2016 Shea Advlanglit TE Sm

LOOK INSIDE! Teacher’s Edition SAMPLE CHAPTER

Strong Roots for AP® Success Pre-AP® and AP® are trademarks owned and/or registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. This book takes care of just about everything. I think it is a rich resource and it will provide a ready-made curriculum for the course. It organizes and illustrates a broad array of texts and focuses on skills and habits of mind. —Claudette Brassil • Mt. Ararat High School, ME

Advanced Language & Literature For Honors and Pre-AP® English Courses

Renée H. Shea • Bowie State University (MD) John Golden • Portland Public Schools (OR) Lance Balla • Bellevue School District (WA)

Designed to Support and Challenge Young Minds

Designed for High School Honors and Pre-AP® English classes, this breakthrough textbook is the product of decades of classroom experience, extensive pedagogical research, and rigorous class-testing. It blends instruction in literary analysis, rhetoric, argument, and synthesis with a groundbreaking thematic anthology that weaves together fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose, universal themes and global literary voices.

The result is a book that builds the skills necessary for college readiness and success in both AP® English courses, while drawing students into the vibrant cultural conversations that define the study of English.

Visit highschool.bfwpub.com/ALL to request your copy of Advanced Language & Literature or email your sales representative at [email protected]

Strong Roots for AP® Success

Pre-AP® and AP® are trademarks owned and/or registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. Essential Skill-Building Opening Chapters

The book begins with four opening chapters designed to introduce key literary and rhetorical skills

Chapter 1 — Reading the World Students explore the importance of literacy and critical thinking in English class and the world.

Chapter 2 — Thinking about Literature Students hone the literary analysis and close reading skills required for success in the AP® Literature and Composition course.

Chapter 3 — Thinking about Rhetoric and Argument Students encounter the skills of rhetorical analysis, argument analysis, and persuasive writing central to the AP® Language and Composition course.

Chapter 4 — Thinking about Synthesis Students learn how to use multiple sources to inform an argument, a key concept in the AP® Language and Composition course.

Engaging Thematic Chapters

AP® is a trademark owned and/or registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. The Teacher’s Edition to Advanced Language & Literature was written with one simple purpose in mind: to help classroom teachers teach.

Creative Teaching Tips from Experienced Teachers

We know from experience that not all students are equally prepared, even in Honors or Pre-AP® classes. That’s why we’ve provided helpful marginal annotations to support your teaching of students at all skill levels. This practical advice on planning, teaching, differentiating, and scaffolding falls into four simple categories:

Close Reading: To Deepen Understanding of Language and Style These notes provide activities and guided prompts that lead students to investigate word choice, sentence structure, or other elements that will highlight the writer’s craft and its impact on the meaning of the work. Close Reading notes provide essential differentiation opportunities for students needing more support in close reading and high-achieving students hungry for enrichment.

Teaching Ideas: To Encourage Scaffolding and Enrichment These teaching ideas and classroom strategies are designed to engage students and inspire learning and creativity. Notes include text-based activities, projects, collaborative learning opportunities, and research and extension prompts.

Building Context: To Develop Background Knowledge Context can be a stumbling block for students of all ability levels. These notes provide questions and activities to introduce students to the cultural, historical, and geographical information that might make the text challenging to access.

Check for Understanding: To Support Understanding of Challenging Concepts and Passages These brief check-ins are designed to support students’ reading and analysis. Notes identify complex passages, concepts, and stumbling blocks while providing ideas for guidance and remediation.

Pre-AP® is a trademark owned and/or registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

Shea/Golden/Balla Unit Planners—A Guided Pathway to Assessment

For teachers looking for a curriculum pathway designed for skill development, we offer skill-based Unit Planners at the beginning of each Teacher’s Edition thematic chapter. These planners take students step by step through the skill building process, from introduction to mastery.

• Planned Formative Assessments give ample opportunity to understand student needs. • Reading and Writing Workshops serve as skill-building tools. • A summative assessment prompt and rubric allow for easy assessment, grading, and responding.

Chapter Overview—Quick Snapshot of Content and Challenges

In the Chapter Overview, you will see an introduction to the chapter with a focus on goals, challenges, and skills.

Each Chapter Overview contains: • An introduction to the chapter’s theme and pedagogical goals. • A brief description of each text with an emphasis on what might make the text challenging for your students, such as time period, sentence structure, vocabulary, and context. • A snapshot of the content and goals of each chapter’s Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop.

Advanced Language & Literature Teacher’s Edition TABLE OF CONTENTS

6. AMBITION AND RESTRAINT What drives individuals to succeed? • What are the benefits and risks of 1. READING THE WORLD ambition? • What are some conditions that lead to rebellion against the status quo? • When is violence justified? • How can speeches inspire Thinking about Literacy people to act for change? Thinking about English Class Thinking about Analysis Central Text Thinking about Context (drama) A Model Analysis William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth Culminating Activity Conversation: Risk and Reward 1. W.H. Auden, Musee des Beaux Arts (poetry) 2. THINKING ABOUT LITERATURE 2. William Carlos Williams, Landscape With The Fall of Icarus (poetry) Analyzing Literature 3. Brian Aldiss, Flight 063 (poetry) Theme in Literature 4. Jeffrey Kluger, Ambition: Why Some People are Most Likely Literary Elements to Succeed (nonfiction) Analyzing Literary Elements and Theme 5. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias (poetry) Language and Style 6. William Shakespeare, from Henry VIII (drama) Analyzing Style and Theme 7. Amy Tan, Rules of the Game (fiction) Culminating Activity 8. Miguel Cervantes, from Don Quixote (fiction)

Conversation: Voices of Rebellion 3. THINKING ABOUT RHETORIC AND ARGUMENT 1. Martin Luther King Jr., I’ve Been to the Mountaintop (nonfiction) Changing Minds, Changing the World 2. Nelson Mandela, from An Ideal for Which I am Prepared to Die Effective Argumentative Claims (nonfiction) The Rhetorical Situation of an Argument 3. Thomas Paine, from Common Sense (nonfiction) Rhetorical Appeals 4. Malala Yousafzai, Speech to the United Nations Youth Assembly Using Evidence (nonfiction) Pitfalls and Vulnerabilities 5. Carrie Chapman Catt, from Women’s Suffrage Is Inevitable(nonfiction) Language and Style 6. George Orwell, from Animal Farm (fiction) A Model Analysis Culminating Activity Reading Workshop—Analyzing Figurative Language Writing Workshop—Writing an Argument 4. THINKING ABOUT SYNTHESIS Working with a Single Source 7. ETHICS Working with Multiple Sources How do we tell “right” from “wrong”? • Can there be a universal Entering the Conversation understanding of what is “right” or “wrong”? • To what extent do Culminating Activity age, culture, and other factors affect our ethical decisions? • When making ethical decisions, whose needs should be most important? The individual’s, other people’s, the larger society’s? • What causes us to 5. IDENTITY AND SOCIETY cheat? Is cheating always wrong? Who gets to define “cheating”? What does “identity” mean? • How is one’s identity formed? • How do personal experiences affect our identity? • To what extent do institutions Central Text emphasize conformity at the expense of individuality? Michael Sandel, from The Case Against Perfection (nonfiction)

Central Text Conversation: Do the Right Thing George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (nonfiction) 1. Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (fiction) 2. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Cell One (fiction) Conversation: Changes and Transformations 3. Nathan Englander, Free Fruit for Young Widows (fiction) 1. Jon Krakauer, The Devils Thumb (nonfiction) 4. John Updike, A & P (fiction) 2. Caitlin Horrocks, Zolaria (fiction) 5. William Stafford, Traveling through the Dark (poetry) 3. Sharon Olds, My Son The Man and The Possessive (poetry) 6. Wisława Szymborska, A Contribution to Statistics (poetry) 4. William Shakespeare, Seven Ages of Man (drama) 7. Annie Dillard, An American Childhood (memoir) 5. James Joyce, Eveline (fiction) 8. Sam Harris, from Lying (nonfiction) 6. from Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (photographs) Conversation: The Cheating Culture Conversation: The Individual in School 1. Robert Kolker, Cheating Upwards (nonfiction) 1. Alexandra Robbins, from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (nonfiction) 2. Chuck Klosterman, Why We Look the Other Way (nonfiction) 2. Faith Erin Hicks, from Friends with Boys (graphic novel) 3. Christopher Bergland, Cheaters Never Win (nonfiction) 3. John Taylor Gatto, Against School (nonfiction) 4. Brad Allenby, Is Human Enhancement Cheating? (nonfiction) 4. Horace Mann, from The Common School Journal (nonfiction) 5. Mia Consalvo, Cheating is Good For You (nonfiction) 5. Theodore Sizer, from Horace’s School: Redesigning the American 6. David Callahan, from The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are High School (nonfiction) Doing Wrong to Get Ahead (nonfiction) 6. Maya Angelou, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (memoir) 7. The Ethics of Photo Manipulation (photographs)

Reading Workshop—Point of View in Narrative Reading Workshop—Argument by Analogy Writing Workshop—Writing a Narrative Writing Workshop—Writing a Synthesis Essay

Shea/Golden/Balla 8. CULTURES IN CONFLICT 10. UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA What defines “culture”? • What causes cultures to come in conflict with What makes a perfect society? • What can lead a utopia to become a each other? • Who gets to tell the story of a conflict? • How do cultures dystopia? • How do we define “happiness”? • Will robots and artificial respond to change and to outsiders? • What is lost and gained by intelligence help us perfect ourselves and our world, or will they make assimilating into a new culture? humans obsolete?

Central Text Central Text Julie Otsuka, from When the Emperor Was Divine (fiction) Jamaica Kincaid, from A Small Place (nonfiction)

Conversation: Stories of War Conversation: The Pursuit of Happiness 1. Kamila Shamsie, from The Storytellers of Empire (nonfiction) 1. Ursula LeGuin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (fiction) 2. Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est (poetry) 2. Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron (fiction) 3. William Shakespeare, The St. Crispin’s Day Speech (drama) 3. Nikki Giovanni, Nikki-Rosa (poetry) 4. Vu Bao, The Man Who Stained his Soul (fiction) 4. Jane Shore, Happy Family (poetry) 5. Katey Schultz, Deuce Out (fiction) 5. Pico Iyer, The Joy of Less (nonfiction) 6. Kevin Sites, from In the Hot Zone (nonfiction) 6. Chinua Achebe, Civil Peace (fiction) 7. Brian Turner, 2000 lbs. (poetry) 7. Wisława Szymborska, Utopia (poetry) 8. Karim Ben Khelifa, My Enemy, Myself (photo essay) 8. Jon Meachem, Free to Be Happy (nonfiction)

Conversation: Displacement and Assimilation Conversation: Our Robotic Future? 1. Jean de Crevecoeur, from Letters from an American Farmer (nonfiction) 1. Isaac Asimov, Robot Dreams (fiction) 2. Anna Quindlen, Quilt of a Country (nonfiction) 2. Margaret Atwood, Are Humans Necessary? (nonfiction) 3. Li-Young Lee, For a New Citizen of these United States (poetry) 3. Kevin Kelly, from Better than Human: Why Robots Will—and Must— 4. Nola Kambanda, My New World Journey (nonfiction) Take Our Jobs (nonfiction) 5. Amit Majmudar, Dothead (poetry) 4. Richard Fisher, Is It OK to Torture or Murder a Robot? (nonfiction) 6. Maira Kalman, from And the Pursuit of Happiness (graphic essay) 5. Arthur House, The Real Cyborgs (nonfiction) 6. Francis Fukuyama, Transhumanism (nonfiction) Reading Workshop—Analyzing Character and Theme 7. James Barrat, from Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence, Writing Workshop—Writing a Thematic Interpretation and the End of the Human Era (nonfiction) 8. Rosa Brooks, In Defense of Killer Robots (nonfiction) 9. (MIS)COMMUNICATION Reading Workshop—Analyzing Diction and Tone What role does language play in building relationships? • What factors Writing Workshop—Writing a Rhetorical Analysis lead to effective or ineffective communication between people? • How does our language shape our identity or culture as a whole? • How can language be used to enhance or undermine social or political power? • GUIDE TO LANGUAGE AND MECHANICS How do changes in technology affect how we communicate and relate to Part 1: Grammatical Sentences one another? Part 2: Effective Sentences Part 3: Word Choice Central Text Part 4: Punctuation Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac (drama) Part 5: Mechanics

Conversation: Language and Power GUIDE TO SPEAKING AND LISTENING 1. Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (nonfiction) Part 1: Steps to Creating a Speech 2. Sandra Cisneros, No Speak English (fiction) Part 2: Informative Speeches 3. Ha Jin, Children as Enemies (fiction) Part 3: Persuasive Speeches 4. Mutabaruka, Dis Poem (poetry) Part 4: Citing Sources in Speeches 5. Kory Stamper, (nonfiction) Slang for the Ages Part 5: Presentation Aids 6. Firoozeh Dumas, (nonfiction) Hot Dogs and Wild Geese Part 6: Listening Effectively 7. Marjorie Agosin, English (poetry) Part 7: Effective Group Communication 8. W.S. Merwin, Losing a Language (poetry)

Conversation: Socially Networked GUIDE TO MLA DOCUMENTATION STYLE 1. Clive Thompson, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy (nonfiction) 2. Sherry Turkle, from Alone Together (nonfiction) GLOSSARY 3. Tim Egan, The Hoax of Digital Life (nonfiction) 4. Sherman Alexie, Facebook Sonnet (poetry) 5. Robbie Cooper, Alter Egos: Avatars and their Creators (photographs) 6. Alexis Madrigal, Why Facebook and Google’s Concept of ‘Real Names’ Is Revolutionary (nonfiction) 7. Leonard Pitts, The Anonymous Back-Stabbing of Internet Message Boards (nonfiction) 8. Jason Harrington, Do You Like Me? Click Yes or No (fiction)

Reading Workshop—Understanding Irony Writing Workshop—Writing a Close Literary Analysis

Advanced Language & Literature Teacher’s Edition Your Flexible e-Book Solution

Advanced Language & Literature is available in our new edaptext e-book format, offering the accessibility you want and the flexibility you need. The e-book is compatible with a variety of devices—use it on a PC or Mac, an iPad or Android tablet. All notes and assignments automatically sync to the device upon logging in. And edaptext’s social media function makes it supremely easy to communicate with your class, provide assignments or notes, or give quizzes. ISBN: 978-1-319-05538-7 (Six-Year Access)

Your Complete Quizzing Solution

With nearly 1000 questions, this ExamView TestBank for Advanced Language & Literature takes students from understanding to close rhetorical and stylistic analysis. Our authors and editors analyzed hundreds of items from six national assessments to target key skills. The ExamView Test Generator lets you quickly create paper, Internet, and LAN-based tests. Not only can you create and format a test in minutes, but the platform is fully customizable, allowing you to enter your own questions, edit existing questions, set time limits, incorporate multimedia, and scramble answers and change the order of questions to prevent plagiarism. Detailed results report feed into a gradebook. ISBN: 978-1-319-06548-5

AP® is a trademark owned and/or registered by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

Shea/Golden/Balla Teacher’s Resource Materials

Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive ISBN 978-1-319-01244-1 Teacher’s Edition Edaptext e-Book ISBN 978-1-319-07682-5

Additional tools for teaching with Advanced Language & Literature can be found on the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive, and embedded at point-of-use in the Teacher’s Edition e-Book:

• Suggested Responses to all of the Understanding and Interpreting, and Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure questions posed at the end of each text. These responses are not meant to be an “answer key,” as much as they are a roadmap for you to see whether your students are on the right track.

• Assessment Texts for Chapters 7, 9, and 10. The summative assessments in the Unit Planners for these chapters require outside texts, which can be found in the Teacher’s Resource Materials.

• Classroom Strategies: These guides to common classroom strategies describe not just how to use the strategy in class, but how to do it well and for the right purpose.

• Vocabulary Handouts: Challenging vocabulary for each piece is identified and formatted for handy pre-reading preparation or post-reading quizzing.

• Key Passages: These key passages for close reading are brief excerpts from a piece, double-spaced with wide margins—perfect for annotation.

• Lexile Text Complexity Measures for each piece.

• Research Framework: This document discusses the research and ideas that informed the development of Advanced Language & Literature.

Advanced Language & Literature Teacher’s Edition 5 Identity and Society

chapter overview

Tenth grade students find themselves in a transitional year: consider the ways that society can affect their own identity, they are no longer the wide-eyed freshmen trying to find their through forces such as school, families, friends, and other way in high school, but they are not yet upperclassmen dream- social structures and institutions. In addition to opportunities ing of college and life after high school. In many states, they to determine your students’ current abilities with close reading can begin to drive, but only under close supervision; they and responding to text, there are numerous opportunities for might want to begin working, but laws often keep them hold- you to learn more about your students’ own lives and back- ing part-time jobs. Sophomores are itching to join the world, grounds through narrative writing prompts. For these reasons and are beginning to think about it more than ever before, and others, when developing your schedule, this might be an looking for their places in the world. This chapter asks them to appropriate chapter to examine near the beginning of the year.

CENTRAL TEXT

TRM TEXT COMPLEXITY 1920s, he shot an elephant over his own objections due to a strange confluence of societal and cultural forces. This can be See Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive for quantitative text a challenging text for sophomores because of the distant time complexity information. period and context, but it is also surprisingly accessible The Central Text in this chapter is the classic essay “Shooting because of its applicability to students’ own experiences an Elephant,” by George Orwell, in which he recounts a time facing pressures to act in ways they might rather not. when as a British police officer serving in Southeast Asia in the

CONVERSATION – CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS

The first Conversation, Changes and Transformations, is made mother who is looking at her children grow and change as up primarily of literary pieces that might be classified as they get older. While the language Olds employs is mostly “Coming of Age” texts: simplistic, both are dense and deceptively complex poems that will need multiple readings for students to feel • The Devils Thumb is a narrative by Jon Krakauer, author of comfortable being able to analyze their meaning. Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, about a time when as a • Seven Ages of Man: this excerpt from William Shakespeare’s young man he undertook a perilous, solo mountain climb- Twelfth Night is often reprinted as a stand-alone poem as it is ing trip in an attempt to change his unsatisfied life. The in this conversation. In it the speaker, a character names text, while long, is an engaging one, especially for boys or Jacques, explains the various stages of life as represented in reluctant readers. The language and topic makes this an the aging of a man from childhood to old age. Like with all accessible story for most sophomores. Shakespeare, students will be faced with the challenge of the • Zolaria, a short story by Caitlin Horrocks, is about a pair of archaic and unfamiliar language, but the extended metaphor imaginative outcast middle school girls whose friendship is is an easy one for students to understand, which allows most tested by peer pressures and other forces. The main plot sophomores to be able to decode the meaning of the of the story is a simple one and immediately engaging for Shakespearean language through that context. most students, but is a significantly challenging read due • Eveline is a short story by James Joyce about a young girl to its time shifts and complex language. trying to decide between staying with her family in Ireland • My Son, The Man and The Possessive: this pair of poems or leaving with her boyfriend to South America, and it is by Sharon Olds are both told through the perspective of a easily the most challenging story in this conversation due

5-A Advanced Language & Literature

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to the remote time period and location (early 20th century school for Native Americans, who were often forced to Ireland), as well as the complex language choices. Most attend and to change their looks, language, and religion. sophomore students will require extensive scaffolding to The photographs themselves will pose little difficulty for be able to successfully analyze this story. the students, but you will need to be sure that you take the • Photographs from the Carlisle Boarding School: is a collec- time to set the context and background for them. tion of photographs taken in the 19th century at a boarding

CONVERSATION – THE INDIVIDUAL IN SCHOOL

The second Conversation, The Individual in School, consists of • The except from A Common School Journal by Horace mostly nonfiction texts about the positive and negative ways Man is unquestionably the most challenging text in this that school influences students’ identities: conversation due to the sentence length and complexity of language that one might expect from a text written for a • In the excerpt from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, scholarly audience in the 18th century. Most sophomores Alexandria Robbins explores the causes and effects of high will find this text, about the need for American public school popularity. The topic is certainly one students will education, to be very difficult without significant scaffold- find relevant and the first of the excerpt is written in a ing during the reading and background setting prior to approachable, narrative style; the second half, however, reading. requires students to read and interpret results of scientific • This excerpt from Horace’s School by Ted Sizer focuses on studies that Robbins brings into her argument. a visit the author made to a high school English classroom • Friends with Boys: is an excerpt from graphic novel by ___ and what he learned about how schools treat students. about a teenage girl’s first days in high school after being While the topic and setting of a high school classroom is home schooled her whole life. Because of the images, one that is familiar to all students using this book, Sizer familiarity with the topic, and accessible language, this will uses language and terminology that reflects his audience, not be a difficult text for most sophomores, but some teachers who are interested in school reform, which many students will need reminders to slow down and see how students will find unfamiliar and challenging. the words and images are used together to create meaning • In this excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by in a graphic novel. one of America’s best known writers, Maya Angelou, • This excerpt from Against School by John Taylor Gatto is students will read about a graduation ceremony that took an argumentative piece by a former teacher that suggests place in the racially segregated town of Little Rock, that we do not really need schools as they are currently Arkansas, in the 1940s. Angelou writes in an accessible designed. While students will find the topic relevant and narrative voice that should not pose too many significant engaging, Gatto’s language is complex for most high challenges to students, though be sure to take the time to school students and the allusions he uses in his argument set enough context and background for the time and place will require additional context and support. of the narrative.

LITERACY WORKSHOPS

At the end of the chapter are two workshops that incorporate • Writing Workshop – Writing a Narrative: leads students passages from the above texts, but students who have not through the entire process of writing their own personal read any of the texts will be able to complete them. narrative with a focus on effective narrative elements, such • Reading Workshop – Point of View in Narrative: students as details, dialogue, blocking, and reflection. revisit the definitions of point of view and analyze the effects of point of view in texts from the chapter.

Teacher’s Edition 5-B

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 2 04/01/16 11:16 AM unit planner: writing a narrative

This chapter’s theme of identity and education is one that culminates in such an assessment. In addition to using some, lends itself well to reflection and narrative writing, so we have though not all, of the texts in the chapter, this pathway focused the skills assessment in this chapter on writing a suggests using or re-examining portions of Chapter Two, and personal narrative. Below we suggest a skills development strongly recommends the use of the two Workshops found at pathway, rough pacing, prompt, and rubric for a unit that the end of the chapter.

Purpose Tasks Time* 1 Entry Text Read “Friends with Boys” (p. 000) with a focus on how the writer establishes 1-2 class periods setting, character, and dialogue.

2 Formative Assessment Ask students to respond to Connecting Q1 (p. 000) in which students write about a 30 minutes time when they had a similar experience to Maggie.

3 Establish Skills Review or work through portions of Chapter 2 to focus on how any why we tell 1-2 class periods stories. Focus especially on the following: • Intro (p. 000) • Theme in Literature (p. 000) • Literary Elements (p. 000)

4 Model Text Each of the following is an example of a narrative that students should use as a 2-3 class periods model with a note about its relative text complexity and questions you may want to focus on in your class discussions. • Approachable: Krakauer, The Devils Thumb (p. 000). Analyzing Q1-Q3. • Medium: Angelou, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (p. 000), Analyzing Q2 • Challenging: Horrocks, Zolaria (p. 000) Analyzing Q3 and Q5.

5 Deepen Skills Understanding the role that point of view plays in narrative writing is essential, so 2 class periods work through the activities in the Reading Workshop (p. 000)

6 Focused Analysis Text Read and analyze Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (p. 000), thinking particularly about 3 class periods how he uses the tools of narrative, and even the tools of storytelling and literature. -Focus on the following questions Analyzing Q1, Q2, Q3

7 Formative Writing Ask students to complete the Composing Q7 (p.000) for Shooting an Elephant to 30 minutes determine how students’ skills in narrative writing have improved and where additional supports are needed.

8 Deepen Writing Skills Writing Workshop – Writing a Narrative. This workshop includes exercises and 2-3 class periods models for such essential narrative writing elements as dialogue, details, and reflection

9 Readers’ Choice Students choose two or more other pieces to read from the chapter that interest 2 class periods them. These could be ones from Step #4, or other texts with a narrative focus.

10 Summative Assessment Use the prompt and rubric on the next page to assess students’ narrative writing skills. 1 class period

* based on a 50-minute class period.

5-C Advanced Language & Literature

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Write a narrative about an experience that you had in school – a • Your first day at school or in a new class positive or a negative one – that influenced some aspect of • A challenge you faced with an assignment, class, or your identity. In other words, what is an event that happened in teacher school that has made you who you are to some degree? Your • A time you witnessed or were involved in bullying story should focus on a single event and should have a clear • When you were cut from, or accepted to, a team, a drama beginning, middle, and end. Additionally, your narrative should production, or other activity include all of the elements that make an effective narrative: a • A time when you helped or were helped by a teacher, or a clear point of view, details, dialogue, and a reflection on the peer. importance of this event. Possible ideas could include: • An experience you had in achieving a goal you set for yourself or a challenge that you faced at school • A conflict with a teacher, a peer, a sibling, or an administra- • A way that you dealt with parent or teacher expectations tor in school for you

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

Aspects Exceeds Meets Nearly Meets Does not Meet Task Specific: The response demonstrates The response uses narrative The response makes an The response makes little sophisticated use of narra- techniques, such as attempt to use one or more attempt to use any narrative Purpose and tive techniques—such as dialogue and description, to narrative techniques, such techniques, and is mostly Evidence engaging dialogue, artistic effectively communicate the as dialogue and description, ineffective at communicating pacing, and vivid descrip- events, and/or experiences but they are not always the experience of the narration—to effectively depict of the narrative. effective at communicating tive to the reader experiences, events, and/or the experience to the reader characters.

Task Specific: The plot of the narrative is The plot of the narrative is Missing or ineffective transi- The plot of the narrative is clear and effectively handles generally easy to follow. tions makes the plot of the extremely difficult to follow. Organization shifts in time or multiple plot Engages the reader with an narrative difficult to follow at The beginning and/or lines skillfully. Engages the effective beginning and a times. The beginning and/or conclusion might be missing reader with an extremely conclusion that wraps up the conclusion might be formu- or wholly ineffective effective beginning and a narrative effectively. laic and/or ineffective thoughtful conclusion.

Language and The response demonstrates While there may be occa- The response demonstrates The response demonstrates Style a sophisticated use of sional lapses in diction or some intentional choices in few, if any, attempts to use diction and syntax, which syntax, generally the diction or syntax, but there diction or syntax for effect; creates a highly effective language and style are effec- are places where the the style and language are style appropriate for the task tive and appropriate for the language and style are inef- clearly inappropriate for the and intended audience. task and intended audience. fective or not entirely appro- task or the intended priate for the task or audience audience.

Conventions The response demonstrates While not entirely error-free, The response demonstrates The response contains consistent and effective use the response demonstrates some control of conven- multiple serious errors in of grade-level conventions. control of grade-level tions, but may be marred by conventions that signifi- conventions surface errors that begin to cantly impact readability impact readability

Teacher’s Edition 5-D

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• What does “identity” mean? • How is one’s identity formed? • How do personal experiences affect our identity? • To what extent do institutions emphasize conformity at the expense of individuality?

CHECK FOR irror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? UNDERSTANDING MIt’s a line that most everyone has heard from childhood: the Evil Queen from Snow White asking her magic mirror if she’s the prettiest in the kingdom. For years, the mirror Discuss with students: How does replies exactly as she hoped—“You, my queen, are fairest of all.” When, however, Snow the mirror in the fairy tale relate to White begins to eclipse the queen in beauty, the magic mirror tells her so. identity? How do mirrors in real Think about this idea for a minute. Where does the Queen look for confirmation of her life relate to identity? own beauty? Not to a regular mirror that would reveal her own true reflection, but rather to a magic mirror that doesn’t reflect her own image at all, but only compares the Queen’s image to other people’s beauty. The Queen’s identity is not tied to her self, but to others, whom she tries — unsuccessfully — to control.

110 111 Art: Christian Mojallali. Photo: Eric Audras/Media Bakery.

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110 Advanced Language & Literature

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irror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? MIt’s a line that most everyone has heard from childhood: the Evil Queen from Snow CLOSE READING White asking her magic mirror if she’s the prettiest in the kingdom. For years, the mirror Invite students to read this chap- replies exactly as she hoped—“You, my queen, are fairest of all.” When, however, Snow ter opening image. What is this White begins to eclipse the queen in beauty, the magic mirror tells her so. image suggesting about identity? Think about this idea for a minute. Where does the Queen look for confirmation of her What do the figures around her own beauty? Not to a regular mirror that would reveal her own true reflection, but rather to represent? a magic mirror that doesn’t reflect her own image at all, but only compares the Queen’s image to other people’s beauty. The Queen’s identity is not tied to her self, but to others, whom she tries — unsuccessfully — to control.

110 111 Art: Christian Mojallali. Photo: Eric Audras/Media Bakery.

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Look at another mirror. This one is from a poem by Sylvia Plath, a brilliant but troubled Identity and Society poet who took her own life at the age of thirty-one. Opening Activity

One way to define identity is to ask yourself, “How do I view myself and how do others Mirror view me?” Explain how each of the following factors affects how you view yourself and how you think others view you: Mirror / Sylvia Plath • your gender • your age • your race, culture, and/or religion BUILDING CONTEXT I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. • your socioeconomic status Whatever I see I swallow immediately To begin considering the essential questions of this chapter, make a list of personal While it is not the focus of this Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. chapter opening, you may want attributes or experiences that you have had that you feel make you unique—as many I am not cruel, only truthful — to provide students with a little bit as you’d like. Then categorize each item in a chart with the following headings (feel free The eye of a little god, four-cornered. 5 of background of Sylvia Plath, as to add other categories): Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. a brilliant, but emotionally trou- It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long bled writer who specialized in Clothing/ I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. confessional poetry and who Physical Traits Jewelry/Etc. Interests Experiences Family/Friends Faces and darkness separate us over and over. committed suicide in 1963.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, 10 CHECK FOR Searching my reaches for what she really is.

UNDERSTANDING Collection Inc/Alamy © Everett Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. Identifying the speaker(s) in this poem can be tricky for young She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. readers. You might ask them: I am important to her. She comes and goes. 15 Who is the speaker of the poem? Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. What is the effect on the “woman In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman who bends over me” of what the Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. speaker reveals? How does this relate to identity? Now, choose one item from your list that has been mostly affected by looking outside Unlike the Evil Queen’s magic mirror, notice how the mirror in the first stanza, as well of yourself (as the Evil Queen was affected by looking into her magic mirror) and one as the lake in the second, claim that they are not cruel, but truthful, and reflect the image item that has been mostly affected by looking at yourself (like the narrator in Plath’s of the woman faithfully. The woman reflected in this mirror may not be happy with what poem was affected). Write a paragraph that explains how the chosen items reflect your she sees (“tears and an agitation of hands,” l. 14), but at least she has the truth. So, these identity and explore the inner and outer forces that have shaped that identity. Focus are two contrasting ways of trying to define one’s identity: the Evil Queen looks outward to especially on the role that society (including your school, city, geographical area, reli- others, while the woman in the poem looks at herself by using a mirror that is “silver and gion, and so on) has played in shaping your identity. exact” (l. 1).

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112 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 112 04/01/16 11:16 AM 5 Plath

Look at another mirror. This one is from a poem by Sylvia Plath, a brilliant but troubled Identity and Society poet who took her own life at the age of thirty-one. Opening Activity

One way to define identity is to ask yourself, “How do I view myself and how do others Mirror view me?” Explain how each of the following factors affects how you view yourself and how you think others view you: Mirror / Sylvia Plath • your gender • your age • your race, culture, and/or religion I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. • your socioeconomic status Whatever I see I swallow immediately To begin considering the essential questions of this chapter, make a list of personal Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. TEACHING IDEA attributes or experiences that you have had that you feel make you unique—as many I am not cruel, only truthful — Since this might be at or near the as you’d like. Then categorize each item in a chart with the following headings (feel free The eye of a little god, four-cornered. 5 beginning of the school year, this to add other categories): Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. activity can be completed and It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long shared as part of a community- Clothing/ I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. building experience. Students Physical Traits Jewelry/Etc. Interests Experiences Family/Friends Faces and darkness separate us over and over. could complete this on large paper and display them in the

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, 10 classroom or complete it as a Searching my reaches for what she really is. PowerPoint of Google Slides that can be presented to the rest of

© Everett Collection Inc/Alamy © Everett Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. the class. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. I am important to her. She comes and goes. 15 Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Now, choose one item from your list that has been mostly affected by looking outside Unlike the Evil Queen’s magic mirror, notice how the mirror in the first stanza, as well of yourself (as the Evil Queen was affected by looking into her magic mirror) and one as the lake in the second, claim that they are not cruel, but truthful, and reflect the image item that has been mostly affected by looking at yourself (like the narrator in Plath’s of the woman faithfully. The woman reflected in this mirror may not be happy with what poem was affected). Write a paragraph that explains how the chosen items reflect your she sees (“tears and an agitation of hands,” l. 14), but at least she has the truth. So, these identity and explore the inner and outer forces that have shaped that identity. Focus are two contrasting ways of trying to define one’s identity: the Evil Queen looks outward to especially on the role that society (including your school, city, geographical area, reli- others, while the woman in the poem looks at herself by using a mirror that is “silver and gion, and so on) has played in shaping your identity. exact” (l. 1).

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 113 04/01/16 11:16 AM CLOSE READING What is this image suggesting central text Orwell about how identities are created? Who and what is involved in the Burma Provincial Police process? Do you agree or Training School, Mandalay, 1923. Shooting an Elephant disagree about what the artist is Eric Blair (George Orwell) suggesting about identity? Why? Shooting an Elephant standing third from left. How does this photograph of George Orwell Orwell as a young man illustrate the separation he BUILDING CONTEXT George Orwell, the author of several well-known novels and likely felt from the Burmese Perhaps Myanmar’s most famous essays, including Animal Farm, 1984, and Down and Out in natives? person is Aung San Suu Kyi. Paris and London, was born Eric Blair in 1903 in India. The son Democratic reformer, and a of a British government official, Orwell went to school and lived leader of the opposition against in England until his early twenties, when he joined the Indian Myanmar’s military dictatorship, Imperial Police in Burma (now known as Myanmar), a country in she won a Nobel Peace Prize in Southeast Asia that was under British control at the time. 1991 while under house arrest. Orwell became disenchanted with imperialism and resigned Having students research her Special Collections, University College London © Roger Beadon/Orwell Archive, after a short period of time. He then turned to writing full-time. Popperfoto/Getty Images could develop a collective knowl- This classic essay, published in 1936, recounts a situation Orwell edge base for the class about the faced as a member of the Indian Imperial Police force. the football field and the referee (another had been flogged with bamboos — all these country and its colonial history. Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. The quotation – “you should never Key cOntext The term “imperialism,” especially British imperialism, is an with hideous laughter. This happened more But I could get nothing into perspective. I was let your fears prevent you from important one to understand for this piece. From the late sixteenth century through than once. In the end the sneering yellow faces young and ill-educated and I had had to think doing what you know is right” – World War I, at the beginning of the twentieth century, England had history’s largest of young men that met me everywhere, the out my problems in the utter silence that is could be a free write to start things empire. At various times throughout this time period, England had colonies in areas insults hooted after me when I was at a safe imposed on every Englishman in the East. I did off. Once students have read now known as the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America; a distance, got badly on my nerves. The young not even know that the British Empire is dying, “Shooting an Elephant,” then, they popular and true saying at the time was “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Buddhist priests were the worst of all. There still less did I know that it is a great deal better might role play a dialogue/conver- The British government in the Indian subcontinent — which includes what is now were several thousands of them in the town and than the younger empires that are going to sation between Orwell and Aung India, as well as Pakistan, Myanmar/Burma, Bangladesh, and other countries — was San Suu Kyi. none of them seemed to have anything to do supplant it. All I knew was that I was stuck called the Raj, a Hindi word for “rule.” While England regularly conquered its colonies except stand on street corners and jeer at between my hatred of the empire I served and through military strength, it ruled them by forcing its educational, judicial, economic, Europeans. my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who and governmental structures onto the colonized people with the goal of making the All this was perplexing and upsetting. For tried to make my job impossible. With one part BUILDING CONTEXT world British. But, starting with the American Revolution in the late eighteenth century, at that time I had already made up my mind that of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an most of the former colonies, often through war, were able to gain their independence. Orwell’s classic essay requires imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped quite a bit of context. While we’ve Burma (now Myanmar), where this piece is set, became independent from England in I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. down, in saecula saeculorum1 upon the will of provided some in the headnote, 1948, only about twenty years after Orwell worked there. Theoretically — and secretly, of course — I was prostrate peoples; with another part I thought you might have students do all for the Burmese and all against their oppres- that the greatest joy in the world would be to some additional research before sors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts. diving into the essay. You could hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make Feelings like these are the normal by-products of split the class into four groups n Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you and assign one topic for each large numbers of people — the only time in woman went through the bazaars alone some- I Empire at close quarters. The wretched prison- can catch him off duty. group to research: 1) British my life that I have been important enough for body would probably spit betel juice over her ers huddling in the stinking cages of the lock- imperialism in Burma (or in the this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police dress. As a police officer I was an obvious target ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term world in general) 2) the role of officer of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who 1in saecula saeclorum: Latin for “a century of centuries,” a figurative British police officers in Burma 3) of way anti-European feeling was very bitter. No so. When a nimble Burman tripped me up on way of saying “forever” or “for eternity” —Eds. the use (and value) of elephants as work animals in Burma 4) 114 centrAl text 115 George Orwell himself, including his politics, his views on writing, and his other works (including Animal Farm and 1984). Then, have each group present their 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd BUILDING CONTEXT 114 27/10/15 7:22 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 115 27/10/15 7:22 PM findings to the rest of the class. To get students thinking about sibling or a team captain. Write a identity and roles that they have brief narrative of the event, then played, you might ask students to TRM VOCABULARY analyze the stakes: what might brainstorm or freewrite about a have happened if they had failed A list of challenging words from time when they were challenged to exert their authority or what this reading can be found in the to strictly enforce expectations as happened because they did not Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. an authority figure, perhaps in the act according to expectations? role of a babysitter, an older

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 114 04/01/16 11:16 AM central text Orwell

Burma Provincial Police Training School, Mandalay, 1923. Shooting an Elephant Eric Blair (George Orwell) Shooting an Elephant standing third from left. How does this photograph of George Orwell Orwell as a young man illustrate the separation he George Orwell, the author of several well-known novels and likely felt from the Burmese essays, including Animal Farm, 1984, and Down and Out in natives? Paris and London, was born Eric Blair in 1903 in India. The son of a British government official, Orwell went to school and lived in England until his early twenties, when he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (now known as Myanmar), a country in Southeast Asia that was under British control at the time. CLOSE READING Orwell became disenchanted with imperialism and resigned © Roger Beadon/Orwell Archive, Special Collections, University College London © Roger Beadon/Orwell Archive, Students might feel comfortable after a short period of time. He then turned to writing full-time. Popperfoto/Getty Images (or at least familiar) with Orwell’s This classic essay, published in 1936, recounts a situation Orwell self-professed hatred of the faced as a member of the Indian Imperial Police force. the football field and the referee (another had been flogged with bamboos — all these British Empire, but coming to Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. Key cOntext The term “imperialism,” especially British imperialism, is an terms with his attitude toward with hideous laughter. This happened more But I could get nothing into perspective. I was important one to understand for this piece. From the late sixteenth century through Burmese. Descriptions like “the than once. In the end the sneering yellow faces young and ill-educated and I had had to think World War I, at the beginning of the twentieth century, England had history’s largest evil-spirited little beasts” (par. 2) of young men that met me everywhere, the out my problems in the utter silence that is empire. At various times throughout this time period, England had colonies in areas with “sneering yellow faces” insults hooted after me when I was at a safe imposed on every Englishman in the East. I did now known as the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America; a (par. 1) and others of the Burmese distance, got badly on my nerves. The young not even know that the British Empire is dying, popular and true saying at the time was “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” will likely raise some eyebrows. Buddhist priests were the worst of all. There still less did I know that it is a great deal better Working in groups or pairs, The British government in the Indian subcontinent — which includes what is now were several thousands of them in the town and than the younger empires that are going to students might start listing out India, as well as Pakistan, Myanmar/Burma, Bangladesh, and other countries — was none of them seemed to have anything to do supplant it. All I knew was that I was stuck such unsettling references as the called the Raj, a Hindi word for “rule.” While England regularly conquered its colonies except stand on street corners and jeer at between my hatred of the empire I served and basis for a discussion of whether through military strength, it ruled them by forcing its educational, judicial, economic, Europeans. my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who the narrator Orwell is himself and governmental structures onto the colonized people with the goal of making the All this was perplexing and upsetting. For tried to make my job impossible. With one part racist – or the extent to which world British. But, starting with the American Revolution in the late eighteenth century, at that time I had already made up my mind that of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an such rhetoric reflects his fear and most of the former colonies, often through war, were able to gain their independence. imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped discomfort with the unfamiliar. Burma (now Myanmar), where this piece is set, became independent from England in I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. down, in saecula saeculorum1 upon the will of 1948, only about twenty years after Orwell worked there. Theoretically — and secretly, of course — I was prostrate peoples; with another part I thought all for the Burmese and all against their oppres- that the greatest joy in the world would be to sors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts. CHECK FOR hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make Feelings like these are the normal by-products of n Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a European UNDERSTANDING clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you large numbers of people — the only time in woman went through the bazaars alone some- Because one of the complexities I Empire at close quarters. The wretched prison- can catch him off duty. my life that I have been important enough for body would probably spit betel juice over her of the text is understanding how ers huddling in the stinking cages of the lock- this to happen to me. I was sub-divisional police dress. As a police officer I was an obvious target trapped, and thus powerless, the ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term officer of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do young Orwell feels, paragraph 2 convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who 1 in saecula saeclorum: Latin for “a century of centuries,” a figurative of way anti-European feeling was very bitter. No so. When a nimble Burman tripped me up on way of saying “forever” or “for eternity” —Eds. is a good place to ask a question about whom he dislikes or disap- 114 centrAl text 115 proves of more – the ruler, the ruled, or himself – and why.

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 114 27/10/15 7:22 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 115 TEACHING IDEA 27/10/15 7:22 PM Reading aloud this first para- “uninterpretive” way possible, graph or two might be the most individual students might read effective way to launch students with different interpretations or into understanding the complex- tones: self-mocking, defensive, ity of Orwell’s attitude toward the angry. Such role plays can lead to British, Burmese, and himself. an understanding of the After a teacher-reading in the conflicted self that is at the heart most objective and of this text.

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it becomes. Some of the people said that the elephant was in the paddy fields below, only a Identity and Society elephant had gone in one direction, some said few hundred yards away. As I started forward Elephants in colonial Burma were that he had gone in another, some professed not practically the whole population of the quarter Shooting an Elephant largely industrial animals, even to have heard of any elephant. I had almost flocked out of the houses and followed me. primarily used in the lumber made up my mind that the whole story was a They had seen the rifle and were all shouting industry. Their drivers were called “mahouts.” pack of lies, when we heard yells a little distance excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant. What evidence from paragraph away. There was a loud, scandalized cry of “Go They had not shown much interest in the 6 supports the idea that away, child! Go away this instant!” and an old elephant when he was merely ravaging their shooting a working elephant in woman with a switch in her hand came round homes, but it was different now that he was Burma was a significant event. the corner of a hut, violently shooing away a going to be shot. It was a bit of fun to them, as it crowd of naked children. Some more women would be to an English crowd; besides they

The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY at Art Resource, The Art Archive followed, clicking their tongues and exclaiming; wanted the meat. It made me vaguely uneasy. I evidently there was something that the children had no intention of shooting the elephant — I ought not to have seen. I rounded the hut and had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if saw a man’s dead body sprawling in the mud. He necessary — and it is always unnerving to have was an Indian, a black Dravidian coolie,4 almost a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, NGS Image Collection/ CLOSE READING naked, and he could not have been dead many looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my minutes. The people said that the elephant had shoulder and an ever-growing army of people Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 are an One day something happened which in a chain and escaped. Its mahout, the only person come suddenly upon him round the corner of jostling at my heels. At the bottom, when you ideal place to point out the roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny who could manage it when it was in that state, elements of fiction at work in this the hut, caught him with its trunk, put its foot on got away from the huts, there was a metalled incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong narrative, particularly plot. How his back and ground him into the earth. This was road and beyond that a miry waste of paddy than I had had before of the real nature of direction and was now twelve hours’ journey does Orwell develop conflict and the rainy season and the ground was soft, and fields a thousand yards across, not yet imperialism — the real motives for which away, and in the morning the elephant had tension in order to draw his read- his face had scored a trench a foot deep and a ploughed but soggy from the first rains and ers into the drama as he experi- despotic governments act. Early one morning the suddenly reappeared in the town. The Burmese couple of yards long. He was lying on his belly dotted with coarse grass. The elephant was enced it? sub-inspector at a police station the other end of population had no weapons and were quite with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to standing eight yards from the road, his left side the town rang me up on the phone and said that helpless against it. It had already destroyed someone side. His face was coated with mud, the eyes towards us. He took not the slightest notice of an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. Would I body’s bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some wide open, the teeth bared and grinning with an the crowd’s approach. He was tearing up please come and do something about it? I did not fruit-stalls and devoured the stock; also it had met expression of unendurable agony. (Never tell bunches of grass, beating them against his know what I could do, but I wanted to see what the municipal rubbish van and, when the driver me, by the way, that the dead look peaceful. knees to clean them and stuffing them into TEACHING IDEA was happening and I got on to a pony and started jumped out and took to his heels, had turned the Most of the corpses I have seen looked devilish.) his mouth. out. I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and van over and inflicted violences upon it. The friction of the great beast’s foot had stripped I had halted on the road. As soon as I saw the Many of the study questions at much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought The Burmese sub-inspector and some the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I the end of the piece focus on the noise might be useful in terrorem.2 Various Indian constables were waiting for me in the rabbit. As soon as I saw the dead man I sent an ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to Orwell’s tone: Understanding Burmans stopped me on the way and told me quarter where the elephant had been seen. It questions 2 and 3; Analyzing orderly to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an shoot a working elephant — it is comparable to about the elephant’s doings. It was not, of course, was a very poor quarter, a labyrinth of squalid questions 1, 2, 3 and 5. After elephant rifle. I had already sent back the pony, destroying a huge and costly piece of a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone bamboo huts, thatched with palm-leaf, winding students have completed them not wanting it to go mad with fright and throw machinery — and obviously one ought not to do “must.”3 It had been chained up, as tame all over a steep hillside. I remember that it was a and explored Orwell’s tone in me if it smelt the elephant. it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that several different sections of the elephants always are when their attack of “must” cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the 5 The orderly came back in a few minutes distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked narrative, students could orga- is due, but on the previous night it had broken its rains. We began questioning the people as to with a rifle and five cartridges, and meanwhile no more dangerous than a cow. I thought then nize their conclusions in a chart. where the elephant had gone and, as usual, some Burmans had arrived and told us that the and I think now that his attack of “must” was failed to get any definite information. That is Some quotations might reveal an 2in terrorem: A legal term meaning “to scare a person into complying already passing off; in which case he would attitude in several of the with terms.” —Eds. invariably the case in the East; a story always merely wander harmlessly about until the 3 4 must: A temporary condition occurring in male elephants; their sounds clear enough at a distance, but the Dravidian coolie: Dravidians are an ethnic group from Southern mahout came back and caught him. Moreover, I categories. testosterone level increases dramatically and they can become India. “Coolie” is a term that was used in Orwell’s time for laborers nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer Afterwards, they could discuss violent and unpredictable. —Eds. of Asian descent; it is now considered derogatory. —Eds. did not in the least want to shoot him. I decided whether or not Orwell’s tone 116 central text 117 changes over the course of the essay. They could also draw conclusions about Orwell’s style: what strategies are most prominent in the essay? If students 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.inddRhetorical 116 strat- 27/10/15 7:22 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 117 27/10/15 7:22 PM need more support in tackling Quotation, Attitude Attitude Attitude toward egy (imagery, Attitude this tone activity, you might give with paragraph toward toward British selection of detail, toward self students a limited word bank of number Burmese elephant Imperialism diction, etc.) tone words to use when completing the activities. You will find a bank of tone words on p. 000 in the student text, which might be a good place to start.

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The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY at Art Resource, The Art Archive followed, clicking their tongues and exclaiming; wanted the meat. It made me vaguely uneasy. I evidently there was something that the children had no intention of shooting the elephant — I ought not to have seen. I rounded the hut and had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if saw a man’s dead body sprawling in the mud. He necessary — and it is always unnerving to have was an Indian, a black Dravidian coolie,4 almost a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, NGS Image Collection/ naked, and he could not have been dead many looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my minutes. The people said that the elephant had shoulder and an ever-growing army of people One day something happened which in a chain and escaped. Its mahout, the only person come suddenly upon him round the corner of jostling at my heels. At the bottom, when you roundabout way was enlightening. It was a tiny who could manage it when it was in that state, the hut, caught him with its trunk, put its foot on got away from the huts, there was a metalled incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong his back and ground him into the earth. This was road and beyond that a miry waste of paddy than I had had before of the real nature of direction and was now twelve hours’ journey the rainy season and the ground was soft, and fields a thousand yards across, not yet imperialism — the real motives for which away, and in the morning the elephant had his face had scored a trench a foot deep and a ploughed but soggy from the first rains and despotic governments act. Early one morning the suddenly reappeared in the town. The Burmese couple of yards long. He was lying on his belly dotted with coarse grass. The elephant was sub-inspector at a police station the other end of population had no weapons and were quite with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to standing eight yards from the road, his left side the town rang me up on the phone and said that helpless against it. It had already destroyed someone side. His face was coated with mud, the eyes towards us. He took not the slightest notice of an elephant was ravaging the bazaar. Would I body’s bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some wide open, the teeth bared and grinning with an the crowd’s approach. He was tearing up please come and do something about it? I did not fruit-stalls and devoured the stock; also it had met expression of unendurable agony. (Never tell bunches of grass, beating them against his know what I could do, but I wanted to see what the municipal rubbish van and, when the driver me, by the way, that the dead look peaceful. knees to clean them and stuffing them into was happening and I got on to a pony and started jumped out and took to his heels, had turned the Most of the corpses I have seen looked devilish.) his mouth. out. I took my rifle, an old .44 Winchester and van over and inflicted violences upon it. The friction of the great beast’s foot had stripped I had halted on the road. As soon as I saw the CHECK FOR much too small to kill an elephant, but I thought The Burmese sub-inspector and some the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I UNDERSTANDING the noise might be useful in terrorem.2 Various Indian constables were waiting for me in the rabbit. As soon as I saw the dead man I sent an ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to With so much detail in this Burmans stopped me on the way and told me quarter where the elephant had been seen. It orderly to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an shoot a working elephant — it is comparable to sequence from the time Orwell is about the elephant’s doings. It was not, of course, was a very poor quarter, a labyrinth of squalid elephant rifle. I had already sent back the pony, destroying a huge and costly piece of summoned until he decides to a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone bamboo huts, thatched with palm-leaf, winding not wanting it to go mad with fright and throw machinery — and obviously one ought not to do shoot the elephant, it might be 3 “must.” It had been chained up, as tame all over a steep hillside. I remember that it was a me if it smelt the elephant. it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that useful to ask students why he elephants always are when their attack of “must” cloudy, stuffy morning at the beginning of the 5 The orderly came back in a few minutes distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked was summoned in the first place. is due, but on the previous night it had broken its rains. We began questioning the people as to with a rifle and five cartridges, and meanwhile no more dangerous than a cow. I thought then What exactly is his job? Could he where the elephant had gone and, as usual, some Burmans had arrived and told us that the and I think now that his attack of “must” was have chosen not to go? What failed to get any definite information. That is 2in terrorem: A legal term meaning “to scare a person into complying already passing off; in which case he would does the narrator mean when he with terms.” —Eds. invariably the case in the East; a story always merely wander harmlessly about until the says he “knew with perfect 3 4 must: A temporary condition occurring in male elephants; their sounds clear enough at a distance, but the Dravidian coolie: Dravidians are an ethnic group from Southern mahout came back and caught him. Moreover, I certainty” that he should not testosterone level increases dramatically and they can become India. “Coolie” is a term that was used in Orwell’s time for laborers violent and unpredictable. —Eds. nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer of Asian descent; it is now considered derogatory. —Eds. did not in the least want to shoot him. I decided shoot the elephant? 116 central text 117

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that I would watch him for a little while to make know his own mind and do definite things. To Identity and Society sure that he did not turn savage again, and then come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thou- go home. sand people marching at my heels, and then to seeing connections Shooting an Elephant CLOSE READING But at that moment I glanced round at the trail feebly away, having done nothing — no, that crowd that had followed me. It was an immense was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. This paragraph and the one following are filled with images of crowd, two thousand at the least and growing And my whole life, every white man’s life in the the theatre – parted curtains, every minute. It blocked the road for a long East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. actors, mask, puppet. Exploring distance on either side. I looked at the sea of But I did not want to shoot the elephant. these metaphors individually is a yellow faces above the garish clothes — faces all I watched him beating his bunch of grass against good exercise in style analysis, happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain his knees, with that preoccupied grandmotherly but to understand how they work that the elephant was going to be shot. They air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it collectively, you might ask were watching me as they would watch a would be murder to shoot him. At that age I was students who Orwell’s audience conjurer about to perform a trick. They did not not squeamish about killing animals, but I had is. If he is “seemingly the lead like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I never shot an elephant and never wanted to. actor,” what part is he playing? was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly (Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large I realized that I should have to shoot the animal.) Besides, there was the beast’s owner to elephant after all. The people expected it of me be considered. Alive, the elephant was worth at CLOSE READING and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thou- least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be Paragraph 7 is the pivot point of sand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, the text, with Orwell standing out it was at this moment, as I stood there with the possibly. But I had got to act quickly. I turned to and telling us what it all means, rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollow- some experienced-looking Burmans who had ness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in been there when we arrived, and asked them “it” being a whole lot more than Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-131443 Library of Congress what happened in Burma. This is the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, how the elephant had been behaving. They all a goo opportunity for smaller, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd — said the same thing: he took no notice of you if Teddy Roosevelt was arguably the most aggressive imperialist in American history, more probing, conversations. seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in you left him alone, but he might charge if you annexing numerous ports and territories, including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Have students pair up and reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to went too close to him. Panama, Alaska, and Hawaii, during his time in office as either president or vice presi- decide, “Do you believe him?” and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I It was perfectly clear to me what I ought to dent. Roosevelt was also an avid big-game hunter; he shot eleven elephants during a When Orwell writes, “A sahib has perceived in this moment that when the white do. I ought to walk up to within, say, twenty-five one-year-long hunting trip in Africa just after his presidency. got to act like a sahib,” does he man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he yards of the elephant and test his behavior. If he Based on what you already know or can quickly learn through research about Teddy make you stop and reflect or turn destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing charged, I could shoot; if he took no notice of Roosevelt’s expansionist policies and love of hunting, consider what ideas may link his impe- away? To what extent do you feel 5 dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. me, it would be safe to leave him until the rialism and his love of hunting. How could they be related? How do those ideas help you empathy for him? For it is the condition of his rule that he shall mahout came back. But also I knew that I was understand more about “Shooting an Elephant”? spend his life in trying to impress the “natives,” going to do no such thing. I was a poor shot with and so in every crisis he has got to do what the a rifle and the ground was soft mud into which TEACHING IDEA “natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and one would sink at every step. If the elephant In this section, Orwell writes the his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the charged and I missed him, I should have about most often quoted line of the text: elephant. I had committed myself to doing it as much chance as a toad under a steam roller. The sole thought in my mind was that if magazine and lay down on the road to get a “He wears a mask, and his face when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act But even then I was not thinking particularly of anything went wrong those two thousand better aim. grows to fit it.” Have students like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to my own skin, only of the watchful yellow faces Burmans would see me pursued, caught, tram- 10 The crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, draw or find an image that behind. For at that moment, with the crowd pled on and reduced to a grinning corpse like happy sigh, as of people who see the theatre captures the dual (or confused or watching me, I was not afraid in the ordinary that Indian up the hill. And if that happened it curtain go up at last, breathed from innumerable forfeited) identity that Orwell 5sahib: While in Arabic the term means “friend,” during the British sense, as I would have been if I had been alone. was quite probable that some of them would throats. They were going to have their bit of fun describes here. Raj the term was used as a form of address to a person of authority A white man mustn’t be frightened in front of similar to how we might use “Mister” to a person of authority laugh. That would never do. There was only one after all. The rifle was a beautiful German thing today. —Eds. “natives”; and so, in general, he isn’t frightened. alternative. I shoved the cartridges into the with cross-hair sights. I did not then know that 118 central text 119

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that I would watch him for a little while to make know his own mind and do definite things. To Identity and Society sure that he did not turn savage again, and then come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thou- go home. sand people marching at my heels, and then to seeing connections Shooting an Elephant But at that moment I glanced round at the trail feebly away, having done nothing — no, that crowd that had followed me. It was an immense was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. crowd, two thousand at the least and growing And my whole life, every white man’s life in the every minute. It blocked the road for a long East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. distance on either side. I looked at the sea of But I did not want to shoot the elephant. yellow faces above the garish clothes — faces all I watched him beating his bunch of grass against happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain his knees, with that preoccupied grandmotherly that the elephant was going to be shot. They air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it were watching me as they would watch a would be murder to shoot him. At that age I was conjurer about to perform a trick. They did not not squeamish about killing animals, but I had like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I never shot an elephant and never wanted to. was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly (Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large I realized that I should have to shoot the animal.) Besides, there was the beast’s owner to elephant after all. The people expected it of me be considered. Alive, the elephant was worth at and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thou- least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be sand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, it was at this moment, as I stood there with the possibly. But I had got to act quickly. I turned to rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollow- some experienced-looking Burmans who had ness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in been there when we arrived, and asked them Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-131443 Library of Congress the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, how the elephant had been behaving. They all standing in front of the unarmed native crowd — said the same thing: he took no notice of you if Teddy Roosevelt was arguably the most aggressive imperialist in American history, seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in you left him alone, but he might charge if you annexing numerous ports and territories, including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to went too close to him. Panama, Alaska, and Hawaii, during his time in office as either president or vice presi- and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I It was perfectly clear to me what I ought to dent. Roosevelt was also an avid big-game hunter; he shot eleven elephants during a perceived in this moment that when the white do. I ought to walk up to within, say, twenty-five one-year-long hunting trip in Africa just after his presidency. man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he yards of the elephant and test his behavior. If he TEACHING IDEA Based on what you already know or can quickly learn through research about Teddy destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing charged, I could shoot; if he took no notice of Roosevelt’s expansionist policies and love of hunting, consider what ideas may link his impe- Orwell carefully considers his 5 dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. me, it would be safe to leave him until the rialism and his love of hunting. How could they be related? How do those ideas help you decision to shoot the elephant, For it is the condition of his rule that he shall mahout came back. But also I knew that I was understand more about “Shooting an Elephant”? weighing the decision from many spend his life in trying to impress the “natives,” going to do no such thing. I was a poor shot with different angles. In groups, have and so in every crisis he has got to do what the a rifle and the ground was soft mud into which students find all of the factors the “natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and one would sink at every step. If the elephant narrator weighs as he considers his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the charged and I missed him, I should have about his course of action. Using direct elephant. I had committed myself to doing it as much chance as a toad under a steam roller. The sole thought in my mind was that if magazine and lay down on the road to get a quotations, students should then when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act But even then I was not thinking particularly of anything went wrong those two thousand better aim. categorize those factors as legal, like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to my own skin, only of the watchful yellow faces Burmans would see me pursued, caught, tram- 10 The crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, materialistic, political, moral (or behind. For at that moment, with the crowd pled on and reduced to a grinning corpse like happy sigh, as of people who see the theatre ethical) and personal. Then watching me, I was not afraid in the ordinary that Indian up the hill. And if that happened it curtain go up at last, breathed from innumerable analyze how the speaker priori- 5sahib: While in Arabic the term means “friend,” during the British sense, as I would have been if I had been alone. was quite probable that some of them would throats. They were going to have their bit of fun tizes them during the crisis. Raj the term was used as a form of address to a person of authority A white man mustn’t be frightened in front of Finally, analyze how he currently similar to how we might use “Mister” to a person of authority laugh. That would never do. There was only one after all. The rifle was a beautiful German thing today. —Eds. “natives”; and so, in general, he isn’t frightened. alternative. I shoved the cartridges into the with cross-hair sights. I did not then know that (e.g., in the present tense at the end of the story) might reconsider central text 119 118 that balance.

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had altered. He looked suddenly stricken, 6dah: Burmese knife, often long enough to be considered 7Coringhee: a Southern Indian ethnicity. —Eds. shrunken, immensely old, as though the a sword. —Eds. frightful impact of the bullet had paralysed him without knocking him down. At last, after what CLOSE READING seemed a long time — it might have been five Interpretations abound of the seconds, I dare say — he sagged flabbily to his Orwell Archive, UCL Library Special Collections and Estate of Vernon Richards UCL Library Special Collections and Estate of Vernon Orwell Archive, elephant as symbol, including knees. His mouth slobbered. An enormous that he symbolizes Orwell’s senility seemed to have settled upon him. One Understanding and interpreting conscience, Burma under imperi- could have imagined him thousands of years Orwell with a Burmese dah. George Orwell was stationed in Burma and left the the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was alist rule, even the British Empire In what ways does this photo capture the old. I fired again into the same spot. At the police force soon after his time there. What specific only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the cultural conflict in this essay? 1 itself. Engaging students in such second shot he did not collapse but climbed evidence from the text can you find that might suggest will of those yellow faces behind.” discussion might also offset (or with desperate slowness to his feet and stood why he left the police force? b. “I perceived in this moment that when the white justify) the grisly details of the man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he weakly upright, with legs sagging and head long rattling gasps, his great mound of a side Identify the speaker’s attitude toward the destroys.” slow and agonizing death of this drooping. I fired a third time. That was the shot painfully rising and falling. His mouth was wide inhabitants of Burma at the following three places 2 c. “He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the “great beast.” open — I could see far down into caverns of pale in the text: that did for him. You could see the agony of it conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the con- jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant pink throat. I waited a long time for him to die, a. the first paragraph dition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying of strength from his legs. But in falling he but his breathing did not weaken. Finally I fired b. the paragraphs just before he shoots the elephant to impress the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs my two remaining shots into the spot where I (pars. 9–10) has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He c. the last paragraph collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower thought his heart must be. The thick blood welled wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” d. “The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die. Then, explain his overall feelings toward the Burmese. every white man’s life in the East, was one long reaching skywards like a tree. He trumpeted, for His body did not even jerk when the shots hit In paragraph 3, the speaker says that this incident struggle not to be laughed at.” the first and only time. And then down he came, him, the tortured breathing continued without a gave him “a better glimpse than I had had before 3 While this essay is specifically about a time when his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed pause. He was dying, very slowly and in great of the real nature of imperialism—the real motives for 4 Orwell shot an elephant, it continues to be widely to shake the ground even where I lay. agony, but in some world remote from me where which despotic governments act.” Look back at the following statements from paragraph 7 and explain read and studied in classes because it has meaning I got up. The Burmans were already racing not even a bullet could damage him further. I felt what each statement reveals about the speaker’s view and application beyond 1920s Burma. What is the past me across the mud. It was obvious that the that I had got to put an end to that dreadful noise. of the nature of imperialism: central idea that Orwell is presenting in this essay about identity? Use direct evidence from the text to elephant would never rise again, but he was not It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying a. “Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing support your response. dead. He was breathing very rhythmically with there, powerless to move and yet powerless to in front of the unarmed native crowd—seemingly

120 central text 121

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CHECK FOR 120 29/10/15 3:00 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 121 27/10/15 7:22 PM UNDERSTANDING The description of the elephant is so powerful that this is a good place to ask which Orwell prevails – Eric Blair the young officer, or George Orwell the reflective essayist. This section also prepares, then, for the older Orwell to prevail in the last paragraph (i.e, “Afterwards”).

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in shooting an elephant one would shoot to cut die, and not even to be able to finish him. I sent Indian and could do nothing. Besides, legally I Identity and Society an imaginary bar running from ear-hole to ear- back for my small rifle and poured shot after shot had done the right thing, for a mad elephant has hole. I ought, therefore, as the elephant was into his heart and down his throat. They seemed to be killed, like a mad dog, if its owner fails to Shooting an Elephant sideways on, to have aimed straight at his ear- to make no impression. The tortured gasps control it. Among the Europeans opinion was hole; actually I aimed several inches in front of continued as steadily as the ticking of a clock. divided. The older men said I was right, the this, thinking the brain would be further In the end I could not stand it any longer younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot forward. and went away. I heard later that it took him half an elephant for killing a coolie, because an When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the an hour to die. Burmans were bringing dahs6 elephant was worth more than any damn bang or feel the kick — one never does when a and baskets even before I left, and I was told Coringhee7 coolie. And afterwards I was very shot goes home — but I heard the devilish roar of they had stripped his body almost to the bones glad that the coolie had been killed; it put me glee that went up from the crowd. In that instant, by the afternoon. legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient in too short a time, one would have thought, Afterwards, of course, there were endless pretext for shooting the elephant. I often even for the bullet to get there, a mysterious, discussions about the shooting of the elephant. wondered whether any of the others grasped terrible change had come over the elephant. He The owner was furious, but he was only an that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool. TRM SUGGESTED neither stirred nor fell, but every line of his body RESPONSES had altered. He looked suddenly stricken, 6dah: Burmese knife, often long enough to be considered 7Coringhee: a Southern Indian ethnicity. —Eds. Suggested responses to the shrunken, immensely old, as though the a sword. —Eds. questions for this reading can be frightful impact of the bullet had paralysed him found on the Teacher’s Resource without knocking him down. At last, after what Flash Drive. seemed a long time — it might have been five seconds, I dare say — he sagged flabbily to his Orwell Archive, UCL Library Special Collections and Estate of Vernon Richards UCL Library Special Collections and Estate of Vernon Orwell Archive, knees. His mouth slobbered. An enormous Understanding and interpreting senility seemed to have settled upon him. One CLOSE READING – could have imagined him thousands of years Orwell with a Burmese dah. George Orwell was stationed in Burma and left the the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was In what ways does this photo capture the UNDERSTANDING Q2 old. I fired again into the same spot. At the police force soon after his time there. What specific only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the cultural conflict in this essay? 1 This progression is tricky second shot he did not collapse but climbed evidence from the text can you find that might suggest will of those yellow faces behind.” with desperate slowness to his feet and stood why he left the police force? b. “I perceived in this moment that when the white because in the opening, Orwell man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he sounds almost arrogant. He weakly upright, with legs sagging and head long rattling gasps, his great mound of a side Identify the speaker’s attitude toward the destroys.” begins by making the dramatic drooping. I fired a third time. That was the shot painfully rising and falling. His mouth was wide inhabitants of Burma at the following three places 2 c. “He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the statement that he was “hated by that did for him. You could see the agony of it open — I could see far down into caverns of pale in the text: conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the con- large numbers of people,” but jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant pink throat. I waited a long time for him to die, a. the first paragraph dition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying then he proceeds to denigrate of strength from his legs. But in falling he but his breathing did not weaken. Finally I fired b. the paragraphs just before he shoots the elephant to impress the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he those people. In this opening seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs my two remaining shots into the spot where I (pars. 9–10) has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He c. the last paragraph paragraph, Orwell clearly estab- collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower thought his heart must be. The thick blood welled wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” d. “The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, lishes an I (or us)/them dichotomy. upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die. Then, explain his overall feelings toward the Burmese. every white man’s life in the East, was one long By paragraphs 9 and 10, he His body did not even jerk when the shots hit reaching skywards like a tree. He trumpeted, for In paragraph 3, the speaker says that this incident struggle not to be laughed at.” acknowledges his own weak- the first and only time. And then down he came, him, the tortured breathing continued without a gave him “a better glimpse than I had had before 3 While this essay is specifically about a time when nesses, particularly his sense that his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed pause. He was dying, very slowly and in great of the real nature of imperialism—the real motives for 4 Orwell shot an elephant, it continues to be widely he has to “perform” as a superior. to shake the ground even where I lay. agony, but in some world remote from me where which despotic governments act.” Look back at the following statements from paragraph 7 and explain read and studied in classes because it has meaning He refers to the “watchful yellow I got up. The Burmans were already racing not even a bullet could damage him further. I felt what each statement reveals about the speaker’s view and application beyond 1920s Burma. What is the faces” and what a “white man” past me across the mud. It was obvious that the that I had got to put an end to that dreadful noise. of the nature of imperialism: central idea that Orwell is presenting in this essay must and must not do. So he has about identity? Use direct evidence from the text to elephant would never rise again, but he was not It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying a. “Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing fallen into or accepted his role. In support your response. dead. He was breathing very rhythmically with there, powerless to move and yet powerless to in front of the unarmed native crowd—seemingly paragraph 10, the “curtain go{es] up” – and he performs as he believes he is expected to in 120 central text 121 order to maintain his superior position because – above all – he must not be laughed at by the natives: “That would never do” (paragraph 9). By the final para- 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 120 29/10/15 3:00 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 121 TEACHING IDEA – UNDERSTANDING Q4 27/10/15 7:22 PM graph, Orwell the narrator retreats into what was “legally . . . the right This question asks students to evidence, you might identify thing,” so there is arrogance – or think more abstractly; that is, to specific lines or passages, and bravado – but tempered with a leave Orwell and Burma behind then ask students to build scenar- sense of doubt. And, in the last and to consider the larger issues. ios around them. For instance, in sentence, he admits that he did Students might brainstorm ideas question 3, the first quote might be not take action out of any princi- and then, working in groups, flesh discussed in terms of white police ple or moral belief, but “solely to out the way that identity depends officers in a largely African avoid looking a fool.” upon or is at least influenced by the American community. (How contro- opinion of others in specific situa- versial such a focus is will depend, tions. To tie the exercise to of course, upon your community.)

