Page 146 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

Understanding and Interpreting
4
TRM Suggested Responses
Suggested responses to the questions for Identity “distinguished” in paragraph 2? Which word does he seem to favor?
this reading can be found in the Teacher’s
Resource Materials.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
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Understanding Q4. You might need to
challenge students to understand how
Morris’s decision to raise his fist made
him uncomfortable, both in the moment
and afterward. You could point them to his
discussion in paragraph 11, and ask them
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to see how it serves as a transition into his
stories about his childhood.
DIFFERENTIATION
Collaborative Learning
®
Analyzing Q2. AP Teaching Tip. This
question offers another opportunity for
®
students to apply the AP Language CED
Unit 4 Essential Knowledge statement
about the functions of introductions (RHS-1.I).
You could give them the statement and ask
them to identify and support which of the
characteristics Morris’s introduction fulfills:
“The introduction of an argument
introduces the subject and/or writer of the
argument to the audience. An introduction
may present the argument’s thesis. An
introduction may orient, engage, and/or 252
focus the audience by presenting
quotations, intriguing statements,
anecdotes, questions, statistics, data,
contextualized information, or a scenario.” 05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd
252
05_sheatlcte4e_46921_ch04_170a_315_2pp.indd 252
1. Rhetorical Situation. What is Wesley Morris’s attitude toward the words “mature” and
2. Rhetorical Situation. What is Morris’s reaction to being compared to a “lawyer for the
N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund” (par. 3)? How does his reaction compare to his friends’
responses?
3. Claims and Evidence. Why does Morris say that the “civil rights mustache was strategically
tolerant” (par. 9)? What hairstyle assumes the position of power according to Morris’s
assessment?
4. Rhetorical Situation. Why does seeing “so many white people lifting their arms” (par. 11)
prompt Morris to do the same? Why does he believe that was an uncharacteristic move on
his part?
5. Rhetorical Situation / Claims and Evidence / Reasoning and Organization. What is
the “genre” (par. 15) in which Morris was placed while at school? What are the
implications of that classification? How does this defining moment relate to his
discussion of his mustache?
6. Claims and Evidence. Why does the statement “You, Black person, are free — free to be a
Person” (par. 25) lack an attribution? Who presumably says this? What is the “hoax” decried
by “some public intellectual”?
7. Claims and Evidence / Reasoning and Organization. What does Morris mean when he
writes, “Personal accountability isn’t nothing” (par. 29)? How does the subsequent sentence
relate to that claim?
8. Claims and Evidence / Reasoning and Organization. What does Morris mean by the
phrase “parallel heritage” (par. 32)? What role does it play in his decision to keep his
mustache?
9. Rhetorical Situation / Claims and Evidence / Reasoning and Organization. Toward the
end of the essay, why does Morris note that focusing on one’s mustache is a process that
hinges “between vanity and knowledge of self” (par. 35)? What is the distinction between
these two, and why would Morris bring this up so late in the essay?
Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure
1. Vocabulary in Context. When describing his experiences as the only Black person in many
of his classes, Morris warns, “Prolonged only-ness winds up abutting exceptionalism”
(par. 19). What does “abutting” mean in this context? What else does Morris portray himself
as abutting throughout the text?
2. Reasoning and Organization. What is the significance of Morris’s decision to open his
essay with likening his decision to grow a mustache with the actions of other men during the
pandemic? As the essay develops, how does this association with men who pursued “novelty
and amusement” (par. 1) progress?
3. Reasoning and Organization. Why does Morris discuss Thurgood Marshall in
paragraph 6? Why is the discussion of Marshall’s accomplishments significant to
Morris’s purpose?
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chapter 4 / Identity
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