Page 175 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

But there are still many who are perplexed After more than six thousand miles on the road, 4
by the term. I met a diesel mechanic named I turned my car westward, toward home. I
Rolando Cortez on a snow-covered sidewalk. thought of the many Latino communities I had DIFFERENTIA TION chapter 4
DIFFERENTIATION
“Latinos? What are you fucking talking about?” visited, and the people I had met, and the stories
Collaborative Learning
Cortez asked. He is a short and stocky man, and they had told me — about home and family, and Collaborative Learning
Tobar’s concluding section ties together his
a voracious reader, and he said he found it frus- the country we share. I could see that what binds T obar’ s concluding section ties together his
argument into a set of coherent claims
trating that the media lumps so many different Latinos together is that we have all been shaped Other Voices / Héctor Tobar ar gument into a set of coher ent claims
. Y
ou could appr
kinds of people together into one category, by empire. We are brown, black, white, indige- about Latinx identity. You could approach
oach
about Latinx identity
these paragraphs by having students in
implying they’re all the same. “Latino” means nous, European, and African; some of us speak these paragraphs by having students in
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
small groups review his journey and con-
one thing in Spanish Harlem, Cortez said, and Spanish and some of us don’t. But all of us have small gr oups r eview his jour ney and con-
another thing in Queens, with its large Colom- roots in the upheavals set in motion by American nect statements from paragraphs 39 and
om paragraphs 39 and
nect statements fr
bian and Ecuadorean communities. And then imperialism. Our ancestors have seen borders 40 to each one. Y ou could suggest that
40 to each one. You could suggest that
there’s the mixture of races in an average redrawn and fortified by the United States, and they see the sentences in those paragraphs
they see the sentences in those paragraphs
as potential commentary to add to the end
Puerto Rican family. Cortez told me that his they have crossed those borders, by land, air, or as potential commentary to add to the end
s geographic sections.
of each of the essay’
grandfather had the blue-gray eyes of the sea, in the near or distant past. The love, the of each of the essay’s geographic sections.
How many ar
e explicitly stories of people
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
Canary Islands but that he lived in Puerto Rico divisions, and the regrets in our families reach How many are explicitly stories of people
“shaped by empire”? Which ones are
in a bohío, the traditional thatch-roofed hut across those borders. Our ancestors have “shaped by empir e”? Which ones ar e
explicitly about people who have “cr
ossed . . .
of the Taino people. And his father had high escaped marching armies, coups, secret torture explicitly about people who have “crossed . . .
borders”? Which are explicitly about peo-
Taino cheekbones and curly hair, “as a result of rooms, and the outrages of rural police forces. bor ders”? Which ar e explicitly about peo-
fering”? Students
ple “gr
ounded in suf
being mixed.” Like many other ethnic identities, Latino is a 40 ple “grounded in suffering”? Students
should identify other facets of his definition
I spoke to Cortez near White Playground, way of being that is grounded in suffering. To should identify other facets of his definition
in those paragraphs. How are these char-
a park named after Walter Francis White, a call yourself Latino is to resist assimilation, and in those paragraphs. How ar e these char -
acteristics implicit in other stories? Stu-
civil-rights activist who was one of the early to be conflicted about who you really are. All the acteristics implicit in other stories? Stu-
dents could perhaps create a graphic
leaders of the NAACP. The bonds between major racial and ethnic identifiers in the United dents could perhaps cr eate a graphic
organizer with statements from the conclu-
Puerto Ricans and African Americans run States have been created as foils to whiteness. or ganizer with statements fr om the conclu-
sion across the top and the geographic
especially deep in New York. Henry Comas, What makes people of Mexican descent non- sion acr oss the top and the geographic
sections listed at the left. This activity will
a sixty-two-year-old with Puerto Rican and white is the fact that they can be exploited. The sections listed at the left. This activity will
help students see Tobar’s line of reasoning
Italian roots, told me that he grew up next militarized border created an idea of Mexicans help students see T obar’ s line of r easoning
and the effectiveness of his conclusion.
door to a black family from South Carolina. (and all Latin American people) as inferior and and the ef fectiveness of his conclusion.
“Our doors were always open,” he told me. exploitable. As Latinos have become essential to
“We ate in each other’s houses.” (Mexican kids the U.S. economy, the notion of immigrants as TRM Activity Handout
A student handout for this activity can be
in South Central L.A. grow up alongside black “aliens” has spread, and immigration restric- A student handout for this activity can be
found in the Teacher’s Resource Materials.
kids, too, and there is an emergent culture tions have become more and more elaborate. found in the T eacher’ s Resour ce Materials.
there that can be described as “Blaxican,” a As I drove across the United States, I felt as
term that originated in Los Angeles in the though I were watching different parts of my story
Eighties. My own godfather was an African- unfold. I saw my ambitious father, my cheeky CLOSE READING
American neighbor of my Guatemalan parents mother, and my angry conservative relatives. No
After researching experiences of Latinx
in Hollywood.) Given this closeness, Puerto Latino person was a stranger, even if there was After r esear ching experiences of Latinx
esenting a
oss America and pr
peoples acr
Rican voters in New York and elsewhere often something exotic (to my California-born eyes) peoples across America and presenting a
definition of characteristics of Latinx peo-
see the world as black voters do. Among other about the different places they lived in. I found a definition of characteristics of Latinx peo-
ple, Tobar ends his essay by stating, “In a
things, they are more likely to support little bit of myself in all the climates and time ple, T obar ends his essay by stating, “In a
strange way, the trip made me feel more
Democrats. zones I visited. In a strange way, the trip made me strange way , the trip made me feel mor e
American than ever.” You can ask students
feel more American than ever. American than ever .” Y ou can ask students
• • •
to define what he means by “American”
2021 to define what he means by “American”
in that statement. They could draft a
in that statement. They could draft a
281 response, using evidence from his essay,
esponse, using evidence fr
r
,
om his essay
or you could use it as a starting point for a
or you could use it as a starting point for a
class discussion. You could also ask them
class discussion. Y ou could also ask them
to analyze why it is an effective choice as a
to analyze why it is an ef fective choice as a
conclusion.
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DIFFERENTIATION
Collaborative Learning
Tobar frames his essay around the politics of
the 2020 election. You could ask students
what role politics plays in his purpose. Is it a
framing device, or is it central to his argu-
ment? The focus recedes in the last section,
so it merits discussion. You might also ask
students, at this point, to define Tobar’s
exigence.
Other Voices / Héctor Tobar 281
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