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UNDERSTANDING – 5 Orwell Research something that someone expected you to do). What

Identity and Society Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure ANALYZING Q2 4 How can psychological principles help us caused you to wear the mask? Did your face “grow to understand the factors that may have contributed to fit it,” as the speaker of “Shooting an Elephant” Ask students to work in groups to Reread the second paragraph of the piece, where closely at the underlined words and the synonyms that Orwell’s decision to shoot the elephant, even though suggests, or were you able to take the mask off and Shooting an Elephant color code the essay to signal the the speaker provides some of his feelings about follow in parentheses. Discuss how changing Orwell’s 1 he did not want to? Research a relevant become yourself again? imperialism. Identify the contrasting and often word choice to one of the words in parentheses would younger and older Orwell. Then psychological study or psychological perspective, contradictory choices of words as he describes the affect the meaning of the sentences containing these Multimodal compare results. (Use an online explain the experiment and its findings to your Burmese and the British. What do the contradictions words and the passage as a whole. Make a short film—or draw a storyboard of version that can be shown on readers, and then describe how the findings help 7 reveal about the speaker’s attitude toward imperialism? scenes—in which you reenact paragraph 7 from screen and compared with other Afterwards, of course, there were endless explain the psychological factors at work in “Shooting “Shooting an Elephant.” Then, write a brief explanation This essay is told as a narrative with the speaker (interminable/incessant) discussions about the an Elephant.” You might begin by looking into the versions of the analysis.) about why you chose to film or draw it the way you did. looking back on a significant event in his life. How shooting of the elephant. The owner was furious, Stanford Prison Experiment (Philip Zimbardo), the 2 How did the music, camera angles, lighting, acting does the older Orwell view his younger self, and what but he was only an Indian and could do nothing. Asch Conformity Experiments (Solomon Asch), the choices, and so on that you used relate to the specific CHECK FOR specific language choices reflect this tone? Besides, legally (justly/legitimately) I had done the Good Samaritan Study (John Darley and C. Daniel words that Orwell used? UNDERSTANDING – right thing, for a mad elephant has to be killed Batson), the Milgram Experiment (Stanley Milgram), Reread paragraph 11, where the speaker first ANALYZING Q3 (executed/put down/slaughtered), like a mad dog, or the Bystander Effect (John Darley and Bibb Discussion or performance shoots the elephant. What are some of the words 3 if its owner fails to control it. Among the Europeans Latané). Feel free to uncover additional studies that Hold a mock trial to debate the speaker’s actions. Such a dramatic paragraph! and phrases that are used to humanize the elephant’s 8 opinion was divided. The older men said I was interest you. There should be a prosecutor who is trying to convict death and how do these details help to illustrate Students might be given specific right, the younger men said it was a damn shame the speaker of property damage, a defense attorney Orwell’s point about imperialism? Research dimensions to focus on, such as to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because who is trying to justify the speaker’s actions, a judge, While the speaker in Orwell’s piece regularly uses verbs, adjective, similes, and then an elephant was worth more than any damn 5 and a jury to determine guilt or innocence. Be sure that You are reading this piece in a textbook almost the word “imperialism” to describe the British activities Coringhee coolie. And afterwards I was very glad all of the evidence you consider comes directly from discuss how each element 4 eighty years after it was originally published. Who in Burma because it refers to the expansion of an (cheerful/content/pleased) that the coolie had been the text itself and any relevant research you conduct on contributes to the effect of do you think was Orwell’s intended audience in 1936, “empire,” another related and more general term is killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me a the time period and location. humanizing the elephant’s death, and what do you think he was trying to communicate “colonialism,” which applies to any country’s to them? How successful do you think he might have sufficient (ample/acceptable) pretext (alibi/excuse/ in fact, giving it a kind of epic conquering and exploiting the resources of another Creative been in communicating his message? Why? pretense) for shooting the elephant. I often country. Research present-day Myanmar, or another George Orwell is not a hero in this piece. He importance. Once students have wondered whether any of the others grasped that I 9 country that was colonized, and identify the effects doesn’t take a principled stand and refuse to shoot the identified a string of verbs, for Below is the last paragraph of the essay with some had done it solely to avoid looking a fool (buffoon/ colonialism had. elephant, nor does he rebel against an imperial system instance, you might ask them to 5 words underlined. Reread this paragraph, looking idiot/bonehead). that he seems to disapprove of and yet participates in. Narrative arrange these into a poem or a Write a new ending for the essay in which Orwell At the moment the speaker decides to shoot the visual image and consider the 6 decides not to shoot the elephant. Continue to use the elephant, he states, “[I]t is the condition of his rule that effect. first person narration, try to mimic Orwell’s style as Topics for Composing [the white man] shall spend his life in trying to impress closely as possible, and include the reasoning behind the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he has got to do his decision. Be sure to consider how the last TEACHING IDEA – Exposition • The first letter should be from the point of view of what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He wears a mask, and paragraph would change significantly as a result of this Many of the reasons that the speaker gives for the elephant’s owner, trying to convince the district his face grows to fit it” (par. 7). Write a story about a ANALYZING Q5 1 different decision. Include a reflection that explains shooting the elephant are implied rather than directly administrator of Burma to compensate you for the time when you had to wear a metaphorical mask (do what changed and why. This is an invitation to role play or stated. In an essay, identify and explain the most loss of your elephant. Imagine that upon receiving at least read aloud. Ask a student significant reasons for the shooting, and conclude with this letter, the district administrator demands an to read and substitute the first an evaluation of which one was likely the primary explanation from Orwell. choice in each case; then another motivation. • The second letter should be written as if you were reads using the second choice, Exposition Orwell responding to the district administrator. Be another the third. (If there are only 2 How aware is the speaker of his own role in the sure to explain why the shooting of the elephant two choices, just repeat.) Discuss worst elements of colonialism? Write an essay in which was justified, and address the points contained within the letter from the elephant’s owner. Your the different impact of such you respond to that question by drawing solely on the evidence that Orwell presents within the text. letters should be limited only to the events pre- changes. sented in the piece, but you should use whatever Argument persuasive techniques you think would be useful in TEACHING IDEA 3 At the end of the piece, Orwell writes, “The owner convincing your audience. was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do As another extension activity, nothing.” Write two letters about this situation: working in groups students might develop a brief video juxtaposing the ideas/words of Orwell in 122 central text 123 “Shooting an Elephant” with those of Aung San Suu Kyi in her Nobel Peace Prize speech. Their juxtaposition should make an argument about ways in which the two share similar beliefs and 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEA 122 – COMPOSING Q3 23/11/15 5:40 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 123 27/10/15 7:22 PM depart from one another’s beliefs. After students have written both sides in a court and let a jury of letters, divide them into groups to students determine if and why choose the most provocative or the owner should or should not creative (though not necessarily be compensated and what that the “best”) letter from each view- compensation might be. point. Present them as opposing

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 122 04/01/16 11:16 AM TEACHING IDEA 5 Orwell

Research something that someone expected you to do). What Students might view the docu-

Identity and Society Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure 4 How can psychological principles help us caused you to wear the mask? Did your face “grow to mentary 21st Century understand the factors that may have contributed to fit it,” as the speaker of “Shooting an Elephant” Reread the second paragraph of the piece, where closely at the underlined words and the synonyms that Concentration Camps by Orwell’s decision to shoot the elephant, even though suggests, or were you able to take the mask off and Shooting an Elephant the speaker provides some of his feelings about follow in parentheses. Discuss how changing Orwell’s Nicholas Kristoff, part of the New 1 he did not want to? Research a relevant become yourself again? imperialism. Identify the contrasting and often word choice to one of the words in parentheses would York Times’ Op Docs series psychological study or psychological perspective, contradictory choices of words as he describes the affect the meaning of the sentences containing these Multimodal explain the experiment and its findings to your (available online). It focuses on Burmese and the British. What do the contradictions words and the passage as a whole. Make a short film—or draw a storyboard of readers, and then describe how the findings help 7 the treatment of the Rohingya, a reveal about the speaker’s attitude toward imperialism? scenes—in which you reenact paragraph 7 from Afterwards, of course, there were endless explain the psychological factors at work in “Shooting Muslim minority in Myanmar “Shooting an Elephant.” Then, write a brief explanation This essay is told as a narrative with the speaker (interminable/incessant) discussions about the an Elephant.” You might begin by looking into the about why you chose to film or draw it the way you did. today. Worth discussing as an looking back on a significant event in his life. How shooting of the elephant. The owner was furious, Stanford Prison Experiment (Philip Zimbardo), the 2 How did the music, camera angles, lighting, acting argument in and of itself, the does the older Orwell view his younger self, and what but he was only an Indian and could do nothing. Asch Conformity Experiments (Solomon Asch), the choices, and so on that you used relate to the specific documentary also generates specific language choices reflect this tone? Besides, legally (justly/legitimately) I had done the Good Samaritan Study (John Darley and C. Daniel words that Orwell used? discussion of the legacy of right thing, for a mad elephant has to be killed Batson), the Milgram Experiment (Stanley Milgram), Reread paragraph 11, where the speaker first colonialism. (executed/put down/slaughtered), like a mad dog, or the Bystander Effect (John Darley and Bibb Discussion or performance shoots the elephant. What are some of the words 3 if its owner fails to control it. Among the Europeans Latané). Feel free to uncover additional studies that Hold a mock trial to debate the speaker’s actions. and phrases that are used to humanize the elephant’s 8 opinion was divided. The older men said I was interest you. There should be a prosecutor who is trying to convict death and how do these details help to illustrate right, the younger men said it was a damn shame the speaker of property damage, a defense attorney Orwell’s point about imperialism? Research to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because who is trying to justify the speaker’s actions, a judge, While the speaker in Orwell’s piece regularly uses an elephant was worth more than any damn 5 and a jury to determine guilt or innocence. Be sure that You are reading this piece in a textbook almost the word “imperialism” to describe the British activities Coringhee coolie. And afterwards I was very glad all of the evidence you consider comes directly from 4 eighty years after it was originally published. Who in Burma because it refers to the expansion of an (cheerful/content/pleased) that the coolie had been the text itself and any relevant research you conduct on do you think was Orwell’s intended audience in 1936, “empire,” another related and more general term is killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me a the time period and location. and what do you think he was trying to communicate “colonialism,” which applies to any country’s to them? How successful do you think he might have sufficient (ample/acceptable) pretext (alibi/excuse/ conquering and exploiting the resources of another Creative been in communicating his message? Why? pretense) for shooting the elephant. I often country. Research present-day Myanmar, or another George Orwell is not a hero in this piece. He wondered whether any of the others grasped that I 9 country that was colonized, and identify the effects doesn’t take a principled stand and refuse to shoot the Below is the last paragraph of the essay with some had done it solely to avoid looking a fool (buffoon/ colonialism had. elephant, nor does he rebel against an imperial system 5 words underlined. Reread this paragraph, looking idiot/bonehead). that he seems to disapprove of and yet participates in. Narrative Write a new ending for the essay in which Orwell At the moment the speaker decides to shoot the 6 decides not to shoot the elephant. Continue to use the elephant, he states, “[I]t is the condition of his rule that first person narration, try to mimic Orwell’s style as Topics for Composing [the white man] shall spend his life in trying to impress closely as possible, and include the reasoning behind the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he has got to do his decision. Be sure to consider how the last Exposition • The first letter should be from the point of view of what the ‘natives’ expect of him. He wears a mask, and paragraph would change significantly as a result of this Many of the reasons that the speaker gives for the elephant’s owner, trying to convince the district his face grows to fit it” (par. 7). Write a story about a 1 different decision. Include a reflection that explains shooting the elephant are implied rather than directly administrator of Burma to compensate you for the time when you had to wear a metaphorical mask (do what changed and why. stated. In an essay, identify and explain the most loss of your elephant. Imagine that upon receiving significant reasons for the shooting, and conclude with this letter, the district administrator demands an an evaluation of which one was likely the primary explanation from Orwell. motivation. • The second letter should be written as if you were Exposition Orwell responding to the district administrator. Be 2 How aware is the speaker of his own role in the sure to explain why the shooting of the elephant worst elements of colonialism? Write an essay in which was justified, and address the points contained you respond to that question by drawing solely on the within the letter from the elephant’s owner. Your evidence that Orwell presents within the text. letters should be limited only to the events presented in the piece, but you should use whatever Argument persuasive techniques you think would be useful in 3 At the end of the piece, Orwell writes, “The owner convincing your audience. was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.” Write two letters about this situation:

122 central text 123

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 122 23/11/15 5:40 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 123 TEACHING IDEA 27/10/15 7:22 PM Another multimodal activity idea: community or a larger global In this essay, Orwell reflects on canvas? Develop a multimodal how an individual and his beliefs argument about a current conflict can get lost in a larger machine, involving institutionalized author- in his case the British Empire. ity vs. individual conscience. What insights can we glean about Combine images and sound that issues of authority in our contem- are contemporary with words porary world, either local from Orwell’s essay.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 123 04/01/16 11:16 AM TEACHING IDEA Ask students to bring in a picture conversation So I turned myself to face me Krakauer of themselves from five to ten But I’ve never caught a glimpse years ago. We want some Of how the others must see the faker distance, but we also want them chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS I’m much too fast to take that test to have a functional memory of The Devils Thumb This chapter is about identity and the fact that identities change. You are probably not the scene in the photo. They While the speaker in the Bowie song seems to embrace the changes that are a exactly the same as you were in elementary school. You might not even be exactly the should select the photo carefully. natural part of life, the protagonists in this Conversation of texts are not necessarily as It should be a photo of an event same as you were last month. Why do our identities change? What factors lead to those accepting of the changes they face. Among others, you will read about a young man with a story. Students should pair changes? Certain aspects of our identities may change frequently, like hairstyles, clothes, who leaves all his material goods behind to live in the wilds of Alaska, a young woman up, with Student A trying to tell and interests, perhaps as a result of growing older, moving to a new town, or getting a who considers leaving her native Ireland to travel to South America, and a middle the story of what is going on in different group of friends. school student who faces the challenge of keeping an old friend while making new the Student B’s photograph, Other aspects of identity, such as race, gender, and ethnicity, are seemingly more ones. At the end of this section, you will have an opportunity to enter this Conversation pointing out what they believe the fixed, although society’s and one’s own perception of these aspects certainly do change. on Changes and Transformations, identifying similarities and differences among the key details are. Student A then Remember that in the United States, women were not allowed to vote as recently as 1920, various texts and adding your own voice to the discussion of how identities change explains what Student B got right and racial segregation was legal in schools until 1954. So in some of these cases, identi- and transform. and wrong. Then the students ties can change due to new laws, historical events, and social trends. switch roles. You might want to David Bowie, a pop singer who began his career in the late 1960s and made a habit of textS model this process with a photo changing his identity with almost every album he released, wrote a song in 1971 called Jon Krakauer / The Devils Thumb (nonfiction) of your own first, having the class “Changes.” Take a look at a portion of the lyrics on the next page: Caitlin Horrocks / Zolaria (fiction) as a whole trying to tell its story. Sharon Olds / My Son the Man and The Possessive (poetry) After the pair and share, students William Shakespeare / The Seven Ages of Man (poetry/drama) should write a reflection: how did James Joyce / Eveline (fiction) you feel today when you looked from Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (photographs) back at the photo? Do you remember how you felt at the time of the photo? How different is your life today from your life in the photo? Finally, ask the The Devils Thumb students to write about the event in the photo, as well as a reflec- Jon Krakauer tion back on the photo and its story from their current perspec- Writer Jon Krakauer (b. 1954) has been a risk taker and tive. Close the activity by asking adventurer most of his life. The author of the highly acclaimed them to explain how this activity account of a disastrous attempt to climb Mount Everest, Into relates to the topics of identity Thin Air, Krakauer spent much of his own youth climbing various and transformation. mountains around the world, the accounts of which were collected in Eiger Dreams: Ventures among Men and Mountains, from which this narrative is taken. Krakauer is also the author Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Pictorial Press Denis O’Regan/Getty Images of Into the Wild, the true story of the life and death of Chris

McCandless, a young man who tried to live on his own in the LIFE Images Collection/Getty John Storey/The Bowie in ’68 Bowie in the early ’70s Bowie in ’83 backcountry of Alaska, and died as a result. Rather than simply celebrating the accomplishments of adventurers, Krakauer examines the risks and contradictions In the photos of David Bowie at various times in his career, what portions of his identity change, and what seems to remain constant? What do you think Bowie means in the lyric, of trying to find yourself by going toe-to-toe with nature, concluding in Into the Wild “But I’ve never caught a glimpse / Of how the others must see the faker”? that “mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.”

124 chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS cOnverSAtiOn 125

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEAS 124 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 125 27/10/15 7:23 PM This is a conversation of texts have read (examples will include • Have students write a brief that focus on the forces that Romeo and Juliet, Hunger narrative about a time they affect people to change, many of Games, Speak, Catcher in the faced a difficult choice or deci- which could best be described by Rye, The Fault in our Stars, etc.) sion, gained or lost an import- the phrase “Coming of Age.” To and identify the attributes of the ant friend, or had a conflict introduce students to this idea, genre. What defines a “Coming with a parent or teacher. consider the following: of Age” story? How and why • Hold a class discussion of do the characters change or “Coming of Age” texts students transform?

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 124 04/01/16 11:17 AM BUILDING CONTEXT conversation So I turned myself to face me Krakauer Consider playing students a portion But I’ve never caught a glimpse of a David Bowie video or two to Of how the others must see the faker give them a sense of his voice and chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS I’m much too fast to take that test performance style. Ask students to The Devils Thumb name another, more recent pop star This chapter is about identity and the fact that identities change. You are probably not While the speaker in the Bowie song seems to embrace the changes that are a who has changed his or her look exactly the same as you were in elementary school. You might not even be exactly the natural part of life, the protagonists in this Conversation of texts are not necessarily as and style as regularly as Bowie. same as you were last month. Why do our identities change? What factors lead to those accepting of the changes they face. Among others, you will read about a young man changes? Certain aspects of our identities may change frequently, like hairstyles, clothes, who leaves all his material goods behind to live in the wilds of Alaska, a young woman TEACHING IDEA and interests, perhaps as a result of growing older, moving to a new town, or getting a who considers leaving her native Ireland to travel to South America, and a middle You might begin this section of different group of friends. school student who faces the challenge of keeping an old friend while making new the book by having a class Other aspects of identity, such as race, gender, and ethnicity, are seemingly more ones. At the end of this section, you will have an opportunity to enter this Conversation discussion centered on these fixed, although society’s and one’s own perception of these aspects certainly do change. on Changes and Transformations, identifying similarities and differences among the questions: What are the positives Remember that in the United States, women were not allowed to vote as recently as 1920, various texts and adding your own voice to the discussion of how identities change and negatives associated with and racial segregation was legal in schools until 1954. So in some of these cases, identi- and transform. “change”? Why does it make us ties can change due to new laws, historical events, and social trends. nervous? Is change inevitable? David Bowie, a pop singer who began his career in the late 1960s and made a habit of textS changing his identity with almost every album he released, wrote a song in 1971 called Jon Krakauer / The Devils Thumb (nonfiction) BUILDING CONTEXT “Changes.” Take a look at a portion of the lyrics on the next page: Caitlin Horrocks / Zolaria (fiction) Sharon Olds / My Son the Man and The Possessive (poetry) Students who do not have experi- William Shakespeare / The Seven Ages of Man (poetry/drama) ence with mountaineering will likely James Joyce / Eveline (fiction) benefit from some direct vocabulary instruction. Split the class into from Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (photographs) three teams. Team 1 researches climbing equipment, Team 2 researches climbing techniques, and Team 3 researches terrain The Devils Thumb terms. Have each team develop explanantions (using visuals if Jon Krakauer necessary) of the following terms: Equipment Writer Jon Krakauer (b. 1954) has been a risk taker and crampons adventurer most of his life. The author of the highly acclaimed spikes of chrome molybdenom account of a disastrous attempt to climb Mount Everest, Into Tyrolean cap Thin Air, Krakauer spent much of his own youth climbing various crevasse polls mountains around the world, the accounts of which were ice axe collected in Eiger Dreams: Ventures among Men and Mountains, bivouac sack from which this narrative is taken. Krakauer is also the author

Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Pictorial Press Denis O’Regan/Getty Images Early Winter’s Omnipo Tent of Into the Wild, the true story of the life and death of Chris rainfly

McCandless, a young man who tried to live on his own in the LIFE Images Collection/Getty John Storey/The Techniques Bowie in ’68 Bowie in the early ’70s Bowie in ’83 backcountry of Alaska, and died as a result. Rather than simply celebrating pitoncraft tension traverse the accomplishments of adventurers, Krakauer examines the risks and contradictions In the photos of David Bowie at various times in his career, what portions of his identity bolt placement nordwand of trying to find yourself by going toe-to-toe with nature, concluding in Into the Wild change, and what seems to remain constant? What do you think Bowie means in the lyric, boot axe belay technical climb “But I’ve never caught a glimpse / Of how the others must see the faker”? that “mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.” shoulder stand Terrain 124 chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS cOnverSAtiOn 125 frost feathers glacial plateau diorite crevasse bivouac site Rime verglas Frosted Slabs ice cap

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 124 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.inddTRM VOCABULARY 125 BUILDING CONTEXT BUILDING CONTEXT27/10/15 7:23 PM A list of challenging words from Sir Edmund Hillary, who was A number of your students may similarities students note about this reading can be found in the among the first to summit Everest, have already read one or more of Krakauer’s work, and/or show Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. remarked, “It is not the mountain Krakauer’s books, especially Into clips from the music videos for we conquer, but ourselves.” Ask Thin Air, about a climbing disas- the film version of Into the Wild, students what might he mean? ter on Mount Everest, and Into which present ideas of societal Why would a person need to go to the Wild, about a young man who dissatisfaction similar to this a mountain to conquer his or her died in the Alaskan wilderness. narrative. self? Why, for that matter, would You may want to discuss what one need to conquer the self? How is that a mountain would help with this task? Can you think of alternative paths? Teacher’s Edition 125 Uncorrected Page Proofs. Copyright © 2016 (and distributed by) Bedford, Freeman, and Worth High School Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

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stained construction trailer that had served as Alaska to change my life, and patience was a Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/ NY Art Resource, my home in Boulder. I loaded everything into concept well beyond my twenty-three-year- the car, drove up Pearl Street to Tom’s Tavern, old ken. and downed a ceremonial beer. Then I was Sixteen months earlier I’d graduated from CLOSE READING gone. college with little distinction and even less in the Read the first five paragraphs to At 1 a.m., thirty miles east of Rawlins, the way of marketable skills. In the interim an off- point of the compass, but especially so from the 10 Dr. Edwards regarded climbing as a “psycho- your student in quick succession, strain of the day caught up to me. The euphoria again, on-again four-year relationship — the first north: its great north wall, which had never been neurotic tendency” rather than sport; he asking them to pay attention to that had flowed so freely in the wake of my quick serious romance of my life — had come to a climbed, rises sheer and clean for six thousand climbed not for fun but to find refuge from the any references to sleeping and escape gave way to overpowering fatigue; messy, long-overdue end; nearly a year later, my vertical feet from the glacier at its base. Twice the inner torment that characterized his existence. waking. How many did they suddenly I felt tired to the bone. The highway love life was still zip. To support myself I worked height of Yosemite’s El Capitan, the north face of I remember, that spring of 1977, being especially notice? They can’t answer why stretched straight and empty to the horizon and on a house-framing crew, grunting under crip- the Thumb is one of the biggest granitic walls on taken by a passage from an Edwards short story the narrative starts here yet, but beyond. Outside the car the night air was cold, pling loads of plywood, counting the minutes the continent; it may well be one of the biggest in titled “Letter From a Man”: they might be able to make the world. I would go to Alaska, ski across the and the stark Wyoming plains glowed in the until the next coffee break, scratching in vain at So, as you would imagine, I grew up exuber- predictions about how sleep and Stikine Icecap to the Devils Thumb, and make the moonlight like Rousseau’s painting of the sleep- the sawdust stuck in perpetuum to the sweat on ant in body but with a nervy, craving mind: waking may be important to the first ascent of its notorious nordwand. It seemed, ing gypsy. I wanted very badly just then to be the back of my neck. Somehow, blighting the It was wanting something more, something story: the character tries to midway through the second pitcher, like a that gypsy, conked out on my back beneath the Colorado landscape with condominiums and tangible. It sought for reality intensely, achieve an awakening. particularly good idea to do all of this solo. stars. I shut my eyes — just for a second, but it tract houses for three-fifty an hour wasn’t the always if it were not there . . . Writing these words more than a dozen years was a second of bliss. It seemed to revive me, if sort of career I’d dreamed of as a boy. But you see at once what I do. I climb. only briefly. The Pontiac, a sturdy behemoth Late one evening I was mulling all this over later, it’s no longer entirely clear just how I from the Eisenhower years, floated down the on a barstool at Tom’s, picking unhappily at my thought soloing the Devils Thumb would trans- To one enamored of this sort of prose, the road on its long-gone shocks like a raft on an existential scabs, when an idea came to me, a form my life. It had something to do with the fact Thumb beckoned like a beacon. My belief in the ocean swell. The lights of an oil rig twinkled scheme for righting what was wrong in my life. that climbing was the first and only thing I’d ever plan became unshakeable. I was dimly aware reassuringly in the distance. I closed my eyes a It was wonderfully uncomplicated, and the more been good at. My reasoning, such as it was, was that I might be getting in over my head, but if second time, and kept them closed a few I thought about it, the better the plan sounded. fueled by the scattershot passions of youth, and a I could somehow get to the top of the Devils moments longer. The sensation was sweeter By the bottom of the pitcher its merits seemed literary diet overly rich in the works of Nietzsche, Thumb, I was convinced, everything that than sex. unassailable. The plan consisted, in its entirety, Kerouac, and John Menlove Edwards — the latter followed would turn out all right. And thus did A few minutes later I let my eyelids fall again. of climbing a mountain in Alaska called the a deeply troubled writer/psychiatrist who, before I push the accelerator a little closer to the floor I’m not sure how long I nodded off this time — it Devils Thumb. putting an end to his life with a cyanide capsule and, buoyed by the jolt of adrenaline that might have been for five seconds, it might have The Devils Thumb is a prong of exfoliated in 1958, had been one of the preeminent British followed the Pontiac’s brush with destruction, been for thirty — but when I awoke it was to the diorite that presents an imposing profile from any rock climbers of the day. speed west into the night.

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y the time I reached the interstate I was rude sensation of the Pontiac bucking violently Identity and Society Bhaving trouble keeping my eyes open. I’d along the dirt shoulder at seventy miles per been okay on the twisting two-lane black top hour. By all rights, the car should have sailed off Henri Rousseau, The between Fort Collins and Laramie, but when the into the rabbitbrush and rolled. The rear wheels Sleeping Gypsy, oil on canvas, 1897. The Devils Thumb Pontiac eased onto the smooth, unswerving fishtailed wildly six or seven times, but I eventu- Why do you think pavement of I-80, the soporific hiss of the tires ally managed to guide the unruly machine back Krakauer refers to this began to gnaw at my wakefulness like ants in a onto the pavement without so much as blowing particular painting in dead tree. a tire, and let it coast gradually to a stop. I loos- his narrative? That afternoon, after nine hours of humping ened my death grip on the wheel, took several 2 X 10s and pounding recalcitrant nails, I’d told deep breaths to quiet the pounding in my chest, my boss I was quitting: “No, not in a couple of then slipped the shifter back into drive and weeks, Steve; right now was more like what I had continued down the highway. in mind.” It took me three more hours to clear 5 Pulling over to sleep would have been the my tools and other belongings out of the rust- sensible thing to do, but I was on my way to stained construction trailer that had served as Alaska to change my life, and patience was a Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/ NY Art Resource, my home in Boulder. I loaded everything into concept well beyond my twenty-three-year- the car, drove up Pearl Street to Tom’s Tavern, old ken. and downed a ceremonial beer. Then I was Sixteen months earlier I’d graduated from gone. college with little distinction and even less in the 10 TEACHING IDEA At 1 a.m., thirty miles east of Rawlins, the way of marketable skills. In the interim an off- point of the compass, but especially so from the Dr. Edwards regarded climbing as a “psycho- strain of the day caught up to me. The euphoria again, on-again four-year relationship — the first north: its great north wall, which had never been neurotic tendency” rather than sport; he As a retrospective narrative, this that had flowed so freely in the wake of my quick serious romance of my life — had come to a climbed, rises sheer and clean for six thousand climbed not for fun but to find refuge from the story has the enriching quality of escape gave way to overpowering fatigue; messy, long-overdue end; nearly a year later, my vertical feet from the glacier at its base. Twice the inner torment that characterized his existence. having a speaker with two suddenly I felt tired to the bone. The highway love life was still zip. To support myself I worked height of Yosemite’s El Capitan, the north face of I remember, that spring of 1977, being especially distinct identities: the older narra- stretched straight and empty to the horizon and on a house-framing crew, grunting under crip- the Thumb is one of the biggest granitic walls on taken by a passage from an Edwards short story tor telling us the story and the beyond. Outside the car the night air was cold, pling loads of plywood, counting the minutes the continent; it may well be one of the biggest in titled “Letter From a Man”: younger character living it. If your the world. I would go to Alaska, ski across the students have read the Central and the stark Wyoming plains glowed in the until the next coffee break, scratching in vain at So, as you would imagine, I grew up exuber- Stikine Icecap to the Devils Thumb, and make the Text, “Shooting An Elephant,” moonlight like Rousseau’s painting of the sleep- the sawdust stuck in perpetuum to the sweat on ant in body but with a nervy, craving mind: you can point to this similarity. ing gypsy. I wanted very badly just then to be the back of my neck. Somehow, blighting the first ascent of its notorious nordwand. It seemed, It was wanting something more, something Invite your students to make a that gypsy, conked out on my back beneath the Colorado landscape with condominiums and midway through the second pitcher, like a tangible. It sought for reality intensely, chart with three columns. In the stars. I shut my eyes — just for a second, but it tract houses for three-fifty an hour wasn’t the particularly good idea to do all of this solo. always if it were not there . . . first, list events where the narra- was a second of bliss. It seemed to revive me, if sort of career I’d dreamed of as a boy. Writing these words more than a dozen years But you see at once what I do. I climb. tor faces a challenge or setback, only briefly. The Pontiac, a sturdy behemoth Late one evening I was mulling all this over later, it’s no longer entirely clear just how I in the next column they would from the Eisenhower years, floated down the on a barstool at Tom’s, picking unhappily at my thought soloing the Devils Thumb would trans- To one enamored of this sort of prose, the discuss what the event reveals form my life. It had something to do with the fact Thumb beckoned like a beacon. My belief in the road on its long-gone shocks like a raft on an existential scabs, when an idea came to me, a about the older narrator, and in that climbing was the first and only thing I’d ever plan became unshakeable. I was dimly aware ocean swell. The lights of an oil rig twinkled scheme for righting what was wrong in my life. the final column they would been good at. My reasoning, such as it was, was that I might be getting in over my head, but if reassuringly in the distance. I closed my eyes a It was wonderfully uncomplicated, and the more discuss what it reveals about the fueled by the scattershot passions of youth, and a second time, and kept them closed a few I thought about it, the better the plan sounded. I could somehow get to the top of the Devils younger character. Model the literary diet overly rich in the works of Nietzsche, moments longer. The sensation was sweeter By the bottom of the pitcher its merits seemed Thumb, I was convinced, everything that process first by reading aloud the Kerouac, and John Menlove Edwards — the latter than sex. unassailable. The plan consisted, in its entirety, followed would turn out all right. And thus did first page and completing the first a deeply troubled writer/psychiatrist who, before A few minutes later I let my eyelids fall again. of climbing a mountain in Alaska called the I push the accelerator a little closer to the floor entry together. Read a little putting an end to his life with a cyanide capsule I’m not sure how long I nodded off this time — it Devils Thumb. and, buoyed by the jolt of adrenaline that further on and have students do in 1958, had been one of the preeminent British might have been for five seconds, it might have The Devils Thumb is a prong of exfoliated followed the Pontiac’s brush with destruction, the next entry in pairs. Once you been for thirty — but when I awoke it was to the diorite that presents an imposing profile from any rock climbers of the day. speed west into the night. are confident that they understand the process, release them 126 changes and transformations conversation 127 to independent work on this chart for remainder of the story.

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 126 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CHECK 127 FOR UNDERSTANDING 27/10/15 7:23 PM As adults, it is easy for us to see distinction and value. Do this by connect to those feelings and the self-esteem issues that drive building on the line, “climbing share them, they may be able to Krakauer’s quest. Our students was the first and only thing that see more of the personal struggle may not be able to identify these I’d ever been good at.” Ask, of the character. Bring it back to issues. Make sure that they are “What was the first thing you real- the story with, “How do these picking up on how the older ized you were good at? How did memories help us understand Krakauer feels about the need of you feel? Why?” This may feel why he would quit his job to the younger self to earn like a digression, but if they can climb a mountain?”

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Check that students understand . . . some unclimbed alpine wall, all I had to do was encounter with hostile wildlife involved a flock tower in a tired, giddy daze. It was far and away the idiom “throw in the towel” Identity and Society You can’t actually get very close to the Devils get myself to the foot of the mountain and start of gulls who dive-bombed my head with the most technical ascent ever done in Alaska, and give students an object like Thumb by car. The peak stands in the swinging my ice axes. Hitchcockian fury. Between the avian assault an important milestone in the history of the proverbial “towel” from Boundary Ranges on the Alaska–British Petersburg sits on an island, the Devils and my ursine anxiety, it was with no small American mountaineering. The Devils Thumb boxing—a small white piece of Columbia border, not far from the fishing Thumb rises from the mainland. To get myself to amount of relief that I turned my back to the In the ensuing decades three other teams paper will work great here. Have village of Petersburg, a place accessible only by the foot of the Thumb it was first necessary to beach, donned crampons, and scrambled up also made it to the top of the Thumb, but all them write “I Quit” on side of the boat or plane. There is regular jet service to cross twenty-five miles of salt water. For most of onto the glacier’s broad, lifeless snout. steered clear of the big north face. Reading sheet. After Krakauer faces his Petersburg, but the sum of my liquid assets a day I walked the docks, trying without success 20 After three or four miles I came to the snow- accounts of these expeditions, I had wondered first set back, introduce this amounted to the Pontiac and two hundred to hire a boat to ferry me across Frederick line, where I exchanged crampons for skis. why none of them had approached the peak by activity: “If at any time in the dollars in cash, not even enough for one-way Sound. Then I bumped into Bart and Benjamin. Putting the boards on my feet cut fifteen pounds what appeared, from the map at least, to be the story, you think—were I in his airfare, so l took the car as far as Gig Harbor, Bart and Benjamin were ponytailed constit- from the awful load on my back and made the easiest and most logical route, the Baird. I shoes here, I would turn back— Washington, then hitched a ride on a north- uents of a Woodstock Nation tree-planting going much faster besides. But now that the ice wondered a little less after coming across an then it is time to ‘throw in the bound seine boat that was short on crew. Five collective called the Hodads. We struck up a was covered with snow, many of the glacier’s article by Beckey in which the distinguished towel.’ Write the paragraph days out, when the Ocean Queen pulled into conversation. I mentioned that I, too, had once crevasses were hidden, making solitary travel mountaineer cautioned, “Long, steep icefalls number and why you would turn Petersburg to take on fuel and water, I jumped worked as a tree planter. The Hodads allowed extremely dangerous. block the route from the Baird Glacier to the back now if you were in his ship, shouldered my backpack, and walked that they had chartered a floatplane to fly them In Seattle, anticipating this hazard, I’d icecap near Devils Thumb,” but after studying shoes.” down the dock in a steady Alaskan rain. to their camp on the mainland the next morn- stopped at a hardware store and purchased a aerial photographs I decided that Beckey was At appropriate intervals, check to Back in Boulder, without exception, every ing. “It’s your lucky day, kid,” Bart told me. “For pair of stout aluminum curtain rods, each ten mistaken, that the icefalls weren’t so big or so collect “towels” from people who person with whom I’d shared my plans about twenty bucks you can ride over with us. Get you feet long. Upon reaching the snowline, I lashed bad. The Baird, I was certain, really was the best would have turned back. Hear the Thumb had been blunt and to the point: I’d to your [. . .] mountain in style.” On May 3, a day the rods together at right angles, then strapped way to reach the mountain. about when and why as time been smoking too much pot, they said; it was a and a half after arriving in Petersburg, I stepped the arrangement to the hip belt on my backpack For two days I slogged steadily up the glacier permits. Consider having them monumentally bad idea. I was grossly over- off the Hodads’ Cessna, waded onto the tidal so the poles extended horizontally over the snow. without incident, congratulating myself for crumple and throw in their sheet estimating my abilities as a climber, I’d never be flats at the head of Thomas Bay, and began the Staggering slowly up the glacier with my over- discovering such a clever path to the Thumb. On when they give up. This could be able to hack a month completely by myself, I long trudge inland. loaded backpack, bearing the queer tin cross, I the third day, I arrived beneath the Stikine a way for people to signify that would fall into a crevasse and die. felt like some kind of strange Penitente. Were I to Icecap proper, where the long arm of the Baird they have something to share. It The residents of Petersburg reacted The Devils Thumb pokes up out of the Stikine break through the veneer of snow over a hidden joins the main body of ice. Here, the glacier will be interesting to see who differently. Being Alaskans, they were accus- Icecap, an immense, labyrinthine network of crevasse, though, the curtain rods would — I spills abruptly over the edge of a high plateau, believes they would go all the tomed to people with screwball ideas; a sizeable glaciers that hugs the crest of the Alaskan hoped mightily — span the slot and keep me dropping sea ward through the gap between two way and who most certainly percentage of the state’s population, after all, panhandle like an octopus, with myriad tenta- from dropping into the chilly bowels or the Baird. peaks in a phantasmagoria of shattered ice. would not risk their life in this was sitting on half-baked schemes to mine cles that snake down, down to the sea from the The first climbers to venture onto the Stikine Seeing the icefall in the flesh left a different moment. You could have a uranium in the Brooks Range, or sell icebergs to craggy uplands along the Canadian frontier. In Icecap were Bestor Robinson and Fritz Wiessner, impression than the photos had. As I stared at Socratic seminar on risk taking the Japanese, or market mail-order moose drop- putting ashore at Thomas Bay I was gambling the legendary German-American alpinist, who the tumult from a mile away, for the first time following this reading: how pings. Most of the Alaskans I met, if they reacted that one of these frozen arms, the Baird Glacier, spent a stormy month in the Boundary Ranges since leaving Colorado the thought crossed my should we manage risk in our at all, simply asked how much money there was would lead me safely to the bottom of the in 1937 but failed to reach any major summits. mind that maybe this Devils Thumb trip wasn’t lives? How have we seen people in climbing a mountain like the Devils Thumb. Thumb, thirty miles distant. Wiessner returned in 1946 with Donald Brown the best idea I’d ever had. in our lives successfully and 15 In any case, one of the appealing things An hour of gravel beach led to the tortured and Fred Beckey to attempt the Devils Thumb, 25 The icefall was a maze of crevasses and unsuccessfully manage risk? about climbing the Thumb — and one of the blue tongue of the Baird. A logger in Petersburg the nastiest looking peak in the Stikine. On that teetering seracs1. From afar it brought to mind a appealing things about the sport of mountain had suggested I keep an eye out for grizzlies trip Fritz mangled a knee during a fall on the bad train wreck, as if scores of ghostly white climbing in general — was that it didn’t matter a along this stretch of shore. “Them bears over hike in and limped home in disgust, but Beckey boxcars had derailed at the lip of the icecap and rat’s ass what anyone else thought. Getting the there is just waking up this time of year,” he went back that same summer with Bob Craig tumbled down the slope willy-nilly. The closer I scheme off the ground didn’t hinge on winning smiled. “Tend to be kinda cantankerous after not and Cliff Schmidtke. On August 25, after several got, the more unpleasant it looked. My ten-foot the approval of some personnel director, admis- eatin’ all winter. But you keep your gun handy, aborted tries and some exceedingly hairy climb- 1 sions committee, licensing board, or panel of you shouldn’t have no problem.” Problem was, I ing on the peak’s east ridge, Beckey and seracs: Large columns of ice, usually found in the cracks of glaciers, and prone to toppling over, making it especially dangerous for stern-faced judges; if I felt like taking a shot at didn’t have a gun. As it turned out, my only company sat on the Thumb’s wafer-thin summit climbers. —Eds.

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128 Advanced Language & Literature

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. . . some unclimbed alpine wall, all I had to do was encounter with hostile wildlife involved a flock tower in a tired, giddy daze. It was far and away Identity and Society You can’t actually get very close to the Devils get myself to the foot of the mountain and start of gulls who dive-bombed my head with the most technical ascent ever done in Alaska, Thumb by car. The peak stands in the swinging my ice axes. Hitchcockian fury. Between the avian assault an important milestone in the history of Boundary Ranges on the Alaska–British Petersburg sits on an island, the Devils and my ursine anxiety, it was with no small American mountaineering. The Devils Thumb Columbia border, not far from the fishing Thumb rises from the mainland. To get myself to amount of relief that I turned my back to the In the ensuing decades three other teams village of Petersburg, a place accessible only by the foot of the Thumb it was first necessary to beach, donned crampons, and scrambled up also made it to the top of the Thumb, but all boat or plane. There is regular jet service to cross twenty-five miles of salt water. For most of onto the glacier’s broad, lifeless snout. steered clear of the big north face. Reading Petersburg, but the sum of my liquid assets a day I walked the docks, trying without success 20 After three or four miles I came to the snow- accounts of these expeditions, I had wondered amounted to the Pontiac and two hundred to hire a boat to ferry me across Frederick line, where I exchanged crampons for skis. why none of them had approached the peak by dollars in cash, not even enough for one-way Sound. Then I bumped into Bart and Benjamin. Putting the boards on my feet cut fifteen pounds what appeared, from the map at least, to be the airfare, so l took the car as far as Gig Harbor, Bart and Benjamin were ponytailed constit- from the awful load on my back and made the easiest and most logical route, the Baird. I Washington, then hitched a ride on a north- uents of a Woodstock Nation tree-planting going much faster besides. But now that the ice wondered a little less after coming across an bound seine boat that was short on crew. Five collective called the Hodads. We struck up a was covered with snow, many of the glacier’s article by Beckey in which the distinguished days out, when the Ocean Queen pulled into conversation. I mentioned that I, too, had once crevasses were hidden, making solitary travel mountaineer cautioned, “Long, steep icefalls Petersburg to take on fuel and water, I jumped worked as a tree planter. The Hodads allowed extremely dangerous. block the route from the Baird Glacier to the ship, shouldered my backpack, and walked that they had chartered a floatplane to fly them In Seattle, anticipating this hazard, I’d icecap near Devils Thumb,” but after studying down the dock in a steady Alaskan rain. to their camp on the mainland the next morn- stopped at a hardware store and purchased a aerial photographs I decided that Beckey was Back in Boulder, without exception, every ing. “It’s your lucky day, kid,” Bart told me. “For pair of stout aluminum curtain rods, each ten mistaken, that the icefalls weren’t so big or so person with whom I’d shared my plans about twenty bucks you can ride over with us. Get you feet long. Upon reaching the snowline, I lashed bad. The Baird, I was certain, really was the best the Thumb had been blunt and to the point: I’d to your [. . .] mountain in style.” On May 3, a day the rods together at right angles, then strapped way to reach the mountain. been smoking too much pot, they said; it was a and a half after arriving in Petersburg, I stepped the arrangement to the hip belt on my backpack For two days I slogged steadily up the glacier monumentally bad idea. I was grossly over- off the Hodads’ Cessna, waded onto the tidal so the poles extended horizontally over the snow. without incident, congratulating myself for estimating my abilities as a climber, I’d never be flats at the head of Thomas Bay, and began the Staggering slowly up the glacier with my over- discovering such a clever path to the Thumb. On able to hack a month completely by myself, I long trudge inland. loaded backpack, bearing the queer tin cross, I the third day, I arrived beneath the Stikine would fall into a crevasse and die. felt like some kind of strange Penitente. Were I to Icecap proper, where the long arm of the Baird The residents of Petersburg reacted The Devils Thumb pokes up out of the Stikine break through the veneer of snow over a hidden joins the main body of ice. Here, the glacier differently. Being Alaskans, they were accus- Icecap, an immense, labyrinthine network of crevasse, though, the curtain rods would — I spills abruptly over the edge of a high plateau, tomed to people with screwball ideas; a sizeable glaciers that hugs the crest of the Alaskan hoped mightily — span the slot and keep me dropping sea ward through the gap between two percentage of the state’s population, after all, panhandle like an octopus, with myriad tenta- from dropping into the chilly bowels or the Baird. peaks in a phantasmagoria of shattered ice. was sitting on half-baked schemes to mine cles that snake down, down to the sea from the The first climbers to venture onto the Stikine Seeing the icefall in the flesh left a different uranium in the Brooks Range, or sell icebergs to craggy uplands along the Canadian frontier. In Icecap were Bestor Robinson and Fritz Wiessner, impression than the photos had. As I stared at the Japanese, or market mail-order moose drop- putting ashore at Thomas Bay I was gambling the legendary German-American alpinist, who the tumult from a mile away, for the first time pings. Most of the Alaskans I met, if they reacted that one of these frozen arms, the Baird Glacier, spent a stormy month in the Boundary Ranges since leaving Colorado the thought crossed my at all, simply asked how much money there was would lead me safely to the bottom of the in 1937 but failed to reach any major summits. mind that maybe this Devils Thumb trip wasn’t in climbing a mountain like the Devils Thumb. Thumb, thirty miles distant. Wiessner returned in 1946 with Donald Brown the best idea I’d ever had. 15 In any case, one of the appealing things An hour of gravel beach led to the tortured and Fred Beckey to attempt the Devils Thumb, 25 The icefall was a maze of crevasses and about climbing the Thumb — and one of the blue tongue of the Baird. A logger in Petersburg the nastiest looking peak in the Stikine. On that teetering seracs1. From afar it brought to mind a appealing things about the sport of mountain had suggested I keep an eye out for grizzlies trip Fritz mangled a knee during a fall on the bad train wreck, as if scores of ghostly white climbing in general — was that it didn’t matter a along this stretch of shore. “Them bears over hike in and limped home in disgust, but Beckey boxcars had derailed at the lip of the icecap and rat’s ass what anyone else thought. Getting the there is just waking up this time of year,” he went back that same summer with Bob Craig tumbled down the slope willy-nilly. The closer I scheme off the ground didn’t hinge on winning smiled. “Tend to be kinda cantankerous after not and Cliff Schmidtke. On August 25, after several got, the more unpleasant it looked. My ten-foot the approval of some personnel director, admis- eatin’ all winter. But you keep your gun handy, aborted tries and some exceedingly hairy climb- 1 sions committee, licensing board, or panel of you shouldn’t have no problem.” Problem was, I ing on the peak’s east ridge, Beckey and seracs: Large columns of ice, usually found in the cracks of glaciers, and prone to toppling over, making it especially dangerous for stern-faced judges; if I felt like taking a shot at didn’t have a gun. As it turned out, my only company sat on the Thumb’s wafer-thin summit climbers. —Eds.

128 changes and transformations conversation 129

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 128 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 129 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 27/10/15 7:23 PM In paragraphs 21-27, we can section, ask them if they feel like discuss how Krakauer prepared/ Krakauer was ready for the did not prepare for the climb. climb? Would the younger and Make sure at the start of this older Krakauer answer that ques- section that they understand tion differently at this point in the what Krakauer is doing with the story? curtain rods. At the end of this

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curtain rods seemed a poor defense against mind for about fifteen years — since April 12, was something about the scariness of the activi- Identity and Society crevasses that were forty feet across and two 1962, to be exact. The occasion was my eighth ties portrayed in those pages that just wouldn’t hundred fifty feet deep. Before I could finish birthday. When it came time to open birthday leave me alone. In addition to the scores of line figuring out a course through the icefall, the presents, my parents announced that they were drawings — most of them cartoons of a little man The Devils Thumb wind came up and snow began to slant hard out offering me a choice of gifts: According to my in a jaunty Tyrolean cap — employed to illustrate of the clouds, stinging my face and reducing visi- wishes, they would either escort me to the new arcana like the boot-axe belay and the Bilgeri bility to almost nothing. Seattle World’s Fair to ride the Monorail and see rescue, the book contained sixteen black-and- In my impetuosity, I decided to carry on the Space Needle, or give me an introductory white plates of notable peaks in the Pacific anyway. For the better part of the day I groped taste of mountain climbing by taking me up the Northwest and Alaska. All the photographs were blindly through the labyrinth in the whiteout, third highest peak in Oregon, a long-dormant striking, but the one on page 147 was much, retracing my steps from one dead end to volcano called the South Sister that, on clear much more than that: it made my skin crawl. An another. Time after time I’d think I’d found a way days, was visible from my bedroom window. It aerial photo by glaciologist Maynard Miller, it out, only to wind up in a deep blue cul de sac, or was a tough call. I thought the matter over at showed a singularly sinister tower of ice- stranded atop a detached pillar of ice. My efforts length, then settled on the climb. plastered black rock. There wasn’t a place on were lent a sense of urgency by the noises 30 To prepare me for the rigors of the ascent, my the entire mountain that looked safe or secure; emanating underfoot. A madrigal of cracks and father handed over a copy of Mountaineering: I couldn’t imagine anyone climbing it. At the sharp reports — the sort of protests a large fir The Freedom of the Hills, the leading how-to bottom of the page the mountain was identified limb makes when it’s slowly bent to the breaking manual of the day, a thick tome that weighed as the Devils Thumb. point — served as a reminder that it is the nature only slightly less than a bowling ball. From the first time I saw it, the picture — a of glaciers to move, the habit of seracs to topple. Thenceforth I spent most of my waking hours portrait of the Thumb’s north wall — held an As much as I feared being flattened by a wall poring over its pages, memorizing the intricacies almost pornographic fascination for me. On John Scurlock of collapsing ice, I was even more afraid of fall- of pitoncraft and bolt placement, the shoulder hundreds — no, make that thousands — of ing into a crevasse, a fear that intensified when I stand and the tension traverse. None of which, as occasions over the de cade and a half that A view of the still-unclimbed northwest face of the put a foot through a snow bridge over a slot so it happened, was of any use on my inaugural followed I took my copy of Mountaineering Devils Thumb. Krakauer ascended from the left side, deep I couldn’t see the bottom of it. A little later ascent, for the South Sis ter turned out to be a down from the shelf, opened it to page 147, and the eastern ascent. The sharp, slightly shorter peak just to the right of the Devils Thumb is called the Cat I broke through another bridge to my waist; the decidedly less than extreme climb that quietly stared. How would it feel, I wondered Ear Spire. poles kept me out of the hundred-foot hole, but demanded nothing more in the way of technical over and over, to be on that thumbnail-thin How does the language Krakauer uses to after I extricated myself I was bent double with skill than energetic walking, and was in fact summit ridge, worrying over the storm clouds describe this mountain compare with this dry heaves thinking about what it would be like ascended by hundreds of farmers, house pets, building on the horizon, hunched against the picture of it? to be lying in a pile at the bottom of the crevasse, and small children every summer. wind and dunning cold , contemplating the waiting for death to come, with nobody even Which is not to suggest that my parents and horrible drop on either side? How could aware of how or where I’d met my end. I conquered the mighty volcano: From the pages anyone keep it together? Would I, if I found Night had nearly fallen by the time I and pages of perilous situations depicted in myself high on the north wall, clinging to that fifty dollars — the last of my cash — to have six emerged from the top of the serac slope onto Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, I had frozen rock, even attempt to keep it together? cardboard cartons of supplies dropped from an the empty, wind-scoured expanse of the high concluded that climbing was a life-and-death Or would I simply decide to surrender to the airplane when I reached the foot of the Thumb. glacial plateau. In shock and chilled to the core, matter, always. Halfway up the South Sister I inevitable straight away, and jump? I showed the pilot exactly where, on his map, I I skied far enough past the icefall to put its suddenly remembered this. In the middle of a intended to be, and told him to give me three rumblings out of earshot, pitched the tent, twenty-degree snow slope that would be impos- I had planned on spending between three days to get there; he promised to fly over and crawled into my sleeping bag, and shivered sible to fall from if you tried, I decided that I was weeks and a month on the Stikine Icecap. Not make the drop as soon thereafter as the weather myself to a fitful sleep. in mortal jeopardy and burst into tears, bringing relishing the prospect of carrying a four-week permitted. the ascent to a halt. load of food, heavy winter camping gear, and a 35 On May 6 I set up a base camp on the Icecap Although my plan to climb the Devils Thumb Perversely, after the South Sister debacle my small mountain of climbing hardware all the just northeast of the Thumb and waited for the wasn’t fully hatched until the spring of 1977, the interest in climbing only intensified. I resumed way up the Baird on my back, before leaving airdrop. For the next four days it snowed, nixing mountain had been lurking in the recesses of my my obsessive studies of Mountaineering. There Petersburg I paid a bush pilot a hundred and any chance for a flight. Too terrified of crevasses

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130 Advanced Language & Literature

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130 changes and transformations conversation 131

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 130 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CLOSE 131 READING 27/10/15 7:23 PM In paragraph 33, Krakauer summa- some troubling notions. How does Can your students find connec- rizes the history of his fixation with Krakauer use retrospective voice in tions between these questions the Devils Thumb. The summary is this paragraph? How does the and Jack London’s remark, “I followed with a string of dangerous series of questions help us under- would rather be ashes than dust. questions. This would be an exam- stand the draw of the mountain I would rather that my spark ple of retrospective musing from and the character of the younger should burn out in a brilliant blaze the time of the narrative (belonging Krakauer? than be stifled by dry rot.” to the younger self). It presents

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 131 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 2 Krakauer to wander far from camp, I occasionally went deck — and never saw my tent in the flat evening bergschrund, some three or four hours after you’re hyperaware of the abyss pulling at your Identity and Society out for a short ski to kill time, but mostly I lay light. My waving and screaming were to no avail; leaving camp, I was whipped. And I hadn’t even back. You constantly feel its call, its immense silently in the tent — the ceiling was too low to sit from that altitude l was indistinguishable from a gotten to the “real” climbing yet. That would hunger. To resist takes a tremendous conscious upright — with my thoughts, fighting a rising pile of rocks. For the next hour he circled the begin immediately above, where the hanging effort; you don’t dare let your guard down for an The Devils Thumb chorus of doubts. icecap, scanning its barren contours without glacier gave way to vertical rock. instant. The siren song of the void puts you on As the days passed, I grew increasingly success. But the pilot, to his credit, appreciated The rock, exhibiting a dearth of holds and edge, it makes your movements tentative, anxious. I had no radio, nor any other means of the gravity of my predicament and didn’t give coated with six inches of crumbly rime, did not clumsy, herky-jerky. But as the climb goes on, communicating with the outside world. It had up. Frantic, I tied my sleeping bag to the end of look promising, but just left of the main prow you grow accustomed to the exposure, you get been many years since anyone had visited this one of the crevasse poles and waved it for all I was an inside corner — what climbers call an used to rubbing shoulders with doom, you come part of the Stikine Icecap, and many more would was worth. When the plane banked sharply and open book — glazed with frozen melt water. to believe in the reliability of your hands and likely pass before anyone did so again. I was began to fly straight at me, I felt tears of joy well This ribbon of ice led straight up for two or feet and head. You learn to trust your nearly out of stove fuel, and down to a single in my eyes. three hundred feet, and if the ice proved self-control. chunk of cheese, my last package of ramen The pilot buzzed my tent three times in substantial enough to support the picks of my By and by, your attention becomes so noodles, and half a box of Cocoa Puffs. This, I quick succession, dropping two boxes on each ice axes, the line might go. I hacked out a small intensely focused that you no longer notice the figured, could sustain me for three or four more pass, then the airplane disappeared over a ridge platform in the snow slope, the last flat ground raw knuckles, the cramping thighs, the strain of days if need be, but then what would I do? It and I was alone. As silence again settled over I expected to feel underfoot for some time, and maintaining nonstop concentration. A trance- would only take two days to ski back down the the glacier I felt abandoned, vulnerable, lost. stopped to eat a candy bar and collect my like state settles over your efforts, the climb Baird to Thomas Bay, but then a week or more I realized that I was sobbing. Embarrassed, thoughts. Fifteen minutes later I shouldered my becomes a clear-eyed dream. Hours slide by like might easily pass before a fisherman happened I halted the blubbering by screaming obsceni- pack and inched over to the bottom of the minutes. The accrued guilt and clutter of day-to- by who could give me a lift back to Petersburg ties until I grew hoarse. corner. Gingerly, I swung my right axe into the day existence — the lapses of conscience, the (the Hodads with whom I’d ridden over were 40 I awoke early on May 11 to clear skies and two-inch-thick ice. It was solid, plastic — a little unpaid bills, the bungled opportunities, the dust camped fifteen miles down the impassable, the relatively warm temperature of twenty thinner than I would have liked but otherwise under the couch, the festering familial sores, the headland-studded coast, and could be reached degrees Fahrenheit. Startled by the good perfect. I was on my way. inescapable prison of your genes — all of it is only by boat or plane). weather, mentally unprepared to commence the The climbing was steep and spectacular, so temporarily forgotten, crowded from your When I went to bed on the evening of May actual climb, I hurriedly packed up a rucksack exposed it made my head spin. Beneath my boot thoughts by an overpowering clarity of purpose, 10 it was still snowing and blowing hard. I was nonetheless, and began skiing toward the base soles, the wall fell away for three thousand feet and by the seriousness of the task at hand. going back and forth on whether to head for the of the Thumb. Two previous Alaskan expedi- to the dirty, avalanche-scarred cirque of the At such moments, something like happiness coast in the morning or stick it out on the icecap, tions had taught me that, ready or not, you Witches Cauldron Glacier. Above, the prow actually stirs in your chest, but it isn’t the sort of gambling that the pilot would show before I simply can’t afford to waste a day of perfect soared with authority toward the summit ridge, emotion you want to lean on very hard. In solo starved or died of thirst, when, just for a weather if you expect to get up anything. a vertical half-mile above. Each time I planted climbing, the whole enterprise is held together moment, I heard a faint whine, like a mosquito. I A small hanging glacier extends out from the one of my ice axes, that distance shrank by with little more than chutzpa, not the most reli- tore open the tent door. Most of the clouds had lip of the icecap, leading up and across the north another twenty inches. able adhesive. Late in the day on the north face lifted, but there was no airplane in sight. The face of the Thumb like a catwalk. My plan was to 45 The higher I climbed, the more comfortable of the Thumb, I felt the glue disintegrate with a whine returned, louder this time. Then I saw it: a follow this catwalk to a prominent rock prow in I became. All that held me to the mountainside, single swing of an ice axe. tiny red-and-white speck, high in the western the center of the wall, and thereby execute an all that held me to the world, were six thin spikes I’d gained nearly seven hundred feet of alti- sky, droning my way. end run around the ugly, avalanche-swept lower of chrome-molybdenum stuck half an inch into tude since stepping off the hanging glacier, all of A few minutes later the plane passed directly half of the face. a smear of frozen water, yet I began to feel invin- it on crampon front-points and the picks of my overhead. The pilot, however, was unaccus- The catwalk turned out to be a series of cible, weightless, like those lizards that live on axes. The ribbon of frozen melt water had ended tomed to glacier flying and he’d badly misjudged fifty-degree ice fields blanketed with knee-deep the ceilings of cheap Mexican hotels. Early on a three hundred feet up, and was followed by a the scale of the terrain. Worried about winding powder snow and riddled with crevasses. The difficult climb, especially a difficult solo climb, crumbly armor of frost feathers. Though just up too low and getting nailed by unexpected depth of the snow made the going slow and barely substantial enough to support body 2 turbulence, he flew a good thousand feet above exhausting; by the time I front-pointed up bergschrund: German. Literally, “mountain crevice.” A large weight, the rime was plastered over the rock to a horizontal crack in a slope, especially one caused by the lower part me — believing all the while he was just off the the overhanging wall of the uppermost of an ice sheet sliding away from the upper part. —Eds. thickness of two or three feet, so I kept plugging

132 changes and transformations conversation 133

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132 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 132 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 2 Krakauer to wander far from camp, I occasionally went deck — and never saw my tent in the flat evening bergschrund, some three or four hours after you’re hyperaware of the abyss pulling at your Identity and Society out for a short ski to kill time, but mostly I lay light. My waving and screaming were to no avail; leaving camp, I was whipped. And I hadn’t even back. You constantly feel its call, its immense silently in the tent — the ceiling was too low to sit from that altitude l was indistinguishable from a gotten to the “real” climbing yet. That would hunger. To resist takes a tremendous conscious upright — with my thoughts, fighting a rising pile of rocks. For the next hour he circled the begin immediately above, where the hanging effort; you don’t dare let your guard down for an The Devils Thumb chorus of doubts. icecap, scanning its barren contours without glacier gave way to vertical rock. instant. The siren song of the void puts you on As the days passed, I grew increasingly success. But the pilot, to his credit, appreciated The rock, exhibiting a dearth of holds and edge, it makes your movements tentative, anxious. I had no radio, nor any other means of the gravity of my predicament and didn’t give coated with six inches of crumbly rime, did not clumsy, herky-jerky. But as the climb goes on, communicating with the outside world. It had up. Frantic, I tied my sleeping bag to the end of look promising, but just left of the main prow you grow accustomed to the exposure, you get been many years since anyone had visited this one of the crevasse poles and waved it for all I was an inside corner — what climbers call an used to rubbing shoulders with doom, you come part of the Stikine Icecap, and many more would was worth. When the plane banked sharply and open book — glazed with frozen melt water. to believe in the reliability of your hands and likely pass before anyone did so again. I was began to fly straight at me, I felt tears of joy well This ribbon of ice led straight up for two or feet and head. You learn to trust your nearly out of stove fuel, and down to a single in my eyes. three hundred feet, and if the ice proved self-control. chunk of cheese, my last package of ramen The pilot buzzed my tent three times in substantial enough to support the picks of my By and by, your attention becomes so noodles, and half a box of Cocoa Puffs. This, I quick succession, dropping two boxes on each ice axes, the line might go. I hacked out a small intensely focused that you no longer notice the figured, could sustain me for three or four more pass, then the airplane disappeared over a ridge platform in the snow slope, the last flat ground raw knuckles, the cramping thighs, the strain of days if need be, but then what would I do? It and I was alone. As silence again settled over I expected to feel underfoot for some time, and maintaining nonstop concentration. A trance- would only take two days to ski back down the the glacier I felt abandoned, vulnerable, lost. stopped to eat a candy bar and collect my like state settles over your efforts, the climb Baird to Thomas Bay, but then a week or more I realized that I was sobbing. Embarrassed, thoughts. Fifteen minutes later I shouldered my becomes a clear-eyed dream. Hours slide by like might easily pass before a fisherman happened I halted the blubbering by screaming obsceni- pack and inched over to the bottom of the minutes. The accrued guilt and clutter of day-to- by who could give me a lift back to Petersburg ties until I grew hoarse. corner. Gingerly, I swung my right axe into the day existence — the lapses of conscience, the (the Hodads with whom I’d ridden over were 40 I awoke early on May 11 to clear skies and two-inch-thick ice. It was solid, plastic — a little unpaid bills, the bungled opportunities, the dust camped fifteen miles down the impassable, the relatively warm temperature of twenty thinner than I would have liked but otherwise under the couch, the festering familial sores, the headland-studded coast, and could be reached degrees Fahrenheit. Startled by the good perfect. I was on my way. inescapable prison of your genes — all of it is only by boat or plane). weather, mentally unprepared to commence the The climbing was steep and spectacular, so temporarily forgotten, crowded from your When I went to bed on the evening of May actual climb, I hurriedly packed up a rucksack exposed it made my head spin. Beneath my boot thoughts by an overpowering clarity of purpose, 10 it was still snowing and blowing hard. I was nonetheless, and began skiing toward the base soles, the wall fell away for three thousand feet and by the seriousness of the task at hand. going back and forth on whether to head for the of the Thumb. Two previous Alaskan expedi- to the dirty, avalanche-scarred cirque of the At such moments, something like happiness coast in the morning or stick it out on the icecap, tions had taught me that, ready or not, you Witches Cauldron Glacier. Above, the prow actually stirs in your chest, but it isn’t the sort of gambling that the pilot would show before I simply can’t afford to waste a day of perfect soared with authority toward the summit ridge, emotion you want to lean on very hard. In solo starved or died of thirst, when, just for a weather if you expect to get up anything. a vertical half-mile above. Each time I planted climbing, the whole enterprise is held together moment, I heard a faint whine, like a mosquito. I A small hanging glacier extends out from the one of my ice axes, that distance shrank by with little more than chutzpa, not the most reli- tore open the tent door. Most of the clouds had lip of the icecap, leading up and across the north another twenty inches. able adhesive. Late in the day on the north face lifted, but there was no airplane in sight. The face of the Thumb like a catwalk. My plan was to 45 The higher I climbed, the more comfortable of the Thumb, I felt the glue disintegrate with a whine returned, louder this time. Then I saw it: a follow this catwalk to a prominent rock prow in I became. All that held me to the mountainside, single swing of an ice axe. tiny red-and-white speck, high in the western the center of the wall, and thereby execute an all that held me to the world, were six thin spikes I’d gained nearly seven hundred feet of alti- sky, droning my way. end run around the ugly, avalanche-swept lower of chrome-molybdenum stuck half an inch into tude since stepping off the hanging glacier, all of A few minutes later the plane passed directly half of the face. a smear of frozen water, yet I began to feel invin- it on crampon front-points and the picks of my overhead. The pilot, however, was unaccus- The catwalk turned out to be a series of cible, weightless, like those lizards that live on axes. The ribbon of frozen melt water had ended tomed to glacier flying and he’d badly misjudged fifty-degree ice fields blanketed with knee-deep the ceilings of cheap Mexican hotels. Early on a three hundred feet up, and was followed by a the scale of the terrain. Worried about winding powder snow and riddled with crevasses. The difficult climb, especially a difficult solo climb, crumbly armor of frost feathers. Though just up too low and getting nailed by unexpected depth of the snow made the going slow and barely substantial enough to support body 2 turbulence, he flew a good thousand feet above exhausting; by the time I front-pointed up bergschrund: German. Literally, “mountain crevice.” A large weight, the rime was plastered over the rock to a horizontal crack in a slope, especially one caused by the lower part me — believing all the while he was just off the the overhanging wall of the uppermost of an ice sheet sliding away from the upper part. —Eds. thickness of two or three feet, so I kept plugging

132 changes and transformations conversation 133

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 133 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Krakauer

upward. The wall, however, had been growing paper (through no fault of its own) benefited joint, and promptly smoked it down to the made up: the moment the storm was over, I was Identity and Society imperceptibly steeper, and as it did so the frost greatly — but in that tent, under those circum- roach. breaking camp and booking for Thomas Bay. feathers became thinner. I’d fallen into a slow, stances, Didion’s necrotic take on the world hit a 55 The reefer, of course, only made the tent hypnotic rhythm — swing, swing; kick, kick; little too close to home. seem even more cramped, more suffocating, Twenty-four hours later, I was huddled inside a The Devils Thumb swing, swing; kick, kick — when my left ice axe Near the end of Common Prayer, one of more impossible to bear. It also made me terri- bivouac sack under the lip of the bergschrund on slammed into a slab of diorite a few inches Didion’s characters says to another, “You don’t bly hungry. I decided a little oatmeal would put the Thumb’s north face. The weather was as bad beneath the rime. get any real points for staying here, Charlotte.” things right. Making it, however, was a long, as I’d seen it. It was snowing hard, probably an CLOSE READING I tried left, then right, but kept striking rock. Charlotte replies, “I can’t seem to tell what you ridiculously involved process: a potful of snow inch every hour. Spindrift avalanches hissed This suspenseful moment makes The frost feathers holding me up, it became do get real points for, so I guess I’ll stick around had to be gathered outside in the tempest, the down from the wall above and washed over me a great place to look carefully at apparent, were maybe five inches thick and had here for awhile.” stove assembled and lit, the oatmeal and sugar like surf, completely burying the sack every how a writer varies sentence the structural integrity of stale cornbread. Below When I ran out of things to read, I was located, the remnants of yesterday’s dinner twenty minutes. length and structure to achieve was thirty-seven hundred feet of air, and I was reduced to studying the ripstop pattern woven scraped from my bowl. I’d gotten the stove going The day had begun well enough. When I an effect. Ask them to describe balanced atop a house of cards. Waves of panic into the tent ceiling. This I did for hours on end, and was melting the snow when I smelled some- emerged from the tent, clouds still clung to the what he is doing and how it rose in my throat. My eyesight blurred, I began flat on my back, while engaging in an extended thing burning. A thorough check of the stove ridge tops but the wind was down and the icecap works. to hyperventilate, my calves started to vibrate. I and very heated self-debate: Should I leave for and its environs revealed nothing. Mystified, I was speckled with sunbreaks. A patch of shuffled a few feet farther to the right, hoping to the coast as soon as the weather broke, or stay was ready to chalk it up to my chemically sunlight, almost blinding in its brilliance, slid find thicker ice, but managed only to bend an ice put long enough to make another attempt on the enhanced imagination when I heard something lazily over the camp. I put down a foam sleeping axe on the rock. mountain? In truth, my little escapade on the crackle directly behind me. mat and sprawled on the glacier in my long 50 Awkwardly, stiff with fear, I started working north face had left me badly shaken, and I didn’t I whirled around in time to see a bag of johns. Wallowing in the radiant heat, I felt the my way back down. The rime gradually thick- want to go up on the Thumb again at all. On the garbage, into which I’d tossed the match I’d used gratitude of a prisoner whose sentence has just ened, and after descending about eighty feet I other hand, the thought of returning to Boulder to light the stove, flare up into a conflagration. been commuted. got back on reasonably solid ground. I stopped in defeat — of parking the Pontiac behind the Beating on the fire with my hands, I had it out in 60 As I lay there, a narrow chimney that curved for a long time to let my nerves settle, then trailer, buckling on my tool belt, and going back a few seconds, but not before a large section of up the east half of the Thumb’s north face, well to leaned back from my tools and stared up at the to the same brain-dead drill I’d so triumphantly the tent’s inner wall vaporized before my eyes. the left of the route I’d tried before the storm, face above, searching for a hint of solid ice, for walked away from just a month before — that The tent’s built-in rainfly escaped the flames, so caught my eye. I twisted a telephoto lens onto my some variation in the underlying rock strata, for wasn’t very appealing, either. Most of all, I the shelter was still more or less weatherproof; camera. Through it I could make out a smear of anything that would allow passage over the couldn’t stomach the thought of having to now, however, it was approximately thirty shiny grey ice — solid, trustworthy, hard-frozen frosted slabs. I looked until my neck ached, but endure the smug expressions of condolence degrees cooler inside. My left palm began to ice — plastered to the back of the cleft. The nothing appeared. The climb was over. The only from all the chumps and nimrods who were sting. Examining it, I noticed the pink welt of a alignment of the chimney made it impossible to place to go was down. certain I’d fail right from the get-go. burn. What troubled me most, though, was that discern if the ice continued in an unbroken line By the third afternoon of the storm I couldn’t the tent wasn’t even mine — I’d borrowed the from top to bottom. If it did, the chimney might Heavy snow and incessant winds kept me inside stand it any longer: the lumps of frozen snow shelter from my father. An expensive Early well provide passage over the rime-covered slabs the tent for most of the next three days. The poking me in the back, the clammy nylon walls Winters Omnipo Tent, it had been brand new that had foiled my first attempt. Lying there in the hours passed slowly. In the attempt to hurry brushing against my face, the incredible smell before my trip — the hang-tags were still sun, I began to think about how much I’d hate them along I chain-smoked for as long as my drifting up from the depths of my sleeping bag. I attached — and had been loaned reluctantly. For myself a month hence if I threw in the towel after supply of cigarettes held out, and read. I’d made pawed through the mess at my feet until I several minutes I sat dumbstruck, staring at the a single try, if I scrapped the whole expedition on a number of bad decisions on the trip, there was located a small green stuff sack, in which there wreckage of the shelter’s once-graceful form account of a little bad weather. Within the hour no getting around it, and one of them concerned was a metal film can containing the makings of amid the acrid scent of singed hair and melted I had assembled my gear and was skiing toward the reading matter I’d chosen to pack along: what I’d hoped would be a sort of victory cigar. nylon. You had to hand it to me, I thought: I had the base of the wall. three back issues of The Village Voice, and Joan I’d intended to save it for my return from the a real knack for living up to the old man’s worst The ice in the chimney did in fact prove to Didion’s latest novel, A Book of Common Prayer. summit, but what the hey, it wasn’t looking like expectations. be continuous, but it was very, very thin — just a The Voice was amusing enough — there on the I’d be visiting the top any time soon. I poured The fire sent me into a funk that no drug gossamer film of verglas. Additionally, the cleft icecap, the subject matter took on an edge, a most of the can’s contents into a leaf of cigarette known to man could have alleviated. By the time was a natural funnel for any debris that certain sense of the absurd, from which the paper, rolled it into a crooked, sorry looking I’d finished cooking the oatmeal my mind was happened to slough off the wall; as I scratched

