© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES that students who don’t follow the popular crowd’s lead aren’t any less socially successful; they’re just a different kind of social. The education landscape would be so much more bearable if students could understand this. And if schools found better ways to nurture kids who reject the in-crowd image. The worst aspect of the treatment of student outsiders isn’t the name-calling. It isn’t the loneliness. It isn’t even the demise of attitudes and programs that are important for fostering creativity and independence. The most heartbreaking consequence of this treatment is that tens of thousands of students—imaginative, interesting, impressionable people—think that they have done or felt something wrong. It’s not enough to merely tell them that in the real world, “it gets better.” They need to know before graduation that being different is not a problem but a strength. ❧ 15 16 17 Comprehension Check Complete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify details with your group. 1. According to the author, why did Taylor Swift’s classmates leave the lunch table as soon as Swift sat down? 2. According to psychology professor Kathryn LaFontana, what is the worst thing in the world for teenagers? 3. What does Robbins believe that adults should constantly convey to teenagers? 4. How do successful scientists think, according to Robbins? 5. Notebook Confirm your understanding by writing a critical summary of the text. RESEARCH Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of the argument? Revenge of the Geeks 227
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers. REVENGE OF THE GEEKS Close Read the Text With your group, revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. Annotate details that you notice. What questions do you have? What can you conclude? Analyze the Text Notebook Complete the activities. 1. Review and Clarify Reread the first five paragraphs of the selection. Where does the author state her claim, or main idea, in this argument? Restate the claim in your own words. What three examples does Robbins cite in this section of the text to support this claim? 2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share the passages from the selection that you found especially important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you notice in the selection, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached. 3. Essential Question: Do people need to belong? What has this text taught you about outsiders and outcasts? Discuss with your group. Concept Vocabulary marginalize pariah bigotry Why These Words? The three concept vocabulary words arerelated. With your group, determine what the words have in common. How do these word choices enhance the impact ofthe text? Practice Notebook Confirm your understanding of these words by using them in sentences. Include context clues that hint at each word’s meaning. Word Study Notebook Denotation and Connotation The denotation of a word is its literal definition that you would find in a dictionary. A word’s connotations are its emotional overtones or nuances. For example, the word pariah literally means “outcast.” Its connotations are overwhelmingly negative. This word came into English from Tamil, an Indian language, where it signified someone from the lowest social caste, or group. Use a dictionary to research the denotations and connotations of the following words from the selection: nostalgia, disdain, conformist, smitten, distinctively. Then, use each word in a sentence that clearly indicates both its denotation and its connotation. ! WORD NETWORK Add interesting words related to outsiders from the text to your Word Network. STANDARDS Reading Informational Text 9-10.RI.KID.1 Analyze what a text says explicitly and draw inferences; cite the strongest, most compelling textual evidence to support conclusions. 9-10.RI.KID.3 Analyze how an author presents and develops key ideas and events to impact meaning. 9-10.RI.PKI.8 Evaluate how reasoning and evidence affects the argument and specific claims in a text. Language 9-10.L.VAU.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings in grades 9-10 reading and content; interpret figures of speech in context and analyze their role in a text; analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations. 228 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers. Analyze Craft and Structure Reasoning and Evidence “Revenge of the Geeks” is an argument, a type of nonfiction in which a writer states a claim, or position on a debatable issue, and then defends that claim with sound reasoning and evidence. Evidence includes facts, data, information, explanations, anecdotes, quotations, examples, and any other details that support the writer’s reasons or main claim. When reading an argument, it is important to evaluate both the writer’s reasoning and the quality of the evidence he or she uses to support it. Strong reasoning should have clear, logical connections. Strong and compelling evidence should have the following qualities: • Variety: A writer should include different types of evidence, such as facts, data, and quotations. It should come from a range of sources. • Credibility: Evidence should be drawn from reliable, authoritative sources. A credible source may present a distinct perspective, but it should not display bias, unfounded judgments, or sweeping generalizations. • Relevance: Evidence should be current and connect logically to the writer’s ideas. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? Practice Notebook Work on your own to answer the questions. Then, share and discuss your responses with your group. 1. How does Robbins support her claim that the qualities that make students outcasts in high school are those that make them successful in adulthood? 2. How does Robbins develop her argument that being popular in high school may actually work against people when they enter the adult world? 3. Use the chart to identify the types of evidence Robbins uses and to evaluate its credibility and relevance. CLAIM EVIDENCE CREDIBILITY RELEVANCE 4. Write a paragraph in which you evaluate the validity of Robbins’s argument. Cite evidence from your chart as examples. Revenge of the Geeks 229
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Author’s Style Parallel Structure Parallelism, or parallel structure, is the use of similar grammatical forms or patterns to express ideas of equal significance. Effective use of parallelism creates rhythm and balance and clarifies the relationships among ideas. When writing lacks parallelism, it presents equally significant ideas in an unnecessary mix of grammatical forms. This inconsistency can be awkward, confusing, or distracting for readers. This chart shows examples of nonparallel and parallel structure. SENTENCE ELEMENTS NONPARALLEL PARALLEL words Planning, drafting and revision are three steps in the writing process. Planning, drafting, and revising are three steps in the writing process. phrases I could not wait to hop on that plane to leave the country, and for some world exploration. I could not wait to hop on that plane, to leave the country, and to explore the world. clauses Ari likes his new school: The teachers are good, the students are nice, and he likes the new building. Ari likes his new school: The teachers are good, the students are nice, and the building is new. Read It Mark the parallel sentence elements in each of these passages from “Revenge of the Geeks.” Parallel elements may appear in a single sentence or in mutiple sentences. 1. In the rabidly conformist school environment, the qualities that make people different make them targets. In adulthood, however, the qualities that make people different make them compelling. 2. Geeks profit from their technological knowhow. Emos benefit from being empathetic and unafraid to display emotion. Skaters, punks, and others . . . benefit from the skills and the ability to collaborate through collective intelligence. 3. Research shows that they are more likely . . . to conform, which can also mean they’re less likely to innovate. 4. Psychologists point out that high-status cliques teach the exclusionary behavior that may be the foundation for eventual racism, anti-Semitism, sexism and other forms of bigotry. Write It Notebook Write a paragraph about “Revenge of the Geeks.” Include at least one example of parallel structure. Mark your examples. REVENGE OF THE GEEKS STANDARDS Language 9-10.L.KL.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. 230 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION Speaking and Listening Assignment Create a multimedia presentation in which you incorporate text and images to explain a subject. Choose from the following options. Prepare an informational video in which you share what you learned from Robbins’s argument. Cite evidence from the text that proves your points and supports your opinions. Design a social media campaign with the goal of effecting change in how students who are “different” are treated in school. Explain why change is needed, and cite evidence from Robbins’s argument to support your claim. In your presentation, show how your campaign will have a lasting impact. Choose a side, explaining why you agree or disagree with Robbins. Construct your argument or counterargument using evidence from the text. Create and present a poster publicizing your position visually. If members of your group disagree, split into two groups. Have each group complete a poster arguing the side it favors. Project Plan Before you begin, make a list of the tasks you will need to complete in order to finish your project. Then, assign individual group members to each task. Finally, determine how you will make decisions about choices of images, text, and design elements. Developing Your Argument Use this chart to collect ideas and images for your presentation. Remember to include appropriate citations for all evidence. ARGUMENT EVIDENCE IMAGE ! EVIDENCE LOG Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from “Revenge of the Geeks.” STANDARDS Speaking and Listening 9-10.SL.PKI.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically, so that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. 9-10.SL.PKI.5 Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. Revenge of the Geeks 231
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century Concept Vocabulary As you perform your first read of “Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century,” you will encounter the following words. doctrine totalitarian ideologies Base Words If these words are unfamiliar to you, analyze each one to see whether it contains a base word you know. Then, use your knowledge of the “inside” word, along with context, to determine the meaning of the concept word. Here is an example of how to apply the strategy. Unfamiliar Word: dismissively Familiar “Inside” Word: dismissive, meaning “disinterested; scornful” Context: Should they throw themselves in fury on those other people? Or walk past dismissively and keep going? Conclusion: The -ly ending shows that the word is an adverb that tells the manner in which something is being done. Dismissively must mean “behaving in a way that shows disinterest or scorn.” Apply your knowledge of base words and other vocabulary strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter during your first read. First Read NONFICTION Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an opportunity to complete a close read after your first read. About the Author Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932–2007) began his career in journalism by keeping two notepads. In one, he detailed concrete facts for his investigative articles sold to Polish newspapers. The other was filled with personal notes and unique experiences. His first notebook brought him an income, yet his thoughts in the second were the basis for his highly regarded books. Kapuscinski often covered and supported African nations in the fight against colonialism. NOTICE the general ideas of the text. What is it about? Who is involved? CONNECT ideas within the selection to what you already know and what you have already read. ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit. RESPOND by completing the Comprehension Check and by writing a brief summary of the selection. STANDARDS Reading Informational Text 9.RI.RRTC.10 Read and comprehend a variety of literary nonfiction throughout the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with a gradual release of scaffolding at the higher end as needed. Language 9-10.L.VAU.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 9–10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies 9-10.L.VAU.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on 9th -10th grade-level text by choosing flexibly from a range of strategies b Use common grade-appropriate morphological elements as clues to the meaning of a word or a phrase. 232 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND Globalization is the interaction and integration of people, companies, and governments of different countries. It is one of the most visible trends in modern culture. With increasingly common and efficient intercontinental travel, communication, and trade, regional life has become tied to cultures around the world. The globe is, metaphorically, getting smaller. The encounter with the Other, with other people, has always been a universal and fundamental experience for our species. Archaeologists tell us that the very earliest human groups were small family-tribes numbering 30 to 50 individuals. Had such a community been larger, it would have had trouble moving around quickly and efficiently. Had it been smaller, it would have found it harder to defend itself effectively and to fight for survival. So here is our little family-tribe going along searching for nourishment, when it suddenly comes across another family-tribe. What a significant movement in the history of the world, what a momentous discovery! The discovery that there are other people in the world! Until then, the members of these primal groups could live in the conviction, as they moved around in the company of 30 to 50 of their kinfolk, that they knew all the people in the world. Then it turned out that they didn’t—that other similar beings, other people, also inhabited the world! But how to behave in the face of such a revelation? What to do? What decision to make? Should they throw themselves in fury on those other people? Or walk past dismissively and keep going? Or rather try to get to know and understand them? 1 2 3 4 LECTURE Ryszard Kapuscinski Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century NOTES Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 233
