
e our planet hab
torpedo boat that
3. Schlesinge
anding a patrol
adv.
life.
itable, and the
spans nutrition
d while comm
krej ə lə s lē)
in
South Pacific.
(
seriously injure
wea
al,
the
in
usly
clim
s
lth
dulo
atological, biol
of oceans
incre
Solomon Island
on’s disease.
emotional, and
1968.
ogical, aestheti
tically
destroyer in the
skep
referring is Addis
;
from 1961 to
is
se
r
ngly
ethi
singe
Defen
lievi
of
c, spiritual,
cal areas. Like
disbe
to which Schle
U.S. Secretary
more than the
the albatross,
Far Eastern affairs
4. The illness
) served as the
33
ant secretary for
seas need us.
we need the seas
mara (1916–
N
d as the assist
Will we underst
5. Robert S. McNa
WAS HIN GTO
to
–1986) serve
OF
reap
(1891
MS
an
all
the riches that
and this well
Harrim
Vocabulary
T 3 THE DRU
6. W. Averell
enough
a little restrain
U N IT 1, PAR
compassion cou
1963.
t, cooperation,
from 1961 to
ld bring?
and
habitable (hab
— Updated 2005
ə tə bal) adj.
, from TIME,
suitable
for 10:02:1
5/25/06
livin1gAM
in
Spring 2000
Special Earth
Day Issue,
Selection Marking
Parts of the text are
marked. In the margin of
each page are questions
that help you think about
and understand the
marked text.
Vocabulary
These notes will help you
apply vocabulary skills and
figure out the meanings of
unfamiliar words.
Reading Check
Each time you encounter a Reading
Check, your comprehension of the
selection will be tested. This feature
will prompt you to stop and make
sure that you understand what you
have read.
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33
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CRY OF THE
ANC IEN T
MA RIN ER
28
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Show What You Know
Vocabulary Practice
Here you’ll learn more
about the vocabulary
skill introduced on the
Before You Read
page. Every
Vocabulary Practice
will test your
knowledge of the
selection vocabulary.
Informational Text
A F T E R YOU R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Informational
To distinguish between the main ideas and the details
of a selection, create a main idea-and-details organizer.
Fill in the organizer with information from “The Drums
of Washington.”
•
Main Idea:
Graphic Organizer
President Kennedy’s assassination was not only a personal loss but one felt by nations,
leaders, and ordinary people all over the world.
Every lesson includes
a graphic
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
World leaders from Ireland,
and other close American leaders,
organizer to fill Schlesinger
in to
improve
friends
and family
were
politicians, students, and
Great Britain, the Soviet
shocked by the news of
children mourned Kennedy’s Union, Cambodia, Guinea,
Uganda, and elsewhere
Kennedy’s assassination,
your understanding
of theand death.
publicly mourned Kennedy’s
they personally grieved.
death.
selection.
Author’s Conclusion:
The vast outpouring of grief over President Kennedy’s assassination is testament to his
character, leadership, diplomacy, and integrity as a great person, both privately and
publicly.
Active Reading Focus
Summarizing Now that you have finished the
selection, go back over your notes and ask yourself
what the selection was about. Create your own
summary notes about the selection to show that you
have understood what you read and are able to
separate the main ideas from the details. Fill in
answers to the questions below:
•
What happened?
•
Where did the events occur?
Who was involved?
mainly Schlesinger, Kennedy, and
Kennedy’s friends and family, but also
leaders and regular citizens from
around the world
Active Reading Focus
Here you’ll demonstrate a
more in-depth understanding
of the active reading strategy.
38
•
U N IT 1, PART 3
OL_ALNTG_9_u1_p001-039.indd
38
•
President Kennedy was assassinated; a
friend/advisor, the nation, and the
world reacted.
•
Why did the even
ts occur?
The outpouring
of grief was due
to the
assassination,
although the rea
son for
the assassinatio
n is not explain
ed
in the selectio
n.
Reading Stra
tegy
Recognizing
Bias In Judith
Ortiz Cofer’s story
“American Histo
ry,” the narrator
lives in a Puer
tenement in New
to Rican
Jersey. When
President Kenn
assassinated, she
edy is
notes that the
usual noise of
building is mute
the
d, and that “Pres
iden
saint to these
t Kennedy was
people.” Is the
a
reac
tion she describes
unique? Based
on the story and
“The Drums of
Washington,”
do you think Schle
singer’s positive
toward Kennedy’s
bias
influence is justif
ied? Explain.
The reaction is
not unique; peop
le worldwide had
similar reverenc
a
e for Kennedy,
as Schlesinger
and
Cofer point out.
Schlesinger’s resp
ect and admiratio
for the Presiden
n
t seems justified,
as people acro
ss
many nations
and from all back
grounds had simil
reactions to his
ar
death.
that students find
strong examples
of parallel
structure in the
text and
explain how the
between November 22, 1963
structure
helps emphasiz
e the content
of the example.
(assassination) and December 22, 1963
T H E D R U M S O F WA S H I N G T O N
5/24/06
•
1:39:49 PM
•
A prefix is a word
part that can be
added to the
beginnings of
other words. The
prefix re- can
“again.” When
mean
added to the
word state, the
becomes resta
word
te and means
to “state again
A suffix is a word
.”
part that can be
added to the
ends of other
words. The suffix
-ness, for exam
can be added
ple,
to the ends of
some words to
them into noun
turn
s. When -ness
is added to the
adjective sad,
it becomes the
noun sadness.
Use your know
ledge of word
parts to answer
following ques
the
tions.
•
(a) incredulo
usly
(b) inaugural
(c) incomprehen
sible
2. Which of the
following has
a suffix that tells
word is an adve
you the
rb?
(a) incredulo
usly
(b) amiable
3. Which of the
following has
a prefix that mea
“not”?
ns
(a) eulogy
(b) imperishable
(c) inaugural
1. (c) incompre
hens
ible
Literary Element
In this feature you’ll gain a better
understanding of the literary element by
analyzing how it was used in the selection.
2. (a) incredulo
usly
3. (b) imperisha
ble
U N IT 1, PAR
T 3
OL_ALNTG_9
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Reading Strategy
This feature will give you
the opportunity to apply
the selection’s reading
strategy.
1. Which of the
following has
a suffix that mea
“able to”?
ns
(c) imperishable
Literary Elem
ent
Parallelism Look
The President was shot in Dallas.
back at the text
and find a striki
example of para
Schlesinger left New York City to
ng
llelism. Then expla
in the effect of
parallel structure
the
on the ideas in
attend the funeral in Washington, D.C.Be sure
the example.
When did the events occur?
Vocabulary Prac
tice
Understanding
Word Parts Word
different parts
s are made up
. There are three
of
main word parts
prefixes, roots
:
, and suffixes.
A root is the mos
t basic part of
a word. For
example, the word
courage is the
root of the word
courageous.
How were the
events important
?
The internation
al grief and wor
ds of
respect reveal
that Kennedy
was a
strong, noble lead
er whose influen
ce
and loss were
felt worldwide.
Text
THE DRU MS
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H OW TO U SE T H I S B O O K : AC T I V E R E A DI NG L E S SON S
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Looking Ahead
(p. 1)
Preview
• What do I know about
short stories?
• What do I want to learn
about short stories?
• How should I read short
stories?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
This introduction prepares you for the short stories you will
read in a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes the short story
as a literary form and explains its value. It describes the
elements within short stories that create meaning. It also offers
suggestions on how to read short stories.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Looking Ahead
➥
What do I already know about short stories?
Preview
➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
➥
What are the Literary Elements of this unit? One has been
written for you.
Plot and Setting
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Introductory Text: The Short Story
Genre Focus
(p. 2)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
What are the elements that shape a short story?
➥
Write the main idea of this introductory paragraph.
Plot and Setting in Short Stories
Where, When, and How
➥
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
try to understand the diagrams
as well as the text on the page.
Ask yourself: “Why was the
moment of the stepsisters
trying on the slipper charted as
the climax of the fairy tale of
‘Cinderella’?”
2
UNIT 1
What is setting, and what can it reveal in a story?
Sequence of Events
➥
Define the boldfaced terms. Use your own words if you like.
T H E S H ORT S TORY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Genre Focus
(p. 3)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
Record
Theme and Character in Short Stories
Protagonist and Antagonist
➥
Define the boldfaced terms. Use your own words if you like.
Implied and Stated Themes
➥
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
apply what you already know
to the new information you are
learning. Ask yourself: “What
else do I know about the
boldfaced terms on this page?”
Define theme, and identify two ways it is conveyed in a story.
Narrator and Voice in Short Stories
Point of View
➥
Define point of view. List the different types of point of view.
Language Choices
➥
What is voice, and how do authors convey voice?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the Genre Focus. Summarize the key topics.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Literary Analysis
(pp. 4–5)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the literary
elements that are discussed on
these pages.
How do literary elements shape a short story?
➥
What is the subject of “Old Man at the Bridge”?
“Old Man at the Bridge”
➥
What is the point of view of the narrator? How do you know?
➥
What are some characteristics of the old man? How do you
react to them?
4
UNIT 1
T H E S H ORT S TORY
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Un i t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Literary Analysis
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write an event
or idea in the story that reveals
its theme.
(pp. 4–5)
Record
➥
What is the climax of the story? Why is this moment the
climax?
➥
What is the theme of the story? Is it stated or implied?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the story. Write a summary of what you have learned.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(p. 6)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
TO THE POINT Write a few key
ideas.
➥
Complete this sentence: These paragraphs are about . . .
Identifying Sequence
➥
How can a writer discover sequence in experience?
Appreciating Realistic Characters
➥
What are some qualities of the realistic writing that Raymond
Carver describes?
6
UNIT 1
T H E S H ORT S TORY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(pp. 6–7)
Record
TO THE POINT Write key ideas.
Enjoying Suspense
➥
What are some qualities of the “lead-in passage” that John
Gardner describes?
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about all the text
on these pages. Ask yourself:
“What is the meaning of the
quote from Italo Calvino?”
Storytelling with Urgency
➥
Why is it important to tell a story with urgency?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on Writers on Reading. Summarize what you have
learned using a concept web. It has been started for you.
identify cause and effect
reading short stories
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Wrap-Up
(p. 8)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Reread your
notes. Write the terms and
ideas you would like to review.
Guide to Reading Short Stories
➥
Write the key ideas.
Elements of Short Stories
➥
8
UNIT 1
Define the boldfaced terms. Use your own words if you like.
T H E S H ORT S TORY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Short Story
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then think about what you learned using this
synthesis journal. An example has been completed for you.
What I Learned
• Plot is the sequence of events in a story.
How I Can Use It
• I can chart plot diagrams of the stories
that I read in this unit.
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Introductory Text: The Short Story
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice for the following
questions.
Choose the multiple-choice option that best
matches each question below. You may not
use all of the options.
1. The story’s time period and location, or
its _____, can reveal the story’s ideas,
customs, values, and beliefs of
characters.
A. plot
B. climax
C. setting
D. implied theme
2. The _____ of a story is its emotional
high point.
A. climax
3. exposition _____
4. protagonist _____
5. voice _____
6. first-person point of view _____
A. the logical result of the climax
of a story
B. the distinctive language style
used by the narrator or author of a
story
B. resolution
C. the main character in a story
C. setting
D. the central message of a story
D. characterization
E. the person who tells the story,
identifable through the use of the
pronoun “I”
F. the introduction of character,
setting, and conflict in a story
Short Answer
7. What can the setting of a story reveal?
8. Write the elements of plot in the order they occur in a story.
9. What is a story’s theme?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this unit. As you learn more about the
ideas in the unit, add to your notes.
10
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Encountering the Unexpected
Big Idea
(p. 9)
Preview
• How is the theme of
Encountering the
Unexpected reflected in
short stories?
This introduction prepares you for the short stories you will
read in this part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the
themes you will encounter. It also discusses the literary
elements of plot and setting.
• How do plot and setting
contribute to the message
of a story?
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on a
page as well as the text: “How
did the artist create a sense of
the unexpected in his
painting?”
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the Big Idea. Then,
use the web below to brainstorm your ideas about how people cope
when they suddenly encounter the unexpected. It has been started
for you.
the unexpected
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EN C OUN TERIN G THE U NEXPECTED
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Encountering the Unexpected
Literary Focus
(pp. 10–11)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Recall what you
already know about the key
topic of this page. Write it here.
How do short stories create events and places?
➥
Recall the setting of a story that is familiar to you. Explain
why it was essential to the story.
Setting
➥
What are all the aspects of setting? Why do authors choose
certain settings?
➥
What do the details of the setting in the excerpt from Shirley
Jackson’s “The Summer People” reveal about the story?
Plot
➥
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Write the key characteristics of plot.
E NC OUNT E R I NG THE UN EX P EC TED
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Encountering the Unexpected
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
meaning of an element of plot
you have not yet defined.
Record
Exposition
➥
What do you learn in the exposition of a story?
Rising Action
➥
What happens during the rising action of a story?
Climax
➥
What are characteristics of the climax of a story?
Falling Action
➥
What is the falling action of a story?
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EN C OUN TERIN G THE U NEXPECTED
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Encountering the Unexpected
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then write the definition of
setting and label the plot diagram below.
Climax
Apply
1. What might an author try to convey to the reader through setting?
2. How can you recognize the climax of a story?
3. What should happen at the time of the resolution of a story?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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E NC OUNT E R I NG THE UN EX P EC TED
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
STO RY T E LLI NG IS A S OLD
AS MANKIND
Literary Element
Building Background
Joyce Carol Oates was born in New York State in 1938.
She has spent her long and prolific career writing stories,
poems, novels, and essays. Oates is known for her dark
stories set in American locales, peopled with characters
marred by violence. In 1969, she was awarded the
National Book Award for her novel Them. In the
following selection, Oates traces the history of the short
story and how it has evolved with the voices of such
writers as Mark Twain.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Literature, like most things, develops over time.
However, the purpose of literature has remained
essentially unchanged: to excite with the unexpected.
With a classmate, discuss the following questions:
•
•
What kinds of stories do you like best? Why?
When you are reading a story, how does it influence
the way you perceive the world?
Read to discover the history of the short story and
elements of fiction used by writers such as Mark
Twain.
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Historical
Influences
Evaluating historical influences involves examining
how the social influences of a historical period affect
the characters, plots, and settings of a literary work.
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Cause
and Effect
Relationships
An effect is what happens; a cause is what makes it
happen. To identify cause and effect relationships
means to recognize the ways in which events
described in a literary work cause other events to
occur. As you read, try to determine the causes and
the effects. Remember that one cause can have
multiple effects, and that effects sometimes become
causes.
Figurative language is language used for descriptive
effect, in order to convey ideas or emotions. Figurative
expressions are not literally true but express some
truth beyond the literal level. Figurative language can
include such elements as metaphor, personification,
and simile.
Big Idea
Encountering the Unexpected
What do people expect their futures to bring? Many
people expect that tomorrow will be very much like
today. How, then, do people cope when they suddenly
encounter the unexpected? In the following selection
Oates discusses the unexpected development of the
American short story.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “Storytelling
Is as Old as Mankind.” When you come across an
unfamiliar word, you can often break it down into
parts—prefix, root, and suffix—for clues to its meaning.
multiplicity (mul´ tə plis ə tē) n. a large number;
p. 16 The writer was competent in a multiplicity of genres
and styles.
prolongation (prō lon ā shən) n. an extension in
time or length; p. 16 Mildred’s presentation led to a
dramatic prolongation of the meeting.
ebb (eb) v. to recede or gradually lessen;
p. 16 As the day wore on, the students’ attention spans
began to ebb.
reclamation (rek´ lə māshən) n. the recovery of
something lost; p. 17 The city began a water reclamation
program, in order to cut down on waste.
ingenuous (in jen´ ū əs) adj. without sophistication or
worldliness; p. 17 Although he held a degree from Yale, the
man’s manners and speech were ingenuous.
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Figurative Language
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Informational Text
Storytelling Is As Old As Mankind
Literary Element
Figurative Language Remember
that figurative language is not
literally true, but expresses some
truth beyond the literal level. A simile
is a type of figurative language that
compares two seemingly unlike
things using like or as.
• What is being compared in
the passage?
• What makes this comparison
a simile?
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Historical
Influences Recall that when you
evaluate historical influences, you
examine the social influences of a
historical period on a literary work or
genre. How did an increase in literacy
contribute to the development of the
literary short story?
Vocabulary
multiplicity (mul´ tə plis ə tē) n. a
large number
prolongation (prō lon ā shən) n.
an extension in time or length
ebb (eb) v. to recede or gradually
lessen
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Joyce Carol Oates
The “literary” short story, the meticulously constructed short
story, descends to us by way of the phenomenon of magazine
publication, beginning in the nineteenth century, but has as its
ancestor the oral tale.
We must assume that storytelling is as old as mankind, at least as
old as spoken language. Reality is not enough for us—we crave the
imagination’s embellishments upon it. In the beginning. Once upon a
time. A long time ago there lived a princess who. How the pulse quickens,
hearing such beginnings! such promises of something new, strange,
unexpected! . . .
Like a river fed by countless small streams, the modern short
story derives from a multiplicity of sources. Historically, the
earliest literary documents of which we have knowledge are
Egyptian papyri1 dating from 4000–3000 B.C., containing a work
called, most intriguingly, Tales of the Magicians. The Middle Ages
revered such secular works as fabliaux,2 ballads,3 and verse
romances; the Arabian Thousand and One Nights 4 and the Latin tales
and anecdotes of the Gesta Romanorum,5 collected before the end of
the thirteenth century, as well as the one hundred tales of
Boccaccio’s6 The Decameron, and Chaucer’s7 Canterbury Tales, were
enormously popular for centuries. Storytelling as an oral art, like
the folk ballad, was, or is, characteristic of non-literate cultures, for
obvious reasons. Even the prolongation of light (by artificial
means) had an effect upon the storytelling tradition of our
ancestors. The rise in literacy marked the ebbing of interest in old
fairy tales and ballads, as did the gradual stabilization of languages
and the cessation8 of local dialects in which the tales and ballads
had been told most effectively. (The Brothers Grimm9 noted this
1. Papyri are papers made from the stems or pith of the papyrus, which is a tall aquatic plant.
2. Fabliaux are medieval verse tales with comic themes about life.
3. Ballads are short narrative poems that are supposed to be sung. They have simple stanzas
and a refrain, and are often folk in origin.
4. The Thousand and One Nights is a collection of tales about Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad
the Sailor. Their author and the date when they were written are unknown.
5. Gesta Romanorum is a collection of anecdotes and tales in Latin.
6. Giovanni Boccacio (1313–1375) was an Italian poet and scholar. He most likely wrote The
Decameron from 1348–1353. The Decameron, which means “Ten Days’ Work,” contains
one hundred stories.
7. Geoffrey Chaucer (1342/43–1400) was a famous English poet. The Canterbury Tales, his
seminal work, tells the story of about thirty pilgrims who convene at a London Inn to travel to
and from Thomas à Becket of Canterbury’s shrine.
8. Cessation means “the act of coming to a stop.”
9. The Brothers Grimm was the nickname for Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785–1863) and
Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786–1859), who wrote collections of folktales, including Kinder- und
Hausmärchen, which is commonly known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
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Informational Text
phenomenon: if, in High German, a fairy tale gained in superficial
clarity, it “lost in flavor, and no longer had such a firm hold on the
kernel of meaning.”)
One of the signal accomplishments of American literature, most
famously exemplified by the great commercial and critical success
of Samuel Clemens, is the reclamation of that “lost” flavor—the
use, as style, of dialect, regional, and strongly (often comically)
vernacular10 language. Of course, before Samuel Clemens cultivated
the ingenuous-ironic persona of “Mark Twain,” there were dialect
writers and tale-tellers in America (for instance, Joel Chandler
Harris,11 creator of the popular “Uncle Remus” stories); but Mark
Twain was a phenomenon of a kind previously unknown here—
our first American writer to be avidly read, coast to coast, by all
classes of Americans, from the most high-born to the least cultured
and minimally literate. The development of mass-market
newspapers and subscription book sales made this success
possible, but it was the brilliant reclamation of the vernacular in
Twain’s work (the early “The Celebrated Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County,”12 for instance) that made him into so
uniquely American a writer, our counterpart to Dickens.
Twain’s rapid ascent was by way of popular newspapers, which
syndicated features coast to coast, and his crowd-pleasing public
performances, but the more typical outlet for a short story writer,
particularly of self-consciously “literary” work, was the magazine.
Virtually every writer, from Washington Irving13 and Nathaniel
Hawthorne14 onward, began his or her career publishing short
fiction in magazines before moving on to book publication; in the
nineteenth century, such highly regarded, and, in some cases, highpaying magazines as The North American Review, Harper’s Monthly,
Atlantic Monthly, Scribner’s Monthly (later The Century), The Dial, and
Graham’s Magazine (briefly edited by Edgar Allan Poe15) advanced
the careers of writers who would otherwise have had financial
difficulties in establishing themselves. In post-World War II
America, the majority of short story writers publish in smallcirculation “literary” magazines throughout their careers.
It is all but unknown for a writer to publish a book of short stories
without having published most of them in magazines beforehand.
10. Vernacular means “the everyday speech of a country or region.”
11. Joel Chandler Harris (1848–1908) was an American author of folktales. Uncle Remus was a
character created by him in a series of adult and children’s books.
12. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a tall tale that tells of a narrator who
goes to the gold mining town of Angel’s Camp and meets Simon Wheeler, who tells him the
story of a pet frog that competed in jumping races.
13. Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American novelist and short story writer.
14. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was a well-known American novelist and short-story
writer.
15. Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American short story writer and poet.
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Big Idea
Encountering the
Unexpected What was unexpected
about this new development in the
short story?
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Cause and Effect
Relationships What are the causes
of this trend in short story
publication?
✔ Reading Check
What made Mark Twain a
“uniquely American” author,
according to Oates?
Vocabulary
reclamation (rek´ lə māshən) n.
the recovery of something lost
ingenuous (in jen´ ū əs) adj. without
sophistication or worldliness
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Sequence organizers can be helpful tools for
arranging events described in a literary work. Fill in the
organizer below with the major events in the
development of the modern, literary short story. In
each box, also describe what effect each event had.
First Event
Second Event
Third Event
The stabilization of languages caused interest in ballads and fairy tales to ebb.
Fourth Event
Fifth Event
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Informational Text
Vocabulary Practice
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Cause and Effect Relationships In this
selection Oates gives several causes for the
development of the modern short story. In your
opinion, which of the historical causes described had
the greatest influence on this development? Be sure to
support your answer with evidence from the text.
Understanding Word Parts Words are made up of
different parts. There are three main word parts:
prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
•
•
•
A root is the most basic part of a word. For
example, the word burn is the root of the word
burning.
A prefix is a word part that can be added to the
beginnings of other words. The prefix pre- means
“before.” When added to the word heat, the word
becomes preheat, and means to “heat before.”
A suffix is a word part that can be added to the
ends of other words. The suffix -ion, for example,
can be added to the ends of some words to turn
them into nouns. When -ion is added to the verb
project, it becomes the noun projection.
1. Which of the following has a prefix meaning
“many”?
(a) multiplicity
(b) prolongation
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Historical Influences In your opinion,
how important was Twain’s “reclamation of the
vernacular”? Can you find evidence of the technique in
stories today, or was its appeal limited? Explain.
2. Which of the following has no suffix?
(a) ebb
(b) ingenuous
(c) secular
3. Which of the following has a prefix that means
“extending out”?
(a) prolongation
(b) reclamation
(c) ebb
Literary Element
Figurative Language Read the following sentence:
“Storytelling as an oral art, like the folk ballad, was, or
is, characteristic of non-literate cultures, for obvious
reasons.” Is this an example of figurative language?
Explain.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Making Choices
Looking Ahead
(p. 93)
Preview
• How is the theme of
Making Choices reflected
in short stories?
• How are theme and
character conveyed in a
story?
This introduction prepares you for the short stories your read
in this part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the themes
you will encounter. It also discusses the literary elements of
theme and character.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about the art on a
page as well as the text: “How
does this painting relate the
theme of this introduction?”
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of theme. Then,
consider situations when you have been faced with difficult choices.
Chart the situations and their outcomes based on your decisions
using the graphic organizer below.
Situation
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Outcome
MAK I NG C H OI C ES
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Making Choices
Literary Focus
(p. 94)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
Record
How do short stories develop themes and
create characters?
➥
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
think about the topics on a page
as well as the passages of
fiction. Ask yourself: “What do
I think is the theme of Amy
Tan’s “Two Kinds”?
How do your feelings affect the choices you make?
Theme
➥
Define theme. Use your own words, if you like.
➥
What is the difference between a stated theme and an
implied theme?
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MAK I NG CHO ICES
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Un it 1 , Pa r t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Making Choices
Literary Focus
Reduce
(p. 95)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topics of this page.
Author’s Purpose
➥
For what reasons or purposes may an author write a work?
Character
➥
Chart the characteristics of the four different types of
characters.
Characterization
➥
Define direct and indirect characterization. Use your own
words if you like.
22
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MAK I NG C H OI C ES
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Un i t 1 , Pa r t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Making Choices
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then, write the definitions to the terms you are having
trouble remembering, using this two-column chart. Some of it has been filled in for you.
Term
Theme
Stated theme
Definition
the central message of a story
a theme that is stated directly
Apply
Answer the following questions.
1. What is the difference between stated and implied themes?
2. What are the similarities and differences between indirect and direct characterization?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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MAK I NG CHO ICES
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
C RY O F T H E A N C I E N T M A R I N E R
Building Background
In “Cry of the Ancient Mariner,” author and environmentalist Carl Safina examines the reasons why marine
life is rapidly depleting. In his discussion of the
underregulated fishing industry, chemical and solid waste
pollution, and the failures of governments to protect the
seas that surround them, Safina diagnoses the problems
faced by the world’s oceans and provides some possible
solutions.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Some people take the planet for granted and expect
that it will remain unchanged forever. Most people,
however, understand that the environment must be
protected if the planet is going to continue to sustain
life. With a classmate discuss the following questions:
•
•
What things can you do in your own life to help
protect the environment?
What other issues might need to be taken into
account when people consider establishing
environmental regulations?
Read to discover the author’s viewpoint on saving
ocean life.
Reading Strategy
Determining the Main
Idea and Supporting
Details
Determining main idea involves finding the most
important thought the author is trying to convey about
his or her subject. To determine the main idea, note
how the author organizes the text. Look for details the
writer uses to support the main idea.
Active Reading Focus
Drawing Conclusions
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose
An author’s purpose is an author’s intent in writing a
literary work. Authors typically write for one or a
combination of the following reasons: to persuade, to
inform, to explain, to entertain, or to describe.
Big Idea
Making Choices
Throughout our lives we are faced with difficult
choices. Sometimes our choices affect only us. Other
times the choices we make have long-term and
widespread consequences. In the following selection,
the author presents a difficult to solve, real-world
problem and the choices that must be made in order
to solve it.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “Cry of the
Ancient Mariner.” As you read, use context clues to
help unlock the meaning of these and other words
you do not know.
forage (fo r ij) v. to search for food or other supplies;
p. 25 After setting up camp, we began to forage for berries
and edible plants.
disgorge (dis go rj) v. to dislodge from the throat;
p. 25 The cat coughed as it tried to disgorge the food stuck
in its windpipe.
aquaculture (ak wə kul´ chər) n. the raising of
aquatic animals for food; p. 27 Aquaculture is a thriving
industry in the Pacific Northwest, providing salmon for
much of the country.
foresight (fo r s¯ t´) n. the ability to imagine or predict
future situations or problems; p. 28 Luke demonstrated a
good deal of foresight by packing extra batteries.
habitable (hab ə tə bal) adj. suitable for living in;
p. 28 Joe’s cabin may have been rustic, but it was entirely
habitable.