134 changes and transformations conversation 135

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134 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 134 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Krakauer

upward. The wall, however, had been growing paper (through no fault of its own) benefited joint, and promptly smoked it down to the made up: the moment the storm was over, I was Identity and Society imperceptibly steeper, and as it did so the frost greatly — but in that tent, under those circum- roach. breaking camp and booking for Thomas Bay. feathers became thinner. I’d fallen into a slow, stances, Didion’s necrotic take on the world hit a 55 The reefer, of course, only made the tent hypnotic rhythm — swing, swing; kick, kick; little too close to home. seem even more cramped, more suffocating, Twenty-four hours later, I was huddled inside a The Devils Thumb swing, swing; kick, kick — when my left ice axe Near the end of Common Prayer, one of more impossible to bear. It also made me terri- bivouac sack under the lip of the bergschrund on slammed into a slab of diorite a few inches Didion’s characters says to another, “You don’t bly hungry. I decided a little oatmeal would put the Thumb’s north face. The weather was as bad beneath the rime. get any real points for staying here, Charlotte.” things right. Making it, however, was a long, as I’d seen it. It was snowing hard, probably an I tried left, then right, but kept striking rock. Charlotte replies, “I can’t seem to tell what you ridiculously involved process: a potful of snow inch every hour. Spindrift avalanches hissed The frost feathers holding me up, it became do get real points for, so I guess I’ll stick around had to be gathered outside in the tempest, the down from the wall above and washed over me apparent, were maybe five inches thick and had here for awhile.” stove assembled and lit, the oatmeal and sugar like surf, completely burying the sack every the structural integrity of stale cornbread. Below When I ran out of things to read, I was located, the remnants of yesterday’s dinner twenty minutes. was thirty-seven hundred feet of air, and I was reduced to studying the ripstop pattern woven scraped from my bowl. I’d gotten the stove going The day had begun well enough. When I balanced atop a house of cards. Waves of panic into the tent ceiling. This I did for hours on end, and was melting the snow when I smelled some- emerged from the tent, clouds still clung to the rose in my throat. My eyesight blurred, I began flat on my back, while engaging in an extended thing burning. A thorough check of the stove ridge tops but the wind was down and the icecap to hyperventilate, my calves started to vibrate. I and very heated self-debate: Should I leave for and its environs revealed nothing. Mystified, I was speckled with sunbreaks. A patch of shuffled a few feet farther to the right, hoping to the coast as soon as the weather broke, or stay was ready to chalk it up to my chemically sunlight, almost blinding in its brilliance, slid find thicker ice, but managed only to bend an ice put long enough to make another attempt on the enhanced imagination when I heard something lazily over the camp. I put down a foam sleeping axe on the rock. mountain? In truth, my little escapade on the crackle directly behind me. mat and sprawled on the glacier in my long 50 Awkwardly, stiff with fear, I started working north face had left me badly shaken, and I didn’t I whirled around in time to see a bag of johns. Wallowing in the radiant heat, I felt the my way back down. The rime gradually thick- want to go up on the Thumb again at all. On the garbage, into which I’d tossed the match I’d used gratitude of a prisoner whose sentence has just ened, and after descending about eighty feet I other hand, the thought of returning to Boulder to light the stove, flare up into a conflagration. been commuted. got back on reasonably solid ground. I stopped in defeat — of parking the Pontiac behind the Beating on the fire with my hands, I had it out in 60 As I lay there, a narrow chimney that curved for a long time to let my nerves settle, then trailer, buckling on my tool belt, and going back a few seconds, but not before a large section of up the east half of the Thumb’s north face, well to leaned back from my tools and stared up at the to the same brain-dead drill I’d so triumphantly the tent’s inner wall vaporized before my eyes. the left of the route I’d tried before the storm, face above, searching for a hint of solid ice, for walked away from just a month before — that The tent’s built-in rainfly escaped the flames, so caught my eye. I twisted a telephoto lens onto my some variation in the underlying rock strata, for wasn’t very appealing, either. Most of all, I the shelter was still more or less weatherproof; camera. Through it I could make out a smear of anything that would allow passage over the couldn’t stomach the thought of having to now, however, it was approximately thirty shiny grey ice — solid, trustworthy, hard-frozen frosted slabs. I looked until my neck ached, but endure the smug expressions of condolence degrees cooler inside. My left palm began to ice — plastered to the back of the cleft. The nothing appeared. The climb was over. The only from all the chumps and nimrods who were sting. Examining it, I noticed the pink welt of a alignment of the chimney made it impossible to place to go was down. certain I’d fail right from the get-go. burn. What troubled me most, though, was that discern if the ice continued in an unbroken line By the third afternoon of the storm I couldn’t the tent wasn’t even mine — I’d borrowed the from top to bottom. If it did, the chimney might Heavy snow and incessant winds kept me inside stand it any longer: the lumps of frozen snow shelter from my father. An expensive Early well provide passage over the rime-covered slabs the tent for most of the next three days. The poking me in the back, the clammy nylon walls Winters Omnipo Tent, it had been brand new that had foiled my first attempt. Lying there in the hours passed slowly. In the attempt to hurry brushing against my face, the incredible smell before my trip — the hang-tags were still sun, I began to think about how much I’d hate them along I chain-smoked for as long as my drifting up from the depths of my sleeping bag. I attached — and had been loaned reluctantly. For myself a month hence if I threw in the towel after supply of cigarettes held out, and read. I’d made pawed through the mess at my feet until I several minutes I sat dumbstruck, staring at the a single try, if I scrapped the whole expedition on a number of bad decisions on the trip, there was located a small green stuff sack, in which there wreckage of the shelter’s once-graceful form account of a little bad weather. Within the hour no getting around it, and one of them concerned was a metal film can containing the makings of amid the acrid scent of singed hair and melted I had assembled my gear and was skiing toward the reading matter I’d chosen to pack along: what I’d hoped would be a sort of victory cigar. nylon. You had to hand it to me, I thought: I had the base of the wall. three back issues of The Village Voice, and Joan I’d intended to save it for my return from the a real knack for living up to the old man’s worst The ice in the chimney did in fact prove to Didion’s latest novel, A Book of Common Prayer. summit, but what the hey, it wasn’t looking like expectations. be continuous, but it was very, very thin — just a The Voice was amusing enough — there on the I’d be visiting the top any time soon. I poured The fire sent me into a funk that no drug gossamer film of verglas. Additionally, the cleft icecap, the subject matter took on an edge, a most of the can’s contents into a leaf of cigarette known to man could have alleviated. By the time was a natural funnel for any debris that certain sense of the absurd, from which the paper, rolled it into a crooked, sorry looking I’d finished cooking the oatmeal my mind was happened to slough off the wall; as I scratched

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place to hang around. The ledge on which I shame, I cradled my head in my arms and Images Matthias Breiter/Getty couched was continually swept by small spin- embarked on an orgy of self-pity. drift avalanches. Five times my bivvy sack — a thin nylon envelope, shaped exactly like a 65 I knew that people sometimes died climbing skied over to the southeast side of the mountain I imagined people watching the Red Sox on the Baggies brand sandwich bag, only bigger — was mountains. But at the age of twenty-three to take a look at the route Fred Beckey had tube, eating fried chicken in brightly lit kitchens, burried up to the level of the breathing slit. After personal mortality — the idea of my own pioneered in 1946 — the route by which I’d drinking beer, making love. When I lay down to digging myself out the fifth time, I decided I’d death — was still largely outside my conceptual intended to descend the peak after climbing the sleep I was overcome by a soul-wrenching lone- had enough. I threw all my gear in my pack and grasp; it was as abstract a notion as non-Euclidian north wall. During that reconnaissance I’d liness. I’d never felt so alone, ever. TEACHING IDEA made a break for base camp. geometry or marriage. When I decamped from noticed an obvious unclimbed line to the left of That night I had troubled dreams, of cops While this memoir has moments The descent was terrifying. Between the Boulder in April, 1977, my head swimming with the Beckey route — a patchy network of ice and vampires and a gangland-style execution. I of candid self-reflection, it still clouds, the ground blizzard, and the flat, fading visions of glory and redemption on the Devils angling across the southeast face — that struck heard someone whisper, “He’s in there. As soon remains a little reserved. There light, I couldn’t tell snow from sky, nor whether Thumb, it didn’t occur to me that I might be me as a relatively easy way to achieve the as he comes out, waste him.” I sat bolt upright are places where we are told of a a slope went up or down. I worried, with ample bound by the same cause-effect relationships summit. At the time, I’d considered this route and opened my eyes. The sun was about to rise. conflict inside of the character, reason, that I might step blindly off the top of a that governed the actions of others. I’d never unworthy of my attentions. Now, on the rebound The entire sky was scarlet. It was still clear, but but the specifics of the conflict serac and end up at the bottom of the Witches heard of hubris. Because I wanted to climb the from my calamitous entanglement with the wisps of high cirrus were streaming in from the are not entirely fleshed out. For Cauldron, a half-mile below. When I finally mountain so badly, because l had thought about nordwand, I was prepared to lower my sights. southwest, and a dark line was visible just above example, Krakhauer writes, “But arrived on the frozen plain of the icecap, I found the Thumb so intensely for so long, it seemed On the afternoon of May 15, when the bliz- the horizon. I pulled on my boots and hurriedly mostly I lay silently in the tent [ . . . ] that my tracks had long since drifted over. I beyond the realm of possibility that some minor zard finally petered out, I returned to the south- strapped on my crampons. Five minutes after with my thoughts, fighting a rising didn’t have a clue how to locate the tent on the obstacle like the weather or crevasses or rime- east face and climbed to the top of a slender waking up, I was front-pointing away from the chorus of doubts” and “I cradled featureless glacial plateau. I skied in circles for covered rock might ultimately thwart my will. ridge that abutted the upper peak like a flying bivouac. my head in my arms and an hour or so, hoping I’d get lucky and stumble At sunset the wind died and the ceiling lifted buttress on a gothic cathedral. I decided to 70 I carried no rope, no tent or bivouac gear, no embarked on an orgy of self-pity.” across camp, until I put a foot into a small a hundred fifty feet off the glacier, enabling me spend the night there, on the airy, knife-edged hardware save my ice axes. My plan was to go Invite students to write interior crevasse and realized I was acting like an to locate base camp. I made it back to the tent ridge crest, sixteen hundred feet below the ultralight and ultrafast, to hit the summit and monologues that give voice to idiot — that I should hunker down right where intact, but it was no longer possible to ignore the summit. The evening sky was cold and cloud- make it back down before the weather turned. these negative thoughts. What less. I could see all the way to tidewater and Pushing myself, continually out of breath, I scur- are his doubts? Why does he pity I was and wait out the storm. fact that the Thumb had made hash of my plans. beyond. At dusk I watched, transfixed, as the ried up and to the left across small snowfields himself? Beyond helping them I dug a shallow hole, wrapped myself in the I was forced to acknowledge that volition alone, imagine the character, this can be bivvy bag, and sat on my pack in the swirling however powerful, was not going to get me up house lights of Petersburg blinked on in the linked by narrow runnels of verglas and short an opportunity for strong writers snow. Drifts piled up around me. My feet the north wall. I saw, finally, that nothing was. west. The closest thing I’d had to human contact rock bands. The climbing was almost fun — the to attempt to imitate Krakauer’s became numb. A damp chill crept down my There still existed an opportunity for salvag- since the airdrop, the distant lights set off a flood rock was covered with large, in-cut holds, and voice. chest from the base of my neck, where spindrift ing the expedition, however. A week earlier I’d of emotion that caught me completely off guard. the ice, though thin, never got steep enough to

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my way up the chimney I was hosed by a contin- had gotten inside my parka and soaked my Identity and Society uous stream of powder snow, ice chips, and shirt. If only I had a cigarette, I thought, a single small stones. One hundred twenty feet up the cigarette, l could summon the strength of char- A view of the eastern route up groove the last remnants of my composure acter to put a good face on this [messed]-up the Devils Thumb, the route The Devils Thumb flaked away like old plaster, and I turned around. situation, on the whole [messed]-up trip. “If we that Krakauer ultimately took. Instead of descending all the way to base had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if Comparing this to the north face of the mountain, would camp, I decided to spend the night in the we had some eggs.” I remembered my friend you ultimately call Krakauer’s ’schrund beneath the chimney, on the off Nate uttering that line in a similar storm, two trip a success or a failure? chance that my head would be more together years before, high on another Alaskan peak, the the next morning. The fair skies that had Mooses Tooth. It had struck me as hilarious at ushered in the day, however, turned out to be the time; I’d actually laughed out loud. but a momentary lull in a five-day gale. By Recalling the line now, it no longer seemed midafternoon the storm was back in all its glory, funny. I pulled the bivvy sack tighter around my and my bivouac site became a less than pleasant shoulders. The wind ripped at my back. Beyond place to hang around. The ledge on which I shame, I cradled my head in my arms and Images Matthias Breiter/Getty couched was continually swept by small spin- embarked on an orgy of self-pity. drift avalanches. Five times my bivvy sack — a thin nylon envelope, shaped exactly like a 65 I knew that people sometimes died climbing skied over to the southeast side of the mountain I imagined people watching the Red Sox on the Baggies brand sandwich bag, only bigger — was mountains. But at the age of twenty-three to take a look at the route Fred Beckey had tube, eating fried chicken in brightly lit kitchens, burried up to the level of the breathing slit. After personal mortality — the idea of my own pioneered in 1946 — the route by which I’d drinking beer, making love. When I lay down to digging myself out the fifth time, I decided I’d death — was still largely outside my conceptual intended to descend the peak after climbing the sleep I was overcome by a soul-wrenching lone- had enough. I threw all my gear in my pack and grasp; it was as abstract a notion as non-Euclidian north wall. During that reconnaissance I’d liness. I’d never felt so alone, ever. made a break for base camp. geometry or marriage. When I decamped from noticed an obvious unclimbed line to the left of That night I had troubled dreams, of cops The descent was terrifying. Between the Boulder in April, 1977, my head swimming with the Beckey route — a patchy network of ice and vampires and a gangland-style execution. I clouds, the ground blizzard, and the flat, fading visions of glory and redemption on the Devils angling across the southeast face — that struck heard someone whisper, “He’s in there. As soon light, I couldn’t tell snow from sky, nor whether Thumb, it didn’t occur to me that I might be me as a relatively easy way to achieve the as he comes out, waste him.” I sat bolt upright a slope went up or down. I worried, with ample bound by the same cause-effect relationships summit. At the time, I’d considered this route and opened my eyes. The sun was about to rise. reason, that I might step blindly off the top of a that governed the actions of others. I’d never unworthy of my attentions. Now, on the rebound The entire sky was scarlet. It was still clear, but serac and end up at the bottom of the Witches heard of hubris. Because I wanted to climb the from my calamitous entanglement with the wisps of high cirrus were streaming in from the Cauldron, a half-mile below. When I finally mountain so badly, because l had thought about nordwand, I was prepared to lower my sights. southwest, and a dark line was visible just above arrived on the frozen plain of the icecap, I found the Thumb so intensely for so long, it seemed On the afternoon of May 15, when the bliz- the horizon. I pulled on my boots and hurriedly that my tracks had long since drifted over. I beyond the realm of possibility that some minor zard finally petered out, I returned to the south- strapped on my crampons. Five minutes after didn’t have a clue how to locate the tent on the obstacle like the weather or crevasses or rime- east face and climbed to the top of a slender waking up, I was front-pointing away from the featureless glacial plateau. I skied in circles for covered rock might ultimately thwart my will. ridge that abutted the upper peak like a flying bivouac. an hour or so, hoping I’d get lucky and stumble At sunset the wind died and the ceiling lifted buttress on a gothic cathedral. I decided to 70 I carried no rope, no tent or bivouac gear, no across camp, until I put a foot into a small a hundred fifty feet off the glacier, enabling me spend the night there, on the airy, knife-edged hardware save my ice axes. My plan was to go crevasse and realized I was acting like an to locate base camp. I made it back to the tent ridge crest, sixteen hundred feet below the ultralight and ultrafast, to hit the summit and idiot — that I should hunker down right where intact, but it was no longer possible to ignore the summit. The evening sky was cold and cloud- make it back down before the weather turned. I was and wait out the storm. fact that the Thumb had made hash of my plans. less. I could see all the way to tidewater and Pushing myself, continually out of breath, I scur- I dug a shallow hole, wrapped myself in the I was forced to acknowledge that volition alone, beyond. At dusk I watched, transfixed, as the ried up and to the left across small snowfields bivvy bag, and sat on my pack in the swirling however powerful, was not going to get me up house lights of Petersburg blinked on in the linked by narrow runnels of verglas and short snow. Drifts piled up around me. My feet the north wall. I saw, finally, that nothing was. west. The closest thing I’d had to human contact rock bands. The climbing was almost fun — the became numb. A damp chill crept down my There still existed an opportunity for salvag- since the airdrop, the distant lights set off a flood rock was covered with large, in-cut holds, and chest from the base of my neck, where spindrift ing the expedition, however. A week earlier I’d of emotion that caught me completely off guard. the ice, though thin, never got steep enough to

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Identity and Society wayne wayne seeing connections (coughing) Who “people” we talking about? In 1993, Krakauer wrote an article for Outside Society, right. Nietzsche, mistook passion for insight, and func- The Devils Thumb chris magazine about Chris McCandless, a twenty-four- tioned according to an obscure gap-ridden logic. chris You know, parents and hypocrites. Politicians year old who made headlines when he tried to live I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix Because you know what I don’t understand? I and [jerks]. off the land by himself in the backcountry of Alaska all that was wrong with my life. In the end it don’t understand why, why people are so bad and died in the attempt. Many people suggested changed almost nothing, of course. I came to to each other, so often. It just doesn’t make any that the young man was suicidal. Krakauer’s article appreciate, however, that mountains make poor sense to me. Judgment. Control. All that. was later expanded into the book Into the Wild, receptacles for dreams. And I lived to tell my tale. which was then made into a movie of the same As a young man, I was unlike Chris name directed by Sean Penn. In the original McCandless in many important respects— Outside magazine article, Krakauer draws a most notably I lacked his intellect and his altru- connection between McCandless and himself and istic leanings—but I suspect we had a similar reflects on the similarities and differences in their intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar motivations for going to Alaska, saying, agitation of the soul. The fact that I survived my Alaskan adven- In 1977, when I was 23—a year younger than ture and McCandless did not survive his was McCandless at the time of his death—I [. . .] set off largely a matter of chance; had I died on the alone into the backcountry to attempt an ascent Stikine Icecap in 1977 people would have been of a malevolent stone digit called the Devils quick to say of me, as they now say of him, that Thumb. [. . .] By choice I had no radio, no way of I had a death wish. Fifteen years after the event, summoning help, no safety net of any kind. A frame from the movie Into the Wild showing Chris McCandless leaving the road I now recognize that I suffered from hubris, When I decided to go to Alaska that April, I behind and entering the Alaskan wilderness. perhaps, and a monstrous innocence, certainly, was an angst-ridden youth who read too much but I wasn’t suicidal. How is this setting and situation similar to that of Krakauer in Alaska? What effect is created by the overhead point of view of this shot? Read the excerpt below from the screenplay of Into the Wild, and comment on whether McCandless and Krakauer do in fact share a similar “agitation of the soul.” Compare Krakauer’s motivations with those ascribed to McCandless in the following scene from the movie, in which he talks about his trip to Alaska with his friend Wayne Westberg.

chris Just out there. Big mountains, rivers, sky. I’m thinking about going to Alaska. Game. Just be out there in it. In the wild.

wayne wayne Alaska, Alaska? Or city Alaska? The city Alaska In the wild. does have markets. chris chris Yeah. Maybe write a book about my travels. A frame from the movie Into the Wild showing Chris McCandless burning his wallet and (with a drunken, excited energy) About getting out of this sick society. heading out into the Arizona desert. In the movie, Chris’s sister comments: “Chris began No, Alaska, Alaska. I want to be all the way out to see ‘careers’ as a diseased invention of the twentieth century and to resent money there. On my own. No map. No watch. No axe. and the useless priority people made of it in their lives.”

Do you think a young Krakauer would have agreed with this sentiment?

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Do you think a young Krakauer would have agreed with this sentiment?

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by this paragraph? Is this a unyielding diorite with a dull, sickening clank. there, and spent a few minutes trying to Colin Haley moment of great triumph? Make And again, and again: It was a reprise of my straighten a bent pick. Then I stood up, carefully sure, whatever they conclude, first attempt on the north face. Looking turned around, and headed for home. that they support it with observa- between my legs, I stole a glance at the glacier, talked, the more Freeman warmed up. He still step-van. There, surrounded by the sweet scent of tions about diction and syntax. more than two thousand feet below. My stom- 75 Five days later I was camped in the rain beside didn’t believe I’d climbed the Thumb, but by the old motor oil, I lay down on the floorboards next Give space for their questions ach churned. I felt my poise slipping way like the sea, marveling at the sight of moss, willows, time he steered the skiff into Wrangell Narrows to a gutted transmission and passed out. about this (anti)climactic moment. smoke in the wind. mosquitoes. Two days after that, a small skiff he pretended to. When we got off the boat, he 80 It is easy, when you are young, to believe Forty-five feet above the wall eased back motored into Thomas Bay and pulled up on the insisted on buying me a cheeseburger. That that what you desire is no less than what you onto the sloping summit shoulder. Forty-five beach not far from my tent. The man driving the night he even let me sleep in a derelict step-van deserve, to assume that if you want something more feet, half the distance between third base boat introduced himself as Jim Freeman, a parked in his backyard. badly enough it is your God-given right to have and home plate, and the mountain would be timber faller from Petersburg. It was his day off, I lay down in the rear of the old truck for a it. Less than a month after sitting on the summit mine. I clung stiffly to my axes, unmoving, para- he said, and he’d made the trip to show his while but couldn’t sleep, so I got up and walked to of the Thumb I was back in Boulder, nailing up lyzed with fear and indecision. I looked down at family the glacier, and to look for bears. He a bar called Kito’s Kave. The euphoria, the over- siding on the Spruce Street Townhouses, the the dizzying drop to the glacier again, then up, asked me if I’d “been huntin’ , or what?” whelming sense of relief, that had initially accom- same condos I’d been framing when I left for then scraped away the film of ice above my “No,” I replied sheepishly. “Actually, I just panied my return to Petersburg faded, and an Alaska. I got a raise, to four dollars an hour, and head. I hooked the pick of my left axe on a climbed the Devils Thumb. I’ve been over here unexpected melancholy took its place. The at the end of the summer moved out of the job- nickel-thin lip of rock, and weighted it. It held. twenty days.” people I chatted with in Kito’s didn’t seem to site trailer to a studio apartment on West Pearl, I pulled my right axe from the ice, reached up, Freeman kept fiddling with a cleat on the doubt that I’d been to the top of the Thumb, they but little else in my life seemed to change. and twisted the pick into a crooked half-inch boat, and didn’t say anything for a while. Then just didn’t much care. As the night wore on the Somehow, it didn’t add up to the glorious trans- crack until it jammed. Barely breathing now, he looked at me real hard and spat, “You place emptied except for me and an Indian at a formation I’d imagined in April. I moved my feet up, scrabbling my crampon wouldn’t be givin’ me double talk now, wouldja, back table. I drank alone, putting quarters in the Climbing the Devils Thumb, however, had points across the verglas. Reaching as high as I friend?” Taken aback, I stammered out a denial. jukebox, playing the same five songs over and nudged me a little further away from the obdu- could with my left arm, I swung the axe gently at Freeman, it was obvious, didn’t believe me for a over, until the barmaid yelled angrily, “Hey! Give rate innocence of childhood. It taught me the shiny, opaque surface, not knowing what I’d minute. Nor did he seem wild about my snarled it a [. . .] rest, kid! If I hear ‘Fifty Ways to Lose Your something about what mountains can and can’t hit beneath it. The pick went in with a hearten- shoulder-length hair or the way I smelled. Lover’ one more time, I’m gonna be the one who do, about the limits of dreams. I didn’t recog- ing THUNK! A few minutes later I was standing When I asked if he could give me a lift back to loses it.” I mumbled an apology, quickly headed nize that at the time, of course, but I’m grateful on a broad, rounded ledge. The summit proper, town, however, he offered a grudging, “I don’t for the door, and lurched back to Freeman’s for it now. a series of slender fins sprouting a grotesque see why not.” meringue of atmospheric ice, stood twenty feet The water was choppy, and the ride across directly above. Frederick Sound took two hours. The more we

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feel extreme — but I was anxious about the The insubstantial frost feathers ensured that Identity and Society bands of clouds racing in from the Pacific, cover- those last twenty feet remained hard, scary, ing the sky. onerous. But then, suddenly, there was no place Taking the western route, In what seemed like no time (I didn’t have a higher to go. It wasn’t possible, I couldn’t believe climber Mikey Schaefer ascends the Cat Ear Spire on The Devils Thumb watch on the trip) I was on the distinctive final it. I felt my cracked lips stretch into a huge, pain- his way to the top of the ice field. By now the sky was completely over- ful grin. I was on top of the Devils Thumb. Devils Thumb. cast. It looked easier to keep angling to the left, Fittingly, the summit was a surreal, malevo- How does this image but quicker to go straight for the top. Paranoid lent place, an improbably slender fan of rock change your perspective about being caught by a storm high on the peak and rime no wider than a filing cabinet. It did of Krakauer’s ascent? without any kind of shelter, I opted for the not encourage loitering. As I straddled the high- direct route. The ice steepened, then steepened est point, the north face fell away beneath my some more, and as it did so it grew thin. I left boot for six thousand feet; beneath my right swung my left ice axe and struck rock. I aimed boot the south face dropped off for twenty-five for another spot, and once again it glanced off hundred. I took some pictures to prove I’d been unyielding diorite with a dull, sickening clank. there, and spent a few minutes trying to Colin Haley And again, and again: It was a reprise of my straighten a bent pick. Then I stood up, carefully first attempt on the north face. Looking turned around, and headed for home. between my legs, I stole a glance at the glacier, talked, the more Freeman warmed up. He still step-van. There, surrounded by the sweet scent of more than two thousand feet below. My stom- 75 Five days later I was camped in the rain beside didn’t believe I’d climbed the Thumb, but by the old motor oil, I lay down on the floorboards next ach churned. I felt my poise slipping way like the sea, marveling at the sight of moss, willows, time he steered the skiff into Wrangell Narrows to a gutted transmission and passed out. smoke in the wind. mosquitoes. Two days after that, a small skiff he pretended to. When we got off the boat, he 80 It is easy, when you are young, to believe CLOSE READING Forty-five feet above the wall eased back motored into Thomas Bay and pulled up on the insisted on buying me a cheeseburger. That that what you desire is no less than what you [Paragraphs 79-81] Oftentimes onto the sloping summit shoulder. Forty-five beach not far from my tent. The man driving the night he even let me sleep in a derelict step-van deserve, to assume that if you want something our interpretation of a story is more feet, half the distance between third base boat introduced himself as Jim Freeman, a parked in his backyard. badly enough it is your God-given right to have determined by how we perceive and home plate, and the mountain would be timber faller from Petersburg. It was his day off, I lay down in the rear of the old truck for a it. Less than a month after sitting on the summit the writer’s tone. How do diction, mine. I clung stiffly to my axes, unmoving, para- he said, and he’d made the trip to show his while but couldn’t sleep, so I got up and walked to of the Thumb I was back in Boulder, nailing up syntax, allusion, and/or imagery lyzed with fear and indecision. I looked down at family the glacier, and to look for bears. He a bar called Kito’s Kave. The euphoria, the over- siding on the Spruce Street Townhouses, the help you understand the tone of the dizzying drop to the glacier again, then up, asked me if I’d “been huntin’ , or what?” whelming sense of relief, that had initially accom- same condos I’d been framing when I left for this closing segment? How does then scraped away the film of ice above my “No,” I replied sheepishly. “Actually, I just panied my return to Petersburg faded, and an Alaska. I got a raise, to four dollars an hour, and your decision about tone shape head. I hooked the pick of my left axe on a climbed the Devils Thumb. I’ve been over here unexpected melancholy took its place. The at the end of the summer moved out of the job- your interpretation of the nickel-thin lip of rock, and weighted it. It held. twenty days.” people I chatted with in Kito’s didn’t seem to site trailer to a studio apartment on West Pearl, message at the end of this story? I pulled my right axe from the ice, reached up, Freeman kept fiddling with a cleat on the doubt that I’d been to the top of the Thumb, they but little else in my life seemed to change. Do you feel that the older and and twisted the pick into a crooked half-inch boat, and didn’t say anything for a while. Then just didn’t much care. As the night wore on the Somehow, it didn’t add up to the glorious trans- younger Krakauer would agree crack until it jammed. Barely breathing now, he looked at me real hard and spat, “You place emptied except for me and an Indian at a formation I’d imagined in April. about the degree of success and I moved my feet up, scrabbling my crampon wouldn’t be givin’ me double talk now, wouldja, back table. I drank alone, putting quarters in the Climbing the Devils Thumb, however, had failure of this adventure? points across the verglas. Reaching as high as I friend?” Taken aback, I stammered out a denial. jukebox, playing the same five songs over and nudged me a little further away from the obdu- could with my left arm, I swung the axe gently at Freeman, it was obvious, didn’t believe me for a over, until the barmaid yelled angrily, “Hey! Give rate innocence of childhood. It taught me the shiny, opaque surface, not knowing what I’d minute. Nor did he seem wild about my snarled it a [. . .] rest, kid! If I hear ‘Fifty Ways to Lose Your something about what mountains can and can’t hit beneath it. The pick went in with a hearten- shoulder-length hair or the way I smelled. Lover’ one more time, I’m gonna be the one who do, about the limits of dreams. I didn’t recog- ing THUNK! A few minutes later I was standing When I asked if he could give me a lift back to loses it.” I mumbled an apology, quickly headed nize that at the time, of course, but I’m grateful on a broad, rounded ledge. The summit proper, town, however, he offered a grudging, “I don’t for the door, and lurched back to Freeman’s for it now. a series of slender fins sprouting a grotesque see why not.” meringue of atmospheric ice, stood twenty feet The water was choppy, and the ride across directly above. Frederick Sound took two hours. The more we

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RESPONSES

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting connecting, Arguing, and extending Suggested responses to the questions for this reading can be Much of Krakauer’s motivation to successfully it in the book he received when he was eight? How In the last paragraph, Krakauer says that this this process, and connect one of these instances to found on the Teacher’s Resource 1 climb the mountain seems to come from his need does this role influence his later decisions? 1 experience moved him “a little further away from another example from outside the text, perhaps even Flash Drive. to impress others. Locate at least two places in the text the obdurate innocence of childhood.” The word from your own life. The Devils Thumb Reread paragraph 46. What effect does the where this appears to be true and explain how those “obdurate” means “stubborn,” and it often has a physical act of climbing have on Krakauer? In paragraph 65, Krakauer admits, “I knew that passages illustrate this aspect of Krakauer. 7 negative connotation. Tell a story about a time when people sometimes died climbing mountains. But at What is the connection that the reader is expected you, perhaps unwillingly, had to give up some of the 5 There are several places in the narrative in which the age of twenty-three personal mortality — the idea of to draw between Krakauer and the character in the innocence of your own childhood. In what ways was Krakauer demonstrates an appalling lack of 8 my own death — was still largely out of my conceptual 2 Joan Didion novel (par. 52)? your childhood innocence “obdurate” like Krakauer’s? planning or forethought, and there are others where he grasp. . . .” Here, Krakauer addresses a significant does successfully make plans. Identify examples of In terms of Krakauer’s own personal development, You may recall reading about the Evil Queen from concern that has been the subject of a lot of research: both and explain which trait is more prevalent in the 9 there is probably no other passage from the 2 the Snow White story at the beginning of this adolescents often take part in risky behaviors that can narrative. narrative that is as important as his statement, “At the chapter, and about the two different ways that people lead to injury and death because of a number of time, I’d considered this route unworthy of my define their identities: as they see themselves, and as factors. Research one or more factors — including brain Make an argumentative claim about Krakauer’s attentions. Now . . . I was prepared to lower my sights” others see them. In this narrative, does Krakauer seem development — that can lead adolescents to be TEACHING IDEA – decision-making and reasoning skills. Then, 3 (par. 67). In what way does this revelation signal a more concerned about how other people view him and unconcerned about “personal mortality” and apply that support that claim with direct evidence from the text. UNDERSTANDING Q3 significant change in Krakauer? his climb or how he views himself? Use direct evidence factor to Krakauer’s actions in this narrative. Trace the numerous setbacks Krakauer faces in from the text to support your argument. This question could be done as a To what extent is Krakauer satisfied or Look over these famous lines from Ralph Waldo trying to scale the Devils Thumb. Select one short persuasive speech. 4 disappointed with his climb? What evidence There are many places where Krakauer faces Emerson, an American writer who popularized setback, and explain what his response to that setback 10 6 from the text supports your position? serious peril in his climb. Should he have stopped what was called the Transcendentalist Movement reveals about his character. 3 or gone forward? What evidence from the text, and during the middle of the nineteenth century. Krakauer writes at the end that climbing the What purpose does the history lesson about the your own reasoning, can you use to support your Transcendentalists believed in the beauty of nature, the Devils Thumb taught him “something about TEACHING IDEA – previous climbs and attempts on the Devils Thumb 11 argument? power of the individual, and the importance of 5 what mountains can and can’t do, about the limits of (pars. 22 and 23) serve in the narrative? Why does freedom. Based upon your reading of his narrative, UNDERSTANDING Q4 dreams” (par. 81). What is this “something” that he Krakauer writes, “Because I wanted to climb Krakauer include it? explain why Krakauer might agree or disagree with the mountain so badly, because I had thought This question could be drawn like learned? 4 each and describe your own thoughts about the lines. an adventure map with important What role has the Devils Thumb played in about the Thumb so intensely for so long, it seemed beyond the realm of possibility that some minor a. “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your moments labeled and given 6 Krakauer’s imagination since he started looking at obstacle like the weather or crevasses or rime-covered actions. All life is an experiment. The more experi- quotes as well as symbolic rock might ultimately thwart my will” (par. 65). In other ments you make the better.” illustration. b. “There is a time in every man’s education when Analyzing language, Structure, and Style words, because he thought about it so much, his success should automatically happen. This is an he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; example of what is often referred to as “magical that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself What is the effect that Krakauer achieves by In paragraphs 13 and 14, Krakauer constructs a thinking,” belief that thinking about something can for better for worse as his portion.” starting his narrative with his drive up to Alaska? contrast between Coloradans and Alaskans in their 1 4 make it happen. A common example of magical c. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron attitudes toward his plans to climb the Devils Thumb. Krakauer includes two flashbacks in his narrative— thinking is when viewers of a sporting event think they string. Accept the place the divine providence has What is the purpose of this contrast? 2 in paragraphs 6–7 and then paragraphs 29–33. can influence the outcome of the game by what they found for you, the society of your contemporaries, Analyze those two structural choices, examining why Reread paragraph 18, paying attention to the wear or the foods they eat during a game. Research the connection of events. Great men have always each flashback is placed where it is, and what effect it 5imagery Krakauer uses. How does it help illustrate the topic of magical thinking, identify and explain other done so.” has on the reader’s knowledge about and impressions the conflict Krakauer is facing? instances in the narrative where Krakauer engages in d. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” of Krakauer. Reread the following lines from the essay TEACHING IDEA – It is clear that Krakauer is writing this narrative as 6 and explain what the word choice reveals about ANALYZING Q3 3 an older man looking back on an event that Krakauer: happened to him when he was younger (“Writing these This question could work as a a. “I’d never heard of hubris” (par. 65). words more than a dozen years later. . . .” [par. 9]). How b. “and the mountain would be mine” (par. 72) small group discussion task with would you describe the tone Krakauer takes toward his c. “my head swimming with visions of glory and a written product. younger self? What specific words or phrases redemption” (par. 65) communicate this tone? How does this tone help Krakauer to create a theme of the narrative?

142 changes and transformations conversation 143

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEA 142 – 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 143 27/10/15 7:23 PM ANALYZING Q6 This one could be turned into a small poster with an image for the underlined word and a web around the word as well. The web would have connotative and denotative meanings for the word. At the bottom of the poster, students would write an explanation of what the word choice reveals about Krakauer.

142 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 142 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Krakauer

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting connecting, Arguing, and extending

Much of Krakauer’s motivation to successfully it in the book he received when he was eight? How In the last paragraph, Krakauer says that this this process, and connect one of these instances to 1 climb the mountain seems to come from his need does this role influence his later decisions? 1 experience moved him “a little further away from another example from outside the text, perhaps even to impress others. Locate at least two places in the text the obdurate innocence of childhood.” The word from your own life. The Devils Thumb Reread paragraph 46. What effect does the where this appears to be true and explain how those “obdurate” means “stubborn,” and it often has a physical act of climbing have on Krakauer? In paragraph 65, Krakauer admits, “I knew that TEACHING IDEA – passages illustrate this aspect of Krakauer. 7 negative connotation. Tell a story about a time when people sometimes died climbing mountains. But at CONNECTING Q2 What is the connection that the reader is expected you, perhaps unwillingly, had to give up some of the 5 There are several places in the narrative in which the age of twenty-three personal mortality — the idea of to draw between Krakauer and the character in the innocence of your own childhood. In what ways was This prompt could be presented Krakauer demonstrates an appalling lack of 8 my own death — was still largely out of my conceptual 2 Joan Didion novel (par. 52)? your childhood innocence “obdurate” like Krakauer’s? like a social media or “Buzzfeed planning or forethought, and there are others where he grasp. . . .” Here, Krakauer addresses a significant List.” For example, a worked does successfully make plans. Identify examples of In terms of Krakauer’s own personal development, You may recall reading about the Evil Queen from concern that has been the subject of a lot of research: could be titled: 10 Signs You Are both and explain which trait is more prevalent in the 9 there is probably no other passage from the 2 the Snow White story at the beginning of this adolescents often take part in risky behaviors that can narrative. narrative that is as important as his statement, “At the chapter, and about the two different ways that people lead to injury and death because of a number of Too Concerned With How Others time, I’d considered this route unworthy of my define their identities: as they see themselves, and as factors. Research one or more factors — including brain See You. Then it would have ten Make an argumentative claim about Krakauer’s attentions. Now . . . I was prepared to lower my sights” others see them. In this narrative, does Krakauer seem development — that can lead adolescents to be headings that are claims that decision-making and reasoning skills. Then, 3 (par. 67). In what way does this revelation signal a more concerned about how other people view him and unconcerned about “personal mortality” and apply that support that claim with direct evidence from the text. prove the contention in the title. significant change in Krakauer? his climb or how he views himself? Use direct evidence factor to Krakauer’s actions in this narrative. Each claim, aka list item, would Trace the numerous setbacks Krakauer faces in from the text to support your argument. To what extent is Krakauer satisfied or Look over these famous lines from Ralph Waldo have an accompanying image, trying to scale the Devils Thumb. Select one 4 disappointed with his climb? What evidence There are many places where Krakauer faces Emerson, an American writer who popularized setback, and explain what his response to that setback 10 6 meme or GIF and a subtitle with a from the text supports your position? serious peril in his climb. Should he have stopped what was called the Transcendentalist Movement reveals about his character. 3 quote from the text. or gone forward? What evidence from the text, and during the middle of the nineteenth century. Krakauer writes at the end that climbing the What purpose does the history lesson about the your own reasoning, can you use to support your Transcendentalists believed in the beauty of nature, the Devils Thumb taught him “something about previous climbs and attempts on the Devils Thumb 11 argument? power of the individual, and the importance of 5 what mountains can and can’t do, about the limits of (pars. 22 and 23) serve in the narrative? Why does freedom. Based upon your reading of his narrative, dreams” (par. 81). What is this “something” that he Krakauer writes, “Because I wanted to climb Krakauer include it? explain why Krakauer might agree or disagree with the mountain so badly, because I had thought learned? 4 each and describe your own thoughts about the lines. What role has the Devils Thumb played in about the Thumb so intensely for so long, it seemed “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your 6 Krakauer’s imagination since he started looking at beyond the realm of possibility that some minor a. obstacle like the weather or crevasses or rime-covered actions. All life is an experiment. The more experi- rock might ultimately thwart my will” (par. 65). In other ments you make the better.” b. “There is a time in every man’s education when Analyzing language, Structure, and Style words, because he thought about it so much, his success should automatically happen. This is an he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; example of what is often referred to as “magical that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself What is the effect that Krakauer achieves by In paragraphs 13 and 14, Krakauer constructs a thinking,” belief that thinking about something can for better for worse as his portion.” starting his narrative with his drive up to Alaska? contrast between Coloradans and Alaskans in their 1 4 make it happen. A common example of magical c. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron attitudes toward his plans to climb the Devils Thumb. Krakauer includes two flashbacks in his narrative— thinking is when viewers of a sporting event think they string. Accept the place the divine providence has What is the purpose of this contrast? 2 in paragraphs 6–7 and then paragraphs 29–33. can influence the outcome of the game by what they found for you, the society of your contemporaries, Analyze those two structural choices, examining why Reread paragraph 18, paying attention to the wear or the foods they eat during a game. Research the connection of events. Great men have always each flashback is placed where it is, and what effect it 5imagery Krakauer uses. How does it help illustrate the topic of magical thinking, identify and explain other done so.” has on the reader’s knowledge about and impressions the conflict Krakauer is facing? instances in the narrative where Krakauer engages in d. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” of Krakauer. Reread the following lines from the essay It is clear that Krakauer is writing this narrative as 6 and explain what the word choice reveals about 3 an older man looking back on an event that Krakauer: happened to him when he was younger (“Writing these a. “I’d never heard of hubris” (par. 65). words more than a dozen years later. . . .” [par. 9]). How b. “and the mountain would be mine” (par. 72) would you describe the tone Krakauer takes toward his c. “my head swimming with visions of glory and younger self? What specific words or phrases redemption” (par. 65) communicate this tone? How does this tone help Krakauer to create a theme of the narrative?

142 changes and transformations conversation 143

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 142 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 143 TEACHING IDEA – TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 –7:23 PM CONNECTING Q4 CONNECTING Q6 This prompt could be presented This one could be made into a to the class using powerpoint. smaller activity by assigning it to a group and giving each student one of the famous lines.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 143 04/01/16 11:17 AM BUILDING CONTEXT 5 Horrocks

To ground their reading in their ride our bikes around and around the empty gas Chinese what I am only beginning to under- own experiences, students might Identity and Society Zolaria station and look in all the windows. Hanna says stand myself, that the way in which he loves me freewrite briefly on one of the Caitlin Horrocks Ogan/Veen looks like the name of a monster, is not quite the way I wish he would. following prompts: and from then on he haunts our summer in a Zolaria • Write about a time in grade Caitlin Horrocks (b. 1980) is an assistant professor of writing friendly sort of way, a goblin who lives in an In fifth grade Hanna and I doomed ourselves. school when you embarrassed at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. empty Shell station and wanders the neighbor- On the second day of school we took out our yourself in front of your peers Her first story collection, This Is Not Your City, from which hood at sundown. If we are lucky, he will folders, our pencil cases, organized our desks, or when you did something this story is taken, was published to widespread acclaim in encounter only the children who have spent the and Hanna had space dolphins and I had pink you now regret. What moti- 2011. This story is about two friends who invent a magical past year tormenting us, and he will grind their unicorns. Two years ago all the girls had school vated your actions then, and world called Zolaria, a place that becomes more difficult to bones for bread. supplies like this, and I don’t understand why what do you realize now that sustain as they get older. 5 “Ogan Veen, Ogan Veen, they have abandoned the things they loved. you did not understand then? His farts all smell like gasoline, Hanna and I were startled but not stupid, and if Courtesy Caitlin Horrocks • Describe one of your childhood His stomach’s full of children’s spleens, no one had noticed us that day we would both acts of imagination: did you Ogan Veen, Ogan Veen,” we sing. There are have begged our mothers to take us to K-Mart have an imaginary friend, a t is July and we are a miraculous age. We have both of us twenty-four, an age my family will say other verses but this one’s my favorite because that night and exchange them. But it was too favorite stuffed animal or other Ibeen sprung from our backyards, from the is too young and I will be proud years later of I’ve come up with “spleen” all by myself. Hanna late. We were the girls with the wrong school toy, a fort or playhouse that neighborhood park, from the invisible borders proving them wrong. doesn’t know what it means and I’m not so clear supplies, and everything we did after that, even was its own world? What roles that rationed all our other summers. We are old That summer we pick blackberries in the either, but it rhymes and my mother’s said it’s a the things that were just like everyone else, were did it play in your life? When enough to have earned a larger country, and Miller woods and take them to Hanna’s house part of someone that can be eaten. the wrong things to do. I will never tell Hanna did you stop playing with it? young enough to make it larger still. The woods where her mother rinses them in a plastic colan- “If you’re a cannibal, I guess,” she said, and I that space dolphins aren’t really as bad as pink Why? between Miller and Arborview become haunted. der. Hanna’s parents still live together and their said perfect. unicorns, and that she wasn’t really doomed • Describe a TV show, a movie, a Basilisks patrol the Dairy Queen. We are so house feels friendlier than mine. When Mr. 10 On one of my dad’s weekends, I ask him to until I made her my friend. game, or a band / musician beset by dangers we make ourselves rulers over Khoury visited our fifth-grade class our teacher take us to Dolph Park, too far to bike to. The that you continue to like even them, and by July we are the princesses of an introduced him as a man there to talk about his hiking path circles two lakes, Little Sister Lake The Little and Big Sister Lakes are the eastern though you are “too old” for it. undiscovered kingdom. We make maps with “troubled homeland.” He was a man from some- and Big Sister Lake, and since I am an only child edge of what we name Zolaria that summer, What place does it hold in your colored pencils. Here be Dragons, I write across where else, a troubled country people left and and Hanna has two brothers, we decide to split simply for the sound of it, the exotic “Z” and the life, and why do you think you the square of Wellington Park, at the end of our then called home, a country defined only by its the lakes between us. We fight over who gets trailing vowels like a movie star’s name. The have not “outgrown” it and street. Here be Brothers, Hanna writes across her perpetual unhappiness. Mr. Khoury told us that which. We are the same age and nearly the same northwestern border is the Barton Dam. It takes why? own backyard, and we avoid them both. We are we were lucky, lucky boys and lucky girls, lucky size, although Hanna’s arms and legs are gangly us most of the summer to get there, sneaking • Describe a best friend from too old for these games, too big for this much American children, and Hanna rolled her eyes, and seem destined for great height. In seventh closer and closer, up Newport Road and your childhood that you have imagination, but we are so unpopular that embarrassed. Mr. Khoury has a Lebanese flag on grade, the year Hanna will slip a note between through the grounds of what will be our junior lost touch with: why did that summer that there is no one to care. We have the wall of his study and I think it must be a the vents of my locker that reads “I Hate You” high school. One day there is a door propped happen? finished the fifth grade alive and we consider kinder sort of country that puts a tree on its flag. over and over, filling an entire notebook page, I open by the tennis courts and we decide to that an accomplishment. We have earned This is one of many things I do not understand will be 5'2" and as tall as I will ever grow. My explore. There is a sticker beside the door: No TRM VOCABULARY this summer. that summer. father is 6'1" and will call me “Midget.” When I Shirt, No Shoes, No Service. I am barefoot and The neighborhood has been emptying of The gas station at the comer of Miller and briefly register with an online dating site after we are so timid this sticker foils our plan until A list of challenging words from children. There are bigger houses being built Maple closes and there is a sign in the windows college I will call myself “petite.” Hanna will Hanna takes off her left shoe and gives it to me. this reading can be found in the past Wagner, past the edge of the western edge announcing upcoming construction, Project never grow tall, either, and because we can’t Now we are within the law, and follow a chlo- Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. of town. The houses here, one story, one bath- Managers Ogan/Veen. We don’t know that the know these things, we ask my father to flip a coin rine smell as far as the locker rooms, the laby- room, have become a place to live after children construction will never happen, that nothing over Big Sister Lake. I can see him peek and rinth of showers, the locked door to the pool. or a place to move away from when they come. will ever be built there, because the gasoline has scuttle the coin when I call heads, a move too We hear footsteps and run, directionless, past This year Hanna-Khoury-eight-houses-down leached into the earth 100, 200, 300 feet down, quick for Hanna to notice. She cedes the lake to the library, the main office, the Cafetorium, past and I are best friends, a thing I haven’t had some impossible depth that no one will own up me, accepts the smaller for her kingdom, and I the music room where I’ll play flute for three before and won’t have again until I’m married, to and that can’t be cleaned. That summer we try to tell my father that night over carryout shrill years. Hanna will have quit band by then;

144 changes and transformations conversation 145

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CLOSE READING 144 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 145 27/10/15 7:23 PM Have students reread the first two twenty-four. Cue students to pay paragraphs, and look closely for attention to the number of times the language choices that estab- Horrocks references other time lish the narrator and Hanna as periods. both highly imaginative and close friends. Take note, also, of the very first reference to a different time period, when the narrator is

144 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 144 04/01/16 11:17 AM TEACHING IDEA 5 Horrocks

ride our bikes around and around the empty gas Chinese what I am only beginning to under- You may want to consider Identity and Society Zolaria station and look in all the windows. Hanna says stand myself, that the way in which he loves me sketching out a map of the land Caitlin Horrocks Ogan/Veen looks like the name of a monster, is not quite the way I wish he would. of Zolaria as you read – or ask a and from then on he haunts our summer in a student artist in your class to do Zolaria so. There are important locations Caitlin Horrocks (b. 1980) is an assistant professor of writing friendly sort of way, a goblin who lives in an In fifth grade Hanna and I doomed ourselves. in their imaginary world that play at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. empty Shell station and wanders the neighbor- On the second day of school we took out our significant roles in the story; the Her first story collection, This Is Not Your City, from which hood at sundown. If we are lucky, he will folders, our pencil cases, organized our desks, map could hang in the classroom this story is taken, was published to widespread acclaim in encounter only the children who have spent the and Hanna had space dolphins and I had pink for reference as students need. 2011. This story is about two friends who invent a magical past year tormenting us, and he will grind their unicorns. Two years ago all the girls had school world called Zolaria, a place that becomes more difficult to bones for bread. supplies like this, and I don’t understand why sustain as they get older. 5 “Ogan Veen, Ogan Veen, they have abandoned the things they loved. His farts all smell like gasoline, Hanna and I were startled but not stupid, and if Courtesy Caitlin Horrocks His stomach’s full of children’s spleens, no one had noticed us that day we would both Ogan Veen, Ogan Veen,” we sing. There are have begged our mothers to take us to K-Mart t is July and we are a miraculous age. We have both of us twenty-four, an age my family will say other verses but this one’s my favorite because that night and exchange them. But it was too Ibeen sprung from our backyards, from the is too young and I will be proud years later of I’ve come up with “spleen” all by myself. Hanna late. We were the girls with the wrong school neighborhood park, from the invisible borders proving them wrong. doesn’t know what it means and I’m not so clear supplies, and everything we did after that, even that rationed all our other summers. We are old That summer we pick blackberries in the either, but it rhymes and my mother’s said it’s a the things that were just like everyone else, were enough to have earned a larger country, and Miller woods and take them to Hanna’s house part of someone that can be eaten. the wrong things to do. I will never tell Hanna young enough to make it larger still. The woods where her mother rinses them in a plastic colan- “If you’re a cannibal, I guess,” she said, and I that space dolphins aren’t really as bad as pink said perfect. unicorns, and that she wasn’t really doomed between Miller and Arborview become haunted. der. Hanna’s parents still live together and their TEACHING IDEA Basilisks patrol the Dairy Queen. We are so house feels friendlier than mine. When Mr. 10 On one of my dad’s weekends, I ask him to until I made her my friend. One of the most challenging beset by dangers we make ourselves rulers over Khoury visited our fifth-grade class our teacher take us to Dolph Park, too far to bike to. The aspects of this story is its struc- them, and by July we are the princesses of an introduced him as a man there to talk about his hiking path circles two lakes, Little Sister Lake The Little and Big Sister Lakes are the eastern ture, how the plot jumps between undiscovered kingdom. We make maps with “troubled homeland.” He was a man from some- and Big Sister Lake, and since I am an only child edge of what we name Zolaria that summer, present day and flashbacks. To colored pencils. Here be Dragons, I write across where else, a troubled country people left and and Hanna has two brothers, we decide to split simply for the sound of it, the exotic “Z” and the help students make sense of the square of Wellington Park, at the end of our then called home, a country defined only by its the lakes between us. We fight over who gets trailing vowels like a movie star’s name. The structure and analyze its effect, street. Here be Brothers, Hanna writes across her perpetual unhappiness. Mr. Khoury told us that which. We are the same age and nearly the same northwestern border is the Barton Dam. It takes you might have them create two own backyard, and we avoid them both. We are we were lucky, lucky boys and lucky girls, lucky size, although Hanna’s arms and legs are gangly us most of the summer to get there, sneaking timelines for the story: the real- and seem destined for great height. In seventh closer and closer, up Newport Road and too old for these games, too big for this much American children, and Hanna rolled her eyes, time chronology of events and grade, the year Hanna will slip a note between through the grounds of what will be our junior imagination, but we are so unpopular that embarrassed. Mr. Khoury has a Lebanese flag on the story’s non-chronological summer that there is no one to care. We have the wall of his study and I think it must be a the vents of my locker that reads “I Hate You” high school. One day there is a door propped sequence (different groups could finished the fifth grade alive and we consider kinder sort of country that puts a tree on its flag. over and over, filling an entire notebook page, I open by the tennis courts and we decide to do different timelines). Discuss, in that an accomplishment. We have earned This is one of many things I do not understand will be 5'2" and as tall as I will ever grow. My explore. There is a sticker beside the door: No particular, where in each timeline this summer. that summer. father is 6'1" and will call me “Midget.” When I Shirt, No Shoes, No Service. I am barefoot and the incident with the wig (the The neighborhood has been emptying of The gas station at the comer of Miller and briefly register with an online dating site after we are so timid this sticker foils our plan until turning point) occurs: how does children. There are bigger houses being built Maple closes and there is a sign in the windows college I will call myself “petite.” Hanna will Hanna takes off her left shoe and gives it to me. the story’s sequence frame that past Wagner, past the edge of the western edge announcing upcoming construction, Project never grow tall, either, and because we can’t Now we are within the law, and follow a chlo- event differently from the way a of town. The houses here, one story, one bath- Managers Ogan/Veen. We don’t know that the know these things, we ask my father to flip a coin rine smell as far as the locker rooms, the laby- chronological presentation room, have become a place to live after children construction will never happen, that nothing over Big Sister Lake. I can see him peek and rinth of showers, the locked door to the pool. would? The group activity with or a place to move away from when they come. will ever be built there, because the gasoline has scuttle the coin when I call heads, a move too We hear footsteps and run, directionless, past juxtaposition, noted below, also This year Hanna-Khoury-eight-houses-down leached into the earth 100, 200, 300 feet down, quick for Hanna to notice. She cedes the lake to the library, the main office, the Cafetorium, past addresses these ideas. These and I are best friends, a thing I haven’t had some impossible depth that no one will own up me, accepts the smaller for her kingdom, and I the music room where I’ll play flute for three timelines will be helpful in before and won’t have again until I’m married, to and that can’t be cleaned. That summer we try to tell my father that night over carryout shrill years. Hanna will have quit band by then; answering Analyzing Q3.

144 changes and transformations conversation 145

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 144 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 145 27/10/15 7:23 PM

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 145 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Horrocks

Hanna has only so much energy, her mother unwrap presents we will see one of the Khoury subjects. We must give the appearance of Hanna’s mother and mine will go for coffee, Identity and Society will tell mine on the phone, and doesn’t want to boys outside walking their dog. My mother will keeping them safe. leaving us alone. Hanna will be wearing a violet- waste it on the trombone. We run past the glass call me into the kitchen to tell me I am young. colored bandanna. She will say she is a gangster, trophy cases in the foyer and finally we find the “You’re young,” she’ll say. “You’re still so young.” My father will take me once more to Dolph Park, and I say she would make the worst gangster in Zolaria open door, the patch of blue sky and red and 15 “Not that young,” I will tell her. when I am in high school, for old times’ sake. the world, which is true. She says a highwayman, green tennis courts. In the homestretch Hanna’s “Yes, that young. You barely know each The lakes are in the middle of an algae bloom, then, which feels a little closer, and when I shoe flies off my foot and she yells, “Forget it! other.” the weather hot and the water full of nitrogen suggest pirate, we’re off. We go once more to Don’t stop!” but I go back and we make it out “I know him.” and phosphorus. I will explain this to my father, Zolaria, the bed rails marking the deck of our anyway. “You don’t know yourself,” she’ll say. “That’s nitrogen, phosphorus, when he grimaces at the ship, and Hanna says climb on, that I won’t hurt The next day we bike through the junior high what I worry about. How can you get married damp mat of green over the pond, looking solid her, and our kingdom acquires an ocean, high parking lot and across the freeway overpass just when you don’t know yourself yet?” enough to walk on. My high school will have seas. Aweigh anchor, we say, trim the sails, cast north, where we yank our arms up and down “I know myself plenty,” I’ll say. “I think I implemented an experimental science curricu- off, fore-and-aft, and we are all right for a time. until three trucks have honked their horns. We know all I want to.” lum the year I enter tenth grade and I will know We will be eleven, almost twelve; we will keep take our bikes into the nature preserve and ride a great deal about eutrophication and very little looking at the door, hoping no one comes in and them until the hills get so steep they rattle our 20 One night in July, Hanna and I have a sleepover about anything else. We will pretend to skip sees us. After half an hour Hanna will throw up teeth. We ride bikes like girls, throw like girls, we and dream almost the same dream, in which rocks but will really just be throwing things, twice in a plastic tub beside the bed. She will say know it, and there is no one around that summer Ogan Veen is chasing us, gnashing his long, stones and sticks and clods of dirt, watching she leaned over to take a sounding, that the sea to make us ashamed. We walk our bikes through stinking teeth. Zolaria is not his to haunt, so we them break apart the algae and sink out of sight. is a thousand fathoms deep where we are, that if the forest, the sound of the freeway to our right build traps in the woods, stretch fishing line We will throw until our arms are tired and I will we don’t make it back to port we’ll drown for and a creek to our left, a symmetrical hum. between trees, scatter tacks in the dirt and make talk about the environmental benchmarks of sure. I will ask her if she wants some water. She Eventually there is a fence and a gate and a dirt piles of throwing-rocks in places with good healthy aquatic environments. We will get milk- won’t say anything, but I’ll fill a plastic cup from CLOSE READING road that leads to the Barton Dam. We ride to cover. In my backyard is a half-dug decorative shakes at the Dairy Queen on Stadium the jug on the nightstand. the huge gray wall of it, the rush of water at the fishpond, a project my father started and Boulevard and two weeks later my father will “I had a dream the other night that Ogan At this point, students are getting base, the scum scudding across the surface of abandoned, and we lattice the top with long move to San Diego. Veen was back,” I will say. “It was in the woods used to the shifts back and forth the river like soap suds. There is a dead animal sticks, camouflage it with leaves and cut grass. and he was chasing us and when we went out in time, but they probably still feel floating at the base of the dam, bloated and Every day I wait for Hanna to come up the street In sixth grade Hanna and I will still be in the the fence we were saying, ‘I don’t hear him, I somewhat jarring. Reread the end spongy and colorless. Its fur is breaking off in so we can check it together. I do not want to face same Girl Scout troop. We will sing Christmas think we made it,’ but then he was right there in of paragraph 10 when the girls hanks, drifting in the patches of foam. It is a our quarry alone. We bow branches, harp them carols for the old people at Hillside Terrace nurs- front of us smiling and then I woke up.” Hanna look at the river and reread the cloudy day and we are alone on the river path. A with yarn, notch twigs and practice our archery. ing home, and in the spring we will sell cookies. will look at me and her eyes will be dark and flat entirety of the section when the man comes out of the pump station at the top of We strip the leaves from long tendrils of weeping I will sell enough to earn a stuffed giraffe, while and I will know it was a terrible idea, to tell her narrator discusses her engagement with her mother. Ask the dam and walks out along the wall. He leans willow and crack the whips in the air. We run Hanna sells only enough for a patch to be sewn this dream. She will sip her water and I will students why this time shift is against the safety railing and shades his eyes shouting through the woods brandishing foam on her vest. She will already be sick and I will watch her sip it and we will wait for our mothers placed right here? How does it with a hand and looks down at us. We know we swords from a Nerf fencing set. We are girded have no idea. She will miss the whole last month to come back and when they do we will be glad. relate to the girls during the are in the borderlands, where our kingdom for battle, but the enemy will not show himself. of sixth grade, and four Girl Scout meetings, but 25 I will be unprepared for how long this sick- summer? You will want to plan on meets a stranger’s, where Ogan Veen wanders in We catch nothing, but we have made ourselves it will be summer before my mother takes me to ness takes, for how long Hanna will be neither returning to this exchange once daylight, and where we should not linger. afraid. It seems unfair, that a kingdom we visit her. The hospital will remind me of a shop- cured nor desperate. I will visit her once more at students finish the story. “I think I invented should have its own mysteries, its ping mall, places to buy medicine and gifts and the hospital, twice more while she’s at home. I know all I want to,” is clear Thirteen years later, Cal and I will announce our unvanquishable foes. By September, we are food, departments for having babies and looking will realize I am waiting for her to be either well foreshadowing. engagement on Christmas morning over crum- almost eager for school to begin. We are tired after babies and looking after children and fixing or dead. She will feel very far away. I will start pled wrapping paper and freshly squeezed of checking a dry fishpond for ogres every all the different things that can go wrong with junior high alone, and when Hanna comes for orange juice. It will be the coldest morning of morning. But as princesses of Zolaria, we them. It is a weighty place but exciting, the way her first day, in late November, I will be startled any year of my life so far, the paper’s lead head- cannot say such a thing out loud. We have my mother asks the front desk for Pediatric to see her. Our morning classes must all be line the temperature, 26 below, but as we certain duties to our kingdom, to our adoring Oncology and I press the button in the elevator. different because I recognize her for the first

146 changes and transformations conversation 147

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146 Advanced Language & Literature

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Hanna has only so much energy, her mother unwrap presents we will see one of the Khoury subjects. We must give the appearance of Hanna’s mother and mine will go for coffee, Identity and Society will tell mine on the phone, and doesn’t want to boys outside walking their dog. My mother will keeping them safe. leaving us alone. Hanna will be wearing a violet- waste it on the trombone. We run past the glass call me into the kitchen to tell me I am young. colored bandanna. She will say she is a gangster, trophy cases in the foyer and finally we find the “You’re young,” she’ll say. “You’re still so young.” My father will take me once more to Dolph Park, and I say she would make the worst gangster in Zolaria open door, the patch of blue sky and red and 15 “Not that young,” I will tell her. when I am in high school, for old times’ sake. the world, which is true. She says a highwayman, green tennis courts. In the homestretch Hanna’s “Yes, that young. You barely know each The lakes are in the middle of an algae bloom, then, which feels a little closer, and when I shoe flies off my foot and she yells, “Forget it! other.” the weather hot and the water full of nitrogen suggest pirate, we’re off. We go once more to Don’t stop!” but I go back and we make it out “I know him.” and phosphorus. I will explain this to my father, Zolaria, the bed rails marking the deck of our anyway. “You don’t know yourself,” she’ll say. “That’s nitrogen, phosphorus, when he grimaces at the ship, and Hanna says climb on, that I won’t hurt The next day we bike through the junior high what I worry about. How can you get married damp mat of green over the pond, looking solid her, and our kingdom acquires an ocean, high parking lot and across the freeway overpass just when you don’t know yourself yet?” enough to walk on. My high school will have seas. Aweigh anchor, we say, trim the sails, cast north, where we yank our arms up and down “I know myself plenty,” I’ll say. “I think I implemented an experimental science curricu- off, fore-and-aft, and we are all right for a time. until three trucks have honked their horns. We know all I want to.” lum the year I enter tenth grade and I will know We will be eleven, almost twelve; we will keep take our bikes into the nature preserve and ride a great deal about eutrophication and very little looking at the door, hoping no one comes in and them until the hills get so steep they rattle our 20 One night in July, Hanna and I have a sleepover about anything else. We will pretend to skip sees us. After half an hour Hanna will throw up teeth. We ride bikes like girls, throw like girls, we and dream almost the same dream, in which rocks but will really just be throwing things, twice in a plastic tub beside the bed. She will say know it, and there is no one around that summer Ogan Veen is chasing us, gnashing his long, stones and sticks and clods of dirt, watching she leaned over to take a sounding, that the sea to make us ashamed. We walk our bikes through stinking teeth. Zolaria is not his to haunt, so we them break apart the algae and sink out of sight. is a thousand fathoms deep where we are, that if the forest, the sound of the freeway to our right build traps in the woods, stretch fishing line We will throw until our arms are tired and I will we don’t make it back to port we’ll drown for and a creek to our left, a symmetrical hum. between trees, scatter tacks in the dirt and make talk about the environmental benchmarks of sure. I will ask her if she wants some water. She Eventually there is a fence and a gate and a dirt piles of throwing-rocks in places with good healthy aquatic environments. We will get milk- won’t say anything, but I’ll fill a plastic cup from road that leads to the Barton Dam. We ride to cover. In my backyard is a half-dug decorative shakes at the Dairy Queen on Stadium the jug on the nightstand. CHECK FOR the huge gray wall of it, the rush of water at the fishpond, a project my father started and Boulevard and two weeks later my father will “I had a dream the other night that Ogan UNDERSTANDING base, the scum scudding across the surface of abandoned, and we lattice the top with long move to San Diego. Veen was back,” I will say. “It was in the woods the river like soap suds. There is a dead animal sticks, camouflage it with leaves and cut grass. and he was chasing us and when we went out Because of its repeated use, floating at the base of the dam, bloated and Every day I wait for Hanna to come up the street In sixth grade Hanna and I will still be in the the fence we were saying, ‘I don’t hear him, I especially at the end of the story spongy and colorless. Its fur is breaking off in so we can check it together. I do not want to face same Girl Scout troop. We will sing Christmas think we made it,’ but then he was right there in when the narrator takes her own children to the water, it’s essential hanks, drifting in the patches of foam. It is a our quarry alone. We bow branches, harp them carols for the old people at Hillside Terrace nurs- front of us smiling and then I woke up.” Hanna that the students have some kind cloudy day and we are alone on the river path. A with yarn, notch twigs and practice our archery. ing home, and in the spring we will sell cookies. will look at me and her eyes will be dark and flat of understanding of what Ogan man comes out of the pump station at the top of We strip the leaves from long tendrils of weeping I will sell enough to earn a stuffed giraffe, while and I will know it was a terrible idea, to tell her Veen represents for the girls. Take the dam and walks out along the wall. He leans willow and crack the whips in the air. We run Hanna sells only enough for a patch to be sewn this dream. She will sip her water and I will a minute or two in class to look against the safety railing and shades his eyes shouting through the woods brandishing foam on her vest. She will already be sick and I will watch her sip it and we will wait for our mothers back at the references and ask with a hand and looks down at us. We know we swords from a Nerf fencing set. We are girded have no idea. She will miss the whole last month to come back and when they do we will be glad. students to draw conclusions are in the borderlands, where our kingdom for battle, but the enemy will not show himself. of sixth grade, and four Girl Scout meetings, but 25 I will be unprepared for how long this sick- about its meaning to the girls. meets a stranger’s, where Ogan Veen wanders in We catch nothing, but we have made ourselves it will be summer before my mother takes me to ness takes, for how long Hanna will be neither daylight, and where we should not linger. afraid. It seems unfair, that a kingdom we visit her. The hospital will remind me of a shop- cured nor desperate. I will visit her once more at invented should have its own mysteries, its ping mall, places to buy medicine and gifts and the hospital, twice more while she’s at home. I Thirteen years later, Cal and I will announce our unvanquishable foes. By September, we are food, departments for having babies and looking will realize I am waiting for her to be either well engagement on Christmas morning over crum- almost eager for school to begin. We are tired after babies and looking after children and fixing or dead. She will feel very far away. I will start pled wrapping paper and freshly squeezed of checking a dry fishpond for ogres every all the different things that can go wrong with junior high alone, and when Hanna comes for orange juice. It will be the coldest morning of morning. But as princesses of Zolaria, we them. It is a weighty place but exciting, the way her first day, in late November, I will be startled any year of my life so far, the paper’s lead head- cannot say such a thing out loud. We have my mother asks the front desk for Pediatric to see her. Our morning classes must all be line the temperature, 26 below, but as we certain duties to our kingdom, to our adoring Oncology and I press the button in the elevator. different because I recognize her for the first

146 changes and transformations conversation 147

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 146 27/10/15 7:23 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 147 CHECK FOR27/10/15 7:23 PM UNDERSTANDING There are several, seemingly minor, references to the narrator’s father in this story. Ask students to recall what they’ve already learned about her father, what the narrator’s tone toward him is, and to make predictions about the role he may play in the story.