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES That same choice that our ancestors faced thousands of years ago faces us today as well, with undiminished intensity—a choice as fundamental and categorical as it was back then. How should we act toward Others? What kind of attitude should we have toward them? It might end up in a duel, a conflict, or a war. Every archive contains evidence of such events, which are also marked by countless battlefields and ruins scattered around the world. All this is proof of man’s failure—that he did not know how, or did not want, to reach an understanding with Others. The literature of all countries in all epochs1 has taken up this situation, this tragedy and weakness, as subject matter of infinite variety and moods. But it might also be the case that, instead of attacking and fighting, this family-tribe that we are watching decides to fence itself off from others, to isolate and separate itself. This attitude leads, over time, to objects like the Great Wall of China, the towers and gates of Babylon, the Roman limes2 and or the stone walls of the Inca. Fortunately, there is evidence of a different human experience scattered abundantly across our planet. These are the proofs of cooperation—the remains of marketplaces, of ports, of places where there were agoras3 and sanctuaries, of where the seats of old universities and academies are still visible, and of where there remain vestiges of such trade routes as the Silk Road, the Amber Route, and the Trans-Saharan caravan route. All of these were places where people met to exchange thoughts, ideas, and merchandise, and where they traded and did business, concluded covenants and alliances, and discovered shared goals and values. “The Other” stopped being a synonym of foreignness and hostility, danger and mortal evil. People discovered within themselves a fragment of the Other, and they believed in this and lived confidently. People thus had three choices when they encountered the Other: They could choose war, they could build a wall around themselves, or they could enter into dialogue. Over the expanse of history, mankind has never stopped wavering among these options, and, depending on changing times and cultures, has chosen one or the other; we can see that mankind is fickle here and does not always feel certain, does not always stand on firm ground. War is hard to justify. I think that everyone always loses because war is a disaster for human beings. It exposes their incapacity for understanding, for putting themselves in the shoes of others, for goodness and sense. The encounter with the Other usually ends tragically in such cases, in a catastrophe of blood and death. The idea that led people to build great walls and gaping moats, to surround themselves with them and fence themselves off from 1. epochs (EHP uks) n. periods of historical time. 2. limes n. walls mortared with quicklime plaster. 3. agoras (uh GAWR uhz) n. open gathering places. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 234 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES others, has been given the contemporary name of apartheid.4 This concept has been erroneously confined to the policies of the nowdefunct white regime in South Africa. However, apartheid was already being practiced in the earliest mists of time. In simple terms, proponents of this view proclaim that everyone is free to live as he chooses, as long as it’s as far away from me as possible, if he isn’t part of my race, religion, or culture. If that were all! In reality, we are looking at a doctrine of the structural inequality of the human race. The myths of many tribes and peoples include the conviction that only we are human—the members of our clan, our community—while others, all others, are subhuman or aren’t human at all. An ancient Chinese belief expressed it best: A non-Chinese was regarded as the devil’s spawn, or at best as a victim of fate who did not manage to be born Chinese. The Other, according to this belief, was presented as a dog, as a rat, as a creeping reptile. Apartheid was and still is a doctrine of hatred, contempt, and revulsion for the Other, the foreigner. How different was the image of the Other in the epoch of anthropomorphic5 beliefs, the belief that the gods could assume human form and act like people. Back then you could never tell whether the approaching wanderer, traveler, or newcomer was a person or a god in human guise. That uncertainty, that fascinating ambivalence, was one of the roots of the culture of hospitality that mandated showing all kindness to the newcomer, that ultimately unknowable being. Cyprian Norwid writes about this when he ponders, in his introduction to the Odyssey, the sources of the hospitality that Odysseus encounters on his journey back to Ithaca. “There, with every beggar and foreign wanderer,” Norwid remarks, “the first suspicion was that he might have been sent by God. . . . No one could have been received as a guest if the first question were: ‘Who is this newcomer?’ But only when the divinity in him was respected did the human questions follow, and that was called hospitality, and for that very reason it was numbered among the pious practices and virtues. There was no ‘last among men!’ with Homer’s Greeks—he was always the first, which means divine.” In this Greek understanding of culture, cited by Norwid, things reveal a new significance that is favorable to people. Doors and gates are not only for closing against the Other—they can also open for him and welcome him inside. The road need not serve hostile columns; it can also be a highway along which one of the gods, in pilgrim’s garb, comes to us. Thanks to such an interpretation, the world we inhabit 4. apartheid (uh PAHR tyd) n. South African policy of extreme racial segregation under which the native African majority was not allowed to vote and suffered intense repression. Apartheid ended in 1994 with the first free elections. The word is often used to refer to other systems of repressive ethnic segregation. 5. anthropomorphic (an thruh poh MAWR fihk) adj. described or thought of as having human behaviors or characteristics. 13 14 15 16 Mark base words or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning. doctrine (DOK truhn) n. MEANING: Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 235
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES starts being not only richer and more diverse, but also kinder to us, a world in which we ourselves will want to encounter the Other. Emmanuel Levinas calls the encounter with the Other an “event,” or even a “fundamental event,” the most important experience, reaching to the farthest horizons. Levinas, as we know, was one of the philosophers of dialogue, along with Martin Buber, Ferdinand Ebner, and Gabriel Marcel (a group that later came to include Jozef Tischner), who developed the idea of the Other as a unique and unrepeatable entity, in more or less direct opposition to two phenomena that arose in the 20th century: the birth of the masses that abolished the separateness of the individual, and the expansion of destructive totalitarian ideologies. These philosophers attempted to salvage what they regarded as the paramount value, the human individual—me, you, the Other, the Others—from being obliterated by the actions of the masses and of totalitarianism (which is why these philosophers promoted the concept of “the Other” to emphasize the differences between one individual and another, the differences of non-interchangeable and irreplaceable characteristics). This was an incredibly important movement that rescued and elevated the human being, a movement that rescued and elevated the Other, with whom, as Levinas suggested, one must not only stand face to face and conduct a dialogue, but for whom one must “take responsibility.” In terms of relations with the Other and Others, the philosophers of dialogue rejected war because it led to annihilation; they criticized the attitudes of indifference or building walls; instead, they proclaimed the need—or even the ethical obligation—for closeness, openness, and kindness. In the circle of just such ideas and convictions, a similar type of inquiry and reflection, a similar attitude, arises and develops in the great research work of a man who did his undergraduate work and went on to earn a Ph.D. at Jagiellonian University, and who was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences—Bronislaw Malinowski. Malinowski’s problem was how to approach the Other, not as an exclusively hypothetical and abstract entity, but as a concrete person belonging to a different race, with beliefs and values different from ours, and with his own culture and customs. Let us point out that the concept of the Other is usually defined from the white man’s—the European’s—point of view. But today, when I walk through a village in the mountains of Ethiopia, a crowd of children runs after me, pointing at me in merriment and calling out: “Ferenchi! Ferenchi!”—which means “foreigner, other.” This is an example of the dismantling of the hierarchy of the world and its cultures. Others are indeed Others, but for those Others, I am the one who is Other. In this sense, we’re all in the same boat. All of us inhabitants of our planet are Other for Others—Me for Them, and Them for Me. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Mark base words or indicate another strategy you used that helped you determine meaning. totalitarian (toh tal uh TAIR ee uhn) adj. MEANING: ideologies (y dee OL uh jeez) n. MEANING: 236 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES In Malinowski’s era and in the preceding centuries, the white man, the European, left his continent almost exclusively for gain—to take over new land, capture slaves, trade, or convert. These expeditions, at times, were incredibly bloody—Columbus conquering America, and then the white settlers, the conquest of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Malinowski set out for the Pacific islands with a different goal—to learn about the Other. To learn about his neighbor’s customs and language, and to see how he lived. He wanted to see and experience this for himself, personally—to experience it so that he could later tell about it. It might seem like an obvious undertaking, yet it turned out to be revolutionary, and it stood the world on its ear. It laid bare a weakness or perhaps simply a characteristic that appears to a differing degree in all cultures: the fact that cultures have difficulty understanding other cultures, and that people belonging to a given culture—the participants in and carriers of that culture— have this difficulty. Namely, Malinowski stated after arriving at his research site in the Trobriand Islands that the white people who had lived there for years not only knew nothing about the local people and their culture, but also, in fact, held an entirely erroneous image characterized by contempt and arrogance. 24 25 26 ∠ A village in the Trobriand Islands Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 237