When you draw conclusions, you use a number of
pieces of information to make a general statement
about people, places, events, and ideas. As you read,
notice details that help you make a general statement
about the selection.
24
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C RY OF T H E ANC IEN T MARIN ER
6/19/06 4:18:34 PM
Informational Text
Cry of the Ancient Mariner
Active Reading Focus
By Carl Safina
“Even in the middle of the deep blue sea,
the albatross feels the hard hand of humanity”
At the lonely center of the North Pacific Ocean, farther from just
about everything than just about anywhere, lies Midway Atoll, a
coral reef enclosed by a lagoon. I’ve come with Canadian writer
and zoologist Nancy Baron to the world’s largest Laysan albatross
colony—400,000 exquisite masters of the air—a feathered nation
gathered to breed, cramming an isle a mile by two.
Ravenous, goose-size chicks so jam the landscape that it
resembles a poultry farm. Many have waited more than a week for
a meal, while both parents forage the ocean’s vast expanse. An
adult glides in on 7-ft. wings. After flying perhaps 2,000 miles
nonstop to return here, in 10 minutes she will be gone again,
searching for more food. She surveys the scene through lovely dark
pastel-shadowed eyes, then calls, “Eh-eh-eh.” Every nearby chick
answers, but she recognizes her own chick’s voice and weaves
toward it.
Aggressive with hunger, the whining chick bites its parent’s bill
to stimulate her into throwing up her payload. The adult hunches,
vomiting, pumping out fish eggs and several squid. The chick
swallows in seconds what its parent logged 4,000 miles to get. The
chick begs for more. The adult arches her neck and vomits again.
Nothing comes. We whisper, “What’s wrong?”
Slowly comes the surreal sight of a green plastic toothbrush
emerging from the bird’s gullet. With her neck arched, the mother
cannot fully pass the straight brush. She tries several times to
disgorge it, but can’t. Nancy and I can hardly bear this.
The albatross reswallows and, with the brush stuck inside,
wanders away.
Message from the Albatross
In the world in which albatrosses came from, the birds
swallowed pieces of floating pumice, or lightweight, vocanic glass,
for the fish eggs stuck to them. Albatrosses transferred this survival
strategy to toothbrushes, bottle caps, nylon netting, toys, and other
floating junk. Where chicks die, a pile of colorful plastic particles
that used to be in their stomachs often marks their graves.
Through the intimate bond between parent and offspring flows
the continuity of life itself. That our human trash stream crosses
even this sacred bond is evidence of a wounded world, its
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Drawing Conclusions When you
draw conclusions, you use a
number of pieces of information to
make a general statement. What
general statement can you make
about Safina’s attitude toward
albatrosses?
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose An author’s
intent in writing a literary work is
referred to as the author’s purpose.
What does this passage suggest to
you about Safina’s purpose for writing
this selection?
✔ Reading Check
What did Safina witness an
albatross attempting to disgorge
from its throat?
Vocabulary
forage (fo r ij) v. to search for food or
other supplies
disgorge (dis go rj) v. to dislodge
from the throat
C RY OF THE AN C IENT MA R INER
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Informational Text
Reading Strategy
Determining the Main Idea and
Supporting Details To determine
the main idea find the most
important thought the author is trying
to convey about his or her subject.
What does this sentence suggest to
you about this selection’s main idea?
Active Reading Focus
Drawing Conclusions Based on
this passage, what conclusion can
you draw about Safina’s opinion of
commercial fishing? What course of
action concerning this industry do
you suspect he would recommend?
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose What does this
statement reveal about Safina’s
purpose for writing?
26
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relationships disfigured. The albatross’s message: Consumer
culture has reached every watery point on the compass. From sunbleached coral reefs to icy polar waters, no place, no creature,
remains apart.
Set the Record Straight
If albatrosses’ eating plastic seems surprising, so do many of the
oceans’ problems. The facts often defy common perceptions.
Examples:
• Most people think oil spills cause the most harm to ocean life.
They don’t. Fishing does. When a tanker wrecks, news crews
flock to film gooey beaches and dying animals. Journalists rush
right past the picturesque fishing boats whose huge nets and
1,000-hook longlines cause far more havoc on the marine world
than spilled oil.
Fishing annually extracts more than 80 million tons of sea
creatures worldwide. An additional 20 million tons of unwanted
fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and turtles get thrown overboard,
dead. Overfishing has seriously reduced major populations of cod,
swordfish, tuna, snapper, grouper, and sharks. Instead of sensibly
living off nature’s interest, many fisheries have mined the wild
capital, and famous fishing banks lie bankrupt, including the
revered cod grounds of New England and Atlantic Canada.
Enforcing fishing limits—to give the most devastated fish
populations a chance to rebuild—could ultimately enable us to
catch at least 10 million more tons of sea life than we do now.
Government-subsidized shipbuilders and fleets drive much of the
overfishing. Ending those subsidies—as New Zealand has already
done—would mean paying less to get more in the long run.
• Most ocean pollution doesn’t come from ships. It comes
from land. Gravity is the sea’s enemy. Silt running off dirt roads
and clear-cut forest land ruins coral reefs and U.S. salmon rivers.
Pesticides and other poisons sprayed into the air and washed into
rivers find the ocean. (Midway’s albatrosses have in their tissues as
much of the industrial chemicals called PCBs as do Great Lakes
bald eagles.) The biggest sources of coastal pollution are waste
from farm animals, fertilizers, and human sewage. They can spawn
red tides and other harmful algae blooms that rob oxygen from the
water, killing sea life. The Mississippi River, whose fine heartland
silt once built fertile delta wetlands, now builds in the Gulf of
Mexico a spreading dead zone—almost empty of marine life—the
size of New Jersey. Improving sewage treatment and cleaning up
the runoff from farms will be increasingly vital to preserving
coastal water quality.
C RY OF T H E ANC IEN T MARIN ER
6/19/06 4:18:35 PM
Informational Text
• Fish farming—aquaculture—doesn’t take pressure off wild fish.
Many farms use large numbers of cheap, wild-caught fish as feed
to raise fewer shrimp and fish of more profitable varieties. And
industrial-scale fish- and shrimp-aquaculture operations sometimes
damage the coastlines where the facilities are located. The farms
can foul the water, destroy mangroves and marshes, drive local
fishers out of business, and serve as breeding grounds for fish
diseases. In places such as Bangladesh, Thailand, and India, which
grow shrimp mainly for export to richer countries, diseases and
pollution usually limit a farm’s life to 10 years. The companies then
move and start again.
To avoid becoming just another environmental headache,
aquaculture needs standards. Raising fish species foreign to the
local habitat should be discouraged, since escapees can drive out
native fish or infect them with disease. Penning fish in open
waterways is also problematic. Even when the impact on the
environment is minimized—as it is with well-run Maine salmon
farms—rows of large fish corrals in natural waterways can be
eyesores. Fish farming is best done in indoor, onshore facilities. The
fish rarely escape, and the wastewater can be treated before being
released. Growing vegetarian species such as tilapia is ideal, since
they don’t have to be fed wild fish.
• The biologically richest stretches of ocean are more disrupted
than the richest places on land. Continents still have roadless
wilderness areas where motorized vehicles have never gone. But on
the world’s continental shelves, it is hard to find places where boats
dragging nets haven’t etched tracks into sea-floor habitats. In
Europe’s North Sea and along New England’s Georges Bank and
Australia’s Queensland coast, trawlers, boats used for catching fish
in large nets, may scour the bottom four to eight times every year.
And the U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries hardly deserve the
name. Commercial and recreational fishing with lines, traps, or nets
is allowed almost everywhere in these “sanctuaries.”
New Zealand and the Philippines are among the countries that
have set up reserves in which fish are actually left alone. Marine
life tends to recover in these areas, then spread beyond them,
providing cheap insurance against overfishing outside the reserves.
Though the oceans’ problems can seem overwhelming, solutions
are emerging and attitudes are changing. Most people have shed
the fantasy that the sea can provide food forever, lessen endless
pollution, and accept unlimited trash. In 1996, the U.S. passed the
Sustainable Fisheries Act, which set up rules against overfishing—a
recognition that protecting sea life is good business. Some fish,
such as striped bass and redfish, are recovering because of catch
limits. Alaskan, Falkland, Australian, and New Zealand longline
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Active Reading Focus
Drawing Conclusions Based on
this passage, what conclusion can
you draw concerning Safina’s belief
about the impact of aquaculture?
Big Idea
Making Choices What choice did
people make about the ocean in the
past? What choice does Safina
suggest should have been made?
✔ Reading Check
1. According to Safina, what causes
the most harm to ocean life?
2. According to Safina, what kind of
fish farming has the least negative
impact?
Vocabulary
aquaculture (ak wə kul´ chər) n.
the raising of aquatic animals for food
C RY OF THE AN C IENT MA R INER
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Informational Text
boats are taking care not to kill albatrosses. Turtles are being saved
by trapdoors in shrimp nets so they can escape.
Reading Strategy
Determining the Main Idea and
Supporting Details Does this
statement seem like an accurate
summation of this selection’s main
idea? Why or why not?
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose A rhetorical
question is a question for which no
answer is expected. What does
Safina’s use of a rhetorical question
to close this selection suggest about
his purpose for writing?
Vocabulary
foresight (fo r s¯ t´) n. the ability to
imagine or predict future situations or
problems
habitable (hab ə tə bal) adj. suitable
for living in
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Joining Together to Help the Seas
The oceans’ future depends most of all on international
cooperation. Working through the U.N., the world’s nations have
outlawed giant drift nets. Other treaties to protect the seas and the
fish in them are in the works, though not all nations are
enthusiastic about signing them. Among top fishing nations, Japan
relies heavily on seafood and yet is exceptionally disrespectful
toward the ocean. It has disagreed with international limits on
catches of southern bluefin tuna and used “scientific research” as a
phony justification for hunting whales in the International Whaling
Commission’s Antarctic Sanctuary. A world leader in so many
ways, Japan would greatly improve its moral position by helping
to heal the seas.
A good place to start that healing would be to give albatrosses a
future with more food and less plastic trash to swallow. A U.N.
marine-pollution treaty makes dumping plastics illegal, but
policing at sea is impractical. Nonetheless, ships could be required
to carry up-to-date equipment for handling garbage and storing
liquid waste that might otherwise be dumped into the water.
Routine discharges put more oil into the sea than major spills.
We should expand our idea of zoning from land to sea. Instead
of an ocean free-for-all, we should mark some areas for fishing only
with traps and hooks and lines, and others as wildlife sanctuaries.
As we’ve seen with once rich cod grounds, if we don’t declare
some areas closed by foresight, they will declare themselves closed
by collapse. The map of the land has many colors, while in most
minds the sea is still the blank space between continents. Let’s start
coloring in that blue expanse and map a more sensible future for
the sea.
Four centuries ago, poet John Donne wrote that no man is an
island entire to himself. On Midway an albatross gagging on a
toothbrush taught me that no island is an island. In the oceans, less
is truly more: less trash, less habitat destruction, and catching fewer
fish now will mean more food later on for both people and wildlife.
The oceans make our planet habitable, and the wealth of oceans
spans nutritional, climatological, biological, aesthetic, spiritual,
emotional, and ethical areas. Like the albatross, we need the seas
more than the seas need us. Will we understand this well enough
to reap all the riches that a little restraint, cooperation, and
compassion could bring?
— Updated 2005, from TIME, Special Earth Day Issue,
Spring 2000
C RY OF T H E ANC IEN T MARIN ER
6/19/06 4:18:36 PM
Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Use a problem-solution organizer to record the main
problems and solutions discussed in the article. The
left box contains problems, and the right box contains
solutions. Go back and reread the text to identify the
problems Safina discusses, and the solutions he
proposes. Then fill in the organizer.
Solution(s)
Problem(s)
• Most ocean pollution comes from
land; pesticides, farm waste, and
human sewage create massive
dead zones in ocean
• Improve sewage treatment; clean
up farm run-off
Active Reading Focus
Drawing Conclusions In this selection, Safina
references poet John Donne by stating that, “no man
is an island entire to himself.” Based on this statement,
what conclusion can you draw about Safina’s
suggestions for remedying the ocean’s problems?
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C RY OF THE AN C IENT MA R INER
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Informational Text
Reading Strategy
Determining Main Idea What is the main idea of
this selection? Provide evidence from the text in
support of your answer.
Vocabulary Practice
Using Context Clues When using difficult words,
writers often provide clues to the meaning of those
words. Some common context clues include:
•
•
•
•
•
giving definitions or synonyms
giving concrete examples
giving contrast clues (opposite meanings)
giving descriptions
using modifying words or phrases
For each passage from the text, study the underlined
parts, and tell how that information gives a clue to the
word’s meaning.
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose Most authors write with more than
one purpose in mind. In a short paragraph describe at
least two of Safina’s purposes in writing this selection.
1. “Many have waited more than a week for a meal,
while both parents forage the ocean’s vast
expanse.”
2. “With her neck arched, the mother cannot fully
pass the straight brush. She tries several times to
disgorge it, but can’t.”
3. “Fish farming—aquaculture—doesn’t take pressure
off wild fish.”
30
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C RY OF T H E ANC IEN T MARIN ER
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Un i t 1 , Pa r t 3
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Life Transitions
Big Idea
(p. 191)
Preview
• How is the theme of Life
Transitions reflected in
short stories?
• How do the literary
elements of point of view
and voice function in a
story?
This introduction prepares you for the short stories you will
read in this part of a unit of your textbook. It introduces the
themes you will encounter. It also discusses the literary
elements of theme and character.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what
you have read.
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. Consider
events that have been life transitions for you. You can chart them in
your notes, as shown.
Life Transitions
Going to school for the first time
➥
What should you be thinking of when you are reading the short
stories in this unit?
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LIFE TR A NSITIO NS
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Life Transitions
Literary Focus
(p. 192)
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
How are stories told?
➥
What elements shape the style of a story?
Point of View
➥
What is first-person point of view?
➥
What is the difference between third-person limited point of
view and third-person omniscient point of view?
32
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L I F E T R ANS I T I ON S
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Un i t 1 , Pa r t 3
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Life Transitions
Literary Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
(p. 193)
Record
➥
Define the boldfaced terms under the appropriate head below.
Voice
Diction
Tone
Style
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LIFE TR A NSITIO NS
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Un it 1 , Pa r t 3
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Life Transitions
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then, write the definitions to the terms you are having
trouble remembering, using this two-column chart. Some of it has been filled in for you.
Term
First-person point of view
Definition
Narration told through “I”
Apply
Answer the following questions:
1. What are the different types of point of view?
2. What is style, and what are some other elements that help create it?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
34
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L I F E T R ANS I T I ON S
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Un i t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Looking Ahead
(p. 309)
Preview
• What do I know about
nonfiction?
• What are some topics of
nonfiction writing?
• How should I read
nonfiction?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
This introduction prepares you for the nonfiction you will read
in this unit of your textbook. It distinguishes nonfiction as a
literary form and explains its value. It describes the types of
nonfiction and the elements within nonfiction writing that
create meaning. It also offers suggestions on how to read
nonfiction.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Looking Ahead
➥
What do I already know about nonfiction?
Preview
➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
➥
What are the Literary Focuses of this unit? One has been
written for you.
Narrative Nonfiction: Autobiography and Biography
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NO NFICTIO N
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Un it 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Genre Focus
(p. 310)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
What forms make up the nonfiction genre?
MY VIEW Who would you like
to read an autobiography or
biography of?
Narrative Nonfiction: Autobiography and Biography
➥
What are some reasons authors write about themselves and
about other people?
• Writing About Oneself
➥
What is the difference between autobiography and memoir?
• Writing About Another
➥
36
UNIT 2
What are the main characteristics of a biography?
NONF I C T I ON
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Un i t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Genre Focus
(p. 311)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write a few ideas
from this page.
Record
Expository and Personal Essay
➥
What are formal and informal essays? What are their purposes?
Persuasive Essay and Speeches
➥
Discuss the main types of persuasive writing and define
argument.
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the Genre Focus. Summarize the key topics.
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Un it 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Literary Analysis
(pp. 312–313)
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the literary
elements that are discussed on
this page.
From Zora Neale Hurston
➥
Who is this selection about?
➥
How do you know this excerpt is not an essay or a speech?
➥
What elements tell you which type of nonfiction you are
reading here?
38
UNIT 2
NONF I C T I ON
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Un i t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Literary Analysis
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself questions about
important information in the
text. Here is an example:
“What genre is Hurston known
for?”
(pp. 312–313)
Record
➥
What part of Zora Neale Hurston’s life is the focus of this
excerpt?
➥
From what work is this selection excerpted?
Recap
➥
Summarize the key details from this excerpt.
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Un it 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(p. 314)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
➥
Complete this sentence: These paragraphs are about . . .
The Individual Perspective
➥
According to this writer, what is the chief value of personal
essayists?
The Challenge of Honesty
➥
According to this writer, what may be the failure of an
autobiographer?
40
UNIT 2
NONF I C T I ON
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Un i t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Writers on Reading
(p. 315)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write a few key
ideas.
A Reliable Narrator
➥
What are some qualities of a reliable narrator?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on Writers on Reading. Complete this organizer to
summarize what you have learned.
Main Idea:
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Detail 3:
Detail 4:
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Wrap-Up
(p. 316)
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Reread your
notes. Write the terms and
ideas you would like to review.
Guide to Reading Nonfiction
➥
Identify the different purposes of authors of nonfiction and
what you should look for in that type of nonfiction. A two-column
chart has been started for you.
Author’s Purpose
To inform or to explain
What to Look For
Thesis statement and its
support
Elements of Nonfiction
➥
Write the definitions to the boldfaced terms you need to review
one more time.
42
UNIT 2
NONF I C T I ON
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Summarize them in a few
paragraphs. Be sure to include the types of nonfiction and the author’s purposes
associated with them.
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NO NFICTIO N
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Nonfiction
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best term for the following
items.
Choose the option that best matches each
item below. You may not use all of the
options.
1. A/an _____ is writing about the author
that focuses on one or a few specific
events.
A. autobiography
B. memoir
C. biography
D. persuasive essay
2. ______ essays are intended to change
the way people act and think.
A. Autobiographical
3.
4.
5.
6.
argument _____
biography _____
formal essay _____
informal essay _____
A. tells the story of the writer’s entire
life
B. tells the story of another person’s
life
C. is intended to change the way
people think or act
B. Personal
D. is intended to entertain
C. Persuasive
E. includes logic, evidence, and reason
to sway the reader’s opinion
D. Expository
F. is intended to explain, to inform, or
to persuade
Short Answer
7.
What are the differences between autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs?
8.
Explore the author’s purpose for writing informal and formal essays.
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements of this unit. As you learn more about the ideas in the unit,
add to your notes.
44
UNIT 2
NONF I C T I ON
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Power of Memory
Big Idea
(p. 317)
Preview
• How is the theme of The
Power of Memory
reflected in nonfiction?
This introduction prepares you for the nonfiction you will read
in this part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the themes
and types of writing you will encounter.
• What are the differences
between biography,
autobiography, and
memoir?
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the two types of memories mentioned in the introductory
paragraph. Record your memories that match these two types using
the two-column chart below. Two examples are given.
Shared Personal Memories
Historical Memories
Meeting a new friend
Last year’s Fourth of July
celebration
➥
What should you be thinking of when you are reading the
nonfiction in this part of the unit?
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THE P OWER O F MEMO RY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Power of Memory
Literary Focus
(p. 318)
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
How do you write about a real person, including
yourself?
➥
What is the art of biography writing?
➥
Who is the subject of the excerpt from Maya Angelou’s Living
Well. Living Good?
➥
As you learned in the introduction, autobiography is writing
about oneself and biography is writing about another person. Do you
think Living Well. Living Good is an autobiography or biography?
Why?
46
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THE P OW E R OF MEM O RY
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Introductory Text: The Power of Memory
Literary Focus
(p. 319)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the roots
and meanings of the words
biography and
autobiography.
Record
Biography
➥
Write the key characteristics of biographies.
Autobiography
➥
Write the key characteristics of autobiographies.
Memoir
➥
How is a memoir similar to and different from an
autobiography?
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THE P OWER O F MEMO RY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Power of Memory
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Summarize what you have
learned about biography, autobiography, and memoir, using this three-column
chart.
Biography
Autobiography
Memoir
Apply
1. What is a biography?
2. What is the difference between autobiography and memoir?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements of this part. As you learn more about the ideas in the part,
add to your notes.
48
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
from LOO K I NG FO RWA R D T O T H E
PA ST
Literary Element
Building Background
Frank McCourt is part of a tradition of literary figures,
including James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, and
William Trevor, who all left Ireland but continued to write
about the country after leaving it. Born in Brooklyn, New
York, McCourt moved to Ireland with his Irish immigrant
parents and spent his early years in Limerick. McCourt’s
Pulitzer prize-winning memoir, Angela’s Ashes (1996),
recounts his troubled childhood growing up amid
poverty, abandonment, and death. In this profile, Carolyn
T. Hughes discusses how McCourt turned the harsh
experiences of his childhood into a poignant, even
humorous, memoir, told from the perspective of a child.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Frank McCourt told his students that “Anything is worth
writing about.” Before you read, discuss the following
questions with a partner:
•
•
What experiences in your own life might be worth
writing about now or later?
How might an ordinary experience become an
interesting subject for your writing?
Read to learn about the journey that led to the writing
of Angela’s Ashes.
Reading Strategy
Recognizing Author’s
Purpose
Recognizing author’s purpose involves identifying the
author’s intent for writing a literary work. Authors may
write for any or all of the following purposes: to
persuade, inform, explain, entertain, or describe.
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Cause-andEffect Relationships
Style
Style refers to the expressive qualities that distinguish
an author’s work, including word choice and the length
and arrangement of sentences, as well as the use of
figurative language and imagery.
Big Idea
The Power of Memory
Recall that shared personal memories can create a
bond between the writer and reader, and historical
memories have the power to shape our national
identity. Consider how a memoir like McCourt’s may
be able to do both.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “Looking
Forward to the Past.” The origin of each word, or its
etymology, can be found in a dictionary. A word’s
origin reflects the history and development of the
word, and can help you unlock its meaning.
ostensibly (os tensə blē) adv. seemingly; apparently;
p. 50 He signed up as a volunteer ostensibly to do
charitable work, but his real motivation was to network.
jaded (jādid) adj. wearied or spiritless; p. 50 Her
mother’s harsh words left her jaded and depressed.
poignancy (poinyon sē) n. the quality of appealing to
the emotions; p. 50 The poignancy of the opera caused
Vera to weep aloud in spite of herself.
audit (o dit) v. to register for and attend an academic
course without receiving credit; p. 50 Although the
professor limited her course to fifteen students, at least five
students always asked to audit it.
derivative (di rivə tiv) adj. copied or adapted from
others; p. 52 Although the paper was thought to be entirely
original, it was actually derivative of several other papers.
An effect is something that happens; a cause is what
makes it happen. To analyze cause-and-effect
relationships means to examine the ways in which
events described in a literary work cause other events
to occur. As you read, try to determine how causes
and effects are related. Remember that one cause can
have multiple effects, and that effects sometimes
become causes.
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Big Idea
The Power of Memory Based on the
passage, what seems to have been
McCourt’s most immediate reason for
writing his memoir, Angela’s Ashes?
Reading Strategy
Recognizing Author’s
Purpose Note that recognizing
author’s purpose involves identifying
the author’s intent for writing a
literary work, such as to persuade,
inform, explain, entertain, or describe.
What might Hughes’s purpose be in
quoting this statement from McCourt?
Vocabulary
ostensibly (os tensə blē) adv.
seemingly; apparently
jaded (jādid) adj. wearied or
spiritless
poignancy (poinyon sē) n. the
qulity of appealing to the emotions
audit (o dit) v. to register for and
attend an academic course without
receiving credit
50
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from Looking Forward to the Past
A Profile of Frank McCourt
By Carolyn T. Hughes
Angela’s Ashes is McCourt’s attempt to come to terms with his
childhood—one so beset by tragedy and misfortune that he has
called his work simply an “epic of woe.” In 1930 McCourt was
born in Brooklyn, to Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela. His
parents, crushed by the recent death of their daughter and by the
alcoholic Malachy’s inability to hold a job, moved the family back
to Ireland—but bad luck followed them. McCourt’s twin brothers
died shortly after the family returned to Limerick, and he himself
almost perished from typhoid fever. But the greatest challenge for
McCourt to contend with was his father’s continued drinking and
eventual abandonment of the family. In 1941 Malachy McCourt, Sr.,
left for England, ostensibly to get a factory job. He was supposed
to send home money. It never happened. He disappeared, leaving
his family to fend for themselves.
At times, the landscape of Angela’s Ashes is so bleak it’s
downright depressing. But McCourt’s use of a child narrator (an
idea that came to him “in a dream”) works to soften the tragedy of
the story. Instead of being delivered through an adult’s jaded
vision, the events are relayed from an innocent, even lighthearted
perspective, without judgment, which makes room for the
poignancy and humor so celebrated by readers and critics.
Much of Angela’s Ashes is devoted to the depiction of McCourt’s
educational experience at Leamy National School in Limerick,
where, he says, his teachers had about as light a touch as the
Marquis de Sade.1 When McCourt became a teacher himself, he
was determined to provide a creative, productive environment for
his students. He began his career in 1959 at McKee Vocational and
Technical High School on Staten Island, and after 13 years went on
to Stuyvesant High, where he became the kind of teacher students
dream of. Claire Costello, a Stuyvesant alumna who now works as
a Manhattan attorney, says that McCourt was so popular that
students who were not assigned to his classes would audit them
(now not many teachers can claim that kind of approbation).2 In
class McCourt was known to play Irish records, and even to break
out his harmonica and play a tune or two himself. While his
approachability endeared him to his students, McCourt insists he
learned more from his students than they did from him.
1. The Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) was a French nobleman and writer codemned for his
abusive behavior.
2. Approbation means “praise.”
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Informational Text
“I found that in the beginning of my teaching career, just like
everybody else, I would put on an act and try to be what I wasn’t:
the teacher who knows everything. Sometimes I felt I was saying
things that I really didn’t mean. ‘Oh, yeah, I understand The Waste
Land,3 I understand Shakespeare,’ when I might not. But one of the
things I discovered in the classroom was honesty. I don’t mean it
from any moral or ethical sense. It’s a powerful tool to tell the
truth.”
The practice of telling the truth was an exercise that would
prove important for McCourt. And in having to articulate to his
students lessons on how to write, he was formulating the strategies
that he would eventually put to use himself. “I told them, ‘If you
write, it’s like having a Geiger counter 4 you can run over your life.
There will be hot spots—when you had your first fight with your
brother, when you fell in love, your first kiss, and all that—then
you look for conflict.’ The ol’ conflict dilemma. I also told them to
get the stories of their fathers and mothers and grandparents. There
are grandparents sitting at home now who are mines of
information and stories. They want to tell them, but most people
cast them aside. I told my students, ‘There’s your material; get out
the tape recorder, take notes.’ ”
McCourt acknowledges being an avid note taker himself and
says it helped him with the writing of his book. “I’ve been keeping
journals for forty years, and there were things I discovered in my
notebooks that I had forgotten about—like how my mother was
attracted to my father and his hangdog look. Well, one of the
reasons why he had a hangdog look then was because he had just
been released from three months in prison for hijacking a truck. He
thought it was full of cans of pork and beans, but it turned out to
be buttons.” McCourt laughs. “I had forgotten about that
completely.”
