Page 126 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

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I once took a roommate, a funny, sharp girl l About a year after Grandpa died, during the 30
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raised in lower-middle-class Wichita, to the farm
raised in lower-middle-class Wichita, to the farm autumn of my junior year in college, I was edit-
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Identity and was stunned to see it through her eyes. ing a story in the campus paper’s newsroom on
and was stunned to see it through her eyes.
Everything was worth exclaiming about — the
Everything was worth exclaiming about—the the night of the 2000 presidential election. The
Students might need to pause at paragraph cows, the pigs, the chickens, the butchering whole staff was on duty, watching election
Students might need to pause at paragraph
cows, the pigs, the chickens, the butchering
29 to understand how the anecdotes about shed, the cow tongue pickling in a jar in the returns on a boxy television mounted to a wall
shed, the cow tongue pickling in a jar in the
Smarsh’s college roommate and friends refrigerator, the way every single adult was above a Rosie the Riveter poster and a fax
refrigerator, the way every single adult was
could express “not just derision but, some- drinking alcohol. My friend’s mouth fell open machine that press releases came across. Earlier
drinking alcohol. My friend’s mouth fell open
times, honest awe.” You could have them when my uncle boomed through the front door, in the day I had cast my first-ever ballot in a
when my uncle boomed through the front door,
discuss distinction between the two reac- carrying a plate of flayed raccoon meat to put on national election, for George W Bush.
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
carrying a plate of flayed raccoon meat to put on
tions and how the anecdotes that begin the stove. A friend and fellow editor with red-
the stove.
at paragraph 24 express either or both of
Eating raccoon was remarkable even for us.
them. Eating raccoon was remarkable even for us. 25 dish-brown dreadlocks, a head scarf, and plugs
The occasional turtle or rabbit ended up in the in her earlobes sat down next to me at my com-
The occasional turtle or rabbit ended up in the
kitchen as novelty, maybe, but raccoon seemed
kitchen as novelty, maybe, but raccoon seemed puter, looked into my eyes, and asked, “How
plumb trashy. I was embarrassed when my
plumb trashy. I was embarrassed when my could you vote for him?”
DIFFERENTIATION friend told the story again and again back on Something had changed my people politi-
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
friend told the story again and again back on
campus—a situation I found I could control by cally in the 20 years since my then teenage mom
campus — a situation I found I could control by
Collaborative Learning telling the stories myself. had voted for Jimmy Carter when I was an
telling the stories myself.
Smarsh makes several references to the “Cows are more pleasant than goats,” I’d say infant, the year Reagan won. There I was to
“Cows are more pleasant than goats,” I’d say
“distance” or “rift” between the “country” to explain why we had one and not the other, prove it — a liberally minded young person from
to explain why we had one and not the other,
world she grew up in and an outside world, and my college friends would crack up like it the rural working class who had somehow voted
and my college friends would crack up like it
and you could have students examine was an amazing joke. Grandpa had bought a few Republican.
was an amazing joke. Grandpa had bought a few
those passages to connect them in a line of goats when I was little, and they had turned out Whatever caused the change, it crystallized
those passages to connect them in a line of
goats when I was little, and they had turned out
reasoning. Without stating that connection to be a menace. with the popularity of a new conservative cable
to be a menace.
to your students, you could have small “Why did he buy the goats?” they would ask, TV network. We didn’t have cable at the farm,
“Why did he buy the goats?” they would ask,
groups of students examine the following as though the answer were complicated and but in Wichita Mom had started listening to con-
as though the answer were complicated and
quotations: perhaps had something to do with personal servative talk radio. She’d nod along in the car as
perhaps had something to do with personal
1. “For me, country was not a look, a style, fulfillment. a host spewed venomous attacks on liberalism.
fulfillment.
or even a conscious attitude, but a “Because they are cheap and eat weeds,” I’d Something in his apparent outrage about “gov-
“Because they are cheap and eat weeds,” I’d
physical place, its experience defined by say, and they’d bend over laughing. By then I’d ernment handouts” appealed to her. She was
say, and they’d bend over laughing. By then I’d
distance from the forces of culture that be laughing, too, because I was amazed it was so open-minded and progressive on most social
be laughing, too, because I was amazed it was so
would commodify it” (par. 8). funny to anyone. issues but raised a defiant middle finger to the
funny to anyone.
In those moments I saw that mine wasn’t as
2. “In college, I began to understand the In those moments I saw that mine wasn’t as idea of so-called assistance, so I did, too. I voted
much a sad story as it was a rare one, that better-
depth of the rift that is economic inequal- much a sad story as it was a rare one, that better- for Kansas native Bob Dole in my rural high
depth of the rift that is economic inequal-
off people’s fascination was not just derision but,
ity. Roughly speaking, on one side of the off people’s fascination was not just derision but, school’s 1996 mock presidential election. Mom
sometimes, honest awe. The distance between
rift was the place I was from—laborers, sometimes, honest awe. The distance between and I cheered when the GOP retained a majority
my world and my country’s understanding of it
workers, people filled with distrust for my world and my country’s understanding of it in both houses that year.
had been growing because so few people from
the systems that had been ignoring had been growing because so few people from One of my aunts was the only person in our
my place ever ended up on a college campus to
and even spurning them for a couple my place ever ended up on a college campus to family who I recall refusing to budge from older
tell its stories. It was a distance I wanted to make
decades. On the other side were the peo- tell its stories. It was a distance I wanted to make affiliations between class and party. “The Dem-
smaller.
ple who run those systems—basically, smaller. ocrats are for poor people, and the Republicans
people with college funds who end up • • • are for the rich,” she would declare and slam her
living in cities or moving to one of the beer on the table.
expensive coasts. It’s much messier than
expensive coasts. It’s much messier than
that, of course” (par. 15). 232
3. “The distance between my world and my
“The distance between my world and my
country’s understanding of it had been
growing because so few people from my
place ever ended up on a college cam-
pus to tell its stories. It was a distance I 05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd 232 12/10/22 2:35 PM
wanted to make smaller” (par. 29). DIFFERENTIATION
Ask the groups to examine the three pas- Inquiry
sages to discover the connections. Then, In paragraph 32, Smarsh refers to the chang- patterns in presidential and congressional
ask them to look at the passages in the ing political affiliations of her family and those elections starting, perhaps, in the 1950s, and
context of the text, and challenge them to like it. You could have students research the see if they can discern any patterns, or if the
connect them in a line of reasoning: how shifting politics of Smarsh’s native Kansas or data corroborates Smarsh’s claims (in par. 36,
do they suggest a progression of ideas, of other regions that might be of interest or for instance). In our partisan culture of red
and how do they lead to a conclusion? relevant to your students. Using a site such and blue states, students might benefit from
Some students will probably notice that in as Ballotpedia, they could research the voting exploring this history.
this essay Smarsh is telling her story and
making the distance smaller, and that
insight can lead to a deeper exploration of
the rhetorical situation.
232 chapter 4 / Identity
05_sheatlcte4e_46921_ch04_170a_315_2pp.indd 232 1/20/23 7:48 PM