teachers aren’t given enough gifts! - s18670.pcdn.co · • write descriptive introductory...

EMC’s team is dedicated to providing English Language Arts teachers with resources that engage, motivate, and challenge their students. We’d love to give you access to three of our Mirrors & Windows English Language Arts program lessons to use in your classroom. Each lesson is targeted at a different grade level and contains everything you need to start using it in class on Monday.

Some of the objectives of our sample lessons include:

Your lesson will include the following resources to ensure successful use in any classroom:

These lessons are included in EMC’s unique English Language Arts learning platform, Passport®

Teachers aren’t given enough gifts!

• read, interpret, analyze, and evaluate a selection • develop writing and other language arts skills • write descriptive introductory paragraphs and a character analysis• participate in a discussion about the selection• practice reading assessment by answering multiple-choice and short-answer questions about the selection

• Lesson Plan (objectives, materials needed, a thorough procedure, etc.)• Annotated Teachers Edition textbook pages• Student Textbook pages• Blackline Study Materials

| www.emcp.com

19© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 1Program Planning Guide

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

L E S S O N P L A N

M T W Th F

American History / TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role, p. 120Vocabulary & Spelling Workshop: Denotation and Connotation, p. 132Grammar & Style Workshop: Sentence Variety, p. 134

ANCHOR TEXT/Directed ReadingText Complexity“American History”• Reading Level: Moderate, Lexile 1000L• Difficulty Consideration: Political context;

Spanish vocabulary words• Ease Factor: Author’s style; selection length;

vocabulary“TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role”• Reading Level: Challenging, Lexile 1120L• Difficulty Consideration: Abrupt shifts

in tense; challenging vocabulary; political background

• Ease Factor: Sympathetic main character

Pacing• Regular Schedule: 3 days• Block Schedule: 1.5 days

ObjectivesStudying this lesson will enable students to• understand the impact of a historical event

on a country• read, interpret, analyze, and evaluate a

selection in which a character deals with personal struggles during a historically significant event

• define setting and recognize its importance in the selection

• use the skill of finding the main idea to understand a short story

• write descriptive introductory paragraphs and a character analysis

• analyze color symbolism in the selection• participate in a panel discussion• practice reading assessment by answering

multiple-choice and short-answer questions about the selection

Before ReadingPreview and MotivateChoose from the following materials to preview the lesson and motivate your students:____ Before Reading, SE/ATE, p. 120____ Build Background: Defining Moments, Meeting the Standards Unit 1, p. 80

During ReadingTeach the Selection(s)Choose from the following resources to teach the selection(s):____ During Reading, SE/ATE, pp. 121–128____ Social Studies Connection: Puerto Rico, SE/ATE, p. 124____ Informational Text Connection: “TV’s Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role,”

SE/ATE, pp. 129–130____ Vocabulary: “Wanted” Poster, Meeting the Standards Unit 1, pp. 81–82____ Analyze Literature: Setting, Meeting the Standards Unit 1, p. 83

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LEVEL IV, UNIT 120 © EMC Publishing, LLCProgram Planning Guide

Differentiate InstructionConsider the following alternative teaching options to differentiate instruction:____ Reading Proficiency, ATE, pp. 122, 125, 129____ English Language Learning, ATE, pp. 122, 125____ Enrichment, ATE, p. 123____ Special Needs/Learning Styles: Auditory, Visual, and Kinesthetic, ATE, p. 126____ Reading Strategies and Skills Practice: Take Notes, Differentiated Instruction for Developing

Readers, pp. 4–6

After ReadingReview and ExtendUse the following materials to review and extend the lesson:____ After Reading, SE/ATE, pp. 128, 130–131____ Essay Questions for “American History,” Meeting the Standards Unit 1, p. 84

Teach the Workshop(s)Select from the following materials to teach the workshop(s):____ Vocabulary & Spelling: Denotation and Connotation, SE/ATE, pp. 132–133____ Grammar & Style: Sentence Variety, SE/ATE, pp. 134–135____ Language Arts Handbook Section 2.6, Understanding Denotation and Connotation,

SE/ATE, p. 957____ Language Arts Handbook Section 3.17, Writing Effective Sentences, pp. 994–996____ Connotation and Denotation, Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling, pp. 19–20____ Time Out for Test Practice: Connotation, Denotation, and Word Meaning, Exceeding

the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling, p. 21____ Sentence Structure: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences,

Exceeding the Standards: Grammar & Style, pp. 8–10

AssessAdminister the following assessment tool(s):____ Selection Quiz, Meeting the Standards Unit 1, pp. 85–86____ Lesson Test, Assessment Guide, pp. 51–54

Technology ToolsEnhance the lesson with interactive activities offered in these technology supplements:

Teacher’s Edition eBook Multiplatform Student eBook Meeting the Standards eWorkbook Exceeding the Standards eWorkbook Differentiated Instruction eWorkbook Common Core Assessment Practice Online ExamView® Assessment Suite

Visual Teaching Package ETS Online Criterion-Based Essay Grader

(Grades 6–12) EMC Audio Library EMC E-Library mirrorsandwindows.com

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120 UNIT 1 FICTION

AMERICAN HISTORYAMERICAN HISTORY

Bare Tree Below Buildings, Manhattan, 1944.

Brett Weston.

I once read in a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” column that Paterson, New Jersey, is the

place where the Straight and Narrow (streets) intersect. The Puerto Rican tenement known as El Building was one block up from Straight. It was, in fact, the corner of Straight and Market; not “at” the corner, but the corner. At almost any hour of the day, El Building was like a monstrous jukebox, blasting out salsas1 from open windows as the residents, mostly new immigrants just up from the island, tried to drown out whatever they were currently enduring with loud music. But the day President Kennedy was shot there was a profound silence in El Building; even the

abusive tongues of viragoes,2 the cursing of the unemployed, and the screeching of small children had been somehow muted. President Kennedy was a saint to these people. In fact, soon his photograph would be hung alongside the Sacred Heart and over the spiritist altars that many women kept in their apartments. He would become part of the hierarchy of martyrs

A Short Story by Judith Ortiz Cofer

1. salsas (s5l> sas).. [Spanish] Popular Latin American music 2. viragoes (vi r5< g9s).. [Spanish] Loud, overbearing women

“The President is dead, you idiots.”

AMERICAN HISTORY 121

hi • er • ar • chy (h8> @r 5r< k7) n., group classified by grade or rankmar • tyr (m5r> t@r) n., person who sacrifices his or her life for the sake of a principle or cause

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USE READING SKILLSMain Idea The main idea within a piece of writing is the central point that the author develops with supporting details. It is a brief statement of what you believe the author wants you to know, think, or feel after reading the text.

As you read the selection, add details to a Main Idea Map like the one below. When you have finished reading the selection, use the details to draw conclu-sions and thus determine the selection’s main idea.

PREVIEW VOCABULARYTry to unlock the meanings of the underlined vocabulary words using the context clues provided in the sentences below.1. Martin Luther King Jr. became

a martyr after he was assas-sinated for leading the Civil Rights movement.

2. My baby sister was enthralled with her new toy; she played with it for hours.

3. The athlete’s elation upon winning a gold medal was clear from her smiling face.

4. The dilapidated iron factory stood in sharp contrast to its neighbor—a gleaming steel skyscraper.

5. When Felipe feels stressed, he seeks solace by listening to peaceful music in his dark-ened room.

BUILD BACKGROUNDHistorical Context “American History” takes place on November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The narrator, a Puerto Rican girl named Elena, struggles “to feel the right thing” for the dead president, even while the national tragedy is overshadowed by a painful experi-ence in her own life.

Sworn into office in 1961, John F. Kennedy was the thirty-fifth president of the United States and the youngest man and first Roman Catholic elected to be president. During his brief time in office, he called for civil rights legislation, fought for programs to fight poverty, and promoted leadership in space explo-ration. Even today, many Americans vividly remember where they were the moment they heard the tragic news of his assassination in Dallas, Texas.

Reader’s Context Where were you on September 11, 2001? What effect did the events of that day have on you?

ANALYZE LITERATURE: SettingThe setting of a story is the time and place in which it occurs. Setting also includes the details used to create a sense of a particular time and place. In fiction, setting is most often revealed by means of description of such elements as landscape, scenery, buildings, furniture, clothing, the weather, and the season. It can also be revealed by how characters talk and behave. The description in the opening paragraph of “American History” establishes the story’s setting.

SET PURPOSEThink of how the title fits with the information in the Build Background section. Then preview the text, looking at any artwork and pull-out quotations. What other meaning could the title “American History” have? As you read, think about the role that setting plays in the story and how it affects what happens to the narrator and other characters. How does the setting provide a better understanding of the author’s title choice?

MEET THE AUTHORBorn in Puerto Rico, Judith Ortiz Cofer (b. 1952) immigrated

to the United States with her family when she was young. She spent most of her childhood traveling back and forth between New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Cofer’s family spoke only Spanish, but her American education was in English, and that became the language for her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. She says, “It’s important for the artist to retain some hold on her orig-inal self even if it is painful or unattractive…. How can you

inject passion and purpose into your work if it has no roots?”

AMERICAN HISTORYAMERICAN HISTORYA Short Story by Judith Ortiz Cofer

120 UNIT 1 FICTION

Main Idea

Details Details

Details Details

DIRE

CTED

REA

DING

ANCHOR TEXT

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Text ComplexityDirected Reading• Reading Level: Moderate, 1000L• Difficulty Considerations: Political

context; Spanish vocabulary words• Ease Factors: Author’s style; selec-

tion length; vocabulary

ObjectivesStudying this lesson will enable stu-dents to• understand the impact of a histori-

cal event on a country.• read, interpret, analyze, and evalu-

ate a selection in which a character deals with personal struggles dur-ing a historically significant event.