Although McCourt has spent much of his life teaching writing,
he admits he’s suspicious of today’s writing programs. “It depends
on the person, but I think you’d be better off falling in love, you’d
be better off getting rejected by someone. These are valuable
experiences!” McCourt says. “My point is, anything is worth
writing about. I gave my students an assignment. I said, ‘Look,
pick somebody in this class, don’t look at them right now, but you
are going to write about this person. You are going to observe them
for a month and then write.’ It forced them, encouraged them, to
observe another human being and perhaps realize the significance
of insignificance.”
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Cause-and-Effect
Relationships What cause-andeffect relationship about memory and
writing is McCourt describing by
revealing this story?
✔ Reading Check
1. How did McCourt’s educational
experience in Limerick affect his
adult life?
2. According to McCourt, where can
students find material to write
about?
3. The Waste Land is a famous poem by American writer T. S. Eliot.
4. A Geiger counter, an instrument with a tube and electronic equipment, is used to detect
particles of radiation.
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Informational Text
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Cause-and-Effect
Relationships What was the effect
of McCourt’s initial attitude about his
family’s poverty as it concerned his
writing?
Cross-Curricular Link
Performing Arts In A Couple of
Blaguards, Frank McCourt begins by
telling the audience, “Malachy stood
behind the bar and told his
customers stories. I stood before the
blackboard and told my students
stories. At holiday gatherings we told
our families stories. They said, ‘Why
not get together, cobble these stories
into a script and tell the world.’” How
might Frank McCourt’s role as a
performer have helped him write his
memoir?
Vocabulary
derivative (di rivə tiv) adj. copied or
adapted from others
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One of the major reasons it took McCourt so long to write
Angela’s Ashes was that he didn’t understand the truth of his own
lesson. He marginalized the significance of his early life, believing
that his family’s crushing poverty rendered their story
inconsequential. His background, in fact, was a source of
embarrassment: “In my twenties and thirties, I didn’t want to write
about being poor. I had to overcome a lot of fear—overcome the
shame. I guess you could say I was suffering from low selfesteem.”
In 1969, McCourt did attempt to write a book about his life. “I
think I called it If You Were in the Lane. It was completely derivative.
I was imitating everybody, even Evelyn Waugh.5 Imagine me
writing like Evelyn Waugh!”
Although he didn’t give up writing completely, it was 25 years
before McCourt would try to tackle his own story again. In the
meantime he wrote the occasional article—he published a piece
about a Jewish cemetery in Limerick in the Village Voice and a series
of articles about New York for the Manhattan Spirit. McCourt even
tried his hand as an entertainer. In 1984, he starred with brother
Malachy, an actor, Manhattan bar owner, and renowned bon
vivant,6 in a cabaret show called A Couple of Blaguards. The show
premiered in New York and went on to Chicago, San Francisco,
and Ireland. The brothers McCourt sang Irish songs and told stories
about their family. (The play, directed by Howard Platt, is now
enjoying a successful run at New York’s Triad Theater.)
When McCourt retired from teaching and finally turned to the
writing of Angela’s Ashes, it didn’t take long for him to finish it. He
wrote most of the book at his home in Pennsylvania. “I started it in
October 1994. The actual writing took a year—actually, less than a
year because I was distracted by various events and people
visiting, so maybe it took ten months of straight writing. I just got
up every morning and I wrote. What was it Red Smith7 said? ‘You
sit at the desk and you open a vein.’ That was my routine. I wrote
on the right-hand page of my notebook, and on the left-hand side I
jotted down notes about what I needed to dig deeper into.”
McCourt didn’t have any set schedule for how many hours a day
he would work: “I didn’t push. . . . When it came, it came.” Having
his wife as a sounding board helped. “I would read passages to
Ellen—and she thought it was fine.”
McCourt showed the first 159 pages to Molly Friedrich, a New
York City neighbor who also happens to be a literary agent. She
5. Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) was a British writer, known for his satiric portrayals of the British
upper classes.
6. Bon vivant means “a person with sophisticated tastes, especially of food and drink.”
7. Red Smith (1905–1982) was an American sports columnist.
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Informational Text
agreed to work with McCourt, and passed the manuscript on to
Nan Graham, editor in chief at Scribner. Graham, no easy sell,
loved it: “I edited The Liar’s Club,”8 Graham says. “I’ve seen a lot of
memoirs, but from the beginning I thought the work and voice in
Angela’s Ashes was extraordinary. I bought the book within a week.
There really was so little to do as far as editing. This man is a
stunning writer.”
McCourt handed in his final draft to Graham on November 30,
1995, the 328th anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Swift,9 one of
McCourt’s favorite writers (he has a thing for significant dates).
Although working on the book was emotionally draining, McCourt
felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment when he finished
it. “I would have been very unhappy if I had died without writing it.
I would have begged for another year. ‘Jesus, give me another year!’ I
would have died howling. So I did it, and I’m glad it’s out of the way.
You see, it’s a great thing to know why you were put on this earth. I
was a teacher, but teaching was my second occupation. All the time I
was a writer not writing, just jotting things down in notebooks and so
on. But all the time the book was developing in my head as I taught
the kids at Stuyvesant. It was forming and waiting to be born.”
Literary Element
Style Describe the style of McCourt’s
voice as quoted in the paragraph.
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Cause-and-Effect
Relationships How did McCourt’s
time teaching affect the writing of
Angela’s Ashes?
✔ Reading Check
1. What was A Couple of Blaguards?
2. When did McCourt first attempt a
book about his life? What
happened?
8. The Liar’s Club was author Mary Karr’s popular 1995 memoir.
9. Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Irish author celebrated for his satiric prose in such
works as Gulliver’s Travels.
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
A main idea organizer can help you determine and
better understand the main idea and supporting
details of a selection. Begin by filling in the top row
with what you believe to be the main idea of “Looking
Forward to the Past.” Then add details from the
selection that support the main idea. Finally, add the
conclusion reached in the selection.
Main Idea:
Supporting Details
• McCourt became a teacher, encouraging his students to view their life experiences
and seemingly insignificant things as subjects worth writing about.
•
• Finally, after retiring from his teaching career, McCourt documented his childhood
experiences in his memoir Angela’s Ashes.
Conclusion:
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Cause and Effect Relationships Toward
the end of the excerpt from Looking Forward to the
Past, Hughes quotes McCourt as saying, “I was a
teacher, but teaching was my second occupation. All
the time I was a writer not writing, just jotting things
down in notebooks and so on.” Consider the effects of
teaching on McCourt’s writing. How might teaching
have hindered McCourt’s writing career? How do you
think it helped his writing?
54
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Reading Strategy
Recognizing Author’s Purpose Throughout the
selection, Hughes shows the reader the reasons
McCourt wrote Angela’s Ashes. What do you think is
Hughes’s purpose in writing on this topic?
Vocabulary Practice
Using Word Origins Word origins, or etymology,
reflect the history and development of words. Use the
clue to the word origin to determine the correct word
from the choices below. You may need to use a
dictionary to help you.
1. This word comes from the Latin word auditus,
meaning “a hearing.”
(a) ostensibly
(b) derivative
(c) audit
(d) jaded
2. This word comes from a Latin word meaning “to
show.”
(a) poignancy
Literary Element
Style Throughout the selection, Hughes quotes
McCourt’s words directly, rather than paraphrasing
them. What is the effect of this? How does this
technique contribute to the reader’s view of both
Hughes’s and McCourt’s writing styles?
(b) ostensibly
(c) jaded
(d) derivative
3. This word comes from the Middle English word for
a broken-down horse.
(a) jaded
(b) poignancy
(c) audit
(d) derivative
4. This word comes from a Latin word meaning “to
draw off.”
(a) ostensibly
(b) derivative
(c) poignancy
(d) jaded
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Introductory Text: Quests and Encounters
Big Idea
(p. 399)
Preview
• How is theme of Quests
and Encounters reflected
in nonfiction?
This introduction prepares you for the nonfiction you will read
in this part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the themes
and types of essays you will encounter.
• What are the different
types of essays?
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
• Why do authors write
essays?
Record
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Reflect on the
question presented to you in
the text: “When in my life have
I been asked to take on the role
of hero?”
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
Quests and Encounters
ordinary
extraordinary
hero
➥
What should you be thinking about when you are reading the
nonfiction in this part of the unit?
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Introductory Text: Quests and Encounters
Literary Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
(p. 400)
Record
Why write an essay?
➥
What are the reasons an author might write an essay?
➥
What is the subject of the excerpt from “The Tucson Zoo”?
➥
Why might the author of “The Tucson Zoo,” Lewis Thomas,
have written this essay?
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Introductory Text: Quests and Encounters
Literary Focus
(p. 401)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write key ideas.
The Essay
➥
Define the essay as a form.
Expository Essays
➥
What are the purposes for writing an expository essay?
Personal Essays
➥
Define the key characteristics of a personal essay.
Persuasive Essays
➥
58
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What are the key characteristics of persuasive essays?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Quests and Encounters
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then summarize the key aspects
of expository, personal, and persuasive essays, using the three-column chart
below.
Expository Essay
Personal Essay
Persuasive Essay
Apply
1. What are the similarities and differences between expository and personal essays?
2. What is a persuasive essay?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements of this part. As you learn more about the ideas in the part,
add to your notes.
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Introductory Text: Keeping Freedom Alive
Big Idea
(p. 443)
Preview
• How is the theme of
Keeping Freedom Alive
reflected in nonfiction?
This introduction prepares you for the nonfiction you will read
in this part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the themes
and types of writing you will encounter.
• What are the different
approaches to persuasion?
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about images on
a page as well as the text:
“What does this painting say
about freedom?”
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
Keeping Freedom Alive
expression
dreams
sacrifices
➥
What should you be thinking when you are reading the
nonfiction in this part of the unit?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Keeping Freedom Alive
Literary Focus
(p. 444)
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about the images
as well as the text on a page:
“What does the image of Susan
B. Anthony reflect about her
character?”
Record
What makes writing convincing?
➥
List the methods a writer can use to change a person’s mind.
➥
What is the subject of the excerpt by Susan B. Anthony? What
are some points she makes in this excerpt?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Keeping Freedom Alive
Literary Focus
(p. 445)
Reduce
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about the
passages of nonfiction on the
page used as examples of
argument and persuasion:
“How do these passages appeal
to an audience?”
Persuasion
➥
Define persuasion. What are its key elements?
➥
What important skills must a persuasive writer develop?
Argument
➥
How does argument function within a persuasive essay or
speech?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Keeping Freedom Alive
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then summarize what you have learned about
argument and persuasion, using the two-column chart below.
Argument
Persuasion
Apply
1. If you were trying to persuade school officials to create a debate club, what kind of
argument might you use?
2. What is an emotional appeal?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements of this part. As you learn more about the ideas in the part,
add to your notes.
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
WHAT I SEE I N LI NCOLN ’S E Y ES
Building Background
Like Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama’s background
made him an unlikely candidate for a seat in U.S.
government. Obama’s mother was born in Kansas, and
his father was born in Kenya, working as a goatherd until
he won a scholarship to study in the United States. The
younger Obama attended Harvard University in 1991,
where he was the first African American to serve as
president of the Harvard Law Review. After an
unsuccessful race for Congress, Obama won a seat in
the U.S. Senate in 2004, making him the first African
American male Democrat elected to the Senate since
Reconstruction (1877).
Setting Purposes for Reading
Visual representations, such as portraits and
photographs, often reveal more about a person than
his or her physical features. Before you read, discuss
the following questions with a partner:
•
•
Have you ever been moved by a portrait or
photograph of someone? Why?
How might an image reveal characteristics that a
written description could not?
Read the selection to learn Barack Obama’s view of
President Lincoln, both as a strong political leader and
as a complex, compassionate person worth emulating.
Reading Strategy
Analyzing a Visual
Image
When you analyze a visual image, you look at the
separate parts of the image in order to understand the
effect of the image as a whole.
Active Reading Focus
Summarizing
When you summarize, you state the main ideas of a
passage or selection in your own words and in a
logical sequence. Keep in mind that, unlike a
paraphrase, a summary will always be shorter than the
passage, as it includes only the main ideas. As you
read, summarize major parts of the selection to help
you remember the important ideas.
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Literary Element
Characterization
The methods a writer uses to reveal the personality of
a person or character are referred to as
characterization. In direct characterization, the writer
makes explicit statements about a character. In
indirect characterization, the writer reveals a
character through his or her words, thoughts, and
actions, and through what other characters think and
say about that character.
Big Idea
Keeping Freedom Alive
Freedom means something different to each person.
There is freedom to do and say what one wants, and
then there is real freedom: the freedom to dream big
and go for it, even if it means sacrificing some lesser
freedoms along the way.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “What I See
in Lincoln’s Eyes.” As you read the selection, use your
knowledge of synonyms—or words with the same or
nearly the same meanings—to figure out the meanings
of unfamiliar words.
melancholy (melən kol´ē) n. sadness or gloom;
p. 65 After his father died, the boy was nearly consumed
with grief and melancholy.
capacity (kə pasa tē) n. the ability to do something;
p. 66 The capacity to learn foreign languages easily
diminishes as we grow older.
innovate (inə vāt´) v. to begin or introduce
something new; p. 66 The company focused on their need
to innovate to meet customers’ increasing demands.
clarion (klarē ən) adj. shrill and clear; p. 66 Tony’s
mother’s voice was a clarion call ordering him home for
dinner.
summon (sumən) v. to rouse or call forth; p. 67 The
bell would summon the children inside after recess ended.
W HAT I S E E IN L INC OLN’ S EYES
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Informational Text
What I See in Lincoln’s Eyes
Active Reading Focus
By Barack Obama
He never won Illinois’ Senate seat. But in many ways, he
paved the way for me.
My favorite portrait of Abraham Lincoln comes from the end of
his life. In it, Lincoln’s face is as finely lined as a pressed flower. He
appears frail, almost broken; his eyes, averted from the camera’s
lens, seem to contain a heartbreaking melancholy, as if he sees
before him what the nation had so recently endured.
It would be a sorrowful picture except for the fact that Lincoln’s
mouth is turned ever so slightly into a smile. The smile doesn’t
negate the sorrow. But it alters tragedy into grace. It’s as if this
rough-faced, aging man has cast his gaze toward eternity and yet
still cherishes his memories—of an imperfect world and its fleeting,
sometimes terrible beauty. On trying days, the portrait, a
reproduction of which hangs in my office, soothes me; it always
asks me questions.
What is it about this man that can move us so profoundly? Some
of it has to do with Lincoln’s humble beginnings, which often
speak to our own. When I moved to Illinois 20 years ago to work as
a community organizer, I had no money in my pockets and didn’t
know a single soul. During my first six years in the state
legislature, Democrats were in the minority, and I couldn’t get a bill
heard, much less passed. In my first race for Congress, I had my
head handed to me. So when I, an African American man with a
funny name, born in Hawaii of a father from Kenya and a mother
from Kansas, announced my candidacy for the United States
Senate, it was hard to imagine a less likely scenario than that I
would win—except, perhaps, for the one that allowed a child born
in the backwoods of Kentucky with less than a year of formal
education to end up as Illinois’ greatest citizen and our nation’s
greatest President.
Summarizing When you
summarize, you state the main ideas
of a passage or selection in your own
words and in a logical sequence.
Summarize Obama’s view of
Lincoln’s portrait.
Reading Strategy
Analyzing a Visual Image
Remember that when you analyze a
visual image, you look at the
separate parts of the image in order
to better understand the effect of the
image as a whole. Why does Obama
focus on Lincoln’s smile? How does
Obama’s analysis help the reader
understand the effect of Lincoln’s
portrait?
Vocabulary
melancholy (melən kol´ē) n.
sadness or gloom
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Informational Text
Big Idea
Keeping Freedom Alive Based on
the passage, how might Lincoln’s life
be an example of how one can
“keep freedom alive”?
Vocabulary
Synonyms Based on the context
clues in the passage, determine a
synonym for the word innovate.
Literary Element
Characterization Is Obama using
direct or indirect characterization in
the passage? Based on his
characterizations of Lincoln so far,
why might this particular portrait of
Lincoln inspire Obama?
Vocabulary
capacity (kə pasa tē) n. the ability
to do something
In Lincoln’s rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language
and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain
determined in the face of repeated defeat––in all this, he reminded
me not just of my own struggles. He also reminded me of a larger,
fundamental element of American life—the enduring belief that we
can constantly remake ourselves to fit our larger dreams.
A connected idea attracts us to Lincoln: As we remake
ourselves, we remake our surroundings. He didn’t just talk or
write or theorize. He split rail, fired rifles, tried cases, and pushed
for new bridges and roads and waterways. In his sheer energy,
Lincoln captures a hunger in us to build and to innovate. It’s a
quality that can get us in trouble; we may be blind at times to the
costs of progress. And yet, when I travel to other parts of the
world, I remember that it is precisely such energy that sets us
apart, a sense that there are no limits to the heights our nation
might reach.
Still, as I look at his picture, it is the man and not the icon that
speaks to me. I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the
Great Emancipator. As a law professor and civil rights lawyer and
as an African American, I am fully aware of his limited views on
race. Anyone who actually reads the Emancipation Proclamation
knows it was more a military document than a clarion call for
justice. Scholars tell us too that Lincoln wasn’t immune from
political considerations and that his temperament could be
indecisive and morose.
But it is precisely those imperfections—and the painful selfawareness of those failings etched in every crease of his face and
reflected in those haunted eyes—that make him so compelling. For
when the time came to confront the greatest moral challenge this
nation has ever faced, this all too human man did not pass the
challenge on to future generations. He neither demonized the
fathers and sons who did battle on the other side nor sought to
diminish the terrible costs of his war. In the midst of slavery’s dark
storm and the complexities of governing a house divided, he
somehow kept his moral compass pointed firm and true.
What I marvel at, what gives me such hope, is that this man
could overcome depression, self-doubt, and the constraints of
biography and not only act decisively but retain his humanity. Like
a figure from the Old Testament, he wandered the earth, making
mistakes, loving his family but causing them pain, despairing over
the course of events, trying to divine God’s will. He did not know
how things would turn out, but he did his best.
innovate (inə vāt´) v. to begin or
introduce something new
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Informational Text
A few weeks ago, I spoke at the commencement at Knox College
in Galesburg, Illinois. I stood in view of the spot where Lincoln and
Stephen Douglas held one of their famous debates during their race
in 1858 for the U.S. Senate. The only way for Lincoln to get onto the
podium was to squeeze his lanky frame through a window,
whereupon he reportedly remarked, “At last I have finally gone
through college.” Waiting for the soon-to-be graduates to assemble,
I thought that even as Lincoln lost that Senate race, his arguments
that day would result, centuries later, in my occupying the same
seat that he coveted. He may not have dreamed of that exact
outcome. But I like to believe he would have appreciated the irony.
Humor, ambiguity, complexity, compassion—all were part of his
character. And as Lincoln called once upon the better angels of our
nature, I believe that he is calling still, across the ages, to summon
some measure of that character, the American character, in each of
us today.
—From TIME, July 4, 2005
Active Reading Focus
Summarizing Summarize the
passage.
✔ Reading Check
1. Which portrait of Lincoln is
Obama’s favorite?
2. How was Obama’s rise into
politics like Lincoln’s?
Vocabulary
clarion (klarē ən) adj. shrill and clear
summon (sumən) v. to rouse or call
forth
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Complete this web with information about Abraham
Lincoln from the selection by Barack Obama.
Lincoln’s Physical
Traits
• frail, lined face
• mouth turned into a
slight smile
Lincoln’s Personality
• complicated
• sometimes depressed
and full of self-doubt
Lincoln’s Actions
• rose from poverty
with no formal
education
What Others Say and Think
About Lincoln
Lincoln’s Words
Conclusions
Active Reading Focus
Summarizing Briefly summarize “What I See in
Lincoln’s Eyes” below.
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Vocabulary Practice
Reading Strategy
Analyzing a Visual Image Examine the details of
Lincoln’s portrait (page 492), and make your own
analysis. Pay close attention to his facial characteristics,
expression, position and gaze, and clothing. How does
your analysis agree with Obama’s? How does it differ?
Using Synonyms Recall that synonyms are words
with the same or nearly the same meanings.
Determine each word’s synonym from the choices
below.
1. Plagued by sadness, the new widow found that
activities she had once loved had lost their allure.
(a) melancholy
(b) innovate
(c) clarion
(d) capacity
2. The young composer knew she had the ability to
compose a great symphony, despite her
inexperience.
Literary Element
Characterization
Throughout the selection, Obama uses a favorite
portrait of Lincoln as a way to characterize the former
president. Through the selection, the reader also learns
much about Obama—including his own struggles,
accomplishments, and inspirations. Review the
selection, and then briefly characterize Obama based
on what you learned.
(a) summon
(b) capacity
(c) clarion
(d) innovate
3. The shrill sound of the car alarm caused passersby
to shake their fists at the flashing parked car, whose
owner was nowhere in sight.
(a) melancholy
(b) innovate
(c) capacity
(d) clarion
4. The goal of his speech was to call upon those with
the passion to lead.
(a) clarion
(b) melancholy
(c) summon
(d) innovate
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Looking Ahead
(p. 519)
Preview
• What is poetry?
• What do you already
know about poetry?
• What can poetry teach?
This introduction prepares you for the poetry you will read in
a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes poetry as a literary
form and explains its value. It describes the elements within
poetry that create meaning. It also offers suggestions on how
to read poetry.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking System
to record important points and remember what you have read.
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Looking Ahead
➥
How does poetry compare with other literature?
Preview
➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
➥
What are the Literary Focuses of this unit? One has been
written for you.
Form and Structure
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Genre Focus
(p. 520)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
Record
➥
Complete this sentence: This section is about . . .
The Form and Structure of Poetry
➥
Define the boldfaced terms. Use your own words, if you like.
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them
now. Answer them as you
reread your notes.
The Language of Poetry
➥
Which elements contribute to the language of poetry?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Genre Focus
(p. 521)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
➥
Give a brief definition of each boldfaced term. One definition
has been written for you.
Imagery: words or phrases that appeal to the five senses.
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the elements of poetry. Then sum up this section
using this thinking tree. Some of it has been filled in for you.
Form and Structure
Sound of Poetry
Language of Poetry
speaker
imagery
meter
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Literary Analysis
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them
now. Answer them as you
reread your notes.
(p. 522)
Record
O Captain! My Captain!
➥
Complete this sentence: This section is about . . .
➥
Which literary elements help create the form and structure of
this poem? What does the analysis say about how these help create
its meaning?
ANY QUESTIONS? Use them to
organize your notes. Here’s an
example: How do literary
elements create meaning in a
poem?
➥
Which literary elements help create the sound of the poem?
What does the analysis say about how these help create its meaning?
➥
Which literary elements help create the language of the poem?
What does the analysis say about how these help create its meaning?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Literary Analysis
Reduce
(p. 523)
Record
MY VIEW Write comments here.
➥
Which literary elements are noted in the description of the
poet’s early draft? Compare and contrast the early draft and the final
poem. Can you chart the comparison in your notes?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on the Literary Analysis of “O Captain! My Captain!”
Then sum up this section in a paragraph.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Writers on Reading
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
(p. 524)
Record
➥
Complete this sentence: These paragraphs are about . . .
Responding to a Poem
➥
Paraphrase the main idea of this paragraph.
Poetry in Context
➥
Complete this sentence: Poetry can be understood better when
it is read . . .
ANY QUESTIONS? If you’re
unsure of a head, ask a question
about it: “What is an Active
Reader?”
Being an Active Reader
➥
How is listening to music like reading poetry? Can you chart
the comparison in your notes?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(p. 525)
Record
TO THE POINT Write a few key
words.
Appreciating Poetry
➥
What are the main ideas in this paragraph? One has been
written for you.
• People think in bursts of images and details—like poetry.
ANY QUESTIONS? Use them to
organize your notes: “How can
following images help you
understand poetry?”
Understanding Poems
➥
Summarize the main idea of this paragraph.
Recap
➥
Review your notes on Writers on Reading. Then, sum up the main idea and
supporting details of this section. Some of these have been written for you.
Main Idea: Strategies for reading poetry
Detail 1: Respond with feelings and imagination.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Wrap-Up
(p. 526)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
Record
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then use the bulleted
lists on this page to write an outline of what you’ve learned about
the elements of poetry.
Guide to Reading Poetry
➥
Try using graphic organizers to summarize what you have
learned about reading poetry. This chart has been started for you.
Reading Poetry
• Poets use words differently.
Elements of Poetry
A. Form and Structure
1. Lines and stanzas
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Poetry
Summarize
➥
Use a concept web to summarize what you’ve learned about reading
poetry. One has been started for you.
Sound of
Poetry
Poetry
Form and
Structure
Reading
Poetry
Speaker
Read an
entire poem
several
times.
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Introductory Text: Poetry
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice for the following
questions.
Choose the definition that best matches each
term below.
1. In “O Captain! My Captain!” Whitman
uses _____ to compare Lincoln to a
father.
A. stanza
3. metaphor _____
4. alliteration _____
5. rhythm _____
B. metaphor
6. imagery _____
C. assonance
7. stanza _____
A. descriptive language used to
represent objects, feelings, and
thoughts
D. internal rhyme
2. The _____ is the voice that
communicates with the reader of a
poem.
A. imagery
B. meter
C. speaker
D. figure of speech
B. the pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in a line
C. a group of lines forming a unit,
separated from the next by a space
D. a figure of speech comparing two or
more things by stating that one
thing is another
E. repetition of consonant sounds at the
beginnings of words
Short Answer
8. How does poetry look different from prose?
9. How does the stanza structure of “O Captain! My Captain!” contribute to its meaning?
10. What are three strategies you learned for reading poetry?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this unit. As you learn more about the
ideas in the unit, add to your notes.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Energy of the Everyday
Big Idea
(p. 527)
Preview
• How does everyday life
inspire poets?
• What are some literary
terms that are new to me?
• How do form and
structure give meaning to
a poem?
Reduce
This introduction prepares you for the poetry you will read in
one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the theme of
the poetry you will read in that part. It also addresses the
literary elements of form and structure. These elements will be
a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking System
to record important points and remember what you have read.
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on
the page as well as the text:
“How was the artist of this
painting inspired by everyday
life?”
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
The Energy of the Everyday
Stop and smell the roses
Wonder of life
➥
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Restate this paragraph in your own words to clarify meaning.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Energy of the Everyday
Literary Focus
(p. 528)
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on a
page as well as the text: “Why
is this poem paired with these
literary elements?”
Record
Form
➥
What is the form of a poem? Use the boldfaced terms in your
answer.
Types of Stanzas
TO THE POINT Write a few key
words.
➥
Chart the relationships among the boldfaced terms.
Rhyme Scheme
➥
Define rhyme scheme.
➥
How does rhyme scheme relate to the couplet?
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Introductory Text: The Energy of the Everyday
Literary Focus
(p. 529)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
Meter
➥
Define iambic pentameter.
Foot; Scansion
➥
Outline the key features and definitions of scansion.
TO THE POINT Write a few key
terms related to scansion.
Structure
Lyric Poem; Free Verse
➥
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Define these terms briefly.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Energy of the Everyday
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Sum up the key ideas in a paragraph.
Apply
Answer the following questions.
1. What is the Big Idea?
2. What creates structure in a poem?
Write a paragraph that answers the following question.
3. What are the key aspects of meter, rhyme, and rhyme scheme?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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THE EN ERGY OF THE EVERYDAY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Loves and Losses
Big Idea
(p. 583)
Preview
• How can poetry express
loves and losses?
• How does the language of
poetry help express its
themes?
This introduction prepares you for the poetry you will read in
one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the theme of
the poetry you will read in that part. It also addresses the
literary elements poets use to create the language of poetry.
Poetic language will be a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking System
to record important points and remember what you have read.R
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write key words
about the theme.
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
Love
Loss
joy
insights
emptiness
ache
➥
Review your notes on the Big Idea. Then sum up the theme and
the questions you should keep in mind while reading the poems in
this part.