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES He himself, as if to spite all colonial customs, pitched his tent in the middle of a local village and lived among the local people. What he experienced turned out to be no easy experience. In his A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term, he continually mentions problems, bad moods, despair, and depression. You pay a high price for breaking free of your culture. That is why it is so important to have your own distinct identity, and a sense of your own strength, worth, and maturity. Only then can you confidently face a different culture. Otherwise, you will withdraw into your own hiding place and timorously cut yourself off from others. All the more so because the Other is a mirror into which you peer, or in which you are observed, a mirror that unmasks and denudes, which we would prefer to avoid. It is interesting that, while the First World War was under way in Malinowski’s native Europe, the young anthropologist was concentrating on research into the culture of exchange, contacts, and common rituals among the inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands, to which he devotes his excellent Argonauts of the Western Pacific, and formulating his important thesis, so seldom observed by others, that “to judge something, you have to be there.” Malinowski advanced another thesis, incredibly bold for its time: namely that there is no such thing as a higher or a lower culture— there are only different cultures, with varying ways of meeting the needs and expectations of their participants. For him, a different person, of a different race and culture, is nevertheless a person whose behavior, like ours, is characterized by dignity, respect for acknowledged values, and respect for tradition and customs. While Malinowski began his work at the moment of the birth of the masses, we are living today in the period of transition from that mass society to a new, planetary society. Many factors lie behind this—the electronics revolution, the unprecedented development of all forms of communication, the great advances in transport and movement, and also, in connection with this, the transformation at work in the consciousness of the youngest generation and in culture broadly conceived. How will this alter the relations between us, the people of one culture, and the people of some other culture, or of Other cultures? How will this influence the I-Other relationship within my culture and beyond it? It is very difficult to give an unequivocal final answer, since the process is ongoing and we ourselves, with no chance for the distance that fosters reflection, are immersed in it. Levinas considered the I-Other relation within the bounds of a single, racially and historically hom*ogeneous civilization. Malinowski studied the Melanesian tribes at a time when they were still in their primal state, not yet violated by the influence of Western technology, organization and markets. Today, this is ever less frequently possible. Cultures are becoming increasingly hybridized and heterogeneous. I recently saw something astonishing in Dubai. A girl, surely a Muslim, was walking along the 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 238 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES beach. She was dressed in tight jeans and a close-fitting blouse, but her head, and only her head, was covered so hermetically that not even her eyes were visible. Today there are whole schools of philosophy, anthropology, and literary criticism that devote their major attention to hybridization and linking. This cultural process is under way especially in those regions where the borders of states are the boundaries of different cultures, such as the American-Mexican border, and also in the gigantic megalopolises (like São Paolo, New York, or Singapore) that are home to populations representing the most variegated cultures and races. We say today that the world has become multiethnic and multicultural not because there are more of these communities and cultures than before, but rather because they are speaking out more loudly, with increasing self-sufficiency and forcefulness, demanding acceptance, recognition, and a place at the round table of nations. Yet the true challenge of our time, the encounter with the new Other, derives as well from a broader historical context. Namely, the second half of the 20th century was a time when two-thirds of humanity freed themselves of colonial dependency and became citizens of their own states that, at least nominally, were independent. Gradually, these people are beginning to rediscover their own pasts, myths, and legends, their roots, their feelings of identity and, of course, the pride that flows from this. They are beginning to realize that they are the masters in their own house and the captains of their fate, and they look with abhorrence on any attempts to reduce them to things, to extras, to the victims and passive objects of domination. Today, our planet, inhabited for centuries by a narrow group of free people and broad throngs of the enslaved, is filled with an increasing number of nations and societies that have a growing sense of their own separate value and significance. This process is often occurring amidst enormous difficulties, conflicts, dramas, and losses. We may be moving toward a world so entirely new and changed that our previous historical experience will prove to be insufficient to grasp and move around in it. In any case, the world that we are entering is the Planet of Great Opportunities. Yet these are not unconditional opportunities, but rather opportunities open only to those who take their tasks seriously and thus prove that they take themselves seriously. This is a world that potentially has a lot to offer, but that also demands a lot, and in which taking easy shortcuts is often the road to nowhere. We will constantly be encountering the new Other, who will slowly emerge from the chaos and tumult of the present. It is possible that this new Other will arise from the meeting of two contradictory currents that shape the culture of the contemporary world—the current of the globalization of our reality and the current of the conservation of our diversity, our differences, our uniqueness. The Other may be the offspring and the heir of these two currents. 34 35 36 37 38 Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 239
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES We should seek dialogue and understanding with the new Other. The experience of spending years among remote Others has taught me that kindness toward another being is the only attitude that can strike a chord of humanity in the Other. Who will this new Other be? What will our encounter be like? What will we say? And in what language? Will we be able to listen to each other? To understand each other? Will we both want to appeal, as Joseph Conrad put it, to what “speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain; to the latent feeling of fellowship with all creation—and to the subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity that knits together the loneliness of innumerable hearts: to the solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspirations, in illusions, in hope, in fear, which binds men to each other, which binds together all humanity—the dead to the living and the living to the unborn.” ❧ 39 40 240 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Comprehension Check Complete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify details with your group. 1. According to the author, how would an early family-tribe discover that there were other people in the world? 2. What way of treating people began with the idea that any stranger might have been sent by the gods? 3. According to the author, why have Europeans throughout history usually left their own continent to visit others? 4. Notebook Confirm your understanding of the text by writing a summary. RESEARCH Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of the lecture? Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text, and formulate a research question. Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 241
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. MAKING MEANING ! WORD NETWORK Add interesting words related to outsiders from the text to your Word Network. GROUP DISCUSSION Some group members may have very good contributions to make to the discussion but fnd it diffcult to speak up. To make sure that you hear the best ideas, reach out to all group members by asking questions. Close Read the Text With your group, revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. Annotate details that you notice. What questions do you have? What can you conclude? Analyze the Text Complete the activities. 1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread paragraph 10 of the selection. Discuss the three choices people can make in dealing with the Other, reminding yourselves of the examples the author gives for each one. 2. Present and Discuss Now, share with your group the passages from the selection that you found particularly important. Take turns presenting your passages. Discuss what you noticed in the text, what questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached. 3. Essential Question: Do people need to belong? What has this lecture taught you about being an outsider and confronting others? Discuss. Concept Vocabulary doctrine totalitarian ideologies Why These Words? The three concept vocabulary words are related. With your group, discuss the words, and determine what they have in common. Write other words that relate to this concept. Practice Notebook Confirm your understanding of these words by using them in sentences. Include context clues that hint at each word’s meaning. Word Study Greek Root: -log- In “Encountering the Other,” the author uses the word ideologies. The word ideologies is built from two Greek roots: -ideo-, which means “idea,” and -log-, which may mean either “to speak” or “study or theory of.” Write the meanings of these words from the selection that contain the root -log-: archaeologists, anthropology, dialogue. Consult a dictionary as needed. CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your answers. ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER: THE CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY STANDARDS Reading Informational Text 9-10.RI.KID.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development; provide an objective or critical summary. 9-10.RI.CS.5 Analyze how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text. Language 9-10.L.VAU.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on 9th -10th grade-level text by choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. d. Use etymological patterns in spelling as clues to the meaning of a word or phrase. 242 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? CLARIFICATION A lecture often begins and ends with a memorable story, quotation, question, fact, or statement. The intention is to make the listener curious at the beginning and inspired at the end. INTRODUCTION Which paragraphs make up the introduction? What story, surprising fact, or rhetorical question appears in the introduction? What is the main idea statement? DISCUSSION Which paragraphs make up the discussion? Cite statements that develop or explain the main idea. Cite examples of repetition. CONCLUSION Which paragraphs make up the conclusion? Is there a challenge to listeners? Is there another technique that creates a memorable ending? Analyze Craft and Structure Literary Nonfiction “Encountering the Other” is a lecture—a speech that is given to teach or inform listeners about a topic. The lecturer often uses special techniques to engage listeners and help them understand information. In the introduction, or beginning, he or she may use a rhetorical question. This is a question that the listener should think about, not answer out loud. In the discussion, or body, the lecturer may use repetition because hearing information more than once helps listeners remember ideas. In the conclusion, or end, the lecturer might summarize ideas or leave the audience with a challenge or lasting thought. CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE Practice to support your answers. Work independently to gather your notes in the chart. Then, share and discuss your responses with your group. Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 243
