Page 141 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

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DIFFERENTIA
DIFFERENTIATION chapter 4
TION
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative Learning
ou might ask students to contemplate
Y
You might ask students to contemplate
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Bryn Lennon/Getty Images cusses his “Blackness.” You could give
Morris’
Morris’s tone in paragraph 12, when he dis-
s tone in paragraph 12, when he dis-
cusses his “Blackness.” Y
ou could give
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
students a list of possibilities, and ask them
students a list of possibilities, and ask them
to choose one or two that the text sup-
to choose one or two that the text sup-
Other Voices / Wesley Morris
ports. Some possibilities: apologetic, con-
ports. Some possibilities: apologetic, con-
AP Photo/File
templative, defensive, pragmatic, r
ealistic,
templative, defensive, pragmatic, realistic,
self-ef
self-effacing, self-critical. You might give
ou might give
facing, self-critical. Y
them the option of choosing two, or joining
them the option of choosing two, or joining
In the photo on the right, taken in August 2020, British Formula 1 driver Sir Lewis Hamilton kneels and
two with a qualifier
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
ou might also have
. (Y
raises his arm in the Black Power salute. His body posture echoes former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, two with a qualifier. (You might also have
them think about the rhetorical situation:
known for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, as in the 2016 photo on the left. them think about the rhetorical situation:
It also harkens to the 1968 Olympics, in which medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists students might see his tone differently if
ently if
students might see his tone dif
fer
during the national anthem while on the podium (shown in the center photo). they think about audiences of dif fer ent
they think about audiences of different
What do each of these photos have in common? How can the actions of prominent figures be races.) It’s an important paragraph in the
races.) It’
s an important paragraph in the
interpreted as “weaponry” in the way that Morris suggests in this essay?
s identity
development of Morris’
development of Morris’s identity. .
I had never done a Black-power salute. It always the house he no longer lived in and spanked me DIFFERENTIATION
TION
DIFFERENTIA
seemed like more Blackness than I’ve needed, (a first, for us both). Then he calmly walked me
Scaffolding
maybe more than I had. I’m not Black-power to school. On the way, he explained, with Scaffolding
Black. I’ve always been milder, more apprehen- uncharacteristic gravity, that because I was You could use these photos in relation to
Y
elation to
ou could use these photos in r
sive than that. I was practically born with a Black, I needed to be very careful about my the synthesis prompts in Chapter 3, both
ompts in Chapter 3, both
the synthesis pr
mustache. behavior. Nobody should steal. And we espe- for Celebrity Activism (p. 130) and Freedom
for Celebrity Activism (p. 130) and Fr
eedom
I grew up in Philadelphia in the 1980s. My cially shouldn’t. He was a track coach, and that of Speech (p. 157). If you have done them
of Speech (p. 157). If you have done them
mother left my father when my sister and I were was one of the few times he ever coached me. already, you could refer students back to
eady
, you could r
efer students back to
alr
small. I took the divorce just fine. Except for the It’s perhaps absurd to point to one child- them and ask how they might be used as
them and ask how they might be used as
stealing. I used to pluck quarters from my moth- hood incident and declare it decisive, but I’ve sources in those conversations, or you
sour
ces in those conversations, or you
er’s change purse and, before class, feed them to always found that story useful. It’s rich in disap- could use those prompts now, in relation to
, in r
ompts now
could use those pr
elation to
the arcade consoles at the 7-Eleven near school. pointment, embarrassment, shame and guilt a discussion of the signs and signifiers of
a discussion of the signs and signifiers of
First, though, I would discreetly jam handfuls of (my mother needed those quarters; they were protest.
pr
otest.
1-cent candy into my pockets. The quarters carfare; and the kids at school now knew I was a
were never meant to cover that. For two weeks thief). I was so ashamed that I vowed, at 6, that I
in the second grade, this is how my mornings never wanted to feel like that again. I’d had a
began — until I got caught. The store manager moral near-death experience. From there on, I
called my mother, and in the uncomfortably would be good. That was the vow.
long wait for her arrival, I sat there, wallowing in “Good” meant trying hard and helping out 15
regret. But she never showed. My father did. She and listening and being a devoted friend. It
must have phoned him. He walked me home to meant only the best news for my parents and
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DIFFERENTIATION DIFFERENTIATION
Connections to Text Connections to Self
In paragraph 13, Morris alludes to “the talk” You might have students respond to Morris’s
he received from his father, something which claims about “goodness” in paragraph 15.
Brent Staples discusses in his essay earlier in You could ask them whether their own expe-
this chapter. If students have read Staples’s rience of school culture supports the follow-
essay, you might ask them to compare Mor- ing claim: “[G]oodness as a personal policy is
ris’s response to his father’s talk to Staples’s strange for a child to have. It’s for grown-ups;
responses to his new understanding of the not for kids. Teachers like good kids; some
realities of systemic racism at the end of his teachers prefer them. The kind of goodness
essay. The connections between the essays I’m talking about is suspicious to other kids.
are strong in paragraphs 23–24, too, when Kids don’t want to catch you abstaining from
Morris discusses his fear of being shot. trouble or raising your hand or staying behind
after school to help out or, worse, to hang.”
They might answer in a short journal essay or
in a short debate or, to make it more formal,
you could ask them to define “goodness”
and then develop a full essay.
Other Voices / Wesley Morris 247
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