• define setting and recognize its importance in the selection.

• use the skill of finding the main idea to understand a short story.

• write descriptive introductory para-graphs and a character analysis.

• analyze color symbolism in the selection.

• participate in a panel discussion.• practice reading assessment by

answering multiple-choice and short-answer questions about the selection.

Launch the LessonPlay a video clip of President Kennedy’s assassination or funeral. Ask students to describe what they think the general feeling of the American public might have been to this tragedy.

Preview the Selection

Refer to the Language Arts Handbook 1.3, Using Reading Skills, for additional instruction on finding the main idea.

KEY TERMSsetting, 120main idea, 120compare, 128contrast, 128descriptive, 131argumentative, 131character, 131symbol, 131

Preview Vocabularyhierarchy, 121martyr, 121discreet, 123hysterical, 124enthralled, 124eerie, 126elation, 126distraught, 126

dilapidated, 127solace, 127Selection Wordsprofound, 121linger, 123infatuated, 124vigilant, 124lilting, 125warped, 127

Academic Vocabularyovershadowed, 120legislation, 120documentaries, 129evolution, 131commemorations,

131

Words in Use“American History”

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121AMERICAN HISTORY



Brett Weston.









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120 UNIT 1 FICTION

Main Idea

Details Details

Details Details

DIRE

CTED

REA

DING

ANCHOR TEXT

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SummaryAs a Puerto Rican, fourteen-year-old Elena faces teasing and discrimina-tion at school. One bright spot in her life is her neighbor Eugene, a smart, quiet boy whom Elena watches while he reads at his kitchen table. On the day President Kennedy is killed, Elena goes to Eugene’s house to study for a test. When she arrives, Eugene’s moth-er learns Elena lives in the Puerto Rican tenement and sends her away, telling her that Eugene does not want to study with her. Elena goes home and tries to feel sad about Kennedy’s death, but the real source of her tears is her rejection by Eugene’s mother.

Teach the Selection

The Mirrors & Windows questions

at the end of the selection focus on prejudice. Before reading, ask students if they have ever been judged by another person based on a stereotype. Have students look for examples of stereotyping as they read.

& &

W

W

irrors indoWs

Analyze LiteratureSetting For additional informa-tion on setting, refer students to Understanding Setting on page 106. Remind students that writers often use sensory details to create setting. To keep track of sensory details, have students copy the Sensory Details Chart on page 107 into their note-books. Encourage students to record sensory details as they read.

Program ResourcesPlanning and AssessmentProgram Planning Guide, Selection Lesson PlanE-Lesson PlannerAssessment Guide, Lesson TestExamView

Technology Tools Multiplatform Student eBookVisual Teaching PackageAudio Librarymirrorsandwindows.com

Meeting the StandardsFiction: Unit 1, Directed Reading, pp. 80–86

Differentiating InstructionDeveloping Readers, Take Notes, pp. 4–6

Quiz Mirrors&

Windows


122 UNIT 1 FICTION

123

family had moved into the only house on the block that had a yard and trees. I could see his place from my window in El Building. In fact, if I sat on the fire escape I was literally suspended above Eugene’s backyard. It was my favorite spot to read my library books in the summer. Until that August the house had been occupied by an old Jewish couple. Over the years I had become part of their family, without their knowing it, of course. I had a view of their kitchen and their back-yard, and though I could not hear what they said, I knew when they were arguing, when one of them was sick, and many other things. I knew all this by watching them at mealtimes. I could see their kitchen table, the sink, and the stove. During good times, he sat at the table and read his newspapers while she fixed the meals. If they argued, he would leave and the old woman would sit and stare at nothing for a long time. When one of them was sick, the other would come and get things from the kitchen and carry them out on a tray. The old man had died in June. The last week of school I had not seen him at the table at all. Then one day I saw that there was a crowd in the kitchen. The old woman had finally emerged from the house on the arm of a stocky middle-aged woman, whom I had seen there a few times before, maybe her daughter. Then a man had carried out suitcases. The house had stood empty for weeks. I had had to resist the temptation to climb down into the yard and water the flowers the old lady had taken such good care of.

By the time Eugene’s family moved in, the yard was a tangled mass of weeds. The father had spent several days mowing, and when he finished, from where I sat, I didn’t see the red, yellow, and purple clusters that meant flowers to me. I didn’t see this family sit down at the kitchen table together. It was just the mother, a red-headed tall woman who wore a white uniform—a nurse’s, I guessed it was; the father was gone

before I got up in the morning and was never there at dinnertime. I only saw him on weekends when they sometimes sat on lawn chairs under the oak tree, each hidden behind a section of the newspaper; and there was Eugene. He was tall and blond, and he wore glasses. I liked him right away because he sat at the kitchen table and read books for hours. That summer, before we

had even spoken one word to each other, I kept him company on my fire escape.

Once school started I looked for him in all my classes, but P.S. 13 was

a huge, overpopulated place and it took me days and many discreet questions to discover that Eugene was in honors classes for all his subjects, classes that were not open to me because English was not my first language, though I was a straight A student. After much maneuvering I managed to “run into him” in the hallway where his locker was—on the other side of the building from mine—and in study hall at the library, where he first seemed to notice me, but did not speak; and finally, on the way home after school one day when I decided to approach him directly, though my stomach was doing somersaults.

I was ready for rejection, snobbery, the worst. But when I came up to him, practically panting in my nervousness, and blurted out: “You’re Eugene. Right?” He smiled, pushed his glasses up on his nose, and nodded. I saw then that he was blushing deeply. Eugene liked me, but he was shy. I did most of the talking that day. He nodded and smiled a lot. In the weeks that followed, we walked home together. He would linger at the corner of El Building for a few minutes then walk down to his two-story house. It was not until Eugene moved into that house that I noticed that El Building blocked most of the sun, and that the only spot that got a little

AMERICAN HISTORY

dis • creet (di skr7t>) adj., showing careful reserve in speech or action

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122 UNIT 1 FICTION

they prayed to for favors that only one who had died for a cause could understand.

On the day that President Kennedy was shot, my ninth grade class had been out in the fenced playground of Public School Number 13. We had been given “free” exercise time and had been ordered by our P.E. teacher, Mr. DePalma, to “keep moving.” That meant that the girls should jump rope and the boys toss basketballs through a hoop at the far end of the yard. He in the meantime would “keep an eye” on us from just inside the building.

It was a cold gray day in Paterson. The kind that warns of early snow. I was miser-able, since I had forgotten my gloves, and my knuckles were turning red and raw from the jump rope. I was also taking a lot of abuse from the black girls for not turning the rope hard and fast enough for them.

“Hey, Skinny Bones, pump it, girl. Ain’t you got no energy today?” Gail, the biggest of the black girls had the other end of the rope,

yelled, “Didn’t you eat your rice and beans and pork chops for breakfast today?”

The other girls picked up the “pork chop” and made it into a refrain: “pork chop, pork chop, did you eat your pork chop?” They entered the double ropes in pairs and exited without tripping or missing a beat. I felt a burning on my cheeks and then my glasses fogged up so that I could not manage to coor-dinate the jump rope with Gail. The chill was doing to me what it always did; entering my bones, making me cry, humiliating me. I hated the city, especially in winter. I hated Public School Number 13. I hated my skinny flatchested body, and I envied the black girls who could jump rope so fast that their legs became a blur. They always seemed to be warm while I froze.

There was only one source of beauty and light for me that school year. The only thing I had anticipated at the start of the semester. That was seeing Eugene. In August, Eugene and his

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Use Reading SkillsMain Idea Encourage students to fill in their own Main Idea Maps with details from the story they feel may unlock the meaning of the text. You may want to model this periodically throughout the story.

Critical ThinkingDiscussion Guide Take a moment to discuss with students the stereo-types that are present in this story.1. Ask students how they would

define the word stereotype.2. An obvious example of a stereotype

in the story occurs when the black girls assume Elena eats rice and beans and pork chops for breakfast. Ask students why the black girls might have made this assumption and why it’s hurtful to Elena.

3. Ask students if they have made or heard similar assumptions to those the black girls made about Elena. Discuss the danger of making such assumptions. A

Use Reading StrategiesAsk Questions Encourage students to write down questions they have about the story. After reading, have students work in small groups to answer each other’s questions. You may want to model this reading strategy by saying, “I wonder what is so special about Eugene. Why is he a ‘source of beauty and light’ for Elena? I’ll write this question down and see if I can find the answer somewhere in the story.” B

Teach the Selection

Reading ProficiencyEncourage students to use the Audio Library to listen to the selection while they read along.

English Language LearningProvide students with the following additional vocabulary words:tenement—apartment building, 121disciplinarian—person who enforces good

behavior, 125humiliation—an emotional state of being in

a lower position in one’s own eyes or in the eyes of another person, 126

monstrosities—large, hideous structures, 127

Differentiated Instruction

A

B


123AMERICAN HISTORY

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AMERICAN HISTORY


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122 UNIT 1 FICTION








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Use Reading StrategiesVisualize Ask students to visualize the view from the narrator’s balcony after Eugene’s family moves in. How has the view changed, and what do the changes suggest about the family? CAnswers: The old Jewish couple who lived in the house kept a flower bed and spent time together in the kitchen. When Eugene’s family moves in, his father mows over the flowers because he doesn’t want to be both-ered with yard work. Eugene spends most of his time alone in the kitchen. His family doesn’t make time together a priority.

