Page 138 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

6. Reasoning and Organization. What is Kaminsky’s purpose in presenting his own return to
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Odessa in parallel with stories handed down to him about his adoptive grandfather Shura’s
DIFFERENTIATION Identity life? What parallels does he draw between his father, Victor, and Shura?
7. Rhetorical Situation / Reasoning and Organization. You might describe the structure —
Collaborative Learning and syntax — of this essay as fragmented, circuitous, and nonlinear. How do these choices
characterize Kaminsky? What makes them so effective? For instance, what do they convey
Analyzing Q8. Since the essay contains about his experience revisiting Odessa? about his memories of childhood? about the
moments of ambiguity and surprise, stu- experience of being deaf?
dents could create a list of interview ques- 8. Reasoning and Organization. What connection does Kaminsky draw in this essay between
tions for Kaminsky. You could ask small the act of storytelling and the construction of individual identity?
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
groups to come up with five or so specific,
directed questions they would like to ask Topics for Composing
him. You might give them a few categories
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for their questions (for instance, one could 1. AP FRQ Rhetorical Analysis. Ilya Kaminsky’s 2018 essay “Searching for a Lost
be about a line or passage, another about Odessa — and a Deaf Childhood” centers around his return to Odessa, Ukraine, nearly twenty
the essay’s structure, another about his years after his family emigrated to the United States. Prior to arriving in the United States,
Kaminsky, who is deaf, did not have hearing aids. Because none of his memories of the city
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
personal experience). feature sound, he finds himself turning his hearing aids off when he returns. Read paragraphs
63–71. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Kaminsky makes to develop his
TRM Rubric message about the connection between memory and identity.
A rubric for these prompts can be found in 2. AP FRQ Argument. Some people subscribe to the idea that the best way to make peace with
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the Teacher’s Resource Materials. the past is to confront it. Others question the value of dwelling on a traumatic past. Write an
essay that argues your position on the value of confronting the past as a way to make peace
with it.
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DIFFERENTIATION 3. AP FRQ Argument. In his 2018 essay “Searching for a Lost Odessa — and a Deaf
Childhood” poet Ilya Kaminsky writes, “How much the present moment means to those who
Mode of Expression have nothing more.” Write an essay that argues your position on the value of the “present
moment” in times of crisis.
Composing Q5. Artistically inclined stu- 4. Research. Research common misconceptions that surround American Deaf culture,
dents might value depicting one or more of including the role American Sign Language plays in that culture. Do you see any connections
the scenes from the essay. You could ask between the culture(s) you consider yourself to be part of and the paradigms that underpin
them to choose a key claim or purpose of Deaf culture? For instance, consider that within Deaf culture, deafness is not treated as a
the essay to depict visually, or you could problem that needs to be “fixed.” Are there aspects of your culture(s) you celebrate that
have them create a one-pager of quota- outsiders would not immediately understand?
tions and images. 5. Creative Writing. This essay is filled with anecdotes that are told in nonlinear order. Choose
one or more of the anecdotes to form the basis for a short story or even a fairy tale.
TRM ELL Essential Guide Handout
An ELL Essential Guide for this reading from My Mustache, My Self
can be found in the Teacher’s Resource
Materials. Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris (b. 1975) is a critic for the New York Times who writes
about cinema, pop culture, and race. Morris is also the host of the Chad Batka/The New York Times/Redux Pictures
TRM Vocabulary Handout culture podcast Still Processing. He was born in Philadelphia and
Vocabulary in Context exercises based on earned a BA in film studies from Princeton University. In 2012, while
challenging words from this reading can be working for the Boston Globe, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
found in the Teacher’s Resource Materials. The following excerpt is from an essay published in the New York
Times in 2020.
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05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd 244 students read one of the other essays in the 12/10/22 2:36 PM
DIFFERENTIATION set and report to classmates on the topic and
Connections to Text thesis, perhaps assigning them to do a quick
SOAPSTone analysis first. That way, the class
From the New York Times website: “Wesley can get a sense of Morris’s style and
Morris, critic at large for The New York Times, perspectives.
won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for a
set of searing essays that explored the inter- TRM Instructional Strategies
section of race and pop culture with insight, SOAPStone/SPACES/SPACECAT. For
acuity and urgency. His work called on Amer- advice on effectively conveying SOAPStone,
ica to examine its racism and hold itself to SPACES, or SPACECAT, see the Teacher’s
account, while also appreciating those who Resource Materials.
influence how we see the world.”
“My Mustache, My Self” was one of that set
(linked on the Times site). Since the essay is
in part autobiographical, you might have stu-
dents explore some of Morris’s other work,
which they may enjoy since he writes a lot
about popular culture. You could have

244 chapter 4 / Identity

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