Page 67 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

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AP Big Idea: Claims and Evidence 4
Hurston’s thesis in this essay consists of both an implied and an overarching message
perhaps most succinctly captured in the title — “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” — and Identity chapter 4
statements such as “At certain times I have no race, I am me” (par. 14). Such claims
offer a hint at what her line of reasoning will be; her focus on her own experience of and
perspective on the relationship between race and identity leads naturally to evidence
drawn primarily from personal experience and observation.

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AP Big Idea: Reasoning and Organization
In developing her line of reasoning, Hurston uses various methods of development,
including comparison and contrast, definitions, and descriptions to support her claims.
She explains the similarities and differences between her experience at The New World
Cabaret and those of her white friend, connecting her response to the performance to her
argument about the relationship between culture, race, and identity. While the experience
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is transcendent for Hurston, her companion enjoys the music but is not as emotionally
moved by it. Her experience of the music comes alive in paragraph 11 as she compares
the orchestra to a “primitive” creature that “rears on its hind legs” and “breaks through to
the jungle beyond.” In the final paragraph of the essay, Hurston both defines and describes
her sense of how all our identities share more commonalities than differences.
As you read, explore, and analyze the texts in this chapter, you’ll develop not only a bet-
ter understanding of rhetoric and argument but also gain new insights into the experi-
ences and identities of others. We also hope that these texts enrich your understanding
of who you are and who you want to become.

Guided Reading for “Mother Tongue” activity TRM Suggested Responses
esponses to the activity on
Suggested r
As you read the Central Essay in this chapter, “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan (p. 174), Suggested responses to the activity on
eacher’
s
this page can be found in the T
keep track of your observations and questions about how the following Big Ideas take this page can be found in the Teacher’s
shape in Tan’s essay. Resour ce Materials.
Resource Materials.
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AP Big Idea Observations Questions
Rhetorical Situation TRM Activity Handout
A student handout for this activity can be
A student handout for this activity can be
found in the Teacher’s Resource Materials.
found in the T eacher’ s Resour ce Materials.
Claims and Evidence
DIFFERENTIA TION
DIFFERENTIATION
Reasoning and Organization
Connections to T
e
xt
Connections to Text
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ou could use this AP
You could use this AP Big Idea template
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for the T an essay thr
for the Tan essay throughout the unit as oughout the unit as
173 students read other essays.ead other essays.
students r
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chapter 4 / Identity 173

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