Analyze LiteratureCharacter Have students describe the character of Elena, based on what they know about her from the story. Why did the author choose to tell the story through her eyes (first-person narrator)? How does the point of view affect the story’s overall theme?Answers: Responses will vary. Students may say that Elena has some typical teenage insecurities about her body, her abilities, and her acceptance by others. She’s observant of people and perhaps lives vicariously through oth-ers. Having Elena narrate the story allows readers to see that personal disappointments loom larger than the public tragedy of Kennedy’s assassina-tion. This perspective also gives read-ers a snapshot in time of what people were doing, thinking, and feeling dur-ing this tragic event.

Teach the Selection

EnrichmentThe existence of tenements often served as a symbol of urban immigration in the United States and led to the passing of the 1901 Tenement House Act. Have students research the history of tenements, including how they came to exist, what caused the passage of the 1901 act, and what tenements have come to stand for.

C


124 UNIT 1 FICTION

with the daring and passion of the beautiful girl living in a mansion, and with her devoted parents and the slaves who did everything for them. I didn’t believe such a world had ever really existed, and I wanted to ask Eugene some questions since he and his parents, he had told me, had come up from Georgia, the same place where the novel was set. His father worked for a company that had transferred him to Paterson. His mother was very unhappy, Eugene said, in his beautiful voice that rose and fell over words in a strange, lilting way. The kids at school called him “the hick” and made fun of the way he talked. I knew I was his only friend so far, and I liked that, though I felt sad for him sometimes. “Skinny Bones” and the “Hick” was what they called us at school when we were seen together.

The day Mr. DePalma came out into the cold and asked us to line up in front of him was the day that President Kennedy was shot. Mr. DePalma, a short, muscular man with slicked-down black hair, was the science teacher, P.E. coach, and disciplinarian at P.S. 13. He was the teacher to whose homeroom you got assigned if you were a troublemaker, and the man called out to break up playground fights, and to escort violently angry teenagers to the office. And Mr. DePalma was the man who called your parents in for a “conference.”

That day, he stood in front of two rows of mostly black and Puerto Rican kids, brittle from their efforts to “keep moving” on a November day that was turning bitter cold. Mr. DePalma, to our complete shock, was crying. Not just silent adult tears, but really sobbing. There were a few titters from the back of the line where I stood shivering.

“Listen.” Mr. DePalma raised his arms over his head as if he were about to conduct

an orchestra. His voice broke, and he covered his face with his hands. His barrel chest was heaving. Someone giggled behind me.

“Listen,” he repeated, “something awful has happened.” A strange gurgling came from his throat, and he turned around and spat on the cement behind him.

“Gross,” someone said, and there was a lot of laughter.

“The President is dead, you idiots. I should have known that wouldn’t mean anything to a bunch of losers like you kids. Go home.” He was shrieking now. No one moved for a minute or two, but then a big girl let out a “Yeah!” and ran to get her books piled up with the others against the brick wall of the school building. The others followed in a mad scramble to get to their things before some-body caught on. It was still an hour to the dismissal bell.


President John F. Kennedy.

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sunlight during the day was the tiny square of earth the old woman had planted with flowers.

I did not tell Eugene that I could see inside his kitchen from my bedroom. I felt dishonest, but I liked my secret sharing of his evenings, especially now that I knew what he was reading since we chose our books together at the school library.

One day my mother came into my room as I was sitting on the windowsill staring out. In her abrupt way she said, “Elena, you are acting moony.” Enamorada was what she really said, that is—like a girl stupidly infatuated. Since I had turned fourteen and started menstru-ating my mother had been more vigilant than ever. She acted as if I was going to go crazy or explode or something if she didn’t watch me and nag me all the time about being a señorita3 now. She kept talking about virtue, morality, and other subjects that did not interest me in the least. My mother was unhappy in Paterson, but my father had a good job at the bluejeans factory in Passaic and soon, he kept assuring us, we would be moving to our own house there. Every Sunday we drove out to the suburbs of Paterson, Clifton, and Passaic, out to where people mowed grass on Sundays in the summer, and where children made snowmen in the winter from pure white snow, not like the gray

slush of Paterson, which seemed to fall from the sky in that hue. I had learned to listen to my parents’ dreams, which were spoken in Spanish, as fairy tales, like the stories about life in the island paradise of Puerto Rico before I was born. I had been to the island once as a little girl, to grand-mother’s funeral, and all I remembered was wailing women

in black, my mother becoming hysterical and being given a pill that made her sleep two days, and me feeling lost in a crowd of strangers all claiming to be my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I had actually been glad to return to the city. We had not been back there since then, though my parents talked constantly about buying a house on the beach someday, retiring on the island—that was a common topic among the residents of El Building. As for me, I was going to go to college and become a teacher.

But after meeting Eugene I began to think of the present more than of the future. What I wanted now was to enter that house I had watched for so many years. I wanted to see the other rooms where the old people had lived, and where the boy spent his time. Most of all, I wanted to sit at the kitchen table with Eugene like two adults, like the old man and his wife had done, maybe drink some coffee and talk about books. I had started reading Gone With the Wind.4 I was enthralled by it,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean, is a U.S. commonwealth acquired in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. In 1917, Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens and acquired most of the rights of U.S. citizenship. One exception is that Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections unless they are residents of the United States. This issue is currently under debate, as residents of Puerto Rico would like to vote in U.S. presidential elections. How does this information affect your understanding of the reaction of the Puerto Rican characters in the story to Kennedy’s death?

Social StudiesConnection

3. señorita (s6< ny9r 7> ta). [Spanish] Young unmarried lady 4. Gone With the Wind. Famous novel by Margaret Mitchell set during the Civil War

124 UNIT 1 FICTION

hys • ter • i • cal (his ter> i k@l) adj., displaying excessive emotion, often through uncontrollable laughter or tears en • thralled (en thr5ld>) adj., being charmed or captivated

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Social Studies ConnectionPuerto Rico The Puerto Rican char-acters in the story, if they had been living in the United States at election time, may have voted for President Kennedy. As American citizens, they may have considered Kennedy to be the great leader of their newly adopt-ed country and, therefore, reacted to his death with grief, as other citizens did. A

Analyze LiteratureSetting and Mood Refer students to the paragraph “One day my mother….” Encourage them to pick up details to add to their Sensory Details Charts. Remind students that sensory details work to establish mood, or the emotion created in the reader by all or part of the story. Discuss the con-trasting moods of this paragraph. CAnswer: The details of mowed grass, children making snowmen, and fairy tales spoken in Spanish create a peaceful mood. The details of gray slush and wailing women in black cre-ate a chaotic mood. These two moods reflect the difference between Elena’s parents’ dreams and their reality.

Teach the Selection

Discussion GuideAsk students the following questions:1. Why do you think Elena didn’t tell Eugene

that she could see into his kitchen? B2. Why do you think Elena learned to listen to

her parents’ dreams as “fairy tales”? What are Elena’s dreams, and how do they com-pare with those of her parents? D

Critical ThinkingAnswers:1. Perhaps Elena didn’t tell Eugene she had

been watching him because she thought he would feel uncomfortable. Elena also likes the idea of having this secret.

2. Elena thinks her parents’ dreams are “fairy tales” because they don’t seem real or appealing to her; she wants to go to col-lege and become a teacher. Elena’s dreams are realistic and attainable. Her parents’ dreams, however, are not necessarily roo ted in reality.

A

B

C

D


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Use Reading StrategiesMake Connections Ask students to use what they have learned about Mr. DePalma as well as their general knowledge of student-teacher relation-ships to explain why the students at Elena’s school are shocked to see Mr. DePalma crying.Answer: Many students will think of the student-teacher relationship as formal and somewhat distant. These students might suggest that seeing a teacher cry would break down the formality of that relationship.

Use Reading StrategiesMake Inferences What connection does Elena feel with Eugene?Answer: Both teenagers are outsiders in their school: Elena’s Puerto Rican heritage and adopted language set her apart from her classmates, and Eugene’s Southern drawl and rural upbringing make him stand out among his urban classmates. Both enjoy reading books.

Teach the Selection

Reading ProficiencySuggest different reading strategies for stu-dents to try. For example, they might want to visualize what Mr. DePalma looks like or try to predict why Mr. DePalma is crying. E

English Language LearningInstruct students to brainstorm words related to crying, including “tears” and “sobbing” from the story. They may also use a thesaurus. Ask them

to read the paragraph beginning “That day, he stood in front of two rows….” to discern the difference between crying, tears, and sobbing. They should also do the same with the words titters, giggled, and laughter. Then ask them to think of situations where a person might sob, weep, or bawl, and giggle, chuckle, or guffaw. This activity helps students use appropriate word choices. F


E

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door. It always amazed me how Paterson, the inner core of the city, had no apparent logic to its architecture. Small, neat, single residences like this one could be found right next to huge, dilapidated apartment buildings like El Building. My guess was that the little houses had been there first, then the immigrants had come in droves, and the monstrosities had been raised for them—the Italians, the Irish, the Jews, and now us, the Puerto Ricans and the blacks. The door was painted a deep green: verde, the color of hope. I had heard my mother say it: Verde—Esperanza.

