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120 Unit 2 ■ Analyzing Comparisons and Representations

Character Details Consider the Implications
Character’s internal • What adjectives does the character use when describing people, places,
thoughts events, or ideas?
• What internal struggles or choices does the character have?
• What factors influence a character’s choices and decisions?
• Does the perspective change? If so, why?
Dialogue • What does the character choose to say?
• How often does the character speak with others?
• How would you describe the character’s way of speaking?
• What can you tell about the character’s personality from how he or she
speaks to others?
Interactions with • Who does the character interact with?
others • Who does the character not interact with?
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• How does the character treat the other characters he or she is around?
• In comparison, how does the character act when he or she is alone?

INTRODUCING THE TEXT GU I D E D R E A D I NG
GUIDED READING
You may lead a discussion by asking students
the value and importance of their names (and
the significance of hearing them pronounced
correctly). Alternatively, you might ask students
to remember their feelings on the first day of On Listening to Your
school when they were young children and how Teacher Take Attendance
those emotions compare to their experience on
the first day of school now.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil

IDEAS IN THE TEXT THE TEXT IN CONTEXT
Born in Chicago to a Filipina mother and South Indian father,
Youth Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil (b. 1974) often
Recognition explores nature, wonder, metaphor, and cultural difference
Humanity in her work. She is the author of several books of poetry and
Embarrassment prose, including Miracle Fruit (2003), At the Drive-In Volcano
Compassion (2007), Oceanic (2018), and the New York Times best seller Cheyenne Alford
Dignity World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and
Other Astonishments (2018). Nezhukumatathil currently teaches
poetry and creative nonfiction at the University of Mississippi. In the following poem,
she uses figurative language and imagery to re-create a classroom experience.

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CRITICAL APPROACHES
Biographical
The author describes her writing process as a
fluid act of discovery: “99% of my poems have
started with an image that sets off some sort of
spark and that spark conjures up language and
connotations that I could never have predicted.”

120 Unit 2 Analyzing Comparisons and Representations

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