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. INFINITIVE INFINITIVE PHRASE Used as a Noun To succeed requires dedication. (functions as the subject of the sentence) Used as a Noun We chose to take the old foot path. (functions as the direct object of the verb chose) Used as an Adjective I wish I had the ability to fly. (tells what kind of ability) Used as an Adjective Dana’s desire to do well made Mama proud. (tells which desire) Used as an Adverb When Derrick sat down to study, he concentrated. (tells why Derrick sat down) Used as an Adverb She called the editor to voice her opinion. (tells why she called) ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER: THE CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Conventions Types of Phrases An infinitive is a verb form that generally appears with the word to in front of it and acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive and its objects, complements, or modifiers, all acting together as a single part of speech. Like an infinitive, an infinitive phrase acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The examples in the chart show uses of infinitives and infinitive phrases. Read It Work individually. Mark the infinitive or infinitive phrase in each sentence from “Encountering the Other,” and label it as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. 1. Had it been smaller, it would have found it harder to defend itself effectively. . . . 2. But it might be the case that . . . this family-tribe that we are watching decides to fence itself off from others. . . . 3. Malinowski set out for the Pacific islands with a different goal—to learn about the Other. 4. This is a world that potentially has a lot to offer, but that also demands a lot. . . . Write It Notebook Write three sentences about this lecture. Use an infinitive or infinitive phrase as a noun in one sentence, an adjective in the second sentence, and an adverb in the third sentence. STANDARDS Writing 9-10.W.PDW.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. 9-10.W.RBPK.8 Use multiple search terms to generate a variety of print and digital sources; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. Language 9-10.L.CSE.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; use effective parallel structure and various types of phrases and clauses to convey specific meaning and add variety and interest to writing or presentations. 244 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION ! EVIDENCE LOG Before moving on to a new selection, go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from “Encountering the Other.” Text That Image Illustrates Description of Image Source Information for Citation Research Project Plan Before you begin, make a list of the tasks you will need to accomplish in order to complete your digital presentation, from finding information to researching images to making final choices about design and layout. Decide ahead of time how you will make those final choices. Then, assign group members to each task. Finding Visuals Use a variety of reliable sources for your images so that they will accurately illustrate your text. Use this chart to keep track of what you want and what you find. Remember to include appropriate citations. PROCESS When researching images online, you may start with a search engine. However, you should always go to the page where the image is located to make sure of its accuracy. Collect information to properly credit the source. Assignment Research, write, and deliver a digital presentation about one of the cultures Kapuscinski mentions in the lecture. Explain how each culture responded to others through combat, isolation, or cooperation. Choose one of the following topics and projects: Create an illustrated timeline showing how the ancient Chinese perceived people from other cultures and responded to outsiders. Create a slide show about the Inca and their architecture. Create a video about the ancient Greek idea of hospitality. Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century 245
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PERFORMANCE TASK: SPEAKING AND LISTENING FOCUS SOURCES • THE DOLL’S HOUSE • SONNET, WITH BIRD • ELLIPTICAL • FENCES • REVENGE OF THE GEEKS • ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER: THE CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Deliver a Multimedia Presentation Assignment You have read a story, poems, an argument, and a lecture addressing ideas about what it means to belong and what it means to be an outsider. Work with your group to develop a position on the following questions: Is difference a weakness? Is sameness a strength? Then, create a multimedia presentation in which you use text, audio, and visuals to clearly state and defend your position. Plan With Your Group Analyze the Texts With your group, discuss the people—real or fictional— in the selections you have read. For each selection, identify a person or people who are deemed outsiders. Are these people weakened by this label? Are they strengthened by it? Use the chart to gather your ideas and supporting textual evidence. Then, come to a consensus about the questions posed in the prompt. The Doll’s House Sonnet, With Bird Elliptical Fences Revenge of the Geeks Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century Title Ideas About Outsiders Evidence From Text Gather Evidence and Media Examples Scan the selections to record specific examples that support your group’s position. Then, brainstorm for types of media you can use to illustrate or elaborate on each example. Consider photographs, illustrations, music, charts, graphs, and video clips. Allow each group member to make suggestions. STANDARDS Speaking and Listening 9-10.SL.PKI.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. 246 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? Organize Your Ideas Use a graphic organizer like this one to plan the script for your presentation. Decide who will be responsible for each of the various elements. Then, take note of when each section begins, and record what the speaker will say. Also, note where specific media will be used. MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION SCRIPT Media Cues Script Presenter 1 Presenter 2 Presenter 3 Rehearse With Your Group Practice With Your Group Use this checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of your group’s first run-through. Then, use your evaluation and the instruction here to guide your revision. Fine-Tune the Content To make your presentation stronger, you may need to make sure the group has provided adequate evidence to support the argument. Check with your group to identify key points that are not clear to listeners. Find another way to word these ideas. Improve Your Use of Media Review all visuals, music, and sound effects to make sure they communicate key ideas and help create a cohesive presentation. If a visual or sound cue is not clearly related to the presentation, replace it with a more relevant item. Brush Up on Your Presentation Techniques Practice your presentation several times before you deliver it. Give one another notes on how to improve speaking skills or how to move smoothly from one segment to another. Present and Evaluate When you present as a group, be sure that each member has taken into account each of the checklist items. As you listen to other groups, evaluate how well they meet the checklist. CONTENT USE OF MEDIA PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES The presentation presents a clear argument. Main ideas are supported with evidence from the texts in Small-Group Learning. The media support the argument. The media communicate key ideas. Media are used evenly throughout the presentation. Equipment functions properly. Media are visible and audible. Transitions are smooth. Each speaker uses eye contact and speaks with adequate volume. STANDARDS Speaking and Listening 9-10.SL.PKI.5 Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. Performance Task: Deliver a Multimedia Presentation 247
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. OVERVIEW: INDEPENDENT LEARNING STRATEGY ACTION PLAN Create a schedule • Understand your goals and deadlines. • Make a plan for what to do each day. • Practice what you’ve learned • Use first-read and close-read strategies to deepen your understanding. • After you read, evaluate the usefulness of the evidence to help you understand the topic. • Consider the quality and reliability of the source. • Take notes • Record important ideas and information. • Review your notes before preparing to share with a group. • • ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? Being an outsider is an experience almost everyone will have at some point in life. In this section, you will complete your study of literature about outsiders by exploring an additional selection related to the topic. You’ll then share what you learn with classmates. To choose a text, follow these steps. Look Back Think about the selections you have already studied. What more do you want to know about the topic of outsiders and outcasts? Look Ahead Preview the texts by reading the descriptions. Which one seems most interesting and appealing to you? Look Inside Take a few minutes to scan the text you chose. Choose a different one if this text doesn’t meet your needs. Independent Learning Strategies Throughout your life, in school, in your community, and in your career, you will need to rely on yourself to learn and work on your own. Review these strategies and the actions you can take to practice them during Independent Learning. Add ideas of your own for each category. 248 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. CONTENTS NEWSPAPER ARTICLE Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew Vivian Yee The prestigious university loses more than sixty pieces of artwork made by a beloved, unconventional local artist. MEMOIR By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage Santha Rama Rau Does anyone have the right to change another person’s name? Choose one selection. Selections are available online only. MYTH The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog Blackfoot, retold by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz An American Indian myth about a boy, once shunned and scorned, who brings his tribe an amazing gift. MEDIA: RADIO BROADCAST Fleeing to Dismal Swamp, Slaves and Outcasts Found Freedom Sandy Hausman Archaeologists are discovering that runaway slaves and Native Americans sought freedom in a vast, seemingly uninhabitable wetland. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for an Argument Complete your Evidence Log for the unit by evaluating what you’ve learned and synthesizing the information you have recorded. Overview: Independent Learning 249
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. INDEPENDENT LEARNING First-Read Guide Use this page to record your first-read ideas. Selection Title: CONNECT ideas within the selection to other knowledge and the selections you have read. RESPOND by writing a brief summary of the selection. NOTICE new information or ideas you learn about the unit topic as you first read this text. ANNOTATE by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit. Tool Kit First-Read Guide and ModelAnnotation 250 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Close-Read Guide Use this page to record your close-read ideas. Selection Title: Analyze the Text Think about the author’s choices of patterns, structure, techniques, and ideas included in the text. Select one, and record your thoughts about what this choice conveys. Close Read the Text Revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. Read these sections closely and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself questions about the text. What can you conclude? Write down your ideas. QuickWrite Pick a paragraph from the text that grabbed your interest. Explain the power of this passage. Tool Kit Close-Read Guide and Model Annotation ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? Outsiders and Outcasts 251
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. INDEPENDENT LEARNING Share Your Independent Learning Prepare to Share Do people need to belong? Even when you read something independently, your understanding continues to grow when you share what you have learned with others. Reflect on the text you explored independently and write notes about its connection to the unit. In your notes, consider why this text belongs in this unit. Reflect Underline the most important insight you gained from these writing and discussion activities. Explain how this idea adds to your understanding of the topic of being an outsider or outcast. Learn From Your Classmates Discuss It Share your ideas about the text you explored on your own. As you talk with your classmates, jot down ideas that you learn from them. ! EVIDENCE LOG Go to your Evidence Log and record what you learned from the text you read. 252 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT PREP Review Evidence for Argument At the beginning of this unit, you took a position on the following question: Is the experience of being an outsider universal? ! EVIDENCE LOG Review your Evidence Log and your QuickWrite from the beginning of the unit. Has your position changed? State your position now: Identify a possible counterclaim: Evaluate the Strength of Your Evidence Consider your argument. Do you have enough evidence to support your claim? Do you have enough evidence to refute a counterclaim? If not, make a plan. Do more research Talk with my classmates Reread a selection Ask an expert Other: YES NO Identify at last three pieces of evidence that convinced you to change your mind. Identify at last three new pieces of evidence that reinforced your initial position. 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 3. STANDARDS Writing 9-10.W.TTP.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning supported by relevant and sufficient evidence. a Introduce precise claim(s). Performance-Based Assessment Prep 253