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L OV E S AND L OS S ES
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Loves and Losses
Literary Focus
(p. 584)
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on a
page as well as text: “Why is a
painting paired with a poem?”
ANY QUESTIONS? Asking
questions about heads: “What
do senses have to do with a
poem’s appeal?”
Record
How does poetry appeal to the senses?
➥
How are the painting and the poem alike and different? Can
you list the similarities and differences in your notes?
➥
What is the relationship between the poet’s sensory experience
and his poem?
➥
What are the “variety of senses” to which a poem might appeal?
Can you give an example of a sensory experience for each sense? One
has been written for you.
Sight: seeing the color and shape of an apple
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LOV ES A ND LO SSES
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Loves and Losses
Literary Focus
(p. 585)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write a few key
words about each literary
element.
Imagery
➥
What do “word pictures” contribute to a poem?
Figurative Language
➥
Chart the different types of figurative language. How does each
contribute to meaning?
ANY QUESTIONS? Ask about
terms you’re unsure of: “What
is a literal meaning?”
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Loves and Losses
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then write questions and answers
about the Big Idea and about the language of poetry. The first question and
answer have been provided. You can use some of the questions from your notes,
if you like.
Q: What is the poetry in this part of the textbook going to be about?
A: Loves and losses
Apply
Answer the following questions.
1. What is the Big Idea?
2. List the types of figurative language that are common in poetic language.
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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LOV ES A ND LO SSES
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
4 LIT T LE GI RLS
Literary Element
Building Background
The first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism,
Roger Ebert has made his famous “thumbs-up” stamp of
approval for movies familiar to millions of Americans.
(He received a star in Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in
2005 and has had his right thumb trademarked.)
Throughout his career, director Spike Lee has confronted
movie audiences with uncomfortable explorations of
race relations in the United States. Lee’s documentary
4 Little Girls received an Oscar nomination as Best
Documentary in 1998.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Representations of violence in film can be unpleasant,
startling, and upsetting. With a classmate, discuss the
following questions:
•
•
What makes historical images of violence different
from fictional images of violence?
Why might it be important to study historical events,
even if these events shock us?
Read to learn about the film 4 Little Girls and the
history of the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing
of 1963.
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Evidence
Evaluating evidence requires you to make a
judgment about the details an author presents in
support of a viewpoint. Consider each piece of
evidence and determine whether that evidence is fair
and logical.
Active Reading Focus
Distinguishing Fact
and Opinion
When you distinguish fact and opinion, you examine
a piece of information to determine whether it can be
proved true (fact) or whether it cannot (opinion). As
you read, pay attention to the claims made by the
author to determine which are fact and which are
opinion.
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Tone
Tone is an author’s attitude toward his or her subject
matter or the audience. Tone is conveyed through
elements such as word choice, punctuation, sentence
structure, and figures of speech.
Big Idea
Loves and Losses
Literature can express the joys and insights love can
bring as well as the emptiness and ache of its loss.
These feelings of love and loss can be romantic,
familial, or related to a larger feeling as in the film
reviewed in the following selection.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “4 Little
Girls.” When you come across an unfamiliar word, you
can often break it down into parts—prefix, root, and
suffix—for clues to its meaning.
coincidence (kō insi dəns) n. two or more events that
seem connected, but which are not actually related;
p. 89 My arrival just moments before Jonah’s speech was a
wonderful coincidence.
desegregate (dē serə āt´) v. to end a policy of
racial separation; p. 89 The plan to desegregate the schools
was met with resistance from those who did not believe that
different races should be united.
poised (poizd) adj. having a self-assured or dignified
manner; p. 89 The girls were both beautiful and poised,
and were well received at the party.
bar (bar) v. to prohibit or prevent; p. 90 Reggie planned
to bar his sister from entering his room.
rationalization (rash´ən əl i zāshən) n. an often
inappropriate attempt to justify or defend something
using logic; p. 90 The man’s rationalization for his crimes
did not actually justify them.
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Informational Text
4 Little Girls
Big Idea
By Roger Ebert
Spike Lee’s 4 Little Girls tells the story of the infamous
Birmingham, Ala., church bombing of September 15, 1963, when
the lives of an 11-year-old and three 14-year-olds, members of the
choir, were ended by an explosion. More than any other event, that
was the catalyst for the civil rights movement, the moment when
all of America could look away no longer from the face of racism.
“It was the awakening,” says Walter Cronkite1 in the film.
The little girls had gone to church early for choir practice, and
we can imagine them, dressed in their Sunday best, meeting their
friends in the room destroyed by the bomb. We can fashion the
picture in our minds because Lee has, in a way, brought them back
to life, through photographs, through old home movies and
especially through the memories of their families and friends.
By coincidence, I was listening to the radio not long after seeing
4 Little Girls, and I heard a report from Charlayne Hunter-Gault. In
1961, when she was 19, she was the first black woman to
desegregate the University of Georgia. Today she is an NPR2
correspondent. That is what happened to her. In 1963, Carole
Robertson was 14, and her Girl Scout sash was covered with merit
badges. Because she was killed that day, we will never know what
would have happened in her life.
That thought keeps returning: The four little girls never got to
grow up. Not only were their lives stolen, but so were their
contributions to ours. I have a hunch that Denise McNair, who was
11 when she died, would have made her mark. In home movies, she
comes across as poised and observant, filled with charisma. Among
the many participants in the film, two of the most striking are her
parents, Chris and Maxine McNair, who remember a special child.
Chris McNair talks of a day when he took Denise to downtown
Birmingham, and the smell of onions frying at a store’s lunch
counter made her hungry. “That night I knew I had to tell her she
couldn’t have that sandwich because she was black,” he recalls.
“That couldn’t have been any less painful than seeing her with a
rock smashed into her head.” Lee’s film re-creates the day of the
bombing through newsreel footage, photographs and eyewitness
reports. He places it within a larger context of the Southern civil
rights movement, and sit-ins and the arrests, the marches, the songs
and the killings.
Loves and Losses What loss does
Ebert express here? In your opinion,
why is he affected by this loss?
Active Reading Focus
Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
Recall that to distinguish fact and
opinion, you examine a piece of
information to determine whether it
can be proved true (fact) or whether
it cannot (opinion). What in this
passage is fact? What is opinion?
Vocabulary
coincidence (kō insi dəns) n. two
or more events that seem connected,
but which are not actually related
desegregate (dē serə āt´) v. to
end a policy of racial separation
1. Walter Cronkite (1916– ) was a CBS Evening News anchor from 1962–1981.
2. NPR, or National Public Radio, is a public radio network.
poised (poizd) adj. having a selfassured or dignified manner
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Informational Text
Active Reading Focus
Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
Identify any opinions in this passage.
What do Ebert’s opinion(s) add to
this passage?
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Evidence Recall that to
evaluate evidence you make a
judgment about the details an author
presents in support of a viewpoint.
What viewpoint does the information
in this passage support?
Birmingham was a tough case. Police commissioner Bull Connor
is seen directing the resistance to marchers and traveling in an
armored vehicle—painted white, of course. Gov. George Wallace
makes his famous vow to stand in the schoolhouse door and
personally bar any black students from entering. Though they
could not know it, their resistance was futile after September 15,
1963, because the hatred exposed by the bomb pulled all of their
rhetoric3 and rationalizations out from under them.
Spike Lee4 says he has wanted to make this film since 1983,
when he read a New York Times Magazine article by Howell
Raines about the bombing. “He wrote me asking permission back
then,” Chris McNair told me in an interview. “That was before he
had made any of his films.” It is perhaps good that Lee waited,
because he is more of a filmmaker now, and events have supplied
him a dénouement5 in the conviction of a man named Robert
Chambliss (“Dynamite Bob”) as the bomber. He was, said Raines,
who met quite a few, “the most pathological6 racist I’ve ever
encountered.” The other victims were Addie Mae Collins and
Cynthia Wesley, both 14. In shots that are almost unbearable, we
see the victims’ bodies in the morgue. Why does Lee show them?
To look full into the face of what was done, I think. To show racism
its handiwork. There is a memory in the film of a burly white
Birmingham policeman who after the bombing tells a black
minister, “I really didn’t believe they would go this far.” The man
was a Klansman,7 the movie says, but in using the word “they” he
unconsciously separates himself from his fellows. He wants to
disassociate himself from the crime. So did others.
Vocabulary
bar (bar) v. to prohibit or prevent
rationalization (rash´ən əl i zāshən)
n. an often inappropriate attempt to
justify or defend something using logic
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3. Here, rhetoric means “persuasive use of language.”
4. Spike Lee (1957– ) is a filmmaker known for his provocative films, including Do the Right
Thing, Malcolm X, and Summer of Sam.
5. Dénouement means “the outcome of a series of events.”
6. Here, pathological means “diseased.”
7. A Klansman is a member of the white supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan.
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Informational Text
Before long even Wallace was apologizing for his behavior and
trying to define himself in a different light. There is a scene in the
film where the former governor, now old and infirm,8 describes his
black personal assistant, Eddie Holcey, as his best friend. “I
couldn’t live without him,” Wallace says, dragging Holcey in front
of the camera, insensitive to the feelings of the man he is tugging
over for display.
Why is that scene there? It’s sort of associated with the morgue
photos, I think. There is mostly sadness and regret at the surface in
4 Little Girls, but there is anger in the depths, as there should be.
Literary Element
Tone What is the tone of this
passage? What does this passage
contribute to Ebert’s argument?
✔ Reading Check
1. What is the subject of Spike Lee’s
film 4 Little Girls?
2. What does Ebert claim the
bombing did to the rhetoric of
those resisting integration?
8. Here, infirm means “feeble.”
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Create a point-supporting points organizer to help
you track the author’s viewpoint and supporting points
in persuasive writing. Review the selection to identify
the main parts of Ebert’s argument. Then fill in the
organizer below. Add additional boxes as necessary.
Viewpoint or Thesis:
Supporting Point:
Supporting Point:
Those involved in the
anti-integration
movement began to
distance themselves
from it after the
bombing.
Supporting Point:
Active Reading Focus
Distinguishing Fact and Opinion Return to the
selection and locate a passage where Ebert presents
both fact and opinion. Do the facts and opinions work
to support the same viewpoint? Explain.
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Informational Text
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Evidence In your opinion, what is the
most persuasive piece of evidence in this selection?
Why do you find it so persuasive?
Literary Element
Tone Ebert employs different tones throughout this
selection, depending on the subject of the passage.
What tones did you detect as you read?
Vocabulary Practice
Understanding Word Parts Words are made up of
different parts. There are three main word parts:
prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
•
A root is the most basic part of a word. For
example, the word bore is the root of the word
boring.
•
A prefix is a word part that can be added to the
beginnings of other words. The prefix pre- means
“before.” When added to the word date, the word
becomes predate, and means to “come before.”
•
A suffix is a word part that can be added to the
ends of other words. The suffix -ion, for example,
can be added to the ends of some words to turn
them into nouns. When -ion is added to the verb
reject, it becomes the noun rejection.
1. Which of the following has a prefix that implies a
reversal?
(a) bar
(b) desegregate
(c) coincidence
2. Which of the following has no suffix?
(a) bar
(b) poised
(c) rationalization
3. Which of the following has a prefix that means
“jointly”?
(a) poised
(b) coincidence
(c) desegregate
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Issues of Identity
Big Idea
(p. 645)
Preview
• How does poetry teach
me about identity?
• What are some literary
terms that are new to me?
• What does sound
contribute to a poem?
Reduce
This introduction prepares you for the poetry you will read in
one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the theme of
poetry you will read in that part. It also addresses the literary
elements that create sound in a poem. These elements will be a
focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking System
to record important points and remember what you have read.
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on
the page as well as the text:
“Why is this painting paired
with this Big Idea?”
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words to
describe the theme?
Issues of Identity
The clothes you wear
Your interests
➥
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Restate this paragraph in your own words to clarify meaning.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Issues of Identity
Literary Focus
(p. 646)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
What makes poetry musical?
TO THE POINT Write words that
are unfamiliar to you.
Onomatopoeia
TO THE POINT Which words in
the Frost poem rhyme?
➥
What does this opening paragraph assert about poetry?
➥
Define the boldfaced term. Can you give an example of
onomatopoeia in the poem?
Rhyme
➥
Define the boldfaced terms.
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ISSUES O F I DEN TI TY
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Issues of Identity
Literary Focus
(p. 647)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
➥
How are these rhymes different from the rhymes on the previous
page?
Alliteration
➥
ANY QUESTIONS? Where have I
seen these sound devices used
before?
List characteristics of alliteration.
Assonance
➥
What characteristics make assonance a sound device?
Consonance
➥
List the similarities and differences between alliteration and
consonance.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Issues of Identity
Summarize
➥
Review your notes. Write the definitions of key terms and a clue to help
you recall what it is. An example has been done for you.
Alliteration: The two l’s in alliteration remind me that two consonants with similar
sounds create this effect.
Assonance:
Apply
1. What is the Big Idea?
Write a paragraph that answers the following question.
2. What are sound devices, and why do poets use them?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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B E FO R E YO U R E A D
W E A R E FA M I LY
Literary Element
Building Background
In “We Are Family,” contemporary fiction writer Chang-rae
Lee discusses a recent visit to South Korea—his own
birthplace and the home of most of his extended family.
Lee immigrated to the United States with his family in
1968, when he was not quite three years old. Although his
parents eventually considered the United States their true
home, Lee is conscious of the “strangeness” his family felt
initially as immigrants. Lee graduated from Yale University
and the University of Oregon, and he currently divides his
time between writing novels and teaching writing at
Princeton. Yet in spite of his successes, Lee recognizes the
cultural and personal stereotypes that have become
synonymous with his identity as an Asian American.
Despite language and cultural barriers, Lee’s visit to South
Korea reveals the comfort he finds in his extended family
through their uncomplicated, shared identity.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Most people struggle with identity at some time in their
lives, whether as children, as adults, or both. Before
you read, discuss the following questions with a
partner:
•
•
When have you struggled with your identity? What
factors make the struggle more difficult?
Do difficulties connected to identity seem to
increase or decrease with age? Why might this be?
Read to discover Chang-rae Lee’s identification with his
Korean family and culture.
Reading Strategy
Analyzing Cultural
Context
Analyzing cultural context involves determining how
the customs, beliefs, values, arts, and intellectual
activities of a group of people contribute to the
selection as a whole.
Active Reading Focus
Imagery
The “word pictures” that writers create to evoke an
emotional response are known as imagery. In creating
effective images, writers use sensory details, or
descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five
senses.
Big Idea
Issues of Identity
Multiple factors shape and change your identity as you
get older. Yet, through all the changes of life, part of
you does not change, but rather is an intrinsic part of
who you are.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “We Are
Family.” As you read the selection, use your knowledge
of antonyms—or words with opposite or nearly
opposite meanings—to figure out the meanings of
unfamiliar words.
ascend (ə send) v. to move upward; rise; p. 99 The
hikers decided to rest that evening and ascend the mountain
the next day.
alliance (ə l¯əns) n. a union or connection; p. 100
The sisters still felt a familial alliance, though they had not
seen each other in over fifty years.
gleaning (lēnin) v. collecting knowledge or
information, bit by bit; p. 102 The professor spoke at a
rapid pace, but the students continued gleaning what they
could.
mobile (mōbəl) adj. capable of moving; p. 102
Natasha’s twenty-five pound cat Claude was about as
mobile as a boulder.
earnestly (urnist lē) adv. seriously or sincerely; p. 103
The doctor earnestly asked the boy if he was feeling any
better.
Analyzing Text
Structure
When you analyze text structure, you examine the
relationship of parts of the text to each other and to
the selection as a whole. As you read, analyze the
structure of the selection and its effects.
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Informational Text
We Are Family
Reading Strategy
By Chang-rae Lee
During a visit to his native South Korea, novelist Chang-rae
Lee learns that living abroad and losing his language are no
barriers to belonging.
The last time I stood before my grandfather’s grave, in the
spring of 1989, it had been newly dug. My uncle had driven my
father and me to Yong-In City, one hour south of Seoul, so that we
could pay our respects. I remember the fog burning off to reveal
the new season bursting forth in blooms of wild cherry and
persimmon all around us on the hillside. And yet, there was a
worn-out quality at the site. The burial ground was a three-meterwide amphitheater carved out of the steep face of the hillside. The
fresh earth was laid bare, roughly cut roots jutting out from the
sheer wall of dirt. In the center of the dugout, the mound beneath
which my grandfather was buried showed the first wispy strands
of baby grass. There was no headstone as yet.
My father was on the verge of tears, finally seeing where his
father lay. I wanted to feel the same pinch of loss, the same onrush
of sadness. But I couldn’t. Our family left Korea for America when
I wasn’t yet three, and since then I’d spent perhaps five hours total
in my grandfather’s presence. All I knew of him was that he’d lost
his hardware business in Pyongyang to the communists on the eve
of the Korean War. And when my father knelt low and bowed
respectfully, the image I saw of my grandfather’s face was drawn
not from any memory of life but from the black-and-white picture
of him that hung prominently in my childhood home.
I pictured that image once more when I visited his grave in May
2003. I was in Korea to visit my family, particularly to see my ailing
maternal grandmother, and to do some research for my next novel. I
had come once again with my uncle, a professor of business, but
this time with his two sons as well, one of whom was just back from
a year of language study in San Diego. Our mood as we climbed up
the hill was expansive and lighthearted, and it seemed we were
more on a picnicking hike than a dutiful visit to our ancestral dead.
But as we ascended the path to the grave, the talk quieted.
Analyzing Cultural Context Recall
that analyzing cultural context
involves considering the customs,
beliefs, values, arts, and intellectual
activities of a group of people
discussed in a selection, and
determining how these aspects of
culture contribute to the selection as
a whole. What does this paragraph
reveal about Lee’s cultural context as
it compares to that of his father?
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Text Structure
Remember that when you analyze
text structure, you examine the
relationship of parts of the text to each
other and to the selection as a whole.
Why might Lee have started the
selection with the 1989 visit to the
grave instead of with the 2003 visit?
Vocabulary
ascend (ə send) v. to move upward;
rise
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Informational Text
Big Idea
Issues of Identity How might Lee’s
unfamiliarity with Korean burial practices
affect his sense of identity? How might
his uncle’s words act to reassure him?
Reading Strategy
Analyzing Cultural Context Why
are the practices that Lee’s uncle takes
for granted so remarkable to Lee?
Finally, at the end of a narrow deer path, there came an opening,
and we emerged onto the same burial landing I had visited 14
years ago. To my surprise, there were two mounds instead of one
and now a black granite headstone centered between, carved on
the faces and sides with Chinese characters. I asked about the
second mound and my uncle said that my grandmother and
stepgrandmother had been unearthed from their resting places in
Seoul and moved here some years before to join my grandfather.
“What is all the writing?” I asked. We were crouched by the
black slab of rock.
“It’s your grandfather’s name. Your grandmothers’ names are
here,” he said, pointing them out.
“And what about all these other characters?”
“These are his children. Here’s your father. Here are your other
uncles, then me, and your aunt. And here are the names of our
spouses. This one is your mother’s.”
“My mother’s?”
I touched the unfamiliar language sharply carved into the stone,
almost saying her name aloud. She died a few years after my
grandfather did, of stomach cancer.
“I didn’t know it was done this way.”
“Oh yes,” my uncle said. “Everyone is here.”
Learning to Belong
I kept thinking back on that phrase during the rest of my stay in
Seoul: Everyone is here. As uttered by my uncle, it was a simple
answer to a simple question, a matter of fact and a literal record.
And so it was. And yet, as I thought about the notion, it became
more than just a straightforward record of my ancestors. For I
realized how differently than I my uncle and his sons viewed that
dark stone, how the names to them were just an ordinary fact of
their lives, like the ancient arrangement of the planets. To me,
raised away in the States, the listing seemed more remarkable than
that, a kind of supernatural alliance, extraordinary and wonderful.
For in our immigrant family of four, we were all we ever had. In
the town where we lived (a small northern suburb of New York
City), we were one of a handful of nonwhite families. Every great
once in a while, there would be an uncle or aunt passing through
New York, and they’d stay with us a few days or a week. In the
Vocabulary
alliance (ə l¯əns) n. a union or
connection
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evenings, my parents would chatter at the dinner table with special
enthusiasm about all the reports from Seoul. My parents were
generally happy, easygoing people, but in their first years in
America, I would say they didn’t always allow themselves to
experience many emotions, perhaps because they felt outside of and
flustered by all the strangeness of their new world. And it was only
when “home” made its return that they seemed to truly liven up.
In later years, my parents considered America to be their only
home, and although they possessed the means to do so by the time
my mother died in 1991, our family had made only four visits to
Korea in 23 years. Even as a serious teen, I didn’t mind the summer
trips we took as a family. Korea was a lot better than, say, a car trip
to family friends, not so much because of any reconnecting with the
family but for the food.
Best of all, were the grand meals we’d have at our relatives’
cramped apartments or houses, the dozens of dishes completely
covering the low tables they’d set out for us—the men sitting at the
main table, the women lodged at one nearer the kitchen. In the fog
of my jet-lagged mind, the only things that made sense to me amid
the superfast talk, which I mostly couldn’t understand, were all the
bracing flavors, the radish kimchi and marinated raw crab and
sesame-leaf pancakes. Even my father seemed somewhat
overwhelmed by the rush of native language, occasionally asking
people to repeat what they’d said.
And this is how I found myself on my recent trip, out with my
father’s side of the family at a popular barbecue restaurant,
straining to understand everyone’s questions about my family and
work. I could say only a few words in response, my speaking
ability in Korean not as developed as my aural comprehension.
After the initial assurances that I could tolerate spicy food and a
recounting of the names and ages of my daughters, I naturally
retreated into the customary table rituals of the barbecue. I
attended to grilling the meat and whole cloves of garlic, readying
the bean paste and the fragrant shoots of chrysanthemum, cupping
Active Reading Focus
Analyzing Text Structure How
does this information help the reader
better understand what has been
discussed in the selection so far?
Literary Element
Imagery How does Lee use imagery
to show both his ability and his
difficulty in embracing Korean culture?
✔ Reading Check
Why did Lee return to South Korea in
2003?
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Reading Strategy
Analyzing Cultural Context Based
on the paragraph, how does Lee
respond to the culture of his
extended family?
Big Idea
Issues of Identity Why might Lee
include his feeling that with his family
he is neither an outsider, nor an artist
or intellectual? What does his wording
suggest about all the labels he cites?
Vocabulary
gleaning (lēnin) v. collecting
knowledge or information, bit by bit
mobile (mōbəl) adj. capable of
moving
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the fresh lettuce leaf to wrap all of it in. While the others ate
heartily and engaged in their lively conversations, I was happy for
their company and just as pleased simply to sit there and eat,
gleaning what talk I could.
There was no awkwardness due to the differences of our
language or the brief time we’d spent together during our lives.
Somehow all was fine. They were family. There was a certain ease
in the gathering that I have rarely felt in my life. There was a level
of comfort drawn, I think, from not having to explain myself in the
customary ways. I wasn’t defined by the cultural and personal
stereotypes that are part of my “regular” existence as a teacher and
writer and maybe (if there really is such a person) as an Asian
American.
I kept thinking how plainly, deeply satisfying it was to be back
among my cousins and aunts and uncles. With them, at least, I was
not a provisional “I,” not an ethnic, or outsider, or an artist or
intellectual, but simply someone whose connections to others were
clear and traceable and real.
Keep the Family Together
The next night, I went to my maternal aunt’s house south of the
Han River, where my grandmother Halmoni was staying. She was
my only living grandparent, in her late 80s, and from recent
reports, not doing terribly well. Her back was finally giving way,
and she wasn’t very mobile; my cousin told me she sometimes
crawled to the bathroom rather than ask anyone for help.
I was nervous about seeing Halmoni in a bad state, not only for
the sadness of such a sight but for the sake of her own pride. I
almost wished I could have simply telephoned her my wishes of
good health and love. When I rang the bell of my aunt’s house, a
young cousin greeted me and led me inside. My two aunts were
busy back in the kitchen making final preparations for dinner. My
cousin and I sat down in the living room. Before I could say
anything, my aunts came out, both wiping their hands on their
aprons. We all hugged each other, then my younger aunt asked her
son where Halmoni was.
My cousin said he’d go look for our grandmother upstairs, but
then Halmoni cleared her throat in the next room, effectively
announcing herself. She came in, not crawling at all but walking
with slowed, careful steps, her hunched back bent down almost to
90 degrees. She wrapped her arms around me, her face pressed into
my chest, hardly taller now with her fallen posture than my sixyear-old daughter. I could smell the faint almondy oiliness of her
hair. And as much as I didn’t want to think of her as frail, she most
clearly was, her hold of me like the cling of someone straining to
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grab on more than to hug. Soon enough, we were sitting together
on the sofa, her hands cupping mine, gently kneading them just as
she had often done to my sister and me as children.
“It’s too far for you to come,” she said. “It’s good you didn’t try
to bring your family. You yourself shouldn’t have bothered.”
“It’s no bother.”
My cousin piped in, “Halmoni, he came over to see you, you
know.”
“Even more reason,” she said, though half-smiling. She asked
earnestly, “Are you tired?”
“I’m fine.”
“You must be hungry.”
“Not so much.”
She called out to the kitchen, telling her daughters that I needed
to eat right away. My younger aunt came out and said she could set
the table, that we didn’t have to wait for the men to arrive (which
was of course possible, though an impossibility).
“Really,” I told her. “I want to wait.”
She nodded and went back to the kitchen. Halmoni made a
raspy sound in her throat at me, a distinctive Korean mother—style
scold, the sound of which contains just the pitch to make one feel at
once guilty and beloved.
“Are you feeling well these days?” I asked, having practiced the
phrase (in Korean) on the subway ride.
“Sometimes I have a little trouble with my back. But not today.
Your father is in good health?”
“Yes.”
“You visit him regularly?”
“I try to.”
“You must do so always,” she said, tapping my hand for
emphasis. “Keep the family together.” She paused. “And your
stepmother, she is well, too?”
“Yes.”
Halmoni nodded.
“That’s good,” she said. “It’s how it should be.”
She was staring right into my eyes, gazing, I’m sure, at the
remnants of her first child, my mother, the only one, with any
mercy, who would precede her to the grave. I pictured my mother’s
black granite headstone back in New York, and then, too, my
paternal grandfather’s stone, and then Halmoni’s and my father’s
and even my own, all the written names, cast wide.
—Updated 2005, from TIME Asia,
August 18/25, 2003
Literary Element
Imagery How do the sensory
images in the paragraph reveal
Halmoni’s age and frailty? What else
do the sensory images reveal?
✔ Reading Check
1. What was Lee’s favorite part of
trips to Korea as a child?
2. Why was Lee nervous about
seeing Halmoni?
Vocabulary
earnestly (urnist lē) adv. seriously or
sincerely
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A F TE R YO U R E A D
Active Reading Focus
Graphic Organizer
Use a sequence organizer to record the order of major
events in the selection. Sequence organizers are
especially helpful when the events are not told in
chronological order. Fill in the organizer below with
events from “We Are Family,” arranging them in the
order they occurred.
Analyzing Text Structure Instead of telling about the
events in Lee’s life in chronological order, “We Are
Family” skips back and forth in time. Briefly describe
the order in which Lee structures his events. Then
discuss the effect this structure has on the selection.
First Event
Chang-rae Lee and his family move
to the United States.
Second Event
Third Event
Fourth Event
Fifth Event
In 2003 Lee visits his grandfather’s
grave with his uncle and Halmoni,
his maternal grandmother.