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time at lunch, sitting by herself. I will already be . . . Identity and Society sitting in the middle of a long table by the time I Fourteen years later, when I marry Cal at a see her, my lunch unpacked in front of me. I will Unitarian church that four months later will be seeing connections CHECK FOR be pressed tight on either side by people who, if sold and remodeled into a bed and breakfast, Zolaria UNDERSTANDING asked, would probably say I am their friend. Hanna Khoury’s parents will still be living down In the film Heavenly Creatures (1994) Hanna will be wearing an awful wig, stiff and the street. My father will fly in from San Diego for What are we learning at this point directed by Peter Jackson, two styled like an old woman’s perm. The hair will the wedding, and he and my mother will agree to about the narrator and Hanna in young girls invent a rich imaginary be dark brown, not black, and will no longer pose for photographs together: them, them and the future? How is Horrocks world for themselves. signaling this to the reader? How match her eyes. She will be pale and her face me, them and me and Cal, them and me and Cal honest and reliable in the narra- swollen and she will not seem like someone I and Cal’s parents, the symmetry of happy In what ways do these images reflect or diverge from the imaginary world of tor? Why? can afford to know. marriages. The Khourys won’t be at the wedding “Zolaria”? What words or phrases because I won’t have invited them. I won’t have from the short story support your The summer we are ten we sketch maps of our invited them because I’m scared of what Hanna response? kingdom and outline its Constitution, its might have told them. Not about the way I never Declaration of Independence, its City Charter. In sat with her at lunch or talked to her in band, or the end they all become zoological surveys. The the way I didn’t ever claim, precisely, not to Haisley woods harbor griffins, borometz, know her, or the way I never said I did. Not even simurghs. There are dragons on Linwood Street, the way her life got worse and worse and I did basilisks on Duncan who turn children to stone. nothing to make it better. Or the way when I saw We understand that we have no sway over basi- how bad things got for her in school I was glad lisks and dragons; we understand that they are we weren’t still friends. The day I will worry she’s the minions of Ogan Veen. He has servants now, told them about will be a Monday in February he has armies, and despite all our efforts Zolaria during sixth period, Phys Ed, one of our two is not as safe as it was. classes together. Hanna will be excused from We make other lists, too, of “People Who, In almost everything except changing. She won’t Zolaria, Would Be Imprisoned In The Dungeon have to run or throw or dribble or swim, but she FOREVER.” Hanna keeps adding her brothers’ will have to put on gym clothes. She’ll try to get names to the list and then erasing them until the her sweater off and T-shirt on without disturbing paper is ready to tear and I tell her to leave them her wig, but it will almost always catch, tip, slide off, if she’s going to feel so guilty about it. We to one side. Sometimes it will fall limp onto the make a list of “Animals That Can Be Ridden: bench between the lockers. One day Barbara Pegasus, Centaur, Griffins, and Space Dolphins.” Zabrodska will steal it and send it flying. Marti We decide this is too charitable, and amend it to Orringer will catch it, and throw it to Naomi “Animals That Can Be Ridden By Us.” We decide Sullivan, who will throw it to Elizabeth Dugan, to hire young men to look after our stable of who will throw it to Jamie Piakowski, who will space dolphins, and when we deem ourselves a throw it to Carla Deleon, who will throw it to Then Leah Campo will throw it to Kendra hall, along the wall like a tornado drill. The little older, and ready for love, we will notice the Mary-Alice, who will throw it to Roberta, who Danielson, who will throw it to Jasmine, who will detention supervisor will make us crouch the groomsmen and swoon. We prepare speeches of will throw it to me. And instead of giving it back I throw it finally, accidentally, to Mrs. Pendall the rest of the period, tornado-style, on our knees protest, in which we declare our unwillingness will throw it to Andrea, who will throw it to gym teacher, who will have heard Hanna crying with our foreheads almost touching the wall, our to marry foreign princes, our determination to Aisha, who will throw it to a girl whose name I and come in the back way, through the showers. hands curled around the backs of our necks to follow our hearts, until we are disappointed to don’t remember, and another, and another, and Mrs. Pendall will give Hanna back her wig and protect our spines from flying shards of glass. My remember that in our kingdom we have no another, because there will be thirty girls in will send all twenty-nine of us to detention, knees will hurt and I will think that if a tornado parents, and may marry whomever we choose. sixth-period gym and I can’t remember them all. where we fill the room and are sent out into the really did sever my spine and paralyze me for

148 changes and transformations conversation 149

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148 Advanced Language & Literature

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time at lunch, sitting by herself. I will already be . . . Identity and Society sitting in the middle of a long table by the time I Fourteen years later, when I marry Cal at a see her, my lunch unpacked in front of me. I will Unitarian church that four months later will be seeing connections be pressed tight on either side by people who, if sold and remodeled into a bed and breakfast, Zolaria asked, would probably say I am their friend. Hanna Khoury’s parents will still be living down In the film Heavenly Creatures (1994) Hanna will be wearing an awful wig, stiff and the street. My father will fly in from San Diego for directed by Peter Jackson, two styled like an old woman’s perm. The hair will the wedding, and he and my mother will agree to young girls invent a rich imaginary be dark brown, not black, and will no longer pose for photographs together: them, them and world for themselves. match her eyes. She will be pale and her face me, them and me and Cal, them and me and Cal swollen and she will not seem like someone I and Cal’s parents, the symmetry of happy In what ways do these images reflect or diverge from the imaginary world of can afford to know. marriages. The Khourys won’t be at the wedding “Zolaria”? What words or phrases because I won’t have invited them. I won’t have from the short story support your The summer we are ten we sketch maps of our invited them because I’m scared of what Hanna response? kingdom and outline its Constitution, its might have told them. Not about the way I never Declaration of Independence, its City Charter. In sat with her at lunch or talked to her in band, or the end they all become zoological surveys. The the way I didn’t ever claim, precisely, not to Haisley woods harbor griffins, borometz, know her, or the way I never said I did. Not even simurghs. There are dragons on Linwood Street, the way her life got worse and worse and I did basilisks on Duncan who turn children to stone. nothing to make it better. Or the way when I saw We understand that we have no sway over basi- how bad things got for her in school I was glad lisks and dragons; we understand that they are we weren’t still friends. The day I will worry she’s the minions of Ogan Veen. He has servants now, told them about will be a Monday in February he has armies, and despite all our efforts Zolaria during sixth period, Phys Ed, one of our two is not as safe as it was. classes together. Hanna will be excused from We make other lists, too, of “People Who, In almost everything except changing. She won’t Zolaria, Would Be Imprisoned In The Dungeon have to run or throw or dribble or swim, but she FOREVER.” Hanna keeps adding her brothers’ will have to put on gym clothes. She’ll try to get names to the list and then erasing them until the her sweater off and T-shirt on without disturbing paper is ready to tear and I tell her to leave them her wig, but it will almost always catch, tip, slide off, if she’s going to feel so guilty about it. We to one side. Sometimes it will fall limp onto the make a list of “Animals That Can Be Ridden: bench between the lockers. One day Barbara Pegasus, Centaur, Griffins, and Space Dolphins.” Zabrodska will steal it and send it flying. Marti We decide this is too charitable, and amend it to Orringer will catch it, and throw it to Naomi “Animals That Can Be Ridden By Us.” We decide Sullivan, who will throw it to Elizabeth Dugan, to hire young men to look after our stable of who will throw it to Jamie Piakowski, who will TEACHING IDEA space dolphins, and when we deem ourselves a throw it to Carla Deleon, who will throw it to Then Leah Campo will throw it to Kendra hall, along the wall like a tornado drill. The Ask students to recast this scene little older, and ready for love, we will notice the Mary-Alice, who will throw it to Roberta, who Danielson, who will throw it to Jasmine, who will detention supervisor will make us crouch the in the locker room from Hanna’s groomsmen and swoon. We prepare speeches of will throw it to me. And instead of giving it back I throw it finally, accidentally, to Mrs. Pendall the rest of the period, tornado-style, on our knees point of view. Students should be protest, in which we declare our unwillingness will throw it to Andrea, who will throw it to gym teacher, who will have heard Hanna crying with our foreheads almost touching the wall, our sure Hanna’s view of the narrator to marry foreign princes, our determination to Aisha, who will throw it to a girl whose name I and come in the back way, through the showers. hands curled around the backs of our necks to is consistent with the rest of the follow our hearts, until we are disappointed to don’t remember, and another, and another, and Mrs. Pendall will give Hanna back her wig and protect our spines from flying shards of glass. My story by incorporating textual remember that in our kingdom we have no another, because there will be thirty girls in will send all twenty-nine of us to detention, knees will hurt and I will think that if a tornado evidence. Then, ask the class to parents, and may marry whomever we choose. sixth-period gym and I can’t remember them all. where we fill the room and are sent out into the really did sever my spine and paralyze me for define the degree to which the adult narrator now understands Hannah’s point of view. 148 changes and transformations conversation 149

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life, I wouldn’t have to worry anymore about not which one Ogan Veen will ask for. Which one a moment, I promise, a slice of a second, that I that that won’t help, that it isn’t what I meant. Identity and Society doing the right things. I will think that the feel of he’ll try to take. If he will give them ten years, if hold them under. And then I will be tugging at I won’t know how to tell him that I am still her wig in my hand was like a gutted animal, he will come calling sooner. their hair and the backs of their T-shirts and bracing for a day when Sophie complains of a empty and dry and bristling. One winter the twins, bored, will unearth wrestling us all into a heap on the grass above headache that turns out to be something more, Zolaria old photos in the basement: their baby the reeds, and a woman on a bicycle will be when Madison reels dizzily in gym class and Hanna will be in remission by the next fall, but pictures, our wedding, school portraits of Cal standing on the embankment trail shouting at the teacher sends her home with a concerned her parents will already have taken her out of and snapshots of my elementary school birth- me that the pond is no place for swimming. The note. When a doctor has something to tell me Forsythe Junior High and placed her in a private day parties. The year I turned ten there was no water isn’t clean, she yells. She talks about nitro- he asks me to sit down to hear. I will be trying school. I will not know when the cancer comes one I wanted to invite except Hanna, no one I gen, phosphorus. I’m sorry, I will say. I didn’t not to think about the possibility of a day when back. I will have discovered how easy it is to thought would come if I asked. In the picture realize. It’s such a hot day, the girls were so hot. I will drive to the dam again, climb the stairs to never see someone, even an eight-houses- there is a cake with ten candles and only two They asked to go wading and slipped. My Barton Pond and wade in. I will walk until I can down-someone, if you do not wish to see each girls grinning above it — they look as if they daughters will not contradict me, and the bicy- hear the pressing silence of the water, the rush- other. When she passes away, my mother will should be lonely but are somehow perfectly cle woman will leave, and I will bundle them ing, vacuous weight of it. I will say, “Mr. Veen, find out from a newspaper obituary. She will happy. Madison will ask me who the dark- into towels, warm and dry. At home we will all do you remember me?” I will say, “Mr. Veen, I come up to my bedroom, will still be deciding haired girl is, and I will get a look on my face stand under the shower, all of us crowded once ruled a kingdom and left traps for you in whether to tell me herself or just show me the that will make Sophie elbow her sister into together, and then eat ice cream in the backyard. the woods. Don’t you want your revenge?” paper. She will hand it to me and say, “There’s silence. She is the perceptive one, I will think, I will ask Madison if she heard anything under- I will say, “Mr. Veen, you are an ogre and a thief bad news, honey.” the one who reads people. And then I will water, a gnashing of teeth, a creature with eyes and the patron saint of Julys, of summer 30 It will be my first funeral, and my mother think, please no, not her. And then I will think, like an oil slick and incisors like bread knives, Sundays, of miracles.” I will say, “Mr. Veen, and I will go shopping for black clothing please no, I didn’t mean the other one. long and serrated. I will tell Sophie that Ogan do not take my children.” together. As we leave the mall I will thank her for Veen has a laugh like I-94 and a stink like algae. I 35 And if he asks, and if I think it will help, and paying, like she’s bought me birthday gifts or On a July morning the summer before the girls will tell her that I have introduced them now, the if I think it is truly what I have to do, we will be new back-to-school clothes, and then to fill the begin kindergarten I will ask them to get dressed three of them, Madison and Sophie and Mr. swimming and it will be July and we are a silence I will say something about JV field in their swimsuits, pull old shorts and T-shirts Veen, and if they ever meet him they must run miraculous age. We are in Zolaria, we are chil- hockey, and then my mother will drop the shop- on over. I will pack a bag with beach towels and away. They must tell him that they are prin- dren, our bodies are honest children’s bodies. ping bags in the middle of the parking lot and dry clothes, and they will ask which city pool cesses, that they are mine, that I will protect We are narrow and quick and we still fit in all hold me tighter than she ever has or ever will we’re going to. Wait and see, I will say, and we them in the only ways I know how. our hiding places, the sun-wet hollows and the again. At the funeral I will be so worried about will all climb into the car. I will drive down the Cal will get home from work and while I flowers in pink and purple and turquoise, all the avoiding Mr. and Mrs. Khoury and their sons township road that skirts the edge of Bird Hills cook dinner the girls will tell him what I did damp colors of girlhood. We are riding our that I won’t have time to cry. Nature Preserve; it will be lined with condos but and Cal will shout and I will try to explain space dolphins, and either we can breathe the still unpaved. I will park at the lot downriver myself and Cal will misunderstand and talk to water of Zolaria or we are no longer breathing At the wedding Cal’s mother will squint at me from the Barton Dam, and we will climb the his parents about having the girls baptized at and it is July and we are a miraculous age and and ask if I’m really Unitarian, or just needed a wooden steps up to the calm pond above the First Methodist. I won’t know how to tell him we are ten. CLOSE READING cheap place for the wedding. I will tell her that pump station. We will leave the trail to slide Reread paragraphs 28-29 as the I’m pagan, that I make burnt offerings to forest down the embankment toward the water. The narrator describes her own chil- demons in the Bird Hills Nature Preserve. She shore is reedy, the ground spongy with black, dren. How does the reader know won’t laugh. Cal and I will go to Toronto for the rank mud. We will stand ankle deep in the water, from this section only that the honeymoon and three and a half years later the and Sophie will yelp when her feet start to sink. I time when she and Hanna were doctor will tell us to get ready for twins, girls. I will suggest a short swim, and the girls will look ten and princesses of Zolaria still will be terrified. It seems like a sign. It seems like at me with horror. The water will smell warm affect the narrator? a coin has already been flipped, and we will and spongy and tattered curtains of algae will spend years waiting for it to fall. I will stare at my stroke our toes. Madison will hold her nose, and daughters in matching pajamas and wonder in the end, I have to push them in. It will be only

150 changes and transformations conversation 151

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CHECK FOR 150 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 151 27/10/15 7:24 PM UNDERSTANDING What is the narrator hoping to accomplish or learn by taking her daughters to the pond? (See Understanding Q6.)

150 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 150 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Horrocks

life, I wouldn’t have to worry anymore about not which one Ogan Veen will ask for. Which one a moment, I promise, a slice of a second, that I that that won’t help, that it isn’t what I meant. Identity and Society doing the right things. I will think that the feel of he’ll try to take. If he will give them ten years, if hold them under. And then I will be tugging at I won’t know how to tell him that I am still her wig in my hand was like a gutted animal, he will come calling sooner. their hair and the backs of their T-shirts and bracing for a day when Sophie complains of a empty and dry and bristling. One winter the twins, bored, will unearth wrestling us all into a heap on the grass above headache that turns out to be something more, Zolaria old photos in the basement: their baby the reeds, and a woman on a bicycle will be when Madison reels dizzily in gym class and Hanna will be in remission by the next fall, but pictures, our wedding, school portraits of Cal standing on the embankment trail shouting at the teacher sends her home with a concerned her parents will already have taken her out of and snapshots of my elementary school birth- me that the pond is no place for swimming. The note. When a doctor has something to tell me Forsythe Junior High and placed her in a private day parties. The year I turned ten there was no water isn’t clean, she yells. She talks about nitro- he asks me to sit down to hear. I will be trying school. I will not know when the cancer comes one I wanted to invite except Hanna, no one I gen, phosphorus. I’m sorry, I will say. I didn’t not to think about the possibility of a day when back. I will have discovered how easy it is to thought would come if I asked. In the picture realize. It’s such a hot day, the girls were so hot. I will drive to the dam again, climb the stairs to never see someone, even an eight-houses- there is a cake with ten candles and only two They asked to go wading and slipped. My Barton Pond and wade in. I will walk until I can down-someone, if you do not wish to see each girls grinning above it — they look as if they daughters will not contradict me, and the bicy- hear the pressing silence of the water, the rush- other. When she passes away, my mother will should be lonely but are somehow perfectly cle woman will leave, and I will bundle them ing, vacuous weight of it. I will say, “Mr. Veen, find out from a newspaper obituary. She will happy. Madison will ask me who the dark- into towels, warm and dry. At home we will all do you remember me?” I will say, “Mr. Veen, I come up to my bedroom, will still be deciding haired girl is, and I will get a look on my face stand under the shower, all of us crowded once ruled a kingdom and left traps for you in whether to tell me herself or just show me the that will make Sophie elbow her sister into together, and then eat ice cream in the backyard. the woods. Don’t you want your revenge?” paper. She will hand it to me and say, “There’s silence. She is the perceptive one, I will think, I will ask Madison if she heard anything under- I will say, “Mr. Veen, you are an ogre and a thief bad news, honey.” the one who reads people. And then I will water, a gnashing of teeth, a creature with eyes and the patron saint of Julys, of summer 30 It will be my first funeral, and my mother think, please no, not her. And then I will think, like an oil slick and incisors like bread knives, Sundays, of miracles.” I will say, “Mr. Veen, and I will go shopping for black clothing please no, I didn’t mean the other one. long and serrated. I will tell Sophie that Ogan do not take my children.” together. As we leave the mall I will thank her for Veen has a laugh like I-94 and a stink like algae. I 35 And if he asks, and if I think it will help, and CLOSE READING paying, like she’s bought me birthday gifts or On a July morning the summer before the girls will tell her that I have introduced them now, the if I think it is truly what I have to do, we will be Reread the last paragraph of the new back-to-school clothes, and then to fill the begin kindergarten I will ask them to get dressed three of them, Madison and Sophie and Mr. swimming and it will be July and we are a story. Ask students to comment silence I will say something about JV field in their swimsuits, pull old shorts and T-shirts Veen, and if they ever meet him they must run miraculous age. We are in Zolaria, we are chil- on the effect of the parallel struc- hockey, and then my mother will drop the shop- on over. I will pack a bag with beach towels and away. They must tell him that they are prin- dren, our bodies are honest children’s bodies. ture of the sentences and the ping bags in the middle of the parking lot and dry clothes, and they will ask which city pool cesses, that they are mine, that I will protect We are narrow and quick and we still fit in all syntax of the very last sentence. hold me tighter than she ever has or ever will we’re going to. Wait and see, I will say, and we them in the only ways I know how. our hiding places, the sun-wet hollows and the Where are the repetitions of again. At the funeral I will be so worried about will all climb into the car. I will drive down the Cal will get home from work and while I flowers in pink and purple and turquoise, all the words and how do they illustrate avoiding Mr. and Mrs. Khoury and their sons township road that skirts the edge of Bird Hills cook dinner the girls will tell him what I did damp colors of girlhood. We are riding our a theme of the story? that I won’t have time to cry. Nature Preserve; it will be lined with condos but and Cal will shout and I will try to explain space dolphins, and either we can breathe the still unpaved. I will park at the lot downriver myself and Cal will misunderstand and talk to water of Zolaria or we are no longer breathing At the wedding Cal’s mother will squint at me from the Barton Dam, and we will climb the his parents about having the girls baptized at and it is July and we are a miraculous age and and ask if I’m really Unitarian, or just needed a wooden steps up to the calm pond above the First Methodist. I won’t know how to tell him we are ten. cheap place for the wedding. I will tell her that pump station. We will leave the trail to slide I’m pagan, that I make burnt offerings to forest down the embankment toward the water. The demons in the Bird Hills Nature Preserve. She shore is reedy, the ground spongy with black, won’t laugh. Cal and I will go to Toronto for the rank mud. We will stand ankle deep in the water, honeymoon and three and a half years later the and Sophie will yelp when her feet start to sink. I doctor will tell us to get ready for twins, girls. I will suggest a short swim, and the girls will look will be terrified. It seems like a sign. It seems like at me with horror. The water will smell warm a coin has already been flipped, and we will and spongy and tattered curtains of algae will spend years waiting for it to fall. I will stare at my stroke our toes. Madison will hold her nose, and daughters in matching pajamas and wonder in the end, I have to push them in. It will be only

150 changes and transformations conversation 151

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 150 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 151 TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 7:24 PM Divide students into groups to analyze the narrator’s character: 1. as a child when she is friends with Hanna; 2. After Hanna becomes ill; 3. As a young adult getting married; 4. As a mother. Identify three to five character traits with textual support for each stage, then compare traits among groups. Is she static or dynamic? How and why?

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 151 04/01/16 11:17 AM TRM SUGGESTED 5 Horrocks

RESPONSES

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting Analyzing language, Style, and Structure Suggested responses to the questions for this reading can be After completing the story, you can probably think What is the narrator hoping to accomplish by Look back through the story and notice the places Why do you think Horrocks structured this portion of found on the Teacher’s Resource 1 back on it and see how often Hanna’s death was 6 pushing her children into the pond (par. 33)? How 1 where the narrator uses “we” and then shifts to “I.” the story in this way? What is the effect of the time Flash Drive. foreshadowed. Locate as many places as you can and successful is she? Why do you think she switches and what is the effect shift? Zolaria explain why there are so many instances of of those shifts? Read this excerpt from an interview with Caitlin Reread the descriptions of Zolaria, the world the foreshadowing. 7 Horrocks, which was published on a website called Notice the interesting shifts in the tense the 4 narrator and Hanna create when they are ten TEACHING IDEA – In fifth grade, Hanna and the narrator “doomed” The Rumpus. What do you think of the interviewer’s, 2 narrator uses. For example, the story begins in the (pars. 1, 12–13, 20, and 26–27). What specific language UNDERSTANDING Q1 2 themselves because they showed up with school and Horrocks’s, assessment of the narrator as being present tense with the line, “It is July and we are a choices give it the feeling of both magic and danger? supplies decorated with space dolphins and unicorns, too self-aware? miraculous age,” but at various times, she switches to One of the saddest parts of this story is when the Consider having students write styles that the other girls had stopped using. The the future tense, as in “My father will take me once The Rumpus: “I know myself plenty,” the main narrator’s relationship with Hanna changes after the examples of foreshadowing narrator then says, “I don’t understand why they have more to Dolph Park, when I am in high school” 5 character in “Zolaria” says to her mother. “I think I she becomes sick. Reread the following sentences and on small strips of paper, and then abandoned the things they loved” (par. 11). How does (par. 21). Looking back through the story, when does know all I want to.” And in fact she and the other explain the effect of the underlined words. What do this statement seem to reflect one of the themes of the narrator use the present tense and when does she arranging them in chronological protagonists [. . .] know a great deal about they reveal about the narrator? and then rearrange them into the this story? use the future tense? What is the effect of these shifts? themselves, maybe too much to be happy. Have a. “She will be pale and her face swollen and she order in which they are presented When the narrator announces her engagement, you worked with characters who don’t understand If the narrator had decided to tell this story in will not seem like someone I can afford to know” in the story. You can examine the 3 her mother says that she is too young and that she themselves? 3 chronological order, she would have started when (par. 25). doesn’t even know herself yet. The narrator responds, she and Hanna were in the fifth grade, continued effects of the different instances Horrocks: Self-awareness is usually thought of as b. “I will think that the feel of her wig in my hand was “I know myself plenty. . . . I think I know all I want to.” through their one summer together, described of foreshadowing. an unmitigated good thing—how can someone be like a gutted animal, empty and dry and bristling” (par. 19) What does her response reveal about her? Hanna’s illness and death, and wrapped up with her happy or stable or fit company without it? But the (par. 28). How does it relate to what we know about her when own marriage and parenthood. But instead, she shifts main character in “Zolaria” is so convinced of her c. “I will have discovered how easy it is to never see she was a child? back and forth in time throughout the story. Look back own cowardice she’d be willing to die to make someone, even an eight-houses-down-someone, through the story and identify one significant time shift. TEACHING IDEA – In less than two years, the narrator goes from amends, to save her own children. Her idea of if you do not wish to see each other” (par. 29). UNDERSTANDING Q4 4 being Hanna’s co-princess of Zolaria to being one herself doesn’t bring her any comfort. But now I’m of her tormentors in the locker room. What changes just agreeing with what you already said. Ask students to share experi- between Hanna and the narrator? How do Hanna and connecting, Arguing, and extending Reread the opening paragraph and the closing ences to the narrator of losing a the narrator deal with the changes between them? paragraph of the story. They both take place in close friend. How similar or differ- 8 It is very likely that you have had an experience because of her youth and other factors? Support your Zolaria means different things to the narrator as Zolaria and are both written in the present tense, but similar to the narrator’s, in which you and a friend response with direct evidence from the story. ent are they to the narrator’s the story progresses. What does it seem to what is the difference between them? 1 5 have changed to such a degree that you are no longer experience. represent at the following stages? Look over these two differing views about as close as you once were. What factors caused this childhood and its relationship to adulthood. a. during that first summer when she is ten change? Is this growing apart an inevitable part of 4 Explain what each is suggesting about childhood and (pars. 1–13) growing up or can it be avoided? Why? b. when Hanna becomes sick (pars. 22–25) explain how they each compare to “Zolaria.” c. when the narrator is an adult and has children of The narrator clearly fails in her opportunity to stand a. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought her own (pars. 33–35) 2 up for Hanna when she is being bullied in the locker like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became room in junior high school; in fact, she even participates a man, I gave up childish ways.” —1 Corinthians in the bullying of her friend (par. 28). Conduct a brief 13:11, English Standard Version search on the social forces that contribute to bullying in b. My heart leaps up when I behold school, focusing on the most recent research by A rainbow in the sky: scholars such as Jaana Juvonen from UCLA, Ken Rigby So was it when my life began; from the University of South Australia, and others. So is it now I am a man; Using the findings from your research, explain the So be it when I shall grow old, actions of the narrator toward Hanna. Or let me die! It is apparent that even years after the events the The Child is father of the Man; 3 narrator has still not forgiven herself for her actions I could wish my days to be (and inactions) toward Hanna. Is the narrator truly Bound each to each by natural piety. responsible for her actions, or should she be excused —William Wordsworth

152 changes and transformations conversation 153

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEA 152 – 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 153 27/10/15 7:24 PM UNDERSTANDING Q7 Conduct a poll of your student to see who agrees with Horrocks about the narrator knowing too much to be happy. Is ignorance bliss?

152 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 152 04/01/16 11:17 AM 5 Horrocks

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting Analyzing language, Style, and Structure

After completing the story, you can probably think What is the narrator hoping to accomplish by Look back through the story and notice the places Why do you think Horrocks structured this portion of 1 back on it and see how often Hanna’s death was 6 pushing her children into the pond (par. 33)? How 1 where the narrator uses “we” and then shifts to “I.” the story in this way? What is the effect of the time foreshadowed. Locate as many places as you can and successful is she? Why do you think she switches and what is the effect shift? Zolaria explain why there are so many instances of of those shifts? Read this excerpt from an interview with Caitlin Reread the descriptions of Zolaria, the world the foreshadowing. 7 Horrocks, which was published on a website called Notice the interesting shifts in the tense the 4 narrator and Hanna create when they are ten In fifth grade, Hanna and the narrator “doomed” The Rumpus. What do you think of the interviewer’s, 2 narrator uses. For example, the story begins in the (pars. 1, 12–13, 20, and 26–27). What specific language 2 themselves because they showed up with school and Horrocks’s, assessment of the narrator as being present tense with the line, “It is July and we are a choices give it the feeling of both magic and danger? supplies decorated with space dolphins and unicorns, too self-aware? miraculous age,” but at various times, she switches to One of the saddest parts of this story is when the styles that the other girls had stopped using. The the future tense, as in “My father will take me once The Rumpus: “I know myself plenty,” the main narrator’s relationship with Hanna changes after narrator then says, “I don’t understand why they have more to Dolph Park, when I am in high school” 5 TEACHING IDEA – character in “Zolaria” says to her mother. “I think I she becomes sick. Reread the following sentences and abandoned the things they loved” (par. 11). How does (par. 21). Looking back through the story, when does ANALYZING Q5 know all I want to.” And in fact she and the other explain the effect of the underlined words. What do this statement seem to reflect one of the themes of the narrator use the present tense and when does she protagonists [. . .] know a great deal about they reveal about the narrator? Expand this question by asking this story? use the future tense? What is the effect of these shifts? themselves, maybe too much to be happy. Have a. “She will be pale and her face swollen and she students to substitute different When the narrator announces her engagement, you worked with characters who don’t understand If the narrator had decided to tell this story in will not seem like someone I can afford to know” words or phrases for the under- 3 her mother says that she is too young and that she themselves? 3 chronological order, she would have started when (par. 25). lined ones that would create a doesn’t even know herself yet. The narrator responds, she and Hanna were in the fifth grade, continued Horrocks: Self-awareness is usually thought of as b. “I will think that the feel of her wig in my hand was different tone. “I know myself plenty. . . . I think I know all I want to.” through their one summer together, described an unmitigated good thing—how can someone be like a gutted animal, empty and dry and bristling” (par. 19) What does her response reveal about her? Hanna’s illness and death, and wrapped up with her happy or stable or fit company without it? But the (par. 28). How does it relate to what we know about her when own marriage and parenthood. But instead, she shifts main character in “Zolaria” is so convinced of her c. “I will have discovered how easy it is to never see she was a child? back and forth in time throughout the story. Look back own cowardice she’d be willing to die to make someone, even an eight-houses-down-someone, through the story and identify one significant time shift. In less than two years, the narrator goes from amends, to save her own children. Her idea of if you do not wish to see each other” (par. 29). 4 being Hanna’s co-princess of Zolaria to being one herself doesn’t bring her any comfort. But now I’m of her tormentors in the locker room. What changes just agreeing with what you already said. between Hanna and the narrator? How do Hanna and connecting, Arguing, and extending Reread the opening paragraph and the closing the narrator deal with the changes between them? paragraph of the story. They both take place in 8 It is very likely that you have had an experience because of her youth and other factors? Support your Zolaria means different things to the narrator as Zolaria and are both written in the present tense, but similar to the narrator’s, in which you and a friend response with direct evidence from the story. the story progresses. What does it seem to what is the difference between them? 1 5 have changed to such a degree that you are no longer represent at the following stages? Look over these two differing views about as close as you once were. What factors caused this childhood and its relationship to adulthood. a. during that first summer when she is ten change? Is this growing apart an inevitable part of 4 Explain what each is suggesting about childhood and (pars. 1–13) growing up or can it be avoided? Why? b. when Hanna becomes sick (pars. 22–25) explain how they each compare to “Zolaria.” c. when the narrator is an adult and has children of The narrator clearly fails in her opportunity to stand a. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought TEACHING IDEA – her own (pars. 33–35) 2 up for Hanna when she is being bullied in the locker like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became CONNECTING Q4 room in junior high school; in fact, she even participates a man, I gave up childish ways.” —1 Corinthians in the bullying of her friend (par. 28). Conduct a brief 13:11, English Standard Version Students could also be directed search on the social forces that contribute to bullying in b. My heart leaps up when I behold to find and respond to other school, focusing on the most recent research by A rainbow in the sky: examples of quotes about scholars such as Jaana Juvonen from UCLA, Ken Rigby So was it when my life began; childhood. from the University of South Australia, and others. So is it now I am a man; Using the findings from your research, explain the So be it when I shall grow old, actions of the narrator toward Hanna. Or let me die! It is apparent that even years after the events the The Child is father of the Man; 3 narrator has still not forgiven herself for her actions I could wish my days to be (and inactions) toward Hanna. Is the narrator truly Bound each to each by natural piety. responsible for her actions, or should she be excused —William Wordsworth

152 changes and transformations conversation 153

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 152 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 153 TEACHING IDEA – TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 –7:24 PM ANALYZING Q1-Q3 CONNECTING Q2 Be sure that throughout the read- Students could present their finding of the text, students have ings in the form of a poster, been asked to trace the use of PowerPoint, or a letter to the pronouns and time shifts. They school administration, suggesting can refer to their notes or annota- changes to the bullying policies tions to answer these questions. of your school.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 153 04/01/16 11:17 AM BUILDING CONTEXT 5 Olds

Before you approach these

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting poems, invite your students to go My Son the Man and The Possessive

home and interview a parent/ Sharon Olds Describe the speaker of this poem. What concerns c. “he looks at me / the way Houdini studied a box / My Son the Man and The Possessive guardian: How has being a parent 1 her? What scares her? Be sure to use evidence to learn the way out. . . .” (ll. 14–16) shaped who you are? How do from the text to support your response. Born in San Francisco in 1942, Sharon Olds has become one of Now that you have explored the individual parts of the you feel about your child growing America’s most well-known and critically praised poets. She This poem makes use of a literary device known as extended Houdini metaphor, explain the overall older? Modification can be made, has published numerous collections of poetry, including The 2 a “conceit” or an “extended metaphor,” in which purpose of the comparison. What is Sharon Olds if a student doesn’t have access an author repeats a comparison multiple times saying about the relationships between mothers and Dead and the Living (1984), which received the National Book to their parent, they could inter- throughout a text. In this case, the speaker makes sons by using the multiple comparisons to Houdini? Critics Circle Award. Considered a “confessional poet,” Olds three separate comparisons between her son and the view any parent they know or a The speaker admits that “[t]his was not what she typically writes about her own life, as she does in these two famous magician Harry Houdini. For each of the grandparent. had in mind” when confronted by the inevitable poems about her children growing up and the effect it has on following lines from the poem, explain how the 3 maturation of her son into a man. In what ways is the reference to Houdini reveals a different aspect of the her as a mother. © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos speaker’s concern specifically about gender, and in BUILDING CONTEXT relationship between the speaker and her son: what ways is it about watching a child grow up? Over the years there have been Olds My Son the Man a. “his shoulders get a lot wider / the way Houdini many songs about love that pres- would expand his body / while people were putting The final lines of the poem bring the situation into the present, as the son looks at his mother and ent this theme: “If you love some- Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider, him in chains. . . .” (ll. 1–3) 4 the way Houdini would expand his body b. “when he pressed up through me like a / sealed smiles like Houdini does before he lets “himself be body, set them free.” How do you manacled” (l. 16). From the point of view of the while people were putting him in chains. It seems trunk through the ice of the Hudson, / snapped the interpret this statement and when padlock, unsnaked the chains, / appeared in my speaker, is this a sinister or a playful smile, or no time since I would help him put on his sleeper, would it be considered sound arms. . . .” (ll. 11–14) something else? advice? 5 guide his calves into the shadowy interior, zip him up and toss him up and TRM VOCABULARY catch his weight. I cannot imagine him no longer a child, and I know I must get ready, Analyzing language, Style, and Structure A list of challenging words from get over my fear of men now my son these readings can be found in 10 is going to be one. This was not The poem begins with the word “suddenly” in The speaker claims that she must get over her the Teacher’s Resource Flash what I had in mind when he pressed up through me like a 1 describing how the speaker’s son’s shoulders 3 “fear of men” (l. 9). How does she communicate Drive. seem to expand quickly. How does the use of this this fear throughout this poem? sealed trunk through the ice of the Hudson, opening signal the way that time will be presented in In lines 7–8, the speaker admits, “I cannot imagine snapped the padlock, unsnaked the chains, this poem? Explain the possible implications of the CHECK FOR him / no longer a child.” Discuss how this appeared in my arms. Now he looks at me speaker’s sense of time. 4 UNDERSTANDING description, which contrasts with the title of the poem, 15 the way Houdini studied a box Explain how the imagery in lines 3–7 establishes reveals a central struggle that the speaker is Why would the speaker fear to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself be manacled. the relationship between the mother and her son. experiencing. men? 2

BUILDING CONTEXT This is Harry Houdini, the magician, just before connecting, Arguing, and extending he is sealed into a trunk and dumped into the Ask students to discuss: What is Hudson River, in a famous illusion that becomes How much different would this poem be if the or different from the relationship Olds describes in this the role of imagination in parent- an extended metaphor in “My Son the Man.” speaker were a father instead of a mother? What poem? What do you think that the older person has ing? How do your parents imag- Why do you think Olds found this particular 1 would the father likely focus on that the mother does struggled with as you have grown older yourself? ine you? What are ways that your Houdini illusion such a compelling metaphor not? Why? Think of an extended metaphor that could parents have used their imagina- for watching her son grow up? One reviewer for the New York Times said of be used by the father to illustrate the fear he might Sharon Olds, “She has made the minutiae of a tions to create who you are? have in watching his son grow up and explain why you 3 woman’s everyday life as valid a subject for poetry as What ways have they used their think this would be an effective comparison. imaginations to create illusions of the grand abstract themes that have preoccupied other In what ways has your relationship to a parent, poets.” Do you agree or disagree with the reviewer, who you are? 2 guardian, or older friend or sibling been similar to and why? FPG/Getty Images 154 changes and transformations conversation 155

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CLOSE READING 154 23/11/15 5:40 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 155 27/10/15 7:24 PM Both of these poems deal with a tension between love and conflict. In each poem, have students look for language that refects this tension. What does Old’s word choice reveal about the challenges of both attach- ment and freedom? You might even connect this idea to “Eveline,” p. 162.

154 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 154 04/01/16 11:17 AM TRM SUGGESTED 5 Olds

RESPONSES

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting My Son the Man and The Possessive Suggested responses to the Sharon Olds Describe the speaker of this poem. What concerns c. “he looks at me / the way Houdini studied a box / My Son the Man and The Possessive questions for this reading can be 1 her? What scares her? Be sure to use evidence to learn the way out. . . .” (ll. 14–16) found on the Teacher’s Resource from the text to support your response. Flash Drive. Born in San Francisco in 1942, Sharon Olds has become one of Now that you have explored the individual parts of the America’s most well-known and critically praised poets. She This poem makes use of a literary device known as extended Houdini metaphor, explain the overall has published numerous collections of poetry, including The 2 a “conceit” or an “extended metaphor,” in which purpose of the comparison. What is Sharon Olds TEACHING IDEA – an author repeats a comparison multiple times saying about the relationships between mothers and Dead and the Living (1984), which received the National Book UNDERSTANDING Q3 throughout a text. In this case, the speaker makes sons by using the multiple comparisons to Houdini? Critics Circle Award. Considered a “confessional poet,” Olds three separate comparisons between her son and the This question could benefit from The speaker admits that “[t]his was not what she typically writes about her own life, as she does in these two famous magician Harry Houdini. For each of the careful processing. Consider had in mind” when confronted by the inevitable poems about her children growing up and the effect it has on following lines from the poem, explain how the 3 approaching this task in small maturation of her son into a man. In what ways is the reference to Houdini reveals a different aspect of the her as a mother. © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos speaker’s concern specifically about gender, and in groups before they write. relationship between the speaker and her son: what ways is it about watching a child grow up? Olds My Son the Man a. “his shoulders get a lot wider / the way Houdini would expand his body / while people were putting The final lines of the poem bring the situation into TEACHING IDEA – Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider, him in chains. . . .” (ll. 1–3) 4 the present, as the son looks at his mother and UNDERSTANDING Q4 the way Houdini would expand his body b. “when he pressed up through me like a / sealed smiles like Houdini does before he lets “himself be This question would make a good manacled” (l. 16). From the point of view of the while people were putting him in chains. It seems trunk through the ice of the Hudson, / snapped the class discussion, as it opens up padlock, unsnaked the chains, / appeared in my speaker, is this a sinister or a playful smile, or no time since I would help him put on his sleeper, the text in multiple ways. arms. . . .” (ll. 11–14) something else? 5 guide his calves into the shadowy interior, zip him up and toss him up and catch his weight. I cannot imagine him no longer a child, and I know I must get ready, Analyzing language, Style, and Structure get over my fear of men now my son 10 is going to be one. This was not The poem begins with the word “suddenly” in The speaker claims that she must get over her what I had in mind when he pressed up through me like a 1 describing how the speaker’s son’s shoulders 3 “fear of men” (l. 9). How does she communicate seem to expand quickly. How does the use of this this fear throughout this poem? sealed trunk through the ice of the Hudson, opening signal the way that time will be presented in In lines 7–8, the speaker admits, “I cannot imagine snapped the padlock, unsnaked the chains, this poem? Explain the possible implications of the him / no longer a child.” Discuss how this appeared in my arms. Now he looks at me speaker’s sense of time. 4 description, which contrasts with the title of the poem, 15 the way Houdini studied a box Explain how the imagery in lines 3–7 establishes reveals a central struggle that the speaker is to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself be manacled. 2 the relationship between the mother and her son. experiencing.

This is Harry Houdini, the magician, just before connecting, Arguing, and extending he is sealed into a trunk and dumped into the Hudson River, in a famous illusion that becomes How much different would this poem be if the or different from the relationship Olds describes in this an extended metaphor in “My Son the Man.” TEACHING IDEA – speaker were a father instead of a mother? What poem? What do you think that the older person has Why do you think Olds found this particular 1 CONNECTING Q1 would the father likely focus on that the mother does struggled with as you have grown older yourself? Houdini illusion such a compelling metaphor not? Why? Think of an extended metaphor that could This prompt could manifest as a for watching her son grow up? One reviewer for the New York Times said of be used by the father to illustrate the fear he might poem or as a metaphorical draw- Sharon Olds, “She has made the minutiae of a have in watching his son grow up and explain why you 3 ing simply of the concept that woman’s everyday life as valid a subject for poetry as think this would be an effective comparison. the grand abstract themes that have preoccupied other would be used as the conceit of In what ways has your relationship to a parent, poets.” Do you agree or disagree with the reviewer, the poem. Have the student share 2 guardian, or older friend or sibling been similar to and why? the art and their process. FPG/Getty Images 154 changes and transformations conversation 155

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 154 23/11/15 5:40 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 155 TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 –7:24 PM CONNECTING Q2 This one could be done as a reflective writing task, but it could also be modified into an interview with the parent /guardian.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 155 04/01/16 11:17 AM CLOSE READING 5 Olds

Have students identify and list of Olds The Possessive all of the words that have associ- Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting

ations with violence or war (knife, My Son the Man and The Possessive My daughter — as if I 10 All the little The “possessive” is a grammatical term indicating In the fifth stanza, the speaker decides that rope, helmet, cut, grind, fires, owned her — that girl with the spliced ropes are sliced. The curtain of 1 ownership. How is the idea of ownership that 3 “daughter” is no longer an adequate description etc). How does Olds’ diction hair wispy as a frayed bellpull dark paper-cuts veils the face that is introduced in the title developed further in the and she will have to find “another word” (l. 15). What shape the tone and meaning of started from next to nothing in my body — poem? has led her to decide she needs a different word? What words do you think the speaker might choose to the piece? has been to the barber, that knife grinder, On a literal level, the speaker is describing her express her new understanding of her relationship with daughter’s visit to the barber where she gets a 5 and had the edge of her hair sharpened. My body. My daughter. I’ll have to find 2 her daughter? 15 another word. In her bright helmet significantly different hairstyle. But, what does the haircut represent metaphorically? And what effect is By the final stanza, according to the speaker, the TEACHING IDEA Each strand now cuts she looks at me as if across a this change having on the speaker? 4 daughter has become an “enemy” who awaits a Have students work in pairs to both ways. The blade of new bangs great distance. Distant fires can be “war” (ll. 19–20). In what way is the haircut part of the determine how these poems hangs over her red-brown eyes glimpsed in the resin lights of her eyes: preparation for this war? would be performed on a stage. like carbon steel. Have them identify non-verbal the watch fires of an enemy, a while before communication like blocking and 20 the war starts. hand gestures as well as tone and stress for the performance. Analyzing language, Style, and Structure One student can function as the seeing connections The speaker begins the poem by considering the The phrase “cuts both ways” means that director, watching and coaching, 1 phrase “my daughter,” and then dismisses it 3 something has two different effects simultaneously, the other as the performer. Have These photographs are part of a collection called because it implies ownership. What effect does the usually one positive and the other negative. What are the performer deliver the poem A Girl and Her Room by photographer Rania speaker’s dismissal of the phrase have on our two possible effects that may be occurring as a result for the class and have the direc- Matar. In her project statement, Matar says, “As a understanding of her attitude toward her daughter? of the daughter’s haircut?

tor answer questions about the mother of teenage daughters I watch their In the opening stanza, the speaker reveals that her The speaker sees “[d]istant fires” in the “resin lights” performance. The audience passage from girlhood into adulthood, fascinated 2 daughter has just been to the barber for a haircut. 4 (ll. 17–18) of her daughter’s eyes, continuing the should point out the choices that with the transformation taking place, the adult She also describes the barber as a “knife grinder,” who warlike imagery. Describe the tone that these phrases, they liked and ask questions that personality taking shape and a gradual self- sharpens the “edge” of her daughter’s hair (ll. 4–5). In along with those in the previous stanza, create in the probe for the reasoning behind consciousness replacing the carefree world they what ways does this description set up different poem as a whole. In your description, try using two possible ways of understanding the significance of this adjectives to express the complexity of the speaker’s other choices. had known and lived in so far.” event? position.

How do the images reflect this transformation, and © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE how might the images relate to Olds’s poem “The TEACHING IDEA Possessive”? Dima, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010 After reading the poems, have a connecting, Arguing, and extending Socratic Seminar where you ask students to answer these ques- For a variety of reasons, adolescence is often a Consider the gender issues raised in this poem tions: how do our parents shape 1 difficult time for the relationship between parents 2 and the previous poem, “My Son the Man.” Both our identity? To what extent are and their children. This poem uses extensive imagery are by the same poet, but the speaker response to we in conflict with them as we of weapons and warfare to describe the changing each child is quite different, in part because of gender establish our identity? To what relationship between the mother and daughter. Explain differences. Write a comparison analyzing how gender the ways in which the conflict between parents and affects the parent-child relationships in these two extent do we survive or escape children is like warfare and the ways it can be seen in poems. our parents? less adversarial terms.

TRM SOCRATIC © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE SEMINAR Krystal, Brookline, Massachusetts, 2009 Brianna, Winchester, Massachusetts, 2009 For more information and ideas on how to conduct an effective 156 changes and transformations conversation 157 Socratic Seminar, see the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive.

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEA 156 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 157 27/10/15 7:24 PM Present your students with these And though they are with you yet words from Khalil Gibran: they belong not to you.

Your children are not your Check that they understand what children. the second line is implying. Would the speaker in Olds’s They are the sons and daughters poem agree with these ideas? Be of Life’s longing for itself. sure that student use textual They come through you but not support to backup their stance. from you,

156 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 156 04/01/16 11:18 AM TRM SUGGESTED 5 Olds

RESPONSES Olds The Possessive

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting Suggested responses to the

My daughter — as if I 10 All the little The “possessive” is a grammatical term indicating In the fifth stanza, the speaker decides that My Son the Man and The Possessive questions for this reading can be owned her — that girl with the spliced ropes are sliced. The curtain of 1 ownership. How is the idea of ownership that 3 “daughter” is no longer an adequate description found on the Teacher’s Resource hair wispy as a frayed bellpull dark paper-cuts veils the face that is introduced in the title developed further in the and she will have to find “another word” (l. 15). What Flash Drive. started from next to nothing in my body — poem? has led her to decide she needs a different word? What words do you think the speaker might choose to has been to the barber, that knife grinder, On a literal level, the speaker is describing her express her new understanding of her relationship with TEACHING IDEA – daughter’s visit to the barber where she gets a 5 and had the edge of her hair sharpened. My body. My daughter. I’ll have to find 2 her daughter? UNDERSTANDING Q3 15 another word. In her bright helmet significantly different hairstyle. But, what does the haircut represent metaphorically? And what effect is By the final stanza, according to the speaker, the This one mght work better with a Each strand now cuts she looks at me as if across a this change having on the speaker? 4 daughter has become an “enemy” who awaits a thinking partner. both ways. The blade of new bangs great distance. Distant fires can be “war” (ll. 19–20). In what way is the haircut part of the hangs over her red-brown eyes glimpsed in the resin lights of her eyes: preparation for this war? like carbon steel. TEACHING IDEA – the watch fires of an enemy, a while before UNDERSTANDING Q4 20 the war starts. Question 4 could work as a whole class conversation if you want to Analyzing language, Style, and Structure explore how we struggle against our parents to author our own seeing connections The speaker begins the poem by considering the The phrase “cuts both ways” means that subjective judgments of the world 1 phrase “my daughter,” and then dismisses it 3 something has two different effects simultaneously, These photographs are part of a collection called because it implies ownership. What effect does the usually one positive and the other negative. What are and ourselves. A Girl and Her Room by photographer Rania speaker’s dismissal of the phrase have on our two possible effects that may be occurring as a result Matar. In her project statement, Matar says, “As a understanding of her attitude toward her daughter? of the daughter’s haircut? mother of teenage daughters I watch their In the opening stanza, the speaker reveals that her The speaker sees “[d]istant fires” in the “resin lights” passage from girlhood into adulthood, fascinated 2 daughter has just been to the barber for a haircut. 4 (ll. 17–18) of her daughter’s eyes, continuing the with the transformation taking place, the adult She also describes the barber as a “knife grinder,” who warlike imagery. Describe the tone that these phrases, personality taking shape and a gradual self- sharpens the “edge” of her daughter’s hair (ll. 4–5). In along with those in the previous stanza, create in the consciousness replacing the carefree world they what ways does this description set up different poem as a whole. In your description, try using two possible ways of understanding the significance of this adjectives to express the complexity of the speaker’s had known and lived in so far.” event? position.

How do the images reflect this transformation, and © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE how might the images relate to Olds’s poem “The Possessive”? Dima, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010 connecting, Arguing, and extending

For a variety of reasons, adolescence is often a Consider the gender issues raised in this poem TEACHING IDEA – 1 difficult time for the relationship between parents 2 and the previous poem, “My Son the Man.” Both CONNECTING Q1 and their children. This poem uses extensive imagery are by the same poet, but the speaker response to of weapons and warfare to describe the changing each child is quite different, in part because of gender This prompt lends itself to an relationship between the mother and daughter. Explain differences. Write a comparison analyzing how gender opinion piece. It could also be the ways in which the conflict between parents and affects the parent-child relationships in these two done as a short video children is like warfare and the ways it can be seen in poems. commentary. less adversarial terms. © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE © Rania Matar/INSTITUTE

Krystal, Brookline, Massachusetts, 2009 Brianna, Winchester, Massachusetts, 2009

156 changes and transformations conversation 157

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 156 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 157 27/10/15 7:24 PM

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 157 04/01/16 11:18 AM TEACHING IDEA – 5 Shakespeare

CONNECTING Q3 In “The Possessive,” the speaker focuses Key cOntext The excerpt that follows is from the comedy As You Like It (1603), This assignment lends itself to a Identity and Society 3 specifically on her relationship with her daughter which is about a group of exiled noblemen and women who find love amid mistaken and possible conflicts with her daughter in the future. group discussion activity. A identities in a forest in rural France. The speech below, one of Shakespeare’s most However, researcher Karen Fingerman, PhD, who student interested in following interviewed adult women about their relationships famous, is delivered as a monologue by the often-gloomy Jaques, one of the exiled this prompt could also conduct a with their elderly mothers, found that despite conflicts lords. In it, Jaques describes what he sees as the life cycle of mankind, from childhood series of interview with women of and complicated emotions, the mother-daughter bond to old age, with five “ages” in between. The Seven Ages of Man multiple ages in their community is so strong that 80 percent to 90 percent of women and/or family and then write a at midlife report good relationships with their short piece synthesizing her mothers—though they wish those relationships were All the world’s a stage, even better. What do you think creates this strong findings. And all the men and women merely players. bond between mothers and daughters, even if they experience some conflict earlier in life? Is there They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts,

something inevitable about conflict between mothers Images Entertainment/Getty Donna Ward/Getty and daughters earlier in life that is then resolved later 5 His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, in life? If so, what are some possible reasons for the Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. changed relationships? like, ‘Why did you do that? That’s such an error.’ Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel TEACHING IDEA – Emma Watson, the actress who played Hermione And I was like, ‘Well, honestly, I don’t really care And shining morning face, creeping like snail CONNECTING Q4 4 in the Harry Potter films, cut her hair immediately what you think!’ I’ve never felt so confident as I did Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, after the end of filming the last installment. The haircut with short hair—I felt really good in my own skin.” 10 Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Prompt 4 could be presented as became a major media event, and marked a clear —Glamour Magazine Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, a short film. departure between the old Emma and the new Emma. Similarly, Sharon Olds has taken a simple haircut and Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,1 “I have to [grow my hair out] for roles. But if I had it elevated its importance in this poem. Is getting a new Jealous in honor, sudden, and quick in quarrel, my way, I would have just kept it short forever. Of hairstyle really that significant? Do you think that there Seeking the bubble reputation course, men like long hair. There’s no two ways are different standards for males and females when it about it. The majority of the boys around me were comes to the significance of hair? 15 Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon2 lined, BUILDING CONTEXT With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; The number of unfamiliar words And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts in the passage may overwhelm 3 20 Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, English language learners. Prior With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, to class, identify likely problem- His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide atic vocabulary for your students. For his shrunk shank;4 and his big manly voice, During class have students The Seven Ages of Man self-select terms they need to Turning again toward childish treble, pipes know from your list. Have William Shakespeare 25 And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, students complete a vocabulary That ends this strange eventful history, four square for their word. To William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is considered one of the Is second childishness and mere oblivion, construct the four square, fold a greatest playwrights in history. His plays Romeo and Juliet, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. paper in half, twice. Use one Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, and many others are quarter of the page for each of among the most widely read and performed plays in the English the following: The word; the defi- language. While many of Shakespeare’s best-known works are 1pard: Leopard. —Eds. nition with its part of speech; use classified as tragedies, he also wrote a number of very successful 2capon: Rooster intended for eating. —Eds. 3 the word in a sentence; draw a comedies, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of pantaloon: A stock character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, the pantaloon is an absurd doddering old man. —Eds. 4shank: Calf. —Eds. simple image illustrating the the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, and As You Like It. (attr. to)/National Portrait Gallery, London, UK/Bridgeman to)/National Portrait Gallery, (attr. Images concept. Post the terms about Portrait of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) c. 1610 (oil on canvas), Taylor, John (d. 1651) the room for a gallery walk. You might allow students to take photos of the four squares for 158 changes and transformations conversation 159 later reference.

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 158 29/10/15 3:06 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 159 27/10/15 7:24 PM

158 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 158 04/01/16 11:18 AM TRM VOCABULARY 5 Shakespeare

In “The Possessive,” the speaker focuses Key cOntext The excerpt that follows is from the comedy As You Like It (1603), A list of challenging words from Identity and Society 3 specifically on her relationship with her daughter which is about a group of exiled noblemen and women who find love amid mistaken this reading can be found in the and possible conflicts with her daughter in the future. identities in a forest in rural France. The speech below, one of Shakespeare’s most Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. However, researcher Karen Fingerman, PhD, who interviewed adult women about their relationships famous, is delivered as a monologue by the often-gloomy Jaques, one of the exiled with their elderly mothers, found that despite conflicts lords. In it, Jaques describes what he sees as the life cycle of mankind, from childhood and complicated emotions, the mother-daughter bond to old age, with five “ages” in between. The Seven Ages of Man is so strong that 80 percent to 90 percent of women TEACHING IDEA at midlife report good relationships with their Chunk the text into seven parts mothers—though they wish those relationships were All the world’s a stage, even better. What do you think creates this strong and ask groups of students to And all the men and women merely players. bond between mothers and daughters, even if they paraphrase the text. Remind They have their exits and their entrances, experience some conflict earlier in life? Is there students about the differences And one man in his time plays many parts, something inevitable about conflict between mothers Images Entertainment/Getty Donna Ward/Getty between summarizing and para- and daughters earlier in life that is then resolved later 5 His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, phrasing. Have each group share in life? If so, what are some possible reasons for the Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. both their paraphrase and the changed relationships? like, ‘Why did you do that? That’s such an error.’ Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel original language to the class. Emma Watson, the actress who played Hermione And I was like, ‘Well, honestly, I don’t really care And shining morning face, creeping like snail 4 in the Harry Potter films, cut her hair immediately what you think!’ I’ve never felt so confident as I did Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, after the end of filming the last installment. The haircut with short hair—I felt really good in my own skin.” 10 Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad became a major media event, and marked a clear —Glamour Magazine Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, departure between the old Emma and the new Emma. TEACHING IDEA Similarly, Sharon Olds has taken a simple haircut and Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,1 This text has rich imagery and “I have to [grow my hair out] for roles. But if I had it elevated its importance in this poem. Is getting a new Jealous in honor, sudden, and quick in quarrel, my way, I would have just kept it short forever. Of hairstyle really that significant? Do you think that there figurative language. Prior to Seeking the bubble reputation course, men like long hair. There’s no two ways are different standards for males and females when it class, identify rich phrases. Give 15 Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, about it. The majority of the boys around me were comes to the significance of hair? each student a phrase, like In fair round belly with good capon2 lined, “creeping like a snail unwilling to With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, school” and ask them to render it. Full of wise saws and modern instances; Depending on time and interest, And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts the rendering could be a physical 3 20 Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, performance of the image, a With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, sketch or even a collage. His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide Visualizing all of these images For his shrunk shank;4 and his big manly voice, The Seven Ages of Man before approaching the text will Turning again toward childish treble, pipes improve comprehension. William Shakespeare 25 And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is considered one of the Is second childishness and mere oblivion, greatest playwrights in history. His plays Romeo and Juliet, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. TEACHING IDEA Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, and many others are Shakespeare is meant to be among the most widely read and performed plays in the English heard. Read the text together as language. While many of Shakespeare’s best-known works are 1pard: Leopard. —Eds. a class a few times. On the first classified as tragedies, he also wrote a number of very successful 2capon: Rooster intended for eating. —Eds. time through, each student reads 3 comedies, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of pantaloon: A stock character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, the pantaloon is an absurd doddering old man. —Eds. 4shank: Calf. —Eds. a line of the text out loud. The the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, and As You Like It. (attr. to)/National Portrait Gallery, London, UK/Bridgeman to)/National Portrait Gallery, (attr. Images second time through, change Portrait of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) c. 1610 (oil on canvas), Taylor, John (d. 1651) readers after each period. The third time through, have eight students volunteer to do a 158 changes and transformations conversation 159 dramatic reading: one to read the introduction, and then seven to take on each “age.”

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Identity and Society Analyzing language, Style, and Structure

seeing connections After the opening line, Shakespeare writes “the There are a number of places where Shakespeare 1 men and women merely players.” What is the 4 seems to be mocking the representations of man. In a reading room at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., there is a large effect of the word “merely” in the second line? How Identify one of these lines and explain the specific

stained glass by artist Nicola d’Ascenzo that represents each of the seven ages of man. would the tone be different if that word was not words that he uses for humor. The Seven Ages of Man included? Examine each section of the stained glass shown here and explain which words or phrases What is the effect of the repetition of the word from Jaques’s speech you think likely contributed to d’Ascenzo’s interpretation. Shakespeare uses a number of similes to describe 5 “sans” in the last line? the stages men and women go through in life. 2 Each of the stages does not receive the same Paraphrase each of the following similes and explain number of lines: some are longer and some are how each contributes to the overall tone: 6 shorter. Look back through the speech to identify the a. “creeping like snail” (l. 8) “ages” with the fewest and most number of lines. What b. “Sighing like furnace” (l. 10) significance can you place on these choices? c. “bearded like the pard” (l. 12) What is Shakespeare’s tone toward each of the In addition to using similes, Shakespeare also uses 7 stages of life? How does this tone change or shift 3 imagery to describe many of the stages of life. as the speech progresses? Rewrite one or more of the Paraphrase each of the following lines and explain how ages with different words that change the tone. each contributes to the overall theme: a. “Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms” (l. 6) b. “Seeking the bubble reputation / Even in the cannon’s mouth” (ll. 14–15) c. “In fair round belly with good capon lined” (l. 16) d. “big manly voice, / Turning again toward childish treble, pipes / And whistles in his sound” (ll. 23–25)

connecting, Arguing, and extending

In the opening lines of the speech, Jaques implies As You Like It was first performed in 1603. Think TRM SUGGESTED 1 that both men and women are included in these 3 about how this excerpt from the play would be RESPONSES ages of “man.” How would his monologue be different similar or different if it were written today. Consider if it were specifically about the seven ages of differences such as changes in available professions, Suggested responses to the “woman”? Write a line or two that would reflect one or medical care, life expectancy, technology, questions for this reading can be more of these ages. transportation, and so on. Then, in poetry or prose,

Photo by Julie Ainsworth. By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Photo by Julie Ainsworth. By permission of the Folger Shakespeare write the “Seven Ages of Twenty-First-Century Man (or found on the Teacher’s Resource Jaques, the character from the play who speaks Woman)” to reflect today’s stages of life. Or, using Flash Drive. these lines, presents humankind as pretty foolish 2 magazine cutouts or your own drawings, construct a throughout all seven stages of life. Write a piece in Understanding and Interpreting contemporary “Seven Ages of Man” collage. TEACHING IDEA – which you argue that Jaques’s representation of our foolishness is either accurate or not. Be sure to use UNDERSTANDING Q3 Paraphrase the seven ages in seven Clearly these seven ages of man have been your own experiences and other real-life events along This question could be answered 1 sentences. 3 selected intentionally to represent a fairly gloomy with lines from the play to support your response. outlook on life. What ages of man are missing and how with a performance. Students Explain William Shakespeare’s opening metaphor: would their inclusion change the meaning of the could put together the new and “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and 2 monologue? improved seven (or eight) ages of women merely players.” How is life like being an actor man and perform them. onstage? What aspects of life are not accounted for in this metaphor? 160 changes and transformations conversation 161

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Identity and Society Analyzing language, Style, and Structure seeing connections After the opening line, Shakespeare writes “the There are a number of places where Shakespeare 1 men and women merely players.” What is the 4 seems to be mocking the representations of man. In a reading room at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., there is a large effect of the word “merely” in the second line? How Identify one of these lines and explain the specific

connecting, Arguing, and extending

In the opening lines of the speech, Jaques implies As You Like It was first performed in 1603. Think TEACHING IDEA – 1 that both men and women are included in these 3 about how this excerpt from the play would be CONNECTING Q1 ages of “man.” How would his monologue be different similar or different if it were written today. Consider if it were specifically about the seven ages of differences such as changes in available professions, This first prompt could be done “woman”? Write a line or two that would reflect one or medical care, life expectancy, technology, as a group and performed. more of these ages. transportation, and so on. Then, in poetry or prose,

Photo by Julie Ainsworth. By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Photo by Julie Ainsworth. By permission of the Folger Shakespeare write the “Seven Ages of Twenty-First-Century Man (or Jaques, the character from the play who speaks Woman)” to reflect today’s stages of life. Or, using these lines, presents humankind as pretty foolish 2 magazine cutouts or your own drawings, construct a throughout all seven stages of life. Write a piece in contemporary “Seven Ages of Man” collage. Understanding and Interpreting which you argue that Jaques’s representation of our foolishness is either accurate or not. Be sure to use Paraphrase the seven ages in seven Clearly these seven ages of man have been your own experiences and other real-life events along 1 sentences. 3 selected intentionally to represent a fairly gloomy with lines from the play to support your response. outlook on life. What ages of man are missing and how Explain William Shakespeare’s opening metaphor: would their inclusion change the meaning of the “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and 2 monologue? women merely players.” How is life like being an actor onstage? What aspects of life are not accounted for in this metaphor? 160 changes and transformations conversation 161

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 161 04/01/16 11:18 AM BUILDING CONTEXT 5 Joyce

Setting is important to under- had shelter and food; she had those whom she would be married — she, Eveline. People would standing Eveline’s options. Joyce Identity and Society Eveline had known all her life about her. Of course she treat her with respect then. She would not be could have chosen any number had to work hard, both in the house and at busi- treated as her mother had been. Even now, James Joyce Eveline of places for Frank to offer for ness. What would they say of her in the Stores though she was over nineteen, she sometimes their new life. Consider front James Joyce (1882–1941) is considered one of the most when they found out that she had run away with felt herself in danger of her father’s violence. She loading some materials for your influential writers of the twentieth century. His masterpiece, a fellow? Say she was a fool, perhaps; and her knew it was that that had given her the palpita- class by showing them images of Ulysses, takes the myth of the Odyssey and updates it to place would be filled up by advertisement. Miss tions. When they were growing up he had never Ireland and Buenos Aires. The contemporary Ireland. While often recognized for his novels, Gavan would be glad. She had always had an gone for her like he used to go for Harry and comparison of a few images from Joyce was also a highly acclaimed short-story writer. This story edge on her, especially whenever there were Ernest, because she was a girl but latterly he had each place would help to identify is taken from his collection Dubliners, which he finished writing people listening. begun to threaten her and say what he would do that this is no small change in in 1904 at the age of twenty-two but was not able to publish “Miss Hill, don’t you see these ladies are to her only for her dead mother’s sake. And no culture, weather, or hemisphere. until 1914. The story focuses on the difficult choices faced by waiting?” she had nobody to protect her. Ernest was dead At this time, explain that Buenos “Look lively, Miss Hill, please.” and Harry, who was in the church decorating Aires translates to Good Air or Eveline, a young Irish woman: should she stay with her family She would not cry many tears at leaving the business, was nearly always down somewhere in Fair Winds. The original name of and the only home she has known, or leave with a young man Berenice Abbott/Masters/Getty Images Berenice the country. Besides, the invariable squabble for the city can be translated to the for the promise of something new? Stores. money on Saturday nights had begun to weary City of Our Lady Saint Mary of the But in her new home, in a distant unknown her unspeakably. She always gave her entire Fair Winds. Later, when you country, it would not be like that. Then she consider the absence of the he sat at the window watching the evening mother was alive. That was a long time ago; she mother and the focus on her care Sinvade the avenue. Her head was leaned and her brothers and sisters were all grown up for her brothers and father, it will against the window curtains and in her nostrils her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, 1 be easy to see Eveline fulfilling was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired. too, and the Waters had gone back to England. the “perfect mother “ archetype Few people passed. The man out of the last Everything changes. Now she was going to go of Mary if this seed is planted. house passed on his way home; she heard his away like the others, to leave her home. footsteps clacking along the concrete pavement Home! She looked round the room, reviewing and afterwards crunching on the cinder path all its familiar objects which she had dusted once TRM VOCABULARY before the new red houses. One time there used a week for so many years, wondering where on A list of challenging words from to be a field there in which they used to play earth all the dust came from. Perhaps she would this reading can be found in the every evening with other people’s children. Then never see again those familiar objects from which Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. a man from Belfast bought the field and built she had never dreamed of being divided. And yet houses in it — not like their little brown houses during all those years she had never found out the BUILDING CONTEXT but bright brick houses with shining roofs. The name of the priest whose yellowing photograph children of the avenue used to play together in hung on the wall above the broken harmonium3 Prior to this lesson have students that field — the Devines, the Waters, the Dunns, beside the coloured print of the promises made to do a quick Internet search on little Keogh the cripple, she and her brothers Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque. He had been a Women’s Rights in Ireland in the and sisters. Ernest, however, never played: he school friend of her father. Whenever he showed Early 20th Century. They will was too grown up. Her father used often to hunt the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass quickly learn that women were them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick; it with a casual word: treated as second-class citizens. but usually little Keogh used to keep nix2 and “He is in Melbourne now.”

Ask them to consider how our Mary Plunkett Mary Plunkett call out when he saw her father coming. Still 5 She had consented to go away, to leave her time is both similar and different. they seemed to have been rather happy then. home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each Note: Another negative force in Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her side of the question. In her home anyway she Mary Plunkett is an Irish artist, graphic designer, and printmaker who specializes in letterpress. Eveline’s life is her abusive father. She created these images based on the story “Eveline.” Although mild in this story, you 1cretonne: Heavy cotton fabric used for upholstery. —Eds. 3 harmonium: A small organ powered by a foot-operated Look carefully at each image, identifying a specific phrase or sentence that likely inspired should be aware that the depic- 2keep nix: Keep watch. —Eds. bellows. —Eds. Plunkett, and explain Plunkett’s interpretation of Joyce’s words. tion of abuse and alcoholism may be difficult for some students 162 changes and transformations conversation 163 who have gone through similar experiences or are secretly experiencing them now.

CLOSE READING 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 162 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 27/10/15 7:24 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 163 27/10/15 7:25 PM Ask students to highlight focalization strategy being used Have students look carefully at might that reveal about their language in paragraph 2 that here that merges narrative voice paragraph 3. To understand relationship? refers to time or is an indication and character voice (see Eveline’s relationship with her of time. Careful observation Analyzing Q1) and from this same father and the conditions she should help students see that the activity we can see the shifts in faces as a woman at that time, narration has shifted from third time that will establish the aware- ask students why she doesn’t person objective to third person ness of time needed in order to know the name of the priest. Why omniscient. There is an internal answer Analyzing Q6 later. didn’t she ask her father? What

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had shelter and food; she had those whom she would be married — she, Eveline. People would A surprising plot development Identity and Society Eveline had known all her life about her. Of course she treat her with respect then. She would not be here in paragraphs 5-9: Eveline had to work hard, both in the house and at busi- treated as her mother had been. Even now, plans to “run away” with a man. James Joyce Eveline ness. What would they say of her in the Stores though she was over nineteen, she sometimes You can help students connect to James Joyce (1882–1941) is considered one of the most when they found out that she had run away with felt herself in danger of her father’s violence. She the character’s context by asking them if this would be a cause for influential writers of the twentieth century. His masterpiece, a fellow? Say she was a fool, perhaps; and her knew it was that that had given her the palpita- concern in their community. Ulysses, takes the myth of the Odyssey and updates it to place would be filled up by advertisement. Miss tions. When they were growing up he had never Compare that to the way she contemporary Ireland. While often recognized for his novels, Gavan would be glad. She had always had an gone for her like he used to go for Harry and treats the idea. How serious of a Joyce was also a highly acclaimed short-story writer. This story edge on her, especially whenever there were Ernest, because she was a girl but latterly he had concern is the community’s reac- is taken from his collection Dubliners, which he finished writing people listening. begun to threaten her and say what he would do tion for her? Explain why. Ask the in 1904 at the age of twenty-two but was not able to publish “Miss Hill, don’t you see these ladies are to her only for her dead mother’s sake. And no students if they can infer anything until 1914. The story focuses on the difficult choices faced by waiting?” she had nobody to protect her. Ernest was dead about the status of women based “Look lively, Miss Hill, please.” and Harry, who was in the church decorating Eveline, a young Irish woman: should she stay with her family on the way Eveline thinks and by She would not cry many tears at leaving the business, was nearly always down somewhere in and the only home she has known, or leave with a young man how others interact with her in Berenice Abbott/Masters/Getty Images Berenice the country. Besides, the invariable squabble for for the promise of something new? Stores. these paragraphs. But in her new home, in a distant unknown money on Saturday nights had begun to weary country, it would not be like that. Then she her unspeakably. She always gave her entire he sat at the window watching the evening mother was alive. That was a long time ago; she Sinvade the avenue. Her head was leaned and her brothers and sisters were all grown up against the window curtains and in her nostrils her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, was the odour of dusty cretonne.1 She was tired. too, and the Waters had gone back to England. Few people passed. The man out of the last Everything changes. Now she was going to go house passed on his way home; she heard his away like the others, to leave her home. footsteps clacking along the concrete pavement Home! She looked round the room, reviewing and afterwards crunching on the cinder path all its familiar objects which she had dusted once before the new red houses. One time there used a week for so many years, wondering where on to be a field there in which they used to play earth all the dust came from. Perhaps she would every evening with other people’s children. Then never see again those familiar objects from which a man from Belfast bought the field and built she had never dreamed of being divided. And yet houses in it — not like their little brown houses during all those years she had never found out the but bright brick houses with shining roofs. The name of the priest whose yellowing photograph children of the avenue used to play together in hung on the wall above the broken harmonium3 that field — the Devines, the Waters, the Dunns, beside the coloured print of the promises made to little Keogh the cripple, she and her brothers Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque. He had been a and sisters. Ernest, however, never played: he school friend of her father. Whenever he showed was too grown up. Her father used often to hunt the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick; it with a casual word: but usually little Keogh used to keep nix2 and “He is in Melbourne now.” Mary Plunkett Mary Plunkett call out when he saw her father coming. Still 5 She had consented to go away, to leave her they seemed to have been rather happy then. home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her side of the question. In her home anyway she Mary Plunkett is an Irish artist, graphic designer, and printmaker who specializes in letterpress. She created these images based on the story “Eveline.”

1cretonne: Heavy cotton fabric used for upholstery. —Eds. 3 harmonium: A small organ powered by a foot-operated Look carefully at each image, identifying a specific phrase or sentence that likely inspired 2keep nix: Keep watch. —Eds. bellows. —Eds. Plunkett, and explain Plunkett’s interpretation of Joyce’s words.

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To prepare students for Analyzing wages — seven shillings — and Harry always sent then she had begun to like him. He had tales of 15 “Damned Italians! coming over here!” Q5, ask them to look closely at Identity and Society up what he could but the trouble was to get any distant countries. He had started as a deck boy As she mused the pitiful vision of her moth- the narration of Eveline’s actions money from her father. He said she used to at a pound a month on a ship of the Allan Line er’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her Eveline in paragraph 9. Students should squander the money, that she had no head, that going out to Canada. He told her the names of being — that life of commonplace sacrifices observe the general atmosphere he wasn’t going to give her his hard-earned the ships he had been on and the names of the closing in final craziness. She trembled as she of the setting and Eveline’s place money to throw about the streets, and much different services. He had sailed through the heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly in it. Why can she move and act more, for he was usually fairly bad on Saturday Straits of Magellan and he told her stories of the with foolish insistence: so decisively here? What is her night. In the end he would give her the money terrible Patagonians. He had fallen on his feet in “Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!4” motive? Later, have students and ask her had she any intention of buying Buenos Ayres, he said, and had come over to the She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. contrast this decisiveness with Sunday’s dinner. Then she had to rush out as old country just for a holiday. Of course, her Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. her indecision at the end of the quickly as she could and do her marketing, father had found out the affair and had forbid- He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she story. holding her black leather purse tightly in her den her to have anything to say to him. wanted to live. Why should she be unhappy? hand as she elbowed her way through the “I know these sailor chaps,” he said. She had a right to happiness. Frank would take crowds and returning home late under her load One day he had quarrelled with Frank and her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would of provisions. She had hard work to keep the after that she had to meet her lover secretly. save her. house together and to see that the two young The evening deepened in the avenue. The She stood among the swaying crowd in the children who had been left to her charge went to white of two letters in her lap grew indistinct. station at the North Wall. He held her hand and school regularly and got their meals regularly. It One was to Harry; the other was to her father. she knew that he was speaking to her, saying was hard work — a hard life — but now that she Ernest had been her favourite but she liked something about the passage over and over

was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly Harry too. Her father was becoming old lately, again. The station was full of soldiers with brown NY Erich Lessing/Art Resource, undesirable life. she noticed; he would miss her. Sometimes he baggages. Through the wide doors of the sheds 10 She was about to explore another life with could be very nice. Not long before, when she she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the Look at this painting, Girl at a Window Reading a Frank. Frank was very kind, manly, open- had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a boat, lying in beside the quay5 wall, with illu- Letter, by Jan Vermeer. It was created around 1659, hearted. She was to go away with him by the ghost story and made toast for her at the fire. mined portholes. She answered nothing. She felt over two hundred years before this short story was night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Another day, when their mother was alive, they her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of written. Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of Howth. distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show What elements found in the painting would apply her. How well she remembered the first time she She remembered her father putting on her her what was her duty. The boat blew a long to the character of Eveline and her situation, and TEACHING IDEA had seen him; he was lodging in a house on the mother’s bonnet to make the children laugh. mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, what elements would not? Is Frank another form of patriar- main road where she used to visit. It seemed a Her time was running out but she continued tomorrow she would be on the sea with Frank, All the seas of the world tumbled about her chal dominance, or truly a poten- few weeks ago. He was standing at the gate, his to sit by the window, leaning her head against steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage heart. He was drawing her into them: he would tial escape for Eveline? Students peaked cap pushed back on his head and his the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty had been booked. Could she still draw back after drown her. She gripped with both hands at the may benefit from drawing a Venn hair tumbled forward over a face of bronze. cretonne. Down far in the avenue she could hear all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a diagram to compare and contrast Then they had come to know each other. He a street organ playing. She knew the air. Strange nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips iron railing. Frank and the father. This will used to meet her outside the Stores every that it should come that very night to remind her in silent fervent prayer. “Come!” help with Understanding Q3 evening and see her home. He took her to see of the promise to her mother, her promise to 20 A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands and Q6. The Bohemian Girl and she felt elated as she sat keep the home together as long as she could. seize her hand: clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with She remembered the last night of her mother’s “Come!” sent a cry of anguish. him. He was awfully fond of music and sang a illness; she was again in the close dark room at 25 “Eveline! Evvy!” little. People knew that they were courting and, the other side of the hall and outside she heard a He rushed beyond the barrier and called to when he sang about the lass that loves a sailor, melancholy air of Italy. The organ-player had her to follow. He was shouted at to go on but he she always felt pleasantly confused. He used to been ordered to go away and given sixpence. 4Gaelic for “The end of pleasure is pain.” —Eds. still called to her. She set her white face to him, 5quay: Concrete walkway along or extending out over a body call her Poppens out of fun. First of all it had She remembered her father strutting back into of water used as a loading area for ships. Similar to a pier, or passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave been an excitement for her to have a fellow and the sickroom saying: jetty. —Eds. him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.

164 changes and transformations conversation 165

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd CLOSE READING 164 27/10/15 7:25 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 165 27/10/15 7:25 PM Pause to point out the phrase class should recognize dust as “dusty cretonne” in paragraph 14, part of the essence of mundane a repetition from paragraph 1. housework, but they should also Ask students to quickly close- be draw to larger existential read this paragraph for all refer- concerns (dust to dust; what is ences to dust and air—as inclu- this quintessence of dust?), as sive as possible. Pause to think well as exploring the imagery of critically about our associations Eveline being stifled by her with dust. Do a word web. The surroundings.