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT SOURCES • WHOLE-CLASS SELECTIONS • SMALL-GROUP SELECTIONS • INDEPENDENT-LEARNING SELECTION ! WORD NETWORK As you write and revise your argument, use your Word Network to help vary your word choices. PART 1 Writing to Sources: Argument In this unit, you read about various characters, both real and fictional, who were considered outsiders or outcasts. Some struggled to belong, while others seemed more comfortable with being outside of a group. Assignment Write an argumentative essay in which you state and defend a claim about the following question: Is the experience of being an outsider universal? Use credible evidence from at least three of the selections you read and researched in this unit to support your claim. Try to address possible objections to your argument by presenting and refuting counterclaims. Ensure that your claims are fully supported; that you use a formal, academic tone; and that your organization is logical and easy to follow. Review the Elements of Effective Argument Before you begin writing, read the Argument Rubric. Once you have completed your first draft, check it against the rubric. If one or more of the elements are missing or not as strong as they could be, revise your essay to add or strengthen those components. Reread the Assignment Review the assignment to be sure you fully understand it. The task may reference some of the academic words presented at the beginning of the unit. Be sure you understand each of the words given below in order to complete the assignment correctly. Academic Vocabulary contradict negate objection advocate verify STANDARDS Writing 9-10.W.TTP.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. a. Introduce precise claim(s). b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaim(s) fairly, supplying evidence for each claim and counterclaim while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns. c. Create an organization that establishes cohesion and clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaim(s), reasons, and evidence. d. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented. e. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic. 9-10.W.RBPK.9 Support and defend interpretations, analyses, reflections, or research with evidence found in literature or informational texts, applying grade band 9-10 standards for reading to source material. 9-10.W.RW.10 Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. 254 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Do people need to belong? Argument Rubric Focus & Organization Development Language/Conventions 4 The introduction engages the reader and establishes a claim in a relevant and effective way. The argument includes valid reasons and evidence that address and support the claim while clearly acknowledging counterclaims. The ideas progress logically, and relationships among ideas are clear. The conclusion is relevant and effective. The sources of evidence are sufficient and well-chosen and contain relevant information. The argument explains and elaborates on evidence and effectively addresses counterclaims. The argument consistently uses standard English. The argument demonstrates sophisticated sentence structures and precise language. The tone of the argument is consistently formal and objective. 3 The introduction is relevant, engages the reader, and states a precise claim. The argument includes reasons and evidence that address and support the claim while acknowledging counterclaims. The ideas progress logically, and relationships among ideas are mostly clear. The conclusion is relevant. Sources of evidence contain relevant information. The argument explains and elaborates on evidence and adequately addresses counterclaims. The argument uses standard English. The argument demonstrates varied sentence structures and mostly precise language. The tone is formal and objective. 2 The introduction states a weak claim. The argument includes some reasons and evidence that address and support the claim but is difficult to follow. The ideas progress somewhat logically. Relationships among ideas are sometimes unclear. The conclusion is not entirely relevant. Sources of evidence contain little relevant information. The argument explains some of the evidence provided and demonstrates partial understanding of the topic. The argument inconsistently uses standard English. The argument demonstrates some varied sentence structures and some precise language. The tone is inconsistently formal and objective. 1 The introduction is missing or does not clearly state the claim. The argument does not include reasons or evidence for the claim. Ideas are difficult to follow. The ideas do not progress logically. Relationships among ideas are unclear. The conclusion is missing or irrelevant. Reliable and relevant evidence is not included. The argument includes no evidence or inaccurate evidence and a weak understanding of the topic. The argument contains mistakes in standard English. The argument demonstrates little or no use of precise language or variation in sentence structure. The argument does not establish a formal or objective tone. Performance-Based Assessment 255
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT Content Organization Presentation Technique 3 Introduction is engaging and establishes a claim in a compelling way. Presentation has strong valid reasons and evidence that support the claim while clearly acknowledging counterclaims. Conclusion offers fresh insight into the claim. The speaker uses time very effectively by spending the right amount of time on each part. Ideas progress logically, supported by a variety of sentence transitions. Listeners can follow presentation. The speaker maintains effective eye contact. The speaker presents with strong conviction and energy. 2 Introduction establishes a claim. Presentation includes some valid reasons and evidence that support the claim while acknowledging counterclaims. Conclusion offers some insight into claim and restates important information. The speaker uses time effectively by spending the right amount of time on most parts. Ideas progress logically, supported by some sentence transitions. Listeners are mostly able to follow presentation. The speaker mostly maintains effective eye contact. The speaker presents with some level of conviction and energy. 1 Introduction does not clearly state a claim. Presentation does not include reasons or evidence to support a claim or acknowledge counterclaims. Conclusion does not restate important information about a claim. The speaker does not use time effectively; the parts of the presentation are too long or too short. Ideas do not progress logically. Listeners have difficulty following presentation. The speaker does not establish eye contact. The speaker presents without conviction or energy. PART 2 Speaking and Listening: Oral Presentation Assignment After completing the final draft of your argument, use it as the foundation for a three- to five-minute oral presentation. Do not simply read your essay aloud. Instead, take the following steps to make your presentation lively and engaging. • Go back to your essay and annotate the most important claims and supporting details from your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. • Refer to your annotated text to guide your presentation and keep it focused. • Deliver your argument with conviction, speaking with adequate volume and maintaining eye contact with your audience. Review the Oral Presentation Rubric The criteria by which your oral presentation will be evaluated appear in the rubric below. Review these criteria before presenting to ensure that you are prepared. 256 UNIT 2 • OUTSIDERS AND OUTCASTS
UNIT 2 REFLECTION © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Reflect on the Unit Now that you’ve completed the unit, take a few moments to reflect on your learning. Use the questions below to think about where you succeeded, what skills and strategies helped you, and where you can continue to grow in the future. Reflect on the Unit Goals Look back at the goals at the beginning of the unit. Use a different colored pen to rate yourself again. Think about readings and activities that contributed the most to the growth of your understanding. Record your thoughts. Reflect on the Learning Strategies Discuss It Write a reflection on whether you were able to improve your learning based on your Action Plans. Think about what worked, what didn’t, and what you might do to keep working on these strategies. Record your ideas before a class discussion. Reflect on the Text Choose a selection that you found challenging and explain what made it difficult. Explain something that surprised you about a text in the unit. Which activity taught you the most about whether people need to belong? What did you learn? STANDARDS Speaking and Listening 9-10.SL.PKI.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. Performance-Based Assessment 257
MYTH © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES BACKGROUND When Europeans brought over horses to North America, Native Americans living in the Great Plains quickly incorporated them into their lives. By 1750, they were fairly common. Horses had such a profound impact that many scholars divide Plains history into the period before the introduction of horses and the period after. The Blackfoot word for “horse” is ponoka imita, which combines the words for “elk” and “dog.” I n the days when people had only dogs to carry their bundles, two orphan children, a boy and his sister, were having a hard time. The boy was deaf, and because he could not understand what people said, they thought him foolish and dull-witted. Even his relatives wanted nothing to do with him. The name he had been given at birth, while his parents still lived, was Long Arrow. Now he was like a beaten, mangy dog, the kind who hungrily roams outside a camp, circling it from afar, smelling the good meat boiling in the kettles but never coming close for fear of being kicked. Only his sister, who was bright and beautiful, loved him. Then the sister was adopted by a family from another camp, people who were attracted by her good looks and pleasing ways. Though they wanted her for a daughter, they certainly did not 1 2 About the Culture The Blackfeet, or Blackfoot, have traditionally lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, and the state of Montana. They were among the first of the Algonquian-language speakers to move west to open grassland areas. There, they hunted buffalo on foot, using dogs to carry their supplies. Through the introduction of horses and firepower, they were able to expand even farther westward. The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog Native American (Blackfeet) IL1 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES want the awkward, stupid boy. And so they took away the only person who cared about him, and the orphan boy was left to fend for himself. He lived on scraps thrown to the dogs and things he found on the refuse heaps. He dressed in remnants of skins and frayed robes discarded by the poorest people. At night he bedded down in a grass-lined dugout, like an animal in its den. Eventually the game was hunted out near the camp that the boy regarded as his, and the people decided to move. The lodges were taken down, belongings were packed into rawhide bags and put on dog travois,1 and the village departed. “Stay here,” they told the boy. “We don’t want your kind coming with us.” For two or three days the boy fed on scraps the people had left behind, but he knew he would starve if he stayed. He had to join his people, whether they liked it or not. He followed their tracks, frantic that he would lose them, and crying at the same time. Soon the sweat was running down his skinny body. As he was stumbling, running, panting, something suddenly snapped in his left ear with a sound like a small crack, and a wormlike substance came out of that ear. All at once on his left side he could hear birdsongs for the first time. He took this wormlike thing in his left hand and hurried on. Then there was a snap in his right ear and a wormlike thing came out of it, and on his right side he could hear the rushing waters of a stream. His hearing was restored! And it was razor-sharp—he could make out the rustling of a tiny mouse in dry leaves a good distance away. The orphan boy laughed and was happy for the first time in his life. With renewed courage he followed the trail his people had made. In the meantime the village had settled into its new place. Men were already out hunting. Thus the boy came upon Good Running, a kindly old chief, butchering a fat buffalo cow he had just killed. When the chief saw the boy, he said to himself, “Here comes that poor good-for-nothing boy. It was wrong to abandon him.” To the boy Good Running said “Rest here, grandson, you’re sweaty and covered with dust. Here, have some tripe.2 ” The boy wolfed down the meat. He was not used to hearing and talking yet, but his eyes were alert and Good Running also noticed a change in his manner. “This boy,” the chief said to himself, “is neither stupid nor crazy.” He gave the orphan a piece of the hump meat, then a piece of liver, then a piece of raw kidney, and at last the very best kind of meat—a slice of tongue. The more the old man looked at the boy, the more he liked him. On the spur of the moment he said, “Grandson, I’m going to adopt you; there’s a place for you in my tipi. And I’m going to make you into 1. travois (truh VOY) n. sled with two poles and a net or platform in between, pulled along the ground by a person or an animal. 2. tripe (tryp) n. walls of the stomach of a buffalo or other grazing animal, used as food. 3 4 5 6 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog IL2
