Page 86 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

As nearly as I can make out, reducing the was broken; Gladys was no more a mystery:
4
problem to actual figures, it took me about three I had learned all her kinks, had put a bridle in
CLOSE READING Identity months, with an average of fifteen minutes’ her teeth, and touched her smartly with the
16, Willar
paragraph
of detail
s selection
d’
In
In paragraph 16, Willard’s selection of detail practice daily, to learn, first, to pedal; second, to whip of victory. Consider, ye who are of a con-
breaks down the exact number of min- turn; third, to dismount; and fourth, to mount siderable chronology: in about thirteen hundred
utes, hours, and days that learning to ride independently this most mysterious animal. Jan- minutes, or, to put it more mildly, in twenty-two
a bicycle takes. Ask students to discuss uary 20th will always be a red-letter bicycle day, hours, or, to put it most mildly of all, in less than
why Willard frames her learning process in because although I had already mounted several a single day as the almanac reckons time — but
this way. What point is she making? How times with no hand on the rudder, some good practically in two days of actual practice — amid
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
does it help her purpose? You could have friend had always stood by to lend moral sup- the delightful surroundings of the great out-
students discuss the function of the details port; but summoning all my force, and, doors, and inspired by the bird-songs, the color
and syntax of the essay’s final, long sen- most forcible of all, what Sir Benjamin Ward and fragrance of an English posy-garden, in the
6
tence that precedes the “moral.” Richardson declares to be the two essential company of devoted and pleasant comrades, I
elements — decision and precision — I mounted had made myself master of the most remarkable,
and started off alone. From that hour the spell ingenious, and inspiring motor ever yet devised
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
upon this planet.
Moral: Go thou and do likewise!
6 Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson (1828–1896) was a prominent British
physician and writer, best known for his work on public hygiene. — Eds. 1895
TRM Suggested Responses Understanding and Interpreting
Suggested responses to the questions for 1. Rhetorical Situation. Why does Frances Willard expand her recommendation to learn to
this reading can be found in the Teacher’s ride a bicycle to boys as well as girls? Men as well as women?
Resource Materials.
2. Rhetorical Situation / Claims and Evidence. Willard’s matter-of-fact account of why and
how she learned to ride a bicycle is intended as an argument. What aspects of the rhetorical
situation make a strong argument necessary? What counterarguments does she present?
3. Rhetorical Situation / Reasoning and Organization. What are the qualities Willard finds
in herself as she learns to ride a bicycle? How does she use this self-discovery to develop her
CLOSE READING argument that “the mastery of such an animal as Gladys, will gain the mastery of life” (par. 10)?
4. Reasoning and Organization. How does Willard frame learning to ride a bicycle as a
Understanding Q3. You might ask parable on life, especially the life of a woman?
students what effect Willard’s decision 5. Claims and Evidence / Reasoning and Organization. In paragraph 6 Willard repeats an
to name her bicycle “Gladys” has on the old adage that “horseback riding is the only thing in which a prince is apt to excel, for the
reader. Can students determine whether reason that the horse never flatters and would as soon throw him as if he were a groom.”
How does she relate that statement to the process of learning to ride the bicycle? Do you
Willard’s tone is personal or pedantic? find it convincing? To what extent might this adage apply to a modern skill, such as learning
How does “Gladys” support Willard’s tone? to drive a car or learning to code?
How would the effect differ if she had given 6. Claims and Evidence. During her two decades of leadership of the WCTU, Willard effectively
her bicycle a male name? organized women for direct political action — without violating the notion of women’s “proper”
roles — by referring to women as guardians and defenders of their homes and families and by
focusing on women’s traditional concerns. How does her account of learning to ride a bicycle
support those principles? What evidence does her account provide of her skill at inspiring
fundamentally conservative, apolitical churchwomen to take political action?
7. Reasoning and Organization. Why does Willard call the exhortation at the end of the piece
the “Moral”?
192

05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd 192 12/10/22 2:34 PM
DIFFERENTIATION
Connections to World
Students might enjoy viewing Shimon
Schocken’s TED Talk titled “What a Bike Ride
Can Teach You.” Schocken organizes a
weekly biking club for juvenile offenders in
Israel. What kind of conversation can stu-
dents envision Schocken and Willard having?
Dave Cieslewicz’s TEDx Talk “Bicycles Are a
Vehicle for Social Change” is another engag-
ing social perspective that students could
connect to Willard’s purpose.

192 chapter 4 / Identity

05_sheatlcte4e_46921_ch04_170a_315_2pp.indd 192 1/20/23 7:44 PM