I knocked softly. A few suspenseful moments later, the door opened just a crack. The red, swollen face of a woman appeared. She had a halo of red hair floating over a delicate ivory face—the face of a doll—with freckles on the nose. Her smudged eye make-up made her look unreal to me, like a mannequin seen through a warped store window.

“What do you want?” Her voice was tiny and sweet sounding, like a little girl’s, but her tone was not friendly.

“I’m Eugene’s friend. He asked me over. To study.” I thrust out my books, a silly gesture that embarrassed me almost immediately.

“You live there?” She pointed up to El Building, which looked particularly ugly, like a gray prison with its many dirty windows and rusty fire escapes. The woman had stepped half-way out and I could see that she wore a white nurse’s uniform with St. Joseph’s Hospital on the name tag.

“Yes. I do.”She looked intently at me for a couple of

heartbeats, then said as if to herself, “I don’t know how you people do it.” Then directly to me: “Listen. Honey. Eugene doesn’t want to study with you. He is a smart boy. Doesn’t need help. You understand me. I am truly sorry if he told you you could come over. He cannot study with you. It’s nothing personal. You understand? We won’t be in this place much longer, no need for him to get close to

people—it’ll just make it harder for him later. Run back home now.”

I couldn’t move. I just stood there in shock at hearing these things said to me in such a honey-drenched voice. I had never heard an accent like hers, except for Eugene’s softer version. It was as if she were singing me a little song.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you hear what I said?” She seemed very angry, and I finally snapped out of my trance. I turned away from the green door, and heard her close it gently.

Our apartment was empty when I got home. My mother was in someone else’s kitchen, seeking the solace she needed.

Father would come in from his late shift at midnight. I would hear them talking softly in the kitchen for hours that night. They would

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di • lap • i • dat • ed (d@ la> p@ d6< t@d) adj., decayed; fallen into partial ruin through neglectso • lace (s5> l@s) n., relief; consolation

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A little scared, I headed for El Building. There was an eerie feeling on the streets. I looked into Mario’s drugstore, a favorite hangout for the high school crowd, but there were only a couple of old Jewish men at the soda-bar talking with the short order cook in tones that sounded almost angry, but they were keeping their voices low. Even the traffic on one of the busiest intersections in Paterson—Straight Street and Park Avenue—seemed to be moving slower. There were no horns blasting that day. At El Building, the usual little group of unemployed men were not hanging out on the front stoop making it difficult for women to enter the front door. No music spilled out from open doors in the hallway. When I walked into our apartment, I found my mother sitting in front of the grainy picture of the television set.

She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and just said, “Dios mío,”5 turning back to the set as if it were pulling at her eyes. I went into my room.

Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy’s death, I could not fight the feeling of elation that stirred in my chest. Today was the day I was to visit Eugene in his house. He had asked me to come over after school to study for an American History test with him. We had also planned to walk to the public library together. I looked down into his yard. The oak tree was bare of leaves and the ground looked gray with ice. The light through the large kitchen window of his house told me that El Building blocked the sun to such an extent that they had to turn lights on in the middle of the day. I felt ashamed about it. But the white kitchen table with the lamp hanging just above it looked cozy and inviting. I would soon sit there, across from

Eugene, and I would tell him about my perch just above his house. Maybe I should.

In the next thirty minutes I changed clothes, put on a little pink lipstick, and got my books together. Then I went in to tell my mother that I was going to a friend’s house to study. I did not expect her reaction.

“You are going out today?” The way she said “today” sounded as if a storm warning had been issued. It was said in utter disbelief. Before I could answer, she came toward me and held my elbows as I clutched my books.

“Hija,6 the President has been killed. We must show respect. He was a great man. Come to church with me tonight.”

She tried to embrace me, but my books were in the way. My first impulse was to comfort her, she seemed so distraught, but I had to meet Eugene in fifteen minutes.

“I have a test to study for, Mama. I will be home by eight.”

“You are forgetting who you are, niña.7 I have seen you staring down at that boy’s house. You are heading for humiliation and pain.” My mother said this in Spanish and in a resigned tone that surprised me, as if she had no intention of stopping me from “heading for humiliation and pain.” I started for the door. She sat in front of the TV holding a white handkerchief to her face.

I walked out to the street and around the chain-link fence, that separated El Building from Eugene’s house. The yard was neatly edged around the little walk that led to the

5. Dios mío (d7> 9s m7> 9). [Spanish] My god 6. Hija (7> h5). [Spanish] Daughter 7. niña (n7> ny5). [Spanish] Girl

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ee • rie (ir< 7) adj., frightening because of strangeness or mysteriousness e • la • tion (i l6> sh@n) n., state of great joy and pride dis • traught (di str0t>) adj., upset by doubt or mental conflict

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Use Reading StrategiesMake Predictions Have students predict what will happen when Elena goes to Eugene’s house to study. Write different predictions on the board, and ask students how they came up with them. Encourage stu-dents to use evidence from the story to support their predictions.

Use Reading StrategiesDraw Conclusions Point out to students that Elena states, “Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy’s death, I could not fight the feeling of elation that stirred in my chest. Today was the day I was to visit Eugene in his house.” In light of Kennedy’s death, do students think Elena should have postponed her visit? Was she being insensitive to the situation? How might her meet-ing with Eugene’s mother have gone differently if it had been on a differ-ent day? Have students explain their answers. AAnswers: Responses will vary. Some students may say that the impact of Kennedy’s assassination on a teen-ager would not be as great as the impact on an adult, simply because of maturity. Students may also com-ment that, regardless of the tragedy, Eugene’s mother would have treated Elena in the same way because of her preconceived notions about her Puerto Rican neighbors.

Teach the Selection

Special Needs/Learning StylesAuditory Have students take turns reading the scene aloud. Then invite them to retell the scene. Allow them to refer to the text as needed, during their retelling.

Visual Suggest that visual learners sketch a two-part image to show the contrast between what the streets usually looked like—lively and noisy—and what they look like now, as Elena heads for El Building.

Kinesthetic Kinesthetic learners might ben-efit from acting out the scene in which Mr. DePalma tells the students about Kennedy’s death. If you have English language learners in your classroom, have them watch while kines-thetic learners act out the idioms mad scramble and caught on.


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0106-0135_Lit3eG09_U01.indd 126 11/19/14 8:24 AM Use Reading SkillsText Organization Remind students that the end of a work of fiction often carries special sig-nificance. Ask the following questions about the ending of this story: What does Elena do that night? What might be the significance of what she sees out her window?

Answers: Elena goes to the window and looks up at the snow falling through the light of the street lamp. Perhaps Elena wants to focus on the purity or innocence of the fresh snow (her belief in the goodness of others and her desire to hold on to that innocence) rather than look at the tainted gray snow (the ugliness of others’ prejudice).

Analyze LiteratureForeshadowing Remind students that the act of presenting hints to events that will occur later in a story is called foreshadowing. Elena’s mother tells her daughter that she is “heading for humiliation and pain” if she goes to Eugene’s house. Ask why Elena’s mother would issue this warning. Why did Elena not heed her mother’s advice? BAnswers: Elena’s mother has probably had similar experiences where she has been met with prejudice and hostility. She wants to spare her daughter the shame and hurtfulness she felt during those encounters. Elena, however, is being ruled by her heart and her need to get close to Eugene.

Critical ThinkingDiscussion Guide The assassination of President John F. Kennedy plays a large role in this story. Some students might remember the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as an event in American history that changed their lives. Hold a class discussion using the following questions as a guide:1. Why would the death of a presi-

dent have such a huge impact on the United States as a nation?

2. How, if at all, do you think the reaction of the American public would have been different if President Kennedy had died of natural causes?

Teach the Selection


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In 2003, forty years after the assassination of President Kennedy, many TV news broadcasts and documentaries featured the event and its impact on society. At the time of Kennedy’s death, television was a relatively new medium, and this national tragedy was among the first covered by television news. Joanne Ostrow, a television and radio critic for the Denver Post, analyzes the effect of television in her article “TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role.” As you read, try to distinguish between the facts Ostrow presents and the opinions she expresses. (For more practice with distinguishing fact from opinion, see page 284.)

Informational Text Connection

Milton Berle, Lucille Ball and Ed Sullivan2 had achieved mass TV moments, but television news never before had held a prolonged vigil. Suddenly, ‘breaking news’ took on a new defi-nition. If this wasn’t when television achieved legitimacy, it was at least when TV news became unavoidably dominant.

Vietnam was arguably a bigger milestone in the evolution of television news. By making it ‘the living room war,’ TV altered history, ending the killing sooner. For that matter, TV coverage of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis3 offered a glimmer of how the events of a year later would rivet a nation.

But the JFK assassination coverage changed our expectations of the news and, by extension, the pace of our lives.

Strange how the most glamorous presidency

TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Roleby Joanne Ostrow

No amount of anniversaries and commemorations can erase the visceral impact of that November weekend in 1963.

But with the passage of 40 years, a number freighted with generational weight, we can view the media fallout from John F. Ken nedy’s assas-sination in the light cast by a more recent tragedy.

For Nov. 22, 1963, marked a shift in the media culture in a way that Sept. 11, 2001, marked a shift in America’s awareness of its place in the global community.

The sense of connectedness via television was much the same in both instances. But in 1963, the feelings were new and the medium’s growing pains in plain view.

Imagine, 90 percent of homes with TVs watched the JFK assassination coverage that weekend; A. C. Nielsen1 said the average home tuned in for 31.6 hours.