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES a good hunter and warrior.” The boy wept, this time for joy. Good Running said, “They called you a stupid, crazy boy, but now that I think of it, the name you were given at birth is Long Arrow. I’ll see that people call you by your right name. Now come along.” The chief’s wife was not pleased. “Why do you put this burden on me,” she said, “bringing into our lodge this good-for-nothing, this slow-witted crazy boy? Maybe you’re a little slow-witted and crazy yourself!” “Woman, keep talking like that and I’ll beat you! This boy isn’t slow or crazy; he’s a good boy, and I have taken him for my grandson. Look—he’s barefooted. Hurry up, and make a pair of moccasins for him, and if you don’t do it well I’ll take a stick to you.” Good Running’s wife grumbled but did as she was told. Her husband was a kind man, but when aroused, his anger was great. So a new life began for Long Arrow. He had to learn to speak and to understand well, and to catch up on all the things a boy should know. He was a fast learner and soon surpassed other boys his age in knowledge and skills. At last even Good Running’s wife accepted him. He grew up into a fine young hunter, tall and good-looking in the quilled buckskin outfit the chief’s wife made for him. He helped his grandfather in everything and became a staff for Good Running to lean on. But he was lonely, for most people in the camp could not forget that Long Arrow had once been an outcast. “Grandfather,” he said one day, “I want to do something to make you proud and show people that you were wise to adopt me. What can I do?” Good Running answered, “Someday you will be a chief and do great things.” “But what’s a great thing I could do now, Grandfather?” The chief thought for a long time. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this,” he said. “I love you and don’t want to lose you. But on winter nights, men talk of powerful spirit people living at the bottom of a faraway lake. Down in that lake the spirit people keep mystery animals who do their work for them. These animals are larger than a great elk, but they carry the burdens of the spirit people like dogs. So they’re called Pono-Kamita—Elk Dogs. They are said to be swift, strong, gentle, and beautiful beyond imagination. Every fourth generation, one of our young warriors has gone to find these spirit folk and bring back an Elk Dog for us. But none of our brave young men has ever returned.” “Grandfather, I’m not afraid. I’ll go and find the Elk Dog.” “Grandson, first learn to be a man. Learn the right prayers and ceremonies. Be brave. Be generous and open-handed. Pity the old and the fatherless, and let the holy men of the tribe find 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 IL3 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES a medicine3 for you which will protect you on your dangerous journey. We will begin by purifying you in the sweat bath.” So Long Arrow was purified with the white steam of the sweat lodge. He was taught how to use the pipe, and how to pray to the Great Mystery Power. The tribe’s holy men gave him a medicine and made for him a shield with designs on it to ward off danger. Then one morning, without telling anybody, Good Running loaded his best travois dog with all the things Long Arrow would need for traveling. The chief gave him his medicine, his shield, and his own fine bow and, just as the sun came up, went with his grandson to the edge of the camp to purify him with sweetsmelling cedar smoke. Long Arrow left unheard and unseen by anyone else. After a while some people noticed that he was gone, but no one except his grandfather knew where and for what purpose. Following Good Running’s advice, Long Arrow wandered southward. On the fourth day of his journey he came to a small pond, where a strange man was standing as if waiting for him. “Why have you come here?” the stranger asked. “I have come to find the mysterious Elk Dog.” “Ah, there I cannot help you,” said the man, who was the spirit of the pond. “But if you travel further south, four-times-four days, you might chance upon a bigger lake and there meet one of my uncles. Possibly he might talk to you; then again, he might not. That’s all I can tell you.” Long Arrow thanked the man, who went down to the bottom of the pond, where he lived. Long Arrow wandered on, walking for long hours and taking little time for rest. Through deep canyons and over high mountains he went, wearing out his moccasins and enduring cold and heat, hunger and thirst. Finally Long Arrow approached a big lake surrounded by steep pine-covered hills. There he came face to face with a tall man, fierce and scowling and twice the height of most humans. This stranger carried a long lance with a heavy spearpoint made of shining flint. “Young one,” he growled, “why did you come here?” “I came to find the mysterious Elk Dog.” The stranger, who was the spirit of the lake, stuck his face right into Long Arrow’s and shook his mighty lance. “Little one, aren’t you afraid of me?” he snarled. No, I am not,” answered Long Arrow, smiling. The tall spirit man gave a hideous grin, which was his way of being friendly. “I like small humans who aren’t afraid,” he 3. medicine in Native American culture, an object, ceremony, song, or similar with religious or magical power. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog IL4
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES said, “but I can’t help you. Perhaps our grandfather will take the trouble to listen to you. More likely he won’t. Walk south for fourtimes-four days, and maybe you’ll find him. But probably you won’t.” With that the tall spirit turned his back on Long Arrow and went to the bottom of the lake, where he lived. Long Arrow walked on for another four-times-four days, sleeping and resting little. By now he staggered and stumbled in his weakness, and his dog was not much better off. At last he came to the biggest lake he had ever seen, surrounded by towering snow-capped peaks and waterfalls of ice. This time there was nobody to receive him. As a matter of fact, there seemed to be no living thing around. “This must be the Great Mystery Lake,” thought Long Arrow. Exhausted, he fell down upon the shortgrass meadow by the lake, fell down among the wild flowers, and went to sleep with his tired dog curled up at his feet. When Long Arrow awoke, the sun was already high. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful child standing before him, a boy in a dazzling white buckskin robe decorated with porcupine quills of many colors. The boy said, “We have been expecting you for a long time. My grandfather invites you to his lodge. Follow me.” Telling his dog to wait, Long Arrow took his medicine shield and his grandfather’s bow and went with the wonderful child. They came to the edge of the lake. The spirit boy pointed to the water and said, “My grandfather’s lodge is down there. Come.” The child turned himself into a kingfisher4 and dove straight to the bottom. 4. kingfisher n. type of water bird that dives for food. 29 30 31 IL5 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES Afraid, Long Arrow thought, “How can I follow him and not be drowned?” But then he said to himself, “I knew all the time that this would not be easy. In setting out to find the Elk Dog, I already threw my life away.” And he boldly jumped into the water. To his surprise, he found it did not make him wet, that it parted before him, that he could breathe and see. He touched the lake’s sandy bottom. It sloped down, down toward a center point. Long Arrow descended this slope until he came to a small flat valley. In the middle of it stood a large tipi of tanned buffalo hide. The images of two strange animals were drawn on it in sacred vermilion5 paint. A kingfisher perched high on the top of the tipi flew down and turned again into the beautiful boy, who said, “Welcome. Enter my grandfather’s lodge.” Long Arrow followed the spirit boy inside. In the back at the seat of honor sat a black-robed old man with flowing white hair and such power emanating from him that Long Arrow felt himself in the presence of a truly Great One. The holy man welcomed Long Arrow and offered him food. The man’s wife came in bringing dishes of buffalo hump, liver, tongues, delicious chunks of deer meat, the roasted flesh of strange, tasty water birds, and meat pounded together with berries, chokecherries, and kidney fat. Famished after his long journey, Long Arrow ate with relish. Yet he still looked around to admire the furnishings of the tipi, the painted inner curtain, the many medicine shields, wonderfully wrought weapons, shirts and robes decorated with porcupine quills in rainbow colors, beautifully painted rawhide containers filled with wonderful things, and much else that dazzled him. After Long Arrow had stilled his hunger, the old spirit chief filled the pipe and passed it to his guest. They smoked, praying silently. After a while the old man said, “Some came before you from time to time, but they were always afraid of the deep water, and so they went away with empty hands. But you, grandson, were brave enough to plunge in, and therefore you are chosen to receive a wonderful gift to carry back to your people. Now, go outside with my grandson.” The beautiful boy took Long Arrow to a meadow on which some strange animals, unlike any the young man had ever seen, were galloping and gamboling, neighing and nickering. They were truly wonderful to look at, with their glossy coats fine as a maiden’s hair, their long manes and tails streaming in the wind. Now rearing, now nuzzling, they looked at Long Arrow with gentle eyes which belied their fiery appearance. “At last,” thought Long Arrow, “here they are before my own eyes, the Pono-Kamita, the Elk Dogs!” 5. vermilion (vuhr MIHL yuhn) adj. bright red. 32 33 34 35 36 37 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog IL6
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES “Watch me,” said the mystery boy, “so that you learn to do what I am doing.” Gracefully and without effort, the boy swung himself onto the back of a jet-black Elk Dog with a high, arched neck. Larger than any elk Long Arrow had ever come across, the animal carried the boy all over the meadow swiftly as the wind. Then the boy returned, jumped off his mount, and said, “Now you try it.” A little timidly Long Arrow climbed up on the beautiful Elk Dog’s back. Seemingly regarding him as feather-light, it took off like a flying arrow. The young man felt himself soaring through the air as a bird does, and experienced a happiness greater even than the joy he had felt when Good Running had adopted him as a grandson. When they had finished riding the Elk Dogs, the spirit boy said to Long Arrow, “Young hunter from the land above the waters, I want you to have what you have come for. Listen to me. You may have noticed that my grandfather wears a black medicine robe as long as a woman’s dress, and that he is always trying to hide his feet. Try to get a glimpse of them, for if you do, he can refuse you nothing. He will then tell you to ask him for a gift, and you must ask for these three things: his rainbow-colored quilled belt, his black medicine robe, and a herd of these animals which you seem to like.” Long Arrow thanked him and vowed to follow his advice. For four days the young man stayed in the spirit chief’s lodge, where he ate well and often went out riding on the Elk Dogs. But try as he would, he could never get a look at the old man’s feet. The spirit chief always kept them carefully covered. Then on the morning of the fourth day, the old one was walking out of the tipi when his medicine robe caught in the entrance flap. As the robe opened, Long Arrow caught a glimpse of a leg and one foot. He was awed to see that it was not a human limb at all, but the glossy leg and firm hoof of an Elk Dog! He could not stifle a cry of surprise, and the old man looked over his shoulder and saw that his leg and hoof were exposed. The chief seemed a little embarrassed, but shrugged and said, “I tried to hide this, but you must have been fated to see it. Look, both of my feet are those of an Elk Dog. You may as well ask me for a gift. Don’t be timid; tell me what you want.” Long Arrow spoke boldly: “I want three things: your belt of rainbow colors, your black medicine robe, and your herd of Elk Dogs.” “Well, so you’re really not timid at all!” said the old man. “You ask for a lot, and I’ll give it to you, except that you cannot have all my Elk Dogs; I’ll give you half of them. Now I must tell you that my black medicine robe and my many-colored belt have Elk Dog magic in them. Always wear the robe when you try to catch Elk 38 39 40 41 42 IL7 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES Dogs; then they can’t get away from you. On quiet nights, if you listen closely to the belt, you will hear the Elk Dog dance song and Elk Dog prayers. You must learn them. And I will give you one more magic gift: this long rope woven from the hair of a white buffalo bull. With it you will never fail to catch whichever Elk Dog you want.” The spirit chief presented him with the gifts and