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Reading Strategy
Analyzing Cultural Context Lee recognizes the
differences between his U.S. culture and that of his
Korean relatives. How, then, do you think he is able to
feel more comfortable in the company of his Korean
relatives than he might feel in the United States?
Vocabulary Practice
Using Antonyms Recall that antonyms are words
with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. Determine
each boldfaced word’s antonym from the choices
below.
1. When the fire alarm rang, the students had to
descend the main staircase before exiting the
building.
(a) alliance
(b) ascend
(c) gleaning
(d) mobile
2. After their fight, the couple experienced a
disconnection in their relationship.
Literary Element
Imagery How does the imagery Lee describes help
the reader understand his feelings about his Korean
relatives?
(a) mobile
(b) ascend
(c) alliance
(d) gleaning
3. Although Tim had replaced his car’s engine, it still
sat idle in the driveway.
(a) alliance
(b) earnestly
(c) ascended
(d) mobile
4. Martin’s mom said she would buy him a new car if
he received straight A’s this semester, though
Martin knew she said it facetiously.
(a) earnestly
(b) alliance
(c) gleaning
(d) mobile
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Introductory Text: Drama
Looking Ahead
(p. 705)
Preview
• What kinds of drama am I
familiar with?
• What do I want to learn
about drama?
• What are some of the
literary elements used in
plays?
This introduction prepares you for the drama you will read in
a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes drama as a literary
form and explains its value. It describes the elements within
plays that create meaning. It also offers suggestions on how to
read plays.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Looking Ahead
➥
How does drama compare with other types of literature?
Preview
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➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
➥
What literary elements will you learn in this unit?
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Introductory Text: Drama
Genre Focus
(p. 706)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
Record
What do fiction and drama have in common?
➥
Summarize August Wilson’s main idea.
Tragedy
Characters
➥
Define the boldfaced term.
Tragic Plots
➥
How does the tragic flaw relate to the tragic plot?
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Introductory Text: Drama
Genre Focus
(p. 707)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
Comedy and Modern Drama
Dialogue
➥
Define dialogue. How does it relate to the difference between
comedy and tragedy?
Stage Directions
➥
Define stage directions. How do they influence how a play is
performed?
Acts and Scenes
➥
How are plays arranged?
Recap
➥
108
Sum up the main qualities of tragedy and comedy using a Venn diagram.
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Un i t 4
Introductory Text: Drama
Literary Analysis
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the name
of the playwright and the title
of the play.
(p. 708)
Record
How do dramatists use literary elements?
➥
How does The Janitor fit in with Wilson’s other works?
The Janitor
➥
List the literary elements written to the left of the play on this
page. Note how each contributes meaning.
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Introductory Text: Drama
Literary Analysis
Reduce
(p. 709)
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them
down here. You may be able to
answer them later.
➥
Which aspect of plot does the analysis point out? How does it
contribute to meaning?
➥
How does the introduction of Mr. Collins change the play?
Recap
➥
110
Discuss how setting, character, and dialogue contribute meaning in this play.
UNIT 4
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Introductory Text: Drama
Writers on Reading
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them
down here. You may be able to
answer them later.
(p. 710)
Record
Reading a Play
➥
Complete this sentence. These paragraphs are about . . .
The Falling Piano
➥
TO THE POINT Write key terms
and phrases.
Write the key ideas about tragedy.
Looking Under the Bed
➥
Write the main ideas.
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Introductory Text: Drama
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(pp. 710–711)
Record
TO THE POINT Write a few key
phrases.
Pockets Lined with Hope
➥
Paraphrase the main idea of this paragraph.
➥
How does the quote by Suzan-Lori Parks relate to the previous
paragraph?
Recap
➥
112
Review your notes. Write the main ideas here.
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Introductory Text: Drama
Wrap-Up
(p. 712)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topics of this page.
Record
Guide to Reading Drama
➥
What are some tips for reading drama?
Elements of Drama
➥
What are some characteristics of drama that make it a unique
literary form?
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Introductory Text: Drama
Summarize
➥
Review your notes. Complete this outline using what you’ve learned in this introduction.
I. Strategies for Reading Drama
II. Elements of Drama
A. Dialogue:
B. Stage Directions:
C. Acts and scenes:
D. Tragedy:
E. Comedy:
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Introductory Text: Drama
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice for the following
questions.
Choose the multiple-choice option that best
matches each question below. You may not
use all of the options.
1. Tragedy has a tragic hero who usually
has a _____, such as rash behavior.
A. dialogue
B. a monologue
C. an aside
D. tragic flaw
2.
______ is a type of play that deals with
a subject in a light or satirical way.
A. tragedy
3. dialogue _____
4. stage directions _____
5. tragedy _____
6. scene _____
A. drama that deals with light and
amusing subjects
B. theme
C. modern drama
D. comedy
B. conversation between characters
C. the written instructions that explain
how to perform a play
D. a drama in which the main
character suffers from a fall from
good fortune
E. a short section within a play,
generally ended by moving to a
new setting
Short Answer
7. What are some strategies for reading drama?
8. What are two elements of drama that make it a unique literary form?
9. What is dialogue? How does it contribute to meaning in a play?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements of this unit. As you learn more about the ideas in the unit,
add to your notes.
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Introductory Text: Loyalty and Betrayal
Big Idea
(p. 713)
Preview
• How is the theme of
Loyalty and Betrayal
reflected in drama?
• What literary elements are
new to me?
• What makes a play a
tragedy?
This introduction prepares you for the drama you will read in
a part of your textbook. It distinguishes drama as a literary
form and explains its value. It describes the elements within
drama that create meaning. It also offers suggestions on how
to read drama.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
trust
wealth
power
Loyalty and Betrayal
➥
What should you be thinking of when you are reading the
drama in this part of the unit?
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Introductory Text: Loyalty and Betrayal
Literary Focus
(p. 714)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the name
of the character who is speaking
in the passage on the page.
Record
What makes a play a tragedy?
➥
What can viewing tragedies offer a reader or an audience
member?
➥
In the text on the page from Julius Caesar, what action did
Brutus take against Julius Caesar?
➥
To whom is Brutus speaking?
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Introductory Text: Loyalty and Betrayal
Literary Focus
Reduce
(p. 715)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
Tragedy
➥
Write the definitions of the boldfaced terms. Use your own
words if you like.
Hero
➥
Define the term hero and identify a hero’s key traits.
Tragic Flaw
➥
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Define tragic flaw. Use your own words if you like.
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Introductory Text: Loyalty and Betrayal
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then summarize what you have learned about tragedy,
using a concept map.
Apply
1. What is tragedy?
2. What is a tragic hero?
3. What is a tragic flaw?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements of this part. As you learn more about the ideas in the part,
add to your notes.
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Literary History: Classical Greek Drama
(p. 716)
Preview
• What is classical Greek
drama?
• What might you see at a
performance of classical
Greek drama?
• What was the “Golden
Age” of Greek drama?
This article presents a literary history of the origins and
characteristics of classical Greek drama. This Literary History
will help you better understand the drama you will read in
your textbook.
As you read the article, use the Cornell Note Taking System to
record important points and remember what you have read.
Record
Reduce
TO THE POINT Note key words
and phrases.
➥
What changes were introduced to Greek drama in 5th century
B.C.? One answer has been given.
• Lyric poet Thespis introduced the use of a single
actor separate from the chorus.
At the Theater
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them
now; answer them as you
reread your notes.
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➥
Describe what sights you may have seen at an ancient Greek
theater.
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Literary History: Classical Greek Drama
(p. 717)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Note key words
and phrases.
ANY QUESTIONS? Write them as
you read.
Record
The Golden Age
➥
List the reasons that the 5th century B.C. was considered the
“Golden Age” of drama.
➥
Who were the major dramatists during the “Golden Age” of
Greek theater?
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Literary History: Classical Greek Drama
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this article. Then create an outline to describe the importance of classical
Greek drama. One has been started for you.
I. Purpose of Greek Drama
A. religious ritual
B. show loyalty to city-state
C. way to honor local heroes
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Literary History: Classical Greek Drama
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice(s) for the following
questions.
Choose the best multiple-choice option for
each question. You will not use all of the
options.
1. Which of the following was not a
purpose of ancient Greek theater?
A. displaying loyalty to the city-state
B. honoring local heroes
C. to celebrate the harvest
D. a major social event
2. What was the purpose of props in
ancient Greek theater?
A. provide an imitation of life
B. serve as symbols to identify
character
C. to provide scenery
D. to help actors remember lines
3. This playwright was the first to have
more than one actor onstage in addition
to a chorus. _____
4. This religious festival introduced a
major drama competition. _____
5. This ancient Greek playwright was
considered a rival of the playwright
Aeschylus. _____
6. This dramatic character encouraged
audiences to examine their own lives
and beliefs. _____
A. Greek tragedy
B. Aeschylus
C. Dionysus
D. Athens
E. Sophocles
F. the tragic hero
Short Answer
7. Why did Greek drama grow out of religion and myths?
8. What kinds of work did the major dramatists of the “Golden Age” of Greek drama
produce?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this Literary History? Recite
your notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes to help you read
the drama in this unit.
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B E FO R E YO U R E A D
E V E R A LLU R I NG
Literary Element
Building Background
Cleopatra VII has long been an important figure in the
arts, having been depicted in Shakespeare’s plays,
Hollywood movies, and great works of Renaissance art.
Although she is often celebrated, especially for her
beauty, no one now knows what she looked like. In
“Ever Alluring,” Maryann Bird discusses the intrigue
surrounding Cleopatra and how it attracted people to an
exhibition at the British Museum in London, in 2001.
Setting Purposes for Reading
The classical world of ancient Greece, Rome, and
Egypt has had an enormous influence on the way that
the West has developed. With a classmate, discuss the
following questions:
•
•
Why might it be important to learn about the
ancient world?
How might the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians still
influence us today?
Read to learn about the history of Cleopatra VII, her
legend, and how she is celebrated.
Reading Strategy
Distinguishing Fact and
Opinion
When you distinguish fact and opinion, you examine
a piece of information to determine whether it can be
proved true (fact) or whether it cannot (opinion).
Active Reading Focus
Clarifying Meaning
When you clarify meaning, you look at difficult parts
of the text in order to clear up anything that you find
confusing. As you read, go back and reread any
confusing passages, reading text before and after the
passage to see if that information helps you. Also, look
up words and ask questions to help you clarify
meaning.
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Description
Description is a detailed portrait of a person, place,
thing, or event. Good descriptive writing appeals to the
senses through imagery. The use of figurative
language and precise verbs, nouns, adjectives, and
adverbs can also help make a description vivid.
Big Idea
Loyalty and Betrayal
Whom do you trust? When people go in pursuit of
wealth or power, they accumulate what other people
are bound to desire. Even the most loyal ally can betray
the one who possesses what his or her heart longs for.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “Ever
Alluring.” The dictionary definition of a word is its
denotation. As you read the selection, use the word’s
denotation and its context to help determine its
connotation, or implied meaning. A word’s
connotation can be positive, negative, or neutral.
synonymous (si non ə məs) adj. closely associated
with or having the same meaning as something else;
p. 125 Brian’s short temper made his name synonymous
with anger.
embody (em bod ē) v. to be the expression, or the
physical form of; p. 125 Through his interactions with
others, Charlie hoped to embody the very spirit of kindness.
savvy (sav ē) n. shrewdness or sharp-wittedness;
p. 126 Marianne was very savvy when it came to her
finances.
etched (echd) adj. to be carved or engraved on a
surface; p. 126 The children found an etched stone on the
beach.
exotic (i zot ik) adj. out of the ordinary; p. 127 Saul
owned some very exotic collectibles
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Informational Text
Ever Alluring
Active Reading Focus
By Maryann Bird
Cleopatra could draw the crowds in ancient Rome. Now she’s
turning on her seductive charm in London.
She is one of the most famous figures of ancient history, a name
synonymous with beauty, yet no one knows what she really looked
like. A Macedonian Greek, she ruled Egypt and was known for her
relationships—political and romantic—with the two great Roman
leaders of her time, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Her legend—
wrapped in intrigue, conflict, and romance—lives on to this day. As
Shakespeare wrote of Cleopatra in his play Antony and Cleopatra:
“Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety.”
Although she has been dead since 30 B.C., Cleopatra VII, the last
of the Ptolemaic rulers, still wields considerable power. The magic
of her name drew big crowds to a 2001 exhibition called “Cleopatra
of Egypt: From History to Myth” at the British Museum in London.
For the show, which included new finds and interpretations, the
museum attracted loans of many Cleopatra-related artifacts.
Among them were sculptures, coins, paintings, ceramics, and
jewelry from some 30 museums, libraries, and private collections
around the world.
Clarifying Meaning When you
clarify meaning, you look at difficult
parts of the text in order to clear up
anything that is unclear or confusing.
Reread this passage. What argument
do you think Bird will make in this
article?
Literary Element
Description A detailed portrait of a
person, place, thing, or event is
referred to as description.
✒ Underline the words or phrases
The Many Sides of Cleopatra
“Cleopatra’s name is more evocative than any image of her,”
said co-curator Peter Higgs in an interview at the time of the
exhibition’s opening. He described the show as a “biographical
study” that presented many different sides of Cleopatra, all of which
contributed to the legend that she began building during her
lifetime. Higgs acknowledged that not all classical scholars would
concur with the museum’s view of Cleopatra. “We know that not
everyone is going to agree with us,” he said. “We’re not saying we’re
right about everything. This is our interpretation.”
On the coins on display, Cleopatra appeared masculine and
powerful. In the sculptures, some of which portrayed her as the
goddess Isis, the divine mother whose cult she followed, she
looked slim and serene. The show also featured Renaissance
paintings that portrayed her as a sensual and tragic figure. Modern
representations of her came straight from Hollywood, embodied
most famously by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film Cleopatra.
Taylor’s famous off-screen affair with the film’s Mark Antony, costar Richard Burton, recalled the 14th century writer Giovanni
Boccaccio’s description of Cleopatra as a woman “who became an
object of gossip for the whole world.”
that have the greatest impact on the
descriptions of Cleopatra.
Vocabulary
synonymous (si non ə məs) adj.
closely associated with or having the
same meaning as something else
embody (em bod ē) v. to be the
expression, or the physical form of
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Informational Text
Active Reading Focus
Clarifying Meaning Reread this
passage. What event seems to have
had the greatest impact on Roman
descriptions of Cleopatra?
✔ Reading Check
1. Where is the exhibition of
Cleopatra artifacts being held?
2. How did Romans portray Cleopatra?
Vocabulary
savvy (sav ē) n. shrewdness or sharpwittedness
etched (echd) adj. to be carved or
engraved on a surface
The star of the museum’s exhibition, though, was a 40-inch
black basalt statue on loan from the Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia. One of the best-preserved representations of a
Ptolemaic queen, it has been identified as Cleopatra VII. The
striking figure holds a double horn of plenty and wears a
headdress decorated with three cobras—symbols associated only
with her.
A Bad Reputation
Not all the images in the exhibition were as flattering.
Cleopatra’s reputation in Rome declined after Octavian (later to
become the emperor Augustus) defeated her and Antony at the
Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. “Everything we know about Cleopatra
comes from later Roman writers,” explained Higgs, “and it’s
nearly all negative.” He added that it was not surprising that
“prudish and snobbish” Romans would have a low opinion of
Egypt’s queen, given that “she had taken away from them both
Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.” Still, said Higgs, even Cleopatra’s
critics acknowledged that she had some admirable qualities. Apart
from her beauty, she is said to have been a humorous and charming
conversationalist. Intelligent and savvy, she was a skilled diplomat
who spoke several languages—and was clearly loved by Caesar
and Antony, the fathers of her four children.
Like the pharaohs who came before her in the three centuries
following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 332 B.C.,
Cleopatra had to appeal to both Greeks and Egyptians. She had to
be seen as both a Greek monarch and an Egyptian pharaoh. She also
needed to present herself as a powerful figure amid all the violence
and chaos in the Mediterranean region at the time. Indeed, Cleopatra
must have been ruthless in order to even gain the throne, given the
bloodbaths that long characterized her family line.
Following Octavian’s conquest of Egypt and Antony’s death—
he killed himself by falling on his sword—Cleopatra committed
suicide, possibly with the help of a poisonous snake such as an asp
or cobra. The new emperor then ordered that all statues of
Cleopatra be destroyed. Most of the images of her that survived
depict an attractive figure with a strong face, masculine in its
features, emphasizing power. Old coins bearing her image,
particularly rare Greek ones, have helped to identify Cleopatra in
marble and limestone sculptures. So, too, did the tiniest item
displayed at the museum—a half-inch piece of etched blue glass
bearing Cleopatra’s profile in a more realistic Greek style.
exotic (i zot ik) adj. foreign or out
of the ordinary
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Informational Text
Cleopatra’s Children
On public view for the first time was a 30-inch granite head
believed to represent Ptolemy XV Caesar, Cleopatra’s son by Julius
Caesar. Also known as Caesarion, he co-ruled Egypt with his
mother from 44 B.C. to 30 B.C. The sculpture was found in the harbor
at Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, by French archaeologists in 1997.
The exhibition also included rare images of Cleopatra’s other
children. A marble statue of Cleopatra Selene—her daughter by
Mark Antony—was lent by the Archaeological Museum in
Cherchel, Algeria, where it was found. (Cherchel was the capital of
the ancient kingdom of Mauretania, where Cleopatra Selene lived.)
The statue had never been outside Algeria before. Another marble
rendering of Cleopatra Selene, found near her husband’s palace,
showed her as a more mature woman, with a heavier face and
“snail-shell” curls around her forehead.
Also on display was a bronze statuette which historians believe
depicts Cleopatra’s second son, Alexander Helios, as Prince of
Armenia. According to the writings of the ancient Greek historian
Plutarch, Mark Antony gave his sons by Cleopatra the title of
kings, as well as many lands to rule. He gave Armenia, Media, and
the Parthian Empire to Alexander. He gave Phoenicia, Syria, and
Cilicia to Alexander’s younger brother, Ptolemy Philadelphus.
After Mark Anthony and Cleopatra died, though, their children
were made to live out their lives in obscurity. Their half-brother
Caesarion was not so fortunate. He was executed by Octavian.
Queen of the Silver Screen
Cleopatra’s amazing life and dramatic death made Egypt’s
exotic queen an icon—to many, the first female superstar. For
several hundred years after her death, Cleopatra and all things
Egyptian intrigued even those Romans who demonized her. Her
influence on Roman style, customs, and culture continued for a
long time. By the early Renaissance in Europe, with its revival of
interest in classical traditions, Cleopatra again became a subject of
art, literature, and fashion. Many of the most famous events in her
life—the luxurious banquet she held for Mark Antony, his death,
her grief at his tomb, and her own death—were represented in
paintings and sketches at the exhibition, as well as on other objects
such as watches, fans, and vases. The Renaissance portrayal of the
tough and tragic seductress—as derived from the early Romans—
has trickled down to the current day.
Literary Element
Description What sense does this
description appeal to?
Big Idea
Loyalty and Betrayal Octavian’s
great uncle and adopted father was
Julius Caesar—Caesarion’s father.
What does this suggest about loyalty
among the ruling classes?
Reading Strategy
Distinguishing Fact and
Opinion Recall that when you
distinguish fact and opinion, you
examine a piece of information to
determine whether it can be proved
true (fact) or whether it cannot
(opinion). List the information in this
passage that is fact. Then, list the
opinions.
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Informational Text
Active Reading Focus
Clarifying Meaning Reread this
passage. Based on what you have
learned about Cleopatra in this
selection, why might encouraging the
“Cleopatra look” be impossible?
Cleopatra found her way onto the silver screen even before movies
had sound. In 1917, Theda Bara starred in a silent-film version of
Cleopatra. Seventeen years later, Claudette Colbert played the
Egyptian queen, and Hollywood waged an all-out publicity
campaign to encourage female moviegoers to adopt the “Cleopatra
look.” Many copied Colbert’s dark bangs after hearing the speech
in which she described her feelings about Mark Antony: “I’ve seen
a god come to life. I’m no longer a queen. I’m a woman.”
A woman she was, and one for all time. With so much, yet so
little, known about this queen without a face, this figure of history
and myth, Cleopatra lives on in the “infinite variety” cited by
Shakespeare. And like so many intrigued observers through the
ages, visitors to the British Museum exhibition could draw their
own picture of her.
—Updated 2005, from TIME, May 28, 2001
✔ Reading Check
1. How did Cleopatra’s children
spend their lives after the deaths
of their parents?
2. In what ways did Cleopatra
influence Rome’s cultural life?
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Active Reading Focus
Graphic Organizer
Use a web to organize information from a literary
work. Fill in each outer oval with details about the
exhibition “Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth”
and the objects displayed in it. As you fill in these
details, consider what they suggest about Cleopatra.
Once you have completed the organizer, write a few
sentences beneath it that accurately describe the
character of the exhibition and of Cleopatra herself.
Clarifying Meaning Read the following passage from
Bird’s article. Then, reread the parts before and after
the passage in the selection and look up any
unfamiliar words, to better determine the meaning of
the passage. Explain the meaning of the passage in
your own words.
“One of the best-preserved representations of a
Ptolemaic queen, it has been identified as Cleopatra
VII. The striking figure holds a double horn of plenty
and wears a headdress decorated with three cobras—
symbols associated only with her.”
The exhibition is a
biographical study of
Cleopatra, filled
sculptures, coins,
paintings, ceramics, and
jewelry from all over the
world.
Cleopatra of Egypt:
From History to Myth
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Informational Text
Vocabulary Practice
Reading Strategy
Distinguishing Fact and Opinion What do you
think co-curator Peter Higgs meant by his statement
that the exhibition is an “interpretation” of Cleopatra?
How might the exhibition blend fact and opinion?
Using Denotation and Connotation Recall that the
denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. Its
connotation is its implied meaning, or the feelings,
ideas, and attitudes associated with it. Choose the
connotation of each word based on its context.
1. “Intelligent and savvy, she was a skilled diplomat
who spoke several languages—and was clearly
loved by Caesar and Antony, the fathers of her four
children.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
Literary Element
(c) neutral
Description Based on this selection, how would you
describe Cleopatra? Write a brief paragraph in which
you describe her, using precise words and sensory
details.
2. “So, too, did the tiniest item displayed at the
museum—a half-inch piece of etched blue glass
bearing Cleopatra’s profile in a more realistic Greek
style.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
3. “Modern representations of her came straight from
Hollywood, embodied most famously by Elizabeth
Taylor in the 1963 film Cleopatra.
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
4. “Cleopatra’s amazing life and dramatic death made
Egypt’s exotic queen an icon—to many, the first
female superstar.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
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Informational Text
Literary History: Elizabethan Drama
(pp. 768–769)
Preview
• How was an Elizabethan
drama performed?
• How did the Globe
Theatre come into
existence?
This article presents a literary history of Elizabethan drama.
This Literary History will help you better understand the
literature you will read in your textbook.
As you read the article, use the Cornell Note Taking System to
record important points and remember what you have read.
• Who was the audience at
an Elizabethan drama?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
ANY QUESTIONS? Write any
questions you may have. For
example: “What kind of people
went to the Globe?”
Record
➥
Summarize the changes theater was going through in
Shakespeare’s time.
Shakespeare’s Globe
➥
Ask yourself questions about these paragraphs; then answer the
questions. One question and answer has been written for you.
Q: What is the Globe Theatre?
A: A playhouse where the plays of William
Shakespeare were performed.
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ELIZABET H A N DRA MA
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Informational Text
Literary History: Elizabethan Drama
(pp. 768–769)
Reduce
Record
MY VIEW Why did performances
take place in the afternoon?
➥
TO THE POINT Write key words
Elizabethan Stagecraft
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How did the audience tend to react to the plays?
➥
Describe the staging of an Elizabethan drama.
➥
Describe the function of boy actors in Elizabethan drama.
E L IZ AB E THAN D R AM A
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Informational Text
Literary History: Elizabethan Drama
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this article. Then complete the classification notes on the Globe Theatre
below.
Audience
Theater
Setting
Actors
• young boys
played the
parts of
females
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Costumes
ELIZABET H A N DRA MA
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Informational Text
Literary History: Elizabethan Drama
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice(s) for the following
questions.
Choose the best multiple-choice option for
each question. You will not use all of the
options.
1. Why were players banished from
London in 1574?
A. They were considered spies.
B. London was being invaded.
C. Many actors were accused of theft.
D. Local officials believed acting
violated biblical commandments.
2. What is a groundling?
A. the flat, circular panel around the
stage
B. an audience member who has
entered without paying admission
C. an audience member standing in
the courtyard
D. the beam connecting the stage to
the ground
3. What was the name of the theater that
Shakespeare’s acting company built?
_____
4. What was the term used to describe
professional actors? _____
5. What was the name of Shakespeare’s
acting company?
6. Which actor built England’s first
permanent playhouse? _____
A. The Globe Theatre
B. Lord Chamberlain’s Men
C. James Burbage
D. Queen Elizabeth I
E. players
F. Southwark
G. Thames River
Short Answer
7. Describe the seating arrangements at the Globe Theatre.
8. What limitations did Shakespeare have when performing at the Globe Theatre?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this Literary History? Recite
your notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes to help you read
the drama in this unit.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Portraits of Real LIfe
Big Idea
(p. 867)
Preview
• What does the Big Idea
“Portraits of Real Life”
mean?
• How is the Big Idea
“Portraits of Real Life”
reflected in drama?
• What literary elements are
new to me?
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself about images on a
page as well as text: “Why is
this painting paired with the
theme of portraits of real life?”
This introduction prepares you for the drama you will read in
one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the Big Idea
of the drama you will read in that part. It also addresses the
literary elements playwrights use to create drama. These
elements will be a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words and phrases used to describe aspects of the Big
Idea. You can chart them in your notes, as shown. Can you add other
words or phrases that describe the Big Idea?
Portraits of Real Life
mistakes and misfortunes
realistic situations
➥
What should you be thinking of when you read this part?
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PO RTR AIT S O F REA L LI FE
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Portraits of Real LIfe
Literary Focus
(pp. 868–869)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the names
of the characters in the scenes
on this page.
Drama
➥
Define drama.
Comedy
➥
Define the characteristics of the boldfaced terms.
Modern Drama
➥
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How is modern drama different from comedy?
P O RTRAIT S OF R EAL LIFE
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Portraits of Real LIfe
Literary Focus
(pp. 868–869)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on these pages.
Record
Dialogue
➥
Define dialogue. How is it indicated on the page?
Stage Directions
➥
What are the characteristics of stage directions?
Props
➥
How are props related to stage directions?
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PO RTR AIT S OF REA L LI FE
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Portraits of Real LIfe
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Write a paragraph about what you’ve learned.
Apply
Answer the following questions.
1. What is the Big Idea?
2. What are two types of comedy?
3. What are props?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements of this part. As you learn more about the ideas in the part,
add to your notes.
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
from W R I T I NG F O R T H E T H E AT E R
Building Background
Harold Pinter, a British playwright, won the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 2005. His plays are characterized by
their informal and conversational dialogue and the use
of the natural pauses and long silences of ordinary
speech, which have become known as the “Pinter
pause.” Pinter’s plays often revolve around people’s
inability to communicate effectively with others. Although
his early plays were notably influenced by the “theater of
the absurd” and the breakdown of language, his later
plays suggest that the circumstances need not be so
extreme for such a breakdown to occur. In “Writing for
the Theater,” Pinter discusses his own writing methods,
noting what language can tell us and what it cannot.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Literary Element
Diction
Diction refers to a writer’s choice of words, an
important element in his or her voice and style. Skilled
writers choose their words carefully to convey a
particular tone and meaning.
Big Idea
Portraits of Real Life
People are often drawn to realistic drama because of
how closely it mirrors real life. The plot, characters, and
settings in realistic works may feel uncannily familiar.