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wages — seven shillings — and Harry always sent then she had begun to like him. He had tales of 15 “Damned Italians! coming over here!” Identity and Society up what he could but the trouble was to get any distant countries. He had started as a deck boy As she mused the pitiful vision of her moth- money from her father. He said she used to at a pound a month on a ship of the Allan Line er’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her Eveline squander the money, that she had no head, that going out to Canada. He told her the names of being — that life of commonplace sacrifices he wasn’t going to give her his hard-earned the ships he had been on and the names of the closing in final craziness. She trembled as she CHECK FOR money to throw about the streets, and much different services. He had sailed through the heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly UNDERSTANDING more, for he was usually fairly bad on Saturday Straits of Magellan and he told her stories of the with foolish insistence: In paragraphs 17 and 22, Eveline night. In the end he would give her the money terrible Patagonians. He had fallen on his feet in “Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!4” imagines two separate fates with Buenos Ayres, he said, and had come over to the She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. and ask her had she any intention of buying Frank. In each paragraph, Frank Sunday’s dinner. Then she had to rush out as old country just for a holiday. Of course, her Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. does different things to her. How quickly as she could and do her marketing, father had found out the affair and had forbid- He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she does Joyce depict Frank’s physi- holding her black leather purse tightly in her den her to have anything to say to him. wanted to live. Why should she be unhappy? cal influence in each paragraph? hand as she elbowed her way through the “I know these sailor chaps,” he said. She had a right to happiness. Frank would take How are they similar and differ- crowds and returning home late under her load One day he had quarrelled with Frank and her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would ent? (This may help students of provisions. She had hard work to keep the after that she had to meet her lover secretly. save her. develop an interpretation of Frank house together and to see that the two young The evening deepened in the avenue. The She stood among the swaying crowd in the as a threat). children who had been left to her charge went to white of two letters in her lap grew indistinct. station at the North Wall. He held her hand and school regularly and got their meals regularly. It One was to Harry; the other was to her father. she knew that he was speaking to her, saying was hard work — a hard life — but now that she Ernest had been her favourite but she liked something about the passage over and over

was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly Harry too. Her father was becoming old lately, again. The station was full of soldiers with brown NY Erich Lessing/Art Resource, undesirable life. she noticed; he would miss her. Sometimes he baggages. Through the wide doors of the sheds 10 She was about to explore another life with could be very nice. Not long before, when she she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the Look at this painting, Girl at a Window Reading a Frank. Frank was very kind, manly, open- had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a boat, lying in beside the quay5 wall, with illu- Letter, by Jan Vermeer. It was created around 1659, hearted. She was to go away with him by the ghost story and made toast for her at the fire. mined portholes. She answered nothing. She felt over two hundred years before this short story was night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Another day, when their mother was alive, they her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of written. Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of Howth. distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show What elements found in the painting would apply her. How well she remembered the first time she She remembered her father putting on her her what was her duty. The boat blew a long to the character of Eveline and her situation, and had seen him; he was lodging in a house on the mother’s bonnet to make the children laugh. mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, what elements would not? main road where she used to visit. It seemed a Her time was running out but she continued tomorrow she would be on the sea with Frank, few weeks ago. He was standing at the gate, his to sit by the window, leaning her head against steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage All the seas of the world tumbled about her peaked cap pushed back on his head and his the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty had been booked. Could she still draw back after heart. He was drawing her into them: he would hair tumbled forward over a face of bronze. cretonne. Down far in the avenue she could hear all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a drown her. She gripped with both hands at the Then they had come to know each other. He a street organ playing. She knew the air. Strange nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips iron railing. used to meet her outside the Stores every that it should come that very night to remind her in silent fervent prayer. “Come!” CLOSE READING evening and see her home. He took her to see of the promise to her mother, her promise to 20 A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands Ask students to close-read para- The Bohemian Girl and she felt elated as she sat keep the home together as long as she could. seize her hand: clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she graphs 19-26 with the following in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with She remembered the last night of her mother’s “Come!” sent a cry of anguish. focus question: How does the him. He was awfully fond of music and sang a illness; she was again in the close dark room at 25 “Eveline! Evvy!” writer use sensory details to bring little. People knew that they were courting and, the other side of the hall and outside she heard a He rushed beyond the barrier and called to Eveline’s decision-making when he sang about the lass that loves a sailor, melancholy air of Italy. The organ-player had her to follow. He was shouted at to go on but he conflict to a climax? she always felt pleasantly confused. He used to been ordered to go away and given sixpence. 4Gaelic for “The end of pleasure is pain.” —Eds. still called to her. She set her white face to him, 5quay: Concrete walkway along or extending out over a body call her Poppens out of fun. First of all it had She remembered her father strutting back into of water used as a loading area for ships. Similar to a pier, or passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave been an excitement for her to have a fellow and the sickroom saying: jetty. —Eds. him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.

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RESPONSES

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting connecting, Arguing, and extending Suggested responses to the

questions for this reading can be “Eveline” focuses on the central character’s Is Eveline a victim of her time and place—when Joyce writes that as “the evening deepened in the One of the themes Joyce explores in “Eveline” is Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School found on the Teacher’s Resource 1 decision-making process. What are the conflicting 5 opportunities for women were limited primarily to 1 avenue” (par. 13), Eveline sits with two letters in her 3 the tension between responsibility (to family, to Flash Drive. forces pulling Eveline in different directions? Identify the domestic realm—or is she a victim of her own lap, one to her father, the other to her brother Harry. community) and the desire for individual freedom. and discuss at least three. indecisive character? Or is she a combination of both? What do you imagine she has written in those letters? To what extent do you find the way that tension plays Support your response with reference to specific Try writing one and explain what in the story leads you out in today’s society similar to the way Eveline What is the nature of the relationship Eveline has passages in the story as well as your knowledge of the to believe would be in the letter. experienced it? In what ways have you experienced with her father? In what ways has it changed 2 time period. something similar to the choice that Eveline has to over time? The photo below shows Dublin at about the time face? Critics of “Eveline” disagree on their interpretations “Eveline” was set. How does the mood in this Eveline thinks of Frank in fairly general terms: 2 of the ending. Many conclude that Eveline’s contemporary image of Dublin compare to the mood Suppose that Eveline goes to Buenos Aires with he is “very kind, manly, open-hearted” (par. 10). 6 TEACHING IDEA – 3 inability to strike out with Frank is essentially accepting that Joyce creates in “Eveline”? What creates the Frank. Write a letter in her voice — a year later — What more specific information does James Joyce 4 UNDERSTANDING Q5 a life sentence as a housekeeper, even a servant, to her mood in “Eveline” and in this photograph? describing her new life to her brother Harry. Think give us? What is it about Frank that appeals to Eveline? AND Q6 family. Others argue that in choosing to stay with her about how her audience would influence what she father, she defies Frank and thus shows at least the would say and how she would say it. Questions five and six each Joyce characterizes the existence of Eveline’s mother as “that life of commonplace sacrifices promise of becoming an independent woman. Which would work well as group discus- 4 closing in final craziness” (par. 16). In what ways is interpretation do you find most plausible? Support your sions. Students could write their Eveline influenced by her mother’s life? How does her response with references and specific passages from responses before the discussion perception of her mother’s experience affect the way the story. and then revise them following Eveline thinks of marriage? the discussion.

Analyzing language, Style, and Structure © Bettmann/Corbis

What is the feeling Joyce conveys in the opening The last few paragraphs of the story takes place 1 paragraph? What specific words and images 4 at the dock. Water is both literal (for example, the contribute to that feeling? What is the effect of this sea) and metaphoric (for example, “All the seas of the from Souvenir of the TEACHING IDEA – paragraph’s being a third person observation while the world tumbled about her heart”). How do these images Carlisle Indian School rest of the story is told from Eveline’s perspective? contribute to our understanding of Eveline’s decision ANALYZING Q4 not to go with Frank? Much of “Eveline” centers on Eveline’s home life, Ask students to select an image The following images come from a pamphlet called Souvenir of 2 both before and after her mother’s death. Joyce Joyce explores the difficulty characters have in and paint their interpretation of it. ends paragraph 2 with the sentence, “Now she was 5 making important life decisions in several stories in the Carlisle Indian School, published in 1902. Do a gallery walk of student work going to go away like the others, to leave her home.” Dubliners. In what ways does he demonstrate that and then discuss as a group to He opens the next paragraph with the one word, Eveline is paralyzed or unable to take action? Pay Key cOntext By the end of the nineteenth century, American westward expansion develop an answer to the “Home!” What does this repetition suggest about the attention to concrete descriptive details, connotative had driven much of the native population of American Indians onto reservations. As question. meaning(s) of home to Eveline? language, and imagery. part of the policy of the day, many American Indian children were compelled to What symbolic value does Buenos Aires have In this brief story, Joyce gives us glimpses of the attend public schools, either day or boarding schools. The first off-reservation 3 in this story? 6 past and the (imagined) future as well as the boarding school was the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, founded in present. How do the past and future inform Eveline’s 1879 by Richard Henry Pratt, who was a general in the army with over nine years’ present thinking? experience fighting the American Indians of the Great Plains. The school’s motto at Carlisle, often ascribed to Pratt, was “To civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. To keep him civilized, let him stay.” To that end, children at Indian schools were often forbidden to speak their native language, and they were required to dress in the manner of white students and leave behind the cultural and religious practices they had grown up with. What you will see in many of these photographs are “before” and “after” shots: how the students looked upon arrival at the Carlisle school and how they looked after they had been there a while.

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CONNECTING Q3

Identity and Society Understanding and interpreting connecting, Arguing, and extending Prompt three can work as a

“Eveline” focuses on the central character’s Is Eveline a victim of her time and place—when Joyce writes that as “the evening deepened in the One of the themes Joyce explores in “Eveline” is discussion, but it may also work Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School 1 decision-making process. What are the conflicting 5 opportunities for women were limited primarily to 1 avenue” (par. 13), Eveline sits with two letters in her 3 the tension between responsibility (to family, to best for some students as forces pulling Eveline in different directions? Identify the domestic realm—or is she a victim of her own lap, one to her father, the other to her brother Harry. community) and the desire for individual freedom. another opportunity to write a and discuss at least three. indecisive character? Or is she a combination of both? What do you imagine she has written in those letters? To what extent do you find the way that tension plays narrative or a poem. Support your response with reference to specific Try writing one and explain what in the story leads you out in today’s society similar to the way Eveline What is the nature of the relationship Eveline has passages in the story as well as your knowledge of the to believe would be in the letter. experienced it? In what ways have you experienced with her father? In what ways has it changed 2 time period. something similar to the choice that Eveline has to TEACHING IDEA – over time? The photo below shows Dublin at about the time face? CONNECTING Q4 Critics of “Eveline” disagree on their interpretations “Eveline” was set. How does the mood in this Eveline thinks of Frank in fairly general terms: 2 of the ending. Many conclude that Eveline’s contemporary image of Dublin compare to the mood Suppose that Eveline goes to Buenos Aires with Prompt 4 could be a letter, but it he is “very kind, manly, open-hearted” (par. 10). 6 3 inability to strike out with Frank is essentially accepting that Joyce creates in “Eveline”? What creates the Frank. Write a letter in her voice — a year later — could also be a post card with an What more specific information does James Joyce 4 a life sentence as a housekeeper, even a servant, to her mood in “Eveline” and in this photograph? describing her new life to her brother Harry. Think image of from their future lives give us? What is it about Frank that appeals to Eveline? family. Others argue that in choosing to stay with her about how her audience would influence what she drawn on the front. Joyce characterizes the existence of Eveline’s father, she defies Frank and thus shows at least the would say and how she would say it. 4 mother as “that life of commonplace sacrifices promise of becoming an independent woman. Which closing in final craziness” (par. 16). In what ways is interpretation do you find most plausible? Support your BUILDING CONTEXT Eveline influenced by her mother’s life? How does her response with references and specific passages from Have students go through this perception of her mother’s experience affect the way the story. exercise in empathy/imagination Eveline thinks of marriage? in a free write: How would you feel if the government (or a foreign occupying

Analyzing language, Style, and Structure © Bettmann/Corbis government) forced you to . . .

What is the feeling Joyce conveys in the opening The last few paragraphs of the story takes place • live at a school far away from 1 paragraph? What specific words and images 4 at the dock. Water is both literal (for example, the your parents? contribute to that feeling? What is the effect of this sea) and metaphoric (for example, “All the seas of the from Souvenir of the • write, read, and speak in a paragraph’s being a third person observation while the world tumbled about her heart”). How do these images Carlisle Indian School different language? (and rest of the story is told from Eveline’s perspective? contribute to our understanding of Eveline’s decision punished you if you used your not to go with Frank? Much of “Eveline” centers on Eveline’s home life, home language) The following images come from a pamphlet called Souvenir of 2 both before and after her mother’s death. Joyce Joyce explores the difficulty characters have in • Wear a uniform that was the the Carlisle Indian School, published in 1902. ends paragraph 2 with the sentence, “Now she was 5 making important life decisions in several stories in same as everyone else at the going to go away like the others, to leave her home.” Dubliners. In what ways does he demonstrate that school and completely unlike He opens the next paragraph with the one word, Eveline is paralyzed or unable to take action? Pay Key cOntext By the end of the nineteenth century, American westward expansion how you usually dress “Home!” What does this repetition suggest about the attention to concrete descriptive details, connotative had driven much of the native population of American Indians onto reservations. As • Drastically change your meaning(s) of home to Eveline? language, and imagery. part of the policy of the day, many American Indian children were compelled to hairstyle. What symbolic value does Buenos Aires have In this brief story, Joyce gives us glimpses of the attend public schools, either day or boarding schools. The first off-reservation 3 in this story? 6 past and the (imagined) future as well as the boarding school was the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, founded in Reveal one topic at a time. present. How do the past and future inform Eveline’s 1879 by Richard Henry Pratt, who was a general in the army with over nine years’ Encourage them to write instead of present thinking? experience fighting the American Indians of the Great Plains. The school’s motto at blurt out their answers. Make sure Carlisle, often ascribed to Pratt, was “To civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. that they do not provide one word To keep him civilized, let him stay.” To that end, children at Indian schools were often answers like “sad” or “mad.” They forbidden to speak their native language, and they were required to dress in the need to think about why they would manner of white students and leave behind the cultural and religious practices they be sad or mad. Be careful of putting had grown up with. What you will see in many of these photographs are “before” and students on the spot to talk about “after” shots: how the students looked upon arrival at the Carlisle school and how they these experiences, but consider looked after they had been there a while. stating broadly an acknowledge- ment that these feelings may be in 166 changes and transformations conversation 167 the writing people did. Be mindful that eye contact with students who you think this may be true of may make them uncomfortable. If students volunteer their experience of oppression, make space to hear 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 166 27/10/15 7:25 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 167 27/10/15 7:25 PM BUILDING CONTEXT BUILDING CONTEXT it with compassion and thank them The following concepts will likely Check for their understanding. If Teach students about the Indian for sharing. be important to a critical reading your students have an advanced Child Welfare Act. Key focus should of these images. Ask students to understanding of American be on how recently the law was research the following terms: History, they will be able to explain enacted and why it was enacted. these terms in context of the rela- The purpose of this is to help them Hegemony tionship of the US Government understand that these schools Cultural Hegemony and Native Americans. were not simply giving students Cultural Genocide access to a culture, they were Colonialism removing them from one culture Ethnocide and placing them in another, and that this was a common practice until just a few decades ago. Teacher’s Edition 167 Uncorrected Page Proofs. Copyright © 2016 (and distributed by) Bedford, Freeman, and Worth High School Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 167 04/01/16 11:18 AM CLOSE READING 5 With each photo set, you should Eskimo Group Tom Torlino–Navajo ask students to identify all of the Identity and Society

changes they see in the images: hair, clothing, posture, and facial Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School expressions. In their analysis, they should identify what kind of environment the clothes would be best for. For example, in the “Eskimo group,” would they freeze to death if they were to be outside in these clothes? What are the practical impacts of these forced changes in apparel? Has their access to the land changed?

TEACHING IDEA John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, National Archives and Records Administration and Records National Archives John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, National Archives and Records Administration and Records National Archives John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA,

If your students are unfamiliar J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives with how to read images, model As he entered the school in 1882. As he appeared three years later. the close reading of the first set As they entered Carlisle in 1897. of images. Make your thinking visible by talking about the ques- Wounded Yellow Robe, Henry Standing Bear, Chauncy Yellow Robe tions you use to analyze the images as well as the answers they lead you to. If your students have mixed ability in this skill, do the first part together so that your advanced students can model their thinking. Use your questions to make sure they make their thinking visible. Following that, break into pairs to examine the next group of images, check in as a group, and then finally release students to work on their own. During this time, you can check in with and redirect the students who are struggling most. From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives

TRM ANALYZING As they appear in school dress. VISUAL TEXTS J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives For more information on what to look for when analyzing visual Sioux boys as they entered the school in 1883. Three years later. texts, see the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. 168 changes and transformations conversation 169

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5 UNDERSTANDING Eskimo Group Tom Torlino–Navajo Identity and Society Make sure that your students can

identify things that the children Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School have lost in each “after” photo. If students makes a running list of the things that the Carlisle Indian School students lost, it will help them begin to define the degree of loss, and lay the foundation for answering Connecting Q3 about reparations. Be sure to explore the problem of trying to define the abstract losses of culture, tradition, and lifestyle in monetary terms. John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, National Archives and Records Administration and Records National Archives John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, National Archives and Records Administration and Records National Archives John N. Choate, Carlisle, PA, From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives

As he entered the school in 1882. As he appeared three years later. As they entered Carlisle in 1897.

Wounded Yellow Robe, Henry Standing Bear, Chauncy Yellow Robe

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Be sure to have the class discuss the motivations and mindset behind opening this school and forcing the students to adopt a new culture. From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives

As they appear in school dress. From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives

Sioux boys as they entered the school in 1883. Three years later.

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Identity and Society Group of Pueblo Girls We discussed our fate some moments, and How do the ideas in this diary entry affect your read- when Judéwin said, “We have to submit, ing of the photos from the Carlisle Indian School? Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School TEACHING IDEA because they are strong,” I rebelled. The film Rabbit Proof Fence “No, I will not submit! I will struggle first!” represents the experiences of I answered. indigenous children from the Lost I watched my chance, and when no one Generation of Australian noticed I disappeared. I crept up the stairs as Aborigines. It has profound quietly as I could in my squeaking shoes — my connections to the images here. moccasins had been exchanged for shoes. The first quarter of the film enacts Along the hall I passed, without knowing the forceful removal of the chil- whither I was going. Turning aside to an open dren and their treatment in their door, I found a large room with three white “school.” Close study of this film beds in it. The windows were covered with will allow for further imagination dark green curtains, which made the room of the experiences of the children very dim. Thankful that no one was there, I presented in these images. It directed my steps toward the corner farthest could launch a more detailed from the door. On my hands and knees I study of how racism and colonial- From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives crawled under the bed, and cuddled myself in ism impact identity. Entered Carlisle in 1884. the dark corner. 5 From my hiding place I peered out, shud- dering with fear whenever I heard footsteps nearby. Though in the hall loud voices were Gertrude Kasebier, Division of Culture & the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution calling my name, and I knew that even Judéwin seeing connections was searching for me, I did not open my mouth I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while The following excerpt is from The School Days of from The School Days of an Indian Girl to answer. Then the steps were quickened and until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against an Indian Girl, a memoir by Zitkala-Sa (1876– the voices became excited. The sounds came my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my Late in the morning, my friend Judéwin gave me 1938). Zitkala-Sa taught music at the Carlisle nearer and nearer. Women and girls entered thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day a terrible warning. Judéwin knew a few words of School from 1899 to 1901 but was fired after the room. I held my breath, and watched them I was taken from my mother I had suffered English, and she had overheard the paleface publishing this memoir, which is critical of her open closet doors and peep behind large extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I woman talk about cutting our long, heavy hair. own school experience and the overall philoso- trunks. Some one threw up the curtains, and had been tossed about in the air like a wooden Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled phy of forcing American Indians to adopt the the room was filled with sudden light. What puppet. And now my long hair was shingled warriors who were captured had their hair shin- cultural identities of white Americans. caused them to stoop and look under the bed I like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my gled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair In this section of her memoir, Zitkala-Sa do not know. I remember being dragged out, mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by describes having her hair cut against her will, in a though I resisted by kicking and scratching soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own cowards! short style called “shingling” that you can see in wildly. In spite of myself, I was carried down- mother used to do; for now I was only one of the image above. stairs and tied fast in a chair. many little animals driven by a herder.

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From John N. Choate’s Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: John N. Choate’s From & Special Collections at Dickinson College Choate, 1902)/Archives crawled under the bed, and cuddled myself in Entered Carlisle in 1884. the dark corner. 5 From my hiding place I peered out, shud- dering with fear whenever I heard footsteps nearby. Though in the hall loud voices were Gertrude Kasebier, Division of Culture & the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution calling my name, and I knew that even Judéwin seeing connections was searching for me, I did not open my mouth I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while The following excerpt is from The School Days of from The School Days of an Indian Girl to answer. Then the steps were quickened and until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against an Indian Girl, a memoir by Zitkala-Sa (1876– the voices became excited. The sounds came my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my Late in the morning, my friend Judéwin gave me 1938). Zitkala-Sa taught music at the Carlisle nearer and nearer. Women and girls entered thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day a terrible warning. Judéwin knew a few words of School from 1899 to 1901 but was fired after the room. I held my breath, and watched them I was taken from my mother I had suffered English, and she had overheard the paleface publishing this memoir, which is critical of her open closet doors and peep behind large extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I woman talk about cutting our long, heavy hair. own school experience and the overall philoso- trunks. Some one threw up the curtains, and had been tossed about in the air like a wooden Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled phy of forcing American Indians to adopt the the room was filled with sudden light. What puppet. And now my long hair was shingled warriors who were captured had their hair shin- cultural identities of white Americans. caused them to stoop and look under the bed I like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my gled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair In this section of her memoir, Zitkala-Sa do not know. I remember being dragged out, mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by describes having her hair cut against her will, in a though I resisted by kicking and scratching soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own cowards! short style called “shingling” that you can see in wildly. In spite of myself, I was carried down- mother used to do; for now I was only one of the image above. stairs and tied fast in a chair. many little animals driven by a herder.

170 changes and transformations conversation 171

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 171 04/01/16 11:18 AM 5 TRM Understanding and interpreting SUGGESTED Identity and Society enterIng the converSatIon RESPONSES chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS Several of the images document children on their These images that you are looking at in the early Suggested responses to the 1 arrival at Carlisle School and then sometime later after 3 twenty-first century were taken near the turn of the questions for this reading can be they have been at the school for a while. What are the twentieth century. How might your interpretation of found on the Teacher’s Resource significant differences between each “before” and “after” these images differ from that of someone looking at making connections Flash Drive. shot? How do these images connect to the school’s them one hundred years ago? Why do you think this motto identified in the Key Context note on page 167? is? What has changed in our society and culture? Reread the “Seven Ages of Man” speech from than as children. What do the protagonists of “Zolaria” 1 Shakespeare’s As You Like It (p. 159), and apply and “Eveline” each learn about the world and Juxtaposition is the placement of two or more To what extent do the photographs prove that the the stages Jaques describes to the characters—major themselves? How are their coming of age experiences 2 things near each other for the purpose of 4 school was successful in achieving its motto: “To or minor—from two or more texts from this similar or different? comparison or contrast. The “before” and “after” civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. To keep him Conversation. In other words, where do the characters The photographs from the Carlisle Indian School photographs here have been deliberately juxtaposed. civilized, let him stay”? fall in his definitions, and why do you say this? Explain the effect of this juxtaposition by considering 4 (pp. 168–69) and the excerpt from The School how the meaning would have been different had you Jon Krakauer (p. 125) and Eveline from the story Days of an Indian Girl (pp. 170–71) show the effects of only seen the “after” images. 2 by James Joyce (p. 162) face the difficult decision change or transformation that is forced on someone of leaving behind the known and setting off into the rather than chosen by the individual. Compare the unknown. Compare and contrast their circumstances powerlessness of the American Indians in these texts Analyzing language, Style, and Structure and motivations. Then explain why Krakauer chose the with the powerlessness that the speakers in the two unknown while Eveline did not. Sharon Olds poems feel in the face of their children’s changes. Look back through the images carefully to see if Torlino’s skin color is significantly lighter than it was “Zolaria” (p. 144) and “Eveline” (p. 162) are both 1 there are differences in the way the individuals are when he first arrived. Some historians have suggested 3 considered to be “coming of age” stories, in which positioned in the “before” and “after” photographs. this was an intentional choice by the photographer. If the protagonists learn to face the world more as adults How do the children relate to one another physically this is true, why do you think the photographer would (for example, in the placement of their arms and legs, do this? in relative proximity)? What inferences can you draw Synthesizing Sources Look back once more at the pictures of Tom about the intended effect of the differences between Torlino. What is the most striking difference apart the “before” and “after” pictures? 3 One of the key factors in shaping our identities is suggestion. In both cases, be sure to maintain the from the clothing? How does the first photo contrast the role that parents, guardians, teachers, and voice and attitude of the protagonists in the texts. Look back more closely at the pictures of Tom with traditional Western notions of masculinity? Is the 1 other adults play in our lives. Write an essay in which Torlino, which are a fairly well-known pair of first or second image more threatening? What details What is the most significant factor in determining 2 you examine the influence — good or bad — that images. If you look at the “after” picture, it appears that contribute to your response to this last question? one’s identity? Culture, family, friends, or parents, guardians, or other adults have in the 4 something else? Refer to your own experiences, as development of the identities of young people. Refer to well as at least two texts in the Conversation. two or more texts in this Conversation. connecting, Arguing, and extending Is it better to take risks like Jon Krakauer, or play it Do you think that you would be the same person safe like Eveline? At what point is too much you are today if you lived in a different part of the 5 Look back through pictures of yourself, a friend, or An organization called the Boarding School 2 change too risky, and at what point does too little country or the world, a different time period, or even 1 a family member, and try to locate a pair of 3 Healing Project has been working to raise change become stagnation? Refer to your own went to a different school? In other words, how much pictures that show a significant change in appearance awareness of the lasting effects of schools such as experiences, as well as at least two texts in the does the environment around us affect our identities? over time. What were the internal and external forces Carlisle, and pushing for reparations, which is a legal Conversation. that led to these changes? In what ways do the term for paying money to or otherwise compensating a Respond by considering both your own experiences changes reflect pressures similar to the ones that the group of people who have been wronged or their and those described in two or more texts in this A number of the texts in this Conversation address Native Americans at the Carlisle School faced? descendants. The Healing Project claims that the Conversation. 6 the transition from innocence to experience. Think students at schools like Carlisle were subjected to of at least two protagonists from the texts in this Based only on the brief context you were provided Characters in stories, like people in real life, human rights violations, including malnutrition, cultural Conversation. Compare or contrast a transition that at the start of this text and on the images you make choices that can lead to positive or negative 2 and religious repression, inadequate medical care, and 3 you are facing to that confronted by two or more examined, write a diary entry from the perspective of a outcomes. Choose two protagonists from the texts in physical abuse. Do you agree or disagree with the protagonists from the texts in this Conversation. young American Indian on the day of his or her arrival this Conversation that make difficult decisions. Write a payment of reparations to these students or their at the Carlisle School, and then another entry a few letter or email from one character to the other, offering descendants? Why? months later. Try to focus your entries by addressing suggestions on the appropriate choices to make. Then, one or more of the essential questions about identity write a letter or email in response to that character’s you have been thinking about throughout this chapter.

172 cchhangesAngeS andAnd ttrransformationsAnSfOrmAtiOnS conversationcOnverSAtiOn 173

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd TEACHING IDEA 172 – 27/10/15 7:25 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0110-0173.indd 173 27/10/15 7:25 PM CONNECTING Q3 Prompt #3 could be turned into a letter to an elected official/representative. Another avenue here is further extended research on the issue and outreach to the Boarding School Healing Project. The student could write their response to the boarding school healing project to learn more about the issue.

172 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 172 04/01/16 11:18 AM 5 Understanding and interpreting Identity and Society enterIng the converSatIon chAngeS And trAnSfOrmAtiOnS Several of the images document children on their These images that you are looking at in the early 1 arrival at Carlisle School and then sometime later after 3 twenty-first century were taken near the turn of the they have been at the school for a while. What are the twentieth century. How might your interpretation of significant differences between each “before” and “after” these images differ from that of someone looking at making connections shot? How do these images connect to the school’s them one hundred years ago? Why do you think this motto identified in the Key Context note on page 167? is? What has changed in our society and culture? Reread the “Seven Ages of Man” speech from than as children. What do the protagonists of “Zolaria” 1 Shakespeare’s As You Like It (p. 159), and apply and “Eveline” each learn about the world and Juxtaposition is the placement of two or more To what extent do the photographs prove that the the stages Jaques describes to the characters—major themselves? How are their coming of age experiences 2 things near each other for the purpose of 4 school was successful in achieving its motto: “To or minor—from two or more texts from this similar or different? comparison or contrast. The “before” and “after” civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. To keep him Conversation. In other words, where do the characters The photographs from the Carlisle Indian School photographs here have been deliberately juxtaposed. civilized, let him stay”? fall in his definitions, and why do you say this? Explain the effect of this juxtaposition by considering 4 (pp. 168–69) and the excerpt from The School how the meaning would have been different had you Jon Krakauer (p. 125) and Eveline from the story Days of an Indian Girl (pp. 170–71) show the effects of only seen the “after” images. 2 by James Joyce (p. 162) face the difficult decision change or transformation that is forced on someone of leaving behind the known and setting off into the rather than chosen by the individual. Compare the unknown. Compare and contrast their circumstances powerlessness of the American Indians in these texts Analyzing language, Style, and Structure and motivations. Then explain why Krakauer chose the with the powerlessness that the speakers in the two unknown while Eveline did not. Sharon Olds poems feel in the face of their children’s changes. Look back through the images carefully to see if Torlino’s skin color is significantly lighter than it was “Zolaria” (p. 144) and “Eveline” (p. 162) are both 1 there are differences in the way the individuals are when he first arrived. Some historians have suggested 3 considered to be “coming of age” stories, in which positioned in the “before” and “after” photographs. this was an intentional choice by the photographer. If the protagonists learn to face the world more as adults How do the children relate to one another physically this is true, why do you think the photographer would (for example, in the placement of their arms and legs, do this? in relative proximity)? What inferences can you draw Synthesizing Sources Look back once more at the pictures of Tom about the intended effect of the differences between Torlino. What is the most striking difference apart the “before” and “after” pictures? 3 One of the key factors in shaping our identities is suggestion. In both cases, be sure to maintain the from the clothing? How does the first photo contrast the role that parents, guardians, teachers, and voice and attitude of the protagonists in the texts. Look back more closely at the pictures of Tom with traditional Western notions of masculinity? Is the 1 other adults play in our lives. Write an essay in which Torlino, which are a fairly well-known pair of first or second image more threatening? What details What is the most significant factor in determining 2 you examine the influence — good or bad — that images. If you look at the “after” picture, it appears that contribute to your response to this last question? one’s identity? Culture, family, friends, or parents, guardians, or other adults have in the 4 something else? Refer to your own experiences, as development of the identities of young people. Refer to well as at least two texts in the Conversation. two or more texts in this Conversation. connecting, Arguing, and extending Is it better to take risks like Jon Krakauer, or play it Do you think that you would be the same person safe like Eveline? At what point is too much you are today if you lived in a different part of the 5 Look back through pictures of yourself, a friend, or An organization called the Boarding School 2 change too risky, and at what point does too little country or the world, a different time period, or even 1 a family member, and try to locate a pair of 3 Healing Project has been working to raise change become stagnation? Refer to your own went to a different school? In other words, how much pictures that show a significant change in appearance awareness of the lasting effects of schools such as experiences, as well as at least two texts in the does the environment around us affect our identities? over time. What were the internal and external forces Carlisle, and pushing for reparations, which is a legal Conversation. that led to these changes? In what ways do the term for paying money to or otherwise compensating a Respond by considering both your own experiences changes reflect pressures similar to the ones that the group of people who have been wronged or their and those described in two or more texts in this A number of the texts in this Conversation address Native Americans at the Carlisle School faced? descendants. The Healing Project claims that the Conversation. 6 the transition from innocence to experience. Think students at schools like Carlisle were subjected to of at least two protagonists from the texts in this Based only on the brief context you were provided Characters in stories, like people in real life, human rights violations, including malnutrition, cultural Conversation. Compare or contrast a transition that at the start of this text and on the images you make choices that can lead to positive or negative 2 and religious repression, inadequate medical care, and 3 you are facing to that confronted by two or more examined, write a diary entry from the perspective of a outcomes. Choose two protagonists from the texts in physical abuse. Do you agree or disagree with the protagonists from the texts in this Conversation. young American Indian on the day of his or her arrival this Conversation that make difficult decisions. Write a payment of reparations to these students or their at the Carlisle School, and then another entry a few letter or email from one character to the other, offering descendants? Why? months later. Try to focus your entries by addressing suggestions on the appropriate choices to make. Then, one or more of the essential questions about identity write a letter or email in response to that character’s you have been thinking about throughout this chapter.

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 173 04/01/16 11:18 AM TEACHING IDEA 5 Consider having students exam- conversation There are some who believe that in addition to teaching students the skills and knowl- ine the perception of the effects edge they need to be successful later in life, school is supposed to indoctrinate students The Individual in School of school on the individual by to become model citizens by teaching them the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of the watching films that span time and The IndIvIdual In School dominant social and political culture. Consider the following statement about the purpose focus on specific elements of of school from Henry Ward Beecher, a popular clergyman of the mid-nineteenth century At this point in your life, you have spent nearly ten years in school, which translates into identity. Be sure to note any who sought to abolish slavery: roughly ten thousand hours. On most days, you spend more time doing school-related rating information and be aware of your own local standards: work than you do at any other activity other than sleeping. Kurt Vonnegut wrote that high The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us school “is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of.” are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an Socioeconomic Identity: Clearly, school must be seen as one of the most significant influences on your life and ox but the ox becomes a lion. Splendor in the Grass, The Last your identity. The question is what kind of influence it has on you. Picture Show, Pretty in Pink, Say In other words, a main purpose of school is to assimilate those who are different so Anything that everyone becomes the same “lion.” Contrast Beecher with this passage from Democracy and Education, written by education reformer John Dewey in 1916: Conformity versus Individuality: Rebel Without A Cause, The How one person’s abilities compare in quantity with those of another is none of the Breakfast Club, Napoleon The top image, which teacher’s business. It is irrelevant to his work. What is required is that every individual Dynamite, Mean Girls was produced in 1910 in shall have opportunities to employ his own powers in activities that have meaning. Mind, France, imagines what individual method, originality (these are convertible terms) signify the quality of purpo- Racial Identity: To Sir, With Love; school might be like in sive or directed action. Stand and Deliver; Dangerous the year 2000. The bottom Minds; Freedom Writers image shows an actual It is clear from this passage that Dewey does not think that school should be about assim- twenty-first-century ilation, but rather about individuals having the opportunity to develop their own skills and Gender Roles: Grease, Election, classroom. knowledge as determined by their unique needs and interests. 10 Things I Hate About You, Easy A What is the implicit In this Conversation, you will have an opportunity to think about the role of an individu- message about al’s identity within the larger community of school. You will read mostly nonfiction pieces Show a clip of one or two films education in the top from each category to your image, and how does about the pressures of popularity in high school, the positive and negative effects that students and direct them to take this prediction compare teachers have, and the arguments for and against public schooling. And, having logged so notes on evidence of the impact to the bottom image? many hours as a part of the school community yourself, at the end of the Conversation, the school experience has on the you will have an opportunity to add your own expert voice to the debate. element of identity listed. Have them share their findings in small TexTs groups, and then discuss as a Alexandra Robbins / from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (nonfiction) whole class. As a class, come to Faith Erin Hicks / from Friends with Boys (graphic novel) some conclusions about how John Taylor Gatto / Against School (nonfiction) popular culture depicts the Horace Mann / from The Common School Journal (nonfiction) impact of school on identity. Theodore Sizer / from Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School Refer back to those conclusions (nonfiction) as you make your way through Maya Angelou / from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (memoir) this Conversation. Do the readings affirm those conclusions, or conflict with them? How have things changed over time in any Thomas Trutschel/Phototek/Getty Images Thomas Trutschel/Phototek/Getty of the areas of identity? Do films reflect or exaggerate issues of identity? 174 the individual in school conversation 175

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174 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 174 04/01/16 11:18 AM 5 conversation There are some who believe that in addition to teaching students the skills and knowledge they need to be successful later in life, school is supposed to indoctrinate students The Individual in School to become model citizens by teaching them the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of the The IndIvIdual In School dominant social and political culture. Consider the following statement about the purpose of school from Henry Ward Beecher, a popular clergyman of the mid-nineteenth century At this point in your life, you have spent nearly ten years in school, which translates into who sought to abolish slavery: roughly ten thousand hours. On most days, you spend more time doing school-related work than you do at any other activity other than sleeping. Kurt Vonnegut wrote that high The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us school “is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of.” are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an Clearly, school must be seen as one of the most significant influences on your life and ox but the ox becomes a lion. your identity. The question is what kind of influence it has on you. In other words, a main purpose of school is to assimilate those who are different so that everyone becomes the same “lion.” Contrast Beecher with this passage from Democracy and Education, written by education reformer John Dewey in 1916:

How one person’s abilities compare in quantity with those of another is none of the The top image, which teacher’s business. It is irrelevant to his work. What is required is that every individual was produced in 1910 in shall have opportunities to employ his own powers in activities that have meaning. Mind, France, imagines what individual method, originality (these are convertible terms) signify the quality of purpo- school might be like in sive or directed action. the year 2000. The bottom image shows an actual It is clear from this passage that Dewey does not think that school should be about assim- twenty-first-century ilation, but rather about individuals having the opportunity to develop their own skills and TEACHING IDEA classroom. knowledge as determined by their unique needs and interests. Quickwrite: What are the pres- What is the implicit In this Conversation, you will have an opportunity to think about the role of an individu- sures that you face when coming message about al’s identity within the larger community of school. You will read mostly nonfiction pieces to school? To what extent do you education in the top image, and how does about the pressures of popularity in high school, the positive and negative effects that have to conform to other people’s this prediction compare teachers have, and the arguments for and against public schooling. And, having logged so expectations for you at school: to the bottom image? many hours as a part of the school community yourself, at the end of the Conversation, parents, teachers, peers, admin- you will have an opportunity to add your own expert voice to the debate. istrators, college admissions officers, and so on? TexTs Alexandra Robbins / from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (nonfiction) Faith Erin Hicks / from Friends with Boys (graphic novel) John Taylor Gatto / Against School (nonfiction) Horace Mann / from The Common School Journal (nonfiction) Theodore Sizer / from Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School (nonfiction) Maya Angelou / from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (memoir) Thomas Trutschel/Phototek/Getty Images Thomas Trutschel/Phototek/Getty

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 175 04/01/16 11:18 AM 5 Robbins

Introduction In precisely the years that we should be Identity and Society from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth embracing differences among students, urging cafeteria fringe: People who are not part them to pursue their divergent interests at full Alexandra Robbins of or who are excluded from a school’s or

throttle, we’re instead forcing them into a The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth society’s in crowd. TRM VOCABULARY Reporter and lecturer Alexandra Robbins is a graduate of Yale skyline of sameness, muffling their voices, A list of challenging words from University and the author of Pledged (2004), which describes n the decade I’ve spent examining various grounding their dreams. The result? As a this reading can be found in the the secretive world of college sororities, and The Imicrocosms of life in U.S. schools — from the Midwestern senior told me for my book The Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. Overachievers (2006), which documents the overwhelming multitude of students pressured to succeed in Overachievers, high schoolers view life as “a academic pressures that today’s high school students face. school and sports to the twentysomething conveyor belt,” making monotonous scheduled For The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (2011), Robbins followed products of this educational Rube Goldberg stops at high school, college, graduate school, seven high school students from private, public, suburban, machine — a disturbing pattern has emerged. and a series of jobs until death. Middle schools and inner city schools from all over the country for a year, all Young people are trying frantically to force in North America have been called “the of whom, she says in the introduction, have “more in common themselves into an unbending mold of expecta- Bermuda triangle of education.” Only 22 tions, convinced that they live in a two-tiered percent of U.S. youth socialize with people of

than they know.” Courtesy Alexandra Robbins system in which they are either a resounding another race. U.S. students have some of the Key conTexT In the prologue to her book, Robbins writes: success or they have already failed. And the highest rates of emotional problems and the more they try to squeeze themselves into that TEACHING IDEA Early 2011. Bullying in school has recently driven several teenagers to suicide. most negative views of peer culture among shrinking, allegedly normative space, the faster countries surveyed by the World Health Discussing societal hierarchies in Exclusion and clique warfare are so rampant that the media declares bullying an the walls close in. Organization. [. . .] high schools is a minefield in the epidemic and rallies for the public to view the tragedies as a national wake-up call. The students outside these walls are the kids classroom – everyone has feel- Throngs of students who are not outright bullied are disheartened because it is quirk theory: Many of the differences that who typically are not considered part of the in ings and opinions – so it will be getting increasingly more difficult to become an “insider,” to fit into a group, to be cause a student to be excluded in school are crowd, the ones who are excluded, blatantly or critical to set up norms for having accepted as “normal.” Students feel trapped, despairing that in today’s educational the same traits or real-world skills that others subtly, from the premier table in the lunchroom. discussions about this reading. landscape, they either have to conform to the popular crowd’s arbitrary stan- will value, love, respect, or find compelling I refer to them as “cafeteria fringe.” Whether Ask students to brainstorm three dards — forcing them to hide their true selves — or face dismissive treatment that about that person in adulthood and outside alone or in groups, these geeks, loners, punks, rules or expectations for a discus- batters relentlessly at their souls. of the school setting. floaters, nerds, freaks, dorks, gamers, bandies, art sion about the text that likely will Schools struggle to come up with solutions. Even the most beloved parents are kids, theater geeks, choir kids, Goths, weirdos, 5 involve examples about their own met with disbelief when they insist, “This too shall pass.” Adults tell students that it Quirk theory suggests that popularity in indies, scenes, emos, skaters, and various types high school experiences. Then gets better, that the world changes after school, that being “different” will pay off school is not a key to success and satisfaction in of racial and other minorities are often relegated have them work in groups of sometime after graduation. adulthood. Conventional notions of popularity to subordinate social status simply because they three to come to consensus on But no one explains to them why. are wrong. What if popularity is not the same are, or seem to be, even the slightest bit different. two rules that they can share out Enter quirk theory. thing as social success? What if students who are with the class. Work with their Students alone did not create these bound- considered outsiders aren’t really socially offerings to refine the list to five or In the excerpt that follows, you will read about the social and biological pressures to aries. The No Child Left Behind law, a dis- inadequate at all? Being an outsider doesn’t fewer guiding principles. (A good conform that students face and the difficulty students have in maintaining their individ- proportionate emphasis on SATs, APs, and other necessarily indicate any sort of social failing. We example would be: No real first uality in the larger environment of high school. Throughout the book, Robbins profiles standardized tests, and a suffocating homogeni- do not view a tuba player as musically challenged names will be used.) Post the several students, following and interviewing them throughout a school year. This section zation of the U.S. education system have all if he cannot play the violin. He’s just a different norms visibly and revisit students focuses on Whitney, called the “popular bitch,” who tries to have friendships outside the contributed to a rabidly conformist atmosphere kind of musician. A sprinter is still considered an throughout the classes you are popular clique, of which she is a member. that stifles unique people, ideas, and expression. athlete even if she can’t play basketball. She’s a using this text. The methods that schools and government offi- different kind of athlete. Rather than view the cials claimed would improve America’s “prog- cafeteria fringe as less socially successful than ress” are the same methods that hold back the the popular crowd, we could simply accept that students who are most likely to further that they are a different kind of social. progress.

176 the individual in school conversation 177

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 176 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 177 27/10/15 7:28 PM Before reading the text, photocopy paragraph 29 and ask students to read closely, underlin- ing the language that characterizes Whitney. Have them evaluate how the author’s language reveals her opinion of Whitney before they read the piece, and ask them to consider whether reading the whole piece confirms that opinion or not.

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 176 04/01/16 11:18 AM BUILDING CONTEXT 5 Robbins

Introduction In precisely the years that we should be In the Introduction to The Geeks Identity and Society from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth embracing differences among students, urging Shall Inherit the Earth, Robbins cafeteria fringe: People who are not part them to pursue their divergent interests at full defines the term “Cafeteria Alexandra Robbins of or who are excluded from a school’s or Fringe” in part by listing the social throttle, we’re instead forcing them into a The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth society’s in crowd. Reporter and lecturer Alexandra Robbins is a graduate of Yale skyline of sameness, muffling their voices, groups that are not the core University and the author of Pledged (2004), which describes n the decade I’ve spent examining various grounding their dreams. The result? As a popular group. Ask students to free write the names of all the the secretive world of college sororities, and The Imicrocosms of life in U.S. schools — from the Midwestern senior told me for my book The social groups at their school, then Overachievers (2006), which documents the overwhelming multitude of students pressured to succeed in Overachievers, high schoolers view life as “a compare that to Robbins’ list in academic pressures that today’s high school students face. school and sports to the twentysomething conveyor belt,” making monotonous scheduled paragraph 2. Identify overlap in For The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (2011), Robbins followed products of this educational Rube Goldberg stops at high school, college, graduate school, the lists as well as alternate terms seven high school students from private, public, suburban, machine — a disturbing pattern has emerged. and a series of jobs until death. Middle schools for social groups on her list. and inner city schools from all over the country for a year, all Young people are trying frantically to force in North America have been called “the of whom, she says in the introduction, have “more in common themselves into an unbending mold of expecta- Bermuda triangle of education.” Only 22 tions, convinced that they live in a two-tiered percent of U.S. youth socialize with people of than they know.” Courtesy Alexandra Robbins system in which they are either a resounding another race. U.S. students have some of the Key conTexT In the prologue to her book, Robbins writes: success or they have already failed. And the highest rates of emotional problems and the more they try to squeeze themselves into that Early 2011. Bullying in school has recently driven several teenagers to suicide. most negative views of peer culture among shrinking, allegedly normative space, the faster Exclusion and clique warfare are so rampant that the media declares bullying an countries surveyed by the World Health the walls close in. epidemic and rallies for the public to view the tragedies as a national wake-up call. Organization. [. . .] The students outside these walls are the kids Throngs of students who are not outright bullied are disheartened because it is quirk theory: Many of the differences that who typically are not considered part of the in getting increasingly more difficult to become an “insider,” to fit into a group, to be cause a student to be excluded in school are crowd, the ones who are excluded, blatantly or accepted as “normal.” Students feel trapped, despairing that in today’s educational the same traits or real-world skills that others subtly, from the premier table in the lunchroom. landscape, they either have to conform to the popular crowd’s arbitrary stan- will value, love, respect, or find compelling I refer to them as “cafeteria fringe.” Whether dards — forcing them to hide their true selves — or face dismissive treatment that about that person in adulthood and outside alone or in groups, these geeks, loners, punks, batters relentlessly at their souls. of the school setting. floaters, nerds, freaks, dorks, gamers, bandies, art Schools struggle to come up with solutions. Even the most beloved parents are kids, theater geeks, choir kids, Goths, weirdos, 5 met with disbelief when they insist, “This too shall pass.” Adults tell students that it Quirk theory suggests that popularity in indies, scenes, emos, skaters, and various types gets better, that the world changes after school, that being “different” will pay off school is not a key to success and satisfaction in of racial and other minorities are often relegated sometime after graduation. adulthood. Conventional notions of popularity to subordinate social status simply because they But no one explains to them why. are wrong. What if popularity is not the same are, or seem to be, even the slightest bit different. Enter quirk theory. thing as social success? What if students who are Students alone did not create these bound- considered outsiders aren’t really socially In the excerpt that follows, you will read about the social and biological pressures to aries. The No Child Left Behind law, a dis- inadequate at all? Being an outsider doesn’t conform that students face and the difficulty students have in maintaining their individ- proportionate emphasis on SATs, APs, and other necessarily indicate any sort of social failing. We uality in the larger environment of high school. Throughout the book, Robbins profiles standardized tests, and a suffocating homogeni- do not view a tuba player as musically challenged several students, following and interviewing them throughout a school year. This section zation of the U.S. education system have all if he cannot play the violin. He’s just a different focuses on Whitney, called the “popular bitch,” who tries to have friendships outside the contributed to a rabidly conformist atmosphere kind of musician. A sprinter is still considered an popular clique, of which she is a member. that stifles unique people, ideas, and expression. athlete even if she can’t play basketball. She’s a The methods that schools and government offi- different kind of athlete. Rather than view the cials claimed would improve America’s “prog- cafeteria fringe as less socially successful than ress” are the same methods that hold back the the popular crowd, we could simply accept that students who are most likely to further that they are a different kind of social. progress.

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izes too many schools, I followed seven “main were really hungry, the most they would order in Read the following summary of a research experi- in two thirds of these second trials the teens The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth CHECK FOR characters” — real people — for a year and inter- front of the group was lemon water. ment that ran in Scientific American. The study were shown a popularity rating that was esti- UNDERSTANDING viewed hundreds of other students, teachers, Whitney checked her makeup again in the investigated how peer pressure influences mated based on the number of times the (paragraph 6) How scientific does and counselors individually and in groups. I kitchen mirror, forced herself to guzzle a Slim- teenagers’ tastes in music. song was downloaded. Robbins’ research seem based talked with students from public schools, private Fast shake to jump-start her metabolism, When no information about the popularity The researchers chose to study adolescents on this description of her schools, technical schools, schools for the arts, grabbed her Coach purse, lacrosse bag, and of a song was displayed, teens changed between the ages of 12 and 17, a cohort methodology? boarding schools, college prep academies, inner book bag, and ran out the door, pausing briefly their likability rating of the song 12 percent thought to be highly susceptible to social city schools, small rural schools, and suburban at the mirror in the foyer. She drove too quickly of the time. Not surprisingly, after being influence, and known to buy at least one third schools. They have more in common than they into the school parking lot, unapologetically shown the popularity of a song, teens of albums in the United States. Each partici- know. [. . .] cutting off people on her way, and parked her changed their ratings more frequently, pant heard a short clip of a song downloaded SUV crookedly, taking up two spots, but leaving on average 22 percent of the time. This CLOSE READING Whitney, New York | The Popular Bitch from the social-networking website Myspace. it there anyway because she could. She met up difference was highly significant, and it is Following the clip they were asked to make As you can see, Robbins uses the Before leaving home for her last first day of high with Giselle, her best friend until recently. worth noting that among those who changed two ratings, one indicating how familiar they term “bitch” here to refer to one school, Whitney glanced at herself in all of her Giselle, who had been the schoolwide their likability ratings, 79 percent of the time of her research subjects. The were with the clip (which was always the hook mirrors for the seventeenth time: the large Homecoming Queen as a sophomore, had teens changed their ratings in the direction term was carefully chosen by or chorus of the chosen song) and one indi- mirror above her dresser, the small one by her become popular through cheerleading and by of the popularity rating—they followed Robbins, and used for a specific cating how much they liked the clip on a five TV for scrutinizing hair and makeup, and the dating a popular senior — when she was in the the crowd. purpose in an academic context. full-length one behind her door. She had spent eighth grade. “Well, this is it!” Giselle said, and point scale. The clip was then played a Explain how you see—or don’t see—similar types of Depending on your class and two hours getting ready this morning. Her they stepped into the building. second time, and they were again asked to your community, you might rate how much they liked the song. However, influence in other areas of teenagers’ lives. white-blonde hair, highlighted from a summer 10 Riverland Academy, located in a small town choose to avoid discussion of the of lifeguarding, cascaded to her shoulders in in upstate New York, catered to a mostly white, term and keep moving, or take it meticulously crafted, loose, bouncy curls Christian community. Its four hundred students head-on and analyze the purpose behind a funky knit headband that she wore so crowded into the gym, standing in small groups of this diction. Is Robbins making she’d have an excuse to brag that members of a or lining the bleachers. Amidst the chaos, the a rhetorical mistake by possibly a chubby, boisterous football star; and Seth, an summer?! Why did her hair get so big and famous rock group had complimented her on it. girls easily spotted their group, which other offending her audience? Is it overachieving junior. The preps were each on frizzy?” This led to a discussion about how there Several bracelets dangled from her wrist, still students called the “preps” or the “populars,” in savvy and attention-grabbing? Is two or more sports teams, partied with college were too many skanks and trailer trash kids at tan from cheerleading camp the week before. the center of the gym. Bianca, the queen bee, it a distraction? Is it a label that students, and in Whitney’s words, “just own[ed] Riverland. Robbins unltimately undermines Her makeup was flawless, accentuated by a thin and tan, stood with Kendra, a senior; the school.” The preps took stock of the new freshmen, through her argument? smattering of glitter above her eyes; it looked Peyton, a junior; and Madison, Bianca’s best The girls appraised the surrounding as they did at the beginning of every year, to good now, but she knew she would check her friend. Chelsea, the only brunette standing students and whispered to each other, standing decide who was going to be cool and to whom makeup again in the school bathroom three or among the populars, had worked her way up as they typically did, one hand on a hip, one they were going to be mean. They automatically four times that day, hunting for imperfections from “being a loser,” according to Whitney, by knee bent, in what the cheerleading coach deemed one girl cool because her older sister and correcting them with her Sephora-only “sucking up to Bianca like crazy and giving her referred to as “the hooker’s pose.” [. . .] was dating a prep. The freshman cheerleaders arsenal. information about people.” The preps tolerated The group caught up briefly before resuming were acceptable. If freshman girls didn’t already People told Whitney all the time that she was Chelsea, but didn’t include her as a stalwart the assessment of the students swarming around have something going for them when they got to pretty, as in beauty pageant pretty or talk show member of the group. This meant they didn’t them. “Oh my God. Who is that?!” Peyton Riverland — an older boyfriend, a popular host pretty. Whitney thought this was because of allow her in their Homecoming limo, but they sniffed, nodding her head toward a band girl. sibling, a varsity sport, money, or a parent with her smile. In her opinion, her straight white did invite her to take pictures with them. “That’s Shay,” Chelsea answered. connections — they were out of luck. “If we don’t teeth slightly made up for her body, which A few of the prep boys orbited the girls: Chip 15 “Dude, I didn’t even recognize her,” Peyton know them already by some other affiliation,” dissatisfied her when she compared it to her and Spencer, hot high-society seniors; Bobby, said. “Did she gain like fifteen pounds over the Whitney said, “they aren’t worth getting to

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. . . friends’. When they went to the local diner Identity and Society To investigate the cause and consequence of the together, the girls did not eat; they only sat and gut-wrenching social landscape that character- watched the guys stuff their faces. If the girls seeing connections izes too many schools, I followed seven “main were really hungry, the most they would order in Read the following summary of a research experi- in two thirds of these second trials the teens The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth characters” — real people — for a year and inter- front of the group was lemon water. ment that ran in Scientific American. The study were shown a popularity rating that was esti- viewed hundreds of other students, teachers, Whitney checked her makeup again in the investigated how peer pressure influences mated based on the number of times the and counselors individually and in groups. I kitchen mirror, forced herself to guzzle a Slim- teenagers’ tastes in music. song was downloaded. talked with students from public schools, private Fast shake to jump-start her metabolism, When no information about the popularity CHECK FOR The researchers chose to study adolescents schools, technical schools, schools for the arts, grabbed her Coach purse, lacrosse bag, and of a song was displayed, teens changed UNDERSTANDING between the ages of 12 and 17, a cohort boarding schools, college prep academies, inner book bag, and ran out the door, pausing briefly their likability rating of the song 12 percent thought to be highly susceptible to social How did others’ opinions influ- city schools, small rural schools, and suburban at the mirror in the foyer. She drove too quickly of the time. Not surprisingly, after being influence, and known to buy at least one third ence students in the study? schools. They have more in common than they into the school parking lot, unapologetically shown the popularity of a song, teens of albums in the United States. Each partici- know. [. . .] cutting off people on her way, and parked her changed their ratings more frequently, pant heard a short clip of a song downloaded SUV crookedly, taking up two spots, but leaving on average 22 percent of the time. This Whitney, New York | The Popular Bitch from the social-networking website Myspace. it there anyway because she could. She met up difference was highly significant, and it is Following the clip they were asked to make Before leaving home for her last first day of high with Giselle, her best friend until recently. worth noting that among those who changed two ratings, one indicating how familiar they school, Whitney glanced at herself in all of her Giselle, who had been the schoolwide their likability ratings, 79 percent of the time were with the clip (which was always the hook mirrors for the seventeenth time: the large Homecoming Queen as a sophomore, had teens changed their ratings in the direction or chorus of the chosen song) and one indi- mirror above her dresser, the small one by her become popular through cheerleading and by of the popularity rating—they followed cating how much they liked the clip on a five TV for scrutinizing hair and makeup, and the dating a popular senior — when she was in the the crowd. full-length one behind her door. She had spent eighth grade. “Well, this is it!” Giselle said, and point scale. The clip was then played a Explain how you see—or don’t see—similar types of two hours getting ready this morning. Her they stepped into the building. second time, and they were again asked to rate how much they liked the song. However, influence in other areas of teenagers’ lives. white-blonde hair, highlighted from a summer 10 Riverland Academy, located in a small town of lifeguarding, cascaded to her shoulders in in upstate New York, catered to a mostly white, meticulously crafted, loose, bouncy curls Christian community. Its four hundred students behind a funky knit headband that she wore so crowded into the gym, standing in small groups she’d have an excuse to brag that members of a or lining the bleachers. Amidst the chaos, the a chubby, boisterous football star; and Seth, an summer?! Why did her hair get so big and famous rock group had complimented her on it. girls easily spotted their group, which other overachieving junior. The preps were each on frizzy?” This led to a discussion about how there Several bracelets dangled from her wrist, still students called the “preps” or the “populars,” in two or more sports teams, partied with college were too many skanks and trailer trash kids at tan from cheerleading camp the week before. the center of the gym. Bianca, the queen bee, students, and in Whitney’s words, “just own[ed] Riverland. Her makeup was flawless, accentuated by a thin and tan, stood with Kendra, a senior; the school.” The preps took stock of the new freshmen, smattering of glitter above her eyes; it looked Peyton, a junior; and Madison, Bianca’s best The girls appraised the surrounding as they did at the beginning of every year, to good now, but she knew she would check her friend. Chelsea, the only brunette standing students and whispered to each other, standing decide who was going to be cool and to whom makeup again in the school bathroom three or among the populars, had worked her way up as they typically did, one hand on a hip, one they were going to be mean. They automatically four times that day, hunting for imperfections from “being a loser,” according to Whitney, by knee bent, in what the cheerleading coach deemed one girl cool because her older sister and correcting them with her Sephora-only “sucking up to Bianca like crazy and giving her referred to as “the hooker’s pose.” [. . .] was dating a prep. The freshman cheerleaders arsenal. information about people.” The preps tolerated The group caught up briefly before resuming were acceptable. If freshman girls didn’t already People told Whitney all the time that she was Chelsea, but didn’t include her as a stalwart the assessment of the students swarming around have something going for them when they got to pretty, as in beauty pageant pretty or talk show member of the group. This meant they didn’t them. “Oh my God. Who is that?!” Peyton Riverland — an older boyfriend, a popular host pretty. Whitney thought this was because of allow her in their Homecoming limo, but they sniffed, nodding her head toward a band girl. sibling, a varsity sport, money, or a parent with her smile. In her opinion, her straight white did invite her to take pictures with them. “That’s Shay,” Chelsea answered. connections — they were out of luck. “If we don’t teeth slightly made up for her body, which A few of the prep boys orbited the girls: Chip 15 “Dude, I didn’t even recognize her,” Peyton know them already by some other affiliation,” dissatisfied her when she compared it to her and Spencer, hot high-society seniors; Bobby, said. “Did she gain like fifteen pounds over the Whitney said, “they aren’t worth getting to

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know” — and they were automatically labeled tension between the groups. She was having Identity and Society skanks. [. . .] enough trouble with the preps as it was. Students gathered together in the bleach- 20 After the welcome-back hug, the preps seeing connections

ers, group by group. The “badasses,” allegedly hardly acknowledged Whitney, though she cady (v.o.) The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth bullies who liked to destroy property, were stood next to them. The group brought up inside Having lunch with the Plastics was like leaving tossing basketballs in the air. The FFAs, or jokes and memories from the summer that the actual world and entering “Girl World.” And members of the Future Farmers of America didn’t include her. Whitney recognized this Girl World had a lot of rules. club — the preps called them hicks and weapon because she had used it before. The rednecks — sat at the end of the bleachers. The preps enjoyed purposely making someone feel wannabes, dressed like their role models but bad for not being at an event. If you weren’t at a gretchen discernible by their whiff of uncertainty, stood party one weekend, the group wouldn’t stop We only wear jeans or track pants on Friday. at a far corner of the room. Those were the kids talking about it in front of you until the next You can’t wear a tank top two days in a row. who fed the preps’ egos. Whitney would walk party. You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once down the hall like royalty, while the wannabes Whitney loved the power and perks of popu- a week. So, I guess, you picked today. And if you This is a film still and a section from the script would gush, “Whitney, you look so pretty larity. When the teachers began handing out break any of these rules you can’t sit with us at of the movie Mean Girls (2004). today!” or “Whitney, you did such a good job senior schedules at the back of the gym, lunch. I mean, not just you, any of us. Like, if I How are the rules of the fictional Plastics, and cheering last night!” If a prep girl showed up at Whitney’s group pushed to the front of the line was wearing jeans today, I would be sitting over especially the consequences for violating them, school with a shaved head, Whitney was sure en masse, as students parted without protest. there with the art freaks. similar to the pressures that Whitney faces in this the wannabes would visit the salon that night The teachers didn’t bat an eye at the line cut, excerpt? to do the same. It was the fact that they tried so instead complimenting the girls on their hair hard that doomed them. and their tans. We haven’t been in school for Whitney looked at the punks, who wore tight more than ten minutes and already our egos have pants and band shirts. They could scream every grown, Whitney thought. Her group got away word of the music they listened to. They were with everything. For example, students who As the halls filled up, crowds parted for the make loud comments, such as, “Wow, fat-asses unafraid to strike up conversations with other were late to class four times automatically preps. Some students said hello, but Whitney need their food quickly, don’t they?! I mean, do groups, but they usually clashed with the preps. received detention. Not Giselle. She regularly and her friends gave them the “what’s-up-but- you really think they need that much food? They As Whitney saw it, the cliques were just too escaped detention because of cheerleading I-won’t-really-acknowledge-you” head nod. look like they could do without lunch once in a different. Whitney was certain that the punk girls practice, and no one dared complain. [. . .] 25 When Whitney walked into advertising class while . . . ” Nobody complained anymore. thought the populars were loud and snobby. Schedules in hand, the preps left the gym with Peyton, she spotted Dirk. “Hey, Whitney!” Because they favored the preps, the teachers in Besides, she mused, odds were that she and her before they were dismissed, and strutted toward he yelled across the room. the room looked the other way. friends probably had been mean to the punk “their” hallway. Other students walked by the “I’m not sitting with Dirk,” Peyton whispered Before cheer practice that afternoon, girls before. Prep Hall quickly, so as not to attract attention in to Whitney. “I don’t see why you like those Whitney and Giselle claimed their gym lockers. The popular guys referred to the punks as the area where the preps heckled the “weird people. They scare me.” It hardly mattered that they always took the “weird” and “useless.” They called Dirk, the kids.” By the end of junior year, one such student Whitney shrugged and grinned at Dirk as lockers in the back corner of the last row. punks’ alpha male, a scumbag within his was so fed up with the preps’ rude comments she sat next to him anyway. When the prep cheerleaders changed their earshot. Whitney was as friendly with Dirk as her that when they made fun of him for drawing a At lunch, the preps cut to the front of the clothes, the younger athletes waited until the group allowed, which meant in hallways their robot, he lashed out: “You’re going to be sorry line, as usual, and sat at “their” lunch table in preps were dressed and gone before going to communication was limited to awkward eye when I come to school with a gun and kill all of the center of the cafeteria. Whitney hadn’t their own lockers. Once, an underclassman contact and brief exchanges. She was attracted you.” The preps didn’t say another word to him. waited in the lunch line since she was a fresh- tried to squeeze by and accidentally stepped to Dirk, a funny and talented drummer, but she “Ugh,” Bianca shouted. “I hate when stupid man. In the past, when students told the preps on Whitney’s Ugg boot. “Jesus Christ! didn’t tell anyone, because a popular cheer- freshmen don’t know how to walk in the hall! to stop cutting, Whitney’s group either ignored Seriously?!” Whitney yelled. The girl looked leader dating a punk would cause “crazy scan- You walk on the right side of the hallway! them or shot nasty glares. When the protestors mortified, blurted out a meek “I’m sorry!”, and dalous controversy” and further escalate the Goddamn!” walked off, the preps would follow them and ran away.

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know” — and they were automatically labeled tension between the groups. She was having Robbins identifies different social Identity and Society skanks. [. . .] enough trouble with the preps as it was. groups by name in the introduc- Students gathered together in the bleach- 20 After the welcome-back hug, the preps seeing connections tion, and the excerpt from Mean Girls on page 181 discusses that ers, group by group. The “badasses,” allegedly hardly acknowledged Whitney, though she cady (v.o.) The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth bullies who liked to destroy property, were stood next to them. The group brought up inside each clique has its place in the Having lunch with the Plastics was like leaving tossing basketballs in the air. The FFAs, or jokes and memories from the summer that cafeteria. Photocopy maps of the actual world and entering “Girl World.” And members of the Future Farmers of America didn’t include her. Whitney recognized this your school and ask students to Girl World had a lot of rules. club — the preps called them hicks and weapon because she had used it before. The use their list from the Building rednecks — sat at the end of the bleachers. The preps enjoyed purposely making someone feel Context idea on page 72 to label the map with where each group wannabes, dressed like their role models but bad for not being at an event. If you weren’t at a gretchen eats lunch. If your school has discernible by their whiff of uncertainty, stood party one weekend, the group wouldn’t stop We only wear jeans or track pants on Friday. open campus, have students add at a far corner of the room. Those were the kids talking about it in front of you until the next You can’t wear a tank top two days in a row. the most popular off-campus who fed the preps’ egos. Whitney would walk party. You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once destinations to the map and label down the hall like royalty, while the wannabes Whitney loved the power and perks of popu- a week. So, I guess, you picked today. And if you This is a film still and a section from the script them with the social groups who would gush, “Whitney, you look so pretty larity. When the teachers began handing out break any of these rules you can’t sit with us at of the movie Mean Girls (2004). go there for lunch. Discuss the today!” or “Whitney, you did such a good job senior schedules at the back of the gym, lunch. I mean, not just you, any of us. Like, if I How are the rules of the fictional Plastics, and implications of the graphics they cheering last night!” If a prep girl showed up at Whitney’s group pushed to the front of the line was wearing jeans today, I would be sitting over especially the consequences for violating them, create. Hold onto these maps, and similar to the pressures that Whitney faces in this school with a shaved head, Whitney was sure en masse, as students parted without protest. there with the art freaks. return to them if your class reads excerpt? the wannabes would visit the salon that night The teachers didn’t bat an eye at the line cut, the selection from Friends with to do the same. It was the fact that they tried so instead complimenting the girls on their hair Boys, which begins on p. 185. hard that doomed them. and their tans. We haven’t been in school for Whitney looked at the punks, who wore tight more than ten minutes and already our egos have pants and band shirts. They could scream every grown, Whitney thought. Her group got away BUILDING CONTEXT word of the music they listened to. They were with everything. For example, students who As the halls filled up, crowds parted for the make loud comments, such as, “Wow, fat-asses Teaching Tolerance created Mix It unafraid to strike up conversations with other were late to class four times automatically preps. Some students said hello, but Whitney need their food quickly, don’t they?! I mean, do Up at Lunch day, an annual event groups, but they usually clashed with the preps. received detention. Not Giselle. She regularly and her friends gave them the “what’s-up-but- you really think they need that much food? They “which encourages students to As Whitney saw it, the cliques were just too escaped detention because of cheerleading I-won’t-really-acknowledge-you” head nod. look like they could do without lunch once in a identify, challenge and cross different. Whitney was certain that the punk girls practice, and no one dared complain. [. . .] 25 When Whitney walked into advertising class while . . . ” Nobody complained anymore. social boundaries” by eating thought the populars were loud and snobby. Schedules in hand, the preps left the gym with Peyton, she spotted Dirk. “Hey, Whitney!” Because they favored the preps, the teachers in lunch with students from other Besides, she mused, odds were that she and her before they were dismissed, and strutted toward he yelled across the room. the room looked the other way. social groups. How much impact friends probably had been mean to the punk “their” hallway. Other students walked by the “I’m not sitting with Dirk,” Peyton whispered Before cheer practice that afternoon, do events like these have on the girls before. Prep Hall quickly, so as not to attract attention in to Whitney. “I don’t see why you like those Whitney and Giselle claimed their gym lockers. everyday social order of a high The popular guys referred to the punks as the area where the preps heckled the “weird people. They scare me.” It hardly mattered that they always took the school? Would Whitney and her “weird” and “useless.” They called Dirk, the kids.” By the end of junior year, one such student Whitney shrugged and grinned at Dirk as lockers in the back corner of the last row. group participate in Mix It Up at punks’ alpha male, a scumbag within his was so fed up with the preps’ rude comments she sat next to him anyway. When the prep cheerleaders changed their Lunch day, and if so, what might earshot. Whitney was as friendly with Dirk as her that when they made fun of him for drawing a At lunch, the preps cut to the front of the clothes, the younger athletes waited until the that have looked like? group allowed, which meant in hallways their robot, he lashed out: “You’re going to be sorry line, as usual, and sat at “their” lunch table in preps were dressed and gone before going to communication was limited to awkward eye when I come to school with a gun and kill all of the center of the cafeteria. Whitney hadn’t their own lockers. Once, an underclassman contact and brief exchanges. She was attracted you.” The preps didn’t say another word to him. waited in the lunch line since she was a fresh- tried to squeeze by and accidentally stepped TEACHING IDEA to Dirk, a funny and talented drummer, but she “Ugh,” Bianca shouted. “I hate when stupid man. In the past, when students told the preps on Whitney’s Ugg boot. “Jesus Christ! Have students script out a text didn’t tell anyone, because a popular cheer- freshmen don’t know how to walk in the hall! to stop cutting, Whitney’s group either ignored Seriously?!” Whitney yelled. The girl looked exchange between Giselle and leader dating a punk would cause “crazy scan- You walk on the right side of the hallway! them or shot nasty glares. When the protestors mortified, blurted out a meek “I’m sorry!”, and Whitney about one of the follow- dalous controversy” and further escalate the Goddamn!” walked off, the preps would follow them and ran away. ing: 1. Bianca’s outburst about freshmen in the hall. 2. The girl 180 the individual in school conversation 181 who “gained like 15 pounds over the summer” 3. The freshman girl who stepped on Whitney’s UGG in the locker room. In particular, students should focus on how the conversations might go differently 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 180 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 181 30/10/15 2:36 PM in text versus in the presence of Robbins’ observation. Alternatives: A Facebook post with subsequent comments from the Preps, a Tweet and comments, an instant messenger exchange. How does the context of conversations change with the medium?

