Page 112 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

Cracking the Code
4
TRM ELL Essential Guide Handout Jesmyn Ward
An ELL Essential Guide for this reading Identity
can be found in the Teacher’s Resource Jesmyn Ward (b. 1977) was born in California but her family moved to
Materials. DeLisle, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast, when she was three. She has Ulf Andersen/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
a BA and an MA in media studies and communications from Stanford
University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of
TRM Vocabulary Handout Michigan. She teaches at Tulane University. Ward has published a
memoir and three novels and is the first woman to win two National
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
Vocabulary in Context exercises based on
challenging words from this reading can be Book Awards, for Salvage the Bones (2011) and Sing, Unburied, Sing
found in the Teacher’s Resource Materials. (2017). She is also the editor of The Fire This Time: A New Generation
Speaks about Race (2016).
KEY CONTEXT This essay first appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 2015, as
DIFFERENTIATION part of its “Innovators” issue, in which four writers, including Ward, reflected on an
innovation that changed their lives.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
Connections to Self
If you’re not reluctant to give away what hen my father moved to Oakland, alon g the m an-m ade b e ac h j us t h alf a mile or s o
ther mo
v
hen m
y fa
e
and,
along the man-made beach just half a mile or so
akl
d t
o O
Ward’s discovery (the “innovation”) will be, W California, after Hurricane Camille down the road, houses graced with front-facing
W California, after Hurricane Camille
down the road, houses graced with front-facing
you might ask students if they
, or anyone in
you might ask students if they, or anyone in wrecked the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in 1969, balconies so that the wealthy white families who
wrecked the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in 1969,
balconies so that the wealthy white families who
their family, has done a DNA search strangers he encountered from El Salvador and lived in them could gaze out at the flat pan of the
lived in them could gaze out at the flat pan of the
strangers he encountered from El Salvador and
through 23andMe or Ancestry.com or Mexico and Puerto Rico would spit rapid-fire water and the searing, pale sand, where man-
Mexico and Puerto Rico would spit rapid-fire
water and the searing, pale sand, where man-
another site. (If you have done a search, Spanish at him, expecting a reply in kind. “Are grove trees had grown before they’d bulldozed
grove trees had grown before they’d bulldozed
Spanish at him, expecting a reply in kind. “Are
and you feel comfortable sharing, you you Samoan?” a Samoan asked him once. But the land.
the land.
you Samoan?” a Samoan asked him once. But
could share your results.) What did they my father, with his black, silky hair that curled Put simply, my father grew up as a black boy
my father, with his black, silky hair that curled
Put simply, my father grew up as a black boy
discover? Any surprises? Students might into Coke-bottle waves at the ends, skin the in a black family in the deep South, where being
into Coke-bottle waves at the ends, skin the
in a black family in the deep South, where being
be interested in sharing results, or hearing color of milky tea, and cheekbones like dorsal black, in the sixties, was complicated. The same
color of milky tea, and cheekbones like dorsal
black, in the sixties, was complicated. The same
about yours if you have done so. Or, more fins breaking the water of his face, was none of was true in the eighties, when I was growing up
fins breaking the water of his face, was none of
was true in the eighties, when I was growing up
generally, you might ask students why peo- these things. He attended an all-black high in DeLisle, a town a few miles north of Pass
these things. He attended an all-black high
in DeLisle, a town a few miles north of Pass
ple are interested in knowing the results of school in Oakland; in his class pictures, his is Christian. Once, when I was a teen, we stood
school in Oakland; in his class pictures, his is
Christian. Once, when I was a teen, we stood
genetic testing, and if the motivation might one of the few light faces. His hair is parted in together in a drugstore checkout line behind an
together in a drugstore checkout line behind an
one of the few light faces. His hair is parted in
differ for different races or communities. the middle and falls away in a blowsy Afro, older, blondish white woman. My father, an
older, blondish white woman. My father, an
the middle and falls away in a blowsy Afro,
You might also send them to Ancestry.com coarsened to the right texture by multiple appli- inveterate joker, kept shoving me between my
inveterate joker, kept shoving me between my
coarsened to the right texture by multiple appli-
to explore how the site works and how the cations of relaxer. shoulder blades, trying to make me stumble into
shoulder blades, trying to make me stumble into
cations of relaxer.
site divides the world into regions. My father was born in 1956 in Pass Christian, her. “Daddy, stop,” I mouthed, as I tried to avoid
My father was born in 1956 in Pass Christian,
her. “Daddy, stop,” I mouthed, as I tried to avoid
a small Mississippi town on the coast of the Gulf a collision. I was horrified: Daddy’s going to
a collision. I was horrified: Daddy’s going to
a small Mississippi town on the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico, fifty miles from New Orleans. He grew make me knock this white woman over. Then
make me knock this white woman over. Then
of Mexico, fifty miles from New Orleans. He grew
CLOSE READING up in a dilapidated single-story house: four she turned around, and I realized that it was my
she turned around, and I realized that it was my
up in a dilapidated single-story house: four
rooms, with a kitchen tacked onto the back. It
rooms, with a kitchen tacked onto the back. It grandaunt Eunice, my grandmother’s sister—that
grandaunt Eunice, my grandmother’s sister — that
®
AP Teaching Tip. To help students con- was built along the railroad tracks and shook she was blood. “I thought you were white,” I said,
was built along the railroad tracks and shook
she was blood. “I thought you were white,” I said,
sider the structure of Ward’s essay, you when trains sped by; the wood of the sloped and she and my father laughed.
when trains sped by; the wood of the sloped
and she and my father laughed.
could ask them which of the following floor rotted at the corners. The house was noth- Coastal Mississippi is a place where
Coastal Mississippi is a place where
floor rotted at the corners. The house was noth-
strategies best characterizes paragraph 1, ing like the great columned mansions strung Eunice—a woman pale as milk, with blond hair
Eunice — a woman pale as milk, with blond hair
ing like the great columned mansions strung
®
Language
according the AP Language CED Essential

Essential
CED
Knowledge statement from Unit 4, RHS-1.I: 218
“An introduction may orient, engage, and/
or focus the audience by presenting quo-
tations, intriguing statements, anecdotes,
questions, statistics, data, contextualized
information, or a scenario.” How does the 05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd 218 12/10/22 2:35 PM
opening paragraph “orient, engage, and/or CLOSE READING
focus the audience”? Would they consider
paragraph 1 an “intriguing statement,” an Key Passage. The highlighted text is a rich
“anecdote,” or a “scenario”? You could passage suited for close reading. Students
take this opportunity to talk about the dis- can annotate this key passage in the book’s
tinctions between the terms. digital platform, or you can print it to be
annotated by hand.
218 chapter 4 / Identity
05_sheatlcte4e_46921_ch04_170a_315_2pp.indd 218 1/20/23 7:46 PM