Yet, this familiarity often hides unspoken meanings and
complex conflicts that we may or may not want to
confront in our own lives.
Vocabulary
Great literature is often ambiguous in parts, requiring a
reader to infer, or read between the lines. Before you
read, discuss the following questions with a partner:
Read the definitions of these words from “Writing for
the Theater.” The origin of each word, or its etymology,
can be found in a dictionary. A word’s origin reflects
the history and development of the word, and can
help you unlock its meaning.
•
•
definitive (di fi nə tiv) adj. explicit or conclusive;
p. 140 He made a definitive statement about the injustice
of the tax increase.
Why might an author choose not to be clear and
direct?
What is the value of ambiguity in literature?
Read to discover Pinter’s viewpoints on the theater
and language, and how he supports them.
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Argument
Evaluating argument requires you to make a judgment
or form an opinion about a writer’s argument. When
evaluating argument, consider if the author’s position is
stated or implied and if it is fully supported with logical
evidence.
Active Reading Focus
Paraphrasing
When you paraphrase, you restate a passage in your
own words in a logical sequence. Keep in mind that
whereas a summary will always be shorter than the
passage, a paraphrase will be roughly the same length
as the original. As you read, try to paraphrase any
complex or difficult parts of the selection.
prophecy (prof ə sē) n. a prediction or revelation of
divine inspiration; p. 141 She treated the weather report
as prophecy, then grew angry if it was incorrect.
glibly (lib lē) adv. easily; informally; p. 141 She
responded glibly to the professor, which he took for a lack of
respect.
nausea (no ze ə) n. strong repugnance or disgust;
p. 141 Seeing her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend gave
Jean a feeling of nausea.
trite (tr¯t) adj. commonplace; lacking originality;
p. 141 No one took the speaker seriously because he used
clichés and trite expressions so frequently.
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WRITIN G FOR THE TH EATER
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Informational Text
Writing for the Theater
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Argument Recall that
when you evaluate argument, you
make a judgment about a writer’s
argument. When evaluating
argument, consider if the author’s
position is stated and if it is fully
supported with logical evidence.
• What is Pinter’s “definitive
statement?”
• What part of his argument is it?
• Despite his comments, do you
think it is wise that Pinter made
the “definitive statement”? Explain.
Literary Element
Diction Remember that diction
refers to a writer’s choice of words,
and how it contributes to his or her
style. Describe Pinter’s diction in the
passage.
By Harold Pinter
The theater is a large, energetic, public activity. Writing is, for me,
a completely private activity, a poem or a play, no difference. These
facts are not easy to reconcile. The professional theater, whatever
the virtues it undoubtedly possesses, is a world of false climaxes,
calculated tensions, some hysteria, and a good deal of inefficiency.
And the alarms of this world which I suppose I work in become
steadily more widespread and intrusive. But basically my position
has remained the same. What I write has no obligation to anything
other than to itself. My responsibility is not to audiences, critics,
producers, directors, actors or to my fellow men in general, but to
the play in hand, simply. I warned you about definitive statements
but it looks as though I’ve just made one.
I have usually begun a play in quite a simple manner; found a
couple of characters in a particular context, thrown them together
and listened to what they said, keeping my nose to the ground. The
context has always been, for me, concrete and particular, and the
characters concrete also. I’ve never started a play from any kind of
abstract idea or theory . . . Apart from any other consideration, we
are faced with the immense difficulty, if not the impossibility, of
verifying the past. I don’t mean merely years ago, but yesterday,
this morning. What took place, what was the nature of what took
place, what happened? If one can speak of the difficulty of
knowing what in fact took place yesterday, one can I think treat the
present in the same way. What’s happening now? We won’t know
until tomorrow or in six months’ time, and we won’t know then,
we’ll have forgotten, or our imagination will have attributed quite
false characteristics to today. A moment is sucked away and
distorted, often even at the time of its birth. We will all interpret a
common experience quite differently, though we prefer to subscribe
to the view that there’s a shared common ground, a known ground.
I think there’s a shared common ground all right, but that it’s more
like a quicksand. Because “reality” is quite a strong firm word we
tend to think, or to hope, that the state to which it refers is equally
firm, settled and unequivocal.1 It doesn’t seem to be, and in my
opinion, it’s no worse or better for that.
Vocabulary
definitive (di fi nə tiv) adj. explicit
or conclusive
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1. Unequivocal means “clear” or “without doubt.”
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Informational Text
. . . There is a considerable body of people just now who are
asking for some kind of clear and sensible engagement to be
evidently disclosed in contemporary plays. They want the
playwright to be a prophet. There is certainly a good deal of
prophecy indulged in by playwrights these days, in their plays and
out of them. Warnings, sermons, admonitions,2 ideological
exhortations,3 moral judgments, defined problems with built-in
solutions; all can camp under the banner of prophecy. The attitude
behind this sort of thing might be summed up in one phrase: “I’m
telling you!”
It takes all sorts of playwrights to make a world, and as far as
I’m concerned “X” can follow any course he chooses without my
acting as his censor. To propagate4 a phoney war between
hypothetical schools of playwrights doesn’t seem to me a very
productive pastime and it certainly isn’t my intention. But I can’t
but feel that we have a marked tendency to stress, so glibly, our
empty preferences. The preference for Life with a capital L, which is
held up to be very different to life with a small l, I mean the life we
in fact live. The preference for goodwill, for charity, for
benevolence, how facile they’ve become, these deliverances.
If I were to state any moral precept5 it might be: beware of the
writer who puts forward his concern for you to embrace, who
leaves you in no doubt of his worthiness, his usefulness, his
altruism,6 who declares that his heart is in the right place, and
ensures that it can be seen in full view, a pulsating mass where his
characters ought to be. What is presented, so much of the time, as a
body of active and positive thought is in fact a body lost in a prison
of empty definition and cliché.
This kind of writer clearly trusts words absolutely. I have mixed
feelings about words myself. Moving among them, sorting them
out, watching them appear on the page, from this I derive a
considerable pleasure. But at the same time I have another strong
feeling about words which amounts to nothing less than nausea.
Such a weight of words confronts us day in, day out, words spoken
in a context such as this, words written by me and by others, the
bulk of it a stale dead terminology; ideas endlessly repeated and
permutated,7 become platitudinous,8 trite, meaningless. Given this
Active Reading Focus
Paraphrasing When you
paraphrase, you restate a passage in
your own words in a logical
sequence. Paraphrase the passage.
✔ Reading Check
1. What is the problem with writing
for the theater, according to Pinter?
2. How are playwrights and prophets
related, according to Pinter?
Vocabulary
prophecy (prof ə sē) n. a prediction
or revelation of divine inspiration
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Admonitions are “cautionary advice.”
Exhortations are “appeals” or “arguments.”
Here, propagate means “publicize.”
Precept means “standard.”
Altruism means “unselfish behavior” or “attention to the welfare of others.”
Permutated means “transformed entirely.”
Platitudinous means “unoriginal” or “banal.”
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glibly (lib lē) adv. easily; informally
nausea (no ze ə) n. strong
repugnance or disgust
trite (tr¯t) adj. commonplace; lacking
originality
WRITIN G FOR THE TH EATER
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Informational Text
Big Idea
Portraits of Real Life What is the
“achievement” that Pinter refers to in
this sentence?
✔ Reading Check
nausea, it’s very easy to be overcome by it and step back into
paralysis. I imagine most writers know something of this kind of
paralysis. But if it is possible to confront this nausea, to follow it to
its hilt, to move through it and out of it, then it is possible to say
that something has occurred, that something has even been
achieved.
Language, under these conditions, is a highly ambiguous
business. So often, below the word spoken, is the thing known and
unspoken. My characters tell me so much and no more, with
reference to their experience, their aspirations, their motives, their
history. Between my lack of biographical data about them and the
ambiguity of what they say lies a territory which is not only
worthy of exploration but which it is compulsory to explore. You
and I, the characters which grow on a page, most of the time we’re
inexpressive, giving little away, unreliable, elusive,9 evasive,10
obstructive, unwilling. But it’s out of these attributes that a
language arises. A language, I repeat, where under what is said,
another thing is being said.
1. Which writers is Pinter wary of?
2. What type of “business” is
language, according to Pinter?
9. Elusive means “not able to be defined or described.”
10. Evasive means “intentionally vague.”
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Create a points-supporting points organizer to help
you track the author’s viewpoint and supporting points
in a piece of persuasive writing. Review the selection
to identify the main parts of Pinter’s argument. Then
fill in the organizer below. Add additional boxes if
necessary.
Viewpoint or Thesis:
Supporting Point: The
context of Pinter’s
plays is always
concrete and
particular, never
abstract or based on
a theory.
Supporting Point:
Supporting Point:
Active Reading Focus
Paraphrasing Read the following passage from
“Writing for the Theater” and paraphrase it. Be sure
you follow the sequence of the original passage, use
your own words, and keep the length of the
paraphrase about the same as the original.
“So often, below the word spoken, is the thing known
and unspoken. My characters tell me so much and no
more, with reference to their experience, their
aspirations, their motives, their history. Between my
lack of biographical data about them and the
ambiguity of what they say lies a territory which is not
only worthy of exploration but which it is compulsory
to explore.”
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WRITIN G FOR TH E THEATER
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Informational Text
Vocabulary Practice
Reading Strategy
Evaluating Argument Pinter claims that his
responsibility as a playwright is only to the play in
hand—not audiences, critics, or even his fellow men.
How well do you think his point about the ambiguity
of language supports this view? Explain.
Using Word Origins Word origins, or etymology,
reflect the history and development of words. Use the
clue to the word origin to determine the correct word
from the choices below.
1. This word comes from the Greek words pro-,
meaning “before” and -phanai, meaning “to say.”
(a) definitive
(b) prophecy
(c) glibly
(d) nausea
2. This word comes from a Latin word meaning “to
rub away or wear out.”
Literary Element
Diction As a playwright, Pinter is known for his use of
natural, conversational dialogue. Review the selection
and determine whether or not he uses this type of
diction there as well.
(a) trite
(b) definitive
(c) nausea
(d) glibly
3. This word comes from the low German word
glibberich, meaning “slippery.”
(a) prophecy
(b) trite
(c) glibly
(d) definitive
4. This word comes from a Greek word meaning
“seasickness.”
(a) prophecy
(b) glibly
(c) trite
(d) nausea
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Un i t 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Looking Ahead
(p. 959)
Preview
• What do I know about
legends and myths?
• What are common themes
of legends and myths?
• How should I read
legends and myths?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key ideas.
This introduction prepares you for the legends and myths you
will read in a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes legends
and myths as literary forms and explains their value. It
describes the elements within legends and myths that create
meaning. It also offers suggestions on how to read them.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Looking Ahead
➥
What is the origin of legends and myths?
Preview
➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit?
➥
What Literary Elements will you learn about in this unit?
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LEGEN DS AND MYTHS
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Un it 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Genre Focus
(p. 960)
Reduce
Record
MY VIEW Scan the headings on
this page. What do you already
know about what you are about
to read?
What can readers gain from legends and myths?
➥
What does Thomas Bulfinch say about mythology?
The Legendary Hero
Legend
➥
List the key characteristics of legends.
Hero
➥
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List the key characteristics of a hero.
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Un i t 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Genre Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
(pp. 960–961)
Record
Myth and the Oral Tradition
Myths
➥
List the key characteristics of myths.
Oral Tradition
➥
List the key characteristics of oral traditions.
Recap
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Write one key detail about each of the
four subheadings. One has been completed for you.
Legend: traditional story based on history that is passed down
from one generation to the next
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LEGEN DS AND MYTH S
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Un it 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Literary Analysis
Reduce
(pp. 962–963)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the names
of the characters in The
Journey of Gilgamesh.
How is The Journey of Gilgamesh an epic?
➥
Why is The Journey of Gilgamesh a valued epic? On whom is
it based?
➥
What qualities make Gilgamesh a typical epic hero?
➥
What is one reason Gilgamesh is a typical character of a myth or
epic?
➥
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Where does Gilgamesh travel?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Literary Analysis
Reduce
TO THE POINT What new
character—person, animal, or
creature—is introduced on
page 963?
(pp. 962–963)
Record
➥
What is a universal theme in the story of Gilgamesh?
➥
What did Uta-Napishtim give to Gilgamesh, and what power
did that object have?
➥
What happens at the end of the tale? What natural aspect of the
world does this conclusion explain?
Recap
➥ Review your notes on this Literary Analysis. Write the key details that reveal
the nature of the epic and epic heroes in a bulleted list. One has been written for
you.
• Gilgamesh has admirable qualities.
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LEGEN DS AND MYTHS
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Un it 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(p. 964)
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
The Quest Hero
➥
What is a quest?
➥
Paraphrase the essential elements of a quest story. One point
has been written for you.
1. A precious object and/or person to be found and
possessed or married.
Myth and Dream
➥
150
UNIT 5
What does this paragraph say about the nature of myths?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Writers on Reading
Reduce
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask questions about images as
well as text on a page: “What
familiar myth does this
painting convey?”
(p. 965)
Record
The Tenets of Storytelling
➥
What are the primary tools of storytellers? What is their main
purpose?
➥
What is the narrative process?
➥
What is the basis, or root, of all stories?
Recap
➥
Review your notes on Writers on Reading. Write a few key ideas in your own
words in a bulleted list. One has been written for you.
• Legends are often about a hero who goes on a quest to retrieve
an object or a person from an oppositional force. That hero may
have animal or human helpers along the way.
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Un it 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Wrap-Up
(p. 966)
Reduce
Record
MY VIEW What did you most
enjoy learning in this
introduction? Why?
Guide to Reading Legends and Myths
➥
Why should you read myths and legends?
➥
What should you attempt to learn as you read myths and
legends?
Elements of Legends and Myths
➥
Write the definitions of the boldfaced terms you need to review
one more time.
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Un i t 5
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then record the definitions of the four terms listed
below. Also, include any additional information that you would like to review one more time.
Legends
Hero
Myths
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Folktales
LEGEN DS AND MYTH S
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Legends and Myths
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best word or phrase to complete
the following statements.
Choose the multiple-choice option that best
matches each question below. You may not
use all of the options.
1. _____ tell the stories of common
people.
A. Legends
B. Myths
C. Folktales
D. Epic heroes
2. _____ include elements of history and
elements of fantasy.
A. Legends
B. Myths
3.
4.
5.
6.
myths _____
hero _____
folklore _____
oral tradition _____
A. stories of gods, heroes, and
supernatural interventions
B. stories of common people
C. includes myths, legends, folklore,
and folktales
C. Folklore
D. includes folktales, dances, songs,
beliefs, and customs of a culture
D. Folktales
E. the main character of a legend
Short Answer
7. What is the essential difference between the origin of legends and the origin of myths?
8.
What is a folktale?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, reflect on them, and review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements of this unit. As you learn more about the ideas in the unit,
add to your notes.
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Un i t 5 , Pa r t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Acts of Courage
Big Idea
(p. 967)
Preview
• What do I know about the
theme of courage?
• How is the theme of
courage reflected in these
legends and myths?
• What literary elements
help to create the
legendary hero?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
This introduction prepares you for the legends and myths you
will read in one part of a unit of your textbook. It introduces
the theme of the legends and myths you will read and also
addresses the literary elements of the legendary hero. These
elements will be a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. What are
some acts of courage you can think of? Who do you consider a hero?
An example has been provided for you.
Acts of Courage:
Standing up to a bully
➥
What should you be thinking of when you are reading the
legends and myths in Part 1?
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AC TS OF CO U R A G E
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Un it 5 , Pa r t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Acts of Courage
Literary Focus
(p. 968)
Reduce
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Ask yourself
questions to reflect on what
you are learning:
The Legendary Hero
➥
How did legends originate?
➥
Read the passage from “Le Morte d’ Arthur.” What qualities
make Arthur a hero?
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AC T S OF C OUR A GE
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Un i t 5 , Pa r t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Acts of Courage
Literary Focus
(p. 969)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Scan the
headings on this page. Write
ideas you predict you will
learn.
Legend
TO THE POINT Write a few key
words about the characteristics
of an epic.
Epic
➥
➥
Define legend. How have legends changed over the years?
What characteristics define an epic?
Hero
➥
What are some traditional qualities of an epic hero?
➥
What book explored what it might be like for an ordinary person
to live a hero’s life?
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AC TS OF CO U R A G E
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Un it 5 , Pa r t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Acts of Courage
Summarize
➥
Review your notes. Record the literary elements and characteristics of legends you learned in
this introduction using a concept web. The web has been started for you.
legend
Apply
1. What is the Big Idea, and how does it apply to the role of legendary heroes?
2. What are the characteristics of a legendary hero?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, reflect on them, and review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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B E FO R E YO U R E A D
W H AT M A K ES A H E RO ?
to identify the assumptions of the author as well as
those of the groups or individuals she discusses.
Building Background
We can recognize a hero, but can we define one?
Figures in the public spotlight or soldiers in a war zone
are often lauded for their heroics, although many heroes
are regular people who rise to challenges for which they
never could have been prepared. In addition, a person’s
perspective on who or what makes a hero often
depends, in part, on his or her culture. Some believe
that Americans tend to view the hero as an individual,
while Europeans tend to put more faith in the combined
efforts of a group. Yet as long as conflict and suffering
continue to exist—whatever the scale—people will look to
heroes for reassurance that one person can create
positive change.
Setting Purposes for Reading
In our public and personal lives, we look to heroes to
remind us of the things ordinary people are capable of
in extraordinary situations. Before you read, discuss the
following questions with a partner:
•
•
Who do you consider a hero? What traits do these
people possess?
How much of a role does circumstance play in the
making of a hero?
Read to discover people’s differing understandings of
heroes both past and present, in the United States and
abroad.
Reading Strategy
Clarifying Meaning
When you clarify meaning, you look at difficult
sections of a text to clear up what is confusing. To
clarify meaning, you might reread a confusing section
more slowly, look up words you do not know, or ask
questions about information you do not understand.
Active Reading Focus
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose
An author’s purpose is his or her intent in writing a
literary work. Authors typically write for one or more of
the following purposes: to persuade, inform, explain,
entertain, or describe.
Big Idea
Acts of Courage
Our courage is tested both in life-changing situations
and in everyday circumstances. Some acts of courage
are simply a part of growing up. Other acts test people
in ways that change them deeply, regardless of
whether they “pass” or “fail” the test.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “What Makes
a Hero?” As you read the selection, use your
knowledge of synonyms—or words with the same or
nearly the same meanings—to figure out the meanings
of unfamiliar words.
anoint (ə noint) v. to sanctify or consecrate in a
religious ceremony, usually by applying oil;
p. 160 During the ceremony, the priest anointed people
with oil.
detection (di tekshən) n. the act of finding out; the
discovery of something hidden; p. 161 After the detection
of asbestos in the auditorium, the old high school was closed.
disparage (dis parij) v. to belittle or slight;
p. 163 Although she found fault with her opponent’s
policies, she didn’t disparage her in public.
unwittingly (un witin lē) adv. not knowingly or
intended; p. 164 When Ravi backed the car out of the
driveway, he unwittingly drove over his son’s new basketball.
Identifying
Assumptions
Identifying assumptions involves determining the
assumptions an author makes based on his or her
experiences, observations, and knowledge. Recognizing
these assumptions can help you understand why an
author has drawn certain conclusions. As you read, try
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WHAT MAK ES A H ER O ?
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Informational Text
What Makes a Hero?
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Assumptions Recall that
identifying assumptions involves
determining the assumptions an author
makes based on his or her experiences,
observations, and knowledge. Based on
the passage, what common
assumptions about heroes is the author
calling into question?
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose Remember that
an author’s purpose is his or her
intent in writing. An author typically
writes for one or more of the
following purposes: to persuade,
inform, explain, entertain, or describe.
What is the author’s purpose for
including this quotation?
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By Amanda Ripley
Some heroes act boldly on the world stage. Others make a
difference outside the public eye by identifying problems,
finding solutions, and inspiring the rest of us.
War breeds heroes—and a deep need to anoint them. The
soldier who sacrifices himself for his comrades, the civilian who
walks more than six miles to get help for a wounded prisoner of
war, the medic who makes no distinction between a bleeding ally
and a bleeding enemy, the aid worker who passes through a
combat zone to bring water to a crippled city—all are called heroes,
and all deserve to be. But the word hero is also used as a way to
excuse senseless deaths, a way to support the fiction that courage
and bravery will be enough to carry men and women through the
valley of death. The truth is more complicated and sad. Sometimes
heroic virtue means the difference between life and death and
sometimes it does not. Sometimes a hero is not born until the
moment he or she recognizes that heroism may not solve
anything—and yet behaves heroically anyway.
In the 1980s, Xavier Emmanuelli, cofounder of the medical
humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, was working
on the border between Cambodia and Thailand. With bombs falling
uncomfortably nearby, Emmanuelli and another doctor attended to
wounded refugees. The first victim was a young woman. She was
alive but critically wounded, her body nearly sliced in two by a
bomb fragment. Emmanuelli made a quick diagnosis. “I thought
there was nothing to be done and went on to another victim,” he
remembers.
But when he looked back, the other doctor, a young man named
Daniel Pavard, had not moved on. He was cradling the woman’s
head and caressing her hair. “He was helping her die,” says
Emmanuelli. “He did it very naturally. There was no public, no
cameras, no one looking. The bombing continued, and he did this
as if he was all alone in his humanity.”
In his 35-year career, Emmanuelli has witnessed most of the
tragedies of our era, from Saigon to Sierra Leone, locations where
warfare has resulted in thousands of deaths—places where heroes
are made if ever there are heroes. But he has never found heroes in
the obvious spots—behind podiums, say, or on armored personnel
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Informational Text
carriers. Sometimes he has not even recognized them until later,
reflecting on what he has seen them do. “It is in gestures,” he says,
“that you know a person’s true nature—gestures that almost escape
detection.”
Today, the newspapers are full of hero nominees, some more
convincing than others. The British papers gushed over Lieut.
Colonel Tim Collins, who became a national hero in England for
giving a speech to his troops before they marched into war in Iraq:
“We go to liberate, not to conquer,” he said. “If you are ferocious in
battle, remember to be magnanimous [noble and fair-minded] in
victory.”
News reporters have been called heroic for doing their jobs, and
bombing victims have been called courageous for surviving. There
have been grainy black-and-white portraits of U.S. General Tommy
Franks and sad images of France’s President Jacques Chirac, the
“white knight of peace,” as the French newspaper Le Figaro called
him. Still, many people find it hard to believe in any of the major
leaders for more than half an hour. A hero, by most definitions,
must be both brave and generous, a rare combination.
Reading Strategy
Clarifying Meaning Recall that
when you clarify meaning, you look
at difficult sections of a text in order
to clear up what is confusing. What is
the meaning of this quotation? How
does it relate to the author’s main
point?
American and European Heroes
For some, the very idea of a “European hero” is problematic. It is
Americans, after all—whom the Irish-born writer Oscar Wilde
mockingly called “hero worshippers”—who put all their faith in a
romantic notion of the individual. Europeans like to put their faith
in the group; they believe that they know better than to
overestimate the lone actor. Is it not unrealistic to think that a
single, flawed human can change the world? Have we not learned
by now that history is a mix of complicated circumstances, not a
totem pole of individual men—heroic as they may be?
Vocabulary
anoint (ə noint) v. to sanctify or
consecrate in a religious ceremony,
usually by applying oil
detection (di tekshən) n. the act of
finding out; the discovery of
something hidden
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Informational Text
Vocabulary
Synonyms Based on the context
clues in the passage, determine a
synonym for the word commonality.
✔ Reading Check
1. According to Xavier Emmanuelli,
what makes a hero?
2. How do American and European
conceptions of heroes differ?
“In the U.S., it is more likely that the rugged individualist will
be admired more,” says Oxford University philosopher Roger
Crisp. “It’s kind of old-fashioned. There’s a sense [in Europe] that
we’ve already been through that.” Billionaire businessmen are not
embraced as society’s saviors. That is what the state is for. When
TIME asked Italian novelist Umberto Eco who his hero was, he
responded with a quotation from German playwright Bertolt
Brecht: “Unhappy the land that needs heroes.”
And yet, for all of Europe’s worldly skepticism, there is no doubt
that heroes live there—and not all of them went to the war zone.
People still crave heroes, still rely on individuals—if not to solve
problems single-handedly, then at least to identify them, to point the
way toward a solution and, not least, to inspire the rest of us.
“People do need heroes in Europe,” insists Sister Emmanuelle,
the Belgian-born nun who spent 22 years living among the garbage
pickers of Cairo, Egypt, forcing the rest of the world to
acknowledge their existence. “Currently there is a real search for
grandness, in a different way than wealth. I can see how people
need this when they cry as I tell them about the love and deep
commonality that saves people. That touches them deep in their
hearts,” says Emmanuelle. She is living proof that for the European
hero, the good of the group and individual accomplishment can
exist together.
Heroes Past and Present
In ancient Greece, heroes inhabited a space between gods and men.
“Their heroes were very often flawed,” says Crisp. “[The ancient
Greek warrior] Achilles was sulky and arrogant, but admired
because he was big and tough.” The same might be said of some
European heroes today. In a 2003 survey of six European nations,
people were asked to name a famous figure from European history
with whom they would like to pass an hour. The study, sponsored
by three European associations, was meant to identify the “great
men” who inhabit an overall European memory.
Vocabulary
disparage (dis parij) v. to belittle or
slight
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Informational Text
In the end, despite the fact that they have spent decades
throwing politicians out of office, people chose their country’s
current leaders. The Germans wanted an hour with Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer. The British picked their prime minister,
Tony Blair. The Spanish, President José Maria Aznar. The French . . .
well, the French picked Charles de Gaulle, of course. The greatly
admired general and statesman became the symbol of France
during its battle against Nazi occupation and later as its president.
But the second most popular choice in France was the current
president, Chirac.
Even as we disparage our leaders, we still want to believe in
them. In late 2002, the BBC television channel caused hours of
dinner-table bickering when it invited the public to vote for the
greatest Briton of all time. Beatle John Lennon and Princess Diana
made the short list. But the winner was Winston Churchill, who led
the country through the dark and difficult days of the Second
World War.
Everyday Heroes
If you asked a thousand people for a definition of heroism, you
would get a thousand different answers. The French celebrity
philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy defines a hero narrowly, as
someone who tells the truth when it means risking his or her life.
Others are so uncomfortable with the word that they prefer to use
different, subtle labels like “role model” or “uncommon man.”
Many people take a broader view and define heroes as people
who have stood without flinching in the face of very bad odds.
Some say people who put themselves in mortal danger are heroes.
Others define heroes as activists, in the old-fashioned sense,
stubbornly beating a drum to remind us of problems we would
prefer to ignore. Some believe that heroes are able to turn grief that
would have destroyed most of us into defiant hope. Still others say
that heroes live comfortably while inspiring millions to hope for
better things.
Most heroes are walking contradictions. A hero has to be, on the
one hand, a dreamer—to believe against overwhelming odds that
something can change. But a hero is also a realist who does
something useful; giving up is not an option.
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Big Idea
Acts of Courage Why do you think
most Europeans chose to name their
current leaders heroes? What might
this suggest about how most of the
voters defined hero?
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Assumptions Based on
what you have read so far, do you
think the author of the selection
would assume that this view of a
hero would more likely be American
or European? Explain.
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Informational Text
Literary Element
Author’s Purpose What do you
think is the author’s purpose for
including the various examples in
this paragraph?
Reading Strategy
Clarifying Meaning What does
Emmanuelli mean by “a situation for
which they have been preparing,
unwittingly, all their lives”? Do you think
he would consider a doctor or a
wartime reporter to be a hero? Explain.