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30 As much as she loved being popular, similar and more likely to end friendships with room a picture of one line and a separate picture the more accurate the average of these Identity and Society Whitney wished other students understood that kids who are different. From the age of five, containing three lines labeled 1, 2, and 3. One of measurements becomes.” When the students it wasn’t so easy. Preps were stereotyped like students increasingly exclude peers who don’t the three lines was the same length as the line in in Asch’s experiment conformed to group

everyone else, she said. “A prep talks like a conform to group norms. Children learn this the first picture, while the other two differed by opinion, their brains were taking the Law of The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth Valley Girl, thinks she’s better than everyone, is lesson quickly. A popular Indiana eighth grader as much as several inches. Asch then had each Large Numbers shortcut, assuming that the obsessed with looks, sleeps around, is usually a told me, “I have to be the same as everybody volunteer call out the number of the line he opinion of the group was more statistically cheerleader, doesn’t eat, parties all the time, else, or people won’t like me anymore.” believed to be the same length as the first. accurate than any individual’s. In 2005, neuro- and gets away with murder. Basically, emos 35 Numerous studies show that students in the Unbeknownst to the college student, who was scientist Gregory Berns conducted a similar want us dead.” same social circle tend to have similar levels of the last to be called on, the other participants experiment, this time using MRIs to measure Whitney insisted that the prep description academics, leadership, aggression, and coopera- were in on the experiment. Asch had instructed participants’ brain activity. Berns observed didn’t fit the “real” Whitney. “I’m not snobby,” tion. The most influential kids are also typically them to call out the wrong number on twelve that deferring to the group took some of the she said. “I have to be this way because it’s what the same ones who insist most stridently on out of eighteen trials. At least once, even when pressure off the decision-making part of the my friends do. If I wasn’t like this, I wouldn’t conformity; researchers have found that even in the answer was plain to see, nearly three- brain. have any friends.” She loathed the immediate late adolescence, popular cliques are more quarters of the students repeated the group’s Berns also noticed something else, as he judgments students made about her. She was a conformist than other groups. Given that many wrong answer. wrote in his intriguing book Iconoclast: “We cheerleader; therefore she was a slut. She was a children often try to copy populars’ behavior, it Sixty years later, scientists are discovering observed the fear system kicking in, almost like class officer; therefore she was stuck up. She makes sense that conformity trickles down the that there are deeper factors at work than even a fail-safe when the individual went against the wore expensive clothes; therefore she was social hierarchy. Asch could have imagined. New research using group. These are powerful biological mecha- spoiled. She said “like” too often; therefore she But conformity is not an admirable trait. brain imaging studies suggests that there is a nisms that make it extremely difficult to think was flaky. She was a prep; therefore she was a Conformity is a cop-out. It threatens self- biological explanation for the variation in like an iconoclast.” bitch. awareness. It can lead groups to enforce rigid people’s ability to resist the temptation to Berns saw increased activity in the amygdala The funny thing was that if Whitney could and arbitrary rules. Adolescent groups with conform. Neuroscientists monitoring brain when his test subjects did not conform to group have chosen any group at school to belong to, high levels of conformity experience more images during conformity experiments similar opinion. Amygdala activity can lead to a rise in she wouldn’t have chosen the clique that intimi- negative behavior — with group members and to Asch’s have found that participants are not blood pressure and heart rate, sweating, and dated other students with cruelty. She would outsiders — than do groups with lower levels of necessarily imitating the majority merely to fit rapid breathing. “Its activation during non- have chosen to be in what she considered the conformity. Conformity can become dangerous, in. Instead, participants’ visual perception conformity underscored the unpleasant nature most nonjudgmental, down-to-earth crew at leading to unhealthy behaviors, and it goes seems to change to align with the answers of the of standing alone — even when the individual school: the punks. But it didn’t matter. There against a teenager’s innate desire to form a unique rest of the group. had no recollection of it,” Berns wrote. “In many was no changing groups. Once you were in a identity. Why, then, is conformity so common? 40 To understand how this change could take people, the brain would rather avoid activating group, you were stuck there until graduation, no In the mid-twentieth century, psychologists place, it’s helpful to know that the brain is an the fear system and just change perception to matter what. That was just the way high school discovered that when asked to judge an ambigu- efficient organ that likes to cheat. In order to conform with the social norm.” [. . .] was, Whitney was sure. So she didn’t tell a soul. ous test, such as an optical illusion, individuals conserve energy, it takes shortcuts whenever Nonconformists, therefore, aren’t just going usually parroted the opinions of the other possible, such as the reliance on labels against the grain; they’re going against the brain. The Courage of Nonconformists people in the room. In the 1950s, social psycho- explained earlier. Another shortcut is a Either their brains aren’t taking the easy way out If there is one trait that most cafeteria fringe logist Solomon Asch decided to gauge levels of concept known as the Law of Large Numbers, a to begin with, or in standing apart from their share, it is courage. No matter how awkward, conformity when the test answers were abso- probability theorem according to which, “the peers, these students are standing up to their timid, or insecure he or she might seem, any lutely clear. Asch assumed that people wouldn’t more measurements you make of something, biology. [. . .] teenager who resists blending in with the crowd bother to conform to an incorrect group opinion is brave. when the answer was obvious. A closer look at this age group’s psychology Asch was wrong — and his results stunned reveals that the deck is stacked against singular- academia. For the experiment, he brought ity from early on. Studies have shown that chil- college students, one by one, into a room with dren are psychologically drawn to peers who are six to eight other participants. He showed the

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05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CHECK FOR 182 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 183 27/10/15 7:28 PM UNDERSTANDING In paragraph 36, ask students: What do you think the author means by “negative behavior” and “unhealthy behaviors”?

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everyone else, she said. “A prep talks like a conform to group norms. Children learn this the first picture, while the other two differed by opinion, their brains were taking the Law of The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth Valley Girl, thinks she’s better than everyone, is lesson quickly. A popular Indiana eighth grader as much as several inches. Asch then had each Large Numbers shortcut, assuming that the obsessed with looks, sleeps around, is usually a told me, “I have to be the same as everybody volunteer call out the number of the line he opinion of the group was more statistically cheerleader, doesn’t eat, parties all the time, else, or people won’t like me anymore.” believed to be the same length as the first. accurate than any individual’s. In 2005, neuro- and gets away with murder. Basically, emos 35 Numerous studies show that students in the Unbeknownst to the college student, who was scientist Gregory Berns conducted a similar want us dead.” same social circle tend to have similar levels of the last to be called on, the other participants experiment, this time using MRIs to measure Whitney insisted that the prep description academics, leadership, aggression, and coopera- were in on the experiment. Asch had instructed participants’ brain activity. Berns observed didn’t fit the “real” Whitney. “I’m not snobby,” tion. The most influential kids are also typically them to call out the wrong number on twelve that deferring to the group took some of the she said. “I have to be this way because it’s what the same ones who insist most stridently on out of eighteen trials. At least once, even when pressure off the decision-making part of the my friends do. If I wasn’t like this, I wouldn’t conformity; researchers have found that even in the answer was plain to see, nearly three- brain. have any friends.” She loathed the immediate late adolescence, popular cliques are more quarters of the students repeated the group’s Berns also noticed something else, as he judgments students made about her. She was a conformist than other groups. Given that many wrong answer. wrote in his intriguing book Iconoclast: “We BUILDING CONTEXT cheerleader; therefore she was a slut. She was a children often try to copy populars’ behavior, it Sixty years later, scientists are discovering observed the fear system kicking in, almost like Analyze the author’s wording in class officer; therefore she was stuck up. She makes sense that conformity trickles down the that there are deeper factors at work than even a fail-safe when the individual went against the the last sentence of paragraph wore expensive clothes; therefore she was social hierarchy. Asch could have imagined. New research using group. These are powerful biological mecha- 40. When do we usually use the spoiled. She said “like” too often; therefore she But conformity is not an admirable trait. brain imaging studies suggests that there is a nisms that make it extremely difficult to think phrase “take pressure off”? What was flaky. She was a prep; therefore she was a Conformity is a cop-out. It threatens self- biological explanation for the variation in like an iconoclast.” does her phrasing imply about bitch. awareness. It can lead groups to enforce rigid people’s ability to resist the temptation to Berns saw increased activity in the amygdala social decision-making? When The funny thing was that if Whitney could and arbitrary rules. Adolescent groups with conform. Neuroscientists monitoring brain when his test subjects did not conform to group does an explanation become an have chosen any group at school to belong to, high levels of conformity experience more images during conformity experiments similar opinion. Amygdala activity can lead to a rise in excuse? she wouldn’t have chosen the clique that intimi- negative behavior — with group members and to Asch’s have found that participants are not blood pressure and heart rate, sweating, and dated other students with cruelty. She would outsiders — than do groups with lower levels of necessarily imitating the majority merely to fit rapid breathing. “Its activation during non- have chosen to be in what she considered the conformity. Conformity can become dangerous, in. Instead, participants’ visual perception conformity underscored the unpleasant nature most nonjudgmental, down-to-earth crew at leading to unhealthy behaviors, and it goes seems to change to align with the answers of the of standing alone — even when the individual school: the punks. But it didn’t matter. There against a teenager’s innate desire to form a unique rest of the group. had no recollection of it,” Berns wrote. “In many was no changing groups. Once you were in a identity. Why, then, is conformity so common? 40 To understand how this change could take people, the brain would rather avoid activating group, you were stuck there until graduation, no In the mid-twentieth century, psychologists place, it’s helpful to know that the brain is an the fear system and just change perception to matter what. That was just the way high school discovered that when asked to judge an ambigu- efficient organ that likes to cheat. In order to conform with the social norm.” [. . .] was, Whitney was sure. So she didn’t tell a soul. ous test, such as an optical illusion, individuals conserve energy, it takes shortcuts whenever Nonconformists, therefore, aren’t just going usually parroted the opinions of the other possible, such as the reliance on labels against the grain; they’re going against the brain. The Courage of Nonconformists people in the room. In the 1950s, social psycho- explained earlier. Another shortcut is a Either their brains aren’t taking the easy way out If there is one trait that most cafeteria fringe logist Solomon Asch decided to gauge levels of concept known as the Law of Large Numbers, a to begin with, or in standing apart from their share, it is courage. No matter how awkward, conformity when the test answers were abso- probability theorem according to which, “the peers, these students are standing up to their timid, or insecure he or she might seem, any lutely clear. Asch assumed that people wouldn’t more measurements you make of something, biology. [. . .] teenager who resists blending in with the crowd bother to conform to an incorrect group opinion is brave. when the answer was obvious. A closer look at this age group’s psychology Asch was wrong — and his results stunned reveals that the deck is stacked against singular- academia. For the experiment, he brought ity from early on. Studies have shown that chil- college students, one by one, into a room with dren are psychologically drawn to peers who are six to eight other participants. He showed the

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05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 182 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 183 TEACHING IDEA 27/10/15 7:28 PM In her narrative non-fiction piece Whitney’s school and write a “Note to Sixth-Grade Self,” Julie letter to themselves on that same Orringer writes a memoir of her “last first day of high school” tell- difficulties in middle school in the ing them what to do to avoid the style of a letter to her 6th grade treatment they receive at self about what NOT to do. Have Whitney’s hands. students take on the role of one of the non-Prep students at

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RESPONSES

Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting connecting, arguing, and extending Suggested responses to the questions for this reading can be What internal and external conflicts does Whitney describes? How do you think Robbins feels about the Robbins presents a school environment with very At the end of her book (not included here), Robbins Friends with Boys found on the Teacher’s Resource 1 face in school as a member of the popular clique? adults’ roles in high school? 1 strict social groupings that have inflexible rules for 3 lists “31 Tips for Students, Parents, Teachers, and Flash Drive. Focus on the pressures she experiences. Find membership. How is the social situation she describes Schools.” Use the Robbins piece above, as well as Explain what connections the reader is expected examples of those conflicts to support your point. similar to or different from your own school? You might your own research and experiences, to write an to make between individuality in high school and 5 want to make a diagram of your own school’s cafeteria argument for one step that you think your school, your Alexandra Robbins includes lengthy descriptions the Asch experiments (pars. 37–38), and the Berns or other public spaces and identify the spots where the teachers, or your peers should take in order to help all of students from the popular clique, including what experiments (pars. 40–42). When have you witnessed TEACHING IDEA – 2 various groups of your school gather. How much of this students feel welcome and accepted by everyone at they are wearing, how they talk, and how they behave. similar outcomes in your own day-to-day experience in UNDERSTANDING Q5 space is exclusive to one group and how much is your school. What does the inclusion of these descriptions reveal high school? shared space? Why do you think it is like this? In connection with answering this about Robbins’s attitude toward this group? What To what extent is the institution of school itself Summarize the position Robbins takes at the end prompt, have students design purpose do these descriptions serve in her argument Write an argument in which you agree or disagree responsible for the influence that popularity has of the selection about the nonconformists, those 4 and administer a similar test for about nonconformists? 6 with the following conclusion that Robbins draws on students? How do schools use the pressures of whom she refers to as the “cafeteria fringe.” 2 about high school: “In precisely the years that we conformity that Robbins describes to maintain order their peers in another class, and What is the reader expected to conclude from Based only upon the information provided in should be embracing differences among students, and control? then report back their findings the last line of the section about Whitney: “So she 3 this excerpt, create a simile for popularity as urging them to pursue their divergent interests at full using both graphs and explana- didn’t tell a soul” (par. 32)? 7 Robbins describes it in this excerpt: Popularity is throttle, we’re instead forcing them into a skyline of tory text. Perhaps unsurprisingly in a book about kids in high like because . Again, sameness, muffling their voices, grounding their 4 school, there are only a few references to adults in based only on the text, complete the following: dreams” (par. 4). this excerpt. Skim back through the first part of the Nonconformity is like because excerpt and identify places where Robbins mentions . adults. How do the adults behave? How do they either perpetuate or fight against the social structures she from Friends with Boys language, Style, and Structure Faith Erin Hicks

Robbins invents a concept she calls “quirk theory,” This excerpt includes sections from two different Faith Erin Hicks is an artist, writer, and animator who lives in 1 likely a play on the physics term “quark theory.” 5 places in Robbins’s book. How are the tones Nova Scotia, Canada. She is most well-known for her long- Reread the definition following paragraph 4 and explain Robbins takes in each section similar to or different running web comic called Demonology 101, which tells the the effect of Robbins’s word choice and why you think from one other? What specific language choices create she introduces the term where she does. these tones? story of a teenage demon named Raven as she struggles to live a normal life in the human world. While this excerpt is taken from a book that is List some possible audiences for Robbins’s book. considered to be nonfiction, Robbins at times uses Which audience is most likely the audience she 2 6 Key conTexT This excerpt from Hicks’s graphic novel a writing style and narrative elements that are much had in mind while writing it? What specific language Photo by Nathan Boone; Courtesy Faith Erin Hicks more common in fiction than in most nonfiction books. choices, descriptions, and definitions lead you to this Friends with Boys focuses on Maggie’s first days in a Look back through the section about Whitney and conclusion? public school after being homeschooled for her whole life. identify some techniques that you are used to seeing in Characters in the comic include: In this selection, Robbins summarizes the results novels or short stories and explain the effect of of several scholarly research experiments. Through Robbins’s choices. 7 her language and structural choices, how does she try Reread the section on Whitney (pars. 7–32), to keep her piece interesting to a nonacademic 3 looking specifically at the dialogue that Robbins audience? Offer specific examples to support your includes. What impression is Robbins trying to create answer. about the popular crowd through this dialogue?

What is Robbins’s attitude or tone toward 4 Whitney? What specific lines from the text lead you to this conclusion? Maggie Her brother Daniel Her other brother, Zander

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TEACHING IDEA – 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 184 What tone does the phrase help 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 185 27/10/15 7:28 PM Section Phrases contributing to tone ANALYZING Q5 create and HOW? Support students in finding and Whitney, New York| the Popular analyzing tone by giving them a Bitch graphic organizer: The Courage of Nonconformists

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Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting connecting, arguing, and extending

What internal and external conflicts does Whitney describes? How do you think Robbins feels about the Robbins presents a school environment with very At the end of her book (not included here), Robbins Friends with Boys 1 face in school as a member of the popular clique? adults’ roles in high school? 1 strict social groupings that have inflexible rules for 3 lists “31 Tips for Students, Parents, Teachers, and Focus on the pressures she experiences. Find membership. How is the social situation she describes Schools.” Use the Robbins piece above, as well as Explain what connections the reader is expected examples of those conflicts to support your point. similar to or different from your own school? You might your own research and experiences, to write an to make between individuality in high school and 5 want to make a diagram of your own school’s cafeteria argument for one step that you think your school, your Alexandra Robbins includes lengthy descriptions the Asch experiments (pars. 37–38), and the Berns or other public spaces and identify the spots where the teachers, or your peers should take in order to help all of students from the popular clique, including what experiments (pars. 40–42). When have you witnessed 2 various groups of your school gather. How much of this students feel welcome and accepted by everyone at they are wearing, how they talk, and how they behave. similar outcomes in your own day-to-day experience in space is exclusive to one group and how much is your school. What does the inclusion of these descriptions reveal high school? shared space? Why do you think it is like this? about Robbins’s attitude toward this group? What To what extent is the institution of school itself Summarize the position Robbins takes at the end TEACHING IDEA – purpose do these descriptions serve in her argument Write an argument in which you agree or disagree responsible for the influence that popularity has of the selection about the nonconformists, those 4 about nonconformists? 6 with the following conclusion that Robbins draws on students? How do schools use the pressures of CONNECTING Q2 whom she refers to as the “cafeteria fringe.” 2 about high school: “In precisely the years that we conformity that Robbins describes to maintain order What is the reader expected to conclude from To develop their argument for this Based only upon the information provided in should be embracing differences among students, and control? the last line of the section about Whitney: “So she prompt have students create a 3 this excerpt, create a simile for popularity as urging them to pursue their divergent interests at full didn’t tell a soul” (par. 32)? 7 T-Chart where they list their Robbins describes it in this excerpt: Popularity is throttle, we’re instead forcing them into a skyline of school’s opportunities for individ- Perhaps unsurprisingly in a book about kids in high like because . Again, sameness, muffling their voices, grounding their uality and “divergent interests” on 4 school, there are only a few references to adults in based only on the text, complete the following: dreams” (par. 4). this excerpt. Skim back through the first part of the Nonconformity is like because one side (clubs, electives, etc.), excerpt and identify places where Robbins mentions . and its ways of forcing conformity adults. How do the adults behave? How do they either on the other (seating charts, perpetuate or fight against the social structures she closed campus, etc.). from Friends with Boys language, Style, and Structure Faith Erin Hicks BUILDING CONTEXT Robbins invents a concept she calls “quirk theory,” This excerpt includes sections from two different Faith Erin Hicks is an artist, writer, and animator who lives in 1 likely a play on the physics term “quark theory.” 5 places in Robbins’s book. How are the tones Nova Scotia, Canada. She is most well-known for her long- Ask students to discuss what Reread the definition following paragraph 4 and explain Robbins takes in each section similar to or different running web comic called Demonology 101, which tells the they know about homeschooling. the effect of Robbins’s word choice and why you think from one other? What specific language choices create What are some stereotypes? she introduces the term where she does. these tones? story of a teenage demon named Raven as she struggles What are possible benefits or to live a normal life in the human world. While this excerpt is taken from a book that is List some possible audiences for Robbins’s book. possible disadvantages to being considered to be nonfiction, Robbins at times uses Which audience is most likely the audience she 2 6 Key conTexT This excerpt from Hicks’s graphic novel homeschooled? a writing style and narrative elements that are much had in mind while writing it? What specific language Photo by Nathan Boone; Courtesy Faith Erin Hicks more common in fiction than in most nonfiction books. choices, descriptions, and definitions lead you to this Friends with Boys focuses on Maggie’s first days in a Look back through the section about Whitney and conclusion? public school after being homeschooled for her whole life. identify some techniques that you are used to seeing in Characters in the comic include: In this selection, Robbins summarizes the results novels or short stories and explain the effect of of several scholarly research experiments. Through Robbins’s choices. 7 her language and structural choices, how does she try Reread the section on Whitney (pars. 7–32), to keep her piece interesting to a nonacademic 3 looking specifically at the dialogue that Robbins audience? Offer specific examples to support your BUILDING CONTEXT includes. What impression is Robbins trying to create answer. Ask students to reflect on their about the popular crowd through this dialogue? first day of high school, to What is Robbins’s attitude or tone toward describe feelings and fears they 4 Whitney? What specific lines from the text lead might have had and what memo- you to this conclusion? Maggie Her brother Daniel Her other brother, Zander rable events occurred.

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In connection with Analyzing Q3

and Q4, help students develop the Identity and Society language necessary to discuss the Friends with Boys messages within the text type of comics by teaching the following terms: lines, shading, angles, rule of thirds, framing, gutter, bleed, and thought and speech bubbles. Use famous drawings and paintings, as well as images from other graphic novels to show clear examples of each term. Utilize examples from Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics and Jessica Abel’s Drawing Words and Writing Pictures to help students understand both the construction of and intended reception for comics. Then ask students to work in pairs or small groups to assemble slide shows of their own with example images for each term.

TRM ANALYZING VISUAL TEXTS For more information on what to look for when analyzing visual texts, see the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive.

CLOSE READING Ask students to begin their reading by analyzing the opening panel on page 186. What can we learn about Sanford High School just from this image? Why use this kind of POV? What kinds of students go here? What kinds of people teach here? What kinds of activities happen here? How do you know? Guide students to use the language and terms 186 the individual in school conversation 187 from the Teaching Idea above.

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TEACHING IDEA The first four pages of the comic have no narration and very little dialogue, yet we are able to use the elements within the image to understand what Maggie is thinking and feeling. Analyzing Q2 asks students to connect with a no-words panel and create dialogue that fits the scene. In preparation, have students create a short moment of dialogue or narration for one of the panels on those first four pages.

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Identity and Society Friends with Boys

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Identity and Society Friends with Boys

TEACHING IDEA Analyzing Q4 asks students to analyze how the images on pages 186-8 establish Maggie as an outcast on her first day of school. Ask students to keep “reading notes” using a basic graphic organizer with space to note down panels and describe them, then a space in which to write down what elements are present that create the idea of Maggie as an outsider.

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Identity and Society Friends with Boys

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING What are our first impressions of Maggie’s brother, Daniel? How does their interaction on page 190 function as further characterization of Maggie?

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Identity and Society Friends with Boys

CLOSE READING Have students analyze the func- tions of POV shifts and rhythmic visual patterns in Daniel and Maggie’s conversation on pages 191-2. How does Hicks create a sense of intimacy through the visuals as much as the actual dialogue?

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CLOSE READING Have students compare panel 4 of page 193 with panel 2 on page 186. How does the school feel different when Maggie is with Daniel in the halls rather than alone? Guide students to continue using the language of comics tools as they interpret and connect.

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CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Make sure students take note, and understand the purpose of, the arrows on this page.

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CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Ask students if they know the reference being made to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. What might Hicks have intended with that allusion?

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TEACHING IDEA Ask students to work with a partner to compare Matt and the volleyball team to Whitney and the preps from “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth” (p. 176), if they have read it. Ask students to share their ideas and use a Venn diagram under a document camera to record student observations.

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CLOSE READING How is the silence depicted in panel 4 on this page different than the lack of words occurring on pages 186-9? How do we as readers know the difference without Hicks even needing to visu- ally depict it as she does on page 200?

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CLOSE READING Note the repetition of the “Play Practice” poster on this page. What might be the purpose of this? If we interpret it as foreshadowing, what might it indicate for Maggie for the rest of the comic?

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TEACHING IDEA In connection with Connecting Q2, ask students to compare the maps on pages 203 and 205, and then discuss the growth that is represented by the change between them.

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TEACHING IDEA How do we interpret Daniel’s face in panel 7 of this page? Ask students to write a stream of conscious style flow of ideas as they might have been occurring in Daniel’s mind.

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Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting Against School

TRM SUGGESTED What seems to be Maggie’s biggest fear about How would you characterize the relationship that John Taylor Gatto Against School RESPONSES 1 attending high school outside her home 3Maggie has with her brothers? What textual and environment? Is this a reasonable fear, or is she being visual evidence can you use to support your response? Suggested responses to the A three-time Teacher of the Year in New York State, John Taylor overly cautious? Explain. questions for this reading can be Look back at the two maps that Maggie draws Gatto (b. 1935) has become one of public schooling’s fiercest found on the Teacher’s Resource Maggie talks about her first day of school as a 4 to help her navigate both the building and the critics; in fact, he resigned his teaching job in a 1991 editorial in “rite of passage” (p. 193), an event which is social environment of the school. First, what do the Flash Drive. 2 the Wall Street Journal, stating “I can’t teach this way any normally considered to be a transition between places that she chooses to identify reveal about her as significant stages in one’s life. Looking carefully at all of a character and her attempts to understand school? longer. If you hear of a job where I don’t have to hurt kids to the panels after she is first on her own, describe at Second, what does she add to the second map and make a living, let me know.” The title of one of Gatto’s books, least three rites of passage that Maggie faces on her what does this show about her development at school? Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory first day. Does she overcome these challenges or not? Schooling (2002), reveals his attitude toward the public school

Explain. system. Gatto notes that it forces attendance and promotes John Gatto standardization and conformity. In this essay, which was published in the September 2003 issue of Harper’s, Gatto wonders whether children even analyzing language, Style, and Structure need school at all anymore.

TEACHING IDEA - The first four pages of this piece have no dialogue Look closely at the panels that show the two boys at all. What does this reveal about Maggie’s in the cafeteria (pp. 199–201). The author does not ANALYZING Q2 1 3 taught for thirty years in some of the worst they are trapped inside structures even more character and her surroundings? provide much context for the conflict: we don’t really schools in Manhattan, and in some of the rigid than those imposed upon the children. Have students work in pairs or know who the boys are or why they are fighting. In I Throughout the excerpt, there are a number of small groups to create the other words, we are just like Maggie, who is watching best, and during that time I became an expert in Who, then, is to blame? panels in which there is no dialogue and author dialogue in panels with multiple 2 from the side. What strategies does Hicks use—lines, boredom. Boredom was everywhere in my We all are. My grandfather taught me that. Faith Erin Hicks relies on the expressions of the people, each getting to be the shading, framing, angles, text, or other tools of the characters to suggest specific ideas about school. world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, One afternoon when I was seven I complained comic book artist—to portray this conflict? voice of one character. For panels Select one panel in which there is no dialogue, and why they felt so bored, they always gave the to him of boredom, and he batted me hard on featuring only Maggie, partners write dialogue that would be appropriate for the scene. What does Hicks do artistically to establish same answers: They said the work was stupid, the head. He told me that I was never to use that could brainstorm internal mono- The dialogue can be either the thoughts of a single 4 Maggie as an outcast on her first day of school? that it made no sense, that they already knew it. term in his presence again, that if I was bored it character or a discussion between characters. Explain logues separately, then come How does the author distinguish flashbacks from They said they wanted to be doing something was my fault and no one else’s. The obligation to why you chose that dialogue and how the added together to compare their writing the present? What do the flashbacks reveal about real, not just sitting around. They said teachers amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, dialogue affects the meaning of the scene. 5 and work with their shared ideas Maggie? didn’t seem to know much about their subjects and people who didn’t know that were childish to come to consensus on the and clearly weren’t interested in learning more. people, to be avoided if possible. Certainly not to monologue. connecting, arguing, and extending And the kids were right: their teachers were be trusted. That episode cured me of boredom every bit as bored as they were. forever, and here and there over the years I was TEACHING IDEA - Select a panel in which you can closely identify Maggie’s experience shows a lot of the positives Boredom is the common condition of able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable CONNECTING Q1 1 with what a character is experiencing. This can be 3 and negatives of both homeschooling and public schoolteachers, and anyone who has spent time student. For the most part, however, I found it any character in the selection. Discuss the visual cues schooling. Which one is more effective at educating Consider allowing students to in a teachers’ lounge can vouch for the low futile to challenge the official notion that bore- Faith Erin Hicks uses to bring that experience to life, students? Locate a research article or two about the energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to dom and childishness were the natural state of trace the panel they choose for and then compare and contrast your experience benefits and challenges of homeschooling as be found there. When asked why they feel bored, affairs in the classroom. Often I had to defy this exercise, slightly altering the to what the character is going through. If you were compared to education in the public schools. How character’s features or expres- to draw a panel of a similar experience from your does each group of students perform? Why do some the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you custom, and even bend the law, to help kids sion to fit the student’s experi- life, what visual cues might you use to bring your story students and parents choose homeschool over might expect. Who wouldn’t get bored teaching break out of this trap. ence. Have them use other comic to life? traditional school settings? students who are rude and interested only in The empire struck back, of course; childish features such as thought bubbles Look back at the two maps that Maggie draws to grades? If even that. Of course, teachers are adults regularly conflate opposition with or caption narration to further 2 help her navigate her school. Create your own map themselves products of the same twelve-year disloyalty. I once returned from a medical leave express the experience. for a section of your school and include labels and compulsory school programs that so thoroughly to discover that all evidence of my having been drawings relevant to your experiences. bore their students, and as school personnel granted the leave had been purposely

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Zander

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What seems to be Maggie’s biggest fear about How would you characterize the relationship that John Taylor Gatto Against School this reading can be found in the 1 attending high school outside her home 3Maggie has with her brothers? What textual and environment? Is this a reasonable fear, or is she being visual evidence can you use to support your response? Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. A three-time Teacher of the Year in New York State, John Taylor overly cautious? Explain. Look back at the two maps that Maggie draws Gatto (b. 1935) has become one of public schooling’s fiercest Maggie talks about her first day of school as a 4 to help her navigate both the building and the critics; in fact, he resigned his teaching job in a 1991 editorial in “rite of passage” (p. 193), an event which is social environment of the school. First, what do the 2 the Wall Street Journal, stating “I can’t teach this way any normally considered to be a transition between places that she chooses to identify reveal about her as significant stages in one’s life. Looking carefully at all of a character and her attempts to understand school? longer. If you hear of a job where I don’t have to hurt kids to the panels after she is first on her own, describe at Second, what does she add to the second map and make a living, let me know.” The title of one of Gatto’s books, least three rites of passage that Maggie faces on her what does this show about her development at school? Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory first day. Does she overcome these challenges or not? Schooling (2002), reveals his attitude toward the public school

The first four pages of this piece have no dialogue Look closely at the panels that show the two boys at all. What does this reveal about Maggie’s in the cafeteria (pp. 199–201). The author does not 1 3 taught for thirty years in some of the worst they are trapped inside structures even more TEACHING IDEA character and her surroundings? provide much context for the conflict: we don’t really schools in Manhattan, and in some of the rigid than those imposed upon the children. know who the boys are or why they are fighting. In I Create a graphic organizer for Throughout the excerpt, there are a number of other words, we are just like Maggie, who is watching best, and during that time I became an expert in Who, then, is to blame? students to take notes during a panels in which there is no dialogue and author 2 from the side. What strategies does Hicks use—lines, boredom. Boredom was everywhere in my We all are. My grandfather taught me that. Faith Erin Hicks relies on the expressions of the second read of “Against School.” shading, framing, angles, text, or other tools of the characters to suggest specific ideas about school. world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, One afternoon when I was seven I complained Have them take note of words, comic book artist—to portray this conflict? Select one panel in which there is no dialogue, and why they felt so bored, they always gave the to him of boredom, and he batted me hard on phrases, and sentences that write dialogue that would be appropriate for the scene. What does Hicks do artistically to establish same answers: They said the work was stupid, the head. He told me that I was never to use that utilize ethos, pathos, or logos. The dialogue can be either the thoughts of a single 4 Maggie as an outcast on her first day of school? that it made no sense, that they already knew it. term in his presence again, that if I was bored it Use these notes for debate in character or a discussion between characters. Explain How does the author distinguish flashbacks from They said they wanted to be doing something was my fault and no one else’s. The obligation to class on whether Gatto is effec- why you chose that dialogue and how the added the present? What do the flashbacks reveal about real, not just sitting around. They said teachers amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, tive at arguing his point, to dialogue affects the meaning of the scene. 5 Maggie? didn’t seem to know much about their subjects and people who didn’t know that were childish connect them to Analyzing Q6, or and clearly weren’t interested in learning more. people, to be avoided if possible. Certainly not to to develop a body of evidence for a critical analysis of Gatto’s connecting, arguing, and extending And the kids were right: their teachers were be trusted. That episode cured me of boredom every bit as bored as they were. forever, and here and there over the years I was essay. Select a panel in which you can closely identify Maggie’s experience shows a lot of the positives Boredom is the common condition of able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable 1 with what a character is experiencing. This can be 3 and negatives of both homeschooling and public schoolteachers, and anyone who has spent time student. For the most part, however, I found it any character in the selection. Discuss the visual cues schooling. Which one is more effective at educating in a teachers’ lounge can vouch for the low futile to challenge the official notion that bore- Faith Erin Hicks uses to bring that experience to life, students? Locate a research article or two about the energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to dom and childishness were the natural state of and then compare and contrast your experience benefits and challenges of homeschooling as be found there. When asked why they feel bored, affairs in the classroom. Often I had to defy to what the character is going through. If you were compared to education in the public schools. How CLOSE READING the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you custom, and even bend the law, to help kids to draw a panel of a similar experience from your does each group of students perform? Why do some Have students examine para- life, what visual cues might you use to bring your story students and parents choose homeschool over might expect. Who wouldn’t get bored teaching break out of this trap. graph 3 and identify instances of to life? traditional school settings? students who are rude and interested only in The empire struck back, of course; childish aggressive, combative language. grades? If even that. Of course, teachers are adults regularly conflate opposition with Look back at the two maps that Maggie draws to What tone does this create? Why themselves products of the same twelve-year disloyalty. I once returned from a medical leave 2 help her navigate her school. Create your own map might Gatto have chosen this for a section of your school and include labels and compulsory school programs that so thoroughly to discover that all evidence of my having been particular tone? How does it drawings relevant to your experiences. bore their students, and as school personnel granted the leave had been purposely establish a sense of Gatto as a 206 the individual in school conversation 207 person, and as a teacher?

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destroyed, that my job had been terminated, student what autonomy he or she needs in well-known Americans never went through the 10 These goals are still trotted out today on a Identity and Society and that I no longer possessed even a teaching order to take a risk every now and then. twelve-year wringer our kids currently go regular basis, and most of us accept them in one

5 license. After nine months of tormented effort I But we don’t do that. And the more I asked through, and they turned out all right. George form or another as a decent definition of public Against School was able to retrieve the license when a school why not, and persisted in thinking about the Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas education’s mission, however short schools CLOSE READING secretary testified to witnessing the plot unfold. “problem” of schooling as an engineer might, Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln? Someone taught actually fall in achieving them. But we are dead In the meantime my family suffered more than the more I missed the point: What if there is no them, to be sure, but they were not products of a wrong. Compounding our error is the fact that Have students find phrases from I care to remember. By the time I finally retired “problem” with our schools? What if they are the school system, and not one of them was ever the national literature holds numerous and paragraphs 4 and 5 to build a in 1991, I had more than enough reason to way they are, so expensively flying in the face of “graduated” from a secondary school. surprisingly consistent statements of compul- definition for the word “childish” think of our schools — with their long-term, common sense and long experience in how chil- Throughout most of American history, kids sory schooling’s true purpose. We have, for as Gatto uses it in his essay. cell-block-style, forced confinement of both dren learn things, not because they are doing generally didn’t go to high school, yet the example, the great H. L. Mencken, who wrote in students and teachers — as virtual factories of something wrong but because they are doing unschooled rose to be admirals, like Farragut; The American Mercury for April 1924 that the childishness. Yet I honestly could not see why something right? Is it possible that George W. inventors, like Edison; captains of industry, like aim of public education is not they had to be that way. My own experience Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said Carnegie and Rockefeller; writers, like Melville to fill the young of the species with knowl- had revealed to me what many other teachers we would “leave no child behind”? Could it be and Twain and Conrad; and even scholars, like edge and awaken their intelligence. . . . must learn along the way, too, yet keep to that our schools are designed to make sure not Margaret Mead. In fact, until pretty recently Nothing could be further from the truth. The themselves for fear of reprisal: if we wanted to one of them ever really grows up? people who reached the age of thirteen weren’t aim is simply to reduce as many individuals we could easily and inexpensively jettison the Do we really need school? I don’t mean looked upon as children at all. Ariel Durant, who as possible to the same safe level, to breed old, stupid structures and help kids take an education, just forced schooling: six classes a co-wrote an enormous, and very good, multi- and train a standardized citizenry, to put education rather than merely receive a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for volume history of the world with her husband, down dissent and originality. That is its aim schooling. We could encourage the best quali- twelve years. Is this deadly routine really neces- Will, was happily married at fifteen, and who in the United States . . . and that is its aim CHECK FOR ties of youthfulness — curiosity, adventure, sary? And if so, for what? Don’t hide behind could reasonably claim that Ariel Durant was an everywhere else. UNDERSTANDING resilience, the capacity for surprising reading, writing, and arithmetic as a rationale, uneducated person? Unschooled, perhaps, but How have “2 million homeschool- insight — simply by being more flexible about because 2 million happy homeschoolers have not uneducated. There you have it. Now you know. We don’t ers . . . put that banal justification time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids to surely put that banal justification to rest. Even if We have been taught (that is, schooled) in need Karl Marx’s conception of a grand warfare to rest”? (paragraph 6) truly competent adults, and by giving each they hadn’t, a considerable number of this country to think of “success” as synonymous between the classes to see that it is in the interest with, or at least dependent upon, “schooling,” of complex management, economic or political, but historically that isn’t true in either an intel- to dumb people down, to demoralize them, to lectual or a financial sense. And plenty of people divide them from one another, and to discard

Identify a piece of throughout the world today find a way to them if they don’t conform. Class may frame the evidence from Gatto’s educate themselves without resorting to a proposition, as when Woodrow Wilson, then article that would support system of compulsory secondary schools that all president of Princeton University, said the this character’s claim too often resemble prisons. Why, then, do following to the New York City School Teachers about school. Americans confuse education with just such a Association in 1909: “We want one class of system? What exactly is the purpose of our persons to have a liberal education, and we want public schools? another class of persons, a very much larger class, Mass schooling of a compulsory nature really of necessity, in every society, to forgo the privi- got its teeth into the United States between 1905 leges of a liberal education and fit themselves to and 1915, though it was conceived of much perform specific difficult manual tasks.” But the earlier and pushed for throughout most of the motives behind the disgusting decisions that nineteenth century. The reason given for this bring about these ends need not be class-based at enormous upheaval of family life and cultural all. They can stem purely from fear, or from the by traditions was, roughly speaking, threefold: now familiar belief that “efficiency” is the para- 1) To make good people. 2) To make good citizens. mount virtue, rather than love, liberty, laughter, or Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant Bob Englehart, The Hartford 3) To make each person his or her personal best. hope. Above all, they can stem from simple greed.

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destroyed, that my job had been terminated, student what autonomy he or she needs in well-known Americans never went through the 10 These goals are still trotted out today on a Gatto lists a number of well- Identity and Society and that I no longer possessed even a teaching order to take a risk every now and then. twelve-year wringer our kids currently go regular basis, and most of us accept them in one known Americans who had great

5 success without “graduating license. After nine months of tormented effort I But we don’t do that. And the more I asked through, and they turned out all right. George form or another as a decent definition of public Against School was able to retrieve the license when a school why not, and persisted in thinking about the Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas education’s mission, however short schools secondary school.” Have secretary testified to witnessing the plot unfold. “problem” of schooling as an engineer might, Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln? Someone taught actually fall in achieving them. But we are dead students make a list of 5 In the meantime my family suffered more than the more I missed the point: What if there is no them, to be sure, but they were not products of a wrong. Compounding our error is the fact that Americans they admire whose I care to remember. By the time I finally retired “problem” with our schools? What if they are the school system, and not one of them was ever the national literature holds numerous and achievements have been in the in 1991, I had more than enough reason to way they are, so expensively flying in the face of “graduated” from a secondary school. surprisingly consistent statements of compul- last 100 years, then have them think of our schools — with their long-term, common sense and long experience in how chil- Throughout most of American history, kids sory schooling’s true purpose. We have, for research the extent of those Americans’ educations. Have cell-block-style, forced confinement of both dren learn things, not because they are doing generally didn’t go to high school, yet the example, the great H. L. Mencken, who wrote in them report this in a slideshow students and teachers — as virtual factories of something wrong but because they are doing unschooled rose to be admirals, like Farragut; The American Mercury for April 1924 that the detailing the accomplishments of childishness. Yet I honestly could not see why something right? Is it possible that George W. inventors, like Edison; captains of industry, like aim of public education is not the 5 they chose as well as the they had to be that way. My own experience Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said Carnegie and Rockefeller; writers, like Melville to fill the young of the species with knowl- education level each achieved. had revealed to me what many other teachers we would “leave no child behind”? Could it be and Twain and Conrad; and even scholars, like edge and awaken their intelligence. . . . must learn along the way, too, yet keep to that our schools are designed to make sure not Margaret Mead. In fact, until pretty recently Nothing could be further from the truth. The themselves for fear of reprisal: if we wanted to one of them ever really grows up? people who reached the age of thirteen weren’t CHECK FOR aim is simply to reduce as many individuals we could easily and inexpensively jettison the Do we really need school? I don’t mean looked upon as children at all. Ariel Durant, who UNDERSTANDING as possible to the same safe level, to breed old, stupid structures and help kids take an education, just forced schooling: six classes a co-wrote an enormous, and very good, multi- Who is H.L. Mencken and what and train a standardized citizenry, to put education rather than merely receive a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for volume history of the world with her husband, makes him “great”? (par. 10) down dissent and originality. That is its aim schooling. We could encourage the best quali- twelve years. Is this deadly routine really neces- Will, was happily married at fifteen, and who in the United States . . . and that is its aim ties of youthfulness — curiosity, adventure, sary? And if so, for what? Don’t hide behind could reasonably claim that Ariel Durant was an everywhere else. resilience, the capacity for surprising reading, writing, and arithmetic as a rationale, uneducated person? Unschooled, perhaps, but insight — simply by being more flexible about because 2 million happy homeschoolers have not uneducated. There you have it. Now you know. We don’t time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids to surely put that banal justification to rest. Even if We have been taught (that is, schooled) in need Karl Marx’s conception of a grand warfare truly competent adults, and by giving each they hadn’t, a considerable number of this country to think of “success” as synonymous between the classes to see that it is in the interest with, or at least dependent upon, “schooling,” of complex management, economic or political, but historically that isn’t true in either an intel- to dumb people down, to demoralize them, to lectual or a financial sense. And plenty of people divide them from one another, and to discard

208 the individual in school conversation 209

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 208 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 209 CLOSE READING27/10/15 7:28 PM Paragraphs 6 and 7 list a number of great American contributors, but not one of them is female. What, if anything, can we infer about Gatto from this exclusion?

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School trains children to obey reflexively; teach and attitudes that corporate society demands. Identity and Society seeing connections your own to think critically and independently. Mandatory education serves children only inci-

Well-schooled kids have a low threshold for dentally; its real purpose is to turn them into Against School The logical extension of Gatto’s argument is that students should not be required to attend school. boredom; help your own to develop an inner life servants. Don’t let your own have their child- so that they’ll never be bored. Urge them to take hoods extended, not even for a day. If David Explain why you think Gatto is right, wrong, or maybe just a little off the mark. on the serious material, the grown-up material, Farragut could take command of a captured How does the accompanying chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics affect your viewpoint? in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, British warship as a preteen, if Thomas Edison economics, theology — all the stuff schoolteach- could publish a broadsheet at the age of twelve, Earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment ers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your if Ben Franklin could apprentice himself to a Unemployment rate in 2013 (%) Median weekly earnings in 2013 ($) kids with plenty of solitude so that they can printer at the same age (then put himself learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct through a course of study that would choke a 2.2 Doctoral degree 1,623 inner dialogues. Well-schooled people are Yale senior today), there’s no telling what your 2.3 Professional degree 1,714 conditioned to dread being alone, and they seek own kids could do. After a long life, and thirty

3.4 Master’s degree 1,329 constant companionship through the TV, the years in the public school trenches, I’ve computer, the cell phone, and through shallow concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We 4.0 Bachelor’s degree 1,108 friendships quickly acquired and quickly aban- suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet

5.4 Associate’s degree 777 doned. Your children should have a more mean- figured out how to manage a population of ingful life, and they can. educated men and women. The solution, I Some college, 7.0 727 no degree 15 First, though, we must wake up to what our think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage

7.5 High school diploma 651 schools really are: laboratories of experimenta- themselves.

Less than a tion on young minds, drill centers for the habits 11.0 472 high school diploma

All workers: 6.1% All workers: $827 Note: Data are for persons age 25 and over. Earnings are for full-time wage and salary workers. Source: Current Population Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor understanding and Interpreting

What is the main claim that John Taylor Gatto How does Gatto link consumerism with the habits makes? Find one sentence that states his claim. of mind taught in public schools? Do you agree or There were vast fortunes to be made, after computers, and then we buy the things we see 1 4 disagree with Gatto’s claim that a significant purpose Gatto begins his essay with an examination of all, in an economy based on mass production on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether of school is to create consumers? and organized to favor the large corporation we need them or not, and when they fall apart 2 boredom. What does he say causes this boredom and what is the result? According to Gatto, who is most responsible for rather than the small business or the family too soon we buy another pair. We drive SUVs the problems in American education? Is it the Gatto says that the purpose of mandatory 5 farm. But mass production required mass and believe the lie that they constitute a kind of teachers? School administrators? Parents? Students? education offered by society is “1) To make good consumption, and at the turn of the twentieth life insurance, even when we’re upside-down in 3 Politicians? What evidence can you cite to support people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each century most Americans considered it both them. And, worst of all, we don’t bat an eye your response? person his or her personal best” (par. 9), and then he unnatural and unwise to buy things they didn’t when Ari Fleischer tells us to “be careful what attacks these ideas by quoting H. L. Mencken and Reread the paragraph that begins with “Now for actually need. Mandatory schooling was a you say,” even if we remember having been told Woodrow Wilson. Summarize what conclusions Gatto 6 the good news” (par. 14). What are the solutions godsend on that count. School didn’t have to somewhere back in school that America is the expects his readers to draw from these sources. that Gatto suggests for how parents can fight back and train kids in any direct sense to think they should land of the free. We simply buy that one too. Our encourage their children’s education without school? Are these solutions that could work within the school consume nonstop, because it did something schooling, as intended, has seen to it. system? Why or why not? even better: it encouraged them not to think at Now for the good news. Once you under- all. And that left them sitting ducks for another stand the logic behind modern schooling, its great invention of the modern era — marketing. tricks and traps are fairly easy to avoid. School We buy televisions, and then we buy the trains children to be employees and consumers; things we see on the television. We buy teach your own to be leaders and adventurers.

210 the individual in school conversation 211

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CHECK FOR 210 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 211 27/10/15 7:28 PM UNDERSTANDING Who is Ari Fleischer, and to whom did he deliver the quote Gatto references in paragraph 13?

210 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 210 04/01/16 11:19 AM TEACHING IDEA 5 Gatto

School trains children to obey reflexively; teach and attitudes that corporate society demands. Have students brainstorm a list Identity and Society your own to think critically and independently. Mandatory education serves children only inci- of descriptive words for teachers seeing connections they have had before (eg. strict,

Well-schooled kids have a low threshold for dentally; its real purpose is to turn them into Against School flexible, lenient, creative, boring, The logical extension of Gatto’s argument is that students should not be required to attend school. boredom; help your own to develop an inner life servants. Don’t let your own have their child- so that they’ll never be bored. Urge them to take hoods extended, not even for a day. If David harsh, innovative, etc.), in Explain why you think Gatto is right, wrong, or maybe just a little off the mark. on the serious material, the grown-up material, Farragut could take command of a captured essence creating a character trait How does the accompanying chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics affect your viewpoint? in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, British warship as a preteen, if Thomas Edison word bank. Then, in connection economics, theology — all the stuff schoolteach- could publish a broadsheet at the age of twelve, with Analyzing Q1, ask students Earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment ers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your if Ben Franklin could apprentice himself to a to develop a body of evidence from paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 14, Unemployment rate in 2013 (%) Median weekly earnings in 2013 ($) kids with plenty of solitude so that they can printer at the same age (then put himself and 15 for what kind of teacher learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct through a course of study that would choke a 2.2 Doctoral degree 1,623 Gatto would have been. Then inner dialogues. Well-schooled people are Yale senior today), there’s no telling what your they should use words from their 2.3 Professional degree 1,714 conditioned to dread being alone, and they seek own kids could do. After a long life, and thirty own bank as labels for the traits constant companionship through the TV, the years in the public school trenches, I’ve 3.4 Master’s degree 1,329 being proved by their evidence. computer, the cell phone, and through shallow concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We 4.0 Bachelor’s degree 1,108 friendships quickly acquired and quickly aban- suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet CLOSE READING 5.4 Associate’s degree 777 doned. Your children should have a more mean- figured out how to manage a population of ingful life, and they can. educated men and women. The solution, I Ask students to re-read paragraph Some college, 7.0 727 no degree 15 First, though, we must wake up to what our think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage 15, Gatto’s conclusion, noting his

7.5 High school diploma 651 schools really are: laboratories of experimenta- themselves. use of rhetorical devices for closure. In particular, note Less than a tion on young minds, drill centers for the habits 11.0 472 high school diploma sentence length, diction, repeti- All workers: 6.1% All workers: $827 tion, declarative statements, and Note: Data are for persons age 25 and over. Earnings are for full-time wage and salary workers. metaphor. In light of these Source: Current Population Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor understanding and Interpreting devices, is his closing effective at convincing the reader to become What is the main claim that John Taylor Gatto How does Gatto link consumerism with the habits “Against School” as well? makes? Find one sentence that states his claim. of mind taught in public schools? Do you agree or There were vast fortunes to be made, after computers, and then we buy the things we see 1 4 disagree with Gatto’s claim that a significant purpose Gatto begins his essay with an examination of all, in an economy based on mass production on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether of school is to create consumers? TRM SUGGESTED and organized to favor the large corporation we need them or not, and when they fall apart 2 boredom. What does he say causes this boredom RESPONSES and what is the result? According to Gatto, who is most responsible for rather than the small business or the family too soon we buy another pair. We drive SUVs the problems in American education? Is it the Suggested responses to the Gatto says that the purpose of mandatory 5 farm. But mass production required mass and believe the lie that they constitute a kind of teachers? School administrators? Parents? Students? questions for this reading can be education offered by society is “1) To make good consumption, and at the turn of the twentieth life insurance, even when we’re upside-down in 3 Politicians? What evidence can you cite to support people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each found on the Teacher’s Resource century most Americans considered it both them. And, worst of all, we don’t bat an eye your response? person his or her personal best” (par. 9), and then he Flash Drive. unnatural and unwise to buy things they didn’t when Ari Fleischer tells us to “be careful what attacks these ideas by quoting H. L. Mencken and Reread the paragraph that begins with “Now for actually need. Mandatory schooling was a you say,” even if we remember having been told Woodrow Wilson. Summarize what conclusions Gatto 6 the good news” (par. 14). What are the solutions TEACHING IDEA — expects his readers to draw from these sources. that Gatto suggests for how parents can fight back and godsend on that count. School didn’t have to somewhere back in school that America is the ANALYZING Q4 train kids in any direct sense to think they should land of the free. We simply buy that one too. Our encourage their children’s education without school? Are these solutions that could work within the school consume nonstop, because it did something schooling, as intended, has seen to it. Jigsaw this question by doing the system? Why or why not? following: 1. Divide the reading even better: it encouraged them not to think at Now for the good news. Once you under- into sections and label them in all. And that left them sitting ducks for another stand the logic behind modern schooling, its numerical order. 2. Assign great invention of the modern era — marketing. tricks and traps are fairly easy to avoid. School portions to students by counting We buy televisions, and then we buy the trains children to be employees and consumers; them off 3. Task them with things we see on the television. We buy teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. re-reading only their assigned 210 the individual in school conversation 211 portion and answering the prompts in Analyzing Q4 for just their section 4. Have them meet with their classmates who read the same section and compare notes, adjusting as needed 5. 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 210 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 211 TRM JIGSAW 27/10/15 7:28 PM Rearrange them into groups where each section is repre- For more information on conduct- sented and have them teach each ing an effective jigsaw in your other their notes. classroom, see the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive.

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Identity and Society analyzing language, Style, and Structure from The Common School Journal

John Taylor Gatto begins by describing his own What vulnerabilities do you find in Gatto’s Horace Mann The Common School Journal 1 experience, a discouraging one, as a teacher. What 4 argument? Look back through the piece and effect does the inclusion of his personal experience identify a place where you think that Gatto does not Horace Mann (1796–1859) is often called the “father of have on his argument? How does the biographical effectively support a claim he is making, or where his American Public Education,” because of his strong support information that precedes the article, as well as the logic seems faulty. Why do you think his writing is not biographical information Gatto chooses to include, effective in this section? for publicly funded schools. He was the first secretary of the help to establish his ethos? Massachusetts Board of Education, a position from 1837 Gatto’s language moves between informal to 1848. Mann is particularly noted for his contributions to the Gatto cites examples of presidents, inventors, 5 expressions (such as “The empire struck back”) 2 writers, and wealthy businesspersons to make his and quite elevated language (“Class may frame the Common School Journal, which he founded and edited, and case that compulsory schooling is not necessary for proposition”). Do you find such movement an effective from which this excerpt is taken. In addition to holding the post

Gatto lists three reasons for mandatory public This essay first appeared in 2003 in Harper’s Key conTexT Mann once said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory 3 schooling, as it was conceived in the United States — 6 magazine, a monthly publication appealing to an for humanity,” which is now the motto of Antioch College, of which Mann was the first and then asserts that they are not truly the principles educated, fairly liberal readership. What are some of president. As you read, keep in mind that this excerpt is from 1842, and the United that govern education today. What evidence (including the ways Gatto specifically appeals to this States was still a newly formed, largely rural and agrarian country. There was not yet examples) does he cite to support this assertion? demographic? widespread agreement on the need for education for all citizens, especially for children of lower socioeconomic status. It was not until the 1920s that more than half of the teenage population even attended high school. The question that Mann tries to connecting, arguing, and extending answer here is: why is school important to the individual as well as society?

Choose one of the following assertions that John Toward the end of the essay, Gatto calls on parents 1 Taylor Gatto or one of the sources he cites makes 2 to teach their own children to be “leaders and and discuss how your own experience confirms or adventurers,” to think “critically and independently,” challenges it: and to “develop an inner life so that they’ll never be ankind are rapidly passing through a tran- human rights is evolving, and casting off old a. “[O]ur schools [. . .] [are] virtual factories of child- bored” (par. 14). Write a proposal for a school that Msition state. The idea and feeling that the institutions and customs, as the expanding body ishness” (par. 4). would serve these purposes or that you think has the world was made, and life given, for the happi- bursts and casts away the narrow and worn-out b. “[S]econdary schools [. . .] all too often resemble promise of achieving some of them. What would be its ness of all, and not for the ambition, or pride, or garments of childhood. main guiding principles and characteristics? prisons” (par. 8). luxury, of one, or of a few, are pouring in, like a In all the towns in our Common wealth, — in c. “[T]he aim of public education is [. . .] ‘to reduce According to some studies, schools in countries resistless tide, upon the minds of men, and are the small and obscure, and perhaps still more in as many individuals as possible to the same safe 3 like Finland, Singapore, and Japan, among others, effecting a universal revolution in human affairs. cities and in other populous places, — there are level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to regularly outperform the United States, and could be Governments, laws, social usages, are rapidly many children, — orphans, or those who, in the put down dissent and originality’ ” (par. 10, quoting judged as more successful education systems. H. L. Mencken). Research an educational system in another country or dissolving, and recombining in new forms. The curse of vicious parentage, suffer a worse evil d. “Mandatory education serves children only culture. Discuss what values it tries to develop in its axiom which holds the highest welfare of all the than orphanage, — children doomed to inces- incidentally; its real purpose is to turn them into students and, based on your research and experience, recipients of human existence to be the end and sant drudgery, and who, from the straitened servants” (par. 15). develop a position about whether you think that system aim of that existence, is the theoretical founda- circumstances of the household, from awkward- e. “[W]e must wake up to what our schools really are: is more or less effective than the United States system. tion of all the governments of this Union; it has ness of manners, or indigence in dress, never laboratories of experimentation on young minds, Also consider how Gatto would likely evaluate that drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corpo- system. already modified all the old despotisms of emerge from their solitude and obscurity, and rate society demands” (par. 15). Europe, and has obtained a foothold on the therefore necessarily grow up with all the hitherto inaccessible shores of Asia and Africa, coarseness, narrowness, prejudices, and bad and the islands of the sea. A new phrase, — the manners, almost inseparable from spending the people, — is becoming incorporated into all years of non-age in entire seclusion from the languages and laws; and the correlative idea of world. This is a true picture of the condition of

212 the individual in school conversation 213

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212 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 212 04/01/16 11:19 AM TRM VOCABULARY 5 Mann

A list of challenging words from

Identity and Society analyzing language, Style, and Structure from The Common School Journal this reading can be found in the Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. John Taylor Gatto begins by describing his own What vulnerabilities do you find in Gatto’s Horace Mann The Common School Journal 1 experience, a discouraging one, as a teacher. What 4 argument? Look back through the piece and effect does the inclusion of his personal experience identify a place where you think that Gatto does not Horace Mann (1796–1859) is often called the “father of BUILDING CONTEXT have on his argument? How does the biographical effectively support a claim he is making, or where his American Public Education,” because of his strong support information that precedes the article, as well as the logic seems faulty. Why do you think his writing is not Understanding Q1 asks about the biographical information Gatto chooses to include, effective in this section? for publicly funded schools. He was the first secretary of the “transitional state” Mann refer- help to establish his ethos? Massachusetts Board of Education, a position from 1837 ences. To what transitional state Gatto’s language moves between informal to 1848. Mann is particularly noted for his contributions to the Gatto cites examples of presidents, inventors, 5 expressions (such as “The empire struck back”) was he referring? How is 2 writers, and wealthy businesspersons to make his and quite elevated language (“Class may frame the Common School Journal, which he founded and edited, and American society in a transitional case that compulsory schooling is not necessary for proposition”). Do you find such movement an effective from which this excerpt is taken. In addition to holding the post state now as well? Consider

success (par. 7). He returns to this list at the end of the rhetorical strategy, or does it seem inconsistent? of secretary of the Board of Education, Mann was at different Photos/Getty Images Fotosearch/Archive shifts in gay rights and other essay (par. 15). Explain why you do or do not find such Support your response by referring to specific times in his life a tutor, college librarian, lawyer, and state legislator. issues of equality - how do you examples persuasive. passages. see schools adjusting to those Gatto lists three reasons for mandatory public This essay first appeared in 2003 in Harper’s Key conTexT Mann once said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory transitions (or not)? 3 schooling, as it was conceived in the United States — 6 magazine, a monthly publication appealing to an for humanity,” which is now the motto of Antioch College, of which Mann was the first and then asserts that they are not truly the principles educated, fairly liberal readership. What are some of president. As you read, keep in mind that this excerpt is from 1842, and the United TEACHING IDEA that govern education today. What evidence (including the ways Gatto specifically appeals to this States was still a newly formed, largely rural and agrarian country. There was not yet examples) does he cite to support this assertion? demographic? widespread agreement on the need for education for all citizens, especially for Mann’s essay was written in 1842, almost 60 years before women children of lower socioeconomic status. It was not until the 1920s that more than half had the right to vote in the US, so of the teenage population even attended high school. The question that Mann tries to he was extremely progressive in connecting, arguing, and extending answer here is: why is school important to the individual as well as society? mentioning gender inequalities in Choose one of the following assertions that John Toward the end of the essay, Gatto calls on parents society and how they left the 1 Taylor Gatto or one of the sources he cites makes 2 to teach their own children to be “leaders and nation’s daughters disadvantaged. and discuss how your own experience confirms or adventurers,” to think “critically and independently,” More recently Malala Yousafzai ankind are rapidly passing through a tran- human rights is evolving, and casting off old challenges it: and to “develop an inner life so that they’ll never be (see p. 378), who, after being shot bored” (par. 14). Write a proposal for a school that sition state. The idea and feeling that the institutions and customs, as the expanding body a. “[O]ur schools [. . .] [are] virtual factories of child- M by the Taliban for attending school would serve these purposes or that you think has the world was made, and life given, for the happi- bursts and casts away the narrow and worn-out ishness” (par. 4). in her native Afghanistan, won the b. “[S]econdary schools [. . .] all too often resemble promise of achieving some of them. What would be its ness of all, and not for the ambition, or pride, or garments of childhood. main guiding principles and characteristics? Nobel prize at the age of 16 for her prisons” (par. 8). luxury, of one, or of a few, are pouring in, like a In all the towns in our Common wealth, — in c. “[T]he aim of public education is [. . .] ‘to reduce work advocating for education According to some studies, schools in countries resistless tide, upon the minds of men, and are the small and obscure, and perhaps still more in as many individuals as possible to the same safe rights, particularly for females. At 3 like Finland, Singapore, and Japan, among others, effecting a universal revolution in human affairs. cities and in other populous places, — there are level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to regularly outperform the United States, and could be a speech to the UN Assembly Governments, laws, social usages, are rapidly many children, — orphans, or those who, in the put down dissent and originality’ ” (par. 10, quoting judged as more successful education systems. Yousafzai said, “I speak not for H. L. Mencken). Research an educational system in another country or dissolving, and recombining in new forms. The curse of vicious parentage, suffer a worse evil myself but for those without d. “Mandatory education serves children only culture. Discuss what values it tries to develop in its axiom which holds the highest welfare of all the than orphanage, — children doomed to inces- voice . . . those who have fought incidentally; its real purpose is to turn them into students and, based on your research and experience, recipients of human existence to be the end and sant drudgery, and who, from the straitened for their rights . . . their right to live servants” (par. 15). develop a position about whether you think that system aim of that existence, is the theoretical founda- circumstances of the household, from awkward- in peace, their right to be treated e. “[W]e must wake up to what our schools really are: is more or less effective than the United States system. tion of all the governments of this Union; it has ness of manners, or indigence in dress, never with dignity, their right to equality laboratories of experimentation on young minds, Also consider how Gatto would likely evaluate that drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corpo- system. already modified all the old despotisms of emerge from their solitude and obscurity, and of opportunity, their right to be rate society demands” (par. 15). Europe, and has obtained a foothold on the therefore necessarily grow up with all the educated.” Have students hitherto inaccessible shores of Asia and Africa, coarseness, narrowness, prejudices, and bad research the current state of and the islands of the sea. A new phrase, — the manners, almost inseparable from spending the education rights in other nations – people, — is becoming incorporated into all years of non-age in entire seclusion from the particularly those with whom we languages and laws; and the correlative idea of world. This is a true picture of the condition of have political conflict – and present their findings in class. 212 the individual in school conversation 213

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 212 27/10/15 7:28 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE 213 READING TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 7:29 PM Ask students to examine Mann’s bursting out of its limiting notions. Have students use their notes motif of metamorphosis in this Later, in paragraph 3 he uses the from the Close Reading on the selection by rereading two imagery of insect metamorphosis motif of metamorphosis to create passages. In paragraph 1 Mann to convey the positive growth a comic representation of the talks about the growth of the effect education has on youth. process of evolution students phrase “the people” in connec- Compare the language of these would undergo in Mann’s ideal tion with the growth in human analogies and consider their educational world. rights, and how it is effectively effectiveness on the reader.

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Identity and Society seeing connections The Common School Journal

Horace Mann argues in this piece for the importance of universal education. Class of 2010 Class of 2010 87 Asian 87 Asian 77.1 77.1 84 White 84 White Look at this chart and, first, make a claim about the trends in the graduation rate in the United 79.8 All students 79.8 All students 69.9 69.9 States. Then, based upon what you have read in the Mann piece, explain what you 71 Hispanic 71 Hispanic 67 Black 67 Black believe might have caused these trends. 65 American Indian 65 American Indian 50.8 50.8

1870 1880 18901870 19001880 19101890 19201900 19301910 19401920 19501930 19601940 19701950 19801960 19901970 20001980 20101990 2000 2010

Sources: EPE Research Center, 2010; U.S. Department of Education

CLOSE READING 1 Paragraph 2 vilifies parents and many children in every town in the State. sentiments are pure and elevating, — who can off not only the foul exuviae of the surface, but civilization and Christianity; and it is time that the circumstances of children’s Although there may be a few exceptions, in display the beauty and excellence of knowledge, the deeper impurities of the soul! By wise those who call upon us to send our wealth to home lives. Have students read regard to sons, as to the effects which these and win others to obtain what they cannot fail precepts, by patterns and examples of what is other lands should bestow a thought upon the this paragraph again noting the misfortunes of birth and parentage tend to to admire. The most which this class of children good and great in human character, how many barbarism and heathenism around their own language of failure in connection produce, yet there are scarcely any such excep- would be likely to see of any educated men, of them may be led to admire, to reverence, and doors. It is time that the current of public senti- with parenting, and then compare tions in regard to daughters. At the age of sixteen would be when the clergyman should make his then to imitate! O, how beautiful and divine the ment should be changed on another point, and it with the language of success or eighteen, a vigorous-minded boy may break brief annual parochial call, or when the physi- work by which the jungles of a society that calls that the honor and glory of a people should be connected to teachers and schools away from the dark hovel where his eyes first cian should be summoned to administer to itself civilized, can be cleared from the harpies, held to consist in the general prevalence of Mann uses in paragraph 3. saw the light, and go abroad in quest of better diseases brought on by ignorance or improper the wild beasts, and the foul creeping things virtue and intelligence, rather than in the fortunes; but there is hardly any such option in indulgences, or when they should be carried which now dwell therein! This is the work of production of a few splendid examples of regard to girls. As a general rule, they will remain before the courts to answer for offences which genius and knowledge. In the great march of at home, until, perhaps, the relation of marriage their untaught and unchastened passions had society, it is rather our duty to bring up the rear 1exuviae: Skin shed by an animal, usually referring to the molting of is entered into with some individual of fortunes prompted them to commit. But let a company an insect larva. —Eds. than to push forward the van. similar to their own, when it will become their of well-educated, well-trained, devoted teach- TEACHING IDEA turn to rear up children after the model which ers be sent into the school districts of the Mann’s vision of school rests on was furnished in their own degraded and Commonwealth, to hold intercourse and the idea of teachers “whose degrading birthplace. communion with these children, week after Now, in the common course of events, and week and month after month, — let their manners are refined, whose understanding and Interpreting tastes and sentiments are pure without the instrumentality of schools, this qualities of knowledge, dignity, kindness, class of children, during the whole period of purity, and refinement, be brought to act upon and elevating – who can display Summarize the “transition state” that Horace Despite the fact that at the time he was writing the beauty and excellence of their minority, would never be brought into the ignorance, vulgarity, squalidness, and 1 Mann suggests mankind is passing through 3 women were unable to vote in the United States, knowledge” (par. 3). Write a short communication or acquaintance with a single obscenity, of these neglected and perverted (par. 1), and explain how this historical movement Mann takes the time to describe the unique narrative about the teacher you educated, intelligent, benevolent individ- beings, — and how inexpressibly beautiful it relates to the idea of universal education. circumstances of young women who are not educated. Explain how the plight of women at the time that he have had who best fits that ual, — with one who loves children with a wise would be to see the latter gradually enlightened, According to Mann, what is the effect of the describes helps to make his case for universal description and the effect they and forecasting love, — with one whose purified, and humanized, by the benignant widespread use of the new phrase “the people” 2 education. have had on you. manners are refined, whose tastes and influences of the former, — to see them casting (par. 1)?

214 the individual in school conversation 215

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 214 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 215 27/10/15 7:29 PM Mann’s description of the trans- down the use of descriptive formation children could experi- language, imagery, personifica- ence through being educated by tion and other author’s craft amazing teachers is incredibly devices. vivid. Have students carefully re-read the section of paragraph 3 from “But let a company” to “around their own doors” noting

214 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 214 04/01/16 11:19 AM TEACHING IDEA 5 Mann

Mann died before the Civil War

Identity and Society even began and there is not a word seeing connections about race and the inequities it can The Common School Journal engender in societies. Based on Horace Mann argues in this piece for the importance of universal education. Class of 2010 Class of 2010 87 Asian 87 Asian the arguments Mann puts forth, 77.1 77.1 84 White 84 White Look at this chart and, first, make a claim about the trends in the graduation rate in the United 79.8 All students 79.8 All students what can we assume he felt about 69.9 69.9 States. Then, based upon what you have read in the Mann piece, explain what you 71 Hispanic 71 Hispanic 67 Black 67 Black compulsory education for believe might have caused these trends. 65 American Indian 65 American Indian 50.8 50.8 non-white citizens? Re-read the essay to gather evidence to support your view. Connect this with graph on pages 214-15.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE BY YEAR (PERCENTAGE) BY YEAR (PERCENTAGE) 6.4 6.4 SOURCES: EPE Research SOURCES: EPE Research Center, 2010; Center, 2010; BUILDING CONTEXT 2.0 2.0 U.S. Department of Education U.S. Department of Education Mann references “civilization and 1870 1880 18901870 19001880 19101890 19201900 19301910 19401920 19501930 19601940 19701950 19801960 19901970 20001980 20101990 2000 2010 Christianity” as assumed struc-

Sources: EPE Research Center, 2010; U.S. Department of Education tural values that educated Americans possessed and shared in common. Have a discussion many children in every town in the State. sentiments are pure and elevating, — who can off not only the foul exuviae1 of the surface, but civilization and Christianity; and it is time that about what those values implied Although there may be a few exceptions, in display the beauty and excellence of knowledge, the deeper impurities of the soul! By wise those who call upon us to send our wealth to and entailed. What are shared regard to sons, as to the effects which these and win others to obtain what they cannot fail precepts, by patterns and examples of what is other lands should bestow a thought upon the values do we feel modern misfortunes of birth and parentage tend to to admire. The most which this class of children good and great in human character, how many barbarism and heathenism around their own educated Americans possess? produce, yet there are scarcely any such excep- would be likely to see of any educated men, of them may be led to admire, to reverence, and doors. It is time that the current of public senti- (paragraph 3) Tie this discussion tions in regard to daughters. At the age of sixteen would be when the clergyman should make his then to imitate! O, how beautiful and divine the ment should be changed on another point, and to Connecting Q2. or eighteen, a vigorous-minded boy may break brief annual parochial call, or when the physi- work by which the jungles of a society that calls that the honor and glory of a people should be away from the dark hovel where his eyes first cian should be summoned to administer to itself civilized, can be cleared from the harpies, held to consist in the general prevalence of CHECK FOR saw the light, and go abroad in quest of better diseases brought on by ignorance or improper the wild beasts, and the foul creeping things virtue and intelligence, rather than in the UNDERSTANDING fortunes; but there is hardly any such option in indulgences, or when they should be carried which now dwell therein! This is the work of production of a few splendid examples of What does Mann mean in his last regard to girls. As a general rule, they will remain before the courts to answer for offences which genius and knowledge. In the great march of statement about “our duty”? at home, until, perhaps, the relation of marriage their untaught and unchastened passions had society, it is rather our duty to bring up the rear 1exuviae: Skin shed by an animal, usually referring to the molting of (paragraph 3) is entered into with some individual of fortunes prompted them to commit. But let a company an insect larva. —Eds. than to push forward the van. similar to their own, when it will become their of well-educated, well-trained, devoted teach- TRM SUGGESTED turn to rear up children after the model which ers be sent into the school districts of the RESPONSES was furnished in their own degraded and Commonwealth, to hold intercourse and degrading birthplace. communion with these children, week after Suggested responses to the Now, in the common course of events, and week and month after month, — let their questions for this reading can be without the instrumentality of schools, this qualities of knowledge, dignity, kindness, understanding and Interpreting found on the Teacher’s Resource class of children, during the whole period of purity, and refinement, be brought to act upon Flash Drive. Summarize the “transition state” that Horace Despite the fact that at the time he was writing their minority, would never be brought into the ignorance, vulgarity, squalidness, and 1 Mann suggests mankind is passing through 3 women were unable to vote in the United States, communication or acquaintance with a single obscenity, of these neglected and perverted (par. 1), and explain how this historical movement Mann takes the time to describe the unique CHECK FOR educated, intelligent, benevolent individ- beings, — and how inexpressibly beautiful it relates to the idea of universal education. circumstances of young women who are not educated. UNDERSTANDING – Explain how the plight of women at the time that he ual, — with one who loves children with a wise would be to see the latter gradually enlightened, According to Mann, what is the effect of the UNDERSTANDING Q3 describes helps to make his case for universal and forecasting love, — with one whose purified, and humanized, by the benignant widespread use of the new phrase “the people” 2 education. This prompt references the fact manners are refined, whose tastes and influences of the former, — to see them casting (par. 1)? that women had not yet won the right to vote at the time of Mann’s 214 the individual in school conversation 215 essay. Clarify that students know much time elapses between his essay (1842) and the right to vote being granted to American women. 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 214 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 215 TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 7:29 PM All developed nations have some amount of compulsory education, yet all over the world there are critics of this approach, including John Taylor Gatto. Have students research other arguments for and against compulsory education and write an essay on this question: should we have compulsory education – why or why not?