1. A. C. Nielsen. A television rating company, now called ACNielsen 2. Milton Berle, Lucille Ball and Ed Sullivan. Popular person-alities on comedy and variety shows in the early days of television 3. Cuban missile crisis. Cold War confrontation that arose when the United States learned that the Soviet Union was building in Cuba sites for launching nuclear missiles within striking distance of the United States. The two powerful countries came dangerously close to nuclear war.

vis • cer • al (vi> s@ r@l) adj., intensely emotional; felt as if in the internal organsle • git • i • ma • cy (li ji> t@ m@ s7) n., authenticity

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not discuss their dreams for the future, or life in Puerto Rico, as they often did; that night they would talk sadly about the young widow and her two children, as if they were family. For the next few days, we would observe luto8 in our apartment; that is, we would prac-tice restraint and silence—no loud music or laughter. Some of the women of El Building would wear black for weeks.

That night, I lay in my bed trying to feel the right thing for our dead president. But the

tears that came up from a deep source inside me were strictly for me. When my mother came to the door, I pretended to be sleeping. Sometime during the night, I saw from my bed the street-light come on. It had a pink halo around it. I went to my window and pressed my face to the cool glass. Looking up at the light, I could see the white snow falling like a lace veil over its face. I did not look down to see it turning gray as it touched the ground below. v

8. luto (l2> t9). [Spanish] Mourning

REFER TO TEXT REASON WITH TEXT1a. How did Elena react to the news about

President Kennedy’s death?1b. Describe how her reaction made her

feel. Why doesn’t Elena grieve for the dead president?

Understand Find meaning

2a. Identify how the atmosphere changes in El Building after the news of Kennedy’s assassination.

2b. Examine why the death of Kennedy, in particular, would cause such great sorrow for the residents of El Building.

Apply Use information

3a. Indicate the source of beauty and light for Elena that school year.

3b. Compare and contrast El Building with the house next door. How does the neighbor’s home life seem different from Elena’s?

Analyze Take things apart

4a. Quote what Elena’s mother tells her before she leaves for Eugene’s house that night.

4b. Evaluate whether Elena was wrong to be more upset by the events in her personal life than with the death of President Kennedy.

Evaluate Make judgments

5a. What does Eugene’s mother want to know about Elena when she knocks on their door?

5b. Why doesn’t Eugene’s mother want Eugene to spend time with Elena? Specify how Elena might persuade Eugene’s mother to give her a chance to be friends with Eugene.

Create Bring ideas together

ANALYZE LITERATURE: SettingWhat details does Judith Ortiz Cofer use to create a sense of a particular time? What details does she use to create a sense of particular places, such as El Building, Eugene’s house, and the city of Paterson?

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“I don’t know how you people do it.” What does Eugene’s mother’s comment tell you about her attitude toward the Puerto Rican community? Considering the events taking place within the story, why is that an ironic statement?

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0106-0135_Lit3eG09_U01.indd 128 11/19/14 8:24 AMAnalyze LiteratureSetting Students may note that the weather in the story is mostly cold and gloomy and reflects the mood of Kennedy’s death as well as Elena’s feelings at the end of the story. The historical time period is important because of its irony, as President Kennedy promoted civil rights, while, on a personal level, Elena experienced racism on the day of Kennedy’s death.

Text-Dependent QuestionsRefer to Text 1a. Elena reacts indifferently to

Kennedy’s death. 2a. Before Kennedy’s assassination,

El Building is described as a noisy place. After, it is silent and somber.

3a. Seeing Eugene was Elena’s source of beauty and light.

4a. Elena’s mother tells her she is “heading for humiliation and pain.”

5a. Eugene’s mother wants to know if Elena lives in El Building.

Reason with Text 1b. Elena wants to “feel the right

thing” about Kennedy’s death, but she is unable to because she is feeling bad for herself.

2b. The residents of El Building are mostly immigrants, and President Kennedy fought for the rights of all people.

3b. Responses will vary. 4b. Responses will vary. 5b. Responses will vary. Eugene’s

mother says she doesn’t want Eugene to spend time with Elena because he will be moving soon; however, it seems based on Elena’s background.

Teach the Selection

Students might say that

Eugene’s mother does not embrace her neighborhood diver-sity, although she is a “transplant” or outsider as well. The statement is ironic because she is mourning the death of a president who strove to end racism.

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More by This AuthorStudents who like “American History” might enjoy the other sto-ries in An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio by Judith Ortiz Cofer. These stories focus on the struggles of Puerto Rican teenagers caught between their native culture and American society.


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Text ComplexityDirected Reading• Reading Level: Challenging, 1120L• Difficulty Considerations: Abrupt

shifts in tense; challenging vocabu-lary; political background

• Ease Factors: Familiar event; length

SummaryOstrow contends that the television coverage of John F. Kennedy’s assas-sination in 1963 led to television’s dominance in the arena of news coverage. Though other events, such as the war in Vietnam, helped evolve and solidify the power of television news, it was the Kennedy assassina-tion that “changed our expectations of the news and, by extension, the pace of our lives.” Ostrow states that the TV images of such national trag-edies and other events become part of our collective culture and history, thus making television the leading choice as the “first source of news.”

Teach the Connection

Refer to the Language Arts Handbook 1.3, Using Reading Skills, for additional instruction on distin-guishing fact from opinion.

Preview Vocabularyvisceral, 129legitimacy, 129iconic, 130primacy, 130tyranny, 130

Selection Wordsfreighted, 129vigil, 129ingrained, 130surreal, 130

“TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role”

Words in Use

Reading ProficiencyModel how to approach fact and opin-ion by saying, “The statement ‘Imagine, 90 percent of homes with TVs watched the JFK assassination coverage that weekend; A. C. Nielsen said the average home tuned in for 31.6 hours’ is a fact. I know this because it is backed up with research by the Nielsen television rating company.” A


A


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Writing OptionsCreative Writing Write two descriptive introduc-tory paragraphs for a short story. These paragraphs should establish setting in a way that is vivid and clear. In one paragraph, describe a place with which you are quite familiar in the present time. In the other para-graph, describe the same place but in a time set in the past or future. Try to use specific details of landscape, buildings, furniture, clothing, the weather, and the season in both paragraphs to make the setting as real-istic as possible.

Argumentative Writing Assume that a friend says, “There was no hope of Elena and Eugene ever remaining friends.” Do you agree or disagree? Share your opinion by writing a character analysis in which you examine each character’s personality and background and collect details about them to support your opinion. Write the argument in a unified informative paragraph.

Collaborative LearningAnalyze Symbols In “American History,” the door to Eugene’s house is painted green, “the color of hope.”

EXTEND THE TEXTThe author uses other colors as symbols to stand for various ideas and feelings. Go back and skim the story, looking for other references to color, and jot these references in your notebook. Then meet with a small group to discuss the following questions: Where is color present in the story? What might the presence or absence of color mean in each situation?

Media LiteracyParticipate in a Panel Discussion The mid-1960s was an important time for the U.S. Civil Rights move-ment. In a small group, research one of the following events from that time: the assassination of Medgar Evers; Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech; the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; or the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a panel discussion, present your findings to the class. Discuss how the events of 1963 might have contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act the following year.

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READING ASSESSMENT1. Number these events from “American History” in

the correct sequence, with 1 being the first thing to happen in the story. �� Elena introduces herself to Eugene. �� Elena tries to cry for the dead president. �� President Kennedy is assassinated. �� Eugene’s mother answers the door. �� Mr. DePalma yells at the students. ____ ElenawatchestheJewishfamilyfromthefire

escape.

2. Which of the following statements supports the author’s assertion in “TV Coverage of JFK’s Death…” that news coverage of the assassination led to TV becoming dominant in news reporting?

A. “…Sept. 11, 2001, marked a shift in America’s awareness of its place in the global commu-nity.”

B. “…A. C. Nielsen said the average home tuned in for 31.6 hours.”

C. “Vietnam was arguably a bigger milestone in the evolution of television news.”

D. “The sense of connectedness via television was much the same in both instances [that and Sept. 11, 2001].”

E. “No amount of anniversaries and commemo-

rations can erase the visceral impact of that November weekend in 1963.”

3. “American History” might best be summarized by which statement?

A. Personal disappointments can overshadow public tragedies.

B. Prejudices are difficult to overcome.C. It is very difficult for people to escape their

upbringing.D. Adults are constantly telling teenagers what to

do and how to feel.E. It’s important for people to do what is

expected of them.

4. As it is used on page 124 of “American History,” the word enthralled most nearly means

A. overpowered.B. charmed.C. frustrated.D. confused.E. irritated.

5. Ostrow states that on Nov. 22, 1963, newsprint “yellowed before our eyes.” What does that statement mean? Explain how Ostrow supports this statement. Do you think it is accurate? Why or why not?

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and the most controversial killing of the century are easily distilled into a discussion of media. It’s true: 40 years later, the death of a young president pales next to the birth of a new media culture.

We learned that weekend that, in the media age, history amounts to iconic film moments. Shots of the limousine, the slumping figure and the pink suit are ingrained in memory. The images inspired many art works, none more

surreal than the originals.The pill-box hat4 is part of our American vocab-

ulary. And the sight of Walter Cronkite5 removing his heavy black glasses and fighting tears became part of a pop-culture film loop endlessly replaying in our collective consciousness: 40 years of the same video art installation we call history.

As of Nov. 22, 1963, when the three existing networks broadcast ‘wall-to-wall’ news for the first time, newsprint yellowed before our eyes. The world of information changed. The lens opened and events and ideas came at us at the speed of light.