And so in France, a businessman has begun collecting résumés
in the decaying housing projects of the Parisian suburbs so he can
help young immigrants find jobs. In Iceland, a former engineer
convinced people to save the whales not because they are pretty,
but because the whale-watching industry could make more money
than the whale-killing industry. And in the West Bank, a Palestinian
surgeon endures a six-hour round-trip commute through armed
checkpoints to save lives—both Arab and Jewish—in the operating
room of an Israeli hospital. After decades of assuming the state
would look after the collective good, Europeans—and Americans—
have been forced to acknowledge that the government cannot
manage the job alone. Individuals must fill the gaps.
True heroes, adds Emmanuelli, never know that they are heroes.
They just find themselves in a situation for which they have been
preparing, unwittingly, all their lives. Then they do the right thing.
“A hero understands that he is a tool,” he says.
In every case, if heroism requires courage and generosity, the
last ingredient is circumstance. Novelist Jean-Christophe Rufin,
winner of France’s top literary award, and president of Action
Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), a private humanitarian
organization, says his model of a hero was his grandfather. Until he
was sent to a Nazi prison camp for hiding people in his garage, he
raised Rufin himself. “Physically, he was absolutely not a hero. He
was short, thin and weak, though he resisted many things that
would have killed me 10 times,” Rufin says. “All the choices he
made were kind of obvious things. It was the circumstances that
made him a hero.”
—Updated 2005, from TIME Europe, April 28, 2003
Vocabulary
unwittingly (un witin lē) adv.
not knowingly or intended
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A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Use a Venn diagram to help you organize the
similarities and differences of two things. Fill in the Venn
diagram below to show the similarities and differences
of the European and the American ideas of heroes,
according to the article.
American
Idea
of Hero
• Americans
considered “heroworshippers”
Both
• crave heroes
as inspiration
European
Idea of Hero
• many Europeans
skeptical of the
idea of individual
heroes
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Assumptions Ripley discusses, at length,
Dr. Xavier Emmanuelli’s idea of what constitutes a
hero. Look back at the parts about Emmanuelli in the
selection. Then identify the common assumptions
about heroes that Emmanuelli challenges.
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Informational Text
Vocabulary Practice
Reading Strategy
Clarifying Meaning In the selection, Emmanuelli
argues that true heroes never know that they are
heroes. He then states, “A hero understands that he is
a tool.” What does Emmanuelli mean by these
statements?
Using Synonyms Recall that synonyms are words with
the same or nearly the same meanings. Determine
each word’s synonym from the choices below.
1. At baptism the priest would sanctify the baby by
touching her forehead with holy oil.
(a) disparage
(b) defiant
(c) anoint
(d) detection
2. Jake’s discovery of field mice in the cellar led to
his immediate purchase of a cat.
(a) detection
(b) skepticism
(c) defiant
Literary Element
(d) diagnosis
Author’s Purpose What do you think is Ripley’s
purpose for writing the selection? Use evidence from
the selection to support your answer.
3. Rita’s ability to loudly demean the girls on the
opposing team was unmatched.
(a) anoint
(b) defiant
(c) disparage
(d) unwittingly
4. Clint stretched his legs out during the lecture and
unintentionally unplugged the overhead projector.
(a) skepticism
(b) defiant
(c) disparage
(d) unwittingly
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Un i t 5 , Pa r t 2
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Rescuing and Conquering
Big Idea
(p. 1035)
Preview
• What do I know about
myths and folktales?
• How is the theme of
rescuing and conquering
reflected in myths and
folktales?
• What literary elements are
used in myths and
folktales?
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write a few key
words.
This introduction prepares you for the myths and folktales you
will read in one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the
theme of the myths and folktales you will read and also
addresses the literary elements of myths and folktales. These
elements will be a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
Big Idea
➥ Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. You can
chart them in your notes as shown. Can you add other words that
describe the theme?
Rescuing and Conquering
Leaders and warriors
➥ What should you be thinking of when you are reading the myths
and folktales in Part 2?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Rescuing and Conquering
Literary Focus
(p. 1036)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
What are the elements of myth and folktales?
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
read both the commentary and
the passage of literature on the
page. Ask yourself:
➥ Summarize this passage of literature.
➥ Restate Campbell’s message in your own words.
“What is this passage
about?”
➥ List all the characters in this passage.
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Rescuing and Conquering
Literary Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topics of this page.
(p. 1037)
Record
Myth
➥ Define the key terms.
Oral Tradition
• Folklore
➥ Write the elements and purposes of folklore here.
• Folktale
• Tall Tale
➥ How do tall tales differ from folktales?
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Rescuing and Conquering
Summarize
➥ Review your notes. Sum up what you have learned about the literary elements in this
introduction using a classification chart. The chart has been started for you.
Myth
Oral Tradition
Folklore
Folktale
Tall Tale
Apply
1. What is the Big Idea? How does it relate to myth and oral tradition?
2. What is oral tradition? What main types did you learn?
3. What are the key elements of a tall tale?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, reflect on them, and review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas and literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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B E FO R E YO U R E A D
T H E H E RO ’S A DV E N T U R E
Building Background
Joseph Campbell was a prolific scholar who enlivened
and popularized mythology. He is perhaps best known
for his work of comparative mythology The Hero with
a Thousand Faces. The following excerpt is from an
interview with the award-winning journalist Bill Moyers.
Part of this interview took place at the Skywalker
Ranch, home of Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas.
Campbell’s writings about heroes helped shape the
Star Wars films. The other part of this interview took
place at the Museum of Natural History in New York.
There, as a boy, Campbell became fascinated with
Native American artifacts and inspired to pursue a
lifelong study of world mythology.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Myths exist in every culture. These stories of peril,
adventure, and discovery can help us understand how
to live our lives. With a classmate discuss the following
questions:
•
•
Have you ever read a myth or legend that affected
you strongly? How did it make you feel?
Why do you think there are myths in every culture?
Read to discover the comparisons Joseph Campbell
makes between mythology and real life.
Reading Strategy
Analyzing Rhetorical
Devices
Rhetorical devices are techniques used to persuade.
Some rhetorical devices include analogy, or a
comparison that shows the relationship between
dissimilar things, and causation, which involves
showing cause-and-effect relationships. To analyze
rhetorical devices, examine how an author uses such
persuasive techniques to support an argument.
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Problem
and Solution
•
•
What solutions are tried?
What happens as a result?
As you read, try to answer these questions about the
selection.
Literary Element
Figurative Language
Figurative language is language used for descriptive
effect, in order to convey ideas or emotions. Figurative
language is not literally true, but expresses some truth
beyond the literal level. Figurative language can include
such elements as symbol, metaphor, personification,
or simile.
Big Idea
Rescuing and Conquering
Leaders and warriors may rescue allies and conquer
powerful enemies. Yet, heroes often find that they face
graver battles within themselves than in the world
around them.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “The Hero’s
Adventure.” As you read, use context clues to help
unlock the meaning of these and other words you do
not know.
vital (vit əl) adj. full of life, health, or energy;
p. 172 The child’s face seemed vital and fresh.
vocation (vō kā shən) n. a job or occupation,
especially one for which a person is well suited;
p. 173 Mitch was enjoying his new vocation as a carpenter.
ritual (rich oo
¯¯¯ əl) n. a ceremony or a pattern of
religious observation; p. 175 The archeologists were
studying the ancient culture’s rituals.
passage (pas ij) n. the process by which something is
passed through; a transition; p. 175 Jeremy felt that
adolescence was a passage into adulthood.
obstacle (ob stə kəl) n. something that prevents or
hinders; p. 177 The hill’s steep incline was the last obstacle
on the course.
When you identify problem and solution, you find
answers to the following questions:
•
•
What is the main problem in the selection?
Who has it?
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Informational Text
The Hero’s Adventure
Reading Strategy
Analyzing Rhetorical Devices
Recall that when you analyze
rhetorical devices, you determine
how a writer uses language to
persuade. What type of rhetorical
device is used here? Explain.
By Joseph Campbell, with Bill Moyers
When I was a boy and read Knights of the Round Table,1
myth stirred me to think that I could be a hero. I wanted to go out
and do battle with dragons, I wanted to go into the dark forest and
slay evil. What does it say to you that myths can cause the son of
an Oklahoma farmer to think of himself as a hero?
MOYERS:
Myths inspire the realization of the possibility of your
perfection, the fullness of your strength, and the bringing of solar
light into the world. Slaying monsters is slaying the dark things.
Myths grab you somewhere down inside. As a boy, you approach it
one way, as I did reading my Indian stories. Later on, myths tell
you more, and more, and still more. I think that anyone who has
ever dealt seriously with religious or mythic ideas will tell you that
we learn them as a child on one level, but then many different levels are revealed. Myths are infinite in their revelation.
CAMPBELL:
How do I slay that dragon in me? What’s the journey each of
us has to make, what you call “the soul’s high adventure”?
MOYERS:
My general formula for my students is “Follow your
bliss.” Find where it is, and don’t be afraid to follow it.
CAMPBELL:
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Problem and Solution
Remember that when you identify
the problem and solution of a
selection, you determine the main
problem, what solutions are provided,
and what happens as a result. What
is the problem in the selection? What
solution does Campbell provide?
MOYERS:
Is it my work or my life?
CAMPBELL: If the work that you’re doing is the work that you chose
to do because you are enjoying it, that’s it. But if you think, “Oh,
no! I couldn’t do that!” that’s the dragon locking you in. “No, no, I
couldn’t be a writer,” or “No, no, I couldn’t possibly do what Soand-so is doing.”
In this sense we’re not going on our journey to save the world
but to save ourselves.
MOYERS:
But in doing that, you save the world. The influence of
a vital person vitalizes, there’s no doubt about it. . . .
CAMPBELL:
I like what you say about the old myth of Theseus and
Ariadne. Theseus says to Ariadne, “I’ll love you forever if you can
show me a way to come out of the labyrinth.” So she gives him a ball
of string, which he unwinds as he goes into the labyrinth, and then follows to find the way out. You say, “All he had was the string. That’s all
you need.”
MOYERS:
1. Knights of the Round Table refers to the symbolic court and knights in the legend of King
Arthur. The Round Table was equal on all sides, with places for 150 knights to sit.
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Informational Text
CAMPBELL:
Literary Element
That’s all you need—an Ariadne thread.
MOYERS: Sometimes we look for great wealth to save us, a great
power to save us, or great ideas to save us, when all we need is that
piece of string.
Literary Element What type of
figurative language does Campbell
use in the passage?
That’s not always easy to find. But it’s nice to have someone who can give you a clue. That’s the teacher’s job, to help you
find your Ariadne thread.
CAMPBELL:
Like all heroes, the Buddha2 doesn’t show you the truth
itself, he shows you the way to truth.
MOYERS:
CAMPBELL: But it’s got to be your way, not his. The Buddha can’t
tell you exactly how to get rid of your particular fears, for example.
Different teachers may suggest exercises, but they may not be the
ones to work for you. All a teacher can do is suggest. He is like a
lighthouse that says, “There are rocks over here, steer clear. There is
a channel, however, out there.”
The big problem of any young person’s life is to have models to
suggest possibilities. The mind has many possibilities, but we
can live no more than one life. What are we going to do with ourselves? A living myth presents contemporary models.
MOYERS: Today, we have an endless variety of models. A lot of people end up choosing many and never knowing who they are.
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Problem and Solution
What spiritual problem and solution
does the Queste del Saint Graal
represent for Campbell? Explain in
your own words.
CAMPBELL: When you choose your vocation, you have actually chosen a model, and it will fit you in a little while. After middle life,
for example, you can pretty well tell what a person’s profession is.
Wherever I go, people know I’m a professor. I don’t know what it
is that I do, or how I look, but I, too, can tell professors from engineers and merchants. You’re shaped by your life.
MOYERS: There is a wonderful image in King Arthur where the
knights of the Round Table are about to enter the search for the
Grail3 in the Dark Forest, and the narrator says, “They thought it
would be a disgrace to go forth in a group. So each entered the forest at a separate point of his choice.” You’ve interpreted that to
express the Western emphasis upon the unique phenomenon of a
single human life—the individual confronting darkness.
What struck me when I read that in the thirteenthcentury Queste del Saint Graal4 was that it epitomizes an especially
Western spiritual aim and ideal, which is, of living the life that is
potential in you and was never in anyone else as a possibility.
CAMPBELL:
2. Buddha is the founder of the major world religion Buddhism, which began in southern and
eastern Asia.
3. The Grail, or the Holy Grail, was a wide-mouthed vessel that the knights in the legend of
King Arthur sought after.
4. Queste del Saint Graal is one of the three romances in the story of the Arthurian knight
Lancelot.
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Vocabulary
vital (vit əl) adj. full of life, health,
or energy
vocation (vō kā shən) n. a job or
occupation, especially one for which a
person is well suited
THE HERO’S A DVENTU R E
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Informational Text
Big Idea
Rescuing and Conquering
According to the truth Campbell
describes, what must be
“conquered”?
Reading Strategy
Analyzing Rhetorical Devices
What type of rhetorical device does
Campbell use in the passage?
This, I believe, is the great Western truth: that each of us is a
completely unique creature and that, if we are ever to give any gift
to the world, it will have to come out of our own experience and
fulfillment of our own potentialities, not someone else’s. Generally
in all traditionally grounded societies, the individual is cookiemolded. His duties are put upon him in exact and precise terms, and
there’s no way of breaking out from them. When you go to a guru5
to be guided on the spiritual way, he knows just where you are on
the traditional path, just where you have to go next, just what you
must do to get there. He’ll give you his picture to wear, so you can
be like him. That wouldn’t be a proper Western pedagogical6 way of
guidance. We have to give our students guidance in developing their
own pictures of themselves. What each must seek in his life never
was, on land or sea. It is to be something out of his own unique
potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never
could have been experienced by anyone else. . . .
How does a child know when his time has come? In ancient
societies, the boy, for example, went through a ritual which told him
the time had come. He knew that he was no longer a child and that he
had to put off the influences of others and stand on his own. We don’t
have such a clear moment or an obvious ritual in our society that says
to my son, “You are a man.” Where is the passage today?
MOYERS:
I don’t have the answer. I figure you must leave it up to
the boy to know when he has got his power. A baby bird knows
when it can fly. We have a couple of birds’ nests right near where we
have breakfast in the morning, and we have seen several little families launched. These little things don’t make a mistake. They stay on
the branch until they know how to fly, and then they fly. I think
somehow, inside, a person knows this.
I can give you examples from what I know of students in art studios. There comes a moment when they have learned what the artist
can teach them. They have assimilated the craft, and they are ready for
their own flight. Some of the artists allow their students to do that.
They expect the student to fly off after. . . . The students I know, the
ones who are really valid as students, know when it is time to push
off.
CAMPBELL:
✔ Reading Check
1. What do myths do, according to
Campbell?
2. What is Campbell’s “formula” for
students?
5. Here, a guru is personal spiritual teacher in traditional Hinduism, a major world religion
primarily practiced in India.
6. Pedagogical means characterized by teaching.
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Informational Text
MOYERS: There is an old prayer that says, “Lord, teach us when to
let go.” All of us have to know that, don’t we?
That’s the big problem of the parent. Being a parent is one
of the most demanding careers I know. When I think what my father
and mother gave up of themselves to launch their family—well, I really
appreciate that.
My father was a businessman, and, of course, he would have been
very happy to have his son go into business with him and take it on. In
fact, I did go into business with Dad for a couple of months, and then I
thought, “I can’t do this.” And he let me go. There is that testing time in
your life when you have got to test yourself out to your own flight.
CAMPBELL:
MOYERS:
Literary Element
Figurative Language What
figurative language does Campbell
use in the passage? How does this
language contribute to his point?
Myths used to help us know when to let go.
CAMPBELL: Myths formulate things for you. They say, for example, that
you have to become an adult at a particular age. The age might be a
good average age for that to happen—but actually, in the individual
life, it differs greatly. Some people are late bloomers and come to
particular stages at a relatively late age. You have to have a feeling for
where you are. You’ve got only one life to live, and you don’t have to
live it for six people. Pay attention to it.
✔ Reading Check
What is the great Western truth
Campbell describes?
What about happiness? If I’m a young person and I want
to be happy, what do myths tell me about happiness?
MOYERS:
The way to find out about your happiness is to keep
your mind on those moments when you feel most happy, when
you really are happy—not excited, not just thrilled, but deeply
happy. This requires a little bit of self-analysis. What is it that
makes you happy? Stay with it, no matter what people tell you.
This is what I call “following your bliss.”
CAMPBELL:
MOYERS:
But how does mythology tell you about what makes you
happy?
It won’t tell you what makes you happy, but it will tell you
what happens when you begin to follow your happiness, what the
obstacles are that you’re going to run into.
CAMPBELL:
Vocabulary
ritual (rich oo
¯¯¯ əl) n. a ceremony or
a pattern of religious observation
passage (pas ij) n. the process by
which something is passed through; a
transition
obstacle (ob stə kəl) n. something
that prevents or hinders
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THE HERO’S A DVENTU R E
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Informational Text
A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
Use a summary chart to identify, summarize, and
remember the most important parts of a selection. In
the chart below, list the topic of the selection, the
main point, and three or four supporting points.
Selection Topic: Bill Moyers interviews Joseph Campbell about the importance of
mythology in modern life.
Main Point: Myths can offer guidance to people in the modern world.
Supporting Points:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Active Reading Focus
Identifying Problem and Solution In a brief
paragraph, describe the main problem discussed in
this selection. Who has it? What solution is offered? Be
sure to include evidence from the text in support of
your opinion.
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Reading Strategy
Analyzing Rhetorical Devices In your view, what
was the most effective analogy from the selection?
What made it particularly persuasive?
Vocabulary Practice
Using Context Clues When using difficult words,
writers often provide clues to the meaning of those
words. Some common context clues include
•
•
•
•
•
Literary Element
Figurative Language Read the passage, and then
explain which types of figurative language are used.
“All a teacher can do is suggest. He is like a
lighthouse that says, ‘There are rocks over here, steer
clear. There is a channel, however, out there.’”
definitions or synonyms
concrete examples
contrast clues (opposite meanings)
descriptions
modifying words or phrases
For each passage from the text, study the underlined
parts, and tell how that information gives a clue to the
word’s meaning.
1. “How does a child know when his time has come?
In ancient societies, the boy, for example, went
through a ritual which told him the time had
come.”
2. “When you choose your vocation, you have
actually chosen a model, and it will fit you in a little
while. . . . Wherever I go, people know I’m a
professor. I don’t know what it is that I do, or how I
look, but I, too, can tell professors from engineers
and merchants.”
3. “. . . it will tell you what happens when you begin
to follow your happiness, what the obstacles are
that you’re going to run into.”
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Un it 6
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Looking Ahead
(p. 1109)
Preview
• What is unique about
genre fiction?
• What are a few types of
genre fiction?
• What literary elements
create meaning in genre
fiction?
Reduce
This introduction prepares you for the genre fiction you will
read in a unit of your textbook. It distinguishes genre fiction as
a literary form and explains its value. It describes the different
types of genre fiction. It also offers suggestions on how to read
genre fiction.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Record
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Looking Ahead
➥
How does genre fiction compare to other types of literature?
Preview
➥
What are the Big Ideas of this unit? What types of genre fiction
might you find in each Big Idea?
➥
178
UNIT 6
Which literary elements will you learn about in this unit?
G E NR E F I C T I ON
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Genre Focus
(p. 1110)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms and other key
ideas on this page.
Record
Types of Genre Fiction
• Science Fiction
➥
What elements are characteristic of science fiction?
• Fantasy
➥
How is fantasy similar to and different from science fiction?
• Fable
➥
What is a fable? What is different about modern fables?
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GENR E FICTIO N
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Un it 6
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Genre Focus
(p. 1111)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write a few key
ideas.
• Mystery
➥
Write key ideas about the genre of mystery.
Style and Tone
• Style, Voice, and Diction
• Attitude
• Imagery and Description
• Sensory Details
Recap
➥ Sum up the types of genre fiction and literary elements in this section.
180
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G E NR E F I C T I ON
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Literary Analysis
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
literary elements on this page.
(pp. 1112–1113)
Record
➥
Discuss the author and his work.
The Happy Man’s Shirt
➥
Which literary elements does the analysis point out? How do
they create meaning in the story?
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GEN R E FICTIO N
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Literary Analysis
(pp. 1112–1113)
Reduce
Record
MY VIEW Write comments
about diction, voice, and
sensory details in this story.
➥
Which literary elements does the analysis examine? Can you
find examples of those styles in the text?
Recap
➥
Sum up the literary elements in this selection. According to the analysis, how
do they create meaning in The Happy Man’s Shirt?
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G E NR E F I C T I ON
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Un i t 6
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Writers on Reading
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
(pp. 1114–1115)
Record
The Metaphor of Fantasy
➥
Complete this sentence: The main idea of this section is . . .
Science and Technology in Fiction
➥
How does fantasy relate to science?
➥
How does Márquez’s quote relate to genre fiction?
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GEN R E FICTIO N
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Writers on Reading
Reduce
(pp. 1114–1115)
Record
Any Questions? Use them to
organize your notes. For
example: “What do primitive
people have in common with
modern people?”
Ingredients of a Mystery
➥
List the key elements of a successful mystery.
➥
How do mysteries teach the reader about human nature?
Recap
➥
184
Sum up the key topics of Writers on Reading.
UNIT 6
G E NR E F I C T I ON
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Un i t 6
Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Wrap-Up
(p. 1116)
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms.
Record
Guide to Reading Genre Fiction
➥
Write a paragraph explaining the strategies for reading
presented in this list.
Elements of Genre Fiction
➥
List and define the key terms.
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GENR E FICTIO N
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on genre fiction. Then sum up the definitions and
literary elements of the different genres you learned about in this introduction.
Some of the outline has been filled in for you. Add as many items as you judge
to be necessary. You do not have to complete entire columns.
Science Fiction
• a setting in the
future or away
from Earth
• description and
imagery
186
U N IT 6
Fantasy
• description and
imagery
Fable
• themes relating to
human behavior
Mystery
G E NR E F I C T I ON
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: Genre Fiction
Apply
Multiple Choice
Matching
Choose the best choice for the following
items.
Choose the multiple-choice option that best
matches each item below. You may not use
all of the options.
1. The expressive qualities of an author’s
work are known as _____.
A. imagery
B. diction
C. tone
D. style
2. The familiar plot of _____ follows a
particular pattern, starting with a
crime.
A. fantasies
B. science fiction stories
C. fables
D. detective stories
3.
4.
5.
6.
sensory details _____
style _____
fable _____
fantasy _____
A. how word choice and diction
combine to create a specific mood
B. a simple, brief story that teaches a
lesson or gives advice about
behavior
C. a story set in an unfamiliar world
that often includes magic
D. word pictures that evoke an
emotional response
E. evocative words or phrases that
appeal to the five senses
F. the writer’s attitude toward the
audience or subject of the work
Short Answer
7. What sets genre fiction apart from other types of fiction?
8. Why are imagery and description important in genre fiction?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this unit. As you learn more about the
ideas in the unit, add to your notes.
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GEN R E FICTIO N
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Extraordinary and Fantastic
Big Idea
(p. 1117)
Preview
• How is the theme of The
Extraordinary and
Fantastic reflected in
genre fiction?
• What literary elements are
included in genre fiction?
This introduction prepares you for the short stories you will
read in one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the
theme of the short stories you will read in that part. It also
addresses the literary elements writers use to describe fantastic
worlds. These elements will be a focus in this part of your
textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Big Idea
➥
Notice the words used to describe aspects of the theme. Then
use the web below to identify the dreams and/or worlds you have
imagined.
dreams and
the imagination
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T H E E X T R AOR DIN ARY AN D FAN TASTIC
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Extraordinary and Fantastic
Literary Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the key
topic of this page.
(pp. 1118–1119)
Record
How do writers describe fantastic worlds?
➥
Describe imagery.
➥
How do sensory details relate to imagery?
➥
Write one or two phrases from the excerpt of Ray Bradbury’s A
Sound of Thunder that use sensory details.
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T HE EX TRAORDIN ARY AN D FA NTA STIC
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Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Extraordinary and Fantastic
Literary Focus
(pp. 1118–1119)
Reduce
Record
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms. Next to each
one, write a word or phrase
that will help you recall it.
Figurative Language
➥
Ask yourself about the boldfaced term. Then write your answer.
• Simile and Metaphor
➥
How are simile and metaphor alike and different?
•Personification
➥
Define personification. Use your own words if you like.
Imagery
➥
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Define imagery. What does it create for the reader?
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Un i t 6 , Pa r t 1
Informational Text
Introductory Text: The Extraordinary and Fantastic
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Then use this classification chart to review the literary
elements you learned. Some of it has been filled in for you.
Figurative
Language
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Imagery
Apply
1. What are the similarities and differences between figurative language and imagery?
2. How does personification contribute to meaning?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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Informational Text
B E FO R E YO U R E A D
ON E LEGEN D FOU N D, M A N Y ST I LL
TO GO
Building Background
For centuries the possibility of strange creatures lurking
in watery depths and dense jungles has both intrigued
and frightened people. Curiosity surrounding the
mysterious creatures has fueled legends and led to the
development of a field known as cryptozoology. Often
ridiculed for not being an actual science, cryptozoology
is the study of animals that may or may not exist.
Cryptozoologists have studied such creatures as the
okapi, a small, giraffe-like mammal discovered in the
Congo, and Homo floresiensis, an extinct primate
related to original man, of which some bones have
been discovered. In “One Legend Found, Many Still to
Go,” William J. Broad discusses a recent sighting of a
giant squid and what such discoveries mean for the
future of cryptozoology.
sources, the evidence presented by them in support of
their arguments, and any counterarguments that are
made. As you read, determine whether the sources
cited in the selection are credible and consider how you
can tell.
Literary Element
Mood
Mood refers to the emotional quality or atmosphere
of a selection. A writer’s choice of language, subject,
setting, and tone—as well as sound devices—contribute
to the mood.
Big Idea
The Extraordinary and Fantastic
What if the extraordinary were the ordinary? The
mysteries of our world have provoked imagination and
curiosity for centuries, and our legends, fables, and
fantasy stories reveal our attempts to understand these
unknowns. As science advances, these “fantasies” are
often dismissed or, in some cases, legitimized.
Setting Purposes for Reading
People are often drawn to what they do not entirely
understand. Before you read, discuss the following
questions with a partner:
•
•
How is curiosity related to scientific research?
What is the value of researching something that
may not actually exist?
Read to discover the current debates over
cryptozoology in Broad’s “One Legend Found, Many
Still to Go.”
Reading Strategy
Comparing and
Contrasting Events and
Ideas
When you compare and contrast, you find the
similarities and differences between two themes in
one or more works of literature. To compare and
contrast events and ideas, consider the major events
and ideas in a selection, what they mean, and how
those meanings are alike or different.
Active Reading Focus
Evaluating
Credibility
To evaluate the credibility of sources in a nonfiction
selection, examine the author’s attitude toward these
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Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “One Legend
Found, Many Still to Go.” The dictionary definition of a
word is its denotation. As you read the selection, use
the word’s denotation and its context to help determine
its connotation, or implied meaning. A word’s
connotation can be positive, negative, or neutral.
¯¯¯m) v. to come into view or appear to the
loom (loo
mind as an indistinct, threatening form; p. 193 At dusk,
the shadows of the gnarled trees in the orchard loom like ghosts.
malevolent (mə levə lənt) adj. wishing harm to
others; malicious; p. 193 Although her boss seemed harsh
at times, Yoshi knew he wasn’t malevolent or cruel.
enthusiast (en th¯¯¯
oozē ast´) n. someone who is
passionately preoccupied with a particular subject;
p. 195 Although my uncle is wretched at tennis, he’s the
sport’s biggest enthusiast.
amateur (amə chər) n. a person who engages in any
art, science, study, or other pursuit as a pastime rather
than a profession; p. 195 After Hans won the amateur
golfing tournament, he decided to quit real estate and play
the sport full time.
marine (mə rēn) adj. of or pertaining to the sea;
p. 195 While snorkeling in the Caribbean, we observed
various marine life.