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 215 04/01/16 11:19 AM 5 Sizer

Reread the first part of paragraph 3, which begins Explain what Mann means in the final sentence Identity and Society 4 “Now, in the common course of events,” and 5 of the excerpt: “In the great march of society, it is from Horace’s School: identify the main goal that Mann believes schools rather our duty to bring up the rear than to push Redesigning the American High School Horace’s School should attempt to achieve. forward the van” (par. 3). Theodore Sizer

analyzing language, Style, and Structure Theodore Sizer (1932–2009) was one of the leading figures in the American school reform movement of the 1980s and 1990s, Horace Mann tries to draw a clear contrast Notice how both the beginning and the end of the pushing schools to be more effective places for students to 1 between life for students outside school and for 3 excerpt take the reader outside the geographical learn. A former high school teacher, professor, and college students inside. Make a T-chart of the words and boundaries of the United States. What is Mann’s dean, Sizer is probably most well-known for his work in phrases that Mann uses to describe each, and then purpose in doing so, and how effective is this choice in explain how his word choices help to support his making his case for universal education? founding the Coalition of Essential Schools, which is an argument for universal schooling. organization designed to support school leaders who are University Archives Brown undertaking the kinds of reform Sizer promoted. Specifically, the Coalition Reread the long sentence that begins with “But let TEACHING IDEA – focuses on what Sizer called the Common Principles, which include learning ANALYZING Q2 2 a company of well-educated . . .” (par. 3). How do the language choices in this sentence attempt to to use one’s mind well, “less is more,” depth over coverage, and personalization. Divide the class in half and have convince the reader of the value of education? one half examine the language of Key conTexT This excerpt is taken from Sizer’s book Horace’s School: Redesigning the this sentence that references chil- American High School (1997), which is the middle volume of a trilogy examining the dren/students, and the other half connecting, arguing, and extending state of American high schools and making suggestions for their improvement. In all examine the language of the three of the books, Sizer utilizes an unusual storytelling device that he calls “nonfiction sentence that refers to teachers. One of the arguments that Mann makes about Near the end of this excerpt, Mann says that fiction.” Sizer invents the character of Horace Smith, a teacher and school leader (and Have them Think, Pair, Share with 1 universal education is the effect that it can have on 2 education is the work of civilization and of likely named as homage to Horace Mann) at a fictional school called Franklin High, a partner who read for the oppo- women and society as a whole. Look at the following Christianity. And yet today, Mann is known for being a which he says is a composite of a number of schools he visited. This excerpt begins chart and conduct additional research in order to secularist in education, meaning that he felt that site purpose, then debrief as a with Sizer’s own personal account of a real classroom he visited, but ends with a explain the effect that educating women in developing religion did not have a place in the public schools. class to address Analyzing Q2. countries today can have on a society. Additionally, the concept of the separation of church fictionalized scene of Horace leading a faculty meeting. In his introduction, Sizer and state appears in the First Amendment to the U.S. suggests that this device “carries its own sort of authenticity.” TRM THINK, PAIR, Total Fertility Rates by Women’s Education Constitution, adopted in 1791, which says, in part, Level in Less-Developed Regions of the World SHARE “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 6.4 hen seeing schools as a visitor, I often ask However, not every kid presented the For more information on how to 7 5.4 exercise thereof.” There are many examples of how the 5.8 to take a class. Sometimes teachers let essence of fourteenness. Of the twenty or so 5.5 conflict between secularism and someone’s right to W conduct an effective Think, Pair, 6 4.7 5 practice his or her religion openly plays out in schools. me, though rarely with the brisk assent I youngsters eyeing me doubtfully, there were Share, see the Teacher’s 5 4.1 4.6 5 4.5 3.6 In your opinion, what is the proper place for religion in received in a northeastern city high school little and big ones, the bearded man and the Resource Flash Drive 4 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.9 school, and what evidence can you provide to support when, on a moment’s notice, I was handed a childish boy, the women-girls looking like moth- 3 2.8 2.7 your position? 2.6 ninth-grade humanities group for a period of an ers or children, sometimes both. They were TEACHING IDEA – 2 Children per woman Mann describes school as a place where hour and a half. I inherited the topic under surely a tough lot, on the whole; they had prob- CONNECTING Q1 1 3 young people should be in the company of study — crafting an essay — and plunged into ably seen much of life, much that was foreign to 0 Have students do research on the a “well-educated, well-trained, devoted teachers” who questioning the kids on their topics. Each essay my own experience. The class was predomi- share “their qualities of knowledge, dignity, kindness, link between women’s level of was to center on an incident involving a close nantly black and brown; there were no Asian- Education Level purity, and refinement” with their students. To what Northern Africa Oceania education and their income, and Southeast Asia Western Asia Sub-Saharan Afric Latin America None extent has this been your experience with teachers family member and was to include, in one Americans or Asians. then create a graph showing their Primary throughout your experience, from elementary school graceful way or another, a portrait of that person, Some talked easily about their work; most findings. Have them compare Secondary or higher into high school? Be sure not to identify specific the narrative of the incident, and a description did not. Two large girls stumbled badly in their graph to the connection teachers by name in your response. of the writer’s deeper or differing sense of his English; their whispers to each other were in between education and fertility relative on the basis of that incident. It was a rapid, easy Portuguese. The most vocal student depicted in the graph in this demanding topic for fourteen-year-olds. was a stringy, slouched boy wearing a black question. 216 the individual in school conversation 217

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 216 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 217 27/10/15 7:29 PM

216 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 216 04/01/16 11:19 AM TRM VOCABULARY 5 Sizer

Reread the first part of paragraph 3, which begins Explain what Mann means in the final sentence A list of challenging words from Identity and Society 4 “Now, in the common course of events,” and 5 of the excerpt: “In the great march of society, it is from Horace’s School: this reading can be found in the identify the main goal that Mann believes schools rather our duty to bring up the rear than to push Redesigning the American High School Horace’s School Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. should attempt to achieve. forward the van” (par. 3). Theodore Sizer analyzing language, Style, and Structure Theodore Sizer (1932–2009) was one of the leading figures in the American school reform movement of the 1980s and 1990s, Horace Mann tries to draw a clear contrast Notice how both the beginning and the end of the pushing schools to be more effective places for students to 1 between life for students outside school and for 3 excerpt take the reader outside the geographical learn. A former high school teacher, professor, and college students inside. Make a T-chart of the words and boundaries of the United States. What is Mann’s dean, Sizer is probably most well-known for his work in phrases that Mann uses to describe each, and then purpose in doing so, and how effective is this choice in explain how his word choices help to support his making his case for universal education? founding the Coalition of Essential Schools, which is an argument for universal schooling. organization designed to support school leaders who are University Archives Brown undertaking the kinds of reform Sizer promoted. Specifically, the Coalition Reread the long sentence that begins with “But let focuses on what Sizer called the Common Principles, which include learning 2 a company of well-educated . . .” (par. 3). How do the language choices in this sentence attempt to to use one’s mind well, “less is more,” depth over coverage, and personalization. convince the reader of the value of education? Key conTexT This excerpt is taken from Sizer’s book Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School (1997), which is the middle volume of a trilogy examining the connecting, arguing, and extending state of American high schools and making suggestions for their improvement. In all three of the books, Sizer utilizes an unusual storytelling device that he calls “nonfiction One of the arguments that Mann makes about Near the end of this excerpt, Mann says that fiction.” Sizer invents the character of Horace Smith, a teacher and school leader (and 1 universal education is the effect that it can have on 2 education is the work of civilization and of likely named as homage to Horace Mann) at a fictional school called Franklin High, women and society as a whole. Look at the following Christianity. And yet today, Mann is known for being a which he says is a composite of a number of schools he visited. This excerpt begins chart and conduct additional research in order to secularist in education, meaning that he felt that with Sizer’s own personal account of a real classroom he visited, but ends with a explain the effect that educating women in developing religion did not have a place in the public schools. countries today can have on a society. Additionally, the concept of the separation of church fictionalized scene of Horace leading a faculty meeting. In his introduction, Sizer and state appears in the First Amendment to the U.S. suggests that this device “carries its own sort of authenticity.” Total Fertility Rates by Women’s Education Constitution, adopted in 1791, which says, in part, Level in Less-Developed Regions of the World “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 6.4 hen seeing schools as a visitor, I often ask However, not every kid presented the 7 5.4 exercise thereof.” There are many examples of how the 5.8 to take a class. Sometimes teachers let essence of fourteenness. Of the twenty or so 5.5 conflict between secularism and someone’s right to W 6 4.7 5 practice his or her religion openly plays out in schools. me, though rarely with the brisk assent I youngsters eyeing me doubtfully, there were 5 4.1 4.6 5 4.5 3.6 In your opinion, what is the proper place for religion in received in a northeastern city high school little and big ones, the bearded man and the 4 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.9 school, and what evidence can you provide to support when, on a moment’s notice, I was handed a childish boy, the women-girls looking like moth- 3 2.8 2.7 your position? 2.6 2 ninth-grade humanities group for a period of an ers or children, sometimes both. They were

Children per woman Mann describes school as a place where 1 hour and a half. I inherited the topic under surely a tough lot, on the whole; they had prob- CHECK FOR 3 young people should be in the company of study — crafting an essay — and plunged into ably seen much of life, much that was foreign to 0 UNDERSTANDING a “well-educated, well-trained, devoted teachers” who questioning the kids on their topics. Each essay my own experience. The class was predomi- share “their qualities of knowledge, dignity, kindness, How and why do Sizer’s descrip- was to center on an incident involving a close nantly black and brown; there were no Asian- Education Level purity, and refinement” with their students. To what tions of the students in para- Northern Africa Oceania Southeast Asia Western Asia family member and was to include, in one Americans or Asians. Sub-Saharan Afric Latin America None extent has this been your experience with teachers graphs 2 and 3 and anecdotal Primary Secondary throughout your experience, from elementary school graceful way or another, a portrait of that person, Some talked easily about their work; most narrative about his lesson in or higher into high school? Be sure not to identify specific the narrative of the incident, and a description did not. Two large girls stumbled badly in paragraphs 4-8 help our under- teachers by name in your response. of the writer’s deeper or differing sense of his English; their whispers to each other were in standing of his later points about relative on the basis of that incident. It was a rapid, easy Portuguese. The most vocal student what needs to change in demanding topic for fourteen-year-olds. was a stringy, slouched boy wearing a black schools?

216 the individual in school conversation 217

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 216 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 217 BUILDING CONTEXT27/10/15 7:29 PM In paragraph 1 Sizer takes over a freshmen humanities class at a moment’s notice while they are crafting essays. What is it like when someone new comes in to teach? What if they are a student teacher? A sub? A guest speaker?

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 217 04/01/16 11:19 AM 5 Sizer

T-shirt emblazoned with the face of a recent film isolated white girl, could write easily but could demanded that the captain turn Terranova kind of day was each student having? Where was Identity and Society character and a Chicago Bulls cap with the visor not tell me clearly what they wanted to express. over for trial by a Chinese magistrate. The his mind this morning? Could she understand

turned to the back. He had a quick retort for This student of the kneeless jeans presented a justice of Canton harbor was balanced, the what I was saying? Did a word I used mean Horace’s School everything, usually spoken into thin air, not to tangle of notions. Whatever her technical writing captain knew, on different scales from those something different to him from what I me or even to his classmates. These comments skills, she lacked a coherent story to tell. She was of Massachusetts. The question to the students: intended? Did my “style” smother one but were usually apt, always funny, clever, bordering childish, not so much naïve as living in a world If you were the captain, would you turn provoke another to do what he was “un supposed” on but never crossing the line of insolence. He of flat simplicities. Terranova over? to do? Beautifully complicated these students was utterly unignorable. He was intensely Some had no idea of what a narrative was. The case can elicit all sorts of responses: fact were, and to pretend otherwise would be to watched by a virtually mute bigger boy, a partic- Others created tales about their brothers that gathering, weighing of alternatives, separation of deny humanity. ular friend, obviously, who grinned and nodded would have dazzled Steven Spielberg. Some the immediate situation from principle, empa- assent from time to time. loved writing, seemingly losing themselves in thy for a different cultural position, the need to How can teachers know the students, know In one corner, leaning against the wall, the concentration. Chicago Bulls whipped off a understand trade, Salem, and Canton in the first them well enough to understand how their tablet of her desk teetering, was a slight white pageant of paragraphs, his bon mots1 of the part of the nineteenth century. And more. The minds work, know where they come from, what girl, apart from the rest of the group but attend- earlier discussion now finding their way to kids jumped in, at first tentatively, then more pressures buffet them, what they are and are not ing with care. She wore studiously unkempt paper. His work was sloppy but wonderful. vociferously. I served as a human encyclopedia, disposed to do? A teacher cannot stimulate a clothes, jeans well ripped at the knees. She took Others slouched, pencils relentlessly tapping, a fact giver; I expressed no opinion. The Cape child to learn without knowing that child’s mind her time to talk, but when she did her language gazing around, a few words put down, not even Verdean girls took positions of principle; any more than a physician can guide an ill was standard English, her references from a a sentence, utterly unengaged. Only the Chicago Bulls looked for a quick way out. Just patient to health without knowing that patient’s different part of town. Her language separated Caribbean-American proved true to form. He pull anchor and sail away, he argued. Others physical condition. Tendencies, patterns, likeli- her even more than her race, but the others whispered and wrote as he had talked publicly. protested. What about the Emily’s trade next hoods exist, but the course of action necessary ignored her. She seemed oblivious of her isola- He exuded assurance. year? What about the rights of the family of the for an individual requires an understanding of tion. By contrast, the group’s central figure was As their attention waned, I shifted the drowned woman? And more. Some refused to the particulars. an older-looking tall boy, whose talk was care- activity to a discussion of a historical incident make a decision, paralyzed. Again, patterns of And so, what to do? Remedies are actually fully phrased, melodious with Caribbean into- that once raised and still raises some enduring response were different; now different stereo- obvious. They promise, however, to challenge a nations, and as precise as it was predictable. He issues of fundamental justice. As I go among types emerged. The quick portraits I had twice clutch of traditional educational practices. seemed the class’s leader, an Eagle Scout in schools, I like to use this particular exercise, formed disappeared again. Eagle Scout, for First, the number of students per teacher deportment, an ad for a college admissions because it gives consistency to my class watch- example, was silent. He could not make a deci- must be limited. Teachers, even the most experi- brochure. ing. The merchant vessel Emily, out of Salem, sion. What might be right for him was not only enced, can know well only a finite number of 5 My impressions of these kids and my Massachusetts, in 1819, dropped anchor in the unclear but unfathomable. I was unfair to push individual students, surely not more than eighty conversation with them immediately evoked harbor of Canton, China, to sell and buy goods. for a decision. He and a few others angrily and in many situations probably fewer. The typi- stereotypes. I guessed from their appearances While the captain carried out the major trans- resented my final call for each student to put on cal secondary school teacher today is assigned alone who they were. I knew that this mental actions, several Chinese entrepreneurs tied a slip of paper his or her “answer” to the authori- anywhere from 100 to over 180, coming at him, sorting-out was happening; it happens to us all: their junks up to the ship and noisily hawked ties about Terranova’s release to Cantonese law. rapid fire, in groups of twenty to forty. Horace we try to make sense of strangers, the quicker their wares to the men on board. One of the 10 The complexity of young people was Smith daily sees five groups of some twenty-four BUILDING CONTEXT the better. Although one tries to rein in one’s seamen, named Terranova, was swabbing the displayed in a ninety-minute spread in the students each for three quarters of an hour. Can In paragraph 5, Sizer says, judgments, one still makes them. deck near the tethered boat of an especially restricted world of a high school classroom, even he really know well how each youngster thinks, “Although one tries to rein in After a time, the students set to work on their persistent woman peddler. Somehow a large to a stranger who had had no briefing about how each one is progressing and why, what each one’s judgments, one still makes essays, I traveled among them, peering over pottery jug on deck was loosened and fell onto these kids and who had his hands full simply one cares about? them.” Looking around your own shoulders, reading the starts of their work. the hawker’s junk. The peddler fell overboard maintaining order, no less being amateur People, adolescents included, are compli- classroom, what kinds of judg- Different people — different stereotypes — and drowned. The Cantonese authorities ethnographer. My impressions changed several cated and changeable, and knowing them well is ments or assumptions would a emerged. Some could barely write simple prose times. One “cut” at establishing what each not something one can easily attain or hold on stranger make based on what but could whisper to me rich ideas they were youngster could or could not do, even with a to forever. Kids seem different to different adults; they would see? What might they struggling to put to paper. Others, like the 1bon mots: Witty remarks. —Eds. test, carefully crafted, was not the answer. What they respond in different ways to different assume about you?

218 the individual in school conversation 219

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 218 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 219 27/10/15 7:29 PM Sizer’s telling of Terranova’s toward either releasing Terranova Canton legal issue is purposely to the Chinese government or for ambiguous in the wording around the Captain to refuse. Make a the actual events leading to the T-chart to keep track of the woman’s death so as to leave evidence and arguments for each space for argument. Re-read the and use this to answer story in paragraph 8 closely look- Connecting Q2. ing for clues that sway you more

218 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 218 04/01/16 11:19 AM CHECK FOR

5 Sizer UNDERSTANDING T-shirt emblazoned with the face of a recent film isolated white girl, could write easily but could demanded that the captain turn Terranova kind of day was each student having? Where was Identity and Society character and a Chicago Bulls cap with the visor not tell me clearly what they wanted to express. over for trial by a Chinese magistrate. The his mind this morning? Could she understand Sizer shifts gears in his writing in

turned to the back. He had a quick retort for This student of the kneeless jeans presented a justice of Canton harbor was balanced, the what I was saying? Did a word I used mean Horace’s School paragraph 10, finishing out his everything, usually spoken into thin air, not to tangle of notions. Whatever her technical writing captain knew, on different scales from those something different to him from what I narrative section with a series of me or even to his classmates. These comments skills, she lacked a coherent story to tell. She was of Massachusetts. The question to the students: intended? Did my “style” smother one but reflective questions meant to were usually apt, always funny, clever, bordering childish, not so much naïve as living in a world If you were the captain, would you turn provoke another to do what he was “un supposed” emphasize his perspective. Read on but never crossing the line of insolence. He of flat simplicities. Terranova over? to do? Beautifully complicated these students this section again and consider was utterly unignorable. He was intensely Some had no idea of what a narrative was. The case can elicit all sorts of responses: fact were, and to pretend otherwise would be to the effectiveness of this rhetorical watched by a virtually mute bigger boy, a partic- Others created tales about their brothers that gathering, weighing of alternatives, separation of deny humanity. approach. Connect this activity ular friend, obviously, who grinned and nodded would have dazzled Steven Spielberg. Some the immediate situation from principle, empa- with answering Analyzing Q4. assent from time to time. loved writing, seemingly losing themselves in thy for a different cultural position, the need to How can teachers know the students, know In one corner, leaning against the wall, the concentration. Chicago Bulls whipped off a understand trade, Salem, and Canton in the first them well enough to understand how their tablet of her desk teetering, was a slight white pageant of paragraphs, his bon mots1 of the part of the nineteenth century. And more. The minds work, know where they come from, what girl, apart from the rest of the group but attend- earlier discussion now finding their way to kids jumped in, at first tentatively, then more pressures buffet them, what they are and are not ing with care. She wore studiously unkempt paper. His work was sloppy but wonderful. vociferously. I served as a human encyclopedia, disposed to do? A teacher cannot stimulate a clothes, jeans well ripped at the knees. She took Others slouched, pencils relentlessly tapping, a fact giver; I expressed no opinion. The Cape child to learn without knowing that child’s mind her time to talk, but when she did her language gazing around, a few words put down, not even Verdean girls took positions of principle; any more than a physician can guide an ill was standard English, her references from a a sentence, utterly unengaged. Only the Chicago Bulls looked for a quick way out. Just patient to health without knowing that patient’s different part of town. Her language separated Caribbean-American proved true to form. He pull anchor and sail away, he argued. Others physical condition. Tendencies, patterns, likeli- her even more than her race, but the others whispered and wrote as he had talked publicly. protested. What about the Emily’s trade next hoods exist, but the course of action necessary ignored her. She seemed oblivious of her isola- He exuded assurance. year? What about the rights of the family of the for an individual requires an understanding of tion. By contrast, the group’s central figure was As their attention waned, I shifted the drowned woman? And more. Some refused to the particulars. an older-looking tall boy, whose talk was care- activity to a discussion of a historical incident make a decision, paralyzed. Again, patterns of And so, what to do? Remedies are actually fully phrased, melodious with Caribbean into- that once raised and still raises some enduring response were different; now different stereo- obvious. They promise, however, to challenge a nations, and as precise as it was predictable. He issues of fundamental justice. As I go among types emerged. The quick portraits I had twice clutch of traditional educational practices. seemed the class’s leader, an Eagle Scout in schools, I like to use this particular exercise, formed disappeared again. Eagle Scout, for First, the number of students per teacher TEACHING IDEA deportment, an ad for a college admissions because it gives consistency to my class watch- example, was silent. He could not make a deci- must be limited. Teachers, even the most experi- Sizer’s first “remedy” is small brochure. ing. The merchant vessel Emily, out of Salem, sion. What might be right for him was not only enced, can know well only a finite number of class sizes and manageable 5 My impressions of these kids and my Massachusetts, in 1819, dropped anchor in the unclear but unfathomable. I was unfair to push individual students, surely not more than eighty student loads in order to facilitate conversation with them immediately evoked harbor of Canton, China, to sell and buy goods. for a decision. He and a few others angrily and in many situations probably fewer. The typi- teachers’ getting to know stereotypes. I guessed from their appearances While the captain carried out the major trans- resented my final call for each student to put on cal secondary school teacher today is assigned students to better meet their alone who they were. I knew that this mental actions, several Chinese entrepreneurs tied a slip of paper his or her “answer” to the authori- anywhere from 100 to over 180, coming at him, learning needs and styles. Write a sorting-out was happening; it happens to us all: their junks up to the ship and noisily hawked ties about Terranova’s release to Cantonese law. rapid fire, in groups of twenty to forty. Horace short narrative about the impact we try to make sense of strangers, the quicker their wares to the men on board. One of the 10 The complexity of young people was Smith daily sees five groups of some twenty-four that class size has had on you at the better. Although one tries to rein in one’s seamen, named Terranova, was swabbing the displayed in a ninety-minute spread in the students each for three quarters of an hour. Can one point in your education, judgments, one still makes them. deck near the tethered boat of an especially restricted world of a high school classroom, even he really know well how each youngster thinks, whether positive or negative. Did After a time, the students set to work on their persistent woman peddler. Somehow a large to a stranger who had had no briefing about how each one is progressing and why, what each you have a great connection with essays, I traveled among them, peering over pottery jug on deck was loosened and fell onto these kids and who had his hands full simply one cares about? a teacher and a smaller class? shoulders, reading the starts of their work. the hawker’s junk. The peddler fell overboard maintaining order, no less being amateur People, adolescents included, are compli- Were you lost in the sea of a room Different people — different stereotypes — and drowned. The Cantonese authorities ethnographer. My impressions changed several cated and changeable, and knowing them well is bursting at the seams with too emerged. Some could barely write simple prose times. One “cut” at establishing what each not something one can easily attain or hold on many classmates? Reflect your but could whisper to me rich ideas they were youngster could or could not do, even with a to forever. Kids seem different to different adults; opinion on Sizer’s remedy in your struggling to put to paper. Others, like the 1bon mots: Witty remarks. —Eds. test, carefully crafted, was not the answer. What they respond in different ways to different narrative.

218 the individual in school conversation 219

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 218 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 219 BUILDING CONTEXT27/10/15 7:29 PM How does your personal experience connect with Sizer’s view in paragraph 10 that “one cut” or attempt was not enough for students to really show their skills and knowledge?

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 219 04/01/16 11:19 AM 5 Sizer

Identity and Society

seeing connections Here is another educational target. It teaches the importance of accurate, Horace’s School It is authentic, painfully so. The importance consistent records, the necessity to read Throughout Horace’s School, Sizer describes a Attached are complete financial records of the 1040 is self-evident. Knowing how not closely, the nature of the tax system, and who series of Exhibitions, which are long-term proj- for the family assigned to you, including the to be intimidated by the process of filing is and what it favors. It also calls for a demonstra- ects that students complete, and which he also return filed by that family last year. In addition, obviously worthwhile. tion of arithmetic, logical, and analytic skills. includes in the book to demonstrate the princi- you will find a blank copy of the current 1040, It will appeal to students. It deals with two It is organized so that students can work ples he is promoting. Look at the Exhibition including related schedules, and explanatory issues paramount in most of their lives: together, helping one another. Some may included here and explain how it connects to one material provided by the Internal Revenue money and fairness (the latter particularly if promptly race out and consult a tax expert or more of the significant ideas Sizer raises in this Service. the families selected come from radically or call the IRS, asking for help. While this is excerpt. Additionally, compare this Exhibition to You will have a month to complete this different walks of life). not recommended, it is tolerable: the costs some of the assignments you are asked to work. Your result will be “audited” by an Taught intelligently, it opens the door wide, of such outside help are minimized by the complete in school. In what ways are the princi- outside expert and one of your classmates and for many students in a compelling way, to necessity to withstand and explain an audit. ples Sizer values present—or not—in the work after you turn it in. You will have to explain the a cluster of important disciplines such as Indeed, the act of getting such help may you are asked to do? financial situation of “your” family and to microeconomics, politics, ethics, and political serve as a powerful teacher. Further, the defend the 1040 return for it which you have An Exhibition: Form 1040 history. It can thereby be the springboard for necessity to be another person’s co-auditor presented. sustained serious study in several directions. requires the display of useful knowledge. Your group of five classmates is to complete Each of you will serve as a “co-auditor” on For example, it raises provocative questions It allows a teacher to vary the difficulty of accurately the federal Internal Revenue the return filed by a student from another group. about equality, about what “tax breaks” are material among the students involved, giving Service Form 1040 for each of five families. You will be asked to comment on that return. and who gets them and why. It is an example a financially simpler family to a struggling Each member of your group will prepare the Good luck. Getting your tax amount of government at work, with its use of finan- student and a more complex set of issues to 1040 for one of the families. You may work in wrong—or the tax for any of the five families cial incentives. In all these respects, it spurs the class tax whiz. The students will, of concert, helping one another. “Your” in your group—could end you in legal soup! teaching, animates it—this is a quality of a course, help one another, and they all must particular family’s form must be completed . . . by you personally, however. good Exhibition. stand behind all five returns.

situations or when studying different disciplines. 15 Accordingly, and reflecting the ambiguous Adjustments must be made quickly and Finally, the mores of the school — the ways it Few students open up to older people they do nature of each student’s progress or lack thereof, thoughtfully. The key ingredients here are goes about its business — must implicitly show not know or trust; to know a youngster in order wise teachers, knowing that they must be diag- time during the school day for people to meet, respect for individual students, for the expecta- to teach her well means knowing her first as a nosticians of the youngster’s progress, take coun- schedules that allow the teachers of particular tion that each can succeed, and for the belief person. Moreover, there are no perfect tests one sel regularly with their colleagues about the youngsters to gather together, teachers commit- that each deserves success. It is in this context can administer to get a permanent fix on a child, student, sharing impressions, hunches, and ted to such gatherings, and a school program that schools’ “dirty little secrets,” incendiary no matter how educators struggle to create such suggestions. Teachers confer with parents. And flexible enough to respond to adjustments issues like race, can be addressed. A school devices and to believe in them. Current research teachers make time to confer with the student recommended for each student. Schools should faculty that knows its students has taken each on learning and adolescent development is full himself, privately — formally or more likely infor- do no less for students than effective hospitals beyond his or her race, has accepted each as a of speculation, of conflicting findings and mally — not only in the rush of class time. [. . .] do for patients. Good hospitals allow time for person. This is not to say that race or gender or incomplete results, and it gives no simple All this personalization can be taken too far, staff consultations. They expect collaboration ethnicity is not of consequence; it means only answer to the nature of learning or growing up. or worse yet can be bureaucratized with solemn in the diagnosis of problems and the selection that other matters, such as a kid’s personality, In sum, teachers (like parents) are very much on Meetings called on a Schedule to examine Each of remedies. Good hospitals consult patients his hopes, his friends, his passions, his family, their own, drawing on a mixture of signals from Student’s Brain and Navel. Compromises and carefully. Schools are not hospitals and school his idiosyncrasies, count more. It is one thing to research, from experience, and from common common sense and flexibility are always needed kids are not “sick,” yet the analogies in this say, “Those three black kids and those two white sense as the basis for their decisions. in schools, just as they are in good families. case hold. kids over there are . . .”; it is better to say, “Bill,

220 the individual in school conversation 221

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 220 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 221 27/10/15 7:29 PM Sizer capitalizes specific words for emphasis in sentence 1 of paragraph 16 – what is his intended purpose with this structure? How does it shift his tone, and how effective is it?

220 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 220 04/01/16 11:19 AM 5 Sizer

Identity and Society

220 the individual in school conversation 221

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 220 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 221 27/10/15 7:29 PM

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 221 04/01/16 11:19 AM 5 Sizer

Amanda, Susan, Roger, and Ernest . . .” The academic standards. Comparisons to athletics

Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting person emerging from the caricature can help to were tried, but what kept cropping up was

dissolve the stereotype. A stereotype is one of tracking — with academic varsities, junior At the beginning of this selection, Theodore Sizer Sizer compares an effective school to an effective Horace’s School the roots of prejudice, one readily confronted in varsities, and the rest. 1 describes several of his students in simplistic, 4 hospital. While he identifies the effective practices good schools. The “dirty little secrets” will never The problem, committee members knew, was stereotypical terms, but by paragraph 10, he that occur in a hospital, he does not explicitly identify be eliminated or go away: America’s prejudices that the game of life was all played at the varsity concludes, “Beautifully complicated these students how these practices would look in a school. Finish the were.” What changes for Sizer, and what is the reader comparison for Sizer by explaining what the effective run too deep for that. The tensions and wran- level. In the use of their minds, if not their passing expected to conclude from his changed perceptions? school practices might be. glings they incite will always be with us, and arms and kicking feet, all the young people had to schools must accept them — but always in the be made as competitive as possible. What is Sizer’s intention in asking the students Sizer suggests that the most important step a about the story of the merchant ship Emily? What school can take to ensure that all students are context of the reality that no two people, young “Take your taxes,” Margaret suggested. 2 5 is he hoping to learn? What conclusion is the reader receiving individualized attention is to look closely at or old, are ever quite alike, nor should they ever “Everybody has to do his taxes. Taxophobes are expected to draw from the inclusion of the students’ “the mores of the school” (par. 17). According to Sizer, be treated precisely alike. not let off. Everyone must be able to play that responses? what is an effective school culture? A thoughtful school “culture” cannot be game.” TEACHING IDEA Sizer concludes, probably unsurprisingly, that in In the last section of this excerpt (pars. 21–32), readily codified or structured. An advisory There was laughter. “The Form 1040 is the 3 order to personalize instruction, teachers have to 6 Sizer switches to the “nonfiction fiction” approach In the story of Mary Poppins, the period merely offers the possibility of “advice” test we all must pass . . .” More embarrassed know their students. In addition to large class sizes, to and describes the fictional faculty meeting that Horace Banks children design their own given and taken. What happens within that laughter. what other factors does Sizer attribute the difficulty of leads. How does the teachers’ dialogue illustrate the advertisement for the perfect opportunity is the nub of it. Fuzzy but funda- 25 “Not everyone will be able to make sense of teachers’ knowing their students well? points that Sizer makes in the preceding paragraphs? nanny as the ones their parents mental qualities of caring and honesty, atten- all that IRS gobbledygook.” have sought and hired were all tiveness both to the immediate and to a young “Why not?” Margaret persisted. “It isn’t all rather terrible. Sizer similarly person’s future, empathy, patience, knowing that hard. It takes time, persistence, careful read- analyzing language, Style, and Structure describes in paragraph 18 what when to draw the line, the expression of disap- ing, good records, patience galore. Why can’t we the teachers in an ideal school pointment or anger or forgiveness when such is set those ends as a standard for any Franklin This excerpt is taken from a chapter called “Kids Ultimately, this piece is an argument, making a would be like, shooting for the Differ.” In what ways does Sizer illustrate the point about the need for individualized knowledge deserved — indeed, those qualities which char- graduate?” 1 3 stars in all the “fuzzy, but funda- meaning of the chapter title through his word choice in of students. Why does Sizer start with a narrative? acterize us as humans rather than programmed “In the real world, lots of people do their mental qualities” they should the first four paragraphs, where he describes the kids How does the story he tells support his argument? robots — mark the essence of a school that is at taxes with others. In our house it’s a collective in the class he is teaching? posess. Thinking about your own After the narrative opening about the classroom he once compassionate, respectful, and efficient. late March hassle. And if we don’t understand, experiences and Sizer’s view- Select one of the students whom Sizer observes 4 visited, Sizer switches to an expository mode of point, create your own advertise- How do such schools come to be? Through we ask for help.” 2 while teaching the class at the beginning of the address. Does his attitude toward his topic shift or ment for the ideal teacher. Share the leadership of their adults, people who set “So, isn’t that OK?” Margaret again. “We excerpt. How does Sizer describe that student upon remain the same? Point to specific language choices in your ads in class and create a and reset the standards, people who stay around can’t teach every student the tax code forever first encountering him or her, and how do his each part of the selection to support your conclusion. descriptions change later on? How does this changing master list of ideal qualities that a school long enough to give it a heart as well as and ever, but we should be able to expect every- language illustrate a point that Sizer is making about a program, people who are ready to build a one of them to do some sort of tax return. If in most commonly appeared. the individual in school? Contrast your class’ ideal teacher community that extends beyond any one class- collaboration, so much the better. It will give with Sizer’s. room, people who know the potentials and limi- each young person the confidence that with tations of technical expertise and of humane help as needed he can complete the 1040.” connecting, arguing, and extending judgment. One does not “design” such schools. “Can we expect the same of the faculty?” More 20 Such schools, rather, grow, usually slowly laughter. The committee was learning to like itself. Sizer spends considerable time identifying the Reread the scenario of the merchant ship Emily and almost always painfully, as tough issues 30 Green: “The 1040 is the Real World. Why 1 qualities of an effective school culture. Compare 2 (par. 8). What is your opinion on the case? What are met. isn’t that a good Exhibition?” your own school’s culture to the ideal one that Sizer might your response reveal about you? Again someone protested: “It will be too describes. Horace’s committee seemed stumped about hard for some of the kids!” how to respect the differences among students Coach: “It can’t be. They have to be able and yet meet the need for some absolute to do it.”

222 the individual in school conversation 223

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd TEACHING IDEA 222 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 223 27/10/15 7:29 PM After all the teaching activities for and work on the essays as back- the 3 essays in the Individual in ground information, set it in a the School section, ask students school providing fodder for a rich to write a One Act play involving discussion amongst the 3 men, a fictional interaction between and demonstrate through the Gatto, Mann, and Sizer. They dialogue their understanding of should revisit all of their notes each man’s view on education.

222 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 222 04/01/16 11:20 AM TRM SUGGESTED 5 Sizer

Amanda, Susan, Roger, and Ernest . . .” The academic standards. Comparisons to athletics RESPONSES

Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting person emerging from the caricature can help to were tried, but what kept cropping up was Suggested responses to the dissolve the stereotype. A stereotype is one of tracking — with academic varsities, junior At the beginning of this selection, Theodore Sizer Sizer compares an effective school to an effective Horace’s School questions for this reading can be the roots of prejudice, one readily confronted in varsities, and the rest. 1 describes several of his students in simplistic, 4 hospital. While he identifies the effective practices found on the Teacher’s Resource good schools. The “dirty little secrets” will never The problem, committee members knew, was stereotypical terms, but by paragraph 10, he that occur in a hospital, he does not explicitly identify Flash Drive. be eliminated or go away: America’s prejudices that the game of life was all played at the varsity concludes, “Beautifully complicated these students how these practices would look in a school. Finish the were.” What changes for Sizer, and what is the reader comparison for Sizer by explaining what the effective run too deep for that. The tensions and wran- level. In the use of their minds, if not their passing expected to conclude from his changed perceptions? school practices might be. glings they incite will always be with us, and arms and kicking feet, all the young people had to schools must accept them — but always in the be made as competitive as possible. What is Sizer’s intention in asking the students Sizer suggests that the most important step a about the story of the merchant ship Emily? What school can take to ensure that all students are context of the reality that no two people, young “Take your taxes,” Margaret suggested. 2 5 is he hoping to learn? What conclusion is the reader receiving individualized attention is to look closely at or old, are ever quite alike, nor should they ever “Everybody has to do his taxes. Taxophobes are expected to draw from the inclusion of the students’ “the mores of the school” (par. 17). According to Sizer, be treated precisely alike. not let off. Everyone must be able to play that responses? what is an effective school culture? A thoughtful school “culture” cannot be game.” Sizer concludes, probably unsurprisingly, that in In the last section of this excerpt (pars. 21–32), readily codified or structured. An advisory There was laughter. “The Form 1040 is the 3 order to personalize instruction, teachers have to 6 Sizer switches to the “nonfiction fiction” approach period merely offers the possibility of “advice” test we all must pass . . .” More embarrassed know their students. In addition to large class sizes, to and describes the fictional faculty meeting that Horace given and taken. What happens within that laughter. what other factors does Sizer attribute the difficulty of leads. How does the teachers’ dialogue illustrate the opportunity is the nub of it. Fuzzy but funda- 25 “Not everyone will be able to make sense of teachers’ knowing their students well? points that Sizer makes in the preceding paragraphs? mental qualities of caring and honesty, atten- all that IRS gobbledygook.” tiveness both to the immediate and to a young “Why not?” Margaret persisted. “It isn’t all person’s future, empathy, patience, knowing that hard. It takes time, persistence, careful read- analyzing language, Style, and Structure when to draw the line, the expression of disap- ing, good records, patience galore. Why can’t we pointment or anger or forgiveness when such is set those ends as a standard for any Franklin This excerpt is taken from a chapter called “Kids Ultimately, this piece is an argument, making a Differ.” In what ways does Sizer illustrate the point about the need for individualized knowledge deserved — indeed, those qualities which char- graduate?” 1 3 meaning of the chapter title through his word choice in of students. Why does Sizer start with a narrative? acterize us as humans rather than programmed “In the real world, lots of people do their the first four paragraphs, where he describes the kids How does the story he tells support his argument? robots — mark the essence of a school that is at taxes with others. In our house it’s a collective in the class he is teaching? After the narrative opening about the classroom he once compassionate, respectful, and efficient. late March hassle. And if we don’t understand, Select one of the students whom Sizer observes 4 visited, Sizer switches to an expository mode of How do such schools come to be? Through we ask for help.” 2 while teaching the class at the beginning of the address. Does his attitude toward his topic shift or the leadership of their adults, people who set “So, isn’t that OK?” Margaret again. “We excerpt. How does Sizer describe that student upon remain the same? Point to specific language choices in and reset the standards, people who stay around can’t teach every student the tax code forever first encountering him or her, and how do his each part of the selection to support your conclusion. a school long enough to give it a heart as well as and ever, but we should be able to expect every- descriptions change later on? How does this changing language illustrate a point that Sizer is making about a program, people who are ready to build a one of them to do some sort of tax return. If in the individual in school? community that extends beyond any one class- collaboration, so much the better. It will give room, people who know the potentials and limi- each young person the confidence that with tations of technical expertise and of humane help as needed he can complete the 1040.” connecting, arguing, and extending judgment. One does not “design” such schools. “Can we expect the same of the faculty?” More 20 Such schools, rather, grow, usually slowly laughter. The committee was learning to like itself. Sizer spends considerable time identifying the Reread the scenario of the merchant ship Emily and almost always painfully, as tough issues 30 Green: “The 1040 is the Real World. Why 1 qualities of an effective school culture. Compare 2 (par. 8). What is your opinion on the case? What are met. isn’t that a good Exhibition?” your own school’s culture to the ideal one that Sizer might your response reveal about you? Again someone protested: “It will be too describes. Horace’s committee seemed stumped about hard for some of the kids!” how to respect the differences among students Coach: “It can’t be. They have to be able and yet meet the need for some absolute to do it.”

222 the individual in school conversation 223

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 222 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 223 TEACHING IDEA – CONNECTING Q1 27/10/15 7:29 PM Have students build up to being Social (peers), Academic (their able to complete this comparison teachers), Extracurricular (sports, by giving them a graphic orga- drama, etc.), Schoolwide nizer to collect evidence in the programs (clubs), Administrative different areas of interaction they (rules, discipline), etc. experience in school such as

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 223 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 Angelou

sensations by miles. I was headed for the free- But to be able to operate at a top level with both Identity and Society from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings dom of open fields. adults and children was admirable. Maya Angelou 5 Youth and social approval allied themselves His valedictory speech was entitled “To Be

with me and we trammeled memories of slights or Not to Be.” The rigid tenth-grade teacher had I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings BUILDING CONTEXT One of America’s most well-known and celebrated writers, and insults. The wind of our swift passage helped him write it. He’d been working on the remodeled my features. Lost tears were pounded dramatic stresses for months. Before reading this excerpt of Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was born Marguerite Johnson in Angelou’s memoir, check in on St. Louis, Missouri. Throughout her career, she published to mud and then to dust. Years of withdrawal 10 The weeks until graduation were filled with your students’ background numerous volumes of poetry, several plays and screenplays, were brushed aside and left behind, as hanging heady activities. A group of small children were knowledge of the segregation of and six autobiographies that traced her life from birth all ropes of parasitic moss. to be presented in a play about buttercups and this time period, particularly in the the way to 1968. Her most famous autobiography is her first, My work alone had awarded me a top place daisies and bunny rabbits. They could be heard South. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which recounts her early and I was going to be one of the first called in the throughout the building practicing their hops

childhood up to about age seventeen. Miller/Magnum Photos © Wayne graduating ceremonies. On the classroom black- and their little songs that sounded like silver board, as well as on the bulletin board in the bells. The older girls (nongraduates, of course) TRM VOCABULARY Key conTexT Very controversial when it was released — and still challenged by some auditorium, there were blue stars and white were assigned the task of making refreshments A list of challenging words from groups even today — I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells the story of the often- stars and red stars. No absences, no tardinesses, for the night’s festivities. A tangy scent of ginger, this reading can be found on the brutal racism that Angelou (then called “Marguerite”) faced growing up with her and my academic work was among the best of cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate wafted Teacher’s Resource Flash Drive. brother (Bailey) and her grandmother (Momma) in Stamps, Arkansas, a rural the year. I could say the preamble to the around the home economics building as the community about two hours from Little Rock. Angelou speaks frankly of the sexual Constitution even faster than Bailey. We timed budding cooks made samples for themselves abuse she suffered as a child, her five-year self-imposed muteness, and the salvation ourselves often: “WethepeopleoftheUnitedStates- and their teachers. she found in books and writing. In this excerpt, the excitement and pride Marguerite inordertoformamoreperfectunion . . .” I had In every corner of the workshop, axes and feels in her accomplishments are severely tested by “the ancient tragedy” of racism memorized the Presidents of the United States saws split fresh timber as the woodshop boys during her eighth-grade graduation. from Washington to Roosevelt in chronological made sets and stage scenery. Only the graduates as well as alphabetical order. were left out of the general bustle. We were free My hair pleased me too. Gradually the black to sit in the library at the back of the building or BUILDING CONTEXT n the Store I was the person of the moment. schools had only that diploma and were mass had lengthened and thickened, so that it look in quite detachedly, naturally, on the Before reading ask students to IThe birthday girl. The center. Bailey had licensed to impart wisdom. kept at last to its braided pattern, and I didn’t measures being taken for our event. free write to the following prompt graduated the year before, although to do so he The days had become longer and more have to yank my scalp off when I tried to comb it. Even the minister preached on graduation to help them frame the story in had had to forfeit all pleasures to make up for his noticeable. The faded beige of former times Louise and I had rehearsed the exercises the Sunday before. His subject was, “Let your reference to a personal experi- time lost in Baton Rouge. had been replaced with strong and sure colors. until we tired out ourselves. Henry Reed was light so shine that men will see your good works ence: write about a time when My class was wearing butter-yellow piqué I began to see my classmates’ clothes, their skin class valedictorian. He was a small, very black and praise your Father, Who is in Heaven.” you felt really proud of yourself dresses, and Momma launched out on mine. tones, and the dust that waved off pussy willows. boy with hooded eyes, a long, broad nose and an Although the sermon was purported to be for an accomplishment, but then She smocked the yoke into tiny crisscrossing Clouds that lazed across the sky were objects of oddly shaped head. I had admired him for years addressed to us, he used the occasion to speak that pride was dented by outside puckers, then slurred the rest of the bodice. Her great concern to me. Their shiftier shapes might because each term he and I vied for the best to backsliders, gamblers and general ne’er-do- events or others’ comments or dark fingers ducked in and out of the lemony have held a message that in my new happiness grades in our class. Most often he bested me, but wells. But since he had called our names at the actions. They can then use this as cloth as she embroidered raised daisies around and with a little bit of time I’d soon decipher. instead of being disappointed I was pleased that beginning of the service we were mollified. pre-writing while addressing the hem. Before she considered herself finished During that period I looked at the arch of heaven we shared top places between us. Like many Among Negroes the tradition was to give Connecting Q1. she had added a crocheted cuff on the puff so religiously my neck kept a steady ache. I had Southern Black children, he lived with his presents to children going only from one grade sleeves, and a pointy crocheted collar. taken to smiling more often, and my jaws hurt grandmother, who was as strict as Momma and to another. How much more important this was I was going to be lovely. A walking model of from the unaccustomed activity. Between the as kind as she knew how to be. He was courte- when the person was graduating at the top of the all the various styles of fine hand sewing and it two physical sore spots, I suppose I could have ous, respectful and soft-spoken to elders, but on class. Uncle Willie and Momma had sent away didn’t worry me that I was only twelve years old been uncomfortable, but that was not the case. the playground he chose to play the roughest for a Mickey Mouse watch like Bailey’s. Louise and merely graduating from the eighth grade. As a member of the winning team (the graduat- games. I admired him. Anyone, I reckoned, suffi- gave me four embroidered handkerchiefs. Besides, many teachers in Arkansas Negro ing class of 1940) I had outdistanced unpleasant ciently afraid or sufficiently dull could be polite. (I gave her three crocheted doilies.) Mrs. Sneed,

224 the individual in school conversation 225

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 224 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 225 27/10/15 7:29 PM In paragraph 4 Angelou estab- creates. What is the tone? Follow lishes the tone of this section this up by doing the same Close from I Know Why the Caged Bird reading for author’s craft of para- Sings by using vivid author’s graph 24 when Angelou has a craft. Read the passage again to major shift in tone, then compar- locate examples of imagery, figu- ing the two. rative language, and diction that contribute to the tone she

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with me and we trammeled memories of slights or Not to Be.” The rigid tenth-grade teacher had I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings One of America’s most well-known and celebrated writers, and insults. The wind of our swift passage helped him write it. He’d been working on the Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was born Marguerite Johnson in remodeled my features. Lost tears were pounded dramatic stresses for months. St. Louis, Missouri. Throughout her career, she published to mud and then to dust. Years of withdrawal 10 The weeks until graduation were filled with numerous volumes of poetry, several plays and screenplays, were brushed aside and left behind, as hanging heady activities. A group of small children were and six autobiographies that traced her life from birth all ropes of parasitic moss. to be presented in a play about buttercups and the way to 1968. Her most famous autobiography is her first, My work alone had awarded me a top place daisies and bunny rabbits. They could be heard I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which recounts her early and I was going to be one of the first called in the throughout the building practicing their hops

childhood up to about age seventeen. Miller/Magnum Photos © Wayne graduating ceremonies. On the classroom black- and their little songs that sounded like silver board, as well as on the bulletin board in the bells. The older girls (nongraduates, of course) Key conTexT Very controversial when it was released — and still challenged by some auditorium, there were blue stars and white were assigned the task of making refreshments groups even today — I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings tells the story of the often- stars and red stars. No absences, no tardinesses, for the night’s festivities. A tangy scent of ginger, brutal racism that Angelou (then called “Marguerite”) faced growing up with her and my academic work was among the best of cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate wafted brother (Bailey) and her grandmother (Momma) in Stamps, Arkansas, a rural the year. I could say the preamble to the around the home economics building as the community about two hours from Little Rock. Angelou speaks frankly of the sexual Constitution even faster than Bailey. We timed budding cooks made samples for themselves abuse she suffered as a child, her five-year self-imposed muteness, and the salvation ourselves often: “WethepeopleoftheUnitedStates- and their teachers. she found in books and writing. In this excerpt, the excitement and pride Marguerite inordertoformamoreperfectunion . . .” I had In every corner of the workshop, axes and feels in her accomplishments are severely tested by “the ancient tragedy” of racism memorized the Presidents of the United States saws split fresh timber as the woodshop boys during her eighth-grade graduation. from Washington to Roosevelt in chronological made sets and stage scenery. Only the graduates as well as alphabetical order. were left out of the general bustle. We were free My hair pleased me too. Gradually the black to sit in the library at the back of the building or n the Store I was the person of the moment. schools had only that diploma and were mass had lengthened and thickened, so that it look in quite detachedly, naturally, on the IThe birthday girl. The center. Bailey had licensed to impart wisdom. kept at last to its braided pattern, and I didn’t measures being taken for our event. graduated the year before, although to do so he The days had become longer and more have to yank my scalp off when I tried to comb it. Even the minister preached on graduation had had to forfeit all pleasures to make up for his noticeable. The faded beige of former times Louise and I had rehearsed the exercises the Sunday before. His subject was, “Let your time lost in Baton Rouge. had been replaced with strong and sure colors. until we tired out ourselves. Henry Reed was light so shine that men will see your good works My class was wearing butter-yellow piqué I began to see my classmates’ clothes, their skin class valedictorian. He was a small, very black and praise your Father, Who is in Heaven.” dresses, and Momma launched out on mine. tones, and the dust that waved off pussy willows. boy with hooded eyes, a long, broad nose and an Although the sermon was purported to be She smocked the yoke into tiny crisscrossing Clouds that lazed across the sky were objects of oddly shaped head. I had admired him for years addressed to us, he used the occasion to speak puckers, then slurred the rest of the bodice. Her great concern to me. Their shiftier shapes might because each term he and I vied for the best to backsliders, gamblers and general ne’er-do- dark fingers ducked in and out of the lemony have held a message that in my new happiness grades in our class. Most often he bested me, but wells. But since he had called our names at the cloth as she embroidered raised daisies around and with a little bit of time I’d soon decipher. instead of being disappointed I was pleased that beginning of the service we were mollified. the hem. Before she considered herself finished During that period I looked at the arch of heaven we shared top places between us. Like many Among Negroes the tradition was to give she had added a crocheted cuff on the puff so religiously my neck kept a steady ache. I had Southern Black children, he lived with his presents to children going only from one grade sleeves, and a pointy crocheted collar. taken to smiling more often, and my jaws hurt grandmother, who was as strict as Momma and to another. How much more important this was I was going to be lovely. A walking model of from the unaccustomed activity. Between the as kind as she knew how to be. He was courte- when the person was graduating at the top of the all the various styles of fine hand sewing and it two physical sore spots, I suppose I could have ous, respectful and soft-spoken to elders, but on class. Uncle Willie and Momma had sent away didn’t worry me that I was only twelve years old been uncomfortable, but that was not the case. the playground he chose to play the roughest for a Mickey Mouse watch like Bailey’s. Louise and merely graduating from the eighth grade. As a member of the winning team (the graduat- games. I admired him. Anyone, I reckoned, suffi- gave me four embroidered handkerchiefs. Besides, many teachers in Arkansas Negro ing class of 1940) I had outdistanced unpleasant ciently afraid or sufficiently dull could be polite. (I gave her three crocheted doilies.) Mrs. Sneed,

224 the individual in school conversation 225

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 224 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd TEACHING 225 IDEA 27/10/15 7:29 PM In paragraph 7 Angelou adds a struggle Black women have with Angelou’s autobiography. Have note about being pleased with American society’s limited students integrate their notes her hair, which serves to remind perspective on beauty. Have from the documentary as addi- the reader that despite all of students watch a short portion of tional evidence for their response Marguerite’s advanced language the documentaries Good Hair or to Understanding Q5. and intellectual prowess, she is Dark Girls, taking notes on the also just an adolescent girl connections to Marguerite’s concerned with her appearance. perspective on herself and how it It also connects to the shared shifts during this excerpt of

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the minister’s wife, made me an underskirt to I was too jittery to attend to chores, so Bailey of allegiance. We remained standing for a brief stream and then to a trickle. But he cleared his Identity and Society wear for graduation, and nearly every customer volunteered to do all before his bath. minute before the choir director and the princi- throat and said, “Our speaker tonight, who is gave me a nickel or maybe even a dime with the Days before, we had made a sign for the pal signaled to us, rather desperately I thought, also our friend, came from Texarkana to deliver

instruction “Keep on moving to higher ground,” Store, and as we turned out the lights Momma to take our seats. The command was so unusual the commencement address, but due to the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or some such encouragement. hung the cardboard over the doorknob. It read that our carefully rehearsed and smooth- irregularity of the train schedule, he’s going to, Amazingly the great day finally dawned and clearly: closed. graduation. running machine was thrown off. For a full as they say, ‘speak and run.’” He said that we I was out of bed before I knew it. I threw open 20 My dress fitted perfectly and everyone said minute we fumbled for our chairs and bumped understood and wanted the man to know that the back door to see it more clearly, but Momma that I looked like a sunbeam in it. On the hill, into each other awkwardly. Habits change or we were most grateful for the time he was able to said, “Sister, come away from that door and put going toward the school, Bailey walked behind solidify under pressure, so in our state of give us and then something about how we were your robe on.” with Uncle Willie, who muttered, “Go on, Ju.” He nervous tension we had been ready to follow our willing always to adjust to another’s program, CLOSE READING 15 I hoped the memory of that morning would wanted him to walk ahead with us because it usual assembly pattern: the American national and without more ado — “I give you Mr. Edward Have students juxtapose never leave me. Sunlight was itself still young, embarrassed him to have to walk so slowly. anthem, then the pledge of allegiance, then the Donleavy.” Angelou’s passages on memory – and the day had none of the insistence maturity Bailey said he’d let the ladies walk together, and song every Black person I knew called the Negro Not one but two white men came through the paragraphs 15-24 demonstrate would bring it in a few hours. In my robe and the men would bring up the rear. We all laughed, National Anthem. All done in the same key, with door offstage. The shorter one walked to the her remembering every detail of barefoot in the backyard, under cover of going to nicely. the same passion and most often standing on speaker’s platform, and the tall one moved over to dress and day, but then in para- see about my new beans, I gave myself up to the Little children dashed by out of the dark like the same foot. the center seat and sat down. But that was our graph 46 she forgets her role in gentle warmth and thanked God that no matter fireflies. Their crepe-paper dresses and butterfly 25 Finding my seat at last, I was overcome with principal’s seat, and already occupied. The the ceremony in the aftermath of what evil I had done in my life He had allowed wings were not made for running and we heard a presentiment of worse things to come. dislodged gentleman bounced around for a long Donleavy’s speech. Discuss the me to live to see this day. Somewhere in my more than one rip, dryly, and the regretful “uh Something unrehearsed, unplanned, was going breath or two before the Baptist minister gave him effect this comparison has in fatalism I had expected to die, accidentally, and uh” that followed. to happen, and we were going to be made to look his chair, then with more dignity than the situa- helping the reader understand never have the chance to walk up the stairs in The school blazed without gaiety. The bad. I distinctly remember being explicit in the tion deserved, the minister walked off the stage. Marguerite. the auditorium and gracefully receive my hard- windows seemed cold and unfriendly from the choice of pronoun. It was “we,” the graduating Donleavy looked at the audience once earned diploma. Out of God’s merciful bosom I lower hill. A sense of ill-fated timing crept over class, the unit, that concerned me then. (on reflection, I’m sure that he wanted only to had won reprieve. me, and if Momma hadn’t reached for my hand The principal welcomed “parents and reassure himself that we were really there), Bailey came out in his robe and gave me a I would have drifted back to Bailey and Uncle friends” and asked the Baptist minister to lead adjusted his glasses and began to read from a box wrapped in Christmas paper. He said he had Willie, and possibly beyond. She made a few us in prayer. His invocation was brief and sheaf of papers. saved his money for months to pay for it. It felt slow jokes about my feet getting cold, and punchy, and for a second I thought we were 30 He was glad “to be here and to see the work like a box of chocolates, but I knew Bailey tugged me along to the now-strange building. getting back on the high road to right action. going on just as it was in the other schools.” wouldn’t save money to buy candy when we had Around the front steps, assurance came When the principal came back to the dais, At the first “Amen” from the audience I all we could want under our noses. back. There were my fellow “greats,” the graduat- however, his voice had changed. Sounds always willed the offender to immediate death by He was as proud of the gift as I. It was a ing class. Hair brushed back, legs oiled, new affected me profoundly and the principal’s voice choking on the word. But Amens and Yes, sir’s soft-leather-bound copy of a collection of dresses and pressed pleats, fresh pocket hand- was one of my favorites. During assembly it began to fall around the room like rain through a poems by Edgar Allan Poe, or, as Bailey and I kerchiefs and little handbags, all homesewn. Oh, melted and lowed weakly into the audience. It ragged umbrella. called him, “Eap.” I turned to “Annabel Lee” we were up to snuff, all right. I joined my had not been in my plan to listen to him, but my He told us of the wonderful changes we and we walked up and down the garden rows, comrades and didn’t even see my family go in to curiosity was piqued and I straightened up to children in Stamps had in store. The Central the cool dirt between our toes, reciting the find seats in the crowded auditorium. give him my attention. School (naturally, the white school was Central) beautifully sad lines. The school band struck up a march and all He was talking about Booker T. Washington, had already been granted improvements that Momma made a Sunday breakfast although classes filed in as had been rehearsed. We stood our “late great leader,” who said we can be as would be in use in the fall. A well-known artist it was only Friday. After we finished the blessing, in front of our seats, as assigned, and on a signal close as the fingers on the hand, etc. . . . Then he was coming from Little Rock to teach art to I opened my eyes to find the watch on my plate. from the choir director, we sat. No sooner had said a few vague things about friendship and the them. They were going to have the newest It was a dream of a day. Everything went this been accomplished than the band started to friendship of kindly people to those less fortu- microscopes and chemistry equipment for their smoothly and to my credit. I didn’t have to be play the national anthem. We rose again and nate than themselves. With that his voice nearly laboratory. Mr. Donleavy didn’t leave us long in reminded or scolded for anything. Near evening sang the song, after which we recited the pledge faded, thin, away. Like a river diminishing to a the dark over who made these improvements

226 the individual in school conversation 227

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CHECK FOR 226 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 227 27/10/15 7:29 PM UNDERSTANDING Connect to students’ background knowledge of Edgar Allen Poe as most have studied his more famous works in middle school. Do they remember “Annabel Lee”? Connect the narrator’s tragic story of love and loss in Poe’s poem to the circumstances of Marguerite’s graduation day.

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5 Angelou

instruction “Keep on moving to higher ground,” Store, and as we turned out the lights Momma to take our seats. The command was so unusual the commencement address, but due to the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or some such encouragement. hung the cardboard over the doorknob. It read that our carefully rehearsed and smooth- irregularity of the train schedule, he’s going to, Amazingly the great day finally dawned and clearly: closed. graduation. running machine was thrown off. For a full as they say, ‘speak and run.’” He said that we I was out of bed before I knew it. I threw open 20 My dress fitted perfectly and everyone said minute we fumbled for our chairs and bumped understood and wanted the man to know that the back door to see it more clearly, but Momma that I looked like a sunbeam in it. On the hill, into each other awkwardly. Habits change or we were most grateful for the time he was able to said, “Sister, come away from that door and put going toward the school, Bailey walked behind solidify under pressure, so in our state of give us and then something about how we were your robe on.” with Uncle Willie, who muttered, “Go on, Ju.” He nervous tension we had been ready to follow our willing always to adjust to another’s program, 15 I hoped the memory of that morning would wanted him to walk ahead with us because it usual assembly pattern: the American national and without more ado — “I give you Mr. Edward never leave me. Sunlight was itself still young, embarrassed him to have to walk so slowly. anthem, then the pledge of allegiance, then the Donleavy.” and the day had none of the insistence maturity Bailey said he’d let the ladies walk together, and song every Black person I knew called the Negro Not one but two white men came through the would bring it in a few hours. In my robe and the men would bring up the rear. We all laughed, National Anthem. All done in the same key, with door offstage. The shorter one walked to the CLOSE READING barefoot in the backyard, under cover of going to nicely. the same passion and most often standing on speaker’s platform, and the tall one moved over to Teach students the term ‘microag- see about my new beans, I gave myself up to the Little children dashed by out of the dark like the same foot. the center seat and sat down. But that was our gression’ and have them read gentle warmth and thanked God that no matter fireflies. Their crepe-paper dresses and butterfly 25 Finding my seat at last, I was overcome with principal’s seat, and already occupied. The paragraphs 28-34 and 43-44 what evil I had done in my life He had allowed wings were not made for running and we heard a presentiment of worse things to come. dislodged gentleman bounced around for a long closely to identify the microaggres- me to live to see this day. Somewhere in my more than one rip, dryly, and the regretful “uh Something unrehearsed, unplanned, was going breath or two before the Baptist minister gave him sions displayed by Mr. Donleavy fatalism I had expected to die, accidentally, and uh” that followed. to happen, and we were going to be made to look his chair, then with more dignity than the situa- and his partner. Have students use never have the chance to walk up the stairs in The school blazed without gaiety. The bad. I distinctly remember being explicit in the tion deserved, the minister walked off the stage. their findings to help them answer the auditorium and gracefully receive my hard- windows seemed cold and unfriendly from the choice of pronoun. It was “we,” the graduating Donleavy looked at the audience once Analyzing Q3. earned diploma. Out of God’s merciful bosom I lower hill. A sense of ill-fated timing crept over class, the unit, that concerned me then. (on reflection, I’m sure that he wanted only to had won reprieve. me, and if Momma hadn’t reached for my hand The principal welcomed “parents and reassure himself that we were really there), Bailey came out in his robe and gave me a I would have drifted back to Bailey and Uncle friends” and asked the Baptist minister to lead adjusted his glasses and began to read from a box wrapped in Christmas paper. He said he had Willie, and possibly beyond. She made a few us in prayer. His invocation was brief and sheaf of papers. saved his money for months to pay for it. It felt slow jokes about my feet getting cold, and punchy, and for a second I thought we were 30 He was glad “to be here and to see the work like a box of chocolates, but I knew Bailey tugged me along to the now-strange building. getting back on the high road to right action. going on just as it was in the other schools.” wouldn’t save money to buy candy when we had Around the front steps, assurance came When the principal came back to the dais, At the first “Amen” from the audience I all we could want under our noses. back. There were my fellow “greats,” the graduat- however, his voice had changed. Sounds always willed the offender to immediate death by TEACHING IDEA He was as proud of the gift as I. It was a ing class. Hair brushed back, legs oiled, new affected me profoundly and the principal’s voice choking on the word. But Amens and Yes, sir’s As Marguerite takes in Donleavy’s soft-leather-bound copy of a collection of dresses and pressed pleats, fresh pocket hand- was one of my favorites. During assembly it began to fall around the room like rain through a description in paragraph 32 of the poems by Edgar Allan Poe, or, as Bailey and I kerchiefs and little handbags, all homesewn. Oh, melted and lowed weakly into the audience. It ragged umbrella. white school in town, we are left called him, “Eap.” I turned to “Annabel Lee” we were up to snuff, all right. I joined my had not been in my plan to listen to him, but my He told us of the wonderful changes we wondering what life would be like and we walked up and down the garden rows, comrades and didn’t even see my family go in to curiosity was piqued and I straightened up to children in Stamps had in store. The Central for her if she had had other the cool dirt between our toes, reciting the find seats in the crowded auditorium. give him my attention. School (naturally, the white school was Central) opportunities. Using what you beautifully sad lines. The school band struck up a march and all He was talking about Booker T. Washington, had already been granted improvements that learned by reading the previous Momma made a Sunday breakfast although classes filed in as had been rehearsed. We stood our “late great leader,” who said we can be as would be in use in the fall. A well-known artist essays about the Individual in it was only Friday. After we finished the blessing, in front of our seats, as assigned, and on a signal close as the fingers on the hand, etc. . . . Then he was coming from Little Rock to teach art to School, put Marguerite into a I opened my eyes to find the watch on my plate. from the choir director, we sat. No sooner had said a few vague things about friendship and the them. They were going to have the newest school designed by either Gatto It was a dream of a day. Everything went this been accomplished than the band started to friendship of kindly people to those less fortu- microscopes and chemistry equipment for their or Sizer. How would her life be smoothly and to my credit. I didn’t have to be play the national anthem. We rose again and nate than themselves. With that his voice nearly laboratory. Mr. Donleavy didn’t leave us long in different? Might it be the same at reminded or scolded for anything. Near evening sang the song, after which we recited the pledge faded, thin, away. Like a river diminishing to a the dark over who made these improvements one or the other? Create a narrative in her voice as she experiences life at that school for a day. 226 the individual in school conversation 227

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available to Central High. Nor were we to be Washington Carver, as a bootblack, to buy a their notes, or the windows which opened on looked up to acknowledge the grunts of accep- Identity and Society ignored in the general betterment scheme he lousy microscope? Bailey was obviously our now-famous playing diamond. tance — also, we were bound to get some new had in mind. always going to be too small to be an athlete, Graduation, the hush-hush magic time of equipment for the home economics building

He said that he had pointed out to people at so which concrete angel glued to what country frills and gifts and congratulations and diplo- and the workshop. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings a very high level that one of the first-line seat had decided that if my brother wanted to mas, was finished for me before my name was He finished, and since there was no need to football tacklers at Arkansas Agricultural and become a lawyer he had to first pay penance called. The accomplishment was nothing. The give any more than the most perfunctory thank- Mechanical College had graduated from good for his skin by picking cotton and hoeing corn meticulous maps, drawn in three colors of ink, you’s, he nodded to the men on the stage, and old Lafayette County Training School. Here and studying correspondence books at night learning and spelling decasyllabic words, the tall white man who was never introduced fewer Amen’s were heard. Those few that did for twenty years? memorizing the whole of The Rape of Lucrece — joined him at the door. They left with the atti- break through lay dully in the air with the The man’s dead words fell like bricks around it was for nothing. Donleavy had exposed us. tude that now they were off to something really heaviness of habit. the auditorium and too many settled in my 40 We were maids and farmers, handymen and important. (The graduation ceremonies at He went on to praise us. He went on to say belly. Constrained by hard-learned manners I washerwomen, and anything higher that we Lafayette County Training School had been a how he had bragged that “one of the best basket- couldn’t look behind me, but to my left and aspired to was farcical and presumptuous. mere preliminary.) ball players at Fisk sank his first ball right here at right the proud graduating class of 1940 had Then I wished that Gabriel Prosser and Nat 45 The ugliness they left was palpable. An Lafayette County Training School.” dropped their heads. Every girl in my row had Turner had killed all whitefolks in their beds and uninvited guest who wouldn’t leave. The choir 35 The white kids were going to have a chance found something new to do with her handker- that Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated was summoned and sang a modern arrangement to become Galileos and Madame Curies and chief. Some folded the tiny squares into love before the signing of the Emancipation of “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” with new words Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls knots, some into triangles, but most were Proclamation, and that Harriet Tubman had pertaining to graduates seeking their place in the weren’t even in on it) would try to be Jesse wadding them, then pressing them flat on their been killed by that blow on her head and world. But it didn’t work. Elouise, the daughter of Owenses and Joe Louises. yellow laps. Christopher Columbus had drowned in the the Baptist minister, recited “Invictus,” and I CHECK FOR Owens and the Brown Bomber were great On the dais, the ancient tragedy was being Santa María. could have cried at the impertinence of “I am the UNDERSTANDING heroes in our world, but what school official in replayed. Professor Parsons sat, a sculptor’s It was awful to be Negro and have no master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Why is the audience so upset? the white-goddom of Little Rock had the right reject, rigid. His large, heavy body seemed control over my life. It was brutal to be young My name had lost its ring of familiarity and I What is the “ancient drama”? to decide that those two men must be our only devoid of will or willingness, and his eyes said he and already trained to sit quietly and listen to had to be nudged to go and receive my diploma. heroes? Who decided that for Henry Reed to was no longer with us. The other teachers exam- charges brought against my color with no All my preparations had fled. I neither marched become a scientist he had to work like George ined the flag (which was draped stage right) or chance of defense. We should all be dead. I up to the stage like a conquering Amazon, nor thought I should like to see us all dead, one on did I look in the audience for Bailey’s nod of top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the approval. Marguerite Johnson, I heard the name whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad base, again, my honors were read, there were noises in then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and the audience of appreciation, and I took my The events Angelou teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes place on the stage as rehearsed. describes in her with their mops and recipes and cotton sacks I thought about colors I hated: ecru, puce, autobiography take place about fifteen years before and spirituals sticking out of their mouths. The lavender, beige and black. the court-ordered Dutch children should all stumble in their There was shuffling and rustling around integration of Little Rock’s wooden shoes and break their necks. The me, then Henry Reed was giving his valedictory Central High School in 1957. French should choke to death on the Louisiana address, “To Be or Not to Be.” Hadn’t he heard In this photo, National Purchase (1803) while silkworms ate all the the whitefolks? We couldn’t be, so the question Guard troops protect a girl arriving to attend school. Chinese with their stupid pigtails. As a species, was a waste of time. Henry’s voice came out What perspective on this we were an abomination. All of us. clear and strong. I feared to look at him. Hadn’t historic event, and this Donleavy was running for election, and he got the message? There was no “nobler in scene in particular, does assured our parents that if he won we could the mind” for Negroes because the world didn’t Angelou’s memoir give count on having the only colored paved playing think we had minds, and they let us know it. you?

228 the individual in school conversation 229

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 228 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 229 27/10/15 7:29 PM

228 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 228 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 Angelou

He said that he had pointed out to people at so which concrete angel glued to what country frills and gifts and congratulations and diplo- and the workshop. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings TEACHING IDEA a very high level that one of the first-line seat had decided that if my brother wanted to mas, was finished for me before my name was He finished, and since there was no need to In what should have been her football tacklers at Arkansas Agricultural and become a lawyer he had to first pay penance called. The accomplishment was nothing. The give any more than the most perfunctory thank- moment of triumph, Marguerite is Mechanical College had graduated from good for his skin by picking cotton and hoeing corn meticulous maps, drawn in three colors of ink, you’s, he nodded to the men on the stage, and instead laid low by Donleavy and old Lafayette County Training School. Here and studying correspondence books at night learning and spelling decasyllabic words, the tall white man who was never introduced left filled with self-loathing. With fewer Amen’s were heard. Those few that did for twenty years? memorizing the whole of The Rape of Lucrece — joined him at the door. They left with the atti- only a few sentences in para- break through lay dully in the air with the The man’s dead words fell like bricks around it was for nothing. Donleavy had exposed us. tude that now they were off to something really graphs 26-44 he undoes years of heaviness of habit. the auditorium and too many settled in my 40 We were maids and farmers, handymen and important. (The graduation ceremonies at hard work and dedication, He went on to praise us. He went on to say belly. Constrained by hard-learned manners I washerwomen, and anything higher that we Lafayette County Training School had been a reduces pride to shame. Have how he had bragged that “one of the best basket- couldn’t look behind me, but to my left and aspired to was farcical and presumptuous. mere preliminary.) students create a visual of this to ball players at Fisk sank his first ball right here at right the proud graduating class of 1940 had Then I wished that Gabriel Prosser and Nat 45 The ugliness they left was palpable. An better interpret the impact of this Lafayette County Training School.” dropped their heads. Every girl in my row had Turner had killed all whitefolks in their beds and uninvited guest who wouldn’t leave. The choir moment. Give them a blank time- 35 The white kids were going to have a chance found something new to do with her handker- that Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated was summoned and sang a modern arrangement line shaped like a mountain and to become Galileos and Madame Curies and chief. Some folded the tiny squares into love before the signing of the Emancipation of “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” with new words mark “graduation” at the peak. Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls knots, some into triangles, but most were Proclamation, and that Harriet Tubman had pertaining to graduates seeking their place in the Using textual evidence from this weren’t even in on it) would try to be Jesse wadding them, then pressing them flat on their been killed by that blow on her head and world. But it didn’t work. Elouise, the daughter of excerpt, have them indicate her Owenses and Joe Louises. yellow laps. Christopher Columbus had drowned in the the Baptist minister, recited “Invictus,” and I accomplishments and sentiments Owens and the Brown Bomber were great On the dais, the ancient tragedy was being Santa María. could have cried at the impertinence of “I am the of pride as marks going up the heroes in our world, but what school official in replayed. Professor Parsons sat, a sculptor’s It was awful to be Negro and have no master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” mountain, and Donleavy’s racist, the white-goddom of Little Rock had the right reject, rigid. His large, heavy body seemed control over my life. It was brutal to be young My name had lost its ring of familiarity and I destructive comments and her to decide that those two men must be our only devoid of will or willingness, and his eyes said he and already trained to sit quietly and listen to had to be nudged to go and receive my diploma. resulting feelings of hopelessness heroes? Who decided that for Henry Reed to was no longer with us. The other teachers exam- charges brought against my color with no All my preparations had fled. I neither marched and shame as marks going down become a scientist he had to work like George ined the flag (which was draped stage right) or chance of defense. We should all be dead. I up to the stage like a conquering Amazon, nor the other side of the mountain. thought I should like to see us all dead, one on did I look in the audience for Bailey’s nod of top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the approval. Marguerite Johnson, I heard the name whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad base, again, my honors were read, there were noises in CHECK FOR then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and the audience of appreciation, and I took my UNDERSTANDING The events Angelou teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes place on the stage as rehearsed. In paragraphs 39 and 48 Angelou describes in her with their mops and recipes and cotton sacks I thought about colors I hated: ecru, puce, autobiography take place mentions the works Rape of about fifteen years before and spirituals sticking out of their mouths. The lavender, beige and black. Lucrese and Hamlet – clarify that the court-ordered Dutch children should all stumble in their There was shuffling and rustling around these were authored by integration of Little Rock’s wooden shoes and break their necks. The me, then Henry Reed was giving his valedictory Shakespeare. What does it make Central High School in 1957. French should choke to death on the Louisiana address, “To Be or Not to Be.” Hadn’t he heard us feel and think about In this photo, National Purchase (1803) while silkworms ate all the the whitefolks? We couldn’t be, so the question Marguerite and Henry that they Guard troops protect a girl can recite Shakespeare from arriving to attend school. Chinese with their stupid pigtails. As a species, was a waste of time. Henry’s voice came out memory? What perspective on this we were an abomination. All of us. clear and strong. I feared to look at him. Hadn’t historic event, and this Donleavy was running for election, and he got the message? There was no “nobler in scene in particular, does assured our parents that if he won we could the mind” for Negroes because the world didn’t Angelou’s memoir give count on having the only colored paved playing think we had minds, and they let us know it. you?