said, “Now you must leave. At first the Elk Dogs will not follow you. Keep the medicine robe and the magic belt on at all times, and walk for four days toward the north. Never look back—always look to the north. On the fourth day the Elk Dogs will come up beside you on the left. Still don’t look back. But after they have overtaken you, catch one with the rope of white buffalo hair and ride him home. Don’t lose the black robe, or you will lose the Elk Dogs and never catch them again.” Long Arrow listened carefully so that he would remember. Then the old spirit chief had his wife make up a big pack of food, almost too heavy for Long Arrow to carry, and the young man took leave of his generous spirit host. The mysterious boy once again turned himself into a kingfisher and led Long Arrow to the surface of the lake, where his faithful dog greeted him joyfully. Long Arrow fed the dog, put his pack of food on the travois, and started walking north. On the fourth day the Elk Dogs came up on his left side, as the spirit chief had foretold. Long Arrow snared the black one with the arched neck to ride, and he caught another to carry the pack of food. They galloped swiftly on, the dog barking at the big Elk Dogs’ heels. When Long Arrow arrived at last in his village, the people were afraid and hid. They did not recognize him astride his beautiful Elk Dog but took him for a monster, half man and half animal. Long Arrow kept calling, “Grandfather Good Running, it’s your grandson. I’ve come back bringing Elk Dogs!” Recognizing the voice, Good Running came out of hiding and wept for joy, because he had given Long Arrow up for lost. Then all the others emerged from their hiding places to admire the wonderful new animals. Long Arrow said, “My grandfather and grandmother who adopted me, I can never repay you for your kindness. Accept these wonderful Elk Dogs as my gift. Now we no longer need to be humble footsloggers, because these animals will carry us swiftly everywhere we want to go. Now buffalo hunting will be easy. Now our tipis will be larger, our possessions will be greater, because an Elk Dog travois can carry a load ten times bigger than that of a dog. Take them, my grandparents. I shall keep for myself 43 44 45 46 47 48 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog IL8
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES only this black male and this black female, which will grow into a fine herd.” “You have indeed done something great, grandson,” said Good Running, and he spoke true. The people became the bold riders of the Plains and soon could hardly imagine how they had existed without these wonderful animals. After some time Good Running, rich and honored by all, said to Long Arrow, “Grandson, lead us to the Great Mystery Lake so we can camp by its shores. Let’s visit the spirit chief and the wondrous boy; maybe they will give us more of their power and magic gifts.” Long Arrow led the people southward and again found the Great Mystery Lake. But the waters would no longer part for him, nor would any of the kingfishers they saw turn into a boy. Nor, gazing down into the crystal-clear water, could they discover people, Elk Dogs, or a tipi. There was nothing in the lake but a few fish. ❧ 49 50 51 IL9 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog
MEMOIR © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES BACKGROUND This excerpt from Santha Rama Rau’s memoir Gifts of Passage takes place in the late 1920s. India was a colony of the British Empire from the 1700s to 1947, when it attained independence. During the period of colonial rule, the British set up schools in India based on the British curriculum, with lessons taught in English. Many Indians objected to the absence of their own culture in the curricula. At the Anglo-Indian1 day school in Zorinabad to which my sister and I were sent when she was eight and I was five and a half, they changed our names. On the first day of school, a hot, windless morning of a north Indian September, we stood in the headmistress’s study and she said, “Now you’re the new girls. What are your names?” My sister answered for us. “I am Premila, and she”—nodding in my direction—“is Santha.” The headmistress had been in India, I suppose, fifteen years or so, but she still smiled her helpless inability to cope with Indian names. Her rimless half-glasses glittered, and the precarious bun on the top of her head trembled as she shook her head. “Oh, my 1. Anglo-Indian both English and Indian. 1 2 3 About the Author Santha Rama Rau (1923–2009) was an Indian author and journalist best known for her travel books. The daughter of a lifelong public servant and a civic activist, Rama Rau wrote books, articles, and stories that were often autobiographical and that examined the conflicting dynamics between Western and Indian customs. Rama Rau’s travel essays and short stories were published in such magazines as The New Yorker and Vogue. By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage Santha Rama Rau UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage IL10
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES dears, those are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names. Wouldn’t that be more jolly? Let’s see, now—Pamela for you, I think.” She shrugged in a baffled way at my sister. “That’s as close as I can get. And for you,” she said to me, how about Cynthia? Isn’t that nice?” My sister was always less easily intimidated than I was, and while she kept a stubborn silence, I said, “Thank you,” in a very tiny voice. We had been sent to that school because my father, among his responsibilities as an officer of the civil service, had a tour of duty to perform in the villages around that steamy little provincial town, where he had his headquarters at that time. He used to make his shorter inspection tours on horseback, and a week before, in the stale heat of a typically post monsoon2 day, we had waved goodbye to him and a little procession—an assistant, a secretary, two bearers, and the man to look after the bedding rolls and luggage. They rode away through our large garden, still bright green from the rains, and we turned back into the twilight of the house and the sound of fans whispering in every room. Up to then, my mother had refused to send Premila to school in the British-run establishments of that time, because, she used to say, “you can bury a dog’s tail for seven years and it still comes out curly, and you can take a Britisher away from his home for a lifetime and he still remains insular.” The examinations and degrees from entirely Indian schools were not, in those days, considered valid. In my case, the question had never come up, and probably never would have come up if Mother’s extraordinary good health had not broken down. For the first rime in my life, she was not able to continue the lessons she had been giving us every morning. So our Hindi3 books were put away, the stories of the Lord Krishna4 as a little boy were left in mid-air, and we were sent to the Anglo-Indian school. That first day at school is still, when I think of it, a remarkable one. At that age, if one’s name is changed, one develops a curious form of dual personality. I remember having a certain detached and disbelieving concern in the actions of “Cynthia,” but certainly no responsibility. Accordingly, I followed the thin, erect back of the headmistress down the veranda to my classroom feeling, at most, a passing interest in what was going to happen to me in this strange, new atmosphere of School. The building was Indian in design, with wide verandas opening onto a central courtyard, but Indian verandas are usually whitewashed, with stone floors. These, in the tradition of British 2. monsoon n. rainy season in South Asia. 3. Hindi most common Indian language, and official primary language of modern India. 4. Lord Krishna important deity in the Hindu religion. 4 5 6 7 8 IL11 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES schools, were painted dark brown and had matting on the floors. It gave a feeling of extra intensity to the heat. I suppose there were about a dozen Indian children in the school—which contained perhaps forty children in all—and four of them were in my class. They were all sitting at the back of the room, and I went to join them. I sat next to a small, solemn girl who didn’t smile at me. She had long, glossy-black braids and wore a cotton dress, but she still kept on her Indian jewelry—a gold chain around her neck, thin gold bracelets, and tiny ruby studs in her ears. Like most Indian children, she had a rim of black kohl5 around her eyes. The cotton dress should have looked strange, but all I could think of was that I should ask my mother if I couldn’t wear a dress to school, too, instead of my Indian clothes. I can’t remember too much about the proceedings in class that day, except for the beginning. The teacher pointed to me and asked me to stand up. “Now, dear, tell the class your name.” I said nothing. “Come along,” she said frowning slightly. “What’s your name, dear?” “I don’t know,” I said, finally. The English children in the front of the class—there were about eight or ten of them—giggled and twisted around in their chairs to look at me. I sat down quickly and opened my eyes very wide, hoping in that way to dry them off. The little girl with the braids put out her hand and very tightly touched my arm. She still didn’t smile. Most of that morning I was rather bored. I looked briefly at the children’s drawings pinned to the wall, and then concentrated on a lizard clinging to the ledge of the high, barred window behind the teacher’s head. Occasionally it would shoot out its long yellow tongue for a fly, and then it would rest, with its eyes closed and its belly palpitating, as though it were swallowing several times quickly. The lessons were mostly concerned with reading and writing and simple numbers—things that my mother had already taught me—and I paid very little attention. The teacher wrote on the easel blackboard words like “bat” and “cat,” which seemed babyish to me; only “apple” was new and incomprehensible. When it was time for the lunch recess, I followed the girl with braids out onto the veranda. There the children from the other classes were assembled. I saw Premila at once and ran over to her, as she had charge of our lunchbox. The children were all opening packages and sitting down to eat sandwiches. Premila and I were the only ones who had Indian food—thin wheat chapattis,6 some vegetable curry, and a bottle of buttermilk. Premila thrust half of it 5. kohl n. black powder used as eye makeup. 6. chapattis (chuh PAH tees) n. flatbreads. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage IL12
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES into my hand and whispered fiercely that I should go and sit with my class, because that was what the others seemed to be doing. The enormous black eyes of the little Indian girl from my class looked at my food longingly, so I offered her some. But she only shook her head and plowed her way solemnly through her sandwiches. I was very sleepy after lunch, because at home we always took a siesta. It was usually a pleasant time of day, with the bedroom darkened against the harsh afternoon sun, the drifting off into sleep with the sound of Mother’s voice reading a story in one’s mind, and, finally, the shrill, fussy voice of the ayah7 waking one for tea. At school, we rested for a short time on low, folding cots on the veranda, and then we were expected to play games. During the hot part of the afternoon we played indoors, and after the shadows had begun to lengthen and the slight breeze of the evening had come up we moved outside to the wide courtyard. I had never really grasped the system of competitive games. At home, whenever we played tag or guessing games, I was always allowed to “win”—”because,” Mother used to tell Premila, “she is the youngest, and we have to allow for that.” I had often heard her say it, and it seemed quite reasonable to me, but the result was that I had no clear idea of what “winning” meant. When we played twos-and-threes that afternoon at school, in accordance with my training, I let one of the small English boys catch me, but was naturally rather puzzled when the other children did not return the courtesy. I ran about for what seemed like hours without ever catching anyone, until it was time for school to close. Much later I learned that my attitude was called “not being a good sport,” and I stopped allowing myself to be caught, but it was not for years that I really learned the spirit of the thing. When I saw our car come up to the school gate, I broke away from my classmates and rushed toward it yelling, “Ayah! Ayah!” It seemed like an eternity since I had seen her that morning—a wizened, affectionate figure in her white cotton sari, giving me dozens of urgent and useless instructions on how to be a good girl at school. Premila followed more sedately, and she told me on the way home never to do that again in front of the other children. When we got home we went straight to Mother’s high, white room to have tea with her, and I immediately climbed onto the bed and bounced gently up and down on the springs. Mother asked how we had liked our first day in school. I was so pleased to be home and to have left that peculiar Cynthia behind that I had nothing whatsoever to say about school, except to ask what 7. ayah (AH yuh) n. nurse or maid. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 IL13 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES “apple” meant. But Premila told Mother about the classes, and added that in her class they had weekly tests to see if they had learned their lessons well. I asked, “What’s a test?” Premila said, “You’re too small to have them. You won’t have them in your class for donkey’s years.”8 She had learned the expression that day and was using it for the first time. We all laughed enormously at her wit. She also told Mother, in an aside, that we should take sandwiches to school the next day. Not, she said, that she minded. But they would be simpler for me to handle. That whole lovely evening I didn’t think about school at all. I sprinted barefoot across the lawns with my favorite playmate, the cook’s son, to the stream at the end of the garden. We quarreled in our usual way, waded in the tepid water under the lime trees, and waited for the night to bring out the smell of the jasmine. I listened with fascination to his stories of ghosts and demons, until l was too frightened to cross the garden alone in the semidarkness. The ayah found me, shouted at the cook’s son, scolded me, hurried me in to supper—it was an entirely usual, wonderful evening. It was a week later, the day of Premila’s first test, that our lives changed rather abruptly. I was sitting at the back of my class, in my usual inattentive way, only half listening to the teacher. I had started a rather guarded friendship with the girl with the braids, whose name turned out to be Nalini (Nancy, in school). The three other Indian children were already fast friends. Even at that age it was apparent to all of us that friendship with the English or Anglo-Indian children was out of the question. Occasionally, during the class, my new friend and I would draw pictures and show them to each other secretly. The door opened sharply and Premila marched in. At first, the teacher smiled at her in a kindly and encouraging way and said, “Now, you’re little Cynthia’s sister?” Premila didn’t even look at her. She stood with her feet planted firmly a part and her shoulders rigid, and addressed herself directly to me. “Get up,” she said. “We’re going home.” I didn’t know what had happened, but I was aware that it was a crisis of some sort. I rose obediently and started to walk toward my sister. “Bring your pencils and your notebook,” she said. I went back for them, and together we left the room. The teacher started to say something just as Premila closed the door, but we didn’t wait to hear what it was. In complete silence we left the school grounds and started to walk home. Then I asked Premila what the matter was. All she would say was “We’re going home for good.” 8. donkey’s years British slang term meaning “a very long time.” 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage IL14
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES It was a very tiring walk for a child of five and a half, and I dragged along behind Premila with my pencils growing sticky in my hand. I can still remember looking at the dusty hedges, and the tangles of thorns in the ditches by the side of the road, smelling the faint fragrance from the eucalyptus trees and wondering whether we would ever reach home. Occasionally, a horse-drawn tonga9 passed us, and the women, in their pink or green silks, stared at Premila and me trudging along on the side of the road. A few coolies10 and a line of women carrying baskets of vegetables on their heads smiled at us. But it was nearing the hottest time of day, and the road was almost deserted. I walked more and more slowly, and shouted to Premila, from time to time. “Wait for me!” with increasing peevishness. She spoke to me only once, and that was to tell me to carry my notebook on my head, because of the sun. When we got to our house the ayah was just taking a tray of lunch into Mother’s room. She immediately started a long, worried questioning about what are you children doing back here at this hour of the day. Mother looked very startled and very concerned, and asked Premila what had happened. Premila said, “we had our test today, and she made me and the other Indians sit at the back of the room, with a desk between each one.” Mother said, “Why was that, darling?” “She said it was because Indians cheat,” Premila added. “So I don’t think we should go back to that school.” Mother looked very distant, and was silent a long time. At last she said, “Of course not, darling.” She sounded displeased. We all shared the curry she was having for lunch, and afterward I was sent off to the beautifully familiar bedroom for my siesta. I could hear Mother and Premila talking through the open door. Mother said, “Do you suppose she understood all that?” Premila said, “I shouldn’t think so. She’s a baby.” Mother said, “Well, I hope it won’t bother her.” Of course, they were both wrong. I understood it perfectly, and I remember it all very clearly. But I put it happily away, because it had all happened to a girl called Cynthia, and I never was really particularly interested in her. ❧ 9.tonga n. small carriage. 10.coolies n. manual laborers. 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 IL15 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • By Any Other Name from Gifts of Passage
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES BACKGROUND Folk art, sometimes called “outsider,” “low,” or “raw” art, is a form of artwork that is not considered culturally significant by the mainstream art world. As part of the Outsider Art movement, artist Jean Dubuffet and author Roger Cardinal argued for the value of these artistic creations in the hope that museums and critics would not overlook them. He was an outsider who flitted at the fringes of one of the country’s most elite universities, a Brooklyn-bred, Bronx-dwelling candy peddler who charmed and enthralled1 generations of Columbia University students with the greeting: “Hey boys, I got paintings here!” Or, “I got those Hoishey bars.” From the 1930s until 1982, when he died at 85, few students passed Sam Steinberg outside the student center or the Low Library steps without buying a candy bar at least once. Those who lingered a little longer also learned about Sam’s world through his Magic Marker illustrations: the stylized celebrities (Rudolph Valentino, Elvis, Richard Nixon), the surrealist animals (hoofed cats, mermaids, potato-headed dogs), the vivid whimsies (a pair of legs in Columbia gym shorts). 1. enthralled v. captured the attention of. 1 2 About the Author Vivian Yee is a reporter for The New York Times, covering Brooklyn news for the Metro Desk since 2012. As a student at Yale University, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in English, Yee served as the editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News. She prides herself on her love for Brooklyn and on being one of the youngest journalists who has ever worked for The New York Times. Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew Vivian Yee UNIT 2 Independent Learning • Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew IL16
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES This city brims with arbiters2 of great art, with storied museums and glamorous galleries. Mr. Steinberg’s oeuvre has belonged to none of them. His art has made its home on the street and in the trash, where many a student customer later tossed it without a second thought. He was an oddity, a character, a fluke of the collegiate landscape with a newsboy cap and a dense Brooklyn accent. Students graduated and left Sam Steinberg behind. Somewhere along the way to career and family, they left his paintings behind, too. But not all of them did. When Randy Nichols, Columbia College class of 1975, was helping to plan his class’s 40th reunion weekend at the end of May, he and his fellow reunion chairs had an idea: bring the “Sams,” as the paintings had been universally known, back to campus for the public to see. A room at the university displayed 90 of the best. Around 150 people came. Mr. Nichols and his co-curators packed the Sams in cardboard and black plastic bags, to be stored at the alumni center and sent back to their owners. They were supposed to be moved before a cleaning crew arrived last Monday morning. They were not, and the cleaners were thorough: 60 of Sam Steinberg’s artworks disappeared—destined, once again, for the trash. “Every day, he got on the D train, and kept painting when his eyes were bad, when he was mugged. He was resilient,3 he was optimistic, he was positive,” said Edward Gray, who lent 12 Sams, now lost, to the exhibit. “I was inspired by this man, and that just makes it all the more painful.” Columbia staff members told those who had lent work to the exhibit that though they had contacted the university’s waste management company and searched the campus, the pieces had been sent to a compactor.4 (The remaining 30 had been picked up by their owners.) “It is with great sorrow that I confirm the fact that the works are not retrievable,” Bernice Tsai, an alumni relations director at Columbia, wrote in an apologetic email to one owner. She attributed the loss to “an error on my team’s part.” Neither she nor a spokeswoman for Columbia’s alumni relations office responded to messages on Sunday. It was a fumble that might not have seemed quite so stunning in the early years of Mr. Steinberg’s artistic career. When he first began selling artwork in the early 1960s, the best place to find his work, Mr. Nichols recalled, was in the trash cans 2. arbiters n. those who have the final authority. 3. resilient adj. able to recover quickly from hardship. 4. compactor n. machine that destroys garbage by crushing it. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 IL17 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. NOTES on move-out day. Back then, his pieces went for a dollar or two, rising to $5 or $10 in the early 1980s. His work won the briefest glimmer of formal recognition in the 1970s, when a Columbia art history student gave a Sam to the French artist Jean Dubuffet, a champion of so-called “low art.” “The little picture is very interesting; it gives me keen pleasure,” Mr. Dubuffet wrote back, as recounted in a 1996 Folk Art magazine article. Mr. Dubuffet later gave one of the artworks to a folk-art collection in Switzerland, ratifying5 Mr. Steinberg’s outsider-artist status. But he never quite gained the “artist” label at Columbia. “No! Sam was a character,” Mr. Nichols said. His pitch was unmistakably New York, brash, elastic and always delivered in an unshakable Brooklyn accent. “I can make you a half-woman, I can make you a half-horse,” he might say, as he does in a short video Mr. Gray made about him. If he was a curiosity for many, for those who displayed his art in their apartments and offices as proudly as any diploma, he was something more: a serious artist in his own right, who once playfully told Mr. Gray that Picasso was “nothing compared to me.” His art, they said, reflected the limitations and the scars of his life. Born in Manhattan and raised in poverty in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Mr. Steinberg never learned to read or write. He commuted to Columbia every morning from the Bronx apartment he shared with his sister, Pauline. He struck students as a little odd, his paintings teeming with a psychological subtext6 they never quite penetrated. They embraced him all the more for it. “Sam deserves better than this,” said John Bellamy Taylor, 66, a writer who has lived in Morningside Heights for decades, and came to know Mr. Steinberg as a teenager. He inherited two dozen works from a Columbia professor who collected Sams. Mr. Gray agreed. “He’s every bit as much an artist,” he said, “as the people who got famous and got reputations.” ❧ 5. ratifying v. confirming. 6. subtext n. underlying but unstated ideas. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • Outsider’s Art Is Saluted at Columbia, Then Lost Anew IL18
© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved. BACKGROUND The Underground Railroad was a network of secret roads and passages used by Southern slaves to escape to the North, where slavery was prohibited. The Great Dismal Swamp, located within Virginia and North Carolina, was part of the extensive Railroad, which spanned fourteen states. The swamp is currently 190 square miles but used to be ten times larger. About the Journalist Sandy Hausman is a journalist who serves as the bureau chief at WVTF/Radio IQ in Charlottesville, Virginia. She graduated from Cornell University and received a graduate degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. Since joining WVTF in 2008, Hausman has focused her stories on environmental issues around the globe and how they impact Virginians. Fleeing to Dismal Swamp, Slaves and Outcasts Found Freedom Sandy Hausman NOTES RADIO BROADCAST IL19 UNIT 2 Independent Learning • Fleeing to Dismal Swamp, Slaves and Outcasts Found Freedom