ONE L E G E ND F OUN D, MAN Y STILL TO GO
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Informational Text
One Legend Found, Many Still to Go
By William J. Broad
The human instinct to observe nature has always been mixed
with a tendency to embroider upon it. So it is that, over the ages,
societies have lived alongside not only real animals, but a shadow
bestiary1 of fantastic ones—mermaids, griffins,2 unicorns and the
like. None loomed larger than the giant squid, the kraken,3 a great,
malevolent devil of the deep. “One of these Sea-Monsters,” Olaus
Magnus4 wrote in 1555, “will drown easily many great ships.”
Science, of course, is in the business of shattering myths with
facts, which it did again, last week when Japanese scientists
reported that they hooked a giant squid—a relatively small one
estimated at 26 feet long—some 3,000 feet down and photographed
it before it tore off a tentacle to escape. It was the first peek
humanity has ever had of such animals in their native habitat.
Almost inevitably, the creature seemed far less terrifying than its
ancient image.
Scientists celebrated the find not as an end, but as the beginning
of a new chapter in understanding the shy creature. “There’re
always more questions, more parts to the mystery than we’ll ever
be able to solve,” said Clyde F. E. Roper, a squid expert at the
National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian
Institution.
Monster lovers take heart. Scientists argue that so much of the
planet remains unexplored that new surprises are sure to show up;
if not legendary beasts like the Loch Ness5 monster or the dinosaurlike reptile said to inhabit Lake Champlain, then animals that in
their own way may be even stranger.
A forthcoming book by the noted naturalist Richard Ellis,
Singing Whales, Flying Squid and Swimming Cucumbers (Lyon Press,
2006), reinforces that notion by cataloguing recent discoveries of
previously unknown whales, dolphins and other creatures, some of
which are quite bizarre.
Big Idea
The Extraordinary and Fantastic
What does the passage suggest
about humans’ “instinctual” response
to nature?
Literary Element
Mood Recall that mood refers to
the emotional quality or atmosphere
of a selection. A writer’s choice of
language, subject, setting, tone, and
sound devices contribute to creating
mood. What is the mood of the
passage?
✒ Underline the words or phrases
that contribute most to the mood of
the passage.
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Here, bestiary means a medieval collection of symbolic tales about the traits of animals.
Griffins are mythological creatures with the body of a lion and the head of a bird.
Krakens are fabled sea monsters, based on sightings of giant squids.
Olaus Magnus (1490–1557) was a Catholic priest and an author of Scandinavian history.
The Loch Ness monster is a fabled lake monster said to reside in Scotland’s Loch Ness.
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loom (loo
¯¯¯m) v. to come into view or
appear to the mind as an indistinct,
threatening form
malevolent (mə levə lənt) adj.
wishing harm to others; malicious
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Informational Text
Active Reading Focus
Evaluating Credibility Based on
the discussion of Richard Ellis,
evaluate whether or not he is
credible. Would Broad consider him
credible? How do you know?
Reading Strategy
Comparing and Contrasting
Events and Ideas To compare and
contrast events and ideas, consider
the major events and ideas in a
selection, what they mean, and how
those meanings are alike or different.
How did the event involving the
coelacanth contrast with the
prevailing ideas of the coelacanth at
the time?
“The sea being so deep and so large, I’m sure other mysteries
lurk out there, unseen and unsolved,” said Mr. Ellis, also the author
of “Monsters of the Sea” (Knopf, 1994). Explorers, he said, recently
stumbled on an odd squid more than 20 feet long with fins like
elephant ears and very skinny arms and tentacles, all of which can
bend at right angles, like human elbows. “We know nothing about
it,” Mr. Ellis said. “But we’ve seen it.”
Historically, many unknown creatures have come to light purely
by accident. In 1938, for example, a fisherman pulled up an odd,
ancient-looking fish with stubby, limblike fins. It turned out to be a
coelacanth, a beast thought to have gone extinct 70 million years
ago. Since then, other examples of the species have occasionally
been hauled out of the sea.
Land, too, occasionally gives up a secret. About 1900, acting on
tips from the local population, Sir Harry H. Johnston, an English
explorer, hunted through the forests of Zaire (then the Belgian
Congo) and found a giraffe-like animal known as the okapi. It was
hailed as a living fossil.
In 1982, a group of animal enthusiasts founded the International
Society of Cryptozoology (literally, the study of hidden creatures)
and adopted the okapi as its symbol. Today, self-described
cryptozoologists range from amateur unicorn hunters to
distinguished scientists.
At the Web site for the group, www.internationalsocietyofcrypto
zoology.org,there is a list of 15 classes6 of unresolved claims about
unusual beasts,’ including big cats, giant crocodiles, huge snakes,
large octopuses, mammoths, biped primates like the yeti in the
Himalayas and long-necked creatures resembling the gigantic
dinosaurs called sauropods.
Lake Champlain, on the border between Vermont and New
York, is notorious as the alleged home of Champ, a beast said to be
similar to a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile with a small head,
long neck and four paddle-shaped flippers.
6. Classes are a biological classification of organism that is below the rank of phylum, above
that of order.
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Informational Text
There, as at Loch Ness and elsewhere, myth busters and
believers do constant battle. “Not only is there not a single piece of
convincing evidence for Champ’s existence, but there are many
reasons against it,” Joe Nickel, a researcher who investigates claims
of paranormal7 phenomena, argued in Skeptical Inquirer, a monthly
magazine that rebuts what it considers to be scientific hokum.8
Then there are the blobs. For more than a century, scientists and
laymen imagined that the mysterious gooey masses—some as large
as a school bus—that wash ashore on beaches around the world
came from great creatures with tentacles long enough to sink cruise
ships. Warnings were issued. Perhaps, cryptozoologists speculated,
the blobs were the remains of recently deceased living fossils more
fearsome than the dinosaurs, or perhaps an entirely new sea
creature unknown to science.
Then last year, a team of biologists based at the University of
South Florida applied DNA analysis to the mystery. It turned out
they were nothing more than old whale blubber. “To our
disappointment,” the scientists wrote, “we have not found any
evidence that any of the blobs are the remains of gigantic octopods,
or sea monsters of unknown species.”
Psychologists say raw nature is simply a blank slate for the
expression of our subconscious fears and insecurities, a Rorschach
test9 that reveals more about the viewer than the viewed.
But the giant squid is real, growing up to lengths of at least 60
feet, with eyes the size of dinner plates and a tangle of tentacles
lined with long rows of sucker pads. Scientists, their appetites
whetted10 by the first observations of the creature in the wild, are
now gearing up to discover its remaining secrets.
“Wouldn’t it be fabulous to see a giant squid capturing its
prey?” asked Dr. Roper of the Smithsonian. “Or a battle between a
sperm whale and a giant? Or mating? Can you imagine that?”
“We’ve cracked the ice on this,” he said “but there’s a lot more
to do.”
✔ Reading Check
What is a cryptozoologist?
Active Reading Focus
Evaluating Credibility What makes
this testimony credible? What may
make it less credible in the eyes of
certain scientists?
Vocabulary
enthusiast (en th¯¯¯
oozē ast´) n.
someone who is passionately
preoccupied with a particular subject
7. Paranormal means a phenomenon or experience that is unable to be explained scientifically.
8. Hokum means nonsense.
9. A Rorschach test is a psychological examination that evaluates personality based on
interpretation of ten abstract designs.
10. Here, whetted means stimulated.
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amateur (amə chər) n. a person
who engages in any art, science, study,
or other pursuit as a pastime rather
than a profession
marine (mə rēn) adj. of or
pertaining to the sea
ON E LEGEN D FOUN D, MAN Y S TILL TO G O
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Informational Text
A F T E R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
A cause-effect organizer can help you understand the
relationship between effects and their causes. The box
to the left is the cause. Each box on the right contains
an effect of that cause, which then becomes the cause
that leads to a new effect. Complete the organizer by
filling in the remaining boxes.
Cause
The malevolent giant squid, or kraken, was believed to live deep in the sea.
Effect
Curiosity
surrounding the
kraken and other
mysterious sea
creatures
leads to the
development of
cryptozoology.
Effect
Effect
Effect
Active Reading Focus
Evaluating Credibility Look back at the passage.
Which events and discoveries have helped establish
the credibility of cryptozoologists? Why might their
research be negatively perceived by other scientists in
spite of this?
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Informational Text
Reading Strategy
Vocabulary
Comparing and Contrasting Events and
Ideas Compare and contrast the prevailing early ideas
of the giant squid with the ideas cited after the sighting
of an actual giant squid. Do the facts “shatter” the
myths, as Broad suggests? Explain.
Using Denotation and Connotation Recall that the
denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. Its
connotation is its implied meaning, or the feelings,
ideas, and attitudes associated with it. Choose the
connotation of each word based on its context.
1. “…the giant squid, the kraken, a great, malevolent
devil of the deep.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
2. “… a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile with a
small head, long neck and four paddle-shaped
flippers.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
Literary Element
Mood In the selection, how does the mood of the
passage in which Broad describes the mythological
creatures differ from the mood of the passage in
which he describes the real animals? Why might this
be? Explain.
3. “So it is that, over the ages, societies have lived
alongside not only real animals, but a shadow
bestiary of fantastic ones—mermaids, griffins,
unicorns and the like. None loomed larger than
the giant squid . . .”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
4. “In 1982, a group of animal enthusiasts founded
the International Society of Cryptozoology (literally
the study of hidden creatures) and adopted the
okapi as its symbol.”
(a) positive
(b) negative
(c) neutral
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B E FO R E YO U R E A D
T H E M AC H I N E N U R T U R E R
Building Background
Since the first appearance of robots in science fiction
over eighty years ago, people have been fascinated with
the promise and possibility of artificial intelligence.
Modern robotics has come a long way and today can
boast of some amazing innovations. The following
selection discusses the work of robot researcher Cynthia
Breazeal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
who invents robots with humanlike qualities.
Setting Purposes for Reading
What makes us human? Is it our behavior alone that
defines us, or is it something else? With a classmate,
discuss the following questions:
•
•
How might robotics have an impact on your
everyday life?
Why is the study of artificial intelligence important?
Read to learn about robots with humanlike qualities
and why they were invented.
Reading Strategy
Connecting to
Contemporary Issues
When you connect to contemporary issues, you use
information from a selection to better understand
current events or issues.
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences
When you make inferences, you use your reason and
experience to determine information the author does
not state directly. As you read the selection, look for
clues, such as descriptions, that the author provides to
help you better understand the meaning of the
selection.
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Literary Element
Sensory Details
Sensory details are evocative words that convey
sensory experiences—seeing, hearing, tasting, touching,
and smelling. Sensory details make writing come alive
by helping readers experience what is being described.
Big Idea
The Extraordinary and the
Fantastic
What is considered fantastic or extraordinary today
might someday be considered run-of-the-mill. Laptop
computers, cellular phones, and the Internet all would
have been perceived as flights of fancy just a few
decades ago.
Vocabulary
Read the definitions of these words from “The
Machine Nurturer.” As you read, use context clues to
help unlock the meanings of these and other words
you do not know.
profile (prōf¯l) v. to present a short biographical
account; p. 200 Marianne chose to profile a state senator
in her article.
array (ə rā) n. a large group; p. 200 The restaurant’s
large menu provided an array of dinner options.
invariably (in vārē ə blē) adv. always; without
change; p. 201 Even though he tried to avoid it, Rob would
invariably eat too much during the holiday season.
satiate (sāshē āt´) v. to completely satisfy;
p. 202 Upon completing his novel, the doctor’s desire to
write creatively had been satiated.
emulate (emyə lāt´) v. to attempt to equal or surpass
through imitation; p. 203 As he aged, he no longer felt the
need to emulate his father.
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Literary Element
The Machine Nurturer
By Adam Cohen
Kismet has a winning personality that draws people in. That’s
just what Cynthia Breazeal intended when she built her very
sociable robot.
Walk into room 922 of the artificial intelligence at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and you may notice
a robot in the corner trying desperately to get your attention. When
Kismet is lonely and spots a human, it cranes its head forward. It
flaps its pink paper ears and excitedly makes babylike noises.
Kismet’s creators call this an “attention-getting display.” You would
have to have a heart of stone to ignore this cute little aluminum . . .
thing.
From a physical standpoint, Kismet isn’t much of a robot. It
can’t walk and grab things, as many robots today can. It doesn’t
even have arms, legs, or a body. What sets Kismet apart is that it
has been built with drives and equipped to interact with people. In
social terms, big-eyed, babbling Kismet may be the most human
robot ever built. And it may be the closest we have yet come to
building the kind of robots that appear in science fiction and
interact with humans in a natural way, like C-3PO from Star Wars.
Kismet is the creation of Cynthia Breazeal, an advanced student
in the Humanoid Robotics Group at M.I.T. Breazeal has studied for
years under Rodney Brooks, perhaps the leading figure in the
world of robotics. Breazeal got the idea for Kismet when she was
working with Cog, another robot in Brooks’ lab that was built to
have the physical capacities of a human infant. Cog has a head,
arms, and an upper body, and it can engage in simple tasks like
turning a crank or playing with a slinky. Cog is physically gifted
but completely lacking in social skills.
That lack was driven home to Breazeal one day when she was
interacting with Cog. Breazeal put an eraser down in front of Cog,
and Cog used its arm to pick up the eraser. When the robot put the
eraser down, Breazeal picked it up. Breazeal and Cog continued
taking turns picking up the eraser and putting it down. To an
outside observer, it might have looked like the robot was
intentionally playing with Breazeal, but Cog’s mind just didn’t
work that way. It was while taking part in this interaction that
Breazeal decided to try to build a new kind of robot—one that
could play the eraser game with her and mean it.
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Sensory Details Evocative words
that convey sensory experiences—
seeing hearing, tasting, touching, and
smelling—are referred to as sensory
details. Which senses does this
passage appeal to?
✒ Underline the words or phrases
that appeal to the senses.
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences Recall that to
make inferences you use your
reason and experience to determine
information the author does not state
directly. What can you infer from this
passage about Breazeal’s motivation
for designing Kismet?
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Big Idea
The Extraordinary and the
Fantastic Based on the information
in this passage, how can fantasy
influence reality?
Literary Element
Sensory Details Which sensory
details in this passage contributes the
most to your mental image of
Kismet? Do you agree with Breazeal
that facial features play an important
role in causing Kismet to be an
appealing social actor? Explain.
A Child of Science
Breazeal was uniquely suited to the task of building this new robot.
She grew up near the technology-rich area that would become
Silicon Valley. Her father was a mathematician and her mother a
computer scientist, and they raised her, she says, to be “protechnology.” Breazeal became captivated by robots at age 8 when
she saw Star Wars for the first time. “I just fell in love with the
Droids,” she says, especially R2–D2. “But I was old enough to
realize those kinds of robots didn’t exist.” Growing up, she
considered becoming a doctor and an astronaut. But she never gave
up her interest in robots. When she studied astronomy, she was
particularly intrigued by lunar rovers, which are really just a
specialized form of robot. After graduating from the University of
California at Santa Barbara, Breazeal went to M.I.T. in the early
1990s to become part of one of the world’s most innovative robotics
labs.
At the time, Rodney Brooks was working on smaller, insect-like
robots. Breazeal helped out and ended up with a small role in Fast,
Cheap, and Out of Control, a documentary in which filmmaker Errol
Morris profiles four people—including Brooks—who were
pursuing unusual passions. When Brooks moved on to larger
robots, Breazeal became the chief architect on Cog.
Breazeal played an active role in building Kismet. Drawing on
her experience helping build two prior complex robots, she worked
on everything from the mechanized design for Kismet’s facial
features to tinkering with its body parts in the shop. Breazeal took
great care with the robot’s facial features, which she considered
important to making it an appealing social actor. She found a
special-effects expert to make human-like eyes and personally
glued on false eyelashes purchased in a beauty-supply store. And
she put bright red lips on its metal mouth, using surgical tubing
colored in with a red pen.
Body Parts
Kismet has an array of built-in features that help it act in a humanlike way. It has four color cameras that allow it to “see,” and its
computers are programmed to help it recognize objects and
measure distances. Kismet actively seeks out colorful toys and
faces. It recognizes faces by looking for flesh tones and eyes.
Kismet can hear, but only when humans speak into its microphone.
Vocabulary
profile (prōf¯l) v. to present a short
biographical account
array (ə rā) n. a large group
invariably (in vārē ə blē) adv.
always; without change
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And Kismet has motor capabilities that allow it to shift its eyes and
crane its head toward particular sights and sounds. One of the
robot’s best features is its ability to register expressions that
correspond to its emotional state. When it is surprised, it can raise
its eyebrows. When it is sad, it can frown. Kismet can also vocalize,
in a sing-song babble of meaningless sounds.
Kismet was designed with motivational drives, drawn from
developmental psychology. A computer attached to the robot
displays bar graphs that reflect its three drives—social, stimulation,
and fatigue. Kismet’s desire to satisfy these drives leads it to
engage in a variety of purposeful behaviors, much as a human
baby would. When its social drive is high, indicating that it is
lonely, the robot actively seeks out human interaction. When its
stimulation drive is high, it is drawn to other forms of interaction,
including playing with colorful toys. Since it has no arms, it can’t
pick up a toy itself. But if it stares plaintively at a toy, a nearby
human will usually pick it up and bring it over. When Kismet has
had enough stimulation, its fatigue drive kicks in.
Kismet is able to engage in the kind of purposeful human
interactions that cousin Cog could not. Kismet calls people toward
it. And when they get too close for its cameras to see them well, it
protects its personal space and pulls away. When an object
suddenly appears in front of it, Kismet quickly withdraws and
flashes a look of bewilderment. Most winningly, the robot is able to
engage in a babbling “conversation” with humans in its midst.
When it “talks,” it takes turns with the person with whom it is
speaking; the result resembles a conversation between an adult and
an infant.
By one measure, Kismet is a clear success: people love it. When
visitors arrive in the lab, they are drawn to the robot. When Kismet
engages them, they are invariably charmed. “It’s human nature,”
says Breazeal. “They are very concerned about keeping it happy.”
Proof of its winning personality: a box of toys given to it by human
friends, including a yellow teddy bear sent from Japan.
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences Based on what
you have read, why might
researchers have based Kismet’s
drives on human motivations?
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences For what
reason might Kismet be programmed
to engage in “babbling
‘conversation’ ”?
✔ Reading Check
Which three drives motivate Kismet?
From which field is the idea of using
these drives drawn?
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Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences Based on this
passage, what can you infer about
Breazeal’s personality?
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences From Breazeal’s
statement, what can you infer about
the ability of robots to learn?
✔ Reading Check
Briefly describe the two rival schools
of thought in robotics.
The Urge to Invent
Breazeal is attracted to inventing because it is hands-on and realworld. “I would much rather build something and interact with it
than philosophize about it,” she says. “Or philosophize about
someone else doing it.” But at the same time, she has used robotics
to explore some complex intellectual issues. At M.I.T., Breazeal has
studied brains and cognitive science, and her work with Kismet
raises important questions about how humans think and learn.
In designing Kismet, Breazeal made a critical decision about
how she wanted it to develop. There are two rival schools about
ways to build robots. One holds that robotmakers should decide in
advance what knowledge and skills they want their robots to have
and then program them accordingly. Breazeal has a different view.
She thinks robots should be designed to learn from experience and
from their environment. This socially situated learning, as it is
called, allows Kismet to learn much like a human baby would.
The problem is that robots have fewer opportunities than babies
to learn from their environment. Humans spend a great deal of
time talking to and nurturing young people. Robots do not get that
kind of attention and outside stimulation. “We don’t learn in
impoverished educational environments, but that’s what we expect
the robot to do,” she says. Breazeal has tried to provide Kismet
with the tools to engage in this kind of socially situated learning.
Despite all the help from Breazeal, Kismet still has a lot to learn.
Breazeal is working on helping the computer with some simple
skills that human babies are hardwired for. She wants Kismet to be
able to use the information it learns. One day, she hopes, when
Kismet is told the name of a toy, it will later be able to ask for it by
name. “Through more interactions, Kismet could learn, ‘When I’m
in this state, I can take this action that leads to a person’s taking
this behavior and getting my needs satiated,’ ” Breazeal says. She
also wants Kismet to be able to remember the people it meets, so it
can distinguish old friends from people it is meeting for the first
time.
Who’s Teaching Whom?
Kismet’s educational journey prompts an obvious question: Why?
What is the purpose of building humanoid robots and then
programming and training them to act like us? One view of
robotics holds that being able to build a machine that acts like a
human is itself a worthy goal. “There’s certainly a great challenge
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in creating something as sophisticated as what humans do,” says
Breazeal. It doesn’t necessarily mean engaging in the
Frankensteinian mission of trying to create a human being, she
says. “Of course, we’re never going to do that, but we can look for
a commonality,” she says. “Even though your dog is not human, it
doesn’t mean you can’t communicate with it in a human-like way.”
But Breazeal is at least as interested in using the robot to better
understand humans. Thinking about how robots learn turns out to
be a good way to think about human development. A case in point:
In helping Kismet learn, researchers have observed that one of the
hardest parts of the learning process is figuring out what to pay
attention to. And watching Kismet interact with people provides
insight into human social dynamics. At some point, Breazeal wants
to build a second Kismet to see how the two robots interact. “A lot
of times kids compete for attention,” she says. “It would be
interesting to program the robot to get attention.”
As a female robotmaker, Breazeal is in a distinct minority. A
major reason, she says, is that girls do not get enough support in
pursuing careers in science. “Girls aren’t discouraged,” she says,
“but they aren’t encouraged either.” And they don’t have enough
positive role models. When she was growing up, Breazeal says, she
did not see many women scientists, and the ones she did encounter
were mainly “difficult people” she did not want to emulate. What
made the difference for her is that her mother was a scientist and
encouraged her to pursue a career in the sciences.
Breazeal thinks more girls would be attracted to the hard
sciences (including physics, chemistry, and biology) if they realized
how creative they can be. Contrary to popular conceptions of
hard science as dry and rigid, she sees it as a rich field for selfexpression. “Technology is flexible enough that you can make it
what you want,” she says. And Breazeal is certainly doing just that.
By emphasizing the social aspect of robotics, she is taking the field
in a bold new direction. “I’m trying to challenge the stereotypes,”
she says, “[by] putting a human face on them.”
Reading Strategy
Connecting to Contemporary
Issues Recall that to connect to
contemporary issues, you use
information from a selection to better
understand current events or issues.
Which contemporary issues might
this passage relate to?
Literary Element
Sensory Details What does the use
of sensory detail in this passage
contribute to the arguement being
made?
Vocabulary
satiate (sāshē āt´) v. to completely
satisfy
emulate (emyə lāt´) v. to attempt
to equal or surpass through imitation
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✔ Reading Check
What makes Kismet possibly “the
most human robot ever built”?
It’s impossible to spend time with Kismet without seeing that
face. It is a long way from being a human. But it has enough
human qualities that its interactions are, in some way, clearly social.
And it forms bonds with people that may fall short of human
bonds but are far different from the ones people form with most
inanimate objects. Breazeal freely acknowledges that her little
creation tugs at her own heartstrings. “I definitely have an
attachment to it,” she says, admitting that she missed it while on a
recent trip to Australia. So what will happen if she ever has to part
with Kismet? “I really don’t know,” she says. “The legal system
doesn’t have parental rights for robots.”
—Updated 2005, from TIME, December 4, 2000
Editor’s note: After the publication of this article, Breazeal went on to
become an associate professor at M.I.T., as well as director of the school’s
Robotic Life Group. She published her first book, Designing Sociable
Robots, in 2002 and continues to create robots like Kismet that work and
learn in partnership with people.
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A F TE R YO U R E A D
Graphic Organizer
the topic of the selection, the main point, and three or
four supporting points.
Use a point-supporting points organizer to
summarize the most important parts of a selection. A
summary chart can help you identify and remember
the major parts of a selection. In the chart below, list
Selection Topic:
Main Point:
Supporting Points:
1. While working with Cog, Breazeal was inspired to create a social robot.
Active Reading Focus
Making Inferences What can you infer about
Breazeal’s character based on this selection? In what
way might her personality relate to the type of work
she is doing in the robotics field? Write a brief paragraph in which you discuss the inferences you made
and their connections to Breazeal’s work. Be sure to
support your claims with evidence from the text.
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Vocabulary Practice
Reading Strategy
Connecting to contemporary Issues Describe any
potentially negative effects of the robotics research
being discussed in this selection. Can you think of any
issues this research might help solve? Explain.
Using Context Clues When using difficult words,
writers often provide clues to the meanings of those
words. Some common context clues include:
•
•
•
•
•
giving definitions or synonyms
giving concrete examples
giving contrast clues (opposite meanings)
giving descriptions
using modifying words or phrases
For each passage from the text, study the underlined
parts and tell how that information gives a clue to the
word’s meaning.
Literary Element
Sensory Details In a brief paragraph, describe
Kismet. Use sensory details, figurative and connotative
language, precise verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
1. “Breazeal became captivated by robots at age
eight when she saw Star Wars for the first time.
‘I just fell in love with the Droids,’ she says,
especially R2-D2.”
2. “By one measure, Kismet is a clear success: people
love it. When visitors arrive in the lab, they are
drawn to the robot. When Kismet engages them,
they are invariably charmed.”
3. “When she was growing up, Breazeal says, she did
not see many women scientists, and the ones she
did encounter were mainly ‘difficult people’ she did
not want to emulate.”
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Introductory Text: The Uncanny and Mysterious
Big Idea
(p. 1181)
Preview
• What do I know about the
genre of mystery?
• What literary elements do
mystery writers use?
This introduction prepares you for the short stories you will
read in one part of a unit in your textbook. It introduces the
theme of the short stories you will read in that part. It also
addresses the literary elements writers use to create mysteries.
These elements will be a focus in this part of your textbook.
As you read the introduction, use the Cornell Note Taking
System to record important points and remember what you
have read.
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write key words.
Record
Big Idea
➥
As you read this paragraph, think about the words that excite
you. Try to answer the question asked at the end of the paragraph:
“What attracts a reader to a mystery?” Use a concept web like the
one below.
attraction of
mystery
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Introductory Text: The Uncanny and Mysterious
Literary Focus
(p. 1182)
Reduce
Record
ANY QUESTIONS? Remember to
ask yourself questions about
how the cartoon relates to the
content of this page: “What
words in the cartoon create a
heightened, melodramatic
effect?”
Style
➥ Define style.
➥ Which elements make up a writer’s style?
➥ Which words create a sense of foreboding in the example by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle?
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Introductory Text: The Uncanny and Mysterious
Literary Focus
Reduce
TO THE POINT Write the
boldfaced terms on this page.
(p. 1183)
Record
Diction
➥ Why do writers choose their words carefully?
Figurative Language
➥ Which two figures of speech frequently occur in literary works?
Suspense
➥ How do writers create suspense?
Tone; Mood
➥ What is the difference between tone and mood?
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Introductory Text: The Uncanny and Mysterious
Summarize
➥
Review your notes on this introduction. Fill in the web to identify key elements of style.
Style
Apply
1. How does foreshadowing create suspense?
2. How do writers generate suspense in mystery stories?
3. What is mood, and how is suspense related to it?
How can you better remember and understand the material in this introduction? Recite your
notes, Reflect on them, and Review them. You can also use your notes for a quick review of
the Big Ideas or literary elements that are featured in this part. As you learn more about the
ideas in the part, add to your notes.
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