The shift from the primacy of print to the tyranny of TV—television as the first source of news—was cinched. v

Mourners watching assassination and funeral coverage.

4. pill-box hat. Small, round, brimless hat; Jacqueline Kennedy wore one on the day of her husband’s assassination 5. Walter Cronkite. Television news announcer

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REFER TO TEXT REASON WITH TEXT1a. Recall what Ostrow says was responsible

for changing “the pace of our lives.”1b. Summarize how the author supports

this statement.Understand Find meaning

2a. Ostrow states that with this event “the shift from the primacy of print to the tyranny of TV—television as the first source of news—was cinched.” Indicate how the author’s word choices reveal her attitude toward this change.

2b. Identify the degree in which this shift has been a positive development. What has perhaps been lost as a result?


3a. Forty years later, how does the death of a young president compare to the birth of a new media culture, according to Ostrow?

3b. Explain the main or controlling idea of this article. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s message? State your reasons.


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TEXT to TEXT CONNECTION• Compare and contrast how the authors of “American History” and “TV Coverage

of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role” use Kennedy’s assassination in their writing. What effect do you think each intended to have on the readers of her piece?

• Discuss the different purposes an author may have in writing about a real histor-ical event from a fictional perspective.

i • con • ic (8 k5> nik) adj., having characteristics of an icon, an object of uncritical devotionpri • ma • cy (pr8> m@ s7) n., state of being first in time, place, or ranktyr • an • ny (tir> @ n7) n., oppressive power

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Teach the Connection

Text to Text Connection• Responses will vary. In “American History,”

Elena is not affected by Kennedy’s death because he is not part of her immediate world—Eugene is. Therefore, being a victim of prejudice is more of an issue for her than anything else. Just as Kennedy’s death is

overshadowed by Elena’s immediate concerns, his death is overshadowed by the change in media culture in the newspaper article.

• An author might refer to a historical event in fiction to show different perspectives on the event or the impact the event had on people’s lives.

Use Reading SkillsDistinguish Fact from Opinion This article can help you teach the skill of distinguishing fact from opin-ion. Refer students to Understanding Informational Texts on page 284 for instruction. Remind students that both facts and opinions require analysis by the reader.Text-Dependent QuestionsRefer to Text 1a. The assassination changed the

pace of people’s lives by changing the expectations of the news.

2a. By using the word tyranny, Ostrow reveals that she views television as an oppressive, powerful force.

3a. The death of a young president pales in comparison.

Reason with Text 1b. The writer talks about the imme-

diacy of news, which quickens the pace of people’s lives.

2b. Students may say that television news allows people the chance to watch events unfold. As a result, perhaps people don’t read as much.

3b. Some students may claim that, while the death of a leader changes a nation’s culture and politics, the emergence of TV news coverage makes a lasting impact on a society’s culture.


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Media LiteracyStudents should understand that President Kennedy promoted civil rights and that with his death came the pledge by many organizations and individuals to carry on his commit-ment to equality among races.

Reading Assessment1. 2, 6, 3, 5, 4, 12. B3. A. You may want to model how to

think aloud about this question by saying, “How would I summarize the story ‘American History’? I think it’s about a girl who is having a dif-ficult time in her personal life and, because of this, she is unaffected by the national tragedy going on around her. Looking at the possible answers, option A seems to be the best choice.”

4. B5. Responses will vary. Students

should interpret this phrase to mean that newspapers lack the immediacy of TV news coverage and that they are already dated at press time.

Review the Selections

More About the ContextFollowing a reading of “American History,” Cofer commented:

“I read that story in Paterson a few years ago and an older gentleman in the audience came up and said, ‘Young lady, that story’s not accurate.’ And I said, ‘Well, it’s fiction.’ He said, ‘No, I mean historically accurate.’ He said it wasn’t snowing that day. It was raining…I didn’t change my ending. You know, I felt, okay, a little snow. I’m allowed a little snow….But the point of this is that when you set something in a particular locale on a particular day, you owe it to the reader to be accurate or they will feel betrayed.”

Discuss these questions:1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of referencing a historical event in fiction?2. Are fiction writers obligated to present historical references factually?

Rubrics for Writing OptionsFor writing rubrics and student models of the Writing Options assignments in the Extend the Text section, go to www.mirrorsandwindows.com.



















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Main Idea

Details Details

Details Details

DIRE

CTED

REA

DING

ANCHOR TEXT

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AMERICAN HISTORY


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124 UNIT 1 FICTION


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126 UNIT 1 FICTION


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LEVEL IV, UNIT 1U1-80 © EMC Publishing, LLCMeeting the Standards

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

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American History, page 120

Build Background: Defining Moments

Sometimes, events occur in our nation’s history whose impact or significance seems to be frozen in time and in the memories of its citizens. These events represent defining moments, or moments that test our resilience or ability to recover from or adjust to change or misfortune. The stock market crash of 1929, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the 9/11 terrorist attacks are all considered defining moments in U.S. history. The story you are about to read, “American History,” highlights another defining moment: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Those citizens who were old enough at that time to remember the event have distinct memories of where they were and what they were doing when they heard the tragic news. To help you reconstruct this moment in time, choose an adult (age fifty or older) to interview as to his or her memories of that November day. Use the template below to steer your line of questioning, and feel free to add any other questions you would like to ask. Before you proceed, refer to pages 1017–1018 of the Language Arts Handbook for guidelines on planning and conducting an interview. Then, if possible, videotape the interview so that viewers can experience a personal connection with the person being interviewed. As a class, you may even want to assemble the interview segments into one video presentation to capture the collective memory resulting from the event.

Interview Questions

1. What is your name and how old were you on this date in history? 2. What five words immediately come to mind when I say “November 22, 1963”? 3. Where were you when you heard that President Kennedy had been

assassinated? 4. What were you doing when you heard the news? 5. What was your immediate reaction to the event? 6. How would you describe the reactions of those around you at that time? 7. How did Kennedy’s assassination affect your family or your community at that

time? 8. How did television coverage of this event affect U.S. citizens and people

around the world? 9. What are your thoughts on the criminal investigation that was conducted after

the assassination? 10. Why do you think that Kennedy’s assassination is considered a defining

moment in our nation’s history?

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U1-81© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 1Meeting the Standards

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

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Vocabulary: “Wanted” Poster

Learning a new vocabulary word means more than just learning the definitions of the word. You must also be familiar with its synonyms, usage, parts of speech, antonyms, and etymology. One project that allows you to explore a word and be imaginative while doing so is to create a “wanted” poster for the word. To begin, choose a partner to work with for this project. Your group will have the opportunity to select a slip of paper with either a Preview Vocabulary word written on it or another challenging word from “American History” written on it. You and your partner will need to create a “wanted” poster for this word that will be displayed on a bulletin board titled “Words on the Loose.” To complete this poster, your group will want to use several resources, including a general dictionary, specialized dictionaries, a thesaurus, and online dictionary or etymology websites. Use the following categories to guide the collection of your information: • Other Aliases… (synonyms of word)• Wanted For… (usage/definition of word)• Defining Characteristics… (description and behavior that reflects usage/

definition of word)• Method of Operation… (usage or manner in which he or she commits a crime)• Last Seen Around These Parts… (part of speech of word)• Known Enemies… (antonyms of word)• Known Family Roots… (etymology of word) Your completed poster should also include the name of the criminal suspect and his or her picture. Grading of the poster will be based on the fulfillment of the required information as well as on the creative approach you and your partner use to reflect your understanding of the chosen word. To get your group started, refer to the sample poster template on the next page that was used for the Preview Vocabulary word elation.

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WANTED Eddie “Smiley-face” Elation

Other Aliases… Eddie Euphoria, Eddie Exhilaration, Double E Glee

Wanted For…• Disturbing the peace (causing a loud disturbance

by expressing extreme joy and delight to jealous onlookers caught up in their boring daily routines)

• Assault (bear-hugging a police officer and forcing the officer to jump up and down with him during the arrest)

• Assault with a weapon (slapping a smiley-face sticker on his “victims,” forcing them to to smile)

Defining Characteristics…• Facial features: Joyful expression, shining eyes that

radiate happiness, dazzling smile• Behavior: Always positive and in high spirits; known

for giddy behavior; moves with a spring in his step; claps his hands and screams in delight; uses the words “awesome,” “unbelievable,” “terrific,” and “fantastic” frequently in his speech

Method of Operation Always leaves a smiley-face sticker on his “victims”

Last Seen Around These Parts… Noun County, South Dakota

Known Enemies… “Low-down” Louie and Sammy “Sad-face” Sorrow; both men want to wipe the smile off of Eddie’s face

Known Family Roots… Ancestors go back to the old country, France, with the original family name of “Elacion”

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Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

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Analyze Literature: Setting

As you are reading “American History,” fill in the descriptive details about the story’s setting, or the time and place in which it occurs. These details can be specific words or phrases from the text as well as complete passages. When you have finished, draw a conclusion about how these descriptive details add to the overall mood or emotion of the story.

Time

Year:

Other Events/Conditions of Time Period:

Season:

Weather:

Place

E1 Building:

Paterson, New Jersey:

Overall Mood of Story

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LEVEL IV, UNIT 1DR-4 © EMC Publishing, LLC

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

Differentiated Instruction for Developing Readers


Guided Reading Questions

As you read the story, stop at the end of each page and write the answers to the questions below.Page 121 1. Who lives in the El building?

Page 122 2. Where is Elena on the day President Kennedy is shot?

Page 123 3. Who moves into the house that Elena watches from her fire escape?