228 the individual in school conversation 229 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING In the midst of her haunting depiction of the “pyramid of 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 228 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CHECK 229 FOR CLOSE READING 27/10/15 7:29 PM flesh” in paragraph 42, Marguerite pauses to note the UNDERSTANDING To support the close reading of the objects associated with them. exact date of the Louisiana Who were Gabriel Prosser and paragraph 42 described in In the next field, have students Purchase. What is Angelou’s Nat Turner? Analyzing Q4, have students explain how the language and intended effect with this pause? re-read the passage using a objects she chooses for each How does it connect to the tone graphic organizer. For each race race illustrate Marguerite’s atti- of the section? or ethnicity, have students write tude toward racism. the line containing the imagery about that group, and underline

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 229 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 Angelou

When the ceremony was over I had to tell Every child I knew had learned that song

Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting Henry Reed some things. That is, if I still cared. with his ABC’s and along with “Jesus Loves Me Not “rub,” Henry, “erase.” “Ah, there’s the This I Know.” But I personally had never heard it Trace Marguerite’s changing attitude toward her A “coming of age” story typically features a

erase.” Us. before. Never heard the words, despite the thou- 1 own accomplishments in school at the following 4 protagonist who learns a lesson about the world I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Henry had been a good student in elocution. sands of times I had sung them. Never thought points in the narrative. Be sure to identify a passage that requires him or her to put childhood aside and His voice rose on tides of promise and fell on they had anything to do with me. from the text that supports your response: start becoming an adult. With this definition in mind, consider ways in which this excerpt from I Know Why waves of warnings. The English teacher had On the other hand, the words of Patrick Henry a. before the ceremony (pars. 6–15) b. during and immediately after Mr. Donleavy’s the Caged Bird Sings can be considered a “coming of helped him to create a sermon winging through had made such an impression on me that I had speech (pars. 24–44) age” story. Hamlet’s soliloquy. To be a man, a doer, a been able to stretch myself tall and trembling and c. after Henry Reed begins to sing (pars. 50–56) This excerpt is from about two-thirds through builder, a leader, or to be a tool, an unfunny joke, say, “I know not what course others may take, but What are some of the differences between 5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Make an a crusher of funky toadstools. I marveled that as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” 2 Marguerite’s school, Lafayette County Training inference about how Marguerite’s thoughts about Henry could go through with the speech as if we And now I heard, really for the first time: School, and Central High School, the white school in racism and her own sense of self might evolve in the had a choice. the same town? How does Marguerite feel about these remainder of the autobiography. Point to specific passages from the text to support your response. 50 I had been listening and silently rebutting “We have come over a way that with tears has differences?

each sentence with my eyes closed; then there been watered, Look back closely at the speech that Mr. Donleavy TEACHING IDEA was a hush, which in an audience warns that We have come, treading our path through the 3 delivers. What is the content of his speech and Marguerite disappears inside something unplanned is happening. I looked up blood of the slaughtered.” how is his message received by his audience? Why herself in despair after Donleavy’s and saw Henry Reed, the conservative, the does the audience receive the message this way? speech, but is guided back to a proper, the A student, turn his back to the audi- 55 While echoes of the song shivered in the air, sense of hope when Henry leads ence and turn to us (the proud graduating class Henry Reed bowed his head, said “Thank you,” the hall in singing the “Negro of 1940) and sing, nearly speaking, and returned to his place in the line. The tears analyzing language, Style, and Structure national anthem.” Have students that slipped down many faces were not wiped read Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” “Lift ev’ry voice and sing away in shame. There are a number of allusions to specific texts in Look back at paragraphs 43–44 and explain how this excerpt, including the “To be or not to be” Angelou uses style to reveal the obvious and connect it to paragraphs Till earth and heaven ring We were on top again. As always, again. We 1 3 speech from Hamlet, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” indifference and racism of the two white men. 50-58 of this excerpt. Ring with the harmonies of Liberty . . .” survived. The depths had been icy and dark, but referred to in this piece as the “Negro National Reread paragraph 42. The imagery is brutal and now a bright sun spoke to our souls. I was no Anthem.” Explain how each of these texts helps to shocking, compared to the rest of the excerpt, as It was the poem written by James Weldon longer simply a member of the proud graduating illustrate Marguerite’s inner conflicts with the effects of 4 the narrator imagines a pile of dead people of all races. racism. Johnson. It was the music composed by J. class of 1940; I was a proud member of the What are the objects she imagines that the people from Rosamond Johnson. It was the Negro national wonderful, beautiful Negro race. Before Mr. Donleavy’s speech, Maya Angelou uses each race have with them and how does the language anthem. Out of habit we were singing it. Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how 2 a strikingly different tone to describe the she chooses illustrate Marguerite’s attitude toward Our mothers and fathers stood in the dark often have your auctioned pains sustained us? graduation ceremony than she does after the speech. racism? What might this paragraph be like if Marguerite hall and joined the hymn of encouragement. A Who will compute the lonely nights made less Choose two short passages, one from each section, had a more optimistic view of the world? Rewrite the identify the tone, and explain how Angelou uses diction paragraph with this more optimistic tone. kindergarten teacher led the small children onto lonely by your songs, or by the empty pots made to create it. the stage and the buttercups and daisies and less tragic by your tales? bunny rabbits marked time and tried to follow: If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice “Stony the road we trod to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured Bitter the chastening rod us of that weakness. It may be enough, however, Felt in the days when hope, unborn, had to have it said that we survive in exact relation- died. ship to the dedication of our poets (include Yet with a steady beat preachers, musicians and blues singers). Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?”

230 the individual in school conversation 231

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CHECK FOR 230 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 231 27/10/15 7:29 PM UNDERSTANDING In paragraph 56 why does Marguerite repeat the word “again”?

230 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 230 04/01/16 11:20 AM TRM SUGGESTED 5 Angelou

When the ceremony was over I had to tell Every child I knew had learned that song RESPONSES

Identity and Society understanding and Interpreting Henry Reed some things. That is, if I still cared. with his ABC’s and along with “Jesus Loves Me Suggested responses to the Not “rub,” Henry, “erase.” “Ah, there’s the This I Know.” But I personally had never heard it Trace Marguerite’s changing attitude toward her A “coming of age” story typically features a questions for this reading can be erase.” Us. before. Never heard the words, despite the thou- 1 own accomplishments in school at the following 4 protagonist who learns a lesson about the world I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings found on the Teacher’s Resource Henry had been a good student in elocution. sands of times I had sung them. Never thought points in the narrative. Be sure to identify a passage that requires him or her to put childhood aside and Flash Drive. His voice rose on tides of promise and fell on they had anything to do with me. from the text that supports your response: start becoming an adult. With this definition in mind, consider ways in which this excerpt from I Know Why waves of warnings. The English teacher had On the other hand, the words of Patrick Henry a. before the ceremony (pars. 6–15) BUILDING CONTEXT – b. during and immediately after Mr. Donleavy’s the Caged Bird Sings can be considered a “coming of helped him to create a sermon winging through had made such an impression on me that I had speech (pars. 24–44) age” story. UNDERSTANDING Q4 Hamlet’s soliloquy. To be a man, a doer, a been able to stretch myself tall and trembling and c. after Henry Reed begins to sing (pars. 50–56) This excerpt is from about two-thirds through Ask students to list stories they builder, a leader, or to be a tool, an unfunny joke, say, “I know not what course others may take, but What are some of the differences between 5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Make an know that fit the definition for a crusher of funky toadstools. I marveled that as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” 2 Marguerite’s school, Lafayette County Training inference about how Marguerite’s thoughts about “coming of age” given in this Henry could go through with the speech as if we And now I heard, really for the first time: School, and Central High School, the white school in racism and her own sense of self might evolve in the question. had a choice. the same town? How does Marguerite feel about these remainder of the autobiography. Point to specific passages from the text to support your response. 50 I had been listening and silently rebutting “We have come over a way that with tears has differences? each sentence with my eyes closed; then there been watered, Look back closely at the speech that Mr. Donleavy was a hush, which in an audience warns that We have come, treading our path through the 3 delivers. What is the content of his speech and something unplanned is happening. I looked up blood of the slaughtered.” how is his message received by his audience? Why and saw Henry Reed, the conservative, the does the audience receive the message this way? proper, the A student, turn his back to the audi- 55 While echoes of the song shivered in the air, ence and turn to us (the proud graduating class Henry Reed bowed his head, said “Thank you,” of 1940) and sing, nearly speaking, and returned to his place in the line. The tears analyzing language, Style, and Structure that slipped down many faces were not wiped “Lift ev’ry voice and sing away in shame. There are a number of allusions to specific texts in Look back at paragraphs 43–44 and explain how this excerpt, including the “To be or not to be” Angelou uses style to reveal the obvious Till earth and heaven ring We were on top again. As always, again. We 1 3 speech from Hamlet, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” indifference and racism of the two white men. Ring with the harmonies of Liberty . . .” survived. The depths had been icy and dark, but referred to in this piece as the “Negro National Reread paragraph 42. The imagery is brutal and now a bright sun spoke to our souls. I was no Anthem.” Explain how each of these texts helps to shocking, compared to the rest of the excerpt, as It was the poem written by James Weldon longer simply a member of the proud graduating illustrate Marguerite’s inner conflicts with the effects of 4 the narrator imagines a pile of dead people of all races. racism. Johnson. It was the music composed by J. class of 1940; I was a proud member of the What are the objects she imagines that the people from Rosamond Johnson. It was the Negro national wonderful, beautiful Negro race. Before Mr. Donleavy’s speech, Maya Angelou uses each race have with them and how does the language anthem. Out of habit we were singing it. Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how 2 a strikingly different tone to describe the she chooses illustrate Marguerite’s attitude toward Our mothers and fathers stood in the dark often have your auctioned pains sustained us? graduation ceremony than she does after the speech. racism? What might this paragraph be like if Marguerite hall and joined the hymn of encouragement. A Who will compute the lonely nights made less Choose two short passages, one from each section, had a more optimistic view of the world? Rewrite the identify the tone, and explain how Angelou uses diction paragraph with this more optimistic tone. kindergarten teacher led the small children onto lonely by your songs, or by the empty pots made to create it. the stage and the buttercups and daisies and less tragic by your tales? bunny rabbits marked time and tried to follow: If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice “Stony the road we trod to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured Bitter the chastening rod us of that weakness. It may be enough, however, Felt in the days when hope, unborn, had to have it said that we survive in exact relation- died. ship to the dedication of our poets (include Yet with a steady beat preachers, musicians and blues singers). Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?”

230 the individual in school conversation 231

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 230 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 231 TEACHING IDEA27/10/15 –7:29 PM ANALYZING Q2 Have students use a T chart to keep track of notes for Marguerite’s language describing the graduation ceremony before Donleavy’s speech on one side and after it on the other.

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 231 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 connecting, arguing, and extending Identity and Society ENTERING THE CONVERSATION THE INDIVIDUAL IN SCHOOL In this excerpt, Marguerite has her expectations of occasional exceptions, are almost always funded 1 a wonderful day dampened — at least at far lower levels than the schools that serve white temporarily — by someone else’s actions, actions that and middle-class children. Nationally, on average, are beyond her control. Write about a time in your life a school serving primarily black and Latino Making Connections when you have experienced a similar event. Be sure, as students gets $1,000 less per pupil than an Angelou does, to include a reflection on what caused overwhelmingly white school. That’s a lot of money Read or reread the section from the Central Text of While Horace Mann clearly values universal this disappointment. when you realize that kids aren’t educated 1 this chapter, “Shooting an Elephant” (p. 114), in 3 education (p. 213), John Taylor Gatto suggests that individually but in a class of 25–30 kids — that’s a which the narrator is standing in front of the crowd of compulsory education turns citizens into “servants” Leading up to the graduation ceremony, we learn difference of $25,000–$30,000 every year for every Burmese who silently urge him to shoot the animal, (p. 211, par. 15). How would Mann respond to Gatto’s that there are two schools in Stamps, Arkansas: 2 class. even though he states clearly that he does not want to. arguments, and which position do you support? Why? one for whites and one for African Americans. About Compare the social forces at work in that passage with What is a problematic aspect of school on which twenty years later, in 1954, the Supreme Court, in What is the racial and socioeconomic background of those Alexandra Robbins describes in her piece. Are Theodore Sizer and John Taylor Gatto might Brown v. Board of Education, ruled this type of the school populations in your area? Does this cause there any research studies that she cites that would be 4 agree? What are the differences in their proposed segregation illegal, and schools throughout the country any disparities that you can see? Write an essay that applicable to the actions of the narrator in “Shooting an solutions to the problem? began to integrate. And yet, according to Jonathan proposes specific solutions to the issues of Elephant”? Kozol, an education researcher, today’s schools may segregation and funding that Kozol raises and Angelou Based on your reading of Theodore Sizer’s In the excerpt from The Geeks Shall Inherit the be just as segregated by race as they were during demonstrates. Horace’s School, what would Sizer likely identify as Earth, Robbins describes the biological and social 5 Angelou’s childhood. In an interview about one of his 2 being the strengths and weaknesses with the Angelou has said that she took the title of her factors that often force high school students to books called The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration districtwide and specific-school culture described in autobiography from the poem “Sympathy” by Paul conform. What visual and textual evidence shows of Apartheid Schooling in America, Kozol said, 3 Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings? Laurence Dunbar. Read the third stanza from the poem these factors at work in the excerpt from Friends It goes to the question of whether we are going to What solutions would Sizer probably suggest to and explain how the poem’s speaker faces a situation with Boys? be one society or two, whether our children will address these concerns? similar to that of Marguerite in this excerpt. How is the grow up to know one another as friends or view message of the poem similar to or different from that of each other eternally as strangers, and especially as Synthesizing Sources Angelou’s autobiography? fearful strangers. But it also speaks directly to academic issues, because overwhelmingly I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, John Taylor Gatto, the author of “Against School” along with your own personal experiences, what would segregated schools in the United States are the When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, 1 (p. 207), wonders if we really even need school you say are the most important qualities that make a schools that have the lowest scores, the highest When he beats his bars and would be free; anymore. With so much of the world’s knowledge supportive learning environment? Write your response class sizes, the least experienced teachers, and It is not a carol of joy or glee, accessible with a quick Google search, what is the in the form of a letter to your principal to inform him or the most devastating dropout rates. And of course But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, purpose of school in the twenty-first century? Be sure her about the attributes that he or she should consider these are the schools that always receive the least But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings— to support your own ideas with those of the authors in when making changes to the school. this Conversation. amount of money. Segregated schools, despite I know why the caged bird sings. One attribute that seems to run through many The great majority of American high school 4 of these texts is the power that school—peers, 2 students are educated in a traditional learning teachers, the institution itself—has to enforce environment: a group of a few hundred to a few conformity among students. While we often think of thousand students move from class to class in one “conformity” in a negative way, some of the texts point main building, studying subjects like English, math, out that inculcating students with certain values and science, and so on; they are taught by teachers who skills that society thinks are important can be a positive take attendance, give tests, grade papers, and assign outcome of the educational process. A case could be homework. While there are students who are made, however, that schools have no business homeschooled or take high school classes online, the indoctrinating their students and that students should traditional learning structure has not significantly resist all pressures to conform to a school’s or society’s changed since the invention of the American high intended outcomes. Referring to two or more texts in school in the nineteenth century. Propose a new model this Conversation, explain what role conformity ought to for high school that meets the needs of today’s play in the educational process. learners, referring to at least two texts in this Imagine that an incoming ninth grader asked you Conversation as support for your proposal. 5 for advice on how to handle high school. What Many of the texts in this Conversation include suggestions would you offer? Why? What advice would 3 descriptions of both supportive and hostile school one or more of the authors of texts in this Conversation 232 environments. Considering at least two of these texts offer? 233

05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd CLOSE READING 232 – 27/10/15 7:29 PM 05_SHE_5741_ch5_0174-0249.indd 233 23/11/15 5:41 PM CONNECTING Q3 Have students compare the section of Dunbar’s poem cited here with the singing of the “Negro national anthem” in paragraphs 52-57. How can we see the connection between these texts in title, theme, and tone?

232 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 232 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 connecting, arguing, and extending Identity and Society ENTERING THE CONVERSATION THE INDIVIDUAL IN SCHOOL In this excerpt, Marguerite has her expectations of occasional exceptions, are almost always funded 1 a wonderful day dampened — at least at far lower levels than the schools that serve white temporarily — by someone else’s actions, actions that and middle-class children. Nationally, on average, are beyond her control. Write about a time in your life a school serving primarily black and Latino Making Connections when you have experienced a similar event. Be sure, as students gets $1,000 less per pupil than an Angelou does, to include a reflection on what caused overwhelmingly white school. That’s a lot of money Read or reread the section from the Central Text of While Horace Mann clearly values universal this disappointment. when you realize that kids aren’t educated 1 this chapter, “Shooting an Elephant” (p. 114), in 3 education (p. 213), John Taylor Gatto suggests that individually but in a class of 25–30 kids — that’s a which the narrator is standing in front of the crowd of compulsory education turns citizens into “servants” Leading up to the graduation ceremony, we learn difference of $25,000–$30,000 every year for every Burmese who silently urge him to shoot the animal, (p. 211, par. 15). How would Mann respond to Gatto’s that there are two schools in Stamps, Arkansas: 2 class. even though he states clearly that he does not want to. arguments, and which position do you support? Why? one for whites and one for African Americans. About Compare the social forces at work in that passage with What is a problematic aspect of school on which twenty years later, in 1954, the Supreme Court, in What is the racial and socioeconomic background of those Alexandra Robbins describes in her piece. Are Theodore Sizer and John Taylor Gatto might Brown v. Board of Education, ruled this type of the school populations in your area? Does this cause there any research studies that she cites that would be 4 agree? What are the differences in their proposed segregation illegal, and schools throughout the country any disparities that you can see? Write an essay that applicable to the actions of the narrator in “Shooting an solutions to the problem? began to integrate. And yet, according to Jonathan proposes specific solutions to the issues of Elephant”? Kozol, an education researcher, today’s schools may segregation and funding that Kozol raises and Angelou Based on your reading of Theodore Sizer’s In the excerpt from The Geeks Shall Inherit the be just as segregated by race as they were during demonstrates. Horace’s School, what would Sizer likely identify as Earth, Robbins describes the biological and social 5 Angelou’s childhood. In an interview about one of his 2 being the strengths and weaknesses with the Angelou has said that she took the title of her factors that often force high school students to books called The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration districtwide and specific-school culture described in autobiography from the poem “Sympathy” by Paul conform. What visual and textual evidence shows of Apartheid Schooling in America, Kozol said, 3 Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings? Laurence Dunbar. Read the third stanza from the poem these factors at work in the excerpt from Friends It goes to the question of whether we are going to What solutions would Sizer probably suggest to and explain how the poem’s speaker faces a situation with Boys? be one society or two, whether our children will address these concerns? similar to that of Marguerite in this excerpt. How is the grow up to know one another as friends or view message of the poem similar to or different from that of each other eternally as strangers, and especially as Synthesizing Sources Angelou’s autobiography? fearful strangers. But it also speaks directly to academic issues, because overwhelmingly I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, John Taylor Gatto, the author of “Against School” along with your own personal experiences, what would segregated schools in the United States are the When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, 1 (p. 207), wonders if we really even need school you say are the most important qualities that make a schools that have the lowest scores, the highest When he beats his bars and would be free; anymore. With so much of the world’s knowledge supportive learning environment? Write your response class sizes, the least experienced teachers, and It is not a carol of joy or glee, accessible with a quick Google search, what is the in the form of a letter to your principal to inform him or the most devastating dropout rates. And of course But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, purpose of school in the twenty-first century? Be sure her about the attributes that he or she should consider these are the schools that always receive the least But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings— to support your own ideas with those of the authors in when making changes to the school. this Conversation. amount of money. Segregated schools, despite I know why the caged bird sings. One attribute that seems to run through many The great majority of American high school 4 of these texts is the power that school—peers, 2 students are educated in a traditional learning teachers, the institution itself—has to enforce environment: a group of a few hundred to a few conformity among students. While we often think of thousand students move from class to class in one “conformity” in a negative way, some of the texts point main building, studying subjects like English, math, out that inculcating students with certain values and science, and so on; they are taught by teachers who skills that society thinks are important can be a positive take attendance, give tests, grade papers, and assign outcome of the educational process. A case could be homework. While there are students who are made, however, that schools have no business homeschooled or take high school classes online, the indoctrinating their students and that students should traditional learning structure has not significantly resist all pressures to conform to a school’s or society’s changed since the invention of the American high intended outcomes. Referring to two or more texts in school in the nineteenth century. Propose a new model this Conversation, explain what role conformity ought to for high school that meets the needs of today’s play in the educational process. learners, referring to at least two texts in this Imagine that an incoming ninth grader asked you Conversation as support for your proposal. 5 for advice on how to handle high school. What Many of the texts in this Conversation include suggestions would you offer? Why? What advice would 3 descriptions of both supportive and hostile school one or more of the authors of texts in this Conversation 232 environments. Considering at least two of these texts offer? 233

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• Omniscient narrators are ones who know the thoughts and feelings of every character The Effect of Point View in Narrative analyzIng poInT of vIew and can move easily through time. • Limited omniscient narrators are ones who know the thoughts of just one character. • Objective narrators are ones who report actions and dialogue and describe the setting, Imagine that three of your friends got into an argument when you were not around, and ng worKShop but do not know the thoughts and feelings of any of the characters. then two of them tell you their sides of the story, separately. Their stories are very different from each other. Which friend do you believe? How do you know the truth? And what But more than simply being able to identify the type of narration an author chooses to use, about that third friend who never got to tell her side? Where’s her story? Now imagine that the goal of analyzing a text for its point of view is to consider the effects of that choice. you have to tell someone else what happened. Think about how your perspective as Each point of view creates a unique relationship with the reader based upon what the someone who did not even witness the conflict would shape the events even further. narrator is able to reveal or not; for instance: The point is: perspective matters. Your friends have their own points of view, you have Intimacy: how close or removed does the reader feel to or from the characters and a point of view, and inevitably those perspectives will shade the story slightly, even events in the story? subconsciously; each individual comes across better in his or her own version of the story. Reliability: to what extent does the reader believe or trust the narrator’s perspective on the events in the story? Depth and breadth of knowledge: how much or how little information does the acTIvITy reader receive about events and characters in the story? Treatment of time periods: does the reader learn about the past or future of the char- Look at the following pair of images of the Taj Mahal in India. How does the photogra- TEACHING IDEA acters in the story, or is what he or she learns limited to events in the present? pher’s perspective affect how we view the subject? What is included and excluded in Multiplicity of viewpoints: does the reader see different perspectives on the events Ask students to take pictures the frame, and for what purpose? of your school and choose one and characters within a story? photo that they think is most representative of your school. Display each of these in class acTIvITy and discuss how different points of view present different perspec- Look at the following images. The photo on the left is taken from the visual equivalent tives of your school. of the first person, while the one on the right is taken from a third person point of view. What is the effect of each point of view, especially on the audience of the photographs? What do we see or not see? What is lost or gained in the choice of each point of view? Marvin Bartels/500px Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The effect of point of view in narrative

Just as perspective matters in real life—whether with friends or photographs—it also matters in storytelling, whether the narrative is nonfiction or fiction. CHECKING FOR As you likely remember from Chapter 2, writers tend to choose from the following UNDERSTANDING points of view: lechatnoir/Getty Images lechatnoir/Getty Images Since the purpose of this work- First Person Narration: uses “I,” and is a character in the story (often, but not always shop is to take a closer look at the protagonist). how point of view influences a Third Person Narration: uses “he,” “she,” “they,” and so on, and is not a character reader’s response to a literary within the story. There are a few different types of third person narration: text, be sure to take time to review these definitions and return to Chapter Two for further analyzIng poInT of vIew readIng worKShop 235 discussion, if necessary.

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• Omniscient narrators are ones who know the thoughts and feelings of every character The Effect of Point View in Narrative analyzIng poInT of vIew and can move easily through time. • Limited omniscient narrators are ones who know the thoughts of just one character. • Objective narrators are ones who report actions and dialogue and describe the setting, Imagine that three of your friends got into an argument when you were not around, and ng worKShop but do not know the thoughts and feelings of any of the characters. then two of them tell you their sides of the story, separately. Their stories are very different from each other. Which friend do you believe? How do you know the truth? And what But more than simply being able to identify the type of narration an author chooses to use, about that third friend who never got to tell her side? Where’s her story? Now imagine that the goal of analyzing a text for its point of view is to consider the effects of that choice. you have to tell someone else what happened. Think about how your perspective as Each point of view creates a unique relationship with the reader based upon what the someone who did not even witness the conflict would shape the events even further. narrator is able to reveal or not; for instance: The point is: perspective matters. Your friends have their own points of view, you have Intimacy: how close or removed does the reader feel to or from the characters and a point of view, and inevitably those perspectives will shade the story slightly, even events in the story? subconsciously; each individual comes across better in his or her own version of the story. Reliability: to what extent does the reader believe or trust the narrator’s perspective on the events in the story? CHECKING FOR Depth and breadth of knowledge: how much or how little information does the UNDERSTANDING acTIvITy reader receive about events and characters in the story? Ask students to paraphrase these Treatment of time periods: does the reader learn about the past or future of the char- Look at the following pair of images of the Taj Mahal in India. How does the photogra- different possible effects of differ- acters in the story, or is what he or she learns limited to events in the present? pher’s perspective affect how we view the subject? What is included and excluded in ent points of view. Multiplicity of viewpoints: does the reader see different perspectives on the events the frame, and for what purpose? and characters within a story?

acTIvITy Look at the following images. The photo on the left is taken from the visual equivalent of the first person, while the one on the right is taken from a third person point of view. What is the effect of each point of view, especially on the audience of the photographs? What do we see or not see? What is lost or gained in the choice of each point of view?

Marvin Bartels/500px Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg via Getty Images TEACHING IDEA An interesting discussion could be held on the role and purpose The effect of point of view in narrative of “selfies” in our culture today. What is the point of view of a Just as perspective matters in real life—whether with friends or photographs—it also selfie? Why are they so matters in storytelling, whether the narrative is nonfiction or fiction. prevalent? As you likely remember from Chapter 2, writers tend to choose from the following points of view: lechatnoir/Getty Images lechatnoir/Getty Images First Person Narration: uses “I,” and is a character in the story (often, but not always the protagonist). Third Person Narration: uses “he,” “she,” “they,” and so on, and is not a character within the story. There are a few different types of third person narration:

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CHECKING FOR In this case, the first person narration allows Angelou to paint a very intimate portrait of her 3. Now read the following version of the passage, which has been written from a third UNDERSTANDING pain. A third person point of view could never capture her absolute frustration when she person limited point of view. Using the list of possible effects mentioned above, Be sure that students can identify says that she has “no control over [her] life” or that she has been “trained to sit quietly.” what is the effect of this change in point of view? specific words and phrases from Those words belong to the narrator directly, and describe her own anger. Through this inti- As for the job he was doing, he hated it more bitterly than he can perhaps make clear. the excerpt that create this sense mate first person perspective, we too feel her anger. Angelou’s narrator then takes the In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched of intimacy with the reader. audience deep into her own tortured imagination, picturing a “pyramid of flesh.” The reader is likely to be horrified at her fantasy here, but it gives us a picture of the lasting prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the effects of racism. long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos — all these oppressed him with an intolerable sense of guilt. But he could get nothing into perspective. He was young and ill-educated and he had had to think out acTIvITy his problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East. He did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did he know that it is a 1. Look at this excerpt from George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant.” Refer to the list great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it. All he knew of effects on page 235 and identify which Orwell creates through his choice of a was that he was stuck between his hatred of the empire he served and his rage against first person point of view. Consider especially Orwell’s level of intimacy and rela- the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make his job impossible. tionship with the reader. Connecting point of View and theme As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners Ultimately, the purpose of looking at a text for point of view and thinking about the effects huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term of certain perspectives is to connect the author’s choice of point of view to a theme he or convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos — all she is trying to create in the story. There are many tools that authors use to establish these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. But I could get nothing into theme, including characterization, conflict, symbols, and so on, and point of view is an perspective. I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in often-overlooked device.

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A Model Analysis the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East. I did not even know Connecting Point of View and Theme Identity and Society Below is an excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou about her that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the eighth-grade graduation ceremony at an all–African American school in the 1940s. She younger empires that are going to supplant it. All I knew was that I was stuck between and all of her classmates are excited about the ceremony until a white politician speaks, my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who praising the graduates solely for their athletic accomplishments, while talking about the tried to make my job impossible. (par. 2) academic accomplishments and facilities at the nearby all-white school. In this section, the narrator has stopped recounting what the white man said and we hear what she’s 2. Read this excerpt from “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, in which the thinking. narrator describes being a young British police officer stationed in Burma in the 1930s. Like the authors of most personal narratives, Orwell uses the first person We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we point of view. Using the list of on page 235, as a reference, consider the effects aspired to was farcical and presumptuous. [. . .] Orwell’s choice of narration creates, especially in terms of his reliability and the It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young viewpoint the reader receives. and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense. We should all be dead. I thought I should like to see us all dead, one on As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad base, do so. When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and teepees and wigwams and treaties, the (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter. This Negroes with their mops and recipes and cotton sacks and spirituals sticking out of their happened more than once. In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met mouths. The Dutch children should all stumble in their wooden shoes and break their me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on necks. The French should choke to death on the Louisiana Purchase (1803) while silk- my nerves. The young Buddhist priests were the worst of all. There were several thou- CHECKING FOR worms ate all the Chinese with their stupid pigtails. As a species, we were an abomina- sands of them in the town and none of them seemed to have anything to do except UNDERSTANDING tion. All of us. (pars. 40–42) stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans. (par. 1) Specifically, ask students to iden- In this case, the first person narration allows Angelou to paint a very intimate portrait of her tify what is gained and lost in this 3. Now read the following version of the passage, which has been written from a third switch of narration. pain. A third person point of view could never capture her absolute frustration when she person limited point of view. Using the list of possible effects mentioned above, says that she has “no control over [her] life” or that she has been “trained to sit quietly.” what is the effect of this change in point of view? Those words belong to the narrator directly, and describe her own anger. Through this inti- TEACHING IDEA mate first person perspective, we too feel her anger. Angelou’s narrator then takes the As for the job he was doing, he hated it more bitterly than he can perhaps make clear. This switching of narration is a audience deep into her own tortured imagination, picturing a “pyramid of flesh.” The In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched very good exercise to help reader is likely to be horrified at her fantasy here, but it gives us a picture of the lasting prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the students understand the power effects of racism. long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with of point of view. Ask students to bamboos — all these oppressed him with an intolerable sense of guilt. But he could get select a passage from another nothing into perspective. He was young and ill-educated and he had had to think out text from this chapter with a first acTIvITy his problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East. He person point of view (Devils did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did he know that it is a Thumb, Against School, My Son, 1. Look at this excerpt from George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant.” Refer to the list great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it. All he knew the Man) and change it to a third person, noting what changes and of effects on page 235 and identify which Orwell creates through his choice of a was that he was stuck between his hatred of the empire he served and his rage against what remains the same. first person point of view. Consider especially Orwell’s level of intimacy and rela- the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make his job impossible. tionship with the reader. Connecting point of View and theme As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners Ultimately, the purpose of looking at a text for point of view and thinking about the effects BUILDING CONTEXT huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term of certain perspectives is to connect the author’s choice of point of view to a theme he or Ultimately, this is section is the convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos — all she is trying to create in the story. There are many tools that authors use to establish main point of the workshop: to these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. But I could get nothing into theme, including characterization, conflict, symbols, and so on, and point of view is an connect point of view and theme. perspective. I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in often-overlooked device. If students need additional support in determining theme, be 236 analyzing point of View reading workshop 237 sure to return to the first sections of Chapter Two.

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A Model Analysis Connecting Point of View and Theme

Identity and Society ACTIVITY Look at the ending of the short story “Eveline,” by James Joyce. In this excerpt, Eveline is trying to decide whether she should leave home and travel with her boyfriend, Frank, Look at this excerpt from “Zolaria,” by Caitlin Horrocks, which recounts the day that the to Argentina. Joyce has chosen to use a third person limited narration, in which the unnamed narrator and Hanna became friends. As you read, be sure to consider what reader receives the inside thoughts of Eveline, but we are excluded from the inside level of intimacy and reliability the reader feels because of the first person narration. thoughts of Frank. In fifth grade Hanna and I doomed ourselves. On the second day of school we took out CHECKING FOR She stood among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand our folders, our pencil cases, organized our desks, and Hanna had space dolphins and UNDERSTANDING and she knew that he was speaking to her, saying something about the passage over and I had pink unicorns. Two years ago all the girls had school supplies like these, and I don’t understand why they have abandoned the things they loved. Hanna and I were Working in groups or pairs, over again. The station was full of soldiers with brown baggages. Through the wide doors startled but not stupid, and if no one had noticed us that day we would both have students should discuss the of the sheds she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the boat, lying in beside the quay interpretation presented in the wall, with illumined portholes. She answered nothing. She felt her cheek pale and cold begged our mothers to take us to K-Mart that night and exchange them. But it was too model analysis and add to it if and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her late. We were the girls with the wrong school supplies, and everything we did after possible. duty. The boat blew a long mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, tomorrow she that, even the things that were just like everyone else, were the wrong things to do. I would be on the sea with Frank, steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage had been will never tell Hanna that space dolphins aren’t really as bad as pink unicorns, and booked. Could she still draw back after all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a that she wasn’t really doomed until I made her my friend. (par. 11) nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips in silent fervent prayer. Read the following excerpt from later in the story, after Hanna has become sick. How does A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him seize her hand: the first person narration assist Horrocks in making a point about the nature of friendship? “Come!” All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he I will be unprepared for how long this sickness takes, for how long Hanna will be neither would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing. cured nor desperate. I will visit her once more at the hospital, twice more while she’s at “Come!” home. I will realize I am waiting for her to be either well or dead. She will feel very far No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas away. I will start junior high alone, and when Hanna comes for her first day, in late she sent a cry of anguish. November, I will be startled to see her. Our morning classes must all be different because “Eveline! Evvy!” I recognize her for the first time at lunch, sitting by herself. I will already be sitting in the He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her to follow. He was shouted at to go on middle of a long table by the time I see her, my lunch unpacked in front of me. I will be but he still called to her. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her pressed tight on either side by people who, if asked, would probably say I am their friend. eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition. (pars. 19–26) Hanna will be wearing an awful wig, stiff and styled like an old woman’s perm. The hair will be dark brown, not black, and will no longer match her eyes. She will be pale and her Notice how the reader receives only Eveline’s perspective but is also held at some remove face swollen and she will not seem like someone I can afford to know. (par. 25) because of the third person point of view; it is not quite as intimate or personal as a first person perspective. Joyce keeps us focused on Eveline’s difficult decision, but we also get the whole scene of the water and the crowds that surround Eveline, as if we were watching a film. If Joyce had employed a third person omniscient narration, the reader ACTIVITY would have also had Frank’s inside thoughts, which might have influenced the reader’s opinion of Eveline’s decision. As it stands, only one voice matters in this scene; only one Practice analyzing point of view with the following excerpt from The School Days of an decision is important. This is not an easy choice that Eveline has to make, and because Indian Girl by Zitkala-Sa. Write an analytical paragraph about the effect of the first Joyce limits us only to Eveline’s perspective, we could argue that he suggests life’s diffi- person point of view of the piece and how that choice of point of view helps Zitkala-Sa cult decisions are ultimately all faced alone. develop her theme.

from The School Days of an Indian Girl / Zitkala-Sa Late in the morning, my friend Judéwin gave paleface woman talk about cutting our long, me a terrible warning. Judéwin knew a few heavy hair. Our mothers had taught us that words of English, and she had overheard the only unskilled warriors who were captured had

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A Model Analysis Connecting Point of View and Theme

Identity and Society ACTIVITY Look at the ending of the short story “Eveline,” by James Joyce. In this excerpt, Eveline is trying to decide whether she should leave home and travel with her boyfriend, Frank, Look at this excerpt from “Zolaria,” by Caitlin Horrocks, which recounts the day that the to Argentina. Joyce has chosen to use a third person limited narration, in which the unnamed narrator and Hanna became friends. As you read, be sure to consider what reader receives the inside thoughts of Eveline, but we are excluded from the inside level of intimacy and reliability the reader feels because of the first person narration. thoughts of Frank. In fifth grade Hanna and I doomed ourselves. On the second day of school we took out TEACHING IDEA She stood among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand our folders, our pencil cases, organized our desks, and Hanna had space dolphins and Ask half of your class to read the and she knew that he was speaking to her, saying something about the passage over and I had pink unicorns. Two years ago all the girls had school supplies like these, and I first passage and the other half over again. The station was full of soldiers with brown baggages. Through the wide doors don’t understand why they have abandoned the things they loved. Hanna and I were should read the second. Ask of the sheds she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the boat, lying in beside the quay startled but not stupid, and if no one had noticed us that day we would both have them to pair up and discuss how the point of view in each passage wall, with illumined portholes. She answered nothing. She felt her cheek pale and cold begged our mothers to take us to K-Mart that night and exchange them. But it was too assists Horrocks in illustrating a and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her late. We were the girls with the wrong school supplies, and everything we did after point about friendship. duty. The boat blew a long mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, tomorrow she that, even the things that were just like everyone else, were the wrong things to do. I would be on the sea with Frank, steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage had been will never tell Hanna that space dolphins aren’t really as bad as pink unicorns, and booked. Could she still draw back after all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a that she wasn’t really doomed until I made her my friend. (par. 11) nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips in silent fervent prayer. Read the following excerpt from later in the story, after Hanna has become sick. How does A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him seize her hand: the first person narration assist Horrocks in making a point about the nature of friendship? “Come!” All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he I will be unprepared for how long this sickness takes, for how long Hanna will be neither would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing. cured nor desperate. I will visit her once more at the hospital, twice more while she’s at “Come!” home. I will realize I am waiting for her to be either well or dead. She will feel very far No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas away. I will start junior high alone, and when Hanna comes for her first day, in late she sent a cry of anguish. November, I will be startled to see her. Our morning classes must all be different because “Eveline! Evvy!” I recognize her for the first time at lunch, sitting by herself. I will already be sitting in the He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her to follow. He was shouted at to go on middle of a long table by the time I see her, my lunch unpacked in front of me. I will be but he still called to her. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her pressed tight on either side by people who, if asked, would probably say I am their friend. eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition. (pars. 19–26) Hanna will be wearing an awful wig, stiff and styled like an old woman’s perm. The hair will be dark brown, not black, and will no longer match her eyes. She will be pale and her Notice how the reader receives only Eveline’s perspective but is also held at some remove face swollen and she will not seem like someone I can afford to know. (par. 25) because of the third person point of view; it is not quite as intimate or personal as a first person perspective. Joyce keeps us focused on Eveline’s difficult decision, but we also get the whole scene of the water and the crowds that surround Eveline, as if we were watching a film. If Joyce had employed a third person omniscient narration, the reader ACTIVITY would have also had Frank’s inside thoughts, which might have influenced the reader’s opinion of Eveline’s decision. As it stands, only one voice matters in this scene; only one Practice analyzing point of view with the following excerpt from The School Days of an TEACHING IDEA decision is important. This is not an easy choice that Eveline has to make, and because Indian Girl by Zitkala-Sa. Write an analytical paragraph about the effect of the first Joyce limits us only to Eveline’s perspective, we could argue that he suggests life’s diffi- person point of view of the piece and how that choice of point of view helps Zitkala-Sa This activity can be used as a cult decisions are ultimately all faced alone. develop her theme. formative assessment to see what additional support and practice students might need in from The School Days of an Indian Girl / Zitkala-Sa understanding the connection Late in the morning, my friend Judéwin gave paleface woman talk about cutting our long, between point of view and theme. me a terrible warning. Judéwin knew a few heavy hair. Our mothers had taught us that words of English, and she had overheard the only unskilled warriors who were captured had

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their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our was searching for me, I did not open my mouth Identity and Society people, short hair was worn by mourners, and to answer. Then the steps were quickened and

wrITIng a perSonal narraTIve ITIng w shingled hair by cowards! the voices became excited. The sounds came We discussed our fate some moments, and nearer and nearer. Women and girls entered when Judéwin said, “We have to submit, the room. I held my breath, and watched them writing an effective narrative because they are strong,” I rebelled. open closet doors and peep behind large A narrative is a story, usually told from a first person point of view, that is intended to “No, I will not submit! I will struggle first!” I trunks. Some one threw up the curtains, and reveal something significant about the narrator to the reader. Effective narratives must

answered. the room was filled with sudden light. What have a reason for existence beyond being a classroom assignment. They should not be orKShop I watched my chance, and when no one caused them to stoop and look under the bed I the “what I did last summer” stories you wrote in elementary school, but rather, “What I noticed I disappeared. I crept up the stairs as do not know. I remember being dragged out, did last summer, and why it matters.” quietly as I could in my squeaking shoes, — my though I resisted by kicking and scratching The goal of writing an effective narrative is to communicate a meaningful experience to moccasins had been exchanged for shoes. wildly. In spite of myself, I was carried down- an audience in an interesting way. Writing an effective narrative requires two essential Along the hall I passed, without knowing stairs and tied fast in a chair. components: you have to have something to say, and you need to say it well. While the whither I was going. Turning aside to an open I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while purpose of this workshop is to improve your narrative writing skills, at several points you door, I found a large room with three white until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against will read or reread professional models of effective narrative elements before having an beds in it. The windows were covered with my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my opportunity to practice each one for yourself. dark green curtains, which made the room thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day very dim. Thankful that no one was there, I I was taken from my mother I had suffered acTIvITy directed my steps toward the corner farthest extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I Besides being a common classroom assignment, stories actually do matter. Our own from the door. On my hands and knees I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden stories matter to us, and to others. Look over the following quotes about storytelling, crawled under the bed, and cuddled myself in puppet. And now my long hair was shingled and think about the value of storytelling to the writer and to society: the dark corner. like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my From my hiding place I peered out, shud- mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a • “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”—Maya dering with fear whenever I heard footsteps soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own Angelou near by. Though in the hall loud voices were mother used to do; for now I was only one of • “People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell.”—Elie Wiesel calling my name, and I knew that even Judéwin many little animals driven by a herder. • “Without our stories, how will we know it’s us? Without the stories of others, how will we know who they are?”—Dudley Cocke • “Stories simultaneously celebrate what is unique about us and provide bridges to what is common among us.”—The Storyweavers, Lucinda Flodin and Dennis Frederick

Step 1: finding a Topic

One of the most important—and most challenging—steps in writing a narrative is the first one, when you have to ask yourself, “What should I write about?” While sometimes the narrative prompts are very straightforward, such as “write about the time you were most happy” or “write about your favorite vacation,” oftentimes the prompt will be much more open-ended, so you will have to decide on your topic. Remember that the story you tell needs to have significance to you, and hope that it will be meaningful to your reader as well. That said, this does not mean that your story needs to be about a huge or earthshak- ing event in your life, like the time you saved a child from drowning or traveled to some faraway country. In fact, the best narratives are often smaller stories that have gained greater significance to you upon reflection. Early in his narrative “Shooting an Elephant,”

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answered. the room was filled with sudden light. What have a reason for existence beyond being a classroom assignment. They should not be orKShop I watched my chance, and when no one caused them to stoop and look under the bed I the “what I did last summer” stories you wrote in elementary school, but rather, “What I noticed I disappeared. I crept up the stairs as do not know. I remember being dragged out, did last summer, and why it matters.” quietly as I could in my squeaking shoes, — my though I resisted by kicking and scratching The goal of writing an effective narrative is to communicate a meaningful experience to moccasins had been exchanged for shoes. wildly. In spite of myself, I was carried down- an audience in an interesting way. Writing an effective narrative requires two essential Along the hall I passed, without knowing stairs and tied fast in a chair. components: you have to have something to say, and you need to say it well. While the whither I was going. Turning aside to an open I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while purpose of this workshop is to improve your narrative writing skills, at several points you door, I found a large room with three white until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against will read or reread professional models of effective narrative elements before having an beds in it. The windows were covered with my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my opportunity to practice each one for yourself. dark green curtains, which made the room thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day very dim. Thankful that no one was there, I I was taken from my mother I had suffered acTIvITy directed my steps toward the corner farthest extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I Besides being a common classroom assignment, stories actually do matter. Our own TEACHING IDEA from the door. On my hands and knees I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden stories matter to us, and to others. Look over the following quotes about storytelling, Pair students up to closely exam- crawled under the bed, and cuddled myself in puppet. And now my long hair was shingled and think about the value of storytelling to the writer and to society: ine one of the quotes and ask the dark corner. like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my them to write a paraphrase of the From my hiding place I peered out, shud- mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a • “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”—Maya quote. Then, ask students to dering with fear whenever I heard footsteps soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own Angelou present to another group about • “People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell.”—Elie Wiesel near by. Though in the hall loud voices were mother used to do; for now I was only one of whether they agree with the idea • “Without our stories, how will we know it’s us? Without the stories of others, how calling my name, and I knew that even Judéwin many little animals driven by a herder. about stories presented in the will we know who they are?”—Dudley Cocke quote. • “Stories simultaneously celebrate what is unique about us and provide bridges to what is common among us.”—The Storyweavers, Lucinda Flodin and Dennis Frederick

TEACHING IDEA Step 1: finding a Topic Without a doubt, this will be the most difficult step in this work- One of the most important—and most challenging—steps in writing a narrative is the first shop because so many students one, when you have to ask yourself, “What should I write about?” While sometimes the will claim they have nothing to narrative prompts are very straightforward, such as “write about the time you were most write about. Consider doing this happy” or “write about your favorite vacation,” oftentimes the prompt will be much more activity on chart paper or open-ended, so you will have to decide on your topic. Remember that the story you tell PowerPoint presentations so that needs to have significance to you, and hope that it will be meaningful to your reader as everyone in class can see multi- well. That said, this does not mean that your story needs to be about a huge or earthshak- ple possibilities. Oftentimes, this ing event in your life, like the time you saved a child from drowning or traveled to some triggers memories for other faraway country. In fact, the best narratives are often smaller stories that have gained students. Keep reinforcing the greater significance to you upon reflection. Early in his narrative “Shooting an Elephant,” idea of “tiny incidents.”

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George Orwell writes, “One day something happened which in a roundabout way was Step 3: organizing and Starting your narrative Step 3: Organizing and Starting Your Narrative Identity and Society enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had Remember that two of the essential components of writing an effective narrative are before of the real nature of imperialism—the real motives for which despotic governments having a story worth telling and telling it well. So far, you have been working mostly on the act” (par. 3). So, when you are thinking of topics, focus on the “tiny incidents” that may first component. The next few steps will focus on how you can make your narrative inter- have given you a glimpse into something enlightening about yourself or others. esting and engaging for the reader. By far, the majority of personal narratives are written in chronological order, meaning that they recount the details of an event in the order in which they occurred, perhaps adding relevant background when necessary. You can certainly experiment with other acTIvITy organizational structures, including a variety of flashbacks for particular effects, but know TEACHING IDEA Brainstorm for possible stories using the following categories to help you generate that the reader, in general, expects a story to unfold in chronological order. If you vary that This activity should be done in ideas: structure, be prepared to assist the reader in following your narrative by using effective and pairs or small groups where • Firsts, such as the first time you won a class spelling bee clear time transitions, such as “earlier that month . . .” or “long before this happened . . .” students can gently press each • New, such as the time when you were the new person in class Now, just because your narrative will likely be told in chronological order, this does not other for “so what?” details. • Conflicts, such as the time you got into a disagreement with a teacher about the mean that you need to begin at the beginning. In fact, one of the most ineffective ways to Students should present multiple grading policy begin a narrative is “It all started when . . .” or “I remember a time when I . . .” Just as in ideas from the brainstormed list • Realizations, such as the time you realized that you are really good at art any other piece of writing, you will want to hook your readers immediately with something to the group who can ask each that will draw them into your story. other, “So what does this reveal Here are a few openings from texts in this Conversation: about you?” Step 2: determining what you want to reveal about yourself • “Shooting an Elephant”: “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people.” Starting with being hated is engaging because readers want to find out Before you finalize a topic, be sure that the story you tell will reveal something about your- exactly why the narrator was hated, especially by so many people. self in the telling. Look at another section from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” to see how • “Zolaria”: “It is July and we are a miraculous age. We have been sprung from our the author reveals details of himself in the story: “I was young and ill-educated and I had backyards, from the neighborhood park, from the invisible borders that rationed all our had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in other summers.” This opening raises many questions. What is this age, who are “we,” the East. I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a and what will we do with this new freedom? great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it. All I knew was • “Against School”: “I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan, that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil- and in some of the best, and during that time I became an expert in boredom.” It is spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible” (par. 2). He is brutally honest surprising that the commonality that the narrator identifies between good and bad about his own ignorance and the frustration he feels in his situation. Because most narra- schools is “boredom.” Readers wants to learn more about what has made him an tives are written in the first person point of view, readers will expect you to use that form of “expert” in boredom. narration to get the reader to feel and learn something about you.

acTIvITy acTIvITy Think about one of the topics that you brainstormed earlier. Write a sentence or two of Return to the list of possible topics you brainstormed in Step 1. Choose a few of them an engaging opening for that topic. Consider using an interesting piece of dialogue or a and write a line or two about what you would be likely to reveal about yourself in the specific detail from the event, or even drop the reader right in the middle of a situation story. The topic that gives you the most to say about yourself is likely to be the best one that you will describe in greater detail later in your narrative. for your narrative, especially if you can also remember or re-create a lot of details relat- Now, write an entirely different opening for the same narrative, using a different ing to the story. approach. Which one is more effective at capturing your reader’s attention? Which one feels most natural to your style?

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George Orwell writes, “One day something happened which in a roundabout way was Step 3: organizing and Starting your narrative Step 3: Organizing and Starting Your Narrative Students can write their openings Identity and Society enlightening. It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had on chart paper or on a Google Remember that two of the essential components of writing an effective narrative are before of the real nature of imperialism—the real motives for which despotic governments doc so the class can evaluate having a story worth telling and telling it well. So far, you have been working mostly on the act” (par. 3). So, when you are thinking of topics, focus on the “tiny incidents” that may what makes the openings effec- first component. The next few steps will focus on how you can make your narrative inter- have given you a glimpse into something enlightening about yourself or others. tive or not. If necessary, return to esting and engaging for the reader. other published examples of By far, the majority of personal narratives are written in chronological order, meaning effective openings on which that they recount the details of an event in the order in which they occurred, perhaps students can model their own. adding relevant background when necessary. You can certainly experiment with other acTIvITy organizational structures, including a variety of flashbacks for particular effects, but know Brainstorm for possible stories using the following categories to help you generate that the reader, in general, expects a story to unfold in chronological order. If you vary that ideas: structure, be prepared to assist the reader in following your narrative by using effective and • Firsts, such as the first time you won a class spelling bee clear time transitions, such as “earlier that month . . .” or “long before this happened . . .” • New, such as the time when you were the new person in class Now, just because your narrative will likely be told in chronological order, this does not • Conflicts, such as the time you got into a disagreement with a teacher about the mean that you need to begin at the beginning. In fact, one of the most ineffective ways to grading policy begin a narrative is “It all started when . . .” or “I remember a time when I . . .” Just as in • Realizations, such as the time you realized that you are really good at art any other piece of writing, you will want to hook your readers immediately with something that will draw them into your story. Here are a few openings from texts in this Conversation:

Step 2: determining what you want to reveal about yourself • “Shooting an Elephant”: “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people.” Starting with being hated is engaging because readers want to find out Before you finalize a topic, be sure that the story you tell will reveal something about your- exactly why the narrator was hated, especially by so many people. self in the telling. Look at another section from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” to see how • “Zolaria”: “It is July and we are a miraculous age. We have been sprung from our the author reveals details of himself in the story: “I was young and ill-educated and I had backyards, from the neighborhood park, from the invisible borders that rationed all our had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in other summers.” This opening raises many questions. What is this age, who are “we,” the East. I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a and what will we do with this new freedom? great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it. All I knew was • “Against School”: “I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan, that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil- and in some of the best, and during that time I became an expert in boredom.” It is spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible” (par. 2). He is brutally honest surprising that the commonality that the narrator identifies between good and bad about his own ignorance and the frustration he feels in his situation. Because most narra- schools is “boredom.” Readers wants to learn more about what has made him an tives are written in the first person point of view, readers will expect you to use that form of “expert” in boredom. narration to get the reader to feel and learn something about you.

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Step 4: using details Step 5: Using Dialogue Identity and Society Another way to engage your reader is through your use of details and description. If the activity main goal of a narrative is to communicate an experience to a reader, then a writer needs Look at the following paintings, and write a paragraph from the point of view of one of to do everything in his or her power to convey the specific details that will clearly describe the figures in the painting that describes the surroundings. Be sure to use a lot of vivid the characters, settings, and feelings you had. Remember that your audience is unfamiliar details, especially those that appeal to the five senses. with the people, places, and objects in the story. You may know everything about your grandma: what she looks like and acts like, and what her house smells like, but your Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s reader does not. You have to bring these details to life through your description. World. 1948. Tempera on panel, 32 1 inches x 47 3 inches. The Look at this excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Identify the details that 4 4 Museum of Modern Art, New York. Maya Angelou uses, especially words and phrases that communicate the feeling of being right there at her graduation as the white men address the crowd of African Americans:

The man’s dead words fell like bricks around the auditorium and too many settled in my belly. Constrained by hard-learned manners I couldn’t look behind me, but to my left and , 1948 tempera © Andrew , 1948 tempera © Andrew World right the proud graduating class of 1940 had dropped their heads. Every girl in my row had found something new to do with her handkerchief. Some folded the tiny squares into Christina’s Wyeth. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern NY Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, love knots, some into triangles, but most were wadding them, then pressing them flat on their yellow laps. Palmer Hayden, Midsummer Night in On the dais, the ancient tragedy was being replayed. Professor Parsons sat, a sculp- Harlem. 1930. Oil on canvas, tor’s reject, rigid. His large, heavy body seemed devoid of will or willingness, and his eyes 25 inches x 30 inches. The Museum of said he was no longer with us. The other teachers examined the flag (which was draped African American Art, Los Angeles. stage right) or their notes, or the windows which opened on our now-famous playing diamond. (pars. 37–38)

acTIvITy Close your eyes and imagine that you are at the beach, in the woods, in a busy city, or Painting by Palmer C. Hayden (1890–1973) National Administration and Records Archives in another location that you know well. Write down ten things that you could see, hear, smell, taste, and so on if you were actually there. Write a brief (three- to five-sentence) narrative about being in that location, using at least five of the details you imagined. step 5: Using Dialogue

Another key component of writing an effective narrative is the inclusion of dialogue. When acTIvITy you include what people say during a story, it has the effect of bringing your reader into Think about someone who will likely appear in the narrative that you brainstormed and your narrative. Dialogue makes the story feel more immediate and can be a very effective wrote the opening for earlier. Then, write a paragraph about this person using details way of revealing something about yourself or others in a narrative. TEACHING IDEA that will make the person come alive for a reader who does not know him or her. Look, for example, at this exchange between the narrator of “Zolaria” and her mother. You can expand on this activity Notice how the dialogue quickly shows the reasons for the conflict between mother and a. Physical descriptions: age, height, weight, and so on daughter, as well as hinting at the fact that the narrator is probably unwilling to reflect too by following up with a description b. Background information: race, career, education, marital status, and so on of one of the main settings of the c. Emotional description: his or her overall personality and characteristic emotions much on her own self: narrative. Students should use as d. Main desires: what does he or she want out of life? Thirteen years later, Cal and I will announce our engagement on Christmas morning over much imagery as possible to help e. Unique features: what makes this person different from others? Does he or she have an crumpled wrapping paper and freshly squeezed orange juice. It will be the coldest morn- the reader picture the setting in accent? Like to curse or use a lot of slang? ing of any year of my life so far, the paper’s lead headline the temperature, 26 below, but his or her mind.

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Another key component of writing an effective narrative is the inclusion of dialogue. When acTIvITy you include what people say during a story, it has the effect of bringing your reader into Think about someone who will likely appear in the narrative that you brainstormed and your narrative. Dialogue makes the story feel more immediate and can be a very effective wrote the opening for earlier. Then, write a paragraph about this person using details way of revealing something about yourself or others in a narrative. that will make the person come alive for a reader who does not know him or her. Look, for example, at this exchange between the narrator of “Zolaria” and her mother. Notice how the dialogue quickly shows the reasons for the conflict between mother and a. Physical descriptions: age, height, weight, and so on daughter, as well as hinting at the fact that the narrator is probably unwilling to reflect too b. Background information: race, career, education, marital status, and so on c. Emotional description: his or her overall personality and characteristic emotions much on her own self: d. Main desires: what does he or she want out of life? Thirteen years later, Cal and I will announce our engagement on Christmas morning over e. Unique features: what makes this person different from others? Does he or she have an accent? Like to curse or use a lot of slang? crumpled wrapping paper and freshly squeezed orange juice. It will be the coldest morning of any year of my life so far, the paper’s lead headline the temperature, 26 below, but

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as we unwrap presents we will see one of the Khoury boys outside walking their dog. My We went around and around like this for a while until we decided that it would only Step 6: Using Blocking Identity and Society mother will call me into the kitchen to tell me I am young. “You’re young,” she’ll say. be fair if we each stole a game. We each had one in our hands when someone “You’re still so young.” grabbed us from behind. “Not that young,” I will tell her. “Hey!” the store manager yelled at us. “What are y’all doing?” “Yes, that young. You barely know each other.” “We didn’t steal anything,” my not-too-bright friend said. “Maybe we were gonna CHECKING FOR “I know him.” pay for them!” UNDERSTANDING “You don’t know yourself,” she’ll say. “That’s what I worry about. How can you get I didn’t wait to hear the rest; I just ran. married when you don’t know yourself yet?” What exactly does the dialogue “I know myself plenty,” I’ll say. “I think I know all I want to.” (pars. 14–19) reveal about the narrator? How would this scene have been In general, the dialogue in a narrative typically follows a very specific format. Here are different if dialogue were not some of the most common rules and a few suggestions for writing dialogue: ACTIVITY included? Now return to the narrative that you have been working with throughout this workshop. • Use a separate paragraph every time the speaker changes. See how the author of Identify a place in your story where you could include a dialogue exchange. Using the “Zolaria” uses a new paragraph for the mother and for the daughter. format and suggestions on pages 244–45, write a few pieces of dialogue and think • Continue in the same paragraph if the speaker continues, but change if you return to about how the dialogue makes your narrative more effective. narration. • Place punctuation inside quotation marks. • Avoid too much dialogue. Not everything needs to be in dialogue. • Make it sound real. Feel free to use slang or even improper grammar if it helps the Step 6: Using Blocking reader to understand something about the character who is speaking. Another key component of effective narrative that is often underused in student writing is “blocking,” which essentially is the stage directions for the characters in the narrative. Blocking describes what the characters are doing while they are talking, Like dialogue, it Activity helps to put the reader right into the action of your story. If a character in your narrative is Look over the following two versions of a story. The first does not use dialogue and the “leaning against the wall” as she speaks, this might reveal something about her easygoing second does. What does the dialogue add to the story? What is revealed through the nature; if he constantly brushes his hair back from his face, he might be nervous about dialogue that is not apparent in the first version? something. Look at this example from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, a nonfiction book about Version A social cliques in high school. Notice how the details of blocking—especially the body language, gestures, and movements—establish and reinforce the exclusionary nature of One day my friend Tim and I decided that we wanted a new video game, but neither the popular clique. of us had any money to buy one at the store. We debated who should steal it, and stupidly, we each decided to steal one. We almost made it out the door, but Tim got As the halls filled up, crowds parted for the preps. Some students said hello, but caught, and I ran away. Whitney and her friends gave them the “what’s-up-but-I-won’t-really-acknowledge-you” head nod. Version B When Whitney walked into advertising class with Peyton, she spotted Dirk. “Hey, Whitney!” he yelled across the room. As soon as we got inside the store, the question immediately came up. “I’m not sitting with Dirk,” Peyton whispered to Whitney. “I don’t see why you like “Who’s gonna do it?” I asked. those people. They scare me.” “I’m not doing it,” Tim replied quickly. “We’re gonna play it on my console, so I Whitney shrugged and grinned at Dirk as she sat next to him anyway. think that you oughta do it.” At lunch, the preps cut to the front of the line, as usual, and sat at “their” lunch table in The store was suddenly too quiet and I thought everyone was listening to us. I the center of the cafeteria. Whitney hadn’t waited in the lunch line since she was a fresh- really didn’t want to do it, but I was scared. man. In the past, when students told the preps to stop cutting, Whitney’s group either “No way,” I whispered. “I don’t steal.” ignored them or shot nasty glares. “Fine, but I’m not doing it!”

246 WRITING A PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP 247

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246 Advanced Language & Literature

05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 246 04/01/16 11:20 AM 5 5 as we unwrap presents we will see one of the Khoury boys outside walking their dog. My We went around and around like this for a while until we decided that it would only Step 6: Using Blocking Identity and Society mother will call me into the kitchen to tell me I am young. “You’re young,” she’ll say. be fair if we each stole a game. We each had one in our hands when someone “You’re still so young.” grabbed us from behind. “Not that young,” I will tell her. “Hey!” the store manager yelled at us. “What are y’all doing?” “Yes, that young. You barely know each other.” “We didn’t steal anything,” my not-too-bright friend said. “Maybe we were gonna “I know him.” pay for them!” “You don’t know yourself,” she’ll say. “That’s what I worry about. How can you get I didn’t wait to hear the rest; I just ran. married when you don’t know yourself yet?” “I know myself plenty,” I’ll say. “I think I know all I want to.” (pars. 14–19)

In general, the dialogue in a narrative typically follows a very specific format. Here are TEACHING IDEA some of the most common rules and a few suggestions for writing dialogue: ACTIVITY Now return to the narrative that you have been working with throughout this workshop. Sometimes students can under- • Use a separate paragraph every time the speaker changes. See how the author of Identify a place in your story where you could include a dialogue exchange. Using the stand the effect of dialogue better “Zolaria” uses a new paragraph for the mother and for the daughter. format and suggestions on pages 244–45, write a few pieces of dialogue and think if they are asked to act out a • Continue in the same paragraph if the speaker continues, but change if you return to about how the dialogue makes your narrative more effective. portion of their narrative with a narration. partner. Oftentimes, good and • Place punctuation inside quotation marks. effective dialogue can result from • Avoid too much dialogue. Not everything needs to be in dialogue. this activity. Remind them that • Make it sound real. Feel free to use slang or even improper grammar if it helps the Step 6: Using Blocking they don’t have to remember reader to understand something about the character who is speaking. Another key component of effective narrative that is often underused in student writing is exactly what was said at the time; “blocking,” which essentially is the stage directions for the characters in the narrative. they can use some artistic Blocking describes what the characters are doing while they are talking, Like dialogue, it license. Activity helps to put the reader right into the action of your story. If a character in your narrative is Look over the following two versions of a story. The first does not use dialogue and the “leaning against the wall” as she speaks, this might reveal something about her easygoing second does. What does the dialogue add to the story? What is revealed through the nature; if he constantly brushes his hair back from his face, he might be nervous about dialogue that is not apparent in the first version? something. Look at this example from The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, a nonfiction book about Version A social cliques in high school. Notice how the details of blocking—especially the body language, gestures, and movements—establish and reinforce the exclusionary nature of One day my friend Tim and I decided that we wanted a new video game, but neither the popular clique. of us had any money to buy one at the store. We debated who should steal it, and stupidly, we each decided to steal one. We almost made it out the door, but Tim got As the halls filled up, crowds parted for the preps. Some students said hello, but caught, and I ran away. Whitney and her friends gave them the “what’s-up-but-I-won’t-really-acknowledge-you” head nod. Version B When Whitney walked into advertising class with Peyton, she spotted Dirk. “Hey, Whitney!” he yelled across the room. As soon as we got inside the store, the question immediately came up. “I’m not sitting with Dirk,” Peyton whispered to Whitney. “I don’t see why you like “Who’s gonna do it?” I asked. those people. They scare me.” “I’m not doing it,” Tim replied quickly. “We’re gonna play it on my console, so I Whitney shrugged and grinned at Dirk as she sat next to him anyway. think that you oughta do it.” At lunch, the preps cut to the front of the line, as usual, and sat at “their” lunch table in CHECKING FOR The store was suddenly too quiet and I thought everyone was listening to us. I the center of the cafeteria. Whitney hadn’t waited in the lunch line since she was a fresh- UNDERSTANDING really didn’t want to do it, but I was scared. man. In the past, when students told the preps to stop cutting, Whitney’s group either What are the examples of block- “No way,” I whispered. “I don’t steal.” ignored them or shot nasty glares. ing? What purpose do the blocking “Fine, but I’m not doing it!” elements serve in the text? How would this scene have been 246 WRITING A PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP 247 different if the blocking were not included?

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“That’s Shay,” Chelsea answered. Step 7: reflecting on the Significance Step 7: Reflecting on the Significance Identity and Society “Dude, I didn’t even recognize her,” Peyton said. Did she gain like fifteen pounds over One of the features that makes narrative writing distinct from other modes of writing is that the summer? Why did her hair get so big and frizzy?” This led to a discussion about how it often includes some type of reflection, or a summary of the value of the experience that there were too many skanks and trailer trash kids at Riverland. the writer wants to pass on to the reader. In less sophisticated narratives, this might take the form of a concluding statement such as, “What I learned from this was . . . ,” but in more complex narratives, the reflection, which may or may not even be placed at the end acTIvITy of the story, is closer to a statement of the theme the writer wants to communicate. It is Imagine that you were writing a entirely possible that this reflection will be not explicitly stated, but rather implied indirectly. narrative from the point of view What’s essential is that the reader ought to be able discern from your narrative some of the character Maggie (who has significant point you are hoping to communicate. her back to the reader in the first Look back at this section from the middle of “Shooting an Elephant.” While he does frame on p. 187) in Faith Erin not directly state it, what is George Orwell hoping the reader can infer about what caused Hicks’s graphic novel Friends him to shoot the elephant despite his reluctance to do so? with Boys. Write a few sentences Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd— about Maggie’s first day seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet attending a public school after pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that years of being homeschooled. when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort Be sure to focus on the blocking of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of of the other students as well as his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the “natives,” and so in every crisis Maggie. he has got to do what the “natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. (par. 7)

acTIvITy Return to the narrative that you have been working on throughout this workshop and write a few sentences that reflect on the significance of this event. Ideally, this reflection will reveal something about you, but also have some kind of application to others.

TEACHING IDEA acTIvITy At this point, students probably Return to the dialogue exchange that you wrote for your own narrative earlier, and have quite a bit of their narrative include blocking for the characters involved in the conversation that reveals some written. You may want to ask aspect of their personalities or feelings. them to highlight – in different colors – the different components that make up an effective narrative: dialogue, blocking, and details. If they do not have many parts highlighted, it’s easy for students to recognize what might

be missing. 248 wrITIng a perSonal narraTIve wrITIng worKShop 249

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248 Advanced Language & Literature

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“That’s Shay,” Chelsea answered. Step 7: reflecting on the Significance Step 7: Reflecting on the Significance Identity and Society “Dude, I didn’t even recognize her,” Peyton said. Did she gain like fifteen pounds over One of the features that makes narrative writing distinct from other modes of writing is that the summer? Why did her hair get so big and frizzy?” This led to a discussion about how it often includes some type of reflection, or a summary of the value of the experience that there were too many skanks and trailer trash kids at Riverland. the writer wants to pass on to the reader. In less sophisticated narratives, this might take the form of a concluding statement such as, “What I learned from this was . . . ,” but in more complex narratives, the reflection, which may or may not even be placed at the end acTIvITy of the story, is closer to a statement of the theme the writer wants to communicate. It is Imagine that you were writing a entirely possible that this reflection will be not explicitly stated, but rather implied indirectly. narrative from the point of view What’s essential is that the reader ought to be able discern from your narrative some of the character Maggie (who has significant point you are hoping to communicate. her back to the reader in the first Look back at this section from the middle of “Shooting an Elephant.” While he does frame on p. 187) in Faith Erin not directly state it, what is George Orwell hoping the reader can infer about what caused Hicks’s graphic novel Friends him to shoot the elephant despite his reluctance to do so? with Boys. Write a few sentences Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd— about Maggie’s first day seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet attending a public school after pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that years of being homeschooled. when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort Be sure to focus on the blocking of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of of the other students as well as his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the “natives,” and so in every crisis TEACHING IDEA Maggie. he has got to do what the “natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to Let students know that it is okay fit it. (par. 7) if they don’t have quite the right place for this significance portion of the narrative. With each draft, acTIvITy they will find the most appropriate placement. It might still be at Return to the narrative that you have been working on throughout this workshop and the very end, or it might be write a few sentences that reflect on the significance of this event. Ideally, this reflection elsewhere. will reveal something about you, but also have some kind of application to others.

TEACHING IDEA acTIvITy At this point, students have had Return to the dialogue exchange that you wrote for your own narrative earlier, and the opportunity to practice the include blocking for the characters involved in the conversation that reveals some most important characteristics of aspect of their personalities or feelings. a personal narrative, and ought to be ready to either compose a final draft of the one they were working on here, or to complete the narrative assessment identified at the beginning of this chapter in the Teacher’s Edition.

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05_SHE_ATE_2465_ch5.indd 249 04/01/16 11:20 AM About the Authors

RENÉE H. SHEA was professor of English and modern languages and director of freshman composition at Bowie State University in Maryland. A College Board® faculty consultant for more than thirty years in AP® Language, Literature, and Pre-AP® English, she has been a reader and question leader for both AP® English exams. Renée served as a member of the Development Committee for AP® Language and Composition, and as a member of the English Academic Advisory Committee for the College Board® as well as the SAT® Critical Reading Test Development Committee. She is co-author of The Language of Composition, Conversations in American Literature, and Literature & Composition, as well as two volumes in the NCTE High School Literature series (on Amy Tan and Zora Neale Hurston).

JOHN GOLDEN is an English teacher and instructional specialist at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, and is currently an advisor to the College Board®’s 6-12 English Language Arts Development Committee. An English teacher for over twenty years, John has developed curriculums and led workshops for the College Board’s Pacesetter and SpringBoard® English programs. He is the author of Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom (NCTE, 2001) and Reading in the Reel World: Teaching Courtesy of John Golden Documentaries and Other Nonfiction Texts (NCTE, 2006), and the producer of Teaching Ideas: A Video Resource for AP English (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008) and the NCTE Centennial Film: Reading the Past, Writing the Future (2010).

LANCE BALLA is former curriculum developer and current assistant principal in the Bellevue school district in Bellevue, Washington. He was an AP® teacher for almost twenty years, and a College Board® faculty consultant for over ten years, as well as being a reader and table leader for the AP® Literature Exam. Lance is a member of the College Board® English Academic Advisory Committee, has been a co-author on the College Board’s SpringBoard® program and was a member of the SAT® Critical Reading Test Development Committee. His Courtesy of Lance Balla awards and recognitions include the White House Distinguished Teacher Award, the Teacher Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Education, the Washington State Award for Professional Excellence, and the Woodring College of Education Award for Outstanding Teaching.

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