4. Why isn’t Eugene in any of Elena’s classes?

Page 124 5. What are Elena’s dreams?

Page 125 6. What nicknames do the other students have for Elena and Eugene?

Page 126 7. How does Elena feel about the president’s death?

8. What does Elena’s mother say about her going to Eugene’s house that day?

Page 127 9. How does Eugene’s mother respond when Elena comes to the door?

Page 128 10. What happens that night when Elena tries to feel the right emotion for the dead president?

GR9_DI.indb 4 2/20/15 8:56 AM

DR-5© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 1

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

Differentiated Instruction for Developing Readers


Reading Strategies and Skills Practice: Take Notes

Before Reading: Preview the SelectionPreview the information about plot on page 12 of your textbook. Pay attention to the description of each plot element. As you read the story, you will fill in the events that take place in the story in the Plot Diagram below. Using a plot diagram is one way to take notes when reading a work of fiction.

Plot Diagram

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LEVEL IV, UNIT 1DR-6 © EMC Publishing, LLCDifferentiated Instruction for Developing Readers

During Reading: Gather InformationFollow along in the text as your teacher reads aloud the first four paragraphs of “American History.” Briefly summarize the exposition on your chart. What do you learn about the tone, mood, characters, and setting? Read the rest of the story on your own. Fill in your chart with information about other plot elements as you read.

After Reading: Share InformationShare your Plot Diagram with the rest of the class. Discuss differences in your charts, and go back to the story to confirm or deny the details in everyone’s charts. Then, answer the following questions on another piece of paper. 1. What is the central conflict of this story?

2. How is the conflict finally resolved?

Fix-Up Strategy: Read in Shorter ChunksMonitor your reading progress. If you have trouble understanding what you are reading even after you have taken and reviewed notes, try reading shorter chunks of the selection. With two or three of your classmates, read the story one page at a time. When you finish each page, discuss what you have read. In your discussions, answer these questions.

• Does each paragraph advance the plot of the story?

• If not, how does it add to a part of the plot that has already begun?

GR9_DI.indb 6 2/20/15 8:56 AM


Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

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Essay Questions for “American History”

Choose any two of the following questions to answer in a well-developed essay. Be sure to address all parts of the question and provide plenty of evidence from the story to support your points.

1. “American History” is considered a coming-of-age story or a story where the main character learns a valuable lesson as a child. “Thank You, M’am,” “The Scarlet Ibis,” and “The Ravine,” all selections in Unit 1, are also considered coming-of-age stories. Choose one of these other short stories to draw comparisons between the lessons learned by Elena in “American History” and those learned by the main character in your chosen selection. How are the lessons similar and different? What is the importance of the lessons learned?

2. How does telling the story from young Elena’s point of view (first-person point of view) add to the authenticity of the story? How does her perspective allow readers to understand the theme or central message of the story?

3. Many people consider Kennedy’s assassination a pivotal moment in our nation’s history, claiming that this tragic event marked the end of our country’s innocence. How does this event parallel Elena’s experience?

4. Judith Ortiz Cofer gives her readers a glimpse into the lives of a Puerto Rican immigrant family. What observations can you make about Elena’s family structure and daily life?

5. What is the meaning of the story’s title “American History”? How does it apply to the historical backdrop of the story? How does it apply to Elena’s experience?

6. Characterization is the act of describing a character by showing what a character says, does, or thinks; by showing what other characters say or think about the character; or by indicating what the author says or thinks about the character. With that in mind, what three words would you use to describe Elena? Provide references to the story that support your chosen characteristics.

7. What are Elena’s sources of escape? How do these sources help her handle the conflicts in her own life?

8. The author makes several references to the color gray to describe the weather and the mood during that particular November day. Perhaps the significance of this color can also be applied to Elena’s situation in that she finds herself in a “gray area.” Explain the meaning of the idiom “gray area” and how it applies to Elena’s situation.

Gr9_MTS_Bk1_2.indb 84 2/17/15 1:26 PM

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

VS-19© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 2Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling

preclude (pri kl2d‘) v., to rule out

The detective knew enough not to preclude any of the suspects, no matter how good their alibis were.

Preclude and exclude have overlapping meanings—they both refer to keeping things or ideas out. Most of the time, however, they are used in different ways, and their prefixes can give clues to their meanings. Both words are derived from the Latin root claudere, to close. The prefix pre- means “before,” so preclude means “to close beforehand.” In contrast, the prefix ex- means “out of” or “not,” so exclude means “to close out” or “to keep out.” In general, preclude means “to rule out, especially in advance,” whereas exclude means “to keep something out (at the present time).”

Word of the WeekLESSON 9

Connotation and Denotation

Understand the ConceptA word’s denotation is its dictionary definition. A word’s connotations are all the positive or negative associations it has in addition to its literal meaning. For example, the words dirty and soiled both denote “unclean.” However, the word dirty has negative connotations. For example, it is associated with low morals (as in “a dirty business deal”) and unpleasant tasks (as in “a dirty job”). Soiled, on the other hand, is rather neutral—neither positive nor negative. Different people have different connotations for words. For example, the word ocean has a positive connotation for many people. They may hear it and think peaceful thoughts. However, if you are afraid of water due to a near-drowning incident when you were a child, the word ocean may have a negative association for you!

Try It YourselfThe words in each pair below are synonyms or near synonyms. They have very similar denotations, but differing connotations. Explain the difference in connotation on the lines provided.

example old / vintage

Both words mean “not new,” but vintage has a more positive connotation. It connotes something that is valuable or collectable, whereas old is more neutral.

1. strong-willed / stubborn

2. flighty / unpredictable

3. solitude / loneliness

It is important to be aware of the connotations of

words as well as their dictionary definitions. If you use a word with the wrong connotations, you might not convey the meaning you intended—or worse, you might offend your reader or listener.

Tip

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LEVEL IV, UNIT 2VS-20 © EMC Publishing, LLCExceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling

4. selective / picky

5. arrogant / self-confident

Some dictionaries explain the differences in connotations between words with similar meanings. For example, if you look up the word calm in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, you will find a description of the differences between calm, tranquil, serene, placid, and peaceful.

Just for FunGet together with a partner and brainstorm a list of words that have a similar meaning, but different connotations. You may use a dictionary or thesaurus to help you. Then sort the words in a chart like the one below, showing which have negative connotations, which have positive connotations, and which are neutural.

Politicians and salespeople are careful

to use words with positive connotations. For example, most presidential speeches contain “feel-good” words such as unite, freedom, equality, and progress. Many sales pitches include words such as modern, convenient, and value.

Tip

Gr9_ETS_bk1_2.indb 20 2/18/15 9:08 AM

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

VS-21© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 2Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling

Time Out for Test Practice

Connotation and DenotationAll of the words in each group are near synonyms—they mean basically the same thing. One word in each group differs from the others in connotation. Write the letter of that word on the provided blank.

1. outgoing, gregarious, sociable, talkativeA. outgoingB. gregariousC. sociableD. talkative

2. greedy, eager, selfish, hoggish A. greedyB. eagerC. selfishD. hoggish

3. travel, roam, rove, wanderA. travelB. roamC. roveD. wander

4. demolish, dismantle, destroy, razeA. demolishB. dismantleC. destroyD. raze

5. desire, covet, crave, wantA. desireB. covetC. craveD. want

Word MeaningsFor each question, pick out the word that does not relate to the word shown.

1. babyA. infantB. purseC. darlingD. bib

2. challengeA. dareB. confrontC. disputeD. analyze

3. prolificA. creativeB. productiveC. scarceD. abundant

4. imitationA. mockB. simulationC. impersonationD. bizarre

5. radicalA. extremeB. extremistC. conservativeD. fundamental

6. thinA. skinnyB. fineC. heftyD. sheer

7. forlornA. irateB. despondentC. sadD. lonely

8. vulgarA. overindulgentB. bad-manneredC. tastelessD. rude

Gr9_ETS_bk1_2.indb 21 2/18/15 9:08 AM

LEVEL IV, UNIT 1GS-8 © EMC Publishing, LLCExceeding the Standards: Grammar & Style

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

LESSON 3

Sentence Structure: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences

A simple sentence consists of one independent clause and no subordinate clauses. It may have a compound subject and a compound predicate. It may also have any number of phrases. A simple sentence is sometimes called an independent clausebecause it can stand by itself.

examplesThree bears emerged from the forest.They spotted the campers and the hikers and decided to pay a visit.The three bears enjoyed eating the campers’ fish, sandwiches, and candy bars.

A compound sentence consists of two sentences joined by a semicolon or by a coordinating conjunction and a comma. Each part of the compound sentence has its own subject and verb. The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, or, nor, for, but, so, and yet.

examplesFeeding bears is dangerous and unwise, for it creates larger problems in the long run.Our zoo is home to two panda bears; they were originally captured in Asia.

A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses. The subordinate clauses in the examples below are underlined.

examplesWhen you finish your report, remember to print it out on paper that contains 25 percent cotton fiber.

Jim will water the lawn after he returns home from the baseball game.

A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause. In the following examples, the subordinate clauses are underlined.

examplesRabbits, which like to nibble on the flowers, often visit my garden early in the morning, or they wait until early evening when the dog is inside the house.

Larry enthusiastically leaps out of bed each morning after his alarm clock rings, yet he often feels sleepy in the afternoon.

Gr9_ETS_bk1_2.indb 8 2/18/15 9:07 AM

GS-9© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IV, UNIT 1Exceeding the Standards: Grammar & Style

E X E R C I S E 1

Identifying Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences in Literature

Identify each of the following ten sentences in the literature passage as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. Write your answers on the corresponding lines below.

1Until that August the house had been occupied by an old Jewish couple. 2Over the years I had become part of their family, without their knowing it, of course. 3I had a view of their kitchen and their backyard, and though I could not hear what they said, I knew when they were arguing, when one of them was sick, and many other things. 4I knew all this by watching them at mealtimes. 5I could see their kitchen table, the sink, and the stove. 6During good times, he sat at the table and read his newspapers while she fixed the meals. 7If they argued, he would leave and the old woman would sit and stare at nothing for a long time. 8When one of them was sick, the other would come and get things from the kitchen and carry them out on a tray. 9The old man had died in June. 10The last week of school I had not seen him at the table at all.

from “American History,” page 120Judith Ortiz Cofer

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

E X E R C I S E 2

Understanding Sentence Structure

Write sentences containing the elements described in each of the directions below.

1. simple sentence with simple subject and simple predicate

2. simple sentence with compound subject and compound predicate

3. compound sentence using conjunction and

Gr9_ETS_bk1_2.indb 9 2/18/15 9:07 AM

LEVEL IV, UNIT 1GS-10 © EMC Publishing, LLCExceeding the Standards: Grammar & Style

4. compound sentence using conjunction for

5. compound sentence with one independent clause having a compound subject and the other independent clause having a compound predicate

6. compound sentence using semicolon

7. complex sentence using one independent and one subordinate clause

8. complex sentence using one independent and two subordinate clauses

9. compound-complex sentence using two independent clauses and one subordinate clause

10. compound-complex sentence using two independent and two subordinate clauses

E X E R C I S E 3

Using Different Sentence Structures in Your Writing

Choose a climactic event that occurrs in a novel or short story that you have recently read. Write a vivid description of this event, including characters, setting, and outcome. Ask a peer reader to read your description and try to identify the work of fiction in which it occurs. Use a variety of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences in your description of the event. Use your own sheet of paper for this exercise.

Gr9_ETS_bk1_2.indb 10 2/18/15 9:07 AM


Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

AFTER

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Selection Quiz

Matching

Elena Eugene Elena’s mother Eugene’s mother Mr. DePalma

Write the name of the character that is identified with the following dialogue or actions.

1. Cries out, “The President is dead, you idiots. I should have known that wouldn’t mean anything to a bunch of losers like you kids.”

2. Is called the “Hick” by others

3. Warns that humiliation and pain will result from the visit

4. Says, “He cannot study with you. It’s nothing personal. You understand?”

5. Wants to “feel the right thing” about President Kennedy’s death

6. Believes that grieving the loss of the president is more important than going out

7. Wants to know if Elena lives in the tenement next door

8. Is in honors classes and likes to read

9. Spies on the neighbors

10. Is considered a “source of beauty and light” for Elena

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Multiple Choice

Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.

11. What is the setting of the story? A. Atlanta, Georgia B. San Juan, Puerto Rico C. Brooklyn, New York D. Paterson, New Jersey

12. What is the point of view of the story? A. The point of view is first person, with Elena telling the story. B. The point of view is first person, with Eugene telling the story. C. The point of view is third-person omniscient, with an outside

narrator telling the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story.

D. The point of view is third-person limited, with Elena’s grandmother relating the thoughts and feelings of her granddaughter.

13. What is an example of an external conflict in the story? A. Elena versus Eugene: Elena and Eugene have differing opinions

about a book that they are both reading. B. Elena’s mother versus Eugene’s mother: The mothers disagree on

the criteria to get into honors classes. C. Elena versus the black girls on the playground: The black girls are

poking fun at Elena’s heritage by assuming that she eats nothing but rice, beans, and pork chops for breakfast.

D. Elena versus Mr. DePalma: Mr. DePalma wants Elena to serve a day’s suspension for causing a fight on the playground; Elena denies any involvement.

14. What is the climax of the story? A. Elena learns about the death of President Kennedy. B. Elena is told to go home by Eugene’s mother. C. Elena is called “Skinny Bones” by a classmate on the playground. D. Eugene invites Elena to study with him.

15. What is the resolution of the story? A. Elena cries in her mother’s arms and admits that she should have

listened to her advice. B. Elena secretly meets Eugene at the library to study for the test. C. Elena goes to church with her mother to mourn the loss of the

president. D. Elena watches from her bedroom window as the beautiful white

snow drifts from the sky and becomes tainted by the dirty ground below.

Gr9_MTS_Bk1_2.indb 86 2/17/15 1:26 PM

51© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IVAssessment Guide

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

American History/TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role, page 120

Lesson Test

Multiple Choice

Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

for American History/TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Medium’s Role

_____ 1. What did the narrator have planned on the day that President Kennedy was killed?

A. a playdate with Gail B. a study session with Eugene C. a trip to the mall with her mother D. a birthday party E. a trip to Puerto Rico

_____ 2. According to the Informational Text Connection, what is meant by the following sentence?

“As of Nov. 22, 1963, when the three existing networks broadcast ‘wall-to- wall’ news for the first time, newsprint yellowed before our eyes.”

A. Newsprint was printed on cheap paper that didn’t age well. B. People still preferred reading the newspaper, but news broadcasts

were interesting too. C. Newsprint was considered “cowardly” or “yellow.” D. The broadcasts on television were no match for the popularity of newsprint. E. Newspapers became outdated as a result of television’s ‘wall-to-

wall’ broadcasts.

_____ 3. Which of the words below best completes the following sentence? The girl was enthralled and therefore unable to ____________. A. pay her rent B. finish her vegetables C. turn away D. heal properly E. fall in love

_____ 4. Which of the words below is an antonym for the word discreet, as used in the sentence “She was very discreet when she inquired about my past job experiences”?

A. careless B. nervous C. cautious D. unpleasant E. kind

Assessment Guides.indb 51 2/9/15 10:05 AM

LEVEL IV52 © EMC Publishing, LLCAssessment Guide

Read the following passage. Then answer the question(s) below.

“You live there?” She pointed up to El Building, which looked particularly ugly, like a gray prison with its many dirty windows and rusty fire escapes. The woman had stepped halfway out and I could see that she wore a white nurse’s uniform with St. Joseph’s Hospital on the name tag.

“Yes. I do.” She looked intently at me for a couple of heartbeats, then said as if

to herself, “I don’t know how you people do it.” Then directly to me: “Listen. Honey. Eugene doesn’t want to study with you. He is a smart boy. Doesn’t need help. You understand me. I am truly sorry if he told you you could come over. He cannot study with you. It’s nothing personal. You understand? We won’t be in this place much longer, no need for him to get close to people—it’ll just make it harder for him later. Run back home now.”


_____ 5. In this passage, to whom is Eugene’s mother referring when she says, “you people”?

A. young women B. friends of her son C. people from the south D. immigrants E. new neighbors

_____ 6. Beyond what is actually said in this passage, what can one assume is the main reason that Eugene’s mother does not allow the narrator inside her home?

A. His mother has no respect for him. B. His mother looks down on people from El Building. C. Eugene really didn’t want the narrator to visit. D. Eugene is not available to study. E. His mother is sure that she can help him study instead.

_____ 7. Which of the following appears to be the main idea of this passage? A. Bad news is best delivered with love. B. Honesty is the best policy. C. An education is more important than money. D. Appearances can be deceiving. E. Mothers are often overprotective.

_____ 8. What dream does the narrator share with her parents? A. to return to Puerto Rico B. to live in a single-family house C. to do well in school D. to be accepted by the community E. to become a teacher


53© EMC Publishing, LLC LEVEL IVAssessment Guide

_____ 9. Why might the narrator’s mother be concerned that her daughter is meeting with Eugene to study?

A. She may worry that her daughter will have her heart broken. B. She may worry that Eugene’s family will not accept her daughter. C. She may worry that her daughter will experience prejudice. D. She may worry that her daughter’s expectations are too high. E. All of the above.

_____ 10. Besides spending time with Eugene, what is the main reason why the narrator is excited to visit his home?

A. She has wanted to meet his mother for some time. B. It is the same home she has wished to be a part of since she moved

to El Building. C. She is reading Gone with the Wind and wants to visit the home of a

family from Georgia. D. She wants to escape her mother’s mourning. E. She wants to see if she is able to see her own fire escape from

Eugene’s dining room table.

Matching

for American History

Match each of the following with the correct definition or description below.

A. hysterical E. hierarchy B. martyr F. dilapidated C. eerie G. distraught D. elation H. solace

_____ 11. group classified by grade or rank

_____ 12. displaying excessive emotion, often through uncontrollable laughter or tears

_____ 13. frightening because of strangeness or mysteriousness

_____ 14. person who sacrifices his or her life for the sake of a principle or cause

_____ 15. state of great joy and pride

_____ 16. upset by doubt or mental conflict

_____ 17. relief; consolation

_____ 18. decayed; fallen into partial ruin through neglect


LEVEL IV54 © EMC Publishing, LLCAssessment Guide

Essay

for American History

19. Setting plays a particularly strong role in this story. What is the weather like? Why does the speaker mention, more than once, the white snow turning to gray? What does Eugene’s house mean to the narrator, particularly the color of the front door? What role does her father’s dream of a house in the suburbs play?

Write an essay that analyzes the role of setting in this story. In particular, explore how the contrast between El Building, Eugene’s house, and the narrator’s father’s dream deepens the conflict